Calth: An Apologist and Doghouse True Scale Project Log

[DimDim]

Excellent, The exact stuff of inspiration! I just absolutely love your ultras and have been following you on your blog for awhile and I have to say, you never cease to impress. Keep it up!

 

A little critisism, I like the new chests. In certain cases. On the Mk4 signals guy it looks ace, but on the captain I cant help but feel it looks off. Maybe Commissar is right and a neck guard may help, but I cant shake the felling that it looks odd.

 

Now if I may, some questions

 

Question 1:

You said those pads were 3d printed correct? From who or where did you buy them from, if I may ask. Im thinking of doing up a truescale thousand son for my buddy for his birthday and I just cant find pads that excellent. If its a trade secret I wont be offended lol.

 

And second question:

Those epic marines from page 5, were did you pull those out of? I cant find properly proportioned epic marines anywhere, theyre all just way to squat.

 

DimDim

[apologist]

PM sent, brother :)

 

We Also Serve

'Dreadnoughts, sah! Fausands* of 'em!'

 

Forge World have sent me a note to say my order (Tempest and a few models) is in transit, so in preparation, I've been building the Deredeo and cleaning up the Contemptor in preparation for a bit of mix-and-matching with the one in the new box.

 

I hope you'll excuse the awkward pose – I'm leaving the head and torso unglued until I get the guns (also in the package in the post)

 

Here's a shot of the Deredeo next to a built and painted Contemptor – note that the Deredeo has been posed in a braced firing position, and is flat on his (enormous) base, unlike the Contemptor. He's a big fella.

 

*Well, two.

[Commissar Molotov]

Excellent stuff. I was at Warhammer World at the weekend and the idea of a dreadnought to go alongside the true scales is appealing. Thing is, I would want to mix-and-match mine from about five different ones!

 

Would a Contemptor torso fit on a Deredeo waist without looking silly?

[apologist]

Would a Contemptor torso fit on a Deredeo waist without looking silly?

 

Short answer "Yes, with a but".

 

I think you'd need to play about with the waist section to get it working nicely, but you'd end up with a good-looking beast. I've got the bits to hand (a large parcel arrived this morning *dances legs down to the knees*), so if I can resist gluing everything together in a haze, I'll get a mock-up picture to show you.

 

On a related note, the standard Contemptor arms do just about fit the Deredeo body. With a little work, I think you'd be able to make a pretty cool-looking variant Contemptor (or use the Contemptor twin-linked autocannons to make a variant Deredeo with a more human profile).

 

I know Doghouse has built a true-scale Contemptor to threaten the Ultramarines with – he's having some camera issues so we can't have any pics at the mo. Well, either camera issues, or he's off on the Galactic rim – doubtlessly expanding the Emperor's faithful domains – and we'll get some pics when he returns.

[apologist]

My Armour Is Contempt

My name is Apologist and I love Dreadnoughts.

Four of the Ultramarines' finest:

The two new chaps were built from a kitbash of the standard Contemptor and the Death Guard Contemptor. The conversion work was very minor, restricted mainly to trimming away a few details – one of the purity seals, just to differentiate him from others; some Legion numbers etc. In particular, removing the spikes around the Death Guard symbol reduce it to a haloed skull; perfect as a little bit of Ultramarine heraldry or an honorific. I like modifying and retaining some detail, as together with the right paintjob, some modifications can help the finished piece look less like a conversion by suggesting unfamiliar detail.

The new two, finished last night.

The extra shoulder guards of the Death Guard Dreadnought echo the pauldrons of my marines very well, and I like the slit visor, reminiscent of many of the Mark II helms I've used in the force:

This chap has some more practical molecular bonding studs added to his armour. I trimmed some extra rivets from a Sons of Horus Contemptor head and added them to the standard head (down the forehead) to continue the detail theme from the torso. It also suggests Mark V armour, as well as service studs.

The rear detailing on the Death Guard Contemptor legs is similar to mark II armour, too. A great little touch.

Contemptor/Deredeo

As promised, here's a pic – precariously balanced – of a Contemptor torso (including the upper waist section) on a Deredo set of legs.

It sort of works, but I think it'd be improved with a Castraferrum-pattern upper body if you wanted to go that route. In fact, I'm very tempted to updated my oldest Dreadnought to a set of Deredeo legs now

[Leviathus]

Lovely dreads sir! :tu: 

[apologist]

Ta! I see a lot that are posed very dynamically, but it's the weight and ponderousness of them that fills the imagery for me, so I've tried to make them look slow and inexorable. In addition, there's a great bit in Know No Fear where Dan Abnett suggests that Dreadnought pilots become susceptible to feeling fear again (at least temporarily), so I've tried to make them look slightly hesitant and caught off-guard, rather than hugely belligerent.

[Leviathus]

I agree with you there Apologist. Dreads look best with reserved poses imho. Overly dynamic poses make them look like they're out of control (if it suits the character, then sure go ahead) or about to topple over :P

[apologist]

Brother Trimenos

 

'Silver-footed' Trimenos (the epithet is untraceable) is another member of the 15th, one of the veterans sent to monitor the Acadmemy of Aelea, one of the newly-founded training centres established on Calth. Ultramarine Evocatii were beginning to be trained at such centres at the outbreak of the Heresy, decentralising the Ultramarines' traditional tactical base away from Macragge and Armatura and to the Principal worlds. Alas, the project was never seen to completion. The terrible losses of the Heresy meant that the far-sighted Akadamios project, championed by a number of Chapter Masters, was an unnecessary – and unaffordable – luxury in the dark years that followed. By the relative peace of M33, the Legions had long been divided into Chapters, and the project was forgotten.

What might have been? The Akadamios project's aim was to expand Astartes from soldiers into pioneers. Without neglecting their martial purpose – and more than ninety-five per cent of their daily time went into rigorous training – the newly-inducted Astartes were shaped with lessons such as natural philosophy, rhetoric, and governance. Experienced Astartes, including specialists from certain other Legions, were cycled in to provide valuable lectures on particular aspects of war-craft. The dark days of the Great Scouring meant openness and learning were in short supply; supplanted by suspicion, grief and vengeance.



Like many others present on Calth during the Atrocity, most records of this legionary have been lost. Nevertheless, it is possible to make some assumptions from this collection of pict-links. For example, it is likely that his plate – an unusually uniform (if battered) set of Mars-pattern Mark II means that he was either a Terran veteran of the so-called 'War-born' (unlikely, given other aspects of his dress) or, more likely, recruited during the 15th during one of their tours nearer a supply line that connected to the galactic core.

Such recruits were drawn from the populace of worlds rendered Compliant by the Ultramarines. Many were orphans or ex-soldiery, keen to see and fight for the new Imperium, and found a home in the Ultramarines. If this is the case, Trimenos would likely have been trained on-ship, and issued equipment from fleet stores rather than direct from the forges of the Five Hundred Worlds.

 

Trimenos' character is perhaps illuminated a little by the details of this pict-capture – a combat crouch while he reloads his boltgun, a well-secured combat blade at his hip, and a full supply of boltgun ammunition at his waist suggest a dutiful warrior. One exception to the Mars-uniform is shown here – the distinctive crested pauldron, seemingly patterned after Mark III reinforcement and common amongst the 190th Company. Members of the 15th were accustomed to adorning their left pauldron with personal heraldry. It is possible that this is a field-repair (perhaps taken from a luckless casualty), but the lack of Legion symbol on the right-hand pauldron suggests that this suit of plate is all Trimenos' own. Scanty reports suggest that the 15th were undergoing a period of transition prior to their deployment on Calth: the older personalised heraldry was becoming less common amongst line troopers, who more and more appreciated the value of uniformity and the value of the unbroken and indivisible line.



Certainly this philosophy was encouraged by the Akadamios, and it is entirely likely that Captain Teutonos (acting-regent of the Chapter) had ordered any troops delivering lectures to appear in standard uniform plate in order to inculcate this idea upon the impressionable Evocatii to whom they spoke. For this reason, it is impossible to be certain of Trimenos' demeanour – for all we know his preferred armour was elaborate and complex, and he had been forced to substitute it whole for this new version here. The truth will never now be known, but the idea is a valuable one, as it shows just another reason why the Legions showed such variety in uniform and detail.



This final pict-capture neatly shows Trimenos' chest-plate, proudly emblazoned with the Legion symbol in silver mounted on onyx, an unusual honorific which indicates service in a breacher squad. Perhaps the speciality on which he lectured was void-boarding assaults. He was recorded MIA on the fourth day post-Atrocity, and his body was never recovered. It is likely whatever scraps of his body and armour remain lie bleached in one of the innumerable mass graves on Calth's blasted surface even now.

[Daemon2027]

Nice. I love the background. Model looks great as always.

[apologist]

Thanks The Hydra, much appreciated. Hope your breachers work as you wish :)

 

All been a bit quiet on the Calthan front for a while, so apologies for that. However, I have managed to get the vehicle pool on the move:

I'm not a great fan of painting tanks at the best of times, and so I'm attacking these three at once in order to minimise the pain :D

 

In addition, I've finished reading through Tempest; I've popped up a few thoughts on my blog about how the 15th Chapter's appearance in the book affects my army. Spoiler – I'm pleased :P

[Olis]

Just spotted the Contemptors, brother. Looking mighty, I must say. ^_^

[apologist]

Cheers – they're impatiently awaiting paint while I crash through the tanks. Speaking of which, progress!

 

 

 

 

You'll notice a Land Raider sneaking its way in, too; insofar as a Land Raider can sneak. I really like the Proteus pattern model. It's solid, chunky and affectionately improves upon the source material. From a rules point of view I like it particularly because it's more of a tank than a carrier – having an assault ramp in a tank always felt a bit 'wrong' to me, somehow.

 

There are some more details and thoughts on Death of a Rubricist, if you'd like a closer look or some thoughts on equipment versus plate armour.

[Commissar Molotov]

Really good to see your armour pool taking shape alongside the marines. It's interesting to read your thoughts regarding how the vehicles being used by your Ultramarines are very utilitarian and unadorned - whilst I'm playing around in the baroque darkness of the 41st millennium, where they're revered and venerated. I remember in the Salamanders Index Astartes article there was a mention of an ancient Rhino that was almost worshipped - if its engine didn't start first time, it was a bad omen!

 

It goes to underscore the differences between the Heresy and the Dark Millennium.

 

Have you given any thought to flags on your land raiders/rhinos? To me it certainly makes me think of second edition/epic. The Scout Bikers have a flag and an aerial that'd look brilliant on the back of your rhinos. Or, perhaps, simply on a command tank.

[Doghouse]

Fantastic stuff mate, not making it easy for me to catch up.

Ok so time to get started...

WIP First Sergeant Kanis Lotharius

Still in the earlyish stages and in need of some major clean up work this will be the Praetor of my force. Basically I am going for a grotty war torn, been stuck fighting in the trenches kind of feel for my guys.

The idea we were originally kicking around was that these Iron Warriors were sent to retrieve an artifact during the battle of Calth. While the Heresy is a huge and epic struggle between the forces of good and evil what appeals to me is the silent stories, the histories lost in the millennia that has passed.

Kanis is a Terran, he fought in the Unification Wars and helped forge an empire, this guy is a 100% pure veteran, driven by duty. The idea is that when the lots were drawn to decide who in the Legion would be purged once Perturbo has been reunited with his legion it was done so in his absence. As he normally did, Kanis had gone to the sparring cages almost as soon as he had returned to the fleet.

The idea is that several of the Legion were sent to kill him but he managed to slay them losing an eye in the process. As a result he was spared the fate of the others that had drawn the black ball and allowed to continue in service of the legion. As a result he was to be known as Kanis the Black.

As with all the Astartes I am making this guy is going to be tooled up. Bolt pistol side arm, ammo clips, combat blade, everything he would need in a protracted siege assault.

http://i62.tinypic.com/b6yrgg.jpg

http://i62.tinypic.com/25pinmx.jpg

http://i62.tinypic.com/34ovym8.jpg

This next picture is a prototype MK III. The guard that are with him as the first I am making of two twenty man Militia squads all armed with shotguns. To try and distance them from the Krieg I intentionally chose the Engineer models as they capture the siege warfare imagery of the first world war trenches.

As you can see below I have about 65 of these guys (that is one of four boxes of FW goodies for the army) and I am currently working on putting them together as allies for the Legion to give a sense of scale to the Astartes.

http://i59.tinypic.com/wgzy8x.jpg

http://i59.tinypic.com/14vmlxy.jpg

This next one is the first of two Malcador siege tanks that I have got hold of. These are perfect for the siege look of Legion. One of the biggest problems of truescaling is upscaling the vehicles, these are perfect as they can be used as is. The second will be the twin lascannon variant.

http://i61.tinypic.com/dcfus8.jpg

Edit forgot one...

This is the early stages of my truescale contemptor. I've dry fit the weapons to see how it looks just using the shoulders of the ad mech siege walker but can't say I like the look. What I will be doing instead is removing those and making the shoulder pads from scratch. I've also snuck a test Word Bearer in there, I want to include a squad of these for game purposes.

http://i61.tinypic.com/9g8vgp.jpg

[One-eye]

Absolutely stunning Doghouse, the Mk II truescale is awesome. Really impressive work !

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Are the images not visible for anyone else? :(

[Augustus b'Raass]

That truescale contemptor from the siege walker... Absolutely brilliant idea. I see you. Even sculpted the helmet for it. You're insane. Like a mad professor, insanely brilliant. :o

[Doghouse]

Cheers guys.

Brother Chaplain Kage: Sorry mate not sure why that isn't working.

One-Eye: Thanks mate, I rushed it a bit which is a shame but I really want to get a gaming army ready for this. In hindsight I wish I had taken the time to add all the bonding studs but I figured that this was a late crusade modified Mk II armour so somewhere between late MK II and early MK IV. One of the appeals of the IW to me is that as a siege army chances are they are not going to be in a position to get all the latest toys. To me a hybrid makes a lot of sense.

Augustus b'Raass: That was a seriously hard conversion to do, not because of the actual converting but because it is a £90 model with a design that I love. Couple of times when I have been working on it I have sat here thinking to myself "what the hell are you doing???"

Ok quick update

I'm ploughing on with the first Militia Platoon, I'm hoping to get these base coated tomorrow and get them started asap. Seriously tempted to get a Storm Hammer to go with them.

Like I say the thing I like about these guys is that there is some distinction between them and regular Krieg which is a enough to set them apart. I really really really want to love the solar auxila but for some reason I am not a fan of them. When the militia rules came out needless to say I was a little relieved.

Although with the Great Crusade there is a distinct historical feel of how things should be people seem to forget how they can be. In my mind there is no reason why chapters or companies of one legion would need to be cookie cutter. Embrace your imagination and don't be afraid to colour in out side the lines.

http://i58.tinypic.com/30njhic.jpg

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

I dunno either. I normally use Firefox and I even tried the page on Chrome.

 

http://i.imgur.com/sCixyIy.png

 

:(

[Doghouse]

Hmm, that is weird. Maybe it is because I am using tinypics?

[Daemon2027]

Very inspiring work guys . The true scale contmeptor is a real beast, lovly GS work doghouse.

Quick question for you two. How hard is it to true scale vehicles. With your Roinhos di you do anything?

[apologist]

Blimey Doghouse, you don't do updates by halves, do you? :D

Everything looks fantastic – from that wonderful truescale Contemptor, through to the gritty Iron Warriors and the fantastic support auxilia. I really like the details you worked into Kanis the Black's shoulder pad design – a neat little RT homage in the rank markings :)

 

Using the Kreig engineers as the basis for your Auxilia is an inspired idea; it'll really go a long way to differentiating them from 'standard' Kreig (if that term's appropriate!). If you wanted to distinguish them further, have you thought about playing with the crests on the helms? You might have a play around with plumes to push the techno-Napoleonic feel, or alternatively trim the crest and Imperial Eagle away for a more stripped back look.

 

 

+++

Last night saw some progress on the Calth front. Here are a few more WIPs:

Mark II power armour; Praetor variant base

 

Mark III power armour; Mon Balis variant

(Torso style inspired by MonkeyBallistic, of Those Whom The Gods Would Destroy.)

 

Mark III power armour; Sol Primus 'Armorum Ferrum' pattern, breacher support variant

 

Mark II power armour; Praetor variant

[apologist]

Tanks continue... Land Raider has most of hte main areas blocked in, so onto the fun detailing now.

 

 

 

[Doghouse]

Really nice stuff mate! :tu:

 

Have you tried the new Ultramarine parts yet?

 

Slowly plodding through my stuff at the moment, but will go as fast as to try and catch up time permitting. But yeah I thought the Engineers would make them stand out a bit from the regular Krieg, I must admit I really must take my hat off to the dedicated guard players though, forgot what a pain it is to build so many for so few points.

 

I'll probably work more on the contemptor at a later date, I rather if I use something like that it'll be the similar to yours for uniformity.