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As i looked at SoB models for reference on the shoulders i noticed that they have a power cable running over and not under the shoulder guard. If the shoulders should be seperate pieces it would be rather hard to recreate.

Should i make the shoulders part of the torso to add those cables or should i ignore those cables and do something else?

I'd say exposed cables like that are rather silly but what is your take on that?

Realistically exposed cables like that are silly, and going under makes more sense.

Maybe try one of each? Sometimes the exposed cables can look pretty cool and interesting, but if it causes problems in the seperate pieces, and is soemwhat unrealistic i'd say scratch it, and put them elsewhere.

Maybe with the supports for the heavy weapon legs have an additional piston/support connecting from above the ankle down to the back sides of the other support on the heel.
Also you could slightly elevate their heels a bit so they have the look of (not high) heels but the design retains a sense of practicality (that being for the pistons to cushion the recoil of firing a large gun)
If you think that might look good the design could also be repurposed to accommodate the thruster idea.

A quick update.

The shoulders are prototypes and to large but it gives a better feel for the model. And the shoulder is still to wide, haven't worked on this front either. But i wanted to see how everything assembles with head and shoulders. I'm not 100% happy. I fear that torso and legs still don't go together perfectly. Maybe my torsos are still to big even after the rework. Or i just got an odd posed leg...



And this is the current legs for the heavy armor. I also have started to layout the groundwork for the torso but the GS is still fresh.

Yeah man that heavy armour looks sweet.

Awesome work so far!

I don't know if anyone's offered yet, but I do pressure resin casting (same process as forge world). If you develop a group of models and want more for yourself or to offer "Nuns n' Gunz" for sale, I'd be happy to cast 'em up for you.

I prefer to make everything i can myself but if my model will actually reach a professional level a professional cast with a better setup than mine will be best. So thanks for the offer Jordan but i think a more lokal casting service might be better shipping and timewise. But might come back to your offer.


There is something off with my sculpts and the more i look at it the probelm gets more obvious. One thing i still need to fix up is the size of some of my torsos. Even a millimeter off can result in it looking to wide and large. Also the shoulders on the torsos are to broad and the hips are to thin. And some legs are still to long or thinner than the rest.
To fix this i've carved away even more material from my master and i will pressmold a new set of torsos to sculpt on. I also started to rework my legs with additional features as well as sanding them very carefully if necessary. This will only leave me with the hip problem. And it is a big problem. The problem is that the hip will get in the way of the torso joint. I might have toaccept that the torso can't be posed much. I have thought on hiding the problem zone with details like grenades and poches similar to GW SoB models but then they might get in the way of the tabards.

This still is my first approach of building an entire mutiposed model from scratch and i'm still learning but it gets frustrating to see that i might have to scrap half of my work - or even worst all of it if i can't find a way of fixing the hip. You might say that it can't be that bad based on the more recent pictures but i'm somewhat of a perfectionist - a lazy perfectionist to be precise. And as a perfectionist i want to avoid the flaws that my possessed terminator pieces have here and there in my SoB sculpts.

That doesn't mean that this project will end if the problems i see can't be fixed but it might be put aside for a while - or even restarted entirely - if i can't find a way to make it work with what i have.

On the plus side i think that the heavy armor variant is probably easier to fix and whatever happens i'll continue working on it. There is a slight hip issue too but the bulky armor has more room of hiding it as it was never intendet to follow a feminine propotion like my normal SoB models where.
I'l see what this weeks atempt at fixing will bring. Hope for the best.

Have you thought about instead of the two legs attached together at the groin having the groin as part of the torso and each leg attaching separately?
Kinda like:

I know it looks pretty goofy but it's just a way to get the concept across.

That way you could sculpt details to 'hang' over the gap where the legs attach to the torso, effectively hiding them no matter the angle the leg is at.
Obviously there would be some restrictions to the angle at which the leg could be attached due to the detail concealing the gap but I'd imagine there being a greater deal of flexibility than what you're currently dealing with.
I believe that this might also give more variance with leg posing, particularly with the Seraphim SoB.

As for the details to conceal the gap you could simply sculpt a lip/edge to their corset on which you could further attach pouches and grenades

btldoomhammer wrote:I prefer to make everything i can myself but if my model will actually reach a professional level a professional cast with a better setup than mine will be best. So thanks for the offer Jordan but i think a more lokal casting service might be better shipping and timewise. But might come back to your offer.

Absolutely. The set up I have isn't that expensive (actually, my set up cost almost a thousand US dollars, but I insisted on buying industrial equipment). All you need is an air compressor with a tank and a small "pressure pot", along with the attendant hoses, all of which are available at your local hardware store. After that, you're in business and casting just like the pros.

I can write up a more detailed guide if you're interested.

The ideas has it's advantages and it's disadvantages.

This would help in attaching the Torso properly to the body and would also make adding a tabard easier. The legpose would be harder to assemble but more flexible.

But then you wouldn't be able to assemble the model with a slightly twisted torso that easily.

But it got me thinking. How flexible actually are SoB power armor. Their armor looks like corsets and those aren't designed to be easy to move in. Some artwork shows sisters with twisted torsos but those are all looking like they are only wearing leather corsets and not power armor.
Maybe there actually is leather or thicker cloth on SoB armor but it's just bolted on top of the segmented power armor underneath.
This would explain why Sisters can actually move their torsos in something that looks like one solid piece of armor.
Or has the 40K universe a material unknown to me that proves as much protection as solid armor while still remain somewhat flexible?

Is there something on that in one of the GW sources or even the RPG sourcebooks?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Jordan wrote:

Absolutely. The set up I have isn't that expensive (actually, my set up cost almost a thousand US dollars, but I insisted on buying industrial equipment). All you need is an air compressor with a tank and a small "pressure pot", along with the attendant hoses, all of which are available at your local hardware store. After that, you're in business and casting just like the pros.

I can write up a more detailed guide if you're interested.

I have briefly talked about something like that with my father, He is a modeltrain hobbyist and currently tries to build his own small cnc mill. He has a knack at improvising stuff like that. He would help me once he finishes the cnc mill (which migth be interesting for me too). But still it would be helpfull to know what has to be done. I can search for guides but if you have personal experience im interested in your experience - if you have no problem investing the time to write a guide.

And another update from me.

I have reworked the torsos and created the third generation. I think those are the scale i need.


I also have started to create a few heads. Those are all made from the same cast. This is just temporary. I'll create entire sculpts in the future. But those are more or less for testing how everything looks together.


And here is the first mockup of the heavy armor torso. The "hood" still needs some work. But this is just the basic shape. It will be bulked out with actuall details. And the arms are just for scale purpose. I'll create arms that are actually ment for those. And as you can see i used a normal head. My goal is to be able to use the same heads like my other SoB sculpts. I will probably create some helmet variants just for the heavy armor but i like to have the ability to use every head on those.


You might have noticed the fleur de lys design on the torso back. The "side wings" will be turned into vents and there will also be smaller vents below the main body of the "backpack" to complete the pattern. And i'll probably change the design of her butt armor. It looks kinda strange next to the other armor desin.

Look what i did today: Weapons.
Sadly i messed up the chain sword - the chains are in the wrong direction. But maybe i can do something else with it.




And also a bit mor work done on the heavy armor. It has basic arms now with - as always - shoulders that need to be reworked to not be so wide. But i really like where this is going.

Love the fleur concept... very nice.

The Heavy Armor is looking spot on!

 Sageheart wrote:
The Heavy Armor is looking spot on!

Yep agree with that.

And i like the armor as well, something that doesn't always happen with stuff i create. And i'm still refining the armor. It's a slow process as i can only add small details and then have to wait for it to cure. But i might have it finished next week or so. Then i just need to cast it and make variations based on that.

In the meantime i added a few details on the weapons.

I recently remembered that the GW immolator kit comes with a plastic sister model and so i ordered it together with a set of metal models as additional references.
I got the order today and i'm quite happy that the parts i sculpted are really close to the GW parts. Both torso and heads are nearly the same size as the parts on the immolator sprue. YAY. Now just get the final touches on the hip joints and i can start adding the details.

And i have a question for you. What should i put in the offhand of my living saint? i plan on building two weapon arms for her one with a twohander and one with a lance. It might be best to pair up the twohander with another empty hand but the lance could use another arm. I don't like the bird the original model carries. Now i need alternatives. A shield might look decent. One handed lance and a lancer shield would fit together. What is your take on that?


[imagine picture of a power lance]
(I didn't charged my batteries again and the recharger is missing ... )


You have seen the weapons i've worked on and i now have put one sword on a heavy armor arm. I put the melee weapon on the left arm as i think that the main hand should be the shooty option. SoB are a shooty army so the main weapon should be the gun.


[Imagine cool looking heavy armor with one sword carrying arm]

If this is what a single person can achive, how come gw with a whole team of profesional mini designers can't update the SoB ???

Because it took them over 10 years to do the Dark Eldar?

Absolutely amazing work, fairly new into 40k and SoB are by far my favourite army. Can't wait to see how these turn out and hopefully buy some one day.

My vote is for the Lance and the Lancer Shield

A lance would look good. Maybe a small buckler on the off hand?

I've decided to do both the twohanded sword and the lance and shield arms. Then i can use either and also use the arms on other models.

And now with batteries recharged the missing images:

How do you handle having that much talent? It must be bursting out of your ears.

The heavy sister looks bloody excellent and the lance is so S.o.Besque that it hurts to look at. (in the good way of course! )

 Snrub wrote:
How do you handle having that much talent? It must be bursting out of your ears.

The heavy sister looks bloody excellent and the lance is so S.o.Besque that it hurts to look at. (in the good way of course! )

There is a lot of space between my ears i can store my talents And there is also a lot of room for improvements to fill that space. And i'm at it for only 2 years now so there must be room for improvements. And if i can't covercome my unstructured way of working then i can at least build up a lot of sculpting-'instinct' to replace the planning.


Back to more seriousness. I still have to tackle the weapon loadout of the heavy armor. I want to add the holy trinity of bolter - melter - flamer to them. So stormbolters, combibolter(excluding plasma), heavy flamer, heavy bolter( and maybe multimelter?) The problem is how to mount them. I really like the underslung weapons like the autocannon but there are no underslung versions of most of those weapons. (Or am i missing something?) What would be nice is if i could build one arm where i can attach all the different underslung weapons. But that would mean that i have to build my own versions of those guns. But while i did this already for an underslung lascannon for my havocs and my own reaper autocannon for the possessed terminators it still feels a bit like stealing from GW. But i think it is a better solution than just blatantly recasting GW bits.

To make a long rant shot two questions regarding your opinion on the wargear. Should i include weapons like heavy bolter (replacing autocannon ?) and multimelter or stay true to a more classic terminator loadout? Also if i build the underslung weapon arm should i build underslung combi-/stormbolter as well or build them like traditional handheld weapons?

And additionally what is your take on a melee variant? I think of SoB as a shooty army and melee isn't the best in 6th. Woulda melee variant still fit into that?

your chain sword isn't a total waste. you can use it for a chainfist weapon based on the Bloodrayne style sword. i say based on as it would not look right being the same as the bloodrayne, the style wepon i'm imagining would only be a tad shorter than the forearm itself. Just make it so the teeth are pointing back from the hand, and build up the edges of the power gauntlet so that it appears as if the teeth of the sword actually rotate inside the gauntlet to emerge from the front of the fist. You would have to make the sword longer so that it runs the length of the forearm and then extends a bit past the hand. Doing this would make for a perfectly feasible weapon and at the same time also make for an interesting looking model.
for reference purposes:


BTW, when you get this project finished, if GW themselves have NOT produced anything new for sisters, i will also be one of those standing in line to buy casts off of you, to add into my current sisters army. also something else that might help with the terminator nun is the following pics. while i realize there are aspects of this model that do not in any way fit with SoB's, there is also quite a bit about it that does. Hope the suggestions and pics help.

Interesting idea for the chainsword. I don't know if this would fit into the standard SoB style. It would definitely work for repentias but currently there are no plans from me to do those too. But that might change in the future. I'll keep hold of the blade as a reminder that repentias also need some love.

And thanks for the images too. But i have seen them already and don't like the whole model. It just looks like a nun that has donned a big bulky terminator armor. That style totally clashes with the current stripped down power armor SoB are wearing.
But still i thought about getting one for maybe a HQ model of some sort but i don't like the massive propotions those models from hitechminiatures have.

Personally, I say you sling the heavy weapons under the firing arm of the heavy sister, and mount the lance in the other hand.

I think the new sterngaurd kit has a PA sized heavy flamer, maybe use that as the base grip for the underslung weapons. As for the bolters, perhaps attaching the bolter/stormbolters/combibolters like the grey knights, sort of sideways on the arm? This would also give the SoB either a free hand or two hands to grip a two-handed weapon.

The heavy armour is looking amazing and the detail on the lance is great

Wow that model looks sexy.

Lance looks really awesome, is it a bit small though? can't tell from the picture but it looks small.