Walls fail! Fists do not!

[Inquisitor Engel]

Cheers guys! If you've been following me, here, elsewhere, whatever, you know I am loathe to leave many models "as is." Even if it's a simple as a headswap, I gotta do something to personalize things. GW's move to mono-pose models has made this significantly more challenging over time, but the overall quality and character of the details has somewhat made up for it... Somewhat. 

 

That said, the Indomitus Bladeguard Ancient is something I had my eye on as soon as he was announced. 

 

Only... I wanted a Librarian. So I made one. 

 

 

I ended up using a Grey Knight Warding Stave, a tactical intercessor left arm, a 3d printed "spell casting" arm and a 3d printed psychic hood. I really like how he ended up. 

 

Blue is:

1. Grey Seer
   
2. Ultramarines Blue
   
3. Highlight Teclis Blue
   
4. Drakenhoff Nightshade all over the blue
   
5. Black line in some of the deep edges
   

Yellow robes are just Iyanden Yellow with Dorn Yellow very edges. Pretty pleased with how they turned out overall given the look.

 

 

The way the pose worked out, I get kind of a "journeyman wizard" vibe from him. He reminds me very much of the old Alan Howe "Grey Wanderer" Gandalf piece. I really like how he turned out.

 

 

Still got it with those round decals! It's uhhhh yeah kind of difficult still because it's a giant pain. Frustratingly so. C'mon GW, make round decals shaped to fit shoulders! It's 2020! The yellow here is my standard yellow, found elsewhere, though I found a glaze of Lamenters Yellow helps being out the "gold" to the colour. 

Edited December 26, 2020 by Inquisitor Engel

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the Librarian.

[_GingerBat_]

Excellent use of quite a static model that. Was trying to work out what to do with mine and this has sparked a few ideas, so thanks for that!

[Son of Carnelian]

Oh man! That librarian looks ace! I was planning on doing something similar with my extra Ancient and I will definitely take inspiration from yours. Fantastic work!

[Inquisitor Engel]

Thanks all! I strongly recommend doing different things! Hopefully there's some room for people to just recognize the staff as a Force... well anything. I miss having options in Codex that weren't covered by models... Especially when there's a single variant of that model. 

 

Tried something slightly different this week and knocked out a Culexus Assassin! Nice and simple paint up, but the detail on these ones is very shallow and even a basic thin spray of primer obscured a little bit and it was a challenge from there on out, particularly the grenades on his chest. 

 

 

I enjoyed doing something a little different. Got a Vindicare up next while I plug away on my Night Lords Leviathan. 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the Culexus Assassin!

[Inquisitor Engel]

Cheers guys! 

 

All the nice things I said about painting Custodes Aquilon Terminators? The opposite goes for Venatari. Fiddly, weird details and poses. 

 

 

Next one gets painted without the arms attached. 

 

New gold is:

1. Liberator Gold
2. Thinned Guilliman Flesh (only slightly thinned)
3. Drybrush Liberator Gold
4. Drybrush Ironbreaker and highlight as needed.
5. Agrax Earthshade in the absolute edges

But yeah. Aquillon? Great. Venatari... Not fun.

 

Also prepping a Primaris Judiciar for the Fists. Swapped out the sword, helmet. Going to do him yellow with black robes for variance from the proper captains. 

[Inquisitor Engel]

As previously stated, I am did not enjoy painting this model, but it turned out okay, I guess. Not the best cast I've ever had either, but that's what I get for panic buying at the before a lockdown (yes I've had them that long) and taking the last one on the shelf.  

 

 

For the next one I do (I have 3) I'll probably assemble a little more, probably add shoulder pads and thigh guards in advance, or perhaps keep the arms separate. They're just.... eh. They don't look great mix-process though the end result fits in nicely with the rest of the army. 

 

I regret every day that I didn't just do gold Custodes...

[Pearson73]

You might not be so happy with it, but I think that gold on the jump pack is really excellent, the red cloth is very nicely done too.

[Morngrym]

 

As previously stated, I am did not enjoy painting this model, but it turned out okay, I guess. Not the best cast I've ever had either, but that's what I get for panic buying at the before a lockdown (yes I've had them that long) and taking the last one on the shelf.  

 

 

I really like this one.  The Venatari base models are so detailed and interesting in my opinion, but I don't see them painted very often (maybe all the detail is the reason, I don't know).

In any case, this looks great.

[Inquisitor Engel]

 

I really like this one.  The Venatari base models are so detailed and interesting in my opinion, but I don't see them painted very often (maybe all the detail is the reason, I don't know).

In any case, this looks great.

 

Thanks! And yeah there is *a lot* of extraneous detail, a lot of it ends up getting covered in various other details lol. 

 

I have completed my Judiciar!

 

 

Using the leftover hooded helmet from the Chaplain (who is now bald!) I gave him black robes to befit his status as "junior" Chaplain. He's got to earn that black armour, but the black jacket (which, if you look at the model, makes absolutely zero sense on the model itself) befits his station. I didn't like the executioner's flat-ended sword so he got a nice great big broadsword instead. Pleased with the result. 

 

 

Replacing the original shoulder pad with some studs is felt good. 

 

 

I will go to my grave cursing whomever at GW refuses to make should-pad conforming pre-stretched round decals. 

 

 

And he looks like he fits in with my other Primaris (sans Librarian) very well! Only took a week and a half, two days of which I was out of town. 

[Inquisitor Engel]

Thanks guys! Speaking of Black... Some other Imperial Fists Templars have joined the fray... 

 

My logic is that as Sigismund's boys, and having spent YEARS on Terra at this point, they have access to some prototype MKVI and VII kits (Everything was VII anyway in 2nd...) but mix and match as they feel. Really happy with the cloak on the squad leader. I'm a big fan of mixed armour squads in most cases (which is why I'm dragging my feel on primaris so much!) and these were a fun kit bash and build. 

 

 

I think this guy was the lynchpin on getting me started. Once I saw the Dark Angels Praetor I knew I needed to have him leading some Imperial Fists. Made perfect sense with the black armour and yellow robes the Templars have going on. The photo of his back shows a mould slip line I couldn't see in person, so I'm not gonna sweat it. Really, really happy with the depth of this yellow cloak.

 

 

The IF Command box came in handy, and giving him a slightly different helmet and some "history" with more storied armour was cool. 40K Black Templars surplices are also handy.

 

 

I ended up dramatically changing the pose of the chap on the left from what I had originally planned when the MKII was the only laureled helmet I was left with. happy with the result. Guy on the right is using a Blood Angel tabard!

 

I drove to the Warhammer Citidel the moment they opened from COVID last year for these parts. They are not good casts. So fiddly. I'm more than happy with how I got the shields to look but even with many, many thin coats, my method of painting yellow and the shallow detail just didn't want to cooperate. It's not bad, but it highlights some of the changes to sculpting over the past few years at how much better GW has gotten at making models that look as detailed painted, as unpainted, especially in resin, where a single primer spray will noticeably reduce the depth of some details. 

 

And finally, all 10, including the 5 I did last year. I figure if I want to run them as a squad of 10, they're still legal even with two red/white helms. I'm just pleased the yellow was more or less consistent...

 

[Inquisitor Engel]

When you absolutely, positively, have to convert every army in some way. Bladeguard Ancient from the Indomitus Captain.

 

 

More Primaris... they are just... so much better than Firstborn to paint. So much detail. I'm pleased with how this guy turned out. I've taken to using Iyanden Yellow Contrast as a glaze of sorts to bring the yellow-ish colour to something closer to my older more golden Imperial Fists.

[Inquisitor Engel]

Primaris marines are a genuine pleasure to paint. Though I do deeply, deeply regret choosing to go almost all white for the Apothecary...

 

 

I'm really pretty happy with how this guy turned out overall though. The white is the same as the helmet on the Bladeguard ancient: Corax White > Apothecary White > Fine drybrush of Praxeti White > Edge highlight of White Scar. I did do a pin wash here and there with 50/50 water and Nuln Oil where I felt there needed to be a bit more contrast.

 

Also, my overwhelming need to convert every single character model has.... continued. Fortunately the Narcathium from the Grey Knight Terminator box just required a new upper arm to fit standard SM shoulder pads (which is from the Sternguard kit) to be primaris-ized. Slicing and repositioning the open pistol and moving the holster's handle to the other one was a bit finicky, but it's all good now. The wonders of plastic glue.

Edited March 13, 2022 by Inquisitor Engel

[Pearson73]

Very nice work indeed on the Apothecary, the narcathium swap works very well.

[Valkia the Bloody]

Stunning work!

I love your conversions, some of them are subtle, and they work.

And yes, I TOTALLY get the burning need to convert every model in an army.... :p

 

And your painting....

superb.

The Apothecary is amazing.

[Biohazard]

Great work as always bud, really love the Templars

[Domhnall]

 

Still got it with those round decals! It's uhhhh yeah kind of difficult still because it's a giant pain. Frustratingly so. C'mon GW, make round decals shaped to fit shoulders! It's 2020! The yellow here is my standard yellow, found elsewhere, though I found a glaze of Lamenters Yellow helps being out the "gold" to the colour. 

 

 

First off, absolutely stunning models! 

 

As far as I'm aware, it's very difficult if not impossible to have a flat decal to fit a 2-way curved surface (maps of earth for example), as you'd need to have pre-curved decal sheets which just wouldn't work from a printing perspective, and even then they'd only fit in a very specific location on the shoulder pads and only shoulder pads that they were designed for unfortunately. 

 

Looking back on first page, I see you're using microsol to put them on, and I think that's still the best way to do it. I've not looked further, so maybe you've changed how you're doing it but micro-set then micro-sol are the best way to get decals to fit curved surfaces. It sucks, but we love a challenge don't we? 

[Inquisitor Engel]

Thanks all! Yeah I'm really pleased with that Apothecary. Primaris really have reinvigorated my desire to paint yellow. 

 

Of course, before that I have to finish my MKIII Phalanx Warders... 

 

 

 

As far as I'm aware, it's very difficult if not impossible to have a flat decal to fit a 2-way curved surface (maps of earth for example), as you'd need to have pre-curved decal sheets which just wouldn't work from a printing perspective, and even then they'd only fit in a very specific location on the shoulder pads and only shoulder pads that they were designed for unfortunately. 

 

 

Yeah it's a bit rough. I COULD see them making decals explicitly pre-shaped to fold like FW did with a few of their custom knight decals where it's like "This goes on the knee" and whatnot, but that presents its own problems. GW seems to be going in the direction of more sculpted pads anyway, and many players are going for 3D printed pads for other chapters (or major ones sometimes!). The chapter icon shoulder pads group is dwindling! 

 

Another Custodes complete. With the Shield Captain/Valoris/Valdor down I only have a tank and a dreadnaught left and I'm DONE with this army, which is a first for me in DECADES it feels like. Okay, actually is. 

 

 

I wanted a model I could use as a Shield Captain in 40K, and potentially stand in for valdor in 30K and so... THIS GUY! He has no name. 
 

I hacked up Valoris Apolonian Spear and placed it atop a standard Custodes spear, then extended the haft down with some metal rod. The result is pretty darn good. I'm particularly happy with the cape and the way the golden eagle turned out, as it's rather shallow detail. I'll be honest though, this guy was NOT made for subassemblies and I hope the person that decided to put the plastic joins for the CAPE ITSELF running along flat areas rather than folding them into the creases (Cypher is a good example of doing this well). 
 

I wasn't 100% convinced on the purple inside/red outside, but I think it's come together really well. I really appreciate that GW designed the Trajann Valoris model with the option of both the GIANT FEATHERS and the massive lion. I chose neither. I was close to putting purity seals/oaths of moment where the tilting shield is, but then thought "Why would a custodes need either?" 

I spent a lot of time on his face, and made the helm plume white instead of red as with the rest of my Custodes so he would stand out. 
 

Anyway, really happy with the result.

[Magos Kasen]

Lovely work, I just found your thread and have enjoyed going back and reading through. 

[Dosjetka]

The Shield-Captain is stunning, the blade especially! Also, congrats on being on the cusp of such a major hobby milestone! Make sure you post a picture of the whole force soon, once completed! :)

[Inquisitor Engel]

Thanks guys! 

 

Phalanx Warders are DONE!

 

I've been working on these guys for a LONG time. Like, before there were plastic MKIII kits.

 

 

There's quite the mix of parts as I really like variety in my squads (which is why Primaris annoy me a bit).

• MKIII bodies (obviously) and backpacks
• Some Alexis Pollux shoulder pads
• Imperial Fist Cataphractii Storm Shields with the arms trimmed and attached to various MKIII arms
• Some MKIII-ish arms from Pop Goes the Monkey, as MKIII CCW arms are quite hard to come by the these days
• Naturally, giant axes from FW - These smaller hands from Tartaros came in handy here.
• Actual chests from the Phalanx Warder kit
• Chests from the Templar Brethren kit (since my TB are wearing experimental MKVII)

Overall I think they're really unique and MKIII sells the look of someone designed to resell boarders much better than the official MKIV. MKIII was made for void engagements after all.

Last up for this group will be Rann, who is waiting for me to get some Dire Avengers and a Made to Order metal Autarch finished.

 

[Pearson73]

They look cracking, I think the mix of armours works really well and is definitely I associate with veterans of the Crusade and Heresy.

[Inquisitor Engel]

Thanks Pearson! 

It's been a while, but I return with some other 30K stuff... Building the foundations and walls of the Imperium itself, Imperial Fists were also learned in the keys to breaking them... So I made a VII Legion Siegebreaker Consul.

Since my 10-man Honor Guard squad died a couple of editions ago, a few of the various members who can't neatly be rolled into the new rules have been stripped and repurposed as new things. I enjoyed this base pose (from the Master of the Chapter) and gave him a nice resting "back of theatre command" pose using the Primaris wrist console, a MK3 Thunder Hammer, a MK4 seeker helmet, and away we went.

I hate painting metal models. The detail isn't as crisp as modern plastic (or even resin) so this was actually kind of a slog. I was also experimenting with some alternative colors to reproduce my IF golden yellow look. I'm pretty pleased with the wings on the shoulder pad as well.

The biggest thing that got me over the hump with this guys was *painting the backpack first*. I hate painting backpacks after everything. They seem like such a letdown after having fun perso

[Inquisitor Engel]

Like a lot of my Forge World purchases, I've had this one sitting for a while. Custodes Caladius Grav Tank.

 

 

I sort of regret doing the more yellow details on the front of it, but I think it does help it stand out a bit and the rest of it overall fits with the rest of my army, who are, barring one dread and a Blade Champion, done.

 

 

The turret was looking great until the last minute when for some reason the varnish made this weird almost beaten metal look to the central piece. No idea why, as none of the rest of it exhibited this behavior, the rest of the tank as fine, the layers of paint under were fine, and it was all sealed at the same time. Super weird. I ended up doing a couple of additional layers of paint and varnish to even things out, but you can still see it in the right light. I'll live with it.

 

Overall, a really nicely designed kit that was nice and straightforward to paint in subassemblies and put together.