The Neurode Crusade

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks Master, these are some great tips!

Redemptor Dreadnough Conversion - Photo Update #1

Progress is better than expected. The model is coming along... amazingly. Apologies for the brag, but I am surprised how well I was able to 'mould' the layers of plasticard to realise my vague ideas for the design so far. I am genuinely surprised by what I was able to do, especially before soiling everything with Milliput. I think I've put around 8-10 hours into altering the model's legs so far.

What I'm happy with:
- the way things fit together, despite the irregular shapes;
- the extent to which I was able to adapt the design of the Leviathan Dreadnought's greaves to a Redemptor;
- the shield-shaped knee pads;
- the Maltese cross on the one side.

What I messed up so far:
- overspilt glue; my excuse is that the pieces are too small ;) I also expect that it won't be that evident once the model is primed and painted;
- the inner bottom part of the front greaves that almost touches the 'toe'; I'd have liked more clearance there, but also couldn't achieve it while maintaining the more-or-less symmetrical design of armour;
- applying and later sanding Milliput, but I hope that after I apply some paint, it'll all look better than in the photos, which --hopefully-- exaggerate everything due to magnification.

What I'm worried about:
- how the modified legs will go together with the tors, specifically if the entire model won't look top-heavy; that's the worst part with converting things 'on the go,' without being able to visualise it beforehand.

As you can see, I also started to mutilate the 'torso.'

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Amazingly impressive !! 

[Marshal Reinhard]

That's some very nice leg armror

[Sword Brother Adelard]

This is indeed a worthy aim, I've seen a few examples of this with people trying to upscale Bjorn the Fellhanded:

 

 

But, as you can see with this example, not modifying the leg armour in as lovely a way as you have done creates an odd disconnect between the very rounded Redemptor armour style and the boxnaught aesthetic.

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks guys! I'm glad you appreciate it.

Yesterday, apparently I've lost my focus and I think I might have messed things up a bit with the lower front torso / sarcophagus extension. I removed the entire base of the extra armour ('pot belly') of the Redemptor only to discover that there was something off about the model.

The proportions between the bottom and top parts were very un-dreadnoughty and the silhouette of the model lost much of its resemblance to the Castraferrum Dreads. After taking a step back, thinking and comparing the converted model to a regular dread, to my dismay, I discovered that the problem is with the length of the sarcophagus, which should be extended towards the bottom, drooping so to speak.

 

Here are photos taken at an earlier stage, where the bottom part of the extra armour ('pot belly') is still in place and the silhouette of the model is considerably better:

 

I will now have to fix this issue. I have two ideas:

1. Use a part of the original extra armour to lengthen the central part of the model:

I think the solution is okay-ish, 4/5. The thing I'm not sure of is the width of the extension; I made sure it doesn't catch on the 'hips' and allows for the full rotation of the torso/legs in the designed range of motion, but... there's something clumsy about it.

 

2. Build a narrower extension; to help me quickly visualise how it could look (in comparison to the reused bits solution above), I shaped some blue-tack to roughly imitate the profile:

Admittedly, the putty doesn't hold the required shape that well, but it appears to be the way to go. Sure, it'll require more effort but I suppose that it being narrower looks slightly better, particularly when viewed from the front; in the first solution, the width of the extension is exactly the same as the 'groin guard' which, I suppose, doesn't look great.

 

If you can get some of my meaning from the rambling above and from the photos, do let me know what you think.

I'll have to call it a day and sleep over it. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to reach a decision and continue with the project.

 

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

Both solutions have merit, but given your attention to detail with plasticard and sculpting, my personal opinion would be to go with the method you simulated with the blue tack. I think you'll be overall happier with the result in the long run, rather than staring at it on a shelf in the future wishing you'd gone the other way. Just my 2 thrones.

As for the card/miliput, I have seen all too often in my own work that it looks chunky and horrible until you get paint on it. I don't know why, but for some reason, it's the difference in color to the grey of the original model that just makes it look "off". Once you start painting, however, it all blends together into the vision you had at the start and looks great, like it came that way. I'm doing greenstuff tabards on my Assault Intercessors, and it looks like crud until the primer coat goes on.

I have a Redemptor in my backlog as well, and received the Shapeways additional conversion bits as a gift nearly a year ago. I may have to steal borrow your idea for the added leg armor, just so it looks totally different to the Redemptor I already have.

As always, your vision and builds are an inspiration. I'm sure it'll look amazing when complete!

[Brother Christopher]

Progress has slowed down incredibly due to unexpected real-life stuff (work and health issues), but I haven't abandoned it! I added the chin/sarcophagus extension but it took me ages (literally, hours of planning, fitting and messing about). The following photos are still of a work-in-progress, but I managed to get the base shape done. I still need to fill the gaps, add some minor details, as well as figure out how to install the hull-mounted weapon systems (right now, the one storm bolter is fixed with a lump of blu tack). I am not super pleased with the sides - in the photos, they look a bit uneven, but it will have to do. On the other hand, I'm quite happy with the way I recycled some of the removed parts and managed to get some nice details out them.

This was the starting point:

And this is what I now have:

[Urkh]

This dread is going to look sooooooo sweet once you get it done!

Im pretty sure i put that same BT upgrade sword thing on the same spot on my most recent dread!

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

I'm glad you went with the scratch build fix. Looks great!

[Brother Christopher]

Thank you Brothers for the much-needed words of encouragement!

On 10/8/2022 at 12:31 AM, Urkh said:

Im pretty sure i put that same BT upgrade sword thing on the same spot on my most recent dread!

That's a perfect place to put that bit, I think. Also, a homage to the old FW resin Black Templars dread - it also had a sword on the front armour panel (albeit, the sword was broken, if I recall correctly).

[Brother Carpenter]

The broken sword of Dorn I presume.

[Brother Christopher]

On 10/11/2022 at 1:23 PM, Brother Carpenter said:

The broken sword of Dorn I presume.

 

Actually, you might be on to something. The size seems to be just about right ;)

 

There isn't too much progress to report, but I'm curious about your opinion. I'm not sure how to position the hull-mounted Storm Bolters.

 

What do you think? Version A or B?

[Urkh]

I think B fills the hole better. I think i would like to see pics with them both in A and both in B, vs one of each.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I prefer version B.

[Emicus]

B. If you are concerned the hole is too big you could bulk up the bolter casing?

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks for the quick feedback! I think you're right and I'll go with B. I considered A as a homage to how the old Forge World dreadnoughts had their storm bolters/flamers installed, but the shape of the Redemptor's front amour panels is such a perfect fit for positioning the bolters in ver. B that in the end I can't wast that opportunity.

[Brother Christopher]

I made further progress. Unfortunately, this time it became more evident than ever that I lack the imagination to do custom stuff. I have ideas - some of which are good - but can't really visualise how they'll turn out and fit the bigger picture.

 

Inspired by others' conversions, I set out to make the the model more like the classic Dreadnoughts, but also consciously decided to use aspects of the heresy aesthetics. At the same time, I also wanted to keep parts of the original Redemptor. The legs turned out great, but very similar to a Leviathan. Granted, I didn't want a single-piece leg armour (I felt it'd look silly on the larger Redemptor) and wanted to keep a separate greeve and 'knee' pad.

 

Most of the Castaferrum flavour was supposed to come from the top; however, I didn't pay enough attention to notice that the top parts of a Redemptor and Castaferrum Dreadnought share only superficial similarities and are in fact totally different, most importantly the Redemptor's middle section (with the sarcophagus) is higher than the side armour panels.

 

Furthermore, I decided not to construct the entire arms from scratch and opted for an extensive conversion of the Redemptor's original "shoulder" armour. The end result is... well, I'm not totally sure about it, but there's not much that I can do at this point.

 

Here's a work-in-progress photo.

 

As you can see, I decided to extend the armour, while retaining some of the Redemptor's design. I also kept the notch, whose position was determined by the shape of the Redemptor's armour. I'm not sure about the said notch, but it'll need to stay. I thought about filling it in and ending up with an arm similar to a Contemptor, but the converted shoulder housing will extend beyond the silhouette of the model, when looking at it's profile.

 

The pictures below with the circled bits illustrate what I'm referring to above.

 

The version that I'll probably go with, with the notches:

 

 

An illustration of how the symmetrical, Contemptor-style 'shoulders' would look like:

 

 

 

In retrospect, for the more Castrafferum-inspired look, I should've built the entire bit, to make it more sloped, like on the classic dreadnoughts:

 

This is what I mean by my lack of imagination. I had an idea, but failed to visualise it's execution properly and predict the issues it created. I mean... I hope you won't find it to be bad, but I had hoped for something different. What's done is done, though. I will not be redoing this and will have to change the underlying idea - now the model will simply be a Neurode-Pattern Redemptor.

 

The 'shoulders' aren't done yet, too. I have some other ideas. Let's hope that they'll work well this time. I plan to extend the armour on the rear to have some exposed bits, like on the classic Dreadnoughts and Leviathans, I believe. Here's a WIP shot of the extension:

 

 

 

In the spoiler tag, you'll find some random WIP shots documenting what I did with the 'shoulders.'

 

Spoiler

 

Arms removed:

 

 

 

 

An example of my exquisite sculpting skills; as you can see in the photos above, I quite successfully managed to trim the excess:

 

Also, I'll soon have to deal with the most stressful part of the process - find the right pose for the model.

 

I'm considering a defensive stance, something like this:

 

[Urkh]

I think you are too hard on yourself. The shoulders look great, and i did like the notched shoulders. But yah, you should stop looking at it as, "i failed to do this." and try to see it more as a, "now I've learned how to do this better." No battle plan survives contact with the enemy, the enemy being life. The next time you do a dread like this, you will have a much better time of it because of this experience. And also, as others have said, a lot of things will look better after the primer is applied.

 

Cant wait to see the finished product and the pose you choose to do!

Edited October 16, 2022 by Urkh

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

He’s looking really good and I like the pose.

[Brother Christopher]

On 10/17/2022 at 12:01 AM, Urkh said:

I think you are too hard on yourself. The shoulders look great, and i did like the notched shoulders. But yah, you should stop looking at it as, "i failed to do this." and try to see it more as a, "now I've learned how to do this better." No battle plan survives contact with the enemy, the enemy being life. The next time you do a dread like this, you will have a much better time of it because of this experience. And also, as others have said, a lot of things will look better after the primer is applied.

 

Oh, I'm not that hard. What I wrote above was intended as observations. They might've turned out a bit negative, but they aren't. I mean, I could have preferred to have something different, but what I'm ending up with shapes up to look pretty cool (a definite upgrade to the original, at least) and is an extremely satisfactory, albeit time-consuming process!

 

Also, I can't wait to see what I end up with. Applying some primer should add at least +10 to the cool factor, covering up all the ugly-looking Miliput work. I am fairly calm about it, too - some of the messy tan-coloured bits are very smooth and with some paint of, should be indistinguishable from the rest.

 

On 10/17/2022 at 5:37 AM, BLACK BLΠFLY said:

He’s looking really good and I like the pose.

 

On 10/17/2022 at 12:01 AM, Urkh said:

Cant wait to see the finished product and the pose you choose to do!

 

Thanks to the both of you! I'm glad you're following my progress and reassuring me about being on the right track. I really want to make this model work and not regret cutting corners here and there (something I regretted in the past!). That's why I take so much time with the conversion.

 

I managed to do something with the shoulder armour. Regrettably, I removed the chains (that you can see in some of the earlier pictures) from one of the shoulder guards; it didn't look right. Maybe I'll reattach some chains in some manner later on.

 

 

 

 

I hope that you'll agree that things are looking okay. Regardless, I'll still need to do some more putty work to make the curve more even and symmetrical.

 

***

In other news, this month has been pretty weird so far. On several occasions, I’ve been this close to buying something new for my army but always managed to persuade myself not to do so, even though I wanted some models badly. I almost got a Spartan, the small HH Land Raider, Repulsor (for extensive conversion purposes), a Storm Speeder (one of the best-looking models in the Primaris line-up!), the Primaris BT army box and the new 35^th-anniversary diorama EC. These purchasing whims were fuelled by some not-so-good real-life things going on: I probably wanted to feel younger again and buy myself a nice-looking toy to distract myself from the perils of 2022 :D

In the end, however, reason prevailed and I did not get one thing. And frankly, I think that I shouldn’t buy anything for the Crusade either. Ever. I don’t have the space to display the minis, for gaming purposes, I have more than enough (come on, I can’t imagine a scenario in which I field 4 Land Raiders and 2 Storm Ravens!) and I figured that at my current pace of work (particularly, since thus far I’ve spent 3 weeks on converting ONE dreadnought) it’ll take me a lifetime to finish what I already have, particularly with my knack for scratch-building. Last week I’ve turned 32 and, along the way, many new passions emerged. Unfortunately, largely due to how GW changed, my passion for 40k has waned.

The good thing is that I still like my squatty collection and I want to live to see the entirety of my collection painted and proudly displayed in my IKEA cabinet, which already is quite crowded with angry, zealous Marines and surprisingly large and space-consuming vehicles. So today, I’d like to believe that the crusade indeed is assembled (meaning no more purchases) and despite me wanting some new, cool models… I believe that one needs to be reasonable and it’s better to have obsolete, yet painted miniatures than new models stored in boxes. Also, it should be healthier for me in the long run. To be honest, I'd like to have the 10th edition already - based on how it shapes up to be, I'll know what the odds are of me getting back to gaming and know whether I can get rid of my SM bike collection (a recurrent motif over the last 3 years; I am really torn about them bikes!).

[Brother Christopher]

To be honest, progress is disappointing and this conversion project starts to grind me down. This state of affairs probably has something to do with expectations. I expected that the shoulder guards will be ready and I'll be left with doing some details. Unfortunately, I spent the last two hobby sessions on the shape of the shoulder guards and on fixing some issues that popped along the way and, thus, am behind the expected schedule. My inexperience with modelling putties is quite painful. But I want to get things done right, so... I'll need another session with Milliput or green stuff to get things finished.

 

Work in progress shots:

 

Some details on the shoulder-weapon joint:

 

I also reinforced the inside part with plasticard to extent the armour a bit:

 

I also have one more vital decision to make. While I intend to keep the weapon arms movable (the Dreadnought CCW and Gatling/Plasma guns are magnetised), I don't want to fiddle with a twisting torso and want to glue the torso and legs together. However, having messed things up in the past, I'm anxious about a seemingly minor thing: whether the model should be facing left or right.

 

I ask for your insight, Frater! Please bear in mind that the arms and weapons will remain pose-able (hence the two examples of poses for each variant) and the most important thing in question is the direction in which the torso turns:

 

Variant A:

example 1:

 

 

example 2:

 

 

Variant B:

example 1:

 

 

example 2:

 

 

I am aware that these are minor things and extremely nerdy in nature :)  I think I'm leaning more towards Variant B. It should allow me to better exhibit the Maltese cross on the added leg armour (something I'm particularly proud of) and seems more... deliberate? aggressive? Variant A seems a bit more surprised/defensive. 

[Urkh]

I think variant A with maybe a repositioning of the gun to make it more like he is taking aim at an enemy might make it seem less surprised or defensive, and more of a "im turning my body to get these guys over here feel.

 

Variant B feels a little too, lurchy? Very forward heavy, and i feel the gun covers the beautiful armor on the legs you made, where it is much more prominent in A.

 

My $0.02.

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

To tell the truth, I like the 'example B variant'. It doesn't present an "off guard" feel, but more of an "I see you and it's on" vibe.

What you've done with the putty/greenstuff/plasicard is perfect. I'm sure it will look amazing and completely natural once the color clash between grey/green/white is covered with paint. It always looks iffy during the sculpt process (from personal experience), but once you paint it in that amazing style you approach the rest of your army with, I truly think you'll be more than satisfied with the result.

Just keep in mind that as a vision, all plans must remain fluid as the work progresses. To reiterate Urkh, "no plan survives first contact with the enemy" and has to be adapted as circumstances change.

I do hope you re-apply the chains on the one shoulder pad. Maybe one that droops (high contact on either side and low in the center)? Or, perhaps crossed after shoulder detail is done (prime and paint separately, then apply once the pad is completed)?

Your progress is awesome! I know all too well how IRL events can get you down, but drive on when you can. There is nothing wrong with taking your time and sitting for a while in contemplation considering your next move. We all look forward to seeing what you come up with.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I prefer variant B.

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks for the feedback, guys! I'll maybe try to go the extra mile and actually magnetise him in 'waist' or leave the decision for later the very last moment. Tough nerdy choice, but I don't think I can make a wrong decision here.

 

On 10/23/2022 at 4:13 PM, SWORD BROTHER RYAN said:

What you've done with the putty/greenstuff/plasicard is perfect. I'm sure it will look amazing and completely natural once the color clash between grey/green/white is covered with paint. It always looks iffy during the sculpt process (from personal experience), but once you paint it in that amazing style you approach the rest of your army with, I truly think you'll be more than satisfied with the result.

 

That is also my understanding of and hopes for the process. I absolutely hate my lack of skills with sculpting things in Milliput, but I've somewhat learnt to live with it and make up for the lack of those skills in post-processing - filing, sanding and cutting excesses. Overall, I'm 90% satisfied with my Milliput efforts. The bits that look extremely messy in the photos must be good in real life: they look better and they feel better; i.e. the surfaces are quite smooth. Even if the primer and paint won't be enough to smoothen the defects out, I'll try to distract myself and others with some fancy-ish paint job.

 

On 10/23/2022 at 4:13 PM, SWORD BROTHER RYAN said:

Just keep in mind that as a vision, all plans must remain fluid as the work progresses. To reiterate Urkh, "no plan survives first contact with the enemy" and has to be adapted as circumstances change.

 

I'm doing just that! I did fail to give my conversion due thought before moving on, but I'm quite happy with the way it's turning out. I missed the target, but got the next best thing ;) Also, the entire process is a sequence of adapting to my lack of a specified vision - it was quite a journey, mostly satisfying, but right now I really want it to end.

 

One unexpected thing that comes out from this little project is that... I'm extremely glad I didn't undertake other similar endeavours. I wanted to convert TWO INVICTOR WARSUITS to be more like Dreadnoughts, I wanted to get a Repulsor and Impulsor with the intention of adding tracks to them. While these are very tempting and exciting projects, I'm glad I haven't bought the models.

 

Working on the Redemptor is mostly fun. Sure, there are setbacks caused by real-life matters and slight frustrations caused by the constantly emerging, time-consuming problems (particularly with the Milliput shoulder guards), but converting the model is the very essence of this hobby. However, considering my pace, I don't have that much time in my life to complete all these Primaris-related projects on top of my long overdue Firstborn stuff. I have plans and started work on proxies for a Repulsor and Impulsor/Gladiator, meaning that eventually I'll have the trinity of Primaris Vehicles (probably from the first wave of releases? or was the Impulsor a later addition?). In the end, I think that the Redemptor conversion project really helped me realise my place in the hobby, reassess certain things and further bolster the feeling that my collection is complete - I just need to assemble and paint it. Enough is enough, as they say. I am becoming more and more reassured that there has to be a place to draw the line. After all, one can always find a reason to get another Land Raider, another flyer, another squad, ad infinitum. I think that I'm really near drawing that line - I'm still waiting for the rumoured Primaris heavy dreadnought ;)

 

I've also recalibrated my motivation to have and buy new models. For a long time, I focused on "fluff" - my Crusade, in-setting, was supposed to have X Land Raiders and Y Rhinos, etc. I've been particularly fixated on Land Raiders - after all, in my mind, they are the most awesome and desirable SM vehicles. Now, I think that I should focus on the in-game functionality - to have the right number of Land Raiders or Rhinos or what-not with the relevant load-outs for potential games. After all - I keep repeating to myself - I will not play a game of 40k where I'll be able to field 2 Land Raiders, 2 Storm Ravens and 15 Rhinos before adding infantry into the mix. Furthermore, from a fluff perspective, it stands to reason that a crusade as sizeable as mine (counting around 300 Marines) should have more than 3 Drop Pods, 3 Land Speeders and 1 Thunderhawk - hence, I cannot represent the entire armoury in actual models and have to settle for less, which can be relatively reasonably displayed in a piece of furniture.

 

On 10/23/2022 at 4:13 PM, SWORD BROTHER RYAN said:

I do hope you re-apply the chains on the one shoulder pad. Maybe one that droops (high contact on either side and low in the center)? Or, perhaps crossed after shoulder detail is done (prime and paint separately, then apply once the pad is completed)?

 

Oh, man. This is really, really annoying (in a good way!). I think that with the additional motivation from you, I'll add some chains and try to do it properly. Thanks for pushing me in the right direction and overcome my laziness!

 

Edit/Update:

 

I completed all structural work and am moving to the fenishing touches: some greebles in the recesses on the back of the shoulder guards, as well as other details. The end... is realistically in sight!

Edited October 26, 2022 by Brother Cristopher