The Lost and Forgotten: Building the II Legion

[paz]

looking amazing! As they say, keep on keepin' on brother.

[marine7312000]

He's back? He's back!!!!!!

[Athrawes]

Thanks for all the responses! While I havent quite gathered all the necessary hobby equipment to replace what was lost in the fire, work has progressed on the II Legion project.

 

So I have a few teasers to show you on several different things that will all play major rolls in the project going forward:

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/unnamed%202_1.jpg

Courtesy of Mr. Ibrahem Swaid

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/80234acd-7cce-4e11-8b75-bdc1b7707c38.jpg

Courtesy of Mr. Myles David

 

http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q614/Gion_Ferrell/whw-mars-warlord-bnr_zpsnux3ai1k.jpg

And something big on the horizon courtesy of ColdWinter. "We stand for Madrigal"

[Unknown Chronicler]

Excited to see the concept art come to life and entering it into the codex! For the living! We march! MADRIGAL!!!

[Brother Michaels]

You have to tell me how much these artworks cost! I need one myself and the head looks brill mate

[Soldier of Dorn]

From the ashes of defeat, the sons of Madrigal rise! Glory to the 2nd Legion! Triumphs to the Primarch!

 

Glad to see you back, brother! That Warlord better be made a Psychic Titan, I hope.

[Wolfmerc]

Yeah! Making a come back!

[Hyaenidae]

You moved to the puppetswar swords; excellent choice. They look far more to-scale, without losing that lethal yet graceful appearance.

 

Amazing use of the IW torso's, I had a strong suspicion you were going to, lol.

 

Keep it coming, man!

[Astartes-ULTRA]

Welcome back, brother. It pleases the XIth greatly to see the return of the ill-fated IInd legion and their lord and master.

I hope all is back to normal at home too, or at least on the mend.

 

Great work as usual mate, loving the blurb, the artwork and your new minis. As for the torsos, I have a sneaking suspicion you have a fan in FW who sneakily sculpted this torso for the IInd legion, and used the IW range to effectively smuggle them across the border knowing it would make its way to you lol

[Athrawes]

"And on a bridge of light they died. Their voices can be heard there still."

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/webway%20C3s.jpg

 

-Color study of the Webway.

[Olis]

Interesting picture. Did you commission that?

[Tyrannicide]

When I hear or read II Legion the name has become synonymous with the Lightning Bearers. The Lightning Bearers are real and the they are the II Legion, which is a testament to your talent and drive behind this project. I know you support other creative lost legion efforts and distance yourself from the finality and "officialness" of your own work, but really I do hope you take that as a compliment.

 

Those last two are especially nice and I look forward to whatever else you have in store.

[Athrawes]

@Astartes-ULTRA: I wouldnt go that far, but they are pretty perfect. I actually had a lovely conversation over the phone with a chap from Forgeworld and he told me that he's heard of my project and that a few people from the design studio had brought it up one day in conversation. At the end of the day, they're all hobbyists like us, and it was pretty flattering to hear that design studio were aware of the work I have been doing. (Knowing me luck, they probably brought it up to have a laugh over how rubbish it all is to them)

 

@Olis: This is the color study for a new piece of artwork that Ibrahem is working on. It's part of a larger commissioned project yes, but not the final result (Though I'm kind of tempted to make it my desktop background haha).

 

@Tyranicide: It bothers me only inso much as it is incredibly flattering. Projects like Heathens and your "In Memorium" are one of the biggest inspirations for this project, so it truly does mean a lot to hear you say that this project has become your headcannon. I hear that echoed more and more and it never ceases to leave me nonplussed. It is most definitely the greatest compliment anyone could give me, I just never know how to react to it when they do. 

[mattwho81]

Hi, saw your amazing pics and this came up with this backstory, Please feel free to use any part you like:

 

 "The II Legion were the Lightning Bearers a valiant brotherhood dedicated to honour above all, led by their mystic warrior Primarch Icarion the storm born. For the first decades of the Great Crusade they fought in the name of the Emperor but as new generations of marines were inducted they began to show signs of catastrophic gene-seed mutation. For another three decades they fought on but slowly became more corrupted not only in body but also in mind, soon their degeneration surpassed even that suffered by the XV Legion.

 

By the time half the Primarchs had been recovered the II Legion was only a few thousand strong, each legionary a barely recognisable raving monstrous beast kept shackled by legion serfs. In desperation Icarion came before the Emperor and begged permission to end their nightmare in the fires of honourable combat. The Master of Mankind refused, ruthlessly calculating that the freakish aberrations could be studied and dissected to benefit the problems of other still salvageable Legions.

 

Refusing to allow his sons to die as lab-rats the Storm Born took up his sword to grant each and every survivor an honourable death by his own hand. Enraged the Emperor sent Leman Russ to arrest Icarion for his disobedience but before the VI Primarch could reach him Icarion fell upon his own sword to expiate his shame.

 

 The Emperor then ordered that the history of the entire Legion be erased from Imperial records so that his errors would never be widely known."

[Teetengee]

Hi, saw your amazing pics and this came up with this backstory, Please feel free to use any part you like:

 

 "The II Legion were the Lightning Bearers a valiant brotherhood dedicated to honour above all, led by their mystic warrior Primarch Icarion the storm born. For the first decades of the Great Crusade they fought in the name of the Emperor but as new generations of marines were inducted they began to show signs of catastrophic gene-seed mutation. For another three decades they fought on but slowly became more corrupted not only in body but also in mind, soon their degeneration surpassed even that suffered by the XV Legion.

 

By the time half the Primarchs had been recovered the II Legion was only a few thousand strong, each legionary a barely recognisable raving monstrous beast kept shackled by legion serfs. In desperation Icarion came before the Emperor and begged permission to end their nightmare in the fires of honourable combat. The Master of Mankind refused, ruthlessly calculating that the freakish aberrations could be studied and dissected to benefit the problems of other still salvageable Legions.

 

Refusing to allow his sons to die as lab-rats the Storm Born took up his sword to grant each and every survivor an honourable death by his own hand. Enraged the Emperor sent Leman Russ to arrest Icarion for his disobedience but before the VI Primarch could reach him Icarion fell upon his own sword to expiate his shame.

 

 The Emperor then ordered that the history of the entire Legion be erased from Imperial records so that his errors would never be widely known."

um.... not to be rude, but have you read what Athrawes has actually said about their erasure? Battle for Madrigal and all that?

[Athrawes]

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/2F324430-5695-4F78-B17E-569B0E6E7055.jpg

 

The Volta were some of the first pieces of lore that I created for the Lighning Bearers (Even before that became the Legions name.

I've been hard at work trying to finish modeling the first 10 Oni, but the Volta a still dear to my heart. Here is a small preview of what is coming on that front.

 

By the end of the week, I should have some Oni to show you, and a tutorial on how to sculpt the Legion symbol, as that is one of the things I get most PMs about.

 

Thanks for stoping in, let me know what you think about the Seeker.

[Brother Heinrich]

Athrawes your dedication to the framework and history of the II Legion is quite simply astounding. You've taken this far beyond a simple project log and created such a rich story, both visually and textually, that I can no longer think of the II Legion as anything but your Lightning Bearers. If they ever reveal the history of the II Legion they have to bring you on to consult, if they don't I think there will be a riot.

[StoneSentinels]

Love the seeker. Especially the grinning jaw. Very brutal and scary!

[MordentHex]

I want to thank you on behalf of my family for all of the kind replies and the well wishes, It means a great deal to me.  Because of you guys, this is more than simply a Forum, it is a community and for that I am grateful.

 

My family has settled into a hotel for the next few days. We are all well and have been well taken care of.

 

The fire appears to have started from a faulty outlet in our garage where a cycling air compressor was located. The fire spread from the garage and burned down about a third of the residential area of the house, including two bedrooms (mine) and a guest room, my office, a bunch of storage rooms and unfortunately my hobby room. One of our cars was destroyed in the garage and the car in the picture I took had the entire front section melted off so it is scrapped as well.

 

Surprisingly, the rest of the house was saved. Our home was a 50 year old remodel so the portion the fire destroyed was a newer addition, the gas and electricity were separate and thankfully the fire department has decided not to red flag our house. We will be allowed to move back in once the burned half has been sealed up and gas/electricity has been restored.

 

My family is fine, and we still have a home (at least most of one), so all things considered, I believe we are immensely lucky.

 

++++++

 

Now this is a hobby board, so I would like to mourn the loss of my hobby workshop. 15 years of painted armies, paint supplies and my current WIP were all lost. This includes, My tau army, my Death Korps of Krieg, My wood Elves and assorted others.

 

Some of the casualties did belong to my II Legion project.

 

Basically everything that was still a work in progress was lost, these were the project that were currently on my hobby bench. All told, I lost A Warhound titan, a Knight paladin, a Fellblade, a tactical squad worth of Lightning Bearers and my two Deredeo Dreadnoughts and a few scattered characters (raiden and Icarion being the most significant to me).

 

That is however, the extent of the loss from my II Legion Project as the rest of the army was (miraculously) still in my transport case from a game last tuesday with Depthcharge12.

 

So to Depthcharge12 I say, thank you for the game, you saved 70% of my army, in in light of all the other loses, that means more to me than I can put into words.

 

All of this being said, models can be replaced, paints restocked, and my fiery passion for the hobby has not yet been extinguished. I'll keep you guys posted on this project as it will be continuing, in some shape or form.

If this happened to me i would cry Man tears of rage that would shame even Angron.  all told it could have been much worse and im glad to see your doing good although you seem to have come through things fairly well.  I hope you and your family the best.  In other regards you seem to have rebounded rather well and you new art is amazing.  Keep up the good work, this project if official cannon for me now as is relates to the second Legion.  You have earned it!

[Hydra83]

I think this may be my first post on here, so hi to all. Have lurked around for a long time and after reading my way through all of this, I just felt compelled to post. Firstly I'm so glad to hear that you and your family are okay after the fire. I know the shock will take time, but I am sure you will get there... Secondly I just wanted to congratulate you on such outstanding work and dedication. This is truly inspiring stuff and I wish that they'd work this into the Forge World books, as it just fits so well for me and is now official as far as I'm concerned. I was genuinely disappointed to reach the end of this and can't wait for the next update. Stay strong mate and keep up the fantastic work!

[Athrawes]

Here is the Volta Seeker 2.0: 

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/Volta%20Seekers%20concept%2002.jpg

 

And here is the Step by step Legion symbol sculpting guide:

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/0c434878-10ed-44cb-9683-c95bb6626c35.jpg

Start with a thin smooth(ish) layer of Greenstuff, covering the surface f the pad excluding the rims if possible.

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/c5c878d0-c239-44b1-85cb-bf7ea900c43a.jpg

Find the center of the pads lower rim and sculpt a small downward facing 'V' with the point as centered as possible.

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/ebbb52c1-bf6a-487d-bff2-4857d796a519.jpg

Complete the 4 point star using the bottom 'V' as a guide and reference point. The two horizontal points should be both thicker and shorter than the vertical points.

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/099088cd-37e3-4993-8db8-12c8fe9c5520.jpg

find the bottom right corner of the star, go slightly down from the center dimple and carve a strait line at a 45 degree angle from the bottom. it needs to be slightly lower than the central dimple as this becomes the bottom of the Lightning Bolt.

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/2d5ffee3-264d-41e5-aac1-a82e1e9141bb.jpg

Pick a reasonably median point on the line from step 5 and slice a short vertical line.

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/151b056e-c783-4801-9bf6-6fec6ef0a0fd.jpg

From just under the right star point, slice a long line that is parallel with the line from step 4. slice a line connect this parallel line to the line from step 5.

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/0e8c9f03-6bb2-4585-86c8-406d3c7aeff0.jpg

On the Top right side of the star, add a small 'V' shape at a 45 degree angle between the horizontal and vertical axis.

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/837bdab0-89bc-438e-a6f7-8564ffbc071b.jpg

Flip the model upside down and repeat steps 4&5 on the opposite corner.

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/6b0d164e-830e-4923-af27-51d1e8dbc4dd.jpg

Repeat steps 6, 7&8 on this new side and the shape of the symbol has been completed.

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/ee2f93a6-dc77-448d-b4af-357e81bd1f23.jpg

Allow the greensuff to cure for approximately 30 Minutes, and carefully remove the excess greenstuff. It might be necessary to reglue the symbol if it becomes loose from the shoulder pad during the process.

 

+++++

 

I would really appreciate input on the Volta as the final version of the artwork will be turned into new model versions.

[SalvationOfReason]

For the Volta, images 2 and 4 are what really 'pop' for me.

The Volta Are in TDA yes? The silhouette looks fine, but doesn't really stand out as much as other Legions terminator elite: SoH have their topknots and spikey bitz, WEs have their massively armored core + chains, DG have a much heavier look to them overall, very up-armored. I see the basics of ornamentation on the sketches, but silhouette-wise, they just look like near-standard Cataphracti. Do you have plans to further augment their look, to really represent the Lightning Bearers as a Legion, as I believe the above examples do for theirs ?

[Teetengee]

I think 2 and 5 look too much like gundams for my taste. 4 is my favorite though as it has a distinctive look, although 1 may be easier to accomplish.

[Athrawes]

Just wanted to pop in, I know i've been bad with updating regularly, but its been a painful process rebuilding my hobby materials and drive after the fire. That being said, I wanted to share with you two pieces of incoming progress.

 

The first is directly related to the fire.

 

One of the most painful miniatures that got destroyed in the fire was my avatar, my version of Sentinel Athrawes. He was one of the first models I made for this project. He inspired the beautiful artwork by Ibrahem swaid.

 

He is gone now, but my significant other ended up having a miniature of him commissioned as an anniversary present so I am proud to say that Raiden lives again!

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/2c360e48-31fb-47c3-88ac-83e9d480506b.jpg

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/4f7be063-31a9-4f6b-ae42-38d65ad9b1bd.jpg

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/a5e279bc-ff57-4bb3-9e77-a242a3c8863a.jpg

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/a40781c2-5b2a-4903-89c0-1ef67a74b829.jpg

 

Curtesy of Mr. Myles David.

 

A few things of note about this design, I wanted to tie him more closely with the Oni order so I opted to trade is cloak for a Kisai robe which I have been modeling on the Oni Spectres. His Pistol is interchangeable with the new plasma revolver from the Mechanicum Datasmith, but I wanted to give him weapon options for running him as a standard Praetor. Finally, like all god FW character his head is swappable for a helmeted version. I think it is both true to Ibrahem's artwork, and stands on his own and something separate and beautiful.

 

And News point #2: I received this confirmation in my inbox last Thursday....

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/Screen%20Shot%202015-07-04%20at%2011.19.15%20PM.png

 

 

~We stand for Madrigal

[Slips]

A Warlord...? By my Primarch..