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So, I was wondering if anyone might have some ideas on sprucing up a model to look cool, but this model isn't a Space Marine. Astartes are bigger, with more armored surfaces to embellish, and they tend to be more "larger than life". If you were making something more human, however, though still of notable importance, how might you go about making the Guard General, the Canoness, or the Inquisitor look more noticeable? (I jus realized that two of those examples wear, or can wear power armor, too ) I have some ideas on what I want to do to make it stand out, with a nice sword, an inferno pistol, and a green-stuffed coat, as examples, but he's still going to be Guardsman/Storm Trooper scale, so I was wondering if anyone else who had felt like customizing a Guard General, or something similarly "not 8-foot Superman" had any ideas to spice up my character? Thanks much, and have a good one.
Give them something to stand on, even if it's just a rock. See how the plastic commissar kit has him raised up slightly? Beside troops, it gives him a sense of station.
Give them purity seals on their weapons and cloaks. Very few humans have those in comparison to SM, so it would be someone important to be blessed.
Colours go a long way. Gold and brasses are linked with hierarchy.
- Faces and bases: Give them a fancy base as suggested, but also pay special attention to the face, a lot of the faces (particularly on the metal minis) are very characterful, try and bring that out in the painting. Add some scars or facial tattoos or something like that if it fits.
- Try and give the model a nice open pose. In an army where most models are going to be hugging their Bolters/Lasguns across their chests, an open, dramatic pose will give your commanders a lot more presence.
- Add some cool gear. Grenades on the belt, a Servo Skull hovering over the shoulder, purity seals and hanging ornaments, that kind of thing. Even better if it can be painted to add a spot colour that stands out as well.
Well, this is cool. After a few other threads, I sort of expected no replies. Since I got a decent handful, I'll give some of the rough idea of what the piece will look like.
Spoiler:
Some of this has been said before, and making multiple threads on him might get similar looks to necroing the older, abandoned ones, so I'll hide this bit.
Aedan Qel-Drake is a Rogue Trader, so he might look a little different than your typical not-Space Marine mini, with some weird stuff, some xeno stuff, and whatnot. The overall idea uses a Tempestus Scion as a base. He'll be in black attire, with light green and gold carapace armor. If you've seen the Tempestus Scion fig, the coat is going to have a scale motif green-stuffed over it, and be a darker, more Salamanders shade of green, with gold details, and whatnot. As a young man, he looks a bit like Kili, from the Hobbit, but that was WAY to spendy to buy, when it was even in stock, just to cut the head off of one of three minis, so the current plan uses this mini's head to give him that young, swashbuckling look. Making the hair work with the coat collar might require greenstuff. He is equipped with a red-steel inferno pistol, that I'm bumming from a Canoness I have (I HATE the flamer musket Hereticus ones ), and he'll use a pewter-age Banshee sword, which will stand out a bit against the current ones. As for the base, I plan to make him on a regular infantry base, even though I'll never get to field him in a real game, and then i was thinking, if just for "cool practice", I'd make a bigger base, be it a Terminator one, or a bigger, walker base, that I can insert his base into, so he'll look cool, but could still be legal; his stat block turned out to be a bit cheese, so he'll never be "legal", but it's something I'm thinking of.
Aedan is young, and rather "baby-faced", in the eyes of his peers, so scars are something he's avoided, and he's sparse on tubes, and cybernetics, too. Right now, that's a bragging right for him.
I'm still not sure what I want to do for his base, whether he's standing on a pile of loot, in the hold of his cruiser, or if he should be on more typical ground.
...
Ah, good. This post was the one that did it. It amazes me, sometimes, how quickly a thread can just zip toward the bottom of the page, on this forum, do to all the busy projects. Oh well, definitely some good answers, and it'll eventually have to come down to me just backling down, and doing the project, won't it? Once I figure out what to do with his base(s), I should be good, as the rest is mostly figured out; I just need to hope my greenstuff-attempt pans out, on his coat.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/02/15 14:33:07
What I've done with my guard commander is to use a 3rd party miniature. Napoleon x (http://kabuki-models.com/stand-alone/40-napoleon-x.html) is holding no weapons, which makes him unusual in an army where everyone has a gun or sword.
As for painting, I used the army colours but cleaner, no weathering or dirt. He and his command squad are based on treadplate rather than the yellow grime that the rest of the army are covered in and their boots still gleam with 'ardcoat gloss.
I find that Astartes and space Elves will have stolen all the dramatic poses for themselves and will likely be more intimidating with their giant swords or powerfists and crested helms.
Consider whether your human is a stone cold killer, a boisterous bruiser or a meticulous planner, whether he's on the battlefield to preside or lead the charge.
If he is there to kill things, put a lot of work into making his weapons unique, through intricate script, careful conversion etc.
If he's more resourceful than killy, get bits to show it, supplement his carapace with canisters and pouches, belt straps and bandoleers.
Doing this stylishly and not turning him into a Necromunda bountyhunter festooned with gear can be a challenge in itself.
If he'll rarely hit the table, get a display base going. Buy or scratchbuild a gothic throne and some crates/chests for the display and then get some nail art glitter for coins. You can have a throne surrounded by piles of gold and 'exotic weapons/artifacts from a thousand worlds' vibe by including some eldar and mechanicus bits.
He can Captain Morgan on a crate of gold and ammo.
I have no real idea what it might look like, in the end, but one idea I am having for the larger, "showcase base" would be to get a Karamazov Throne, if Ebay has any cheap, and maybe spiff that up into the Exalted Wyrm's command throne, upon which Aedan sits, when his ship is in battle, maybe with one or two of his Maidens overseeing something next to it. Aedan won't be designed to sit on it, but it is something my brain sees as "iconic" of a Rogue Trader, and easier, in my head, then somehow making piles of coins, when my greenstuff skills aren't in existence, yet. I suppose one nice aspect of it is, if I make the base right, and don't like it, or come up with another idea, I can always make a second showbase, and socket the Qel-Drake mini into it, storing this idea in a box. Not sure if I'll go with it, or if Ebay will have an affordable Krazypantsoff (I've already done a full Karamazov, so I don't need a second that will look like him.) On the plus side, Karamazov will even come with the dreadnought-scale base, so I won't have to buy one. It's a thought, anyway, if I can imagine what the floor of a ship bridge looks like.
venkelos wrote: then somehow making piles of coins, when my greenstuff skills aren't in existence, yet..
Yeah but you don't need to sculpt the coins from GS.
Nailart glitter from your friendly neighborhood girlshop, comes in rivet size discs, hexes stars and beads. They're useful for modelling rivets, but you make a lump of polystyrene or GS or whatever, then cover it with this stuff and superglue. Voila big pile of credits. You spray it black, drybrush on gold and give it a wash of copper or whatever. Pick out a few coins in silver
I'll be doing this when I find an opportunity but don't now I'm using hollow hexes as hexnuts for machinery and ironwork.
) I have some ideas on what I want to do to make it stand out, with a nice sword, an inferno pistol, and a green-stuffed coat, as examples, but he's still going to be Guardsman/Storm Trooper scale, so I was wondering if anyone else who had felt like customizing a Guard General, or something similarly "not 8-foot Superman" had any ideas to spice up my character? Thanks much, and have a good one.
~2800 points 
), and he'll use a pewter-age Banshee sword, which will stand out a bit against the current ones. As for the base, I plan to make him on a regular infantry base, even though I'll never get to field him in a real game, and then i was thinking, if just for "cool practice", I'd make a bigger base, be it a Terminator one, or a bigger, walker base, that I can insert his base into, so he'll look cool, but could still be legal; his stat block turned out to be a bit cheese, so he'll never be "legal", but it's something I'm thinking of.
It amazes me, sometimes, how quickly a thread can just zip toward the bottom of the page, on this forum, do to all the busy projects. Oh well, definitely some good answers, and it'll eventually have to come down to me just backling down, and doing the project, won't it? Once I figure out what to do with his base(s), I should be good, as the rest is mostly figured out; I just need to hope my greenstuff-attempt pans out, on his coat.
