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... I want to model some for a (pretty gruesome!) 'destroyed vehicle/heavy weapon crew' marker.

The thing about burned bodies is that they don't tend to have any clothes left; converting an existing (clothed) mini will mean having to remove all its clothing, so I'm thinking ... maybe paint some near-naked zombie type mini's in shades of black and grey?

Have any Dakkanauts done anything similar, with pics?

Also, for any grimdark fluff experts: is Imperial Guard or Space Marine armour likely to burn, or would it melt instead?

I'd imagine that anything capable of burning/melting space marine armour would be hot enough to completely disintegrate the flesh within the armour.

Painting charred skeletons might work. Like Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru

I'd agree, it'd be much easier adding charred clothing and flesh then taking it away.

My thoughts, exactly, Medium of Death. Something like Wargames Factory's skellies (which are naked, and thus fit any genre, let alone faction, of humans) would do nicely. Stipple on a bit of texture here and there for the lingering meaty bits, basecoat a dark red, then drybrush heavily with black.

On the burning armor question: I'm no fluff expert, but I don't believe it would. Blasted, crushed, and torn apart, yes. Melted, too (if melta weapons can supposedly turn SM vehicle armor to slag, I'm sure it can do the same to PA). But not burning. I would assume that SM who succumb to flame weapons die not from the fire burning away their armor, then their flesh, but to the intense heat "boiling them in their shells" or the flames burning away more vulnerable joint ribbing or hoses and entering that way. There may be references to the contrary, but that's what jives with me.

I think fluff-wise the SM PA has a ceramite coating which if this is a ceramic (I would assume) is probably there for the heat resistance. As was stated, joints would probably be screwed but if it stopped most of the burning their heightened immune systems, etc would probably save them. The one thing I wonder is, do SMs typically have a source of oxygen? If they were fighting space they'd obviously have it, but is it a standard feature in PA in any environment? That is one of the big killers with flame weapons - that much fire uses A LOT of oxygen.

Also, I just saw Intimate Enemies last night, a French film about the Algerian War. If needing inspiration or ideas for the burned corpses there's a scene in there with the "special drums".

I did a bit more research last night and, for completely charred bodies, skeletal remains - skulls, ribs, limbs - are prominent.
I have some Wargames Factory skeletons that are ideal for that - I seem to use more of that box I bought for making scenery than for building troops...

It might be possible to hollow out an IG torso and to insert a ribcage, to show the effect of burned flesh inside a hard shell, or to disjoint an SM's armour, hollow it out and piece it back together with segments of bone visible at the joints.... Oh, the possibilities!

Mantic Zombies could also be used for the not-so-burned parts. Mix them up with the skellies and the possibilities are endless.

dethork wrote:
The one thing I wonder is, do SMs typically have a source of oxygen? If they were fighting space they'd obviously have it, but is it a standard feature in PA in any environment?

Yes, it is standard to PA. In the second BA Omnibus, there are several scenes of marines fighting both in space and underwater without any extra equipment (other than the sergeant's advice to "check your seals"). All these Blood Angel marines were helmeted at this time. However, in Ragnar's Claw, the main character is dragged underwater without a helmet, and this passage follows:
"His armour had switched into oxygen recycling mode. He was in no danger of drowning for the time being. Systems designed to keep him alive in the depths of space would have no trouble doing so here."
This suggests that the armor has the ability to oxygenate his blood, most likely through the same interfaces which allow the synthesis and distribution of various drugs and chemicals.

 tekno000 wrote:

dethork wrote:
The one thing I wonder is, do SMs typically have a source of oxygen? If they were fighting space they'd obviously have it, but is it a standard feature in PA in any environment?

Yes, it is standard to PA. In the second BA Omnibus, there are several scenes of marines fighting both in space and underwater without any extra equipment (other than the sergeant's advice to "check your seals"). All these Blood Angel marines were helmeted at this time. However, in Ragnar's Claw, the main character is dragged underwater without a helmet, and this passage follows:
"His armour had switched into oxygen recycling mode. He was in no danger of drowning for the time being. Systems designed to keep him alive in the depths of space would have no trouble doing so here."
This suggests that the armor has the ability to oxygenate his blood, most likely through the same interfaces which allow the synthesis and distribution of various drugs and chemicals.

Ok, that settles the question of oxygen. The main thing I would think would be a problem would be the seals then. Silicone gaskets using current technology can currently handle up to ~350 deg F, and I would bet with current technology levels we have ones that go much higher (think about the heat of an Apollo re-entry vehicle). I think it is safe to say that in many cases a SM would be pretty flamer-resistant (as evidenced by their 3+ armour save). Rolling that 1 or 2 represents a bad seal, detonating ammo, or some other such "oh crap" situation.