BCK's Thread of Stuff: Symphony of Destruction

[Custom Hero]

Have you thought about using the tip of a hobby knife to score in a few scars to his face?

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

I've tried that before, but it's never looked right to me because the scars are too deep and the edges too sharp, but I might have an idea of something new to try.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Trying out some of the new arms I got off eBay on the Primaris Lt with the bolter and pistol. As a reminder, how he looked previously in a pose I wasn't all that fond of:

 

 

And now:

 

 

I'm thinking about removing the box magazine to give the impression he had to draw his sidearm before he was able to reload. 

[Quixus]

I'm thinking about removing the box magazine to give the impression he had to draw his sidearm before he was able to reload.

Don't bother. I think a space marine would know how long changing magazines would take and so didn't even start the process before drawing his sidearm. Plus I think modelling a good looking magazine well in plain sight might be difficult.

Edited August 25, 2019 by Quixus

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

GW didn't bother modeling the mag well at all. 

 

[Marshal Rohr]

A bunch of super soldiers with Little Man Marine Syndrome (LMS)? Sounds nasty.

 

I was wanting a bare head with some scars for the Primarized sarge, but I didn't have any and couldn't find any I liked on eBay.

 

Maybe in these days of 3D printing more options might become available. I'd love to get some heads that evoked as much menace as Tom Berenger's scarred up SSGT Barnes from Platoon.

 

If you pull this off you’ll be the greatest face converter of all time.

[Gederas]

I've tried that before, but it's never looked right to me because the scars are too deep and the edges too sharp, but I might have an idea of something new to try.

This might be a bit crazy, and I wouldn't recommend it without trying it a few times, but.... There are tips for soldering irons that can put Xacto blades onto the soldering iron. That might work, as the heated tip would cut into, as well as also melting the plastic to make the scars more "realistic".

 

Maybe. I just woke up, but it makes sense to me? :lol:

[jaxom]

A lighter and a fine pin may provide better control oddly enough; lower heat and smaller point (at least compared to an actual soldering iron). Might take a few passes to get the right depth on the scar.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

 

This might be a bit crazy, and I wouldn't recommend it without trying it a few times, but.... There are tips for soldering irons that can put Xacto blades onto the soldering iron. That might work, as the heated tip would cut into, as well as also melting the plastic to make the scars more "realistic".

 

A lighter and a fine pin may provide better control oddly enough; lower heat and smaller point (at least compared to an actual soldering iron). Might take a few passes to get the right depth on the scar.

 

I don't have a soldering iron, but I have tried heating both a hobby blade a small pin for this sort of thing in the past and it didn't work out all that well. I did an experiment last night and I think the results are pretty good. I couldn't get my camera to focus on just the head on a length of brass rod, so I put it on the LT's body.  

 

 

I drew in where I wanted the scar with a pencil, then lightly scribed over it with the tip of a new hobby blade, then cut a piece of thin brass rod to have a bit of a chisel point to it and very carefully traced that line with it until it was a depth a liked. Once that was done, I used a very thin detail brush to apply plastic cement into the groove and smoothed the hard edges. I think it might be a bit too wide, but it could also represent a really grievous wound. Thoughts?

[Elzender]

It looks quite deep, but then again considering the enhanced healing capacity of space marines, it had to be a severe wound to not be completely cured. Moreover, you can always play at the painting stage to make it more or less noticeable, so I think it is pretty much perfect. Edited August 25, 2019 by Elzender

[Grotsmasha]

Whilst in it's raw form it does appear on the deep side, paint can be used to hide that for sure. Beesides, it being slightly larger increases its visibility on the tableptop. All in all, I say jobs a good 'un :tu:

[Bryan Blaire]

It looks good! Most of GW's scars also seem more extreme than they likely "really" would be, even on Astartes, so I don't think your guy is in bad company!

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Interesting thing is that it doesn't look nearly as deep and extreme in the photos as it did when I was working on it. I'll try again on another figure to see if I can tone it down a bit more. 

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Attempt #2. I made a new tool with a fine but blunt tip out of a piece of brass rod instead of the chisel shape I used previously and I think this one turned out a lot better. 

 

 

Something interesting I noticed about this particular marine head (because almost everything reminds me of something from a movie) is that from the side it looks a lot like Adam Baldwin but from the front, it looks a lot like Neal McDonough. 

 

[Grotsmasha]

That is spot on 

[Elzender]

I think we have a winner right there, the scars look just like SSGT Barnes ones. Looking forward to seeing that face painted!

[Dosjetka]

The second attempt at scars looks terrific. I think you've nailed it. :tu:

[jaxom]

And boom goes the dynamite. That's a fantastic result!

[Lexington]

Incredible work, BCK.

[Bryan Blaire]

That looks amazing!

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Thanks, brothers! Sometimes a new idea takes me a lot more trial and error to get right but I managed to dial this one in with just two tries. 

 

 

I think we have a winner right there, the scars look just like SSGT Barnes ones. Looking forward to seeing that face painted!

 

I don't have any plans to use it on a mini any time soon though. I think the shouty sarge is the only model in my upcoming Raptors that I want to have a bare head. I even want to replace the bare heads of the vanguard infiltrators, lieutenant, and captain that I got. 

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Last pic of shouty sarge in the build phase, showing his unceasing bad luck with helmet damage and facial injuries over the years. 

 

[Custom Hero]

Nice!

[Chaplain Mollusc]

Nice work, frater! I may have to try this technique on one of my scout sergeants. Would this work on resin as well?

 

Backing up a bit, I love your autocannon Land Raider, both in concept and execution. Are you planning to use it counts-as or is it a display piece? Or did I miss a way to use custom tank loadouts? (Please let me have missed something!)

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

You can certainly cut into the resin with the tip of a hobby blade or a needle, but plastic cement doesn't work on resin and won't soften up the scar grooves like I've done on these heads. You could try sanding the grooves by folding some thin sandpaper and using the edge of the crease. Also, always wet sand when you're working with resin to keep the dust out of the air.