Imperial Fists (1st Co. under Sigismund)

[Seneschal of the Seventh]

I figure that after lurking around these boards for the better part of a year, it's high time I start contributing (that and the LPC mandatory two WIP updates helped...). So, without further ado, here is a shot of the first squad for my new Imperial Fists army!

Although I have put together an Imperial Fist army before, these guys are the tests for a new painting method involving large quantities of GW Golden Yellow and Krylon Safety Yellow Spray. Although there are numerous paint slips and color variations over the armor and trim - most of which you cannot see in this picture due to the poor lighting - I'm quite pleased.

It took about six hours all told to get these five guys to this point, and I expect to have their backpacks done and varnish applied once this cold snap runs its course. Then I'll be able to get the next half of the squad primed. Now that I've got the method down, I expect quality to improve as well, especially now that I'll remember to remove the mold lines.

What do you all think?

[zxyogi]

Nice yellow!!

But as you already stated......... :D Mould lines!!!

 

:P

[Justicar Valius]

great work :cuss

 

But, uhm, you made a tincy little mistake in giving them MK7 armour rather than Mk6 or before (even Mk6 would have been quite rare even in imperial fists. no more than 50% should have Mk6). If you wish to go all out and do earlier Mk armour I shall direct you to this Mk4 kit: red scorpions veteran upgrade kit with veteran serg Haas You'll need to scroll down a bit.

 

Just noticed there is a pre heresy land raider on there as well ;)

[Seneschal of the Seventh]

But, uhm, you made a tincy little mistake in giving them MK7 armour rather than Mk6 or before (even Mk6 would have been quite rare even in imperial fists. no more than 50% should have Mk6). If you wish to go all out and do earlier Mk armour I shall direct you to this Mk4 kit: red scorpions veteran upgrade kit with veteran serg Haas You'll need to scroll down a bit.

 

Just noticed there is a pre heresy land raider on there as well :D

 

Good eyes my friend. As these guys are mainly there for the color tests, I didn't worry too much about the armor marks. I'm still rather sketchy on which GW chests & legs are which Mks, but from what I can tell I have 3 Mk7 and 2 Mk6 legs, coupled with 1 Mk7 and 4 Mk5/6 chests. All the helmets are Mk7.

 

I'm not too worried about the inclusion of Mk6s, as the Fists liberated some tens of thousands of Mk6 suits from Mars on their way to Terra if I'm not mistaken. I figure a good portion of those would have gone to those veterans who wanted them, and a good portion of those veterans would likely be under Sigismund. I'm not sure exactly when my army is set, but it is sometime after the raid on Mars (to allow more Mk6 and keep the cost down) and before the death of the Emperor (because I want to paint yellow, not black).

 

My main question is, what is the difference between Mk3 and Mk7/8 legs? Could a pair of Mk7 legs like those above be regressed to Mk3 with the addition of some studs and raised trims? From what I can tell, that's the primary difference.

 

Thanks for the link, I've been considering those minis, but the helmets don't suit my tastes in the least. Right now I'm thinking of using a large number of Black Templar conversion chests - they may have the raised collar like the Mk8, but they're an angled rather than circular collar which could be explained by modifications veterans might make to reinforce joints in their armor.

[Capt. Lysander]

Very good work! But yes... Moldlines ;)

 

Edit: Here's some conversion kits that may help:

 

-Black Templars Upgrade Sprue

-Red Scorpions Upgrade Sprue (Tactical)

-Red Scorpions Upgrade Sprue (Veteran Assault)

-Assorted FW bitz

-Iron Warriors Conversion Kit on GW (Heresy I know :()

[Brother Richard]

It looks like a good start.. I am impressed with your dark fill in the grooves to really bring out the details on the armor. Once you clean up the mold lines on the helmet you can continue the same style with the crest and ear covers. Overall nice color scheme, good yellow, nice green on the eyes.

 

Can't wait to see the next set.

[Nehekhare]

Hm, shouldn't Sigismund's company have black trim (like generally all pre-heresy IF), possibly even a white shoulder inlay + maltese cross?

 

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/images/1/1d/Impfist.jpg

[Brother Mordeus]

Hm, shouldn't Sigismund's company have black trim (like generally all pre-heresy IF), possibly even a white shoulder inlay + maltese cross?

 

I like that idea you should do that

[Seneschal of the Seventh]

Lots of good points and great help/tips, thank you all!

 

Unfortunately, it's been ~40F here for the past two weeks, which has kept me from priming anything =( Hopefully it will warm up this weekend so I can get moving again and get some pictures up.

 

I've also finally placed my force in the timeline; my First Company will (hopefully) be painted and modeled as they embarked to begin the Scouring after the Siege of Terra. This will allow me to include a mix of every armor mark save for Mk8, as the legion's armor and wargear was repaired and destroyed/irreparable items replaced after the siege, which would have introduced significant amounts of Mk6/7 suit pieces.

 

Capt. Lysander:

 

Thanks for those tips! I'm currently using a pair of BT packs to upgrade my troops; each of the tactical sergeants will have a tabard, as will the Sternguard and Honor Guard/Command Squad marines. All the sergeants and veterans will also get a templar shoulder pad on their right to denote rank.

 

The IW kit is pure gold as well! I'd never seen that before, but those first two helmets and the chests are awesome, and suitably non-Chaotic. Thanks mate!

 

 

Brother Richard:

 

Thanks for the comment! I use a very easy method... 2-3 layers of a 1:1:1 mix of Devlan Mud, Gryphonne Sepia and water. Thin enough that it doesn't stail the yellow too badly if you slip, but with a lovely brown with a hint of red after a few layers.

 

Nehekhare:

 

I'm familiar with that picture, but something about all that black just sits poorly with me. While I've seen people do black trims very, very well, it just takes something away from the nature of the Fists in my eyes. So I decided to stick with the red. That said, the insignia of the 1st Company was the Maltese Cross, so all line marines will be getting the cross on their knee, while sergeants and veterans will use the BT shoulder pads... eventually :rolleyes:

[Agramar_The_Luna_Wolf]

well done....only i want to say that if you need "cheap" heresy bits,you can also use some parts of a chaos marine sprue(paladin helmets without horns,a heavy bolter,....)

[sgtNACHO]

I think the Red should be redder and the Yellow a little darker. Other than that they just need some matte spray so they don't shine so much and their a-okay in my book!!!

 

But they still look really good, be proud of them. Shouldn't 1st Co. have white helmets?

[Ufthak]

Linky ;)

 

Maybe you can find some tips and advice here...

 

 

And concerning Pre Heresy Bitz:

Linky

 

@SgtNACHO:

Strictly speaking the helmets should be white, as long as the force is post-heresy. If it's Pre-Heresy or Heresy era then, well, it's up to the individual :)

[Seneschal of the Seventh]

Linky :D

 

I thought I recognized your name... those are some fantastic Fists my friend. Indeed, they were part of my inspiration, and looking at them again makes me wonder if I should be putting the cross on the shoulder instead of the knee... or both. Hmmm...

[Ufthak]

Wow, I feel honoured that I was used as inspiration! :tu:

 

Cross on knee would look great in my opinion, I think one of my vet sergeant's got that. Other advice: Since you're doing the 1st Company, who are to become the Black Templars, perhaps you could try and incorporate as much black and white as possible, and possibly also equip as many marines as possible with close combat weapons (that's very Templar-y but not particularly Fist-y)