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

[That Guy Matt]

I ran out of likes for the today or that would have got one.

[The Scythes]

Chiming in after reading through the entire thread; great work Molotov - obviously I'm a complete fan of the Sothan ;)

 

Just getting back into modding truescale marines myself, big inspiration here.

[Commissar Molotov]

Thanks for the post (and bringing this back to somewhere near the front page!) 

 

Your models have always been really inspiring for me. This guy: 

 

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

 

...came about partly as a result of your Brother Stavus model, and whilst my truescaling technique has altered somewhat since then, I have always been inspired by your Scythes. I definitely had to include one in my background! I like what Black Library have done with the Scythes, especially the idea that all the "malcontents" in the Chapter were shipped off to the Deathwatch. I enjoy the idea that this Scythe might see his service as a punishment, rather than an honour. Fuelled by resentment, bitterness and rage, he won't let any mere xenos get in the way of his eventual return to the Chapter - and his reckoning with Thrasius... 

 

As a reward for stirring me from the depths of the warp, here's the current WIP of the Scythes' Chapter pad. I know you use the single scythe, but the double-scythe has always been the one I associate with the Chapter. 

 

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/Scythes_zpsggh2cjtu.jpg

 

Should look decent once it's painted up! 

[Grizzly_bear]

Yaaaaay some scythe loving again from you good sir lol Edited October 30, 2015 by Grizzly_bear

[The Scythes]

Huzzah - and crossed Scythes is the full iconography, so all sorted there (The single is for scouts.)

 

I had little to go on way back in the day; so the single Scythe stuck - long before GW started giving them some expanded art etc.

 

Lovely work as ever, look forward to updates on the rest of the team. Been great this cross-polinating of ideas and inspiration in our various work.

 

I should start on resurrecting Stavus in the new livery of my project; still debating truescale or a better proportioned 'normal' marine.

Edited November 3, 2015 by The Scythes

[Commissar Molotov]

Well, over a month since my last update, but something nice: 

 

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/Calthian2_zpstiutanac.jpg

 

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/Calthian1_zpsjn1jmyji.jpg

 

This is my first pass at a true-scale from the Betrayal at Calth Praetor. I haven't had a look at the Cataphractii sprue, but I was able to pre-order the Praetor from Bitzbox.co.uk. 

 

I don't want to give him a power fist, really (as I figure it would take something away from the Crimson Fist in my squad) but I liked how the current set-up makes him look a little like a deep-sea diver. Nicely chunky. I need to work out an arm set-up so that he can have a chainsword and Deathwatch bolter. 

 

No idea what chapter he belongs to, as yet! 

[KrautScientist]

I actually expected you to try something like this and was really looking forward to seeing the results. And rightly so, the conversion is looking excellent!

 

Maybe you should be using arms from the Stormcast Eternal Liberators on him, as doghouse remarked just the other day how they make for the perfect, true-scaled Mk 2 arms? I think they might work really well with the massive, ostentatious Praetor armour.

 

Any idea what kind of head you'll be giving him?

[Commissar Molotov]

Hey, thanks for the comment and the compliments! I have missed working on my Deathwatch, but I have been severely lacking in funds and haven't been able to pursue them.

 

I have tried some heads, but obviously it is still a work in progress. Some of it depends on the Chapter I choose for him. I've looked at some of the brutal and utilitarian heads from the FW Dark Angels and Iron Warriors. I am planning to cut the gorget a little shorter to allow people to see the Marines' head.

[apologist]

The baroquely decorative armour gives him the feeling of a Brazen Claw to me – perhaps you might look at the heads from the Kataphron sprue, or the Enginseer from the Kastelan robots?

[Daemon2027]

A Minotaur might fit nicley with armour style. He does look very good so far.

[Commissar Molotov]

So, the Deathwatch are here! 

 

 

It's been a long few months since I've been working on my Kill-Team; I've gotten relatively little done, in part due to my punishing work schedule and lack of free time, and in part because of the constant rumours that GW were working on a Deathwatch release. The Overkill box has surpassed all my expectations, and allowed me to forge ahead. 

 

Once I get my hands on the Deathwatch sprues, I will be proceeding to cut, chop and shave away all the relevant bits and details to be added to my truescales. I've had a bit of a love/hate relationship with these guys, because they can either look incredibly intimidating and imposing, or they can just not quite go right. There have been a few times where I've gotten some of these guys to being 98% complete and then I've just had to take them apart to rework them. 

 

Here's a snap of my current workbench (my Lamenter and Scythe are currently away battling the daemons of the postal service and should appear imminently. 

 

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/Deathwatch%20Feb91_zpslwde9esp.jpg

 

From left to right, we have: 

 

- My White Consuls Apothecary, who needs a new shoulderpad (more on that later) and a new lamp on his backpack. 

 

- My Black Templar. Since we last saw him, I ripped off his arms and I tried to give him new ones. In this guise I'm trying to give him a guard stance, looking over his blade. I'm not sure if it works incredibly well, but the outstretched bolter arm I gave him hadn't worked out. 

 

- My Sword Bearers Champion. His sword blade broke (it was fixed with polycement, but I need to give him a new blade.) Whilst he perhaps needs a little more detail on his legs (or his chest) I want to give him a Deathwatch bolt pistol in his shield hand. I've thought about giving him a standard, but I'm not sure. I'd like to use plasticard to give his shoulderpad a trim. I'm not sure about what to do for the head. Perhaps to give him a new helmet - the head from the Deathwatch Imperial Fist might be an idea. 

 

- My Blackshield Librarian. I am planning to give him the head from the Blood Ravens Librarian. I've had a lot of trouble with this model, in part due to his legs and feet. Something Apologist said to me before was that a model should look in the same direction as one of his feet. This model has had a few different iterations, but I've sort of settled for giving him a casting hand - either open or closed into a fist - but I like the idea of the model looking over its left shoulder and having his arm bent at the elbow. I've just struggled for a while what to do with him. I definitely want him to have a back banner, but I'm stuck between giving him the one from Librarian Ezekiel (which, unfortunately, is only available in metal) or Castellan Crowe (but with a new banner top.) 

 

- My Crimson Fist. I want to rework his legs and his chest. I need to give him a new-style Mk VI helmet with the grills. His Deathwatch bolter needs repairing.

 

- My Space Wolf (who is nearly totally finished) - I want to replace his bolt pistol with Chaplain Cassius's Deathwatch bolt pistol. My biggest issue has been finding a suitable head for him. I've had trouble deciding on a personality for this Space Wolf.

 

 

In the background you can see my Betrayal at Calth Praetor conversion (which has a bit of an odd pose, due to the twist in the body) and my Iron Talons marine, who again is armless. I think he might end up with the combi-melta from the Iron Hands Marine. 

 

I realise it might not be the most exciting update, guys, but it is a promise for more. I hope that you guys can see where I'm coming from and heading towards!

 

++++

 

I was very excited to see that Overkill included a Terminator, allowing me to get my hands on the classic Artemis-style Deathwatch shoulderpad (ish). 

 

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/Shoulderpad01_zpsqmvptfcb.jpg

 

The slight disappointment for me is that it has the "notch" typical of Terminator armour, but the fact that it included the elbow shield (is there a technical name?) separate from the arms allows me to retrofit some of my Deathwatchers to fit the aesthetic. I will be using plasticard or greenstuff to restore that, but I don't know if I'll be using purity seals or the like to make it look a little more like power armour. 

 

Of course, it does mean I'll need eleven of them...

 

I'm a little disappointed that the deathwatch bolter in the set comes with the supporting hand moulded on. I am hoping to be able to use the bike's ammo feeds, shaved off, on a sternguard bolter to retrofit it.

Edited February 28, 2016 by Commissar Molotov

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

Awesome. No other words.

 

Well, OK, maybe 'Wow'.

 

And 'when will there be paint?'

:)

[Dantay VI]

If you are struggling for the metal deathwatch boltguns, I have about 15-17 of them kicking about...

[Commissar Molotov]

Hey!

 

I have some of the metal deathwatch bolters, but I feel like they look far too small compared to the newer plastic ones. That's why I was excited to see a new style plastic Deathwatch bolter in the boxed set. The only problem is the supporting hand, which is moulded to the bolter. However, I'm confident that I can recover it!

[Commissar Molotov]

So, I got a postal delivery today and received two of my Deathwatchers that've been on secondment! A friend of mine sculpted the chapter symbols for these two guys for me. 

 

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/Deathwatch%20Reinforcements_zps6mknvo7v.jpg

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/Deathwatch%202_zpsdcxit9kr.jpg

[Olis]

Lovely work all round, brother. :tu:

[Argent aquila]

Can't wait for more!

[JackDaw]

Great to see that you're gearing back up with these Molotov, looking forward to seeing what parts you cull from the Overkill sets to finish these guys off - its going to be quality work whatever you do.

[Magos Kasen]

Those are superb.

[Daemon2027]

Really glad to see you continuing to build these guys, they are lookin really excellent.

[Commissar Molotov]

Thanks to all for the compliments and comments. 

 

Today is the release of Overkill, and thanks to a generous donation by a friend, I was able to get my hands on the sprues. I'm hugely impressed by the Deathwatch models, which I think are a boon to collectors. They're somewhat limited, but when GW releases multi-part Deathwatch (and they will), I think they're going to be fantastic. 

 

Excuse the shoddy photographs - I was just desperate to get something up today.

 

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/Lamenter1_zpsy6shfrvy.png

 

My Lamenter was the first model to receive a new-style Deathwatch pad (from the Salamander terminator.) This guy is almost completed now - I just need to fill in his shoulder pads and (possibly) replace his bolter with a new-style Deathwatch bolter. 

 

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/Librarian1_zpsyah7igmt.png

 

My Blackshield Librarian, Tancrede, has received the head from the Blood Raven. I also gave him a shinscroll and a reliquary from the same model, as well as a book from Chaplain Cassius (which'll just need a little bit of GS to be neatened up.) The face had an unfortunate accident where I dropped the head in superglue (!) which means that I will need to look at getting another copy of the Blood Ravens Librarian. 

 

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/Librarian2_zpsrnexxce0.jpg

 

A blurry photo here shows another potential layout for the Librarian - I keep flip-flopping, but I'm not really sure where to go with this. I would like to give him a hand casting a psychic power, but perhaps not the typical "arm outstretched" pose - instead, I keep thinking the arm bent at the elbow. How to do it without making it seem like he's doing a backhanded slap, I don't know. 

 

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/Swordbearer1_zpsnrqmuwwv.png

 

My Sword Bearer champion has been given a new head (from the Imperial Fists devastator) and a bolt pistol from the Blood Ravens Librarian. I liked the idea of giving him a deathwatch bolt pistol so that he could contribute to the squad's weight of fire. 

 

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/Talon_zpsdh1p4kz6.jpg

 

The Iron Talon has a new head since the last time he was seen - a forgeworld mark II helmet spliced with a White Scars helmet plume. I've added the knife from the White Scar to add to the Iron Talons' ancestry. 

 

Perhaps the best photograph of today's work: 

 

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/squad%20overkill_zpscyllpkik.jpg

Edited March 12, 2016 by Commissar Molotov

[Commissar Molotov]

So, this morning I was able to spend quite a bit of time overhauling my Deathwatchers and I even managed to get some decent photographs that weren't on my mobile. 

 

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/squad_zpskbap3ln6.jpg

 

My Librarian, Tancrede:

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/librarian12mar_zpsmiwnts8r.jpg

 

I've added a new arm/hand, the new Deathwatch pad and a new new head from the Blood Ravens librarian. Perhaps more obviously I've added the standard from Ezekiel. I like the motion of it (in conjunction with the tabard) and I think it looks cool. Although Tancrede is a Blackshield, I've never suggested where he's from, and I wonder whether the sword on Ezekiel's standard is too Dark Angels. I had thought about involving some sort of dremel and removing it, trying to leave the flaming book (but then is that too Word Bearers-esque?) 

 

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/power_zpsvbegkh7o.jpg

Taking on board some advice, I attempted to use the flaming brazier from the Salamander to create a fistful of fire for him. This is at its most basic stage and hasn't involved any sculpting or the like. I need to consider whether the flames should be more vertical than horizontal; I have put quite a bit of sideways motion in the model, so that's something to think about. 

 

My Lamenter:

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/Lam12mar_zpsvhhk8ofj.jpg

 

My Wolf:

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

New pad from the Salamander, as well as the Deathwatch bolter taken from the Ultramarines brother. 

 

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/INQ28/scythe12mar_zpsojbual7r.jpg

My Scythe; he has the new-style pad and a different hand on the trigger of his heavy bolter. I did consider swapping it for the frag cannon, but I feel like the heavy bolter with suspensors was one of the first cool bits of kit the Deathwatch had access to, and so it's nice to stay true to that. 

[GrandMagnus]

Cool stuff, everytime I see this thread it makes me want to try some true scaling. But sadly my sculpting skills aren't good enough.

 

I've got to say that so far my favorites are the space wolf and the lamenter, there is a LOT of character in those two.

[Blindhamster]

Whilst I'm not generally a scale of the terminator true scale approach, these are absolutely fantastic, can't wait to see more!

[Daemon2027]

This squad is just getting better and better.

 

On the flames I think having them flow out fits the movement from the back banner, but they look a bit too flat at this point, maybe have them at an angle between verticals and horizontal.

Edited March 13, 2016 by The Hydra