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I am going to try to make a squad with no shoulder pads or smaller, slimmer shoulder pads like Halo Spartans... But IDK how I am going to even start on this and make the model look good.

Anyone have any cool pictures of their Marines without pads or converted with smaller pads?

There are pads in the chimera kit that might work - you'd need a ton, though. I've considered leaving the pads off of my marines, but didn't in the end.

Here's a 'black ops' squad I did about a year ago.
I personally think SM look better without the huge shoulder pads.
Despite that, all my squads, except this one, have shoulder pads.

















And here is a side by side, with and without pads.

To me, even well painted and modeled minis like Lavgunners above still look sloppy and off without the pads.

I feel like you may be like many other posters on this board and want an entirely different aesthetic from 40k Space Marines. If this is true and depending on what kind of gaming venue and opponents you face you might want to take a look at Mantics enforcers. Personally I feel the style that a lot of younger players are drawn to similar to Halo or Mass Effect are kinda sterile and boring, but mantic's figures are right up that alley.

 Oakenshield wrote:
Personally I feel the style that a lot of younger players are drawn to similar to Halo or Mass Effect are kinda sterile and boring, but mantic's figures are right up that alley.

As opposed to GW/PP notion of Giant Shoulderpads arms race?


Though Space Marines do look a tad weird without their pads, but I think thats because everything else is so oversized

I think the large shoulder pads are more of a canvas for unit markings, role designation and the like. Also, if you're not going anywhere for a while you always need a seat or in the extreme case they could probably be used as a shovel.

maybe you could just trim the pads down?

I am trying to green stuff something. I am not a young player (well I am 23) but to me it just seems like a Marine would be better suited with slimmer pads so he could see and maneuver better... I know its a game and what not but I would like a squad or some models with that look...

And I like your models. They look really good.

What is the Chimera kit? Like the APC for guard?

And on second thought I may be able to work something out with Mantics Enforcers... Those legs and chest look great but the head... Ill think of something.

 Oakenshield wrote:
To me, even well painted and modeled minis like Lavgunners above still look sloppy and off without the pads.

The problem that I have with Marines without shoulder pads is that they look unfinished. The Space Marines have always had a very distinct silhouette. Part of that is the shoulder pad. All I can suggest is to maybe make your own, albeit smaller, shoulder pads complete with unit markings. Maybe trimming down the shoulder pads on the sprue would work, or using some plasticard.

The huge Space Marine shoulder pads are a relic of the late 80's when space marine's were created. As well as the nods to medieval armor, at that time shoulder pads were big in fashion (ask your mom about her suits in the late 80's, early 90's), comic books, and sci-fi media (remember mad max and other movies of that ilk). For better or worse, they're one of the most iconic things about space marines now.

If you like them ( I kind of do) them keep them. If not, loose them, just know you're going to get a lot of odd looks.

If you want a slightly slimmer shoulder pad, RT era arms (had slightly slimmer shoulder pads) or cadian arms could be a starting point for conversion.

I kinda find that the shoulder pads are one of the defining things about the Space Marines :-/

Marines without pads are like Ice Cream without Ice Cream......

Nexus6 wrote:
I kinda find that the shoulder pads are one of the defining things about the Space Marines :-/

Marines without pads are like Ice Cream without Ice Cream......

I like some cream in my coffee... Funny im not much of an ice cream guy...

I kinda like them now that I see them, they look sleek and fast.

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:

 Oakenshield wrote:
To me, even well painted and modeled minis like Lavgunners above still look sloppy and off without the pads.

The problem that I have with Marines without shoulder pads is that they look unfinished. The Space Marines have always had a very distinct silhouette. Part of that is the shoulder pad. All I can suggest is to maybe make your own, albeit smaller, shoulder pads complete with unit markings. Maybe trimming down the shoulder pads on the sprue would work, or using some plasticard.

They look unfinished because the joint where the arm meets the torso isn't meant to be exposed so no effort was made to make them match up particularly well in size, and the armpit looks REALLY awkward without being covered. More so than the aesthetic difference from the original design philosophy (that's half the fun of conversions right?) the biggest problem is that you're exposing unfinished parts of the model.


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 kenshin620 wrote:

 Oakenshield wrote:
Personally I feel the style that a lot of younger players are drawn to similar to Halo or Mass Effect are kinda sterile and boring, but mantic's figures are right up that alley.

As opposed to GW/PP notion of Giant Shoulderpads arms race?

There is no accounting for taste so yeah, I absolutely do feel like that. I really wish somebody would make a kit for me to convert modern Termies to look like this.



But I'm an 80's baby and I grew up on Robocop and Jim Liefield comics. It's a g.d. miracle I don't leave the house everyday in giant shoulder pads and covered neck to ankle in bandoleers.

I know they are iconic but I am more of a realist. I know it is a sci-fi game but still...

Ill see what I can do and post what I make up. It may take me a while tho.

I'd say do as you see fit. This is a hobby of your making, specifically in terms of army build customization, paint themes, and conversions.

If you prefer to leave the pads off, rock on. Spruce them up a bit, clean your edges, paint it well, and throw them on a table to whoop *#&.

At the end of the day on your way home, and you're thinking to yourself, keep in mind they're YOUR guys, not the other guys.

usmcmidn wrote:
I know they are iconic but I am more of a realist. I know it is a sci-fi game but still...

Ill see what I can do and post what I make up. It may take me a while tho.

That's your first problem, you think 40k is a sci-fi game
It's very much a sci-fantasy (hence the emphasis on psykers and close combat).

That said, I completely understand wanting a different more "realistic" (I hesitate to use the term within 100 yards of 40k) aesthetic in your figures. You might also be able to get 2nd edition space marine arms. They weren't' quite as detailed as current arms and didn't have as many poses, but they do have a vertical line pattern on the shoulder pads that you might like.
You can see them here:
http://www.solegends.com/citcat1995-6/cat19956p028-02.htm

Here's a pic of the RT era arms (with integral shoulder pads that I mentioned earler It's a different profile.

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:

 Oakenshield wrote:
To me, even well painted and modeled minis like Lavgunners above still look sloppy and off without the pads.

The problem that I have with Marines without shoulder pads is that they look unfinished. ...

The shoulder pads are a very distinct feature that makes the SM stand out. You can change the torsos, heads, legs and arms, but those pads are iconic. But personally I think they are extremely disproportionatly big compared to the model, just like the pistol holster and pouches. I think if you show the model to the average person who has NEVER seen a space marine, they would all agree that the shoulder pads are too big and the model looks better without them.

The ONLY reason that I use them is because when I finish painting my entire army I'm going to have costume USMC emblem decals made for them and my vehicles. If not for the USMC decals, I would not use shoulder pads.

What I've done is taken the marine pauldrons, and file down the rims on them so it's all flush. I quite like the look on a few models, because it makes the armor look archaic. Getting rid of the rim actually helped with some of the posing issues too, because it cut down on the bulk and gave me an extra 2 mm of room to work with.

Another option if you want even smaller pads, but something larger than bare arm, would be to try for the Imperial Guard Shoulder pads (you get them in every tank kit, and i expect they should be included in the command kit as well), though finding enough of these might be pricy.