The Lionsguard - KrautScientist's Legio Custodes project

[KrautScientist]

Again, cheers, guys! :)

 

Only nitpick I have is that the checkered pattern above the laurels don't match up with the pattern below. Or was that intentional? 

 

Nah, that was just me slacking off after unexpectedly getting most of the pattern right -- I suppose I'll have to correct that oversight ;)

[KrautScientist]

Alright, everyone, I am back home with my paints and modeling supplies, and I've tucked right in: Here's Praetor Janus Auriga of the Golden Legion, whom we will call finished (for now):

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2015/2/28/691014-Art%20Scale%2C%20Conversion%2C%20Golden%20Legion%2C%20Inq28%2C%20Inquisimunda%2C%20Inquisitor%2C%20Inquisitor%2028.jpg

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2015/2/28/691015-Art%20Scale%2C%20Conversion%2C%20Golden%20Legion%2C%20Inq28%2C%20Inquisimunda%2C%20Inquisitor%2C%20Inquisitor%2028.JPG

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2015/2/28/691016-Art%20Scale%2C%20Conversion%2C%20Golden%20Legion%2C%20Inq28%2C%20Inquisimunda%2C%20Inquisitor%2C%20Inquisitor%2028.JPG

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2015/2/28/691017-Art%20Scale%2C%20Conversion%2C%20Golden%20Legion%2C%20Inq28%2C%20Inquisimunda%2C%20Inquisitor%2C%20Inquisitor%2028.JPG

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2015/2/28/691018-Art%20Scale%2C%20Conversion%2C%20Golden%20Legion%2C%20Inq28%2C%20Inquisimunda%2C%20Inquisitor%2C%20Inquisitor%2028.JPG

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2015/2/28/691019-Art%20Scale%2C%20Conversion%2C%20Golden%20Legion%2C%20Inq28%2C%20Inquisimunda%2C%20Inquisitor%2C%20Inquisitor%2028.JPG

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2015/2/28/691020-Art%20Scale%2C%20Conversion%2C%20Golden%20Legion%2C%20Inq28%2C%20Inquisimunda%2C%20Inquisitor%2C%20Inquisitor%2028.jpg

 

I actually did perform some minor cleanup work on his left pauldron, but mostly to bring the checkers below the laurel wreath into alignment with the ones above it (well, mostly...):

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2015/2/28/691021-Art%20Scale%2C%20Conversion%2C%20Golden%20Legion%2C%20Inq28%2C%20Inquisimunda%2C%20Inquisitor%2C%20Inquisitor%2028.JPG

 

I am really rather happy with the way it looks now, all things considered.

 

As always, let me know what you think! :)

[Augustus b'Raass]

Great job on him, mate. The checkers look fine now. Having myself recently used the Grey Knight terminator arms for my own truescale, I appreciate even more the wayyou integrated them into the whole composition. The wrist, the purity seal and the new tubing are all very subtle conversions - you wouldn't know that they're there unless you know the bits by heart. Perfect! :tu:

[KrautScientist]

Thanks a lot, mate! Glad you like the model! :)

 

Alas, the tubing I cannot claim reponsibility for: They were already part of the arms, because I used the set of arms that came with the Nemesis Dreadknight. I thought they worked very well, with the power cables subtly feeding into the plasma pistol -- a bit of "hi-tech" befitting a warrior of the Adeptus Astartes ;)

[Kizzdougs]

Really nice paint job bro! Janus turned out great :)

[Charlo]

 

All in all, I am really very happy with the look of this squad:

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2015/2/8/685377-Adeptus%20Custodes%2C%20Conversion%2C%20Heresy%2C%20Kitbash%2C%20Legio%20Custodes%2C%20Lionsguard.JPG

 

As always, let me know what you think!

 

You should be happy, those are amazing. Send these pics to forge world and get them to release resin versions of your models!

[KrautScientist]

Cheers, Carlo! I imagine the guys at FW have their own plans for the sisters, though... ;)

[BattleBrotherJohn]

Just found your thread KrautScientist.

 

WOW!! your work is amazing - will be keeping an eye out for what you do next.

[KrautScientist]

Thanks, mate! That is very nice of you to say! :)

[oldschoolsavant]

For future, I did spy an Elven WFB Shadow Warrior box on eBay this morning, and immediately thought of your SoS.......

 

A kit worth investigating perhaps ?

[KrautScientist]

@ OSS: Cheers, mate! As it happens, most of the High Elf kits are curiously useful for building Custodes and/or Sisters of Silence, and I imagine the Shadow Warriors would be no exception. Back when I started this project, I used some old High Elf archer bitz, which involved a lot of cutting, because they are pretty badly scaled by today's standards. Were I to begin now, I think I might go for a mix of Shadow Warriors and White Lions (an absolutely terrific kit, that one).

 

P.S. I realise this stretches the scope of this thread almost to breaking point, but for all those of you interested in the whole "making Dark Eldar models imperial" school of thought, I'll just leave this here, in order to prove Sisters of Silence are not the only thing you can build from Dark Eldar bitz...

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2015/3/2/691580-Adepta%20Sororitas%2C%20Conversion%2C%20Kitbash%2C%20Paint%20In%20Progress%2C%20Pip%2C%20Sisters%20Of%20Battle.JPG

Edited March 2, 2015 by KrautScientist

[Teetengee]

I have to say that the head on that sister looks way too big to me. But otherwise looks good.

[Flint13]

Back up.

 

As deep as your joy of unhelmed marines goes, I believe Auriga that is your best looking painted face to date.

 

The depth of the shades gives him a perfect expression that is super characterful, looks exactly like he's glaring  down some poor bastard that is about the get the sharp end of that broad sword.

 

Great job there!

[KrautScientist]

Thanks a lot, you guys!

 

@ Teetengee: That is certainly one of the problems of the conversion, yes. But then, SoB head choices aren't exactly a dime a dozen, and I wanted to use an original part, if at all possible -- so I had to make do... ;)

[KrautScientist]

Alright, one last, slightly off topic update, and then it's back to Custodes in this thread -- at least that's the plan ;)

 

In case you where wondering how my true scale Marine stacks up to regular (read: roughly Cadian sized) models, here's a scale comparison for you:

 

Brother Auriga next to an Inquisitorial Interrogator:

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2015/3/3/691842-Art%20Scale%2C%20Comparison%2C%20Conversion%2C%20Golden%20Legion%2C%20Inq28%2C%20Inquisimunda%2C%20Inquisitor.JPG

 

And next to the SoB from my earlier post:

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2015/3/3/691841-Art%20Scale%2C%20Comparison%2C%20Conversion%2C%20Golden%20Legion%2C%20Inq28%2C%20Inquisimunda%2C%20Inquisitor.JPG

 

As always, let me know what you think! :)

[Augustus b'Raass]

I think he's huge! 

Also, that sister must be at least a couple of years back, because the face of that recent inquisitor looks leagues better than hers. ;)

[KrautScientist]

Cheers, mate!

 

Also, that sister must be at least a couple of years back, because the face of that recent inquisitor looks leagues better than hers.

 

Whoa, whoa! I am actually really happy with her face, thank you very much! You try painting one of those softly detailed, light grey nightmare faces, and we can talk again! Besides, grizzled male faces are really not that much of a challenge. Painting female faces and having them still look female afterwards is pretty tough!

Edited March 3, 2015 by KrautScientist

[Chaeron]

Looks superb mate - I look forward to you have countless more of these!

[Augustus b'Raass]

^^ Haha, well sorry mate - I really didn't mean to offend - it was meant as a compliment: (and this only works if indeed the sister's face was painted a while ago) you've improved your face painting skills tremendously. And let's be fair: that weird bob cut hairdo of the mini doesn't help in making that face look 'feminine'. Also, while lipstick is generally worn by the fairer sex, too much of it can make your mini look like 

http://showbizgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Screen-Shot-2014-01-11-at-21.24.30.png

*

 

 

 

 

 

*Extreeeeeeeme apologies for this.

Back on topic.

Edited March 3, 2015 by Augustus b'Raass

[KrautScientist]

Cheers, guys!

 

@ Chaeron: Haha, to be honest, the only thing that actually made me tackle both the true scale Astartes and the kitbashed Sister in the first place was the prospect of only having to build one proof of concept for either, so don't expect lots of additional models in this particular vein ;)

 

@ Augustus b'Raass: Mate, you're digging yourself deeper and deeper into your hole there ;)

Seriously, though: I get what you are saying. Let me try to address it in all seriousness: The sculpt of the head is certainly a bit of a problem. The hairdo is much more rigid (and less interesting) than that of the metal Sisters. But it was really the only (original, "official") option if I wanted a bare head. It was also clear that my usual approach of "paint the basecoat, wash heavily, apply highlights" wouldn't work as easily, because this tends to result in a pretty gnarly looking face -- great for followers of chaos, grizzled Inquisitors and seven foot tall killing machines, but not so much for a grrrl.

 

So I tried softer highlights, which worked reasonably well. The application of makeup may have been a bit clicehéd (if not sexist), but it was also a good way of moving the face away from the usual look. The glossy lips (painted with Tamiya Clear Red, btw) were something that I have wanted to try for a while, and it worked rather well. It's also a shout out to the obvious absurdity of the Sisters of Battle, as is the blue-ish eyeshadow. It's a fairly stylised approach, all in all, but I am pretty happy with the result. Not because it's perfect or particularly realistic or anything, but because the Sister at least doesn't look like a Space Marine.

 

In closing, I can only recommend you paint a female face yourself! It can really be an eye-opening experience, because so many of your usual tricks won't work (or work differently). It's also something that even 'Eavy Metal seems to have a hard time with -- just check out the most recent female High Elf models: Those Sisters of Avellorn look like dudes with big hair and eyeliner.

 

So yeah, quite a wall of text, but I hope this makes it clear why I did what I did. ;)

[Augustus b'Raass]

I'll take the risk of digging a hole so deep I won't be able to get out anymore: I now see that I've misread your previous comment and thus realize that by implying the 'sis is older than the 'quis, I've kinda been a giant dictator minus the tator. Apologies for that. I do totally agree that painting female faces is not leagues different than painting males, it's a totally different ball game. Also, I have no right to speak whatsover, because I've painted a total of four faces in my entire army (a sergeant, abby, and the two 'zerkers), all of which were male and I'm moderately happy with only two. I'm going to steal your Tamiya clear red for lips idea someday. And you are right about the Sisters of Avellorn looking like dudes. ;)

[KrautScientist]

Oh, don't worry about it -- it really made me think about the choices I took when painting the model and why I took them, and that will be excellent material for an inevitable blog post on the matter, so it's all good ;) It also didn't feel like you were being a Richard (see what I did there...;) ) about it -- if anything, I appreciate a bit of being challenged on creative decisions, at least if it gets more interesting than: "This looks terrible and I hate it!"

 

So, long story short, it's all good, mate! :)

[thamier]

not sure i like this thread kraut, the models and painting is awsome, BUT its not chaos!

[KrautScientist]

Haha, look at it this way, mate: I sometimes need ultra loyalist models like these to get the urge out of my system. And afterwards, I go back to my chaos models with renewed, "purified" intent -- so, if anything, this all works to make my chaos models better, not worse! ;)

[casb1965]

Love the models, what model was used as the basis of Brother Auriga, he looks a lot taller than a Terminator.