Greco-Roman Themed Chapter WIP

[Rob_Loken]

Those are really nice. It's a classic theme for SM's but you've pulled it off so well. I've never seen anything like it awesome. And the paint scheme looks good to, bronze seems like a difficult colour to do but they look great. Are your bases going to be themed as well?

[Chronowraith]

Those are really nice. It's a classic theme for SM's but you've pulled it off so well. I've never seen anything like it awesome. And the paint scheme looks good to, bronze seems like a difficult colour to do but they look great. Are your bases going to be themed as well?

 

Just a note (I'm not trying to pirate the thread, I promise!). If you want to paint bronze or brass I'd highly recommend checking our Reaper paints line of metallics. They have some spectacular bronze and brass colors. They are a little thinner and grittier than GW paints but they work very well. Old Bronze is one of my favorite paints of any line.

 

I don't know if that's what Fire Lizard used for his minis but I know it's one of the colors I recommended to him when he asked me my opinion a month or so ago. The key to any metallics that most people forget is to still highlight either by feathering (wet-blending) or line highlights.

[Cain Tiberius Kondrad]

Very nice, I am extremely impressed with your army so far. I too used the Chaos Knights as "Counts as" Bikers for my Knights Templar force, although I think you have pulled off the poses much better than I did. But 1 coment I would make is, the Chaos Knight legs can easily be modeled to look like Space Marine legs with just a lil modeling putty work. I was about to say, they would look a lil more real, but then, it would probably spoil those fantastic poses you have achieved. Scratch that.. I prefer your idea, lol. good work Bud.

 

CTK

[FireLizard]

Seriously, you folks are great. I love this board. Makes me feel bad for not having anything to post tonight! heh. :mellow: I thought while a coat of wash dried, I'd hop on, see what's what.

 

@ G3Spoon: While I appreciate the vote of confidence with the speed compliment... Chronowraith can attest.. the only thing I'm doing somewhat quickly is painting them. Where I'm spending roughly 2.5-3 hours per marine to paint them, I spent close to 4 per marine with modeling! Every piece is drilled and pinned. Head, arms, legs, all to the torso. Time consuming yes, but it really allowed me to explore the poses before committing to them, and it has the benefit of making each one just that much harder to break ;)

 

@ Fire Lord Captain: Sexy Marines... I wonder what Calgar would say to that! I won't be shy in admitting that there's a few lines on both the Lambdas and the Chapter Badge that I wouldn't mind cleaning up if I have the time... That's a definite if though... I've got... hmm, 34 days til Adepticon. but yes, there are a few rough edges here and there

 

@ Skirax: Oooo.. Testudos. You, sir, have just named a Rhino. Okay, so my Rhinos are named thus: Testudo, Chelone, and Foulkon. All the same formation/tactic. First Roman, Greek then the third is from the Byzantine era. You rock. Any thoughts on what to name the Predator and Land Raider?

 

The working Chapter name is The Centurions. I say working because I haven't come up with better, and naming things is always the last thing I do. Hey, any thoughts or ideas?

 

@ Lord Mongol: As Ani stated, they are indeed from WHFB Chaos Knights. I'll just state now that these are most likely the ONLY ones I'll ever make. Well, maybe one more to round out a full unit of 5. but that's it. Shaving all the God-Awful chaos markings was a pain in the rear to say the least! There's a reason I have 1/8" thick callouses on my thumbs now!

 

@ Ani: Thank you! I only wish I could have come up with a better way to connect it. It's glued in place, no moving it :(

 

@ The Nephilim: I had thoughts on giving them some cybernetic enhancements, the horses that is. Some guitar wire, plastic rod and tubing, the GS as you suggested... in the end I just ran out of time. Course, the horses are on par, size-wise with a marine... friggin tall beasties they are next to a standing marine.

 

@ Blood_Angel17: Oh you're right on track there :) I'd mix the kits though. My wife'd hate the extra cost, but I think they would still have the gear at least of a scout. the marauders are definitely on my shelf waiting to be used!

 

@ iacton & sword bretheren: I'm glad I could get folks to like the horses concept!!! that's awesome to hear. And just for your info, I was slapped already for the marines on horses. was worth it though!

 

I'll be happy to provide a parts list for the Terminators as well as a tutorial on the torso conversion. I have to create one more this weekend (Rune Priest in Termi armor), so it'll be documented!

 

@ Chronowraith: LOL! hey man! I'm glad you like the knights. I tried out a pair of biker legs, and I just wasn't getting the results right I think. That, and the assault legs were already bent, so that saved me a step. Since then I've seen an awesome Pre-heresy Jetbike conversion that they re-positioned the normal biker legs like I'm sure you mean, and it looked great. Course, I saw this AFTER I made my cavalry. Felt like I was seeing the Maxmini shields all over again :P

 

I'll have to try out the mithril added to the chainmail for the highlight though. thanks for suggesting it. The plasmas look better in person, but I'll bring em over next week and let you take a look.

 

hah! you like the storm bolter? sweet. I'll show you that easy. a little plasticard, and shaving the vehicle Storm Bolter at the proper angle, then placing the plasticard 'hood' over it. Since it's right under the only view port in my conversion, it looks like I"m giving the driver something to do ;)

 

And yes. Considering that tonight I found out that the 'Ard boyz prelims are in May, and then a Rogue Trader tourney will follow that at MM in town? Yes, finish your dang 'Snakes.

 

@ Brother Duncs: Credit where credit is due here. The process for my Bronze is found here, linky: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...mp;hl=tarnished

 

I changed it a little bit, but I used the same 4/2/1 base coat he does and moved from there. The one real downside to this is that it's hard to fix mistakes after the fact. I've found that thinned Tin Bitz does a good job of it though.

 

Chrono's mention of the Reaper metallics are spot on, though they were a bit thin for my taste to get what I need to get done in time.

 

@ Cain Tiberius Konrad: You had far better luck with the Knight legs than I did then! I tried and it just looked a bit wonky to me. But again, I plead time-frame and deadline here. I'm sure I missed things I could have done better and differently, and the Knight legs would have fit the Horses better just by sheer physical fit, you're right. lol.. but thanks for the compliment.. I think your idea and my poses could still work if we knocked it about and figured it out. My poses are seriously from the waist up. Again, pinning everything and exploring angles and poses really was the key for that.

 

Seriously all, thank you for all the kind words and constructive criticisms so far! I'm not shy, and begin an artist for a living, I've got a thick skin when it comes to this stuff, so if you see something you think could have been done differently, please tell me :) All I do is soak this stuff up to try and make the next batch better, and the kind words make me want to do the next batch in the first place.

[DibbZi]

The working Chapter name is The Centurions. I say working because I haven't come up with better, and naming things is always the last thing I do. Hey, any thoughts or ideas?

 

I was going to create a DIY Chapter of the same Idea, but since you beat me too it. I will let you in on my thoughts. As I stated before, This reminds me of the movie 300, you have the delta on the shield, so I say just name them the Spartans, because they already look the part & colors!

[Skirax]

@ Skirax: Oooo.. Testudos. You, sir, have just named a Rhino. Okay, so my Rhinos are named thus: Testudo, Chelone, and Foulkon. All the same formation/tactic. First Roman, Greek then the third is from the Byzantine era. You rock. Any thoughts on what to name the Predator and Land Raider?

I hope that Testudo will be the best painted Rhino, but as for a Land Raider; Phalanx? I realise that's the name of Dorn flagship, but what the hey! The reason I chose those names was because those formations were used to protect the inhabitants until they could close with the enemy. :)

 

As for Predators; Equites? No, that's more Landspeeders; How about Trireme? You could modernise that word, maybe like Triremus? Biremes, Triremes and Quinquiremes were the norm of ships back then, and Quinquiremes were the most heavily armoured...

 

Also, think about the most commonly used types of animals towards the end of 170 AD?: Dogs, Horses and Elephants. Roughly translated, each one is, respectively; Canis, Equites and Barrus. Name your Bikers, Canii, Landspeeders, Equites and heavily armoured vehicles, Barrii, as a generalisation.

[slaanesh6fr]

very impressive work.

[Burias-Drak'shal]

Great looking army. Look forward to seeing more.

[geisterwolf]

Really great concept and great execution. I specially like the cool poses and the headgear.

Your colour scheme is also very catchy. The only thing that i would suggest is painting the headgear ( centurion brush? ) in a red.

Neverthelesse its a very great army in the making. Looking forward to see more of them ;)

 

bye

 

geisterwolf

 

btw can we hope for some SM equipped with pilum or sarissa?

[FireLizard]

Hey, folks :P

 

Sorry for my silence lately.. a few 12-hour days at work will do that to you. I should have an update later tonight, as well as one of my usual replies. All the Sword-and-board marines are done, I just need to snap pics.

[kanan]

hail Fellow Battle-Brother, ive just had a proper look at your thread and i think the models are ace! i love the poses and the gladius youre using on alot of your models with the shield combination looks awesome. the Dreadnought is also very good, i love the scratch built power fist holding the large Crozius. the Predator is neat, i like the whole offset turret look alot. and the models youve painted are brilliant! very well done. overall the scheme is good however someone else mentioned perhaps a little red on the helmet plumes, sorry i forget what theyre called. but thats not a criticism at all just something to consider. anyways i look forward to seeing your next update. good luck in all your work.

 

peace

[FireLizard]

@ DibbZi: Hmm.. The only reason I'm going to decide not to use "Spartans" as the Chapter Name, is it's too historically specific in name, as a proper noun. "Centurions" still has another meaning other than a Roman rank... though that is where I'm pulling it from mainly.

 

@ Skirax: I'm digging "Tiremus or Tiremeus" for the Predator. Funny how adding an "-us" suffix lends itself to the 40k universe, eh? While I would love to name the Raider "Phalanx" I think the sons of Dorn may have issue.. may.. hmmm... at the same time, my Chapter Master/Lord may not care either ;)

 

@ geisterwolf: I've had that color suggestion for the helmet crests recommended to me before, so you aren't the only one. However, I'm going to have to keep it the way it is for two reasons... 1, I'm QUICKLY running out of time :P 30 days until the Tournament. 2, I have different color crests for different ranks. Bone Crests are RaF. Solid Red crests are for Squad leaders. Red and Bone Striped Crests are for the Elite squads. I'm thinking that for the Lord, I may have to make a checkerboard crest for him... not as hard as it sounds :ermm:

 

@ kanan: thank you for the kind words, I'm happy you like them! I'll direct the crest answer to the above statement, but reinforce here that the more I hear that, the more I think I might go back later to change it. I really wish I could have had the time to devote to get a way for the Predator to have it's turret rotate, but Time is mine enemy :P

 

Heck, thanks all who've commented so far!!! I really appreciate all the feedback!

 

 

Okay, UPDATE COMMENCES!

 

All the Sword and Shield folks are done.

 

http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae59/Tims_Minis/Painted/3Swordsmen1.jpg

 

http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae59/Tims_Minis/Painted/3Swordsmen2.jpg

 

http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae59/Tims_Minis/Painted/3Swordsmen3.jpg

 

http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae59/Tims_Minis/Painted/3Swordsmen4.jpg

 

http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae59/Tims_Minis/Painted/3Swordsmen5.jpg

[FireLizard]

Aaaannnnddd... a second post. sorry for the double post, but I snapped pics of a late addition to the army. here's some WiP shots of my Rune Priest :ermm:

 

http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae59/Tims_Minis/Terminators/Libby_WiP1.jpg

 

http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae59/Tims_Minis/Terminators/Libby_WiP2.jpg

 

yes, I butchered the beautifully sculpted Terminator Librarian.. I know, I know.

 

But he had to fit the Armor style :P

[DibbZi]

So what rules set are you using for these guys? Blue Book or Space pups?

[Lord Draco]

Amazing work! Where did you get the helmet crests and weapons from?

[FireLizard]

Can't sleep :lol:

 

@ DibbZi: Originally I was going to use the Blue Book and run them with a He'Stan counts-as. Now, mind you I've been working on the modeling of this army since may of last year, well before the puppy's new book came out. All the Tac Squads were modeled with their individual banners, etc. So when the new Wolves dex came out, and they had rules that just fit the theme of my army's look... I caved :o I'm using Space Wolves for them.

 

@ Lord Draco: Thank you <_< The Crests are from Maxmini, from their "Tribe of the Black Lotus" heads. I used those for a base, and trimmed them down to fit my needs. The Swords are unfortunately very hard to get in this quantity now :) When GW was about to close their Bitz Orders, I called in and ordered 25 of the "Marneus Calgar Honor Guard Sprue". It had the swords I cut down to make the gladius, a sheathed sword, and a couple other pieces. The sword is specifically from Calgar's standard bearer. made a perfect gladius once cut and reshaped.

 

Okay... off to try and sleep again. My goal is that by the end of the weekend, I'll have the 6 remaining marines in power armor done, all 5 Terminators done, AND the majority of the conversion and sculpting on the Rune Priest done.

 

it's that, or I'm woefully behind. After all that, I still have to paint the Lord, 4 Cavalry, 3 Rhinos and the predator and raider.

[Midas]

They are beautiful and I'm drooling over the ideas of what the Rune priest in making will look like.

[Golindar]

Nice work FireLizard. Your modelling and painting skills are evident, but I'm most impressed with the originality of this project. It's obvious you put a lot of creative energy into making this theme fit with 40k. The models look so impressive that I wouldn't be surprised in GW makes an official kit and a codex for this chapter. I can only assume there would be great interest in playing an army like this because I for one would make it my next army if it were available retail. (I don't have near the talent, time, or creativity to do the quality work you are doing)

 

I wish I had something constructive to offer, but it looks to me like you have it under control. So, I'll just leave my complements and let you keep up the good work!

[daemonclaw]

love this classic theme after seeing this and the film gladiator it almost makes me want to switch to the dubious 40k version of the "good side".your theme is awesome and composition excellant ,and by far my favourite is the cavalry.those warhorses look almost made for space marines,my only crit would be that the marines legs look a bit wide on them ,but i know the horses are wide anyway so i am not sure what you could do bar filing both horse and marine down slightly or bending the legs slightly to look more comfortable.(but this personal thought by no way distracts from the great job you have done .)

keep posting as i am looking forward to seeing what you will acheive with the rune priest :wub:

[Rusty and Stompy]

The conversions are very impressive, but there are a few areas that seem to fall flat on the execution, which is a real shame since you put so much effort (and it shows) into the different figs themselves.

 

1) The cavalry legs just are not working. They are spaced too far apart and just look...off..somehow. Since they are still WIP and not painted, I'm pretty sure you should be able to fix them pretty easily. I think you should go with your first instinct of using the biker legs and modifying them a little bit.

 

2) The power armor marines look fantastic with the crests, but the shaved down chaos warrior helms don't have the same "pizazz", especially on the terminator bodies. Their heads just come off looking to small. I would almost recommend using power armor heads with crests for the terminators as well.

 

3) The paint scheme really doesn't seem to pop. Your conversion work begs to be shown off with a garish, bright, scheme, and I think the worn steel look makes all your details meld together. I'd say a gleaming silver, bronze or gold would look much more appropriate for the armor, and would contast/transition better with your tertiary colors of white and red.

[Mithril hound]

@ Rusty and Stompy, I'm loving the chaos helms on the termis, i use em myself.

[FireLizard]

Hey folks :lol: Just got done putting the base coat on the armor of the next batch of marines. The 3 squad leaders and banner bearers!

 

@ Midas: The Rune Priest will have actually a copy-cat treatment of the Lone Wolf's cloak, which has now become "Unnamed Chapter's Terminator Chaplain". Heh. Why? Cause I wrote him out of the list :P I may still paint him up in this army's colors, but right now, not. Other than that, he's kinda being modeled on the fly. I hadn't planned him in the first place. Which is why I turned to the Metal Libby sculpt. Took ALOT of conversion work out of my hands :lol:

 

@ Golindar: Thank you very much for the praise, friend. Though honestly, MUCH of my army is using various bitz and kits you *can* buy from GW and Forgeworld. That, and Green Stuff and Plasticard. Utilize sites War Store for their plastic bits ordering, and ALOT is possible, especially with all the sweet plastic upgrade kits that started with the Black Templars.

 

@ daemonclaw: Hey, if you really dig into the Imperium of Man, we're just as twisted as those of Chaos... just in our own way ;) I think the 40k universe really is one of "lesser evils" I mean really, are there any good guys in this place???

 

As for the Legs on the Cavalry.. (responding to both yourself and Rusty and Stompy here) I won't deny that the legs look a bit off-kilter. two reasons for this mainly: Time and no real marine cav models to study first. Time is really the main factor in that it took so much time to build this army, I'm running out of it. That doesn't mean I want to rush it, but I also didn't really dig into the Seated legs on the horses conversion possibilities like I could have, and I know this. Otherwise, the other minor factor is being I didn't have many examples to use either.

 

Even biker legs, right off the sprue, look even worse. It wasn't until I found a Jetbike conversion I absolutely love, that I found a way to seat the legs in a way that I think looks more attractive. Though at the same time, think on this... that's still on a bike. Go Sit on a horse, or google "Horseback riding" and look at the people's seats. Our legs go a bit akimbo. The reason it doesn't look too bad is because we aren't wearing bulky armor.. that, and we're more flexible than plastic legs ;)

 

Either way, I took the comments on their legs seriously and I did a little work tonight, trimming one side of a horse and a left leg. I figured that it was worth a look, and if I could accomplish a better look in the time I have available to me, why not, right? What I found was a little disheartening. it would take a considerable amount of time to fix all the legs on the riders. Why? Cause I would have to pry the legs off (which means taking legs out that are pinned in 3 places, both legs and groin), carve out the existing saddle area to give a bit of a depression and then GS the saddle back in, leaving depressions for the legs to sit in. And that was the shorter of the fixes I came up with. If you look at the Chaos Knight legs from the WHFB box I got the horses from, they are only half there, a smooth, curved surface fits tot he saddle. here the entire marine's legs are there.

 

Long story not so short, I just don't have the time to do that much more work to these guys. I'm happy enough that the legs don't bother me much, and I'm okay with that. I do agree, they are a bit wonky, but then again, so is a marine in power armor riding a horse big enough to support him.

 

@ Rusty and Stompy: see above for the response on the legs :D I did take your comments into consideration like I said, though! With regards to the Terminator heads... eh, it's just my preference, really. I like the horn-less chaos warrior heads on them, and while I do plan on bulking them out in future uses, thanks to other comments made as well, I'm content with them as is. As far as the paint scheme goes? This is really a matter of preference I think between you and I and anyone else. I'm not a fan of bright, garish color schemes. My first marine army was Black Templars, this one is a Beaten Bronze, Red and Bone, and my next? I'll be diving into Flesh Tearers, Deep, Dark Red and Blacl. I like more muted color schemes with bursts of color, like the red in this one. And I think we can all agree that we paint what we like. Though you mentioning "Worn Steel" and "White" makes me wonder about my pictures now. Their armor is a Bronze, though beaten and darker, and the white is Bone.

 

Are my pics washed out? I know the latest batch got a little dark in some places cause of shadows thrown from taking multiple models in the same shot, but hey, let me know about the pics. The only worn steel are the bolters and the vents on the backpacks.

 

No matter what I am thankful for the constructive criticisms and suggestions. THAT is the only way that I get better at this. I'm an artist and designer, I've got a tough skin and constantly ask people's opinions. I wouldn't have posted my stuff up here if I didn't want those kind of comments too :) New ideas for me are helped along with brainstorming and bouncing ideas off folks, so thank you!

 

@ Mithril hound: Exactly my point from above. Personal preference and opinion is at the heart of all our models and armies. We like the Chaos helms, some don't. That's okay :)

 

Ugh... now do I go give the marines a wash of badab black before I go to bed or just try and get some sleep...

[daemonclaw]

@ daemonclaw: Hey, if you really dig into the Imperium of Man, we're just as twisted as those of Chaos... just in our own way I think the 40k universe really is one of "lesser evils" I mean really, are there any good guys in this place???

true enough and funnily i always see my men as the good guys fighting an injust society that is a bureaucratic mockery of the emperors design :)

as for the cavalry i checked back on some chaos marauder horsemen and they are so wide legged and cut in an odd shape that there is little left of real muscle structure on the inside leg of the men as to be unnatural and even armoured knights dont have huge flared greaves like our power armoured buddies ,so with that in mind i will again congratulate you on a job well done .Any chance of some bigger group shots of progress to date would be great to see

cheers D

[ghosty]

The Lord was done with Chronos' tank commander body, and legs from 2 different Vanguard models, as well as that unpronounceable-inquisitor's cyber aquila ;)

Co Like Coco

Teaz like

 

Coteaz! :P

[Skirax]

Are you going to model a tiny trebuchet battery to act as a Thunderfire Cannon? Because that would be sweet! :)

 

By the way, that video is hilarious!