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Hi. It's been a while since I did some hobby blogging, mostly due to a lack of time and, more importantly, a lack of focus. But I figured that what I'm currently working on might be quite interesting for other hobbyists out there, especially those who are working on the new Primaris Space Marines.

This blog, or more specifically, the Chapter I'll be talking about, was essentially born out of two things:
1. A desire to better integrate the Primaris Marines into the original Chapter structure
2. A desire to turn the new Primaris kits into their classic counterparts

Later on, these two points were joined by a third, namely the desire to learn more about military strategy, and to apply what I learn to the Adeptus Astartes way of war.

Of course, the above isn't entirely true. While it is certainly what I intend for this little blog, I didn't start this project with those things in mind. I started where most armies start, that being miniatures that immediately caught my attention. But more on that later.

Basically, what I'll do in this blog is talk about the miniatures I'm making in a bit more detail than usual. I'll go over design aspects, fluff concerns, green stuff troubles, modelling observations, and some other things. I won't be updating the blog that often, as my time and focus are ultimately (and unfortunately) rather limited, but I'll do my best to make every update worthwile.

So without further ado, let us begin.

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The Age of Apostasy

It is the 36th millennium.

Goge Vandire, High Lord of both the Administratum and the Ecclesiarchy,
reigns supreme.

For seventy years has he bled the Imperium dry, claiming its resources for himself, preying on its populace, abusing every morsel of power he has acquired to elevate himself above all others. The High Lords are no more than puppets, dancing to his whimsical tune. The people are disgruntled, and in the dark corners and alley-ways of Terra rebellion brews. Only by the might of the Frateris Templar have they been kept in check – for now.

But this is not the only threat to humanity’s future.

Across the width and breadth of the Imperium, scores of planets have been cut off from the Astronomican’s light by massive Warp storms. Their governments are in turmoil, the streets of their homes plagued by anarchy and treachery as malign cults seek to overthrow Imperial authority. Those planets still reachable are held in Vandire’s iron grip, his spies and armies everywhere, ever-present, ever-watching.

Meanwhile, the Xenos and Heretic stir.

Ork Warlords rampage across the galaxy, Eldar raiding parties strip colonies bare, and the traitorous forces of Chaos pour from the Eye of Terror. Every day, more planets fall silent, never to be heard of again.

But there is still hope.

On the isolated world of Dimmamar, a young preacher has become the face of the resistance against the tyrant. His Confederation of Light has sparked an uprising that ripples outward from the Segmentum Obscurus, drawing thousands of followers to their side. The masses quickly find themselves backed by other, more powerful institutions, such as the Astra Militarum, Adeptus Mechanicus, and Adeptus Astartes, who had been ignorant of the sad state of the Imperium due to the severity of the Warp Storms.

Now, under the auspices of Sebastian Thor himself, a push towards the Throneworld is launched. His followers burn a path to the Segmentum Solar, each conquered planet bringing them closer to their final goal: deposing the errant High Lord.

On thousands of worlds, the battle for the Imperium’s soul rages. Guardsmen, Skitarii, Astartes and common men and women stand side by to reclaim what is rightfully the Emperor’s, and they will not rest until their duty is done.

This tale follows but one group among many, many more who fought – and died- in those terrible, dark times…

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01: "Oh captain, my captain"

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Whilst browsing GW's website I stumbled upon the Lord-Celestant, one of the Stormcast Eternals many heroes (seriously, nearly a fourth of their entire range consists of Hero characters). Below is a picture of the golden giant:



I've seen plenty of people turn Stormcast Eternals into Space Marines, and I myself have done something similar by turning them into Custodes. But this model caught my eye because I found its pose rather similar to that of Vladimir Pugh, who was Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists for some time (pictured below).



It also caught my eye because it has some questionable design choices, the most egregious of them being the tiny hammers attached to his cloak. Which he uses in battle somehow.

Anyway, when I discovered it, I had already spent some time delving into the Imperial Fists' lore, as I find them to be an interesting bunch. Both their particular warrior culture and their way of war intrigued me, as they were so beautifully described in the Horus Heresy books.

However, once I started reading about the Fists in the current era (that being 40/41k), I found them to be a bit... bland. Some call them the most 'vanilla' Chapter of the First Founding, and I have to say that I can't really disagree with that. It's also noticeable in the way people build and paint them. Compare the Google search "wh40k Ultramarines conversions" with that of "wh40k Imperial Fists conversions" and you'll see what I mean. In the former, you'll see plenty of Roman-esque bits popping up, like gladii and helmet crests. In the latter, you'll just find regular Space Marines with the occasional fancy weapon. The Fists seem to lack a visual identity, something that seperates them from their peers.

Then again, I'm not being entirely fair. The Fists, like all the other First Founding Chapters that don't belong to the "Big Four" (being the Dark Angels, Ultramarines, Space Wolves and Blood Angels), don't get unique units, or upgrade packs, or anything else that could give them that visual identity.

However, those other Chapters do mange to have a 'basic' visual identity. For the Raven Guard, it's beakie helmets, jump packs, lightning claws, or more stealthy-looking warriors with sniper rifles or silenced bolters. For the White Scars it's bikes, top-knots, lightning bolts, wicked-looking melee weapons. For the Salamanders it's flame weaponry, lava bases, giant dragons, etc. So it's certainly possible to have a visual identity without having an upgrade pack with Chapter-specific bits.

The Fists' main problem in that regard, in my personal opinion, is that their characteristics and specialties don't lend themselves to establishing a visual identity. Because what are the Fists good at? Holding the line, with bolter and blade (or power fists and thunder hammers). Protecting humanity's holdings across the stars. One could say that they also do crusading pretty well, but that's become the Black Templars' main shtick.

So we've got a group of dedicated defenders who like bolter weaponry and power fists. And thunder hammers. Is that enough? Can we do something with this? I think we can. One could use stuff like the new Devestators' legs or the MKIII Iron armour to really sell the 'defender of humanity' aspect.

But I also think we could do more.

And that's where the Lord Celestant model comes in.

Because you see, his armour tells me something. That giant lion head on his torso, and the other lion motifs on his armour, tell me that he's courageous, unafraid to meet the worst the universe can throw at him. That he's proud and perhaps even noble. That he's able to tear his way through hell and come out the other side, battered and bruised, but unbroken.

These are aspects I associate with the Imperial Fists too. So I figured that the Lord Celestant model would be the perfect starting point for a bad-ass Imperial Fists captain conversion (in the new Primaris scale, by the way). As the idea started taking shape in my head, I attempted to make a concept drawing, with the emphasis on 'attempt'. I'm not terribly great at drawing, but it did help in solidifying the idea.


He's not wearing a set of massive speakers or car tires on his back, by the way. Those are supposed to be jump pack turbines.

As you can see, my idea would require me to chop up the Lord-Celestant quite a bit. Replacing the shoulder pads and legs would be the biggest challenge, as both of these did not really lend themselves to modification.

This drawing also shows the elements that would form the core of this model's visual identity. You have the Iron Armour helmet and shoulder pads (although the latter are not truly recognizable here), the lionhead torso, the Iron Halo, his gladius and thunder hammer, and the tabard and mantle. These help establish the character as a Captain of a Space Marine Chapter, but also start tying him to the Imperial Fists specifically.

Once I had acquired the necessary bits, I started the actual conversion work. Here are some pictures of the first stage:



Cutting away the original shoulderpads was mostly a case of finding the right angle to cut them at. It was a bit trickier to remove the left shoulder pad, as it ends on that circular badge, requiring me to cut around it very carefully. The left leg was a bit easier, as it was a seperate piece, but finding a suitable replacement for it took some thinking. I eventually setted on using legs from the Deathwing Terminator kit. I left the right leg as it was, as I was afraid of accidentally ruining the tabard.

The second stage consisted mostly of finalizing the choices I made in the first stage. The left leg got patched up with green stuff, and the right leg got its foot replaced with a terminator one.



This last, small change made the armour look a lot more like Power Armour. It wasn't difficult to accomplish, either, and required minimal cleanup afterwards. I also added some battle damage in this stage, as it tied into his personal fluff (more on that in a later post). I also added two other things that helped with the model's visual identity, these being a wrist-mounted Storm Bolter and an Imperial Fists shoulder pad.



The latter is probably the most overt way of tying a model to a specific army. The former was an addition I made out of practical concerns: sure, a gladius and thunder hammer are nice and all, but what if the enemy is far away? Also, the Imperial Fists love their bolter weaponry, so it's a fluffy choice as well.

I realize I haven't really talked about the Captain's weaponry yet, which is a mistake I will now rectify. You see, originally, this Captain was meant to be the Acting-Captain of an Imperial Fists garrison that got invaded during the opening of the Eye of Terror. He and his brothers would wage a suicidal guerilla war agains the forces of Chaos, using jump packs to strike fast and strike hard. The gladius and thunder hammer were then supposed to be a symbol of both his martial prowess as his desperation, in the sense that he would take whatever weapon he could get his hands on to fight this losing battle.

Now the above boils down to 'I just thought it looked cool', but in light of what I've written above, one could also approach them differently. Namely, from the perspective of the Imperial Fists themselves.

Because what do these weapons say? One could see them as representing the Chapter's twin duties, namely defense and offense. The gladius can after all, be seen as a defensive weapon. They were meant to be used in combination with a massive shield that covered whoever was wielding it. The Romans used this tactic to great effect during their battles against the Gauls and Britons, where they just let the enemy come to them and then stab them in the guts once they had crashed against their shields. So for an Imperial Fist, the gladius could signify their role of defending humanity, cutting down those who would come to destroy the Imperium.

The thunder hammer, on the other hand, is an offensive weapon, made to crush the enemy and bring ruin to its walls and holdings. While wielding such a weapon, an Imperial Fist is basically saying: "I'm coming for you, your home, and everything you hold dear."

Now you might be saying "Ezra, you're just pulling gak out of thin air", and you'd be totally right. I didn't really think about these weapons that hard whilst I was putting the model together, but I'm not writing this to impress you all with the revelation that certain bits can be used to tell a story, as I'm fairly sure most of you know that already. I'm writing this to give an example of how they could be used to that effect, and more specifically, how they can be used to make the Imperial Fists more awesome than they already are.

Anyways, we conclude stage 2 with some dry-fitting, making sure that all the parts fit where they should be fitting.



One last remark before I continue to the final stage: the backpack. Space Marine armour isn't complete without one, so I had to figure out a way of mounting one to the model's back. In the end, I just took the back part of a Space Marine torso, sliced off the boxy part, and glued that to the back of the miniature. This allowed me to mount the backpack quite easily, and to test quite a few of them without having to apply much blu-tack to them.

Stage 3 consisted mostly of finishing up the model with some final details. The most important addition here was the mantle.





Whilst it did make me a bit sad that I had to cover up part of the shoulder pad to make this piece look proper, I believe the end result was worth it. The green stuff part nicely covers the gap between the badge and the original cloak, and makes the model look slightly more regal and Captain-like.

And with that I conclude this post. The Captain has been fully glued and is ready to be primed, although I still have to figure out how I'm going to base him - and the other chaps I've got in the works...

Here's a final picture of him, in glorious black and white:



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Phew, this took a long time to write. I hope it isn't too wordy, but I just wanted to give as much insight into what I was doing - and why - as possible. I hope you enjoyed reading this, and if you have any questions, critiques, or anything else, don't hesitate to leave a comment

That is some well thought approach to modeling, thanks for redacting those, they do tell the story, and indeed bring more color to the whole Imperial Fist legion.

Looking forward to the paintjob, and the rest of your Imperial Fists, although that is a bit loyalist-ish for me ^^.

Oh, and welcome back to dakka old friend !

 KernelTerror wrote:
That is some well thought approach to modeling, thanks for redacting those, they do tell the story, and indeed bring more color to the whole Imperial Fist legion.

Looking forward to the paintjob, and the rest of your Imperial Fists, although that is a bit loyalist-ish for me ^^.

Oh, and welcome back to dakka old friend !

Cheers! It's good to be back

It might take a while before these guys see any paint, I'm afraid, as the weather in my country isn't what you could call 'optimal for priming'

Well... That's certainly one way of starting a blog.

You make an interesting and well reasoned point about the aesthetics of the founding legions in regards to upgrade kits and all. So many good upgrade kits could be made for the other 1st founding chapters.

Another visual key that you might consider using tois bones. The Fists are big on their scrimshawing, it being part of their warrior culture. Bones and skulls of their fallen comrades attached to belts and pauldrons, etc, would help distinguish not only your army as a whole, but individual models from each other. Your standard battle-brother might only have one or two bones, where as ol' Captain there might have a veritable ossuary hanging off his back.


Looking forward to seeing where this project takes you!

 Snrub wrote:
Well... That's certainly one way of starting a blog.

You make an interesting and well reasoned point about the aesthetics of the founding legions in regards to upgrade kits and all. So many good upgrade kits could be made for the other 1st founding chapters.

Another visual key that you might consider using tois bones. The Fists are big on their scrimshawing, it being part of their warrior culture. Bones and skulls of their fallen comrades attached to belts and pauldrons, etc, would help distinguish not only your army as a whole, but individual models from each other. Your standard battle-brother might only have one or two bones, where as ol' Captain there might have a veritable ossuary hanging off his back.


Looking forward to seeing where this project takes you!

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed my analysis, it's a damn shame we don't get more of those upgrade kits But on the other hand, it does allow us to figure out our own way of making the Chapters stand out from one another, which is a fun little challenge in and of itself

Also, I have to admit that I completely forgot about the Imperial Fists' scrimshawing habits Thanks for reminding me! I'll see if I can find ways to add those to my Fists - and purity seals, because I completely forgot about those too!

Loving the model - the larger Primaris scale is brilliant for doing these flavoursome conversion schemes!

 Sgt_Smudge wrote:
Loving the model - the larger Primaris scale is brilliant for doing these flavoursome conversion schemes!

Indeed! I'm really enjoying myself with these new kits, the larger scale makes these conversions a bit easier to pull off, even with my limited skills!

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02: Project Outline and Inspiration

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In my previous post, I mentioned my intention of turning the new Primaris kits into their classic counterparts. I did not elaborate on this point then, but I feel that it is necessary to do so before we proceed. It is, after all, pretty much the reason why I started this project in the first place.

Because whilst I do certainly like the Primaris Marines, I do think they are lacking in some areas, not only fluff-wise but also in terms of modelling. Don't get me wrong, I think the models are fantastic from a design perspective; the improved proportions make them a joy to look at, and to work with. But whilst they do 'read' as Space Marines, I feel that there's something missing. By themselves, the Primaris are too... generic, too uniform, to truly 'feel' like the Space Marines we know and love.

However, one could argue that the basic Space Marine kits have always been this way. After all, if you look up Tactical Squads on Google Images, you'll find that one person's Tactical Squad doesn't differ that much from another's. Sure, there will be small differences that set them ever so slightly apart, but it's mostly the paintjob that separates one from the other. But the fundamental difference between the Primaris and Space Marine kits is, in my opinion, that the Primaris kits are so generic that the colour scheme becomes the only thing that separates armies from one another.

The main reason for this is of course the fact that most people got their Primaris through the new starter sets, which contain only monopose figures. So most Primaris you'll see online are effectively clones of one another. But there's two things that actively make the Primaris look more generic than they should, and those are incompatibility and uniformity. By 'incompatibility', I refer to the fact that there's precious little overlap between the existing range and the new one. Sure, heads, shoulder pads and backpacks can be replaced, and, with a little bit of work, weapons can be swapped out for other options from the arsenal. Whilst these are certainly opportunities for kitbashing and some conversion work, the fact is that ultimately very little of the Primaris' "body" can be altered.

To illustrate this point, let's look at some Tactical Marines and some Intercessors. I've chosen to take two broadly similar pictures, so they can be compared fairly.





At first glance, they don't look all that different. The Marines in both pictures are pretty much identical to their squadmates, barring a difference in pose. However, closer inspection is required. Once you start looking deeper, you start to notice the little details in the Tactical Squad. Their legs are slightly different, as they represent older armour marks. The same thing counts for their torsos. But even beyond that, there are differences. Their helmets don't all have the same amount of tubes on them. One of them even has extra rivets on it. One of them carries a large ammunition pouch on his belt, whilst another wears several smaller ones. The armour plates on their arms are split in segments in a pattern that differs from Marine to Marine.

Compare this to the Intercessors. Their legs and torsos are identical for each and every warrior. Their arms are the same. Their helmets are again, completely the same. Even the stuff on their belt is pretty much identical for every soldier! This is what I meant with the point 'uniformity'. Everyone looks the same too much. There's not enough creative room to give every Primaris Marine enough individual character.

So in short, there is way less variety on display in the new range. And that bothers me. But on the other hand, this is also one of the reasons the Primaris kits have so much potential. There's so many ways these kits can be toyed around with, and several people already have. These people, of which I'll name a few, are also one of the main inspirations for this blog, and this project.

- Apologist (whose blog Death of a Rubricist should be familiar to many of you) has created some great Blood Angels from the Dark Imperium Primaris, drawing inspiration from a Blood Angels army that featured in an old White Dwarf issue. His version of Erasmus Tycho is a good example of how the new kits can be used to recreate the things that make Space Marines so great in the new scale.

- Spaced Hulk (from the Bolter & Chainsword forums) has influenced me more directly, as it is his (awesome) Sword Bearers blog that inspired me to go into greater detail in my modelling. His Primaris conversions are also stellar, with the main highlight for me being his Lord Revenant model.

- Our very own Krautscientist has also done some great work with the Primaris Marines. His Deathwatch models are a joy to behold, and his attention to detail is inspirational.

Of course, there are many, many more hobbyists out there who are doing great things with the Primaris kits. The above are but a sample of what is possible with the kits, and I would advise everyone interested in doing their own thing with the Primaris to cast their net far and wide - who knows what awesome work you might find!

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I realize that, at this point, I have actually said very little about what it is I actually want to do. What I actually aim to do is recreate the appeal the Space Marines had for me when I first got into Warhammer all those years ago. I'd like to create miniatures that tell a story, that look at home in the world they are supposed to inhabit. That look and feel like actual Space Marines from a specific Chapter (in this case, the Imperial Fists), that aren't just a carbon copy from all the other Space Marines out there. I want to have a true "Your Dudes" project, if you will

But this led me to an important question: what defines the Space Marines in my mind? What do I consider to be their core elements?

The answer to this question followed out of the opportunities I saw in the Primaris kits. In the Intercessors, I saw a way to make nicer-looking Marines. In the Reivers, I saw a way to make the Scouts look less... well, I shouldn't have to explain what's wrong with those guys. And in the Aggressors, I saw the base for scaled-up Terminators.

I like to call these three units (Scouts, Marines, and Terminators) the "Classic Triad", as they are -to me, at least- the fundamental elements of a Space Marine Chapter. They represent the journey a warrior takes through his life as a Space Marine; from newly-recruited Scout, to Battle Brother, to battle-hardened veteran of the First Company.

To this Triad I'd like to add a few elements that call back to my own history with the Space Marine range. The Captain is one such addition, but I'll also be adding a Predator tank to this project at some point. And after that, well, who knows

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So there, that about wraps up this post. My apologies if it wasn't terribly exciting, but writing this all down does help me figure out where I want to take this project in the future The next post will probably be about my Reivers-turned-Scouts, which should be more interesting

Well that post pretty much sums up my views on the Primaris marines to a T.
It's a far more eloquent post then what I could ever write though.

 Snrub wrote:
Well that post pretty much sums up my views on the Primaris marines to a T.
It's a far more eloquent post then what I could ever write though.

Well I figured that if I'm going to ramble a bit, I might as well do it eloquently

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03: Reivers to Scouts Conversion

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So, Reivers.

The first time I saw the new Primaris 'terror troops', my first thought was "What the hell is up with these guys?". Whilst the concept behind them is sound, if somewhat silly (aren't Space Marines supposed to be terror troops already? Also, the Night Lords say hi), their design doesn't mesh with that concept very well.

Let's have a look at them, shall we?



Here we see a GW-standard Primaris Reiver. We know that these guys are supposed to be terror troops, but do the models actually sell that idea? In my opinion, not so much, and my main two reasons for this are as follows.

First off, the skull helmets. Yeah yeah, we get it, skulls are scary and grimdark, and in the right context, they can actually make a model look legitimately terrifying in-universe (like FW's Night Lords Raptors, or regular Chaplains). However, these skull helmets don't even look like actual skulls. They look like a cartoon drawing of a skull. I mean, in the picture, the skull almost appears to be smiling. Which does not really telegraph "I'm a scary terror super-soldier" to me. And the weird thing is, GW has plenty of experience with skull helmets, so you'd think they'd be able to make better-looking helmets for these guys. Compare the above with the chap below, for example:



Now that's a skull helmet. You can also see what I mean by 'proper context here'; the skull helmet's underlying message is amplified by the ribcage modelled on the model's torso. Although to be fair, I suppose there was a need to differentiate between the Chaplains and the Reivers, so they couldn't go all-out with skeletal decoration.

Another reason why the skull helmet doesn't really work is the fact that the Primaris are clearly meant to look more 'tactical'. The Reiver's armour exemplifies this aspect of their design, with its sleek appearance, advanced soft armour and the gear atttached to it. Now I do actually like this development, as I think that Space Marines should look a bit more like actual soldiers, but it does occasionally clash with the Space Marines' original design philosophy. Here, the tactical look clashes with the concept of the skull helmet, lessening the strengths of both.

But the 'tactical' Reiver armour is not without its problems, either. For me, the biggest issue are their legs. The first time I actually had a good look at their legs, I wondered if the Space Marines were planning on making an appearance in Blood Bowl. Their legs don't look like advanced, sleek Power Armour to me, they look like futuristic football gear.

Long story short, I didn't really like the Reivers all that much in the beginning. But I saw potential in them. Because the sleeker armour, their weapons, and even their concept screamed to me "Turn me into an upscaled Scout Marine, please".

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So after acquiring some Easy to Build Reivers, I started thinking about how I was going to turn them into Scouts. That also required some research into Scouts and their organisation, which helped me define their core design elements. I also spent many hours looking at some of the lovely artwork that exists of Scouts, of which you'll find a few examples in the spoiler tag.



Adding the typical design elements of the Scouts (such as the fatigues, the silenced weaponry, the shape of their armour, etc.) proved to be a bit of a challenge. The fatigues were relatively simple to add; I just covered the legs and arms in green stuff and made indentations along the edges to give the appearance of cloth that's squeezed between armour plates and belts. The tubing around the neck was also rather straightforward to add, requiring a carefully rolled green stuff sausages and a piece of plasticard tube.



I also added a plate of armour on the abdomen, as regular Scout Armour has one there. Weirdly, all the other Primaris have an armour plate there, the Reivers are the only ones that don't

The back was more difficult to get right. Scout armour is normally smooth on the back side, with some power cabling at the top. The Reivers, however, wear regular Power Armour, and thus, have the same back as regular Marines. My solution was as follows.

I cut off the backpack attachment point on the Reiver's back, leaving a nice flat surface there where it had been. I then took one of the Primaris backpacks, sliced it in half, and cut off the bottom trapezoid. This piece was then attached to the Reiver's back, and a transition between the back and the halved power pack was made with green stuff. The result is as follows:



So with the armour more or less done, I could focus on some other elements. The silenced Bolt pistol was made by combined a Sternguard Bolt pistol with a bit of plasticard tube. I tested a variety of heads, which made me realize that it's very easy to get distracted whilst building Space Marines; there's so many options, so many ways to make your Marines stand out just a bit more. But this also makes it easy to lose sight of what you're actually trying to say with a miniature, or what your miniature is supposed to represent. The best example of this is the helmeted Scout below; sure, it looks cool, but it makes the Scout Marine look less like an actual Scout Marine because the helmet has other connotations, in this case with MK IV armour.



I eventually decided to use the head pictured below, as it seemed rather appropriate with its serious gaze and comms unit. This head also convinced me to turn this guy into the Scout Sergeant, which influenced later design choices. Another thing I tried was to switch out the weapons, but I ran into the same issue as with the heads. Yes, a Scout sergeant wielding a Power Fist is awesome, and perhaps fitting for an Imperial Fist, but a Power Fist isn't exactly a subtle weapon. And subtlety is important for Scouts.



Once I had chosen all the models' main design elements, I started adding some details to mark him out as a sergeant (a veteran one at that, as they often lead Scout squads) and as a member of the Imperial Fists. To this end, I added a scrimshawed skeletal hand on his shoulder pad, a purity seal on his back, and a small cross-shaped badge from the Sternguard kit to his belt. The skeletal hand was made from the foot of an AOS Black Knight, with its toes cut down a bit and a small spike added on top. I also added a rolled-up cloak to the bottom of his backpack, which was made from carefully rolled-up green stuff.









As you can see in the pictures of this final stage of the modelling, I also based the miniature. As the Imperial Fists are urban combat experts, I figured a 'ruined city' basing scheme would be appropriate. I cut down part of an old Ruins of Osgiliath piece and added some sand and rocks to it before mounting the Scout Marine on top. Simple, perhaps, but rather effective in my opinion.

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The weather is unusually nice this time of year, so I managed to get this guy primed yesterday. I've put down some of the base colours already, and am already regretting my choice of working from a black undercoat. Oh well.

Here's a (very rough) paint-in-progress picture, which should give you an idea of where I'm going with this:


I still have a lot of clean-up to do, but he's coming along quite well

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Phew, that took a while to write down. If you guys have any questions regarding the modelling process behind this chap, don't hesitate to ask

Very cool reflexion on the scout, and the product looks brilliant, can't wait to see his battle brothers.
Kudos on staying on track too, I know I would have kept that powerfist ^^, but you made the right fluffy choice !

I like a plog which has an eye for individuality and one that examines minis and customisation consider me subbed! I've enjoyed reading what I've seen so far.

KernelTerror wrote:Very cool reflexion on the scout, and the product looks brilliant, can't wait to see his battle brothers.
Kudos on staying on track too, I know I would have kept that powerfist ^^, but you made the right fluffy choice !

Thanks! I was so tempted by that powerfist though, I very nearly gave into that

lipsdapips wrote:I like a plog which has an eye for individuality and one that examines minis and customisation consider me subbed! I've enjoyed reading what I've seen so far.

Welcome aboard! Glad you like my analyses, I'm really enjoying this more detailed approach to modelling

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I did some more work on the Scout Sergeant, he's pretty much done aside from a few little things (which I'll fix once I've recovered from my experience painting yellow over a black undercoat)

Behold, Scout Sergeant Ludo!









I'm thinking of adding just a little bit of weathering here and there, but I'm slightly terrified of ruining the yellow now, so I'm hesitant to test it What do you guys think?

I like your conversion very much !

Once again, I agree with you on all points, regarding the reivers. Armour was a big miss and the helmets are stupid and not scary.

Your conversion is grouse though. Very well executed. And even better with a coat of paint slapped on it. The scrimshawed hand is a great little touch too.


I agree with Kernel though. Should'a kept the powerfist.

ordoteutonicus wrote:I like your conversion very much !

Thank you! I had great fun making it

Snrub wrote:Once again, I agree with you on all points, regarding the reivers. Armour was a big miss and the helmets are stupid and not scary.

Your conversion is grouse though. Very well executed. And even better with a coat of paint slapped on it. The scrimshawed hand is a great little touch too.

I agree with Kernel though. Should'a kept the powerfist.

Thanks for the kind words! And that Power Fist's going to keep haunting me, isn't it?

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04: 'Mole' Pattern Escape Pod - Terrain piece/Objective marker

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So whilst working on the Scout Sergeant, and more specifically, his basing, I kept thinking that I should really make (or buy) some terrain to go with these guys. The new Killzones are very tempting in that regard, as they not only provide some scenery kits to work with, they also include a nice game board to put them on! But I've already spent quite a lot of money on miniatures in the past few weeks, so I'm holding off buying one of the Killzones until I feel like I've 'earned' it, so to speak. And I have trouble deciding which Killzone I'd like to buy, so I'm also buying myself a bit of time to think things through

However, whilst browsing around in my FLGS, I found a Dystopian Wars Vorkuta--Class Land Driller in the bargain bin, in which I saw the perfect foundation for a terrain piece...

Introducing the 'Mole' Pattern Escape Pod!







"Capable of transporting a single individual in relative safety through a planet's upper crust, the 'Mole' Pattern Escape Pod sees widespread use by Imperial Governors, who equip their Palaces with several of these devices so they and their families can be spirited away to other locations should the need arise. Coordinates can be entered and saved into the Pod's cogitator, after which the device will automatically calculate the most efficient route to said destination. However, these Pods require constant maintenance and re-blessing by members of the Adeptus Mechanicus due to the fragility of their internal components, which is something most Imperial Governors see as an expensive waste of their time and money. This laxity has lead to catastrophic malfunctions, leading to the deaths of many members of Imperial nobility as they end up trapped beneath the surface, or re-emerge inside hostile territory."

And here's a scale shot with Scout Sergeant Ludo:

I've been following your blog recently and I have to say, I've really enjoyed how in depth you've gone with your thought process into the Primaris marines. I'm not sure I'm a fan of the new primaris marines yet style-wise but I'm looking forward to what you're going to do with them, especially after seeing what you've done with the reivers, your sergeant looks great!
Going back to your initial post, I'm a huge fan of your conversion of the Lord Celestant, I really like the short sword paired with the hammer.

Hey that's cool. The base is really well executed. Looks like a proper upheaval of earth.

Will it count as anything in game or is it just a show piece?

Tyranid Horde wrote:I've been following your blog recently and I have to say, I've really enjoyed how in depth you've gone with your thought process into the Primaris marines. I'm not sure I'm a fan of the new primaris marines yet style-wise but I'm looking forward to what you're going to do with them, especially after seeing what you've done with the reivers, your sergeant looks great!
Going back to your initial post, I'm a huge fan of your conversion of the Lord Celestant, I really like the short sword paired with the hammer.

Thanks for the kind words!

Snrub wrote:Hey that's cool. The base is really well executed. Looks like a proper upheaval of earth.

Will it count as anything in game or is it just a show piece?

Thanks! And I think it can serve as both; it'd make an interesting objective marker I think

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05: Terrain and Scout Markings

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Apologies for the lack of updates recently, uni has started again so my hobby time has decreased considerably. I've been doing a lot of thinking in the meantime however, mainly about where I want to go with this project. The new iteration of Kill Team has piqued my interest, and I've been thinking of turning my Fists into a little Kill Team so I can actually use them on the tabletop. This, however, raised other problems, and ideas. Because playing Kill Team not only requires a, well, Kill Team of your personal choosing, it also requires a board to play on and terrain to fill up that board. And perhaps an 'opposing force' Kill Team to act as the foil for my Imperial Fists...

In other words, I have far too many ideas floating around my head, which is making it hard to focus on finishing the Fists themselves. So I've decided to formulate some rules for myself that will hopefully prevent me from going on a mad impulse-buying-spree.

The first rule is as follows: Do not buy something unless you intend to work on it right away. This is mostly meant to encourage me to actually finish the building stage of models, which is something I tend to get stuck on once the novelty of the new shiny wears off.

The second rule is somewhat related to the first: Do not buy something unless you can completely finish it. This is to prevent models from ending up in modelling limbo because I don't have a certain bit yet. So I won't be buying anymore Space Marines until I buy another Crimson Fists upgrade pack, as the two shoulder pads I have left from the previous one are meant for the two other Scout Marines.

The third rule is perhaps the most important one: Do not buy something you're not going to be using for your Imperial Fists. This is the most direct way of preventing myself from getting distracted by other projects. The only exception on this rule is terrain, with the caveat that said terrain must actually tie in to the 'ruined city' basing theme my Fists have.

The above rules may sound a bit silly, but I think it's useful to have them written down. Also, it's somewhat fluffy, as the Imperial Fists themselves are pretty code- and honour-bound in their daily lives, although I will be skipping the 'enter the Pain Glove as punishment' part of their code of conduct

That said, let's get on with the more interesting part of this update, namely the stuff I've been working on in the background. After building the Escape Pod terrain piece, I felt the urge to get me some more terrain. I spent some time looking at the Kill Zones, but my girlfriend managed to convince me that scratchbuilding terrain from bits and bobs is way more fun, and also less likely to burn a hole through my wallet. With that in mind, I started looking for suitable materials, and managed to come up with the following:



A Power Plant / Silo / Important Civilian Structure! Of course, the above was just the first stage of the modelling process, as there were many parts that needed tweaking or expanding.



I finetuned the entrance and mounted the top part more firmly on the bottom part. It was rather fiddly to put together properly, as my superglue refused to cooperate.



The top part was still rather under-detailed, so I added some structural/decorative beams to its sides.



And here's the final, primed stage; I added some rivets to the entrance, the beams, and the upper part. As you can see, it's quite big, proving excellent cover for Scout Sergeant Ludo

Speaking of the Scout Sergeant, I recently added two minor details to him, the first being his company badge (displayed on his left kneepad - not exactly Codex compliant, but I think Scout Sergeants would be allowed to wear it), and the second being his squad number (displayed on his right shoulder pad).




I'm still on the fence whether or not I should add some weathering to him, and if I should paint his eyes. Thoughts?

Do not buy something unless you intend to work on it right away

Bloody hell. If we all stuck to that rule, GW never would have gotten of the ground in the first place! But I admire your attempt at will power.


The terrain is simple yet effective. Nice LoS blocker and not to over-wrought. Crazy over the top terrain is good, no mistake. But I often like the simpler stuff better.

As for Ludo, yes to battle damage, maybe just whites for eyes.

 Snrub wrote:

Do not buy something unless you intend to work on it right away

Bloody hell. If we all stuck to that rule, GW never would have gotten of the ground in the first place! But I admire your attempt at will power.


The terrain is simple yet effective. Nice LoS blocker and not to over-wrought. Crazy over the top terrain is good, no mistake. But I often like the simpler stuff better.

As for Ludo, yes to battle damage, maybe just whites for eyes.

Hah That may very well be true

I'll try my hand at some battle damage once I've cleaned out my workspace again; I must confess that I've drifted off course a bit, as I found myself working on a Terminator... more on that in a later update!

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06: Intercessor to Marine conversion

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So, Marines. I think I've mentioned most of my issues with the new Primaris kits in the second update, so I won't be repeating those points here. I will reiterate the importance of variety, however, as it is a rather crucial element of the analysis I'm making in this blog.

Now to tell the story behind the following miniature properly, we must go back in time a bit. More specifically, several months (even years) before the idea for this project began to form in my mind. You see, the Primaris kits had come out just recently at that point, and their potential had been obvious to me from the get-go. However, at said moment, I had no interest in delving too deep into them, so I refrained from picking up the Dark Imperium starter set. I did end up buying the Easy-to-Build kit for the Intercessors, as I just couldn't resist the temptation of toying with the new shiny models that had just come out.

At the time, I was working on some Horus Heresy Word Bearers, so converting them to something more chaos-y was the natural next step. Two of the Intercessors were ritually sacrificed- I mean converted into Gal Vorbak, and one of them even got fully painted before my attention was diverted elsewhere (in my defence, I did prime the other one too, I just never got around to painting him). The result you can see below:



However, I did run into a bit of a problem. The two Gal Vorbak were made from whatever mutated bits I had acquired from random bits lots on eBay, and after building them, I didn't have any suitable parts left to convert the last Intercessor. I figured I could find some other use for him later, and I did try several things, like turning him into a Grey Knight, or a regular Space Marine. For a while, he just sat there in a shelf, waiting for me to finally finish him.

Time passed, and when I dug him out of the shelf, I was busy working on some ideas for a WH40k roleplaying campaign set on a planet in the Inwit Cluster. As the Imperial Fists' "homeworld" is Inwit, I figured that they would have some garrisons and other outposts on the Cluster's planets. The Intercessor would be turned into an Imperial Fists Battle-Brother stationed on the world of Inwit V, where my adventure would take place.

And so began the first stage of this modelling process. Before I actually started making the model, I looked up some more artwork, to get a feel of what Imperial Fists Marines look like. And there's a couple of really nice pieces out there, the following two being the most influential for this particular model:





As the Intercessor I had left had an 'advancing' pose not unlike the Marine in the first picture, I figured I could make a little homage to it. So I cobbled some bits together and ended up with this:





There were a lot of elements that needed improvement. I didn't particularly like the Intercessor's legs, so I decided to smooth them out with green stuff. I also took some inspiration from regular Marine legs, and added the lines and vents that are typically seen on them:



Another element was the torso. I really wanted to achieve the 'classic' Space Marine look, so the flat armour plate on the abdomen had to be replaced with some cabling:



At this point, I decided that I wanted this guy to be a bit more special, so I decided to turn him into a Sergeant. This was basically a classic case of 'fiddling with the many awesome Space Marine parts and rolling with what looks cool', something that I am now trying to steer away from as it leads to some unfluffy design choices. In this case, I gave him a fancier-than-usual shoulder pad, and an Iron Halo (which Sergeants usually don't get to wear):





As you can see, I also added some extra gear to his belt. I also added a little throwback to the regular Space Marine legs by adding a purity seal to the lower part of his leg.



I also decided to swap out his Bolt Rifle for a regular Boltgun. It just looks so much better with the new scale, and the Bolt Rifle unbalanced the model too much.



And here he is with his buddy, Scout Sergeant Ludo, now sporting his Chapter's icon on his left shoulder. Annoyingly, the Reivers are slightly bigger than the Intercessors, so my Scouts are going to look taller than the Marines they are supposed to become I've also decided to make him a Lieutenant, rather than a Sergeant, so the Iron Halo isn't too unfluffy.

So am I happy with the end result?

Yes and no.

I'm happy because he looks awesome, and will look great painted, but I'm also frustrated by the fact that I basically ignored the lessons I posited in a previous update. Then again, at that point I hadn't figured said lessons yet, so being frustrated about it is basically pointless.

What I really want to add is that there is still much to improve upon. I haven't really experimented a lot with the armour here, as I really only changed the back of the legs and some minor details. If I ever get some more Intercessors, I'll definitely search for ways to add the variety I spoke of earlier to these figures. There's also need of improvement in the area of 'making these Marines look like Imperial Fists'. I added a little reliquary with a bone in it to his belt, and a couple more purity seals, but these are not enough. Again, if I get more of these guys, I'll be exploring these things a lot more.

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So what's next? Well, our Lieutenant here (named Davios, by the way) has been primed, so I can start painting him whenever I feel like I'm up for painting yellow again I've also been working on a Terminator in the meantime, and the two other Scouts are going to get built at some point too. I'm also thinking of ways of expanding these guys into a Kill Team, but I think I'll try to turn them into a Shadow War Armageddon Team instead.

So in short, lots of stuff coming, so keep an eye on this thread!

Davios looks sweet, definitely compares well with the artwork of marines and in my opinion, looks better than the intercessors.
Also, your Gal Vorbak conversion is excellent, Heresy Word Bearers are a really interesting faction (even though I dislike Lorgar).

For the terrain, pick up some cheap impact adhesive or two-part epoxy glue. It’ll stick faster and stronger than superglue, which abhors shiny packaging plastics. I use impact adhesive loads when making terrain because it sticks better, and because I’m too impatient to wait for PVA to do its thing.

Tyranid Horde wrote:Davios looks sweet, definitely compares well with the artwork of marines and in my opinion, looks better than the intercessors.
Also, your Gal Vorbak conversion is excellent, Heresy Word Bearers are a really interesting faction (even though I dislike Lorgar).

Thanks! Glad you like Davios, I'm pretty happy with the way he's turned out And I'd love to do some more things with my Word Bearers; I still have a squad of Tartaros Terminators that needs painting...

JohnnyHell wrote:For the terrain, pick up some cheap impact adhesive or two-part epoxy glue. It’ll stick faster and stronger than superglue, which abhors shiny packaging plastics. I use impact adhesive loads when making terrain because it sticks better, and because I’m too impatient to wait for PVA to do its thing.

Thanks for the tip!

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A little update. I've started work on the second Reiver-to-Scout conversion, and I've managed to get most of the green stuff parts done in one sitting. Here's what he looks like at the moment:





The cloth didn't come out as nicely as last time, especially around the arms. I hope it won't be too noticeable once he's primed. In retrospect, I should probably not try to do all the cloth parts all at once, as that just adds more time pressure to the whole thing.

One thing I've noticed is that the ETB Reivers tend to have somewhat awkward leg poses. My 'fix' for this issue is simply cutting off one of the legs and placing it at a slightly different angle, which works well enough for these guys as I can cover up any mishaps with green stuff

The next step will be to add the rolled-up camo cloak to his back and the rebreather device on his chest/neck. I'll also turn his Bolter into a silenced one, although part of me really wants to swap it out for that fancy Plasma pistol that came with the MK III marines...

Congratulations on once again making nu-marines not suck so much.

The bolt rifle>bolt gun is a swap that i've been waiting for, but yet to see. And it looks as good as i'd hoped it might.

I wouldn't worry about the cloth around the arms too much. Once painted with some concealing highlights I don't think it'll be too noticeable. Have you thought about adding some camo cloaks?

Your scout reiver is looking good, and like Snrub said, some paint will change the look of it!

Snrub wrote:Congratulations on once again making nu-marines not suck so much.

The bolt rifle>bolt gun is a swap that i've been waiting for, but yet to see. And it looks as good as i'd hoped it might.

I wouldn't worry about the cloth around the arms too much. Once painted with some concealing highlights I don't think it'll be too noticeable. Have you thought about adding some camo cloaks?

Thanks for the kind words As for the camo cloaks, I gave Ludo a rolled-up one on his backpack, and was planning on doing the same for the others, as I don't think I'm up for sculpting a cloak like that with Green stuff

Tyranid Horde wrote:Your scout reiver is looking good, and like Snrub said, some paint will change the look of it!

Thanks! Let's hope so!

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Another little update. I've been steadily working on the second scout conversion, here's a look of what he looks like at the moment:



Apologies for the extreme blurriness of this picture, my phone seems to have crapped out a bit.



Most of the green stuff work is done now, but I still have to finish up the thing on his neck, and add a rolled-up camo cloak to his back. After that, I'll just be adding a few minor details and then he's all set!



And here's a comparison shot with his Sergeant.

There's also been some progress on the painting front; as the above shot shows, I've added a tiny bit of weathering to Scout Sergeant Ludo (of which better pictures shall follow soon), which means he's officially 100% done! (that is, until I find some other little thing to add to him)

I've also started work on Lieutenant Davios. I got the first few base layers done, still have a lot of work to do but he's shaping up nicely I think







And here he is next to Ludo:


Weirdly, the yellow on Davios is turning out a lot brighter than it did on Ludo. I'm assuming it's just due to the fact that Davios has only 4 layers of yellow on him at the moment (Ludo had 6), but still, it's a bit odd.

Quick update:

I managed to finish up the green stuff work on the second Scout conversion:





As you can see, he now sports the typical Scout armour collar-thing and a rolled-up camo cloak. All that's left to do is adding some sand to his base and adding two tiny straps to the indentations in the camo cloak.

I've also been doing a lot of thinking about how far I want to take this project, as I keep bumping into new, fun ideas that would be nice to work on... More on that later

Scout 2 is coming along well. A whole squad of those will look super characterful.

Interesting, that the yellow on Davios came out lighter then the Ludo. Did you maybe skip a round of shading?
It's also really unfortunate that he suffers from being exactly the same height as the "scouts". It's not so apparent when you look at Intercessors against reavers. But when you see tactical-intercessor against a scout-reaver is becomes super obvious.

 Snrub wrote:
Scout 2 is coming along well. A whole squad of those will look super characterful.

Interesting, that the yellow on Davios came out lighter then the Ludo. Did you maybe skip a round of shading?
It's also really unfortunate that he suffers from being exactly the same height as the "scouts". It's not so apparent when you look at Intercessors against reavers. But when you see tactical-intercessor against a scout-reaver is becomes super obvious.

Thanks And a squad of these would look nice indeed! Maybe I'll pick up another box of ETB Reivers once I'm done with these guys

As for the colour issue, I think it's a combination of Davios only having 4 layers of yellow thus far compared to Ludo's 6, and the fact that there's no other colour to really balance out the yellow on Davios like the grey fatigues do for Ludo

And yes, it's silly that the Intercessors and Reivers are pretty much the same size. Granted, Ludo is a bit of an exception, as he's positioned on a slightly bigger piece of rubble, but the similar heights are indeed a problem. I'm not sure what I could do to fix that, but I'll keep looking for a solution for that

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09: Lieutenant Davios, reporting for duty

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After what feels like eternity, I've finally finished painting Lieutenant Davios of the 7th Company! Painting him took a lot longer than expected, mostly due to the vast amount of clean-up work required (I couldn't put a single colour down without accidentally smudging the yellow, go figure). I think the end result is worth it, though, as he looks pretty damn nice- in my own, ever-humble opinion of course

Here's some pictures of him:












Might have to touch that shoulder pad up a bit more...

There's been a couple of other things going on in the background as well; I've written a bit of lore for these guys, and have found them a suitable time and place to be in - but more on that in a later update. I've also acquired a new set of ETB Intercessors, which I intend to convert into some more classic Space Marines. So in short, more stuff to come, so stay tuned