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Hobby Butterfly - trying to make Terminators "better" -WIP-part1


Majkhel

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With the Primaris range came problems for some of the most iconic units of the 40k universe, the Terminators. They just don't look good next to new sculpts. Especially the Indomitus sculpts. 

I've been having an idea of upscaling them for quite some time, but never really gathered the courage to try. That is probably in no small part because I want to keep as much of the original sculpts as possible. I had some ideas... and then HH startex box dropped and I found myself in possession of the plastic Cataphractii Terminators. With their a little better proportions I felt the urge to try some things out.

Goal was to make them comparable to the Gravis Primaris Marines. Preferably taller when factoring-in the power plant hoods.

First step was easy - gain height by extending the torso-legs separation. 
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Immediately at this stage it became apparent that we can only get so far with this method as legs quickly start looking too short. But I got pretty satisfying results just with that step: head became level with Primaris. And I trusted that extra bulk in the upper part of the mini would draw the attention away form a little shorter legs.

I did a quick fill with putty to add something to the stomach and suddenly it started to look just about right. I don't have any picture what that stage, but what I got from height/bulk comparison is that I needed to add some extra width to the torso to match Gravis. problem on that step was that if I put too much putty, I would need to resculpt some of the lovely armor detail (trims). Additionally around this point I thought I'd like to magnetize the arms so shoulder pads needed to be separate from the arms
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And here are folks with added bulk and shoulder guards in place:
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I have to say I was really pleased with the results. Comparison with a Gravis Marine also came out well:

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Narrow waists needed to be addressed obviously and shins were still shorter when next to a better-proportioned Primaris. I reckoned that if I add some height to the base as well, this would alleviate the problem to some degree. My resolve solidified, I started developing options to address the waist issue.

An inspiration came form 30k Crimson Paladins in the form of cloth. Sculpting a cloth would allow me to put as much putty as needed into the waist (at least on the front). The issue was I've never tried any sculpting of this level. First attempt came out better then expected though:
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Scultping a belt felt a little too much for me though...

But inspiration came fortunately - hobby chains! I could just wrap those around the waist and glue something BA blingy thing on top to work as a fastener, right?


And so here I am currently with this project:
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The guy on the left is an attempt on the armor bigger without the cloth. It's not bad, but not great either I think. He will probably remain like this, but clothes look better in my opinion.

I also started working on the rear armor ant I think the results are acceptable:
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Another picture comparing upscaled Cataphractii with Heavy Intercessor with a bit of added height on the base:
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I think I'm getting where I wanted with this: a bulk and presence to rival Gravis. And relatively simply made. I'm saying relatively cause I've been doing this by trial-and-error for couple of weeks now. But I believe it will go faster with once I settle on what I want and how.
Base assemebly with magnets is also taking a lot of time. And I still have bases to devise :sweat:

So now the plan is to complete a squad of 5. Then probably I'll make another five and then I'll start researching option for up-scaling Indomitus pattern

Cheers!

Edited by Majkhel

5 Comments


Recommended Comments

On 8/23/2022 at 10:54 AM, drakheart said:

Scale looks a lot better.

 

On 8/23/2022 at 11:14 AM, Marshall Mittens said:

Great work! The bigger scale looks good. 

Thank you! :biggrin:

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I have seen and loved your Cataphractii for a while, but have only now discovered just how much work went into their construction and up-scaling. It's impressive work and your top-noch painting helps hide the few imperfections. Going forward, if you plan to add another unit of five to your collection, I'd suggest sticking with the robe covering only one side of the torso: that variant looks the best when compared to the robe covering both sides and no robe. I'd also suggest opting for belt buckles that aren't as big as the one on the Terminator that has both sides of the torso covered in robes: it looks a bit silly, in my view.

 

Anyway, I look forward to seeing more of your excellent work! :biggrin:

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On 10/13/2022 at 9:54 AM, Dosjetka said:

I have seen and loved your Cataphractii for a while, but have only now discovered just how much work went into their construction and up-scaling. It's impressive work and your top-noch painting helps hide the few imperfections. Going forward, if you plan to add another unit of five to your collection, I'd suggest sticking with the robe covering only one side of the torso: that variant looks the best when compared to the robe covering both sides and no robe. I'd also suggest opting for belt buckles that aren't as big as the one on the Terminator that has both sides of the torso covered in robes: it looks a bit silly, in my view.

 

Anyway, I look forward to seeing more of your excellent work! :biggrin:

Thanks for your insight, Dosjetka! What can I say? I fully agree with your conclusions :biggrin:

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