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True-Scale Deathwatch (24/10 - Guardian of the Covenant)

Commissar Molotov
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Commissar Molotov Venerable Brother

Commissar Molotov

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True-scale Deathwatch Project Thread 

 

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/wp_ss_20160227_0004_zpswyzo6vrg.jpg

 

I've spoilered the first post so that this can be used as a directory of where I am.

 

Hope you enjoy! 

 

Hello.

It feels weird to be creating a new topic on the Bolter and Chainsword; it is my first for many years. There aren't many familiar faces here anymore, but I look forward to starting afresh.

This month marks nine years since I first posted my DIY Chapter, the Castigators. The thing is, in nine years I've never had an army. I've wanted one, but I've never really been able to achieve it in a way that's left me satisfied. One of the primary reasons for that is that I just don't find that the Space Marine models fit my thoughts about the Astartes - how they should be hulking, post-human monsters that sacrifice some of what makes them human in order to defend humanity. A lot of my hobby work in recent years has been in the field of 28mm Inquisitor, and so the Space Marines should stand above and beyond the ordinary humans. The obvious response, therefore, is to build a better Space Marine.

My initial attempts have been sporadic. Based on Sebastian Stuart's Brother Stavus, I first started working with plastic terminators, using power armoured arms. Originally I was very happy with the concept, though it does produce Marines that look like T-Rexes - they have very short arms. In this spoiler tag, you can see some of the work I did on a true-scaled Deathwatch team:

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/TSDeathwatch/Flamer-004.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/TSDeathwatch/ultramarine004.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/inq28/0032.jpg


http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/inq28/Comparison-1.jpg

In recent years, I have moved towards techniques favoured by Apologist, particularly the use of terminator-armour for the arms. Here you can see the next True-Scaled Marine I made - this one a Chaos Marine, made partly with Dark Vengeance bits and partly with the Terminator Lord kit.

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/2014/DarkApostle.png

But it was seeing this Grey Knight by Thomas Kyrsting that changed everything for me. He was the first modeller I'd seen who used Tartaros legs for true-scaled Space Marines, and it seemed to work so well that it ignited something in me. The next project I embarked upon was a true-scaled Black Templar for our next INQ28 campaign:

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/Gottfried_zps12b1f639.jpg

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/Gottfried1_zpsd47d16fc.jpg

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/Gottfried5_zpsb0c832bf.jpg



http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/2014/Gottfried.png

The realisation that so much time has passed and I've not managed to achieve one of my primary hobby goals has spurred me into action. I intend to use this as a thread to collate and spur on my progress towards a small true-scaled Deathwatch Kill-Team.I'm not the most prolific or proficient modeller, so I will no doubt be taking it slow, but I hope that the thread will be interesting to you - and I look forward to your feedback.

I will be posting soon with the progress - such as it is - on my Deathwatch thus far!
Edited by Commissar Molotov
Commissar Molotov Venerable Brother

Commissar Molotov

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Heathens - thank you for the comment, it's certainly appreciated. I've been lurking for a fair while and I've always been very impressed by your projects. I might well be turning to you for advice!

 

Chaplain - thank you - I hope to reward your faith!

 

Bob - Thanks - cool to get a member of the PCRC commenting.

 

So, I said I would show you some of the progress I've made with the Deathwatch thus far. My reasoning behind the Deathwatch was twofold - given that I am not one of these people who'll end up with 10,000 points of every 40k army ever, a Kill-Team allows me to gather together some of the Chapters within 40k that I absolutely love. It allows me to tackle 40k aspects that the Castigators don't have (such as Librarians, for example) - and they work very well with the Inquisition-themed games my group often runs.

 

So, the first Marine to make it into my Kill-Team was a Scythe of the Emperor, a Chapter I've always loved. The idea of having a small force of them would be so cool - holding out against an implacable foe, honour-bound to fight and die. Alas, it wasn't to be. Here he is at the moment. Once again, I have to stress he's incredibly WIP. I attempted to follow the example set by Apologist, but I couldn't find a way to make the arms sit appropriately.

 

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/2014/HeavyBolter.png

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/2014/HeavyBolterandPrevious.png

 

Here you can see him against my previous Sword Bearers Deathwatch Marine. He's made using the legs from the Death Guard Grave Wardens (modified slightly to shorten the tabard), a Legion Tartaros torso, arms from the Dark Angels, a Heavy Bolter from the Sternguard and a bipod from the Space Marine Scouts. The head is from the Sternguard, and seems to be shouting angrily enough! You can see a WIP Shot here which shows how he stacks up against a normal human-sized figure.

 

For me, shoulder pads have been my biggest stumbling block. You saw earlier my Black Templar - it took me something in the order of two hours to cut the plastic strip for his shoulderpads, and they're still not perfect. One other reason for doing some of the Deathwatch before the Castigators is that as all the Deathwatchers are, effectively, veterans, I can get away with some mistakes and cover it up with fancy bling, whilst the Castigators will be that little bit more orderly. Any advice on the shoulder pads would be appreciated.

 

My second WIP Deathwatcher hails from the Sun Titans Chapter - this is simply an homage to Bruticus's Sun Titan (which you can see here). The legs are from the Emperor's Children phoenix guard, and the torso is from a Word Bearers Ashen Circle Marine. Given all my true-scale Marines have had either Terminator torsos or Tartaros torsos, this is a bit of an exception in that it uses a power-armoured torso. A technique that can look good - I was particularly impressed by EdT's Heresy Kill-Teams, but in part this was because Bruticus's original was made the same way. This kill-team will have quite a bit of variation, but I hope they'll all look good together when I'm done. I had considered giving this Marine a heavy flamer to add some bulk to him, but I'm not sure at the moment.

 

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/2014/Kill-Team.png

 

Here you can see my Kill-Team such as it is - I've bought the legs piecemeal off eBay when I could afford them, and they're from a number of different sets. Here you can see the Librarian I started working on - frustratingly, I couldn't get any pictures of him on his own that were in focus. He's taking shape, and is okay, but at the moment a little bland. Annoyingly, I can't figure out a decent Chapter to have him coming from, so I've been a bit uninspired by him - but I do want to include a Librarian in the Kill-Team.

 

Next in my scheme is a Space Wolf, using studded legs from the Legion sprue. WIP pictures of that should comprise my next update. I do have vague plans that I would like to include a Lamenter, a Space Shark (in honour of Captain Tiberius), a Minotaur and possibly another Sword Bearer... and this is where I soon end up with a Deathwatch army!

 

Anyway, I hope this has piqued your interest, and I will be trying to upload more figures soon - once I get a chance to sit at my workbench.

Edited by Commissar Molotov
Hyaenidae Venerable Brother

Hyaenidae

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Heathens - thank you for the comment, it's certainly appreciated. I've been lurking for a fair while and I've always been very impressed by your projects. I might well be turning to you for advice!

 

:blink.:  I'd be honoured to help out in any way I can, brother; My PM box is always open! I'm pretty sure I'll be coming to you for advice first though, lol.

 

Loving the Scythe, the raised collar looks especially brutal.

KrautScientist Veteran

KrautScientist

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Posted

Ah yes, welcome back to the power armoured side of things, Mol! You've certainly chosen a nice project to return to B&C, and I will keep watching this space with interest.

 

As you should know, that Deathwatch Marine of yours was the model that actually inspired me to build my own truescale Marine, and I really think the guy still holds up. Your newest additions are very nice as well. I especially like the bulky, workmanlike quality of the Scythes of the Emperor Marine!

 

I also have to things to share that might prove helpful: One, you should definitely check out ssspectre's Flickr gallery, because his Blood Ravens rank among my favourite truescale models -- maybe you'll find them inspiring as well.

 

Two, since you mentioned getting the shoulder pads right is such a challenge: I'd personally recommend looking at the shoulder pads from the Sternguard kit. While they are not quite as big as Terminator pads, the added detail and decoration serve to bulk them out quite a bit, making them very useful for truescale conversions. I also used a pair on my own truescale marine:

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2014/5/14/612848-Adeptus%20Astartes%2C%20Conversion%2C%20Inq28%2C%20Inquisimunda%2C%20Inquisitor%2C%20Inquisitor%2028.JPG

 

One word of advice, though: If you use these in combination with Terminator arms, you'll need to seriously shave down (or entirely cut off) the upper arms in order for the shoulder pads to fit.

 

Anyway, hope this helps! Looking forward to your next update!

The_Chaplain Venerable Brother

The_Chaplain

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Posted

I really need to second KrautScientist's recommendation for the sternguard shoulderpads- they are absolutely gorgeous to look at, and in my opinion have the bulk needed for your truescale without making you want to pull your hair out! 

apologist Venerable Brother

apologist

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Gorgeous work here, Commissar Molotov. The Scythe with the Heavy Bolter looks amazing, and the Librarian's really promising - far more than just 'okay'!

 

If you're looking for a quick trick that might help give him a bit more dynamism, try turning his head so it faces in the same direction as one of his feet is pointing. It's a cool tip I picked up from the ever-awesome Migsula, and one that I use if there seems something not quite right about a pose. Usually sorts things out for me.

 

The background's fun, too - looking forward to reading more about the White Ork.

 

Oh, one last thing - If you're still looking for a Chapter for the Librarian, can I interest you in a Scarlet Blade? :)

Commissar Molotov Venerable Brother

Commissar Molotov

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Apologist - I'd missed that you had posted here. I've been lurking on your blog for quite a while, and had pondered messaging you for some advice about these - the shoulder pad issue is a big stumbling block for me at the moment. I've lost a little bit of enthusiasm for the Librarian at the moment (though that's alright, you'll see below that I have been doing some work!) Thank you for all the inspiration you've given me through your many blogs. And thank you for posting!

 

Kraut - Thanks once again! You might've noticed that the Golden Legion have dispatched forces to the Swordpoint Crusade - perhaps you might expand your force to a full squad of ten...?

 

So, I have been planning to include a Space Wolves marine in this kill-team for a while. When Stormclaw came out, I bought a copy - (Orks being another force I've been working on, using Nobz to represent Boyz.) The Space Wolves embody a number of different archetypes - the feral wolf, the "noble savage" janissary type, the old-in-the-tooth warrior and the bellicose and garrulous dwarven type. As a result, I wasn't entirely sure what direction to go with in my conversion. I had a pair of Legion Tartaros legs from eBay, and had set those aside for the Wolf, but didn't have any other real plans. The Wolf Lord figure had some nice components, and this conversion evolved very organically.

 

Here's where I'm at at the moment:

 

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/2014/Wolf1.png

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/2014/WolfScythe.png

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/2014/Wolf2.png

 

Now, the helmet probably isn't staying - I just need to decide on a bare head that I like. Still, I like where he's going at the moment. I will be having an out-stretched arm firing a bolter or bolt pistol (just need to find a suitable terminator arm to finish the pose). For this Marine, I'm going to have to shave off the rim on the Deathwatch pad, which I don't think is too much of a hardship. I also intend to embellish him with lots of trinkets, totems and the like - but I was really excited with this and wanted to show you where it was going.

Edited by Commissar Molotov
KrautScientist Veteran

KrautScientist

Posted
Posted

Whoa, I seriously hadn't noticed you mentioning the Golden Legion! That is awesome! Even though there's no way in hell I'll be building a squad of TEN truescale marines, thank you very much, the idea of the Golden Legion fighting in the Swordpoint Crusade has really struck a nerve with me for reasons that I will elaborate on at length in a coming e-mail to you -- look forward to it ;)

 

While cutting up the model for Grom Dragongaze right away seems almost obscenely wasteful, the resulting Space Wolf is nothing short of wonderful -- extra kudos for using the pair of legs with the studded armour! Personally speaking, I'd use a bare head -- mostly because I am such a sucker for bare heads on Marines ;) I'd suggest using either this one (which doesn't look like much in the photo but is really awesome) or this one. Oh, and I could offer you some pretty beefy SW Terminator bolters for the other hand, in case you're interested?!

 

Anyway, wonderful work!

Commissar Molotov Venerable Brother

Commissar Molotov

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Hey, glad he's got a warm reception thus far. Today I went back to my parents' (where my modelling stuff is) and proceeded to rip him apart somewhat in order to adjust him. :sleep.: I've mentioned before that a lot of my conversions happen quite organically - throwing a bunch of bits together and seeing what happens - this has had good and bad effects today.

 

So, here's the Space Wolf as he is thus far:

 

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/2014/Wolf3.png

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/2014/Wolf4.png

 

I've fiddled around with different heads for the Wolf, but haven't settled on one. From my Stormclaw set, I have access to the Grey Hunters and Wolf Guard sprues, but at least one of the heads Kraut pointed to me is from the Wolf Riders (or whatever they're called... Wolfy Wolf Riders of Wolves...) box. I'm not really in a position to order anything more at the moment, so progress on choosing a head for this guy has stalled.

 

After seeing an example from Apologist, I decided that this Wolf would look good with Mk III armour on his arms. I had one set that'd been donated to me by Thistle, and managed to make it work on the axe arm (the other one snapped as I was cutting it, so I haven't progressed with that.) I need to do a little filling and tidying, but I think the axe arm does look good on the Wolf.

 

The bolter arm is a semi-placeholder. The different Terminator arms do limit posing somewhat (at least until I get a bit more creative...) I wanted him to have his bolter outstretched, firing, like the iconic artwork from the old Space Wolves Codex. This arm was just being used to show posing, though I don't utterly hate it - feedback would be appreciated, please!

 

The bolter itself is taken from the Sternguard box - I've modified it slightly by adding wolf teeth underneath the muzzle on the bayonet lug, but beyond that it's stock. I think I'm going to use Sternguard bolters to represent the Deathwatch bolters as it is cheaper, plastic, and can look convincing. Here's one from Jeff Vader showing that.

 

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/2014/Team1.png

 

Here's the Marines I have at the moment - the Wolf seems to fit in quite well!

 

Also, because Apologist asked, here's a close-up on the Librarian. I've gone off him a little since I started making him, and need to have a think about how to improve him.

 

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/2014/Librarian.png

 

Lastly, a very WIP concept of the next Marine, from Bruticus's Sun Titans:

 

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/2014/SunTitan1.png

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z121/mnesimache/2014/SunTitan2.png

 

I used the Ashen Circle torso and Phoenix Guard legs, as Bruticus did. In the first picture, alongside the Scythes marine, he doesn't look too bad. Alongside the Space Wolf, it looks like he doesn't have a head at all. I'm a little unsure about where to go with this. The Space Wolf's power-armoured torso doesn't look too bad because it's quite wide and broad, and the wolf cloak allows me to bulk it out. The Ashen Circle torso will need some plasticard to widen it a little, I think, but I don't know whether to drill out and replace the head, or to remove the torso entirely and replace it with something else.

 

All feedback would be appreciated. Hope you're all well!

KrautScientist Veteran

KrautScientist

Posted
Posted

The MK 3 arm on the Space Wolf looks ace! Really love the look of this guy: Space Wolves seem to profit from truescaling even more than some of the other chapters, because the added bulk and height give all those trinkets and pelts a bit more room without making the model look overly cluttered. Anyway, fantastic job so far!

 

For the librarian, I like him a lot, but have you considered using one of the power armoured GK heads (especially the bare one with the cabling on the side of the head)? The head you have on him now, while brilliant, looks more like that of an arrogant duelist type to me (which is why I chose it for my own Brother Sergeant Auriga).

 

As for the Sun Titan, I think you'll need to keep the head if you want to make him resemble Bruticus's model, but if it's proportion you are worried about, here's a somewhat radical solution: What about cutting off the head complete with collar and using it on top of, say, a GK Terminator torso: Those work great from a proportion perspective, and they are pretty easy to convert into believable truescale armour. Plus the wide open neck area (at least after getting rid of the psychic hood) should lend itself very well to adding that Ashen Circle head on top. You will have to create some new decoration for the chest area, though -- which may not be that much of an issue, seeing how the Marine will be wielding a heavy weapon like that.

 

Anyway, amazing work! :)

Tyrannicide Venerable Brother

Tyrannicide

Posted
Posted

You have the heart of builder, Mol. These are really coming together. The Space Wolf is a great mix of bits, and brings back memories as a kid of my prized 3rd edition Codex with this brute on the cover. I think it's the axe. The pelts flow well with the model's composition. And look at the balls on you, just realized you tore up Krom Dragongaze to source most of the parts.

 

http://i421.photobucket.com/albums/pp299/spencertrimm/slowclap.gif

 

 

Haven't heard of the Sun Titans, but they look imaginative. Any background you could share or link to? I don't think the head looks too undersized, but the torso is in need of bulking and that could lead to some problems with size discrepancy.

 

So… surely the quicker you finish the Deathwatch, the closer we get to seeing some Castigators, eh? :wink:

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