The Lost and Forgotten: Building the II Legion

[Daemon2027]

I feel exactly the same way about my marines, they have to be fully equipped and ready for all possibilities. The Oni Spectors are just amazing. Sometimes I wish I had chosen to do something so creative.

[blackoption]

I like the look of the revamped Oni.  But I do have a question.  During your project, you have also used EC Helms.  Do you still plan on using them or are you leaning away in favor of the WS upgrades now?

 

Personally I enjoy the more noble aspect that the EC upgrades give your army.  But as of late your design style seems to be taking a darker turn. I think it would be cool if you managed to keep a balance between the noble and dark aesthetics in your legion.

[MikhalLeNoir]

Maybe he is influenced by the Icarion-Insurrection^^

[Ace Debonair]

The Lightning Bearers just keep getting more and more amazing.

Every time I see this thread, I'm moved to start working on my nephew's XI Legion again.

If only I didn't have so much else to deal with first.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

 

In my opinion, the coolest part of the new artwork was the grinning skull mask with the molded-star blind fold. It was ominous and eerie and I knew that I had to model that very carefully.

 

What do you think?

 

Honestly? It has problems.

 

http://i.imgur.com/6PqzohG.png

 

The planes of the star are way too soft and it doesn't look much like the artwork at all (1). That's not entirely the issue because the helmet drawn by the artist is considerably different in shape in than the skull helms you're using to recreate it.  (2) shows where the major divergence is that the skull face on the art sticks forward a lot further from the rest of the helmet; compare where the dome begins in relation to the skull face versus the helm you're using. In the art, there's plenty of room for the star shape to sit inside the cheeks and eye sockets, where yours is sitting on top of it.

[MikhalLeNoir]

Maybe you could use another helm?

 

like that one? http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8443&d=1316737528

 

Or cut the uüüer half of the iron warriors helmet away and model the rest

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Yeah, I'm looking around for something else that might work. I have an idea, but it'll take a few hours to see if it's viable.

[Athrawes]

@BCK: those are some great points. My initial goal with the WIP heads was to get the shape down. I agree that the anvil industries heads might not be the best choice but honestly, it was the only option I could find that even slightly resembles the artwork. And I'm unsure how much crisper I can get the star pattern (my plan was to highlight the sharper edges while painting since I am s better painter than I am a sculptor).

 

That being said, short of finding an alternate head which better fits the artwork (which I remain unconvinced exists), I think my best bet would be to drill out the forehead, eye-sockets and cheeks of the heads so that I can recess the shrouded-crown back a ways. This should bring the mouth and nose visually further foreword to more closely resemble the artwork.

 

Of course I'm open to other suggestions on better ways to achieve the desired results.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Well, I made a press mold of a skull I thought would work for my idea, but it turned out to be too small. I'll see if I can find a replacement to try again.

[Teetengee]

@BCK: those are some great points. My initial goal with the WIP heads was to get the shape down. I agree that the anvil industries heads might not be the best choice but honestly, it was the only option I could find that even slightly resembles the artwork. And I'm unsure how much crisper I can get the star pattern (my plan was to highlight the sharper edges while painting since I am s better painter than I am a sculptor).

 

That being said, short of finding an alternate head which better fits the artwork (which I remain unconvinced exists), I think my best bet would be to drill out the forehead, eye-sockets and cheeks of the heads so that I can recess the shrouded-crown back a ways. This should bring the mouth and nose visually further foreword to more closely resemble the artwork.

 

Of course I'm open to other suggestions on better ways to achieve the desired results.

Drilling out would be the right call. I would also try pressmolding those faces to see if you could copy the lower skull portion and make it jut out farther if necessary.

[MikhalLeNoir]

Or use this head http://megabitzshop.com/index.php?a=332&lang=ger

 

file the hair away and mold the stars over the eyes, with a little green stuff, you can achive the teeth of your design. the mask is farther away an tadaa, you have you design. if i have time, i try it out tonight

[interkino]

I follow your project from the beginning, I admit that your pieces and the BG you have created are really evocative.

Have you been able to recreate so amazing atmosphere of the second (lost) legion.

I can't wait to see more

[Francesco]

I'm Icarion sculptor, happy to see it painted. I think is a good paint job, bravo :)

[Athrawes]

I'm Icarion sculptor, happy to see it painted. I think is a good paint job, bravo

It's good to hear from you Francesco! The Sculpt turned out so beautifuly. It's taken a really long time to get it printed painted and I'm glad you think the paint job does your model justice!

[b1soul]

Some alternative names for the legion: 

 

Thunder Lords Lightning Bearers (in honour of Arik Taranis' "sacrifice")Sky Lords Sky HawksCloud Serpents Cloud Dragons Storm HeraldsStorm Riders Empyrean Sons

Sons of the Firmament 

Back in 2014, I offered Lightning Bearers as a legion name suggestion. I'm wondering if OP liked the suggestion or did he come up with the same name coincidentally?

 

Did thd OP include any connection to Arik Taranis?

[Athrawes]

A beautiful Portrait of Icarion by Disarmonia on Deviant Art:

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/2fc5fdc3-403b-4369-bbfc-c628f903d7d9.jpg

 

Her work on the Primarchs and her Iconostasis project have been floating around the forum for a few weeks now, if you haven't seen her work before, please check it out.

 

Always happy to hear your thoughts on the Second Son.

 

+++++

 

@B1soul: I ended up changing the name to lightning Bearers after running a brief poll from forum members. When you suggested the name a while ago, the project was still really new and I had not given the name as much thought as I later would. After a while I realized that in my head I was calling them the II Legion and not the Thunder Legion which convinced me that the name needed changing. But now, I think, They truly are the Lightning Bearers.

[AlphariusOmegon108]

So pretty!

[MikhalLeNoir]

Great work from disarmonia. I Love the Blue tint

[GhostMalone]

You must be apart of my next tale if X hobbyists

[MikhalLeNoir]

ME?

[Crizza]

As someone who works on a second legion himself I have to say: Great work, I like the theme and so on, keep it up.

[Athrawes]

As someone who works on a second legion himself I have to say: Great work, I like the theme and so on, keep it up.

Id love to see the work in your missing legion, you should start a project log here!

[Crizza]

Not quite sure about this.
I'm simply writing some backround since my painting skills are not that good and I don't have any heresy era figure around, so I'm trying the paint sheme on my miniatures.
As a base of this project I'm thinking of two breacher squads of five astartes guarding apothecarys, or Hospitaler as I name then...

And I'm afraid that my concept will be shredded :D

 

Oh and on a side note:
Before reading about your project(saw that portrait of Icarion on DA) I toyed with the idea of one of the missing primarch beeing a psyker and a seer :D

I totally love the fluff you've created.

[MikhalLeNoir]

Sounds good. We have some other Lost primarchs, who only exists as fluff. So why not? You don't need a model to breath live in them. Just look for Simison or Raktra.

[Athrawes]

The Grace of Madrigal

 

I have a lot of projects up in the air right now, so I have only really been able to chip away at a few things at a time when inspiration strikes me. On that note this update is sort of a photo dump of different W.I.P projects relating to the Lightning Bearers.

 

A small snippet of new artwork for the II:

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/b75a5286-3dc8-40b1-9700-2bd614be3ae4.jpg

 

A few paint in progress squad sergeants:

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/63e34fb0-36c8-4c90-b636-b488168d2f19.jpghttp://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/2bf44d45-7ed5-4dbc-9b0e-e88a81f173d8.jpg

 

A new attempt at modeling the Rakurai (my Sphere themed Solar Auxilla):

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/24b113f8-0220-4b0f-a580-9ce4bb65cf98.jpg

 

 

Finally, something that I have been itching to try modeling for a while. A new character for the Legion:

 

Meet my (very) WIP jump pack praetor. The model is still very much in flux, most pieces are blue-stuffed together, but Im basically happy with how he is coming along. I have yet to decide whether to go cloak or no cloak.

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/142fc3b3-c119-4337-86a7-f9fe17d4a4a1.jpg

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/c4ee4890-e038-425e-81ae-62740dd52f33.jpg

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/bb95068d-2232-4df4-b47c-cfc89b0df9e5.jpg

 

Basically this guy is based on one of my all time favorite citadel miniatures, Eltharion the Blind. I hope he is a worthy translation of that miniature onto the canvas of a space marine.

 

+++++

 

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts!