CrimsonMissed Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 eEvening all. Its been some time since I've posted as I spent most of last year running around with my motorcycle racing and what playing I did was with mainly unpainted minis (still!). However this year I actually appear to have gotten my head around the organisational aspect of the racing lark and pretty much have my bike prepped and ready to go (as opposed to spending the whole of last year trying to get it to work at all). On top of this I have to go in for a minor operation that is going to take me off my feet and out of the gym for at least 4 to 6 weeks so I really needed a WIP project to pass the time. Being a fan of using Pedro Kantor Sternguard always make up a fair proportion of my force so I thought a really nice personal squad would be the way to go. Fortunately a few weeks back I picked up a box of unbuilt plastic marines (about 35 of them in fact) which would make a good starting point for the princely sum of £10. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5250/5382402468_5c935d6585.jpg Following this good fortune I decided to do the only sensible thing - make up for getting so many marines so cheaply by spending a fortune on upgrade parts! Firstly, the crimson fists command and tactical packs: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5168/5381802151_8a1aa2a130.jpg Then a deathwatch upgrade pack too! http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5169/5381805795_18f6a4d71e.jpg The eagle eyed amongst you will notice that there are a few extra heads, shoulder pads and a complete extra set of 10 deathwatch bolters in there - these were given to me by a friend earlier today when I told him what I was building as he had them spare in his bits box. The 'fluff' thinking behind this is that it is mentioned in several pieces of the fluff that the Crimson Fists have always had a strong connection with the Deathwatch and supplied many of their most experienced battle brothers to work with them over the years. My thinking behind the squad is that following the disaster on Rynns World those brothers serving at the time with the Inquisitorial forces would be recalled to bolster the numbers once more. In light of their experience and status, a position in the Crusade Company amongst the Sternguard would be natural. So this is a squad of those brothers recalled from duty with the Deathwatch. Initial build will follow momentarily...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonMissed Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 First things first, I picked out a selection of legs, evenly balanced between the poses available in the box of marines I had. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5209/5382414822_4632289d83.jpg Then I began to select the chest pieces. It was in my mind to create a very uniform look to the squad, so I chose chest pieces that all had an Aquila on them - some with the full Aquila, some with a skull placed in the centre and some with the skull and crossbones - all feature the wings though as I prefer those to the 'plainer' ones. I then dove into my bits box for a suitable chest piece for the sergeant, which was supplied by a partial commander sprue I had left over. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5087/5382424782_389aea553d.jpg These were duly assembled and posed in a variety of angles and facings. Next up was removing the metal upgrade parts from their sprues and carefully trimming and filing away the flashing from them. The sergeant receives the power sword, helm and most ornate pad from the command sprue and the backpack from the tactical sprue, whilst the remainder of the fists pads and backpacks were distributed to the squad, with fists helms going to marines that didnt receive backpacks. Then each marine was given a deathwatch bolter and pad with deathwatch helms going to those marines that required them. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5003/5382431150_38ffb5ca30_b.jpg The sergeant: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5248/5382438054_6afc700b1b_b.jpg I'm not sure whether to put the banner on him. I usually dont have bannermen in squads, reserving that for independent characters. We'll see how I feel later. Finally I clipped out arms for them all from the sprues, sourcing a left arm with the hand gripping a firearm from the assault squad sprue - removing a plasma pistol from the hand in the process. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5123/5382448674_52e8c2d861.jpg And that is as far as I got tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonidus Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 this is the same approach that I take when assembling my tactical squads. I still need to assemble my sternguard squad as of yet! going the forgeworld approach though I'm really liking the deathwatch concept! NICE ONE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Torch. Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 It seems like I'm the only one who has found any cheap space marines :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonMissed Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 Cheers Fellas. This evening then. In between bouts of assembly of my second Thunderfire cannon (which I'm supposed to be using tomorrow night in a game to test out a tournament list) I put the sternguard together. Firstly I fitted the arms. I drilled and pinned the sword arm on the Sarge, and fitted the bolter in his off hand. I took the decision to point with the sword and angle the bolter at the floor rather than the other way around. the rest of the squad had their plastic arms fitted by cementing them in and whilst still mobile using tweezers to place a bolter in position to force them into the right place. A variety of poses were once again used. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5384916811_122176b7fa.jpg Shoulder pads and helms were glued in place once the arms had been given an hour or so to set. The bolters here are just balanced on the arms - they will be glued in place after painting in order that the chest detail can be painted effectively. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5220/5385519236_c69435f56b.jpg Here's the sarge: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5218/5384922471_8e19405d49_b.jpg And a couple of the marines: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5211/5385523460_c7f08a69b2_b.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5218/5385525190_4e4dab61a6_b.jpg So, next up is undercoating. That will probably be Wednesday night. I'm back off to suck on some more Superglue fumes and finish off assembling that Thunderfire cannon, having spent the prerequisite 15 minutes with a dremel getting the turntable to fit into the base piece as usual...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL. Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 very nice, look forward to seeing them undercoated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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