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With the upcoming release of Mk. III armor in the burning of Prospero box, I’m thinking of making some breacher squads for 30k. The problem, is finding good shields. I’ve been doing some looking, and none of the options really seem to be perfect.

I really like the look of Anvil’s ballistic shields:

but they are scaled for guard equivalent, not marines. They do make a MEQ scaled riot shield, but I’m not fond of the look. Over in Anvil’s hread in the N&R section they mentioned that they might re-do their exo-lords range next year, but I’m not sure I can wait that long, and they might not get something I like the looks of. Shipping cost could be an issue, but there are enough things there that I covet that if I pull the trigger for an order, breaking the free shipping threshold is not a problem.

Victoria Miniatures makes some more nice looking ones:

Not sure of the scale on those, the example is carried by what looks to be a GEQ. They also look to be a primarily guard focused business, so getting enough things to fill my cart for free shipping is not going to happen personally. And paying shipping will make the price per shield a little painful. Not completely unreasonable though.

Zinge makes some

Very basic look. Price seems reasonable though.

There is, of course, the official FW upgrade set.

20 pounds, plus shipping, for 5 shields is a non-starter for me, despite how cool they look. Especially as I’d like to get 15-20 shields.

Puppets War doesn’t have any that fit the right scale/look. At least for my Ultramarines. They have some larger ones (look to be for TEQ) and some round greek shields, and some that might be nice for wolves.

Did I miss any manufacturers? I did a bit of searching and think I hit most of the major players. Has anyone tried any of these on marines, and how did it turn out? I’ve heard that the guard scaled ones look more like combat shields, not boarding shields.

For reference, my goals here are to get 15-20 MEQ boarding shields, shipped to the USA, for a reasonable price. “Reasonable” being pretty flexible, but I don’t want to double the cost of the squad here.

Edit: Adding links from downthread:
Some 3D printed ones. Look nice, but pricy. Not quite at doubling the squad’s price, but close (and might bump over that line once shipping and discounts on the BoP box get factored in)
Scibor Minis Bit pricy, very detailed and ornate. More for HQs then a squad of guys IMHO, but some very sexy stuff there.
https://www.facebook.com/MisterLaserShields - Some more nice, but pricy shields.
Bitspudio just released some. Personally not a huge fan of the look, but they should be marine sized and 5 for 8 eur. isn’t terrible.

Only thing I would double check is that I *think* Anvil's shields are for normal sized humans (at heroic sale no less). But they are fairly quick to answer questions if you double checked with them.

 Zaku212 wrote:
Only thing I would double check is that I *think* Anvil's shields are for normal sized humans (at heroic sale no less). But they are fairly quick to answer questions if you double checked with them.

I did check with them. They have an active thread here on Dakka and are very responsive.

In this thread, they responded to my question:

Anvils Hammer wrote:@Nevelon, Haigus is quite right (Thanks Haigus) The Ballistic shields were actually designed for Afterlife, but work ok with regiments.
The Riot Shields are a very old product, they really need replacing with an improved version. The plan is to do a full revamp of the entire Exo-Lords range next year, which is when I will get a chance to work on new shields most likely.

The Riot shields have a flat attachment point, so only really work well with our shield arms, they would not work that well with bolter arms, although you could cut out a segment for the bolter, at which point they might work better.

I still might try to make them work, as of all the options I found really like that look. So might be willing to accept them looking a little small and having to fiddle with the attachment point. But I listed them here for completeness sake, even though I’ve already been warned off them.

There's a few places that do 3D printed ones, but the decent ones aren't cheap - http://www.shapeways.com/shops/popbits for example.

beast_gts wrote:
There's a few places that do 3D printed ones, but the decent ones aren't cheap - http://www.shapeways.com/shops/popbits for example.

Nice stuff there. Refined the link and added it to the OP. Love the Ultramarine ones they have. Don’t like the fact that they run ~$2.50 a shield. The one 3D printed mini I’ve worked with I was not particularly happy with the material, although I’m not sure exactly what quality level it was.

Check out Scibor Miniatures: http://sciborminiatures.com/en_,shop.php?group=155

I've seen the Omega shields being used on marines and they're perfect storm shields, slightly larger than what GW make.

Aspecti wrote:
Check out Scibor Miniatures: http://sciborminiatures.com/en_,shop.php?group=155

I've seen the Omega shields being used on marines and they're perfect storm shields, slightly larger than what GW make.

Wow, very nice stuff there. Bit pricy, and a little too ornate for my taste for equipping a squad of guys with. But good find.

If I wanted to trick out a character, or spice up a small elite unit it might be worth it.

Quick question for anyone who has the official FW shields: How big are they? Length and Width? And if you have one handy to check, how far down from the top of the shield is the top of the hand?

Edit:
Just to keep the numbers together for some of the options I’ve found.

Anvil, Riot : 21mm x 15mm
Anvil, Breacher: 19.7mm x 8.7mm
Victoria: 19mm x 13mm
Zinge: 22.5mm x 13.5mm

While I wait until noon for my FLGS to open so I can pick up a copy of BoP, I thought I’d try to work out a practical to pair with my theoretical breachers.

I’ve got measurements, I’ve got scrap paper, and a ruler and knife. Let’s see how this looks:


I just cut out Anvil’s breachers and Victoria’s, as those are the two I like the looks of the most. And let’s be honest, it’s all about the looks. BaC Mk. IVs are standing in for the Mk. IIIs that will soon be storming the workbench.

Some thoughts:
The anvil shield is on the small side. It is bigger then a combat shield, and smaller then a storm shield, so fits close enough for me to feel comfortable using it as a counts-as. The fact that it doesn’t have a cutout for the bolter should make it easier to attach. Less worry about everything lining up right.

I like the size of the Vic shield. Feels much more like a breacher shield should (similar look to the FW ones). I’m worried about getting the cutout lined up right. They were designed for GEQ, not marines. If they fit, it would be great, but if not would take a lot more work then anvil’s to get right. So the high risk, high reward option.

Still looking for details on the FW ones, or if anyone has any pictures of work done on marines with these shields.

I've got a mkiv unit with the fw boarding shields on. I'll take a pic later for you.

 JamesY wrote:
I've got a mkiv unit with the fw boarding shields on. I'll take a pic later for you.

Thanks. While the odds of me picking up FW shields is very low due to the price, I’d love to see how they compare size-wise with some of the 3rd party ones out there.

I felt the same, until I put them on. Ten man squad and absolutely worth it.

Wouldn't be too difficult to make Anvil-style shields out of plasticard, no?

 prowla wrote:
Wouldn't be too difficult to make Anvil-style shields out of plasticard, no?

If I wanted to make one for a HQ pick, yes, I think even my plastcard skills could pull it off. But I want to make a ~15 man breacher squad, and I doubt I’d be able to get a nice consistent look. It would end up looking cheep and shoddy.

Don’t get me wrong, I am cheep, but I don’t want my army to look that way.

There you go...

Thanks for that! (sharp looking ‘Fist by the way)

It’s one thing to look at pictures on the internet, and read measurements. Quite another to see things built. The FW shield looks to be the same shape/proportions as the one Vic makes, but the size is quite another thing. The FW shield covers head to toe, no marine peaking out. Vic’s is more shoulder to mid-calf (by my mock-up). Can’t fault that, as it was designed for guardsmen.

Also the scale issues makes me even more concerned with the bolter slot on the Vic shields.

You are welcome. The fw ones do line up to make an effective looking shield wall. You can always get a file into the bolter slots and open them up a little, if you went with them.

I am thinking of getting three sets of the Shapeways boarding Shields (blank ones since it is $5 for a symbol...). They have two versions, one with the fist attached, the other with no fist. I am stuck between choosing which I want. If I get the ones without the fist, I would just stick them to the forearm while the bolter is held with two hands. That doesn't sound ideal though. The other option is to get the one with the hand, but I don't think the Mk III kit has the right arms to make that useful, which means alteration to get them to fit.

The Mk. III arm, like the Mk. IV, looks to have a guard on the back of the wrist that would prevent it working with pre-sculpted hands. It’s hard to tell looking at the 360 pic of the Shapeways shields, but you might be fine just carving off the bit on the arm to make a flat connection. It’s mostly going to be hidden by the shield anyway.

I’m still torn on what to pick up. I hope my procrastination on making a decision gives time for 3rd party guys to whip something up. Or even FW to make something reasonably priced.

If you do end up picking up the Shapeways, post some pics with your results. If they look cool enough and are easy to work with, I might swallow my resistance to the price and pick some up. Just not looking forward to shelling out another 40-50 bucks to make a squad look cool.

I am actually quite adept at carving around those guards, but it really doesn't help with the shields. Luckily the guard would be on the Shield side anyway.

I am with you though. I havery plenty of Mk IV Marines to paint before I get to my Mk III breachers. Also, it turns out yellow is a major pain to paint, so each mini is taking longer than normal.

This should give Forgeworld and 3P time to get some shields made up for me to use that will actually work. Otherwise I think I will just use the version without the hand and glue it to the forearm with the miniature holding the boltgun in both hands.

Yellow can be a right royal pain in the ass to paint, the key to working it smoothly is to layer UNDER the yellow before you work into that. Commonly, something like Ushabti Bone is a good undercoat, something close to the yellow shade so you don't have to lay down sixty layers of yellow TRYING to get the coverage.

If you use an easier-to-work paint that is closer to the shade, you'll find it a lot less forehead-vs-desk-inducing.

Sauragnmon wrote:
Yellow can be a right royal pain in the ass to paint, the key to working it smoothly is to layer UNDER the yellow before you work into that. Commonly, something like Ushabti Bone is a good undercoat, something close to the yellow shade so you don't have to lay down sixty layers of yellow TRYING to get the coverage.

If you use an easier-to-work paint that is closer to the shade, you'll find it a lot less forehead-vs-desk-inducing.

I am actually considering going with a black primary color scheme to reduce the amount of yellow I actually have to paint. My yellow color scheme has Averlund Sunset as a basecoat, I then paint the entire miniature in two thin coats of Yriel Yellow. Then I recess shade with Reikland Fleshshade. Then I drybrush with whatever the yellow drybrush paint is. Then I do an all-over glaze of Lamenter's Yellow. It ends up looking pretty good.

Anyway, if/when I get the shields from Shapeways, I will post some pictures here and also some ideas on how to make them work well with the miniatures since I will actually know what I am dealing with. The shields seem to include about half of the forearm, so they might actually fit in a way that the boltgun can go out the gunport. I wish the maker had more images of them and what needs to be done so they fit.

 casvalremdeikun wrote:

Sauragnmon wrote:
Yellow can be a right royal pain in the ass to paint, the key to working it smoothly is to layer UNDER the yellow before you work into that. Commonly, something like Ushabti Bone is a good undercoat, something close to the yellow shade so you don't have to lay down sixty layers of yellow TRYING to get the coverage.

If you use an easier-to-work paint that is closer to the shade, you'll find it a lot less forehead-vs-desk-inducing.

I am actually considering going with a black primary color scheme to reduce the amount of yellow I actually have to paint. My yellow color scheme has Averlund Sunset as a basecoat, I then paint the entire miniature in two thin coats of Yriel Yellow. Then I recess shade with Reikland Fleshshade. Then I drybrush with whatever the yellow drybrush paint is. Then I do an all-over glaze of Lamenter's Yellow. It ends up looking pretty good.

Anyway, if/when I get the shields from Shapeways, I will post some pictures here and also some ideas on how to make them work well with the miniatures since I will actually know what I am dealing with. The shields seem to include about half of the forearm, so they might actually fit in a way that the boltgun can go out the gunport. I wish the maker had more images of them and what needs to be done so they fit.

You got a link to the ones on shapeways your talking about?

str00dles1 wrote:

You got a link to the ones on shapeways your talking about?

These are the ones suggested earlier in the thread (which I assume he is talking about, but can correct me if I’m wrong)

and with the hand:


Both from here:
http://www.shapeways.com/shops/popbits?s=0§ion=%5BBits%5D+Marine+Shields

$18 for 10 blanks without hands, $19 with the hands. Some ones with nice looking chapter logos, but those go for $24 for 10.

Those would be the ones. I would get the blank ones and just put etched brass icons on them.

Thought those were the ones but wanted to make sure. Yea I was tempted to get 20 of them with Fist icon but wow expensive.

Im guessing with hand is the way to go? Then you can cut off hands from the one that holds the bolter stock and just glue it on?

str00dles1 wrote:
Thought those were the ones but wanted to make sure. Yea I was tempted to get 20 of them with Fist icon but wow expensive.

Im guessing with hand is the way to go? Then you can cut off hands from the one that holds the bolter stock and just glue it on?

That’s a guess. It’s one of those things where if it works right, it will work great. But if things don’t line up quite right, it would take a ton more work to get the handed ones to line up then the non-hand ones you just glue to the forearm.

Well I just ordered 20 with hand, so will see how it goes! Wont arrive til the 16th it says so will post pics then

str00dles1 wrote:
Well I just ordered 20 with hand, so will see how it goes! Wont arrive til the 16th it says so will post pics then

Great! It’s one thing to talk about bits and options in a purely theoretical manner, quite another to see them in use.

str00dles1 wrote:
Well I just ordered 20 with hand, so will see how it goes! Wont arrive til the 16th it says so will post pics then

I am waiting for a good coupon code before I order mine. I am looking forward to your assessment of the shields, though. Hopefully they can be oriented with the boltgub arm well enough to fit the Boltgun in the gunport.