A New Chapter: RT Space Marines +++Reinforcements!+++

[Sandalphon]

Nice restoration! I have many snapped exhaust pipes and antennas not to mention those flimsy side railings! I think I can get about 1 proper rhino from the 4 in my box lol.

 

I like that you've used the single vision slot on up front and cut off the bracing frame for the brush cutter (or did the LR version have no frame?). Well done, look forward to seeing it painted :)

 

Fyi we used to call them 'menthol legion' because of their minty fresh colourscheme!

[Shadespyre]

Ah, I'd not heard that before, but the colour scheme does match the Extra-Strong mint wrappers! :)

 

Here's the completed assembly in primer - I hit upon the idea of adding the Mentor Legion badge by cutting it out of plasticard, I don't know if it was a good idea, let's see when I paint it!

 

[Shadespyre]

Made some good progress on this, this is 95% done, needs some more markings (I have ordered some old decals off ebay) and a bit of tidying up, but this is broadly how it will look.

 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Beautiful work on the Predator.

[Shadespyre]

And finally, with the extra decals. Only a few but it makes a difference I think

 

 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the Predator, Shadespyre.

[Shadespyre]

The Emperor Provides!

It hs been far too long since I added to this project. Unfortunately, this does not mean more Space Marines, this time around. Instead. I have completed (?) and painted my collection of early Rogue Trader Imperial Guard (and some associated miniatures). I've just gone ahead and painted one of each model, rather than try to build a "proper" army list like I did with the Space Marines. The intention is to represent the rather rag-tag survivors of the local Planetary Defence Force, who would be drawn from the workforce on the (unnamed) war-torn industrial planet which the basing is supposed to represent.

Included below is (I hope!) every model from the RT05 / RT501 Imperial Guard releases from 1987/88, plus some of the specialists (Commissars, Medics, Heavy Weapons) released around the same time. Hopefully I'll complete those ranges at some point, too.

In support, we also have the original and best Ogryn, the first release of Ratling Snipers and also a stray Space Dwarf - this is at a time when Abhumans were considered "core" Imperial troops, hence the Beastman in the second picture.

For heavy support, we have a slightly converted second edition Sentinel - because it looks better and was miles cheaper than the original "egg" design - plus a Rapier and Tarantula.

Finally, a scratch built Grav-Attack vehicle. The chassis started out as the old remote control of an electric fan, which I got hold of a number of from my work. The rest of the design is then based on a model which my friend made based on the same chassis, but for his Eldar Pirates force. 

In terms of colour scheme, the grey armour is inspired by the orginal WD adverts, and the blue fatigues are the same colour as the boiler suits that my colleagues wear in the factory where I work! I wanted to get away from all-black for the Commissars but experiments with blue and even white didn't really work, so I took the mid-grey which is the 3rd colour on the infantry and went with that. 

 

[Grotsmasha]

Great stuff here, amazingly cool too see all these oldies again

[oldschoolsavant]

Oooh, bumpage. LOVE the old school IG, especially the OG Ogryn, but that style of Sentinel was atrocious even then, much preferred the RT egg-on-legs !

Nice painting throughout, and a shoutout to thon scratchbuilt tank....thing. :D

[Shadespyre]

Just popped back to look something up, thanks for the comments. Those Sentinels certainly divide opinion! I should have got the egg style ones, but they are so expensive second hand and I'm not *that* attached to them because I never owned one first time around.

 

I'm concentrating on fantasy miniatures again at the moment, but there will be more Rogue Trader additions in the coming year, I hope. Scored a squad of classic Grey Knights off ebay, so those are a definite. And at some point I'll get started on the xenos...

[Brother Carpenter]

On 12/22/2013 at 1:33 AM, Shadespyre said:

I guessed as much, thanks for confirming it... I've bought the two pictured, and will look out for more. Not a top priority as an Assault squad is way down my list of things to do (but I assume some characters might be able to use them - I really should buy a Codex sometime soon!

The link to the ebay site was dead but im assuming you referred to the cylindrical jump packs?

Ive seen similar ones with a 3rd party seller. Not on shapeways. I thought it was one of the uk based ones.

Good luck with the project.

Ps very nice old skool minis

Edited December 28, 2022 by Brother Carpenter

[Shadespyre]

[Shadespyre]

Hello! Nearly three years since my last proper update here! But as the pictures of paint pots may have hinted, I have come back to adding to the Unicorns.

 

And so I would like to introduce you to the 3rd Company. Specifically, Tactical Squad 3.IV

 

 

Having watched some of my fellows at the Old World Army Challenge paint some really old school Marines, I decided I wanted to join in, and started collecting a squad's worth of these ancient C100 Space Marines sculpted by Citadel Miniatures legend Bob Naismith. This turns out to be quite an expensive proposition, but at least these guys are one piece castings including the back pack, which saves a bit of money and trouble.

 

I chose 3rd Company (having realised that I'd filled my 5th Company roster) simply because I think red goes nicely with my colour scheme (as already tested with the red Sergeant helmets) and because one of the old decal sheets I had included some suitable transfers. (While I've got loads of the old Ultramarine sheets with lots of 2nd Company decals, using yellow markings on yellow armour is never going to look that great.) The other obvious choice would have been to use these old style guys as Veterans, but I wanted to give these the full uniform treatment rather than the plain white helmet.

 

I'll come back and talk about the Rhino in a later post  

[Shadespyre]

[Firedrake Cordova]

Great to see some old sculpts getting some love.

 

The Rhino looks very "Colonial Marines" to me  

[Shadespyre]

Thanks!

 

Yes, the Rhino does have that "Aliens" look about it.

 

I could just have built yet another fairly standard Mk I Rhino (I have the bits for another three or four, I think) but I wanted to try and do something different to go with the old sculpts. I had a hunt through some of the plastic, resin or metal vehicles that I remembered being available from other companies back in this time, and although some of them are pretty cool and nostalgic, none of them have enough WH40k vibe to work alongside the rest of my motor pool.

 

Hunting around the internet I found a set of STL files for a WHEELED Rhino, and I decided that was exactly what I wanted! So I thought I'd have a go at printing one. Now, I have a very basic filament 3D printer which I have very mixed success with (too low resolution to print minis with) but to my surprise I left it printing overnight and it produced a pretty tidy left hand side and set of wheels, so the next day I did the right hand side and that worked too!

 

 

I added the grills (made from left over support material from another 3D printing project) but very little clean up was actually needed. It's pretty clear from some of the surface texture that you are looking at a 3D print, but I decided to push ahead with it to see what a couple of coats of paint would do.

 

For the main body, I used another built from heavily restored original components, and then added more old and new bits to complete the look. It would have been a hell of a long print to do the whole body in one hit. The single central hatch simply came about because this hatch I wanted to use (maybe off a more modern Rhino or Predator?) was so large. The armour plate it sits on is just cut from plasticard of course.

 

 

 

I think if I was to do it again, I might print the wheels and exhausts at a higher resolution just to see if i can eliminate the textures from 3D printing, but my painting style for my vehicles is quite rough and ready and I don't think it stands out unless you have a close up view like this.

 

I think it's a cool looking design. Compared to a standard Rhino you lose the side doors, and as the basis of a Predator you'd not be able to fit sponsons, but I think the big wheels give the impression of a vehicle built more for speed. Maybe a scout car or reconnaisance variant would work, with a light turret or some sort of comms array? I feel like this might not be the last of these that I build.

[Smoke Frog]

That wheeled rhino is great! Love the paint scheme for these marines!

[Terminatorinhell]

Now I want a wheeled rhino lol

[Vairocanum]

Love seeing the rogue trader marines, especially with such a great paint job! The wheeled rhino looks fantastic, not something I'd thought about before but man does it look cool! 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Ah, that's neat. I'm guessing that you could probably gently sand most of the print texture out as it's mostly large flat slabs? (I don't own a 3D printer, so apologies if this is coming from a point of ignorance, because it is) Personally, I can't see any obvious layer lines in the painted model.  

 

As for it looking faster than a standard Rhino, maybe it's a LRDG variant?

[Shadespyre]

Fo those who have the capability to print their own wheeled Rhino, the free files can be obtained here:

Wheeled Rhino 3D printing STLs

 

@Firedrake Cordova No, you're pretty much correct. With a filament printed model like this, which is built up from thin layers of PLA plastic, I've found it doesn't sand very well, so painting it over with a filler like Liquid Green Stuff and then sanding it works better. This is what I'm attempting on some other (non-WH40k) models. I think with a higher quality resin printer it would take sanding better but also have a better resolution so might not need it at all.

 

I'm so glad everyone likes this extra addition to the Chapter. If anyone has more suggestions of old or odd models to add to the 3rd Company, please let me know