The Neurode Crusade - Updates and Fixes to HQs and Elites

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

Well, I guess you have to have a witch to train the neophytes to destroy...

 

 

[Brother Christopher]

Some less-heretical updates:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plus a set of magnetised weapons:

 

So, I technically managed to paint them before GW deletes them in 11th Edition. It remains to be seen whether I'll manage to field them in a game, though.

 

Regardless, I got these models the year they were released (still seems like it wasn't that long ago). They're way better in person and I had some fun working on them. Having said that, I'm glad that they're done - they have a lot of details and it took me 2-3 painting sessions more than I anticipated. Also, I must note that these were 'rushed,' i.e. I feel that there's way more that I could do and probably should customise them more but it is what it is.

 

I'm really focused on getting my army done this year.

[Marshal Reinhard]

Checkers are life, checkers are love.

[Brother Christopher]

Two more Crusaders join the ranks of my rubbish marines:

 

 

 

 

 

 

This brings me to a total of 16 models painted this year. By my standards, this is exceptional progress. Unfortunately, this still means that I have 40 infantry and bikes to do.

 

Sometimes I think this is an utterly wasted effort, especially given how GW changes rules and how they made all the models bigger.

 

Regardless, the Crusade is Eternal. Or at least shall last until I paint all of the squat-Templars I bought. So help me Emperor!

 

Next up: HQ bikers.

[Brother Christopher]

Admittedly, I let myself get a bit sidetracked this month by my Primaris conversion Project; I've been developing a paint scheme, as well as trying out some de-Primaris-ification works. However, this doesn't mean that I've abandoned my Oldmarines in Black.

 

I've been working on some bikers who are mostly done. This brings me to a total of 19 painted models this year out of the remaining 56 non-vehicle models for my Templars. I think the result would've been much better were it not for the Centurions (and the Primaris experiments, too); magnetising and painting all of those weapons was quite time-consuming. I think I'm also quite optimistic about actually finishing most of my Templar stuff this year. This also means that  - by my standards - I have a great pace of progress.

 

Speaking of standards, I thought I could share with you my banner for my biker ancient:

 

 

The design was influenced by an actual Polish cavalry banner:

[Brother Christopher]

Here are the finished bikers:

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

Love it! the banner biker turned out really well.

[Brother Christopher]

Thank you, Brother! Your feedback is a great source of motivation to push through with this project. It's taking a toll on me, mentally.

 

The other thing that keeps me moving is wanting to see them properly finished. These aren't models that look great individually (due to me taking conscious creative decisions to keep a uniform tabletop standard across the board) but I'm really hoping that they'll look great in squads and as an army showcase!

[Brother Christopher]

Here's my old metal Apothecary. The other medics in my army wear black armour with only white accents; however, for this guy, I decided to try my hand at painting white armour.

 

 

 

After posting the photos I realised that I missed a couple of spots so I'll have to redo some bits. That's slightly annoying but nothing major.

[Brother Carpenter]

Looking nice, maybe a bit on the thick side with the paint, or is that the structre of the metal?

But I'm having that issue as well when trying to paint something white.

 

The face came out really nice, you have better brush controll tha I do when painting eyes, because mine always end up on cheeks or noses 

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks for the comment and your keen eye! This time, I think I've managed to keep the thickness of the paint in control. The thickness of chalkiness is, like you suggested, caused by the texture of the metal. The model was in quite a poor condition when I got him and the metal was quite porous. On top of that, there was a lot of ancient glue that I failed to remove completely. However, I'm happy with how he turned out. It is what it is and another ancient mini joins the ranks of my Crusade.

 

While he's not the best looking apothecary, I always feel good after 'rescuing' these little, ugly metal dudes. Having said that, I don't really enjoy painting them. Having worked on modern plastics, the quality of the details leaves much to be desired and is a pain to paint (sometimes it's difficult to make out what is what).

[Brother Carpenter]

Yes, the metal surface was always a thing, with those models.

Also the warpage around tiny details, that I always seem to get wrong when painting 

 

But they were great sculpts in their own right at he time.

The overall model looks very good.

 

Good luck with the crusade!

[Brother Christopher]

On 6/20/2024 at 9:30 AM, Brother Carpenter said:

Yes, the metal surface was always a thing, with those models.

Also the warpage around tiny details, that I always seem to get wrong when painting 

 

I feel the pain! I have a soft spot for metal models but, to be honest, I'm glad that I'm almost done with painting them. As you mentioned, the details - while nice - appear to be all over the place. Plus, there's the matter of processing pewter models which are more difficult to paint and way easier to damage.

 

But they have their charm. It also felt meaningful to have these guys as named character and leaders. It added weight to your force.

 

More retro stuff:
 

Firstly, I think, the oldest model in my collection, a random flamer marine from a bygone era:

 

 

And a custom count-as bladeguard veteran, based on a kitbash using metal vet parts, as well as some green stuff (the cloth on the shoulder pad) and a DIY plasticard shield on the backpack. I painted this model long ago but he needed an upgrade. I decided not to strip him completely and settle with an attempt to 'improve' the original paintjob (for silly reasons — call it nostalgia — I decided not to remove paint from my old models, especially those that did well in games) - so I touched up the tabard, tried to refine the lines and replaced a bolt pistol that was utterly ruined with glue with a metal plasma pistol (I think, from a Sicarius model).

 

 

I think I'll need to revisit the lines on the helmet; seeing them in the photo, I'm not particularly pleased with the result.

 

 

The shield, however, turned out surprisingly dope!

 

 

Some old freehand - a homage to Geralt of Rivia.

 

[bloodhound23]

Big fan of the pose on Geralt.

[Brother Christopher]

I was too long since I've last posted here. I just want to let you know that your venerable, stubborn, oldmarine Brother is still alive. I haven't given up on my rubbish-scale Templars yet. However, over the last months a lot has been going on, both good and bad.

 

In the realm of 40k as a hobby, I did a small foray into Primaris marines (if you're interested, here's a link) but now, I feel it's time to return to my Neurode Crusaders. I'm recovering from a particularly bad month, but I feel that I'm almost ready to paint some models. I think that I'll focus my hobby efforts on updating some of my older paintjobs and modified models (mostly wargear changes). While I don't feel like doing this, I know that this is the right thing to do. I do not plan on fixing the old paintjobs completely; I just want to pimp them up a bit, i.e. improve some of my most early edge highlights, add some washes here and there and paint replaced arms/weapons. The alternative is to get back to painting the remaining >30 new models.

 

Regardless, I'm happy to share this incoherent post / update / proof of life. I am aware that oldmarines aren't that great but I'm here to stay - this subforum has a very special place in my heart and I miss posting here.

[Helias_Tancred]

Your guys continue to look great!

[Brother Carpenter]

Really loving the Geralt miniature.

 

 

[Brother Christopher]

img]https://i.imgur.com/omxBchE.jpeg[/imgAnd here are

nd here

So, Brothers, as always things seem to get into the way of my 40k. But with a project so many years in the making, what is a couple of more months, ey?

I managed to finish the update/fix of my first five marines. Here's the result:

 

 

 

And here are the before pics:

 

 

And some close-ups:

 

 

And here's probably the biggest upgrade :D The original face was from the second stage of my painting, the first batch after my first attempts at painting the Assault on Black Reach marines.

 

 

While definitely not my best works, I feel like I managed to fix and update the models more or less to my current standard for this project. I do hope that you'll enjoy these silly updates of my ancient paintjobs on my rubbish Marines.

 

Surprisingly, I found the process extremely enjoyable. I felt "in the zone" and not at all frustrated with fixing highlights on models that I'll probably never use. This was an amazing feeling that also reassured me that despite my bickering, I really love my squat Templars.

[Marshal Reinhard]

the sharpening of the last marines eyes must've been really cathartic

[Brother Christopher]

Haha, yeah, it did! It also feels good to get back to painting after the ups and downs of the last two months. Even if this kind of painting isn't what I'd call inspiring, I feel my models deserve an update. I expect that the work on the other models will turn tedious quite quickly but I have the ultimate goal in mind and I suppose it keeps me motivated.

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

Those are fantastic looking BT. Be proud of your work. 

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

I've often thought about going back and updating my older marines too. Maybe once a few other projects are done though. 

[Brother Christopher]

@The Praetorian of Inwit Thank you for the kind words! I'm trying to be proud but - as it often follows from my posts - I'd love to be done with these. This army/collection is a relic of a simpler time of my great naivety. But I'm adamant about not abandoning these guys, even though they're inferior to modern kits and a bit annoying to work on since there are more exciting things out there.

 

10 hours ago, SWORD BROTHER RYAN said:

Maybe once a few other projects are done though. 

 

This, I think, is the only right way of doing updates to older work. This is also something I'm doing right now. Depending on how you go about with your updates (i.e. how much care and attention you want to put into the project), these updates may be a great morale booster, too. After all, it takes less time to fix this and that than painting an entire model and this gives a nice sense of accomplising something.

 

At the same time, unfortunately, I don't feel like doing proper updates - with great difficulty and unhealthy self-restrained (I tend to get lost in the zone wasting too much time on these; fixing the old, messy lines, I find, is more time- and energy-consuming than doing drybrush highlights from scratch), I don't want to waste more time fixing these guys. In a way, I want the old (outdated) paintjobs to still be preserved since these Marines represent a stage in the long journey that is my Crusade. Many of these models also are veterans, i.e., were used in games and in a silly and nostalgic way, I want to hour their deeds.

 

Here are some more updated models:

 

Spoiler

 

 

Spoiler

 

[Brother Carpenter]

Looking great, wished I managed this style on my firstborn.

[Brother Christopher]

@Brother Carpenter Thank you for the continued support! I can't express how I appreciate it and how it helps me move forward with this kind of stuff.

 

I managed to finish another batch of models, this time it's larger than before. I didn't take before photos this time, though. All of these models had some kind of work done on them: from upgrading highlights (similarly to those above), through fixing damage and adding new bits (like the OOP pewter jump pack), to heads and weapons swaps.

 

 

 

Since I already had a marine with a power sword on the back, I figured that I'd need a fancy sergeant and added a modified backpack with a chainsword to another marine; it's silly, but I've gotta say: I like it. I don't think it's much dumber than Bladeguard Vets carrying their shields on their backpacks.

 

 

Those guys mostly were subjected to arm/weapon swaps:

 

Like this storm bolter taken from a terminator kit and cut, filed and adjusted to fit the OOP captain:

 

And the last batch:

 

New old backpack and chainsword:

 

New pistol and hammer:

 

A new sword blade replacing a regular power sword (that broke):

 

This model previously had a grav gun but I decided to swap it for a flamer to use him as a count-as Inferno marine; I've also salvaged a converted wrist-mounted auspex from a different model. It's not a great conversion but I remember that I was passionate about kitbashing it so I decided not to get rid of it and figured that it's okay for a flamer marine.

 

And a group shot of the bunch:

 

Next up, I'll be fixing some character models and, perhaps, my metal Sword Brethren and Sternguards.