Turning Tactical Marines Into Chaplains And Librarians.

[BrightStarNova]

Would you object to somebody using converted figurines made from Tactical Marines converted into a Chaplain or Librarian?

 

For example a Chaplain made from a generic space marine suit that does not have a skull helmet, but the Armor is dark like a Chaplain and the helmet is painted white like a skull, with some Cross items attached on the weapons and armor or a suit painted Blue like a Librarian with a WHFB Weapon or some sort of exotic weapon to be converted into a Librarian On That?

 

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[Major_Gilbear]

No, as long as it was clear, it's fine. You should search this forum for examples of exactly that actually - there's lots of examples here that people have made.

The main thing to do is to ensure that the symbols of office are represented, even if yo just paint them on.

[Grotsmasha]

No issues here. If someone familiar with the setting looks at your model and their first thought is Chaplain, you've done it right. WYSIWYG is especially important in these instances.

I've got some pics of one of mine I'll dig out.

 

Cheers,

Jono

 

EDIT: Here we go,

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/273661-grotsmashas-conversion-challenge-1-chaplains-completions/?p=3344241

[Xenith]

The chaplain still needs a Crozius, and to look like a chaplain as opposed to a black tactical marine.

 

My Chaplain was made from assault marine parts.

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk141/Mechxen/Blood%20Angels/Characters/DSCF0882_zps5ff1ece2.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk141/Mechxen/Blood%20Angels/Characters/a9d00351-85af-4c3d-b569-2806618d0083_zps44493ed3.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk141/Mechxen/Blood%20Angels/Characters/2014-11-16142030_zpsdcd3adbb.jpg

 

As was my Librarian

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk141/Mechxen/Blood%20Angels/Characters/DSCF0901_zps487458c8.jpg

[BrightStarNova]

Those are actually quite awesome.

 

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[Charlo]

It's called a conversion and they are god damn encouraged :D

[Xenith]

You dont even have to use an actual skull helm, but can paint a skull onto the face plate of a normal helm, like many night lords players do

 

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/64/13/6c/64136ce0566d0cb37e7897d13ffc0652.jpg

[Ascanius]

I think some of the helmets on existing chaplain models are a bit over-the-top; I've always preferred the models that look like a helmet painted as a skull, or like a helmet with a skull-shaped faceplate.

I think this looks a little silly, especially with the semi-realistic plate fissures:

Where'd you get a humaniform skull large enough to be converted into a Space Marine helmet? Are they all made from Adeptus Custodes skulls? Obviously, it's not literally intended to be someone's skull somehow made into a helmet, but it's not to my taste for the whole helmet to mimic a human skull so closely.

What I prefer is this sort of thing:

where they look more like helmets with a skull motif than helmets that are skulls.

All of which is to say, I think it's a great idea to convert your own chaplains, librarians, et cetera. Remember, too, that just because GW increasingly sculpts details onto their models' armour, you don't have to do the same. There's nothing wrong with freehand skulls or bone details, or using transfers. Xenith's example of the Night Lords figure is a great example.

With the last chaplain in the group above, there are a lot of sculpted skulls on the kneepad, headdress, and crozius that could be painted on to a plainer sculpt. You could also use a skull transfer for something like the kneepad.

[BrightStarNova]

Another Idea Is Merely Make Chaplain Style Armor With Crosses And The BLESSINGS Of Purity Seals But Not Wear A Helmet On That.

 

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[sockwithaticket]

This is a Chaplain I kitbashed recently:

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2016/6/30/810604_sm-.JPGhttp://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2016/6/30/810605_sm-.JPGhttp://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2016/6/30/810607_sm-.JPGhttp://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2016/6/30/810606_sm-.JPG

There's a lot of bits in there including things like a Legion of the Damned helmet, Forgworld torso. There's also a lot of plastic, too, but none of it (except maybe the grenades) come from the Tactical Squad. For what it's worth the Crozius is the Aquila icon from the Sternguard set on top of a Dark Angels Ravenwing Command Squad Corvus Hammer haft.

I'd say the veteran boxes are better as the basis for character conversions.


One of the most recent metal Chaplains had a bare head and there's a bare head option on the current plastic Chaplain sprue, so it's certainly viable. Personally, though, I don't see the point in a Chaplain without a skull helm. Any model can be bareheaded. Among regular codex chapters only a Chaplain gets to have a skull helm, it's one of their primary badges of office and a unique visual focus point. Even if you just paint it like Night Lord terror markings as Xenith suggested, it's worth doing imo.

[Guest]

for a librarian, I would suggest using the PA grey knights box. there are 5 torso backs that have psychic hoods attached, that can then be uses with which ever torso front you care to use. I'd say that would be the iconic piece of war gear for a librarian.

[Vodunius]

If anyone complains, just direct them to the example specialists in the 1st edition Space Marine paint guide:

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r155/khromash/adasfa_zpsnvlfusys.jpg

for a librarian, I would suggest using the PA grey knights box. there are 5 torso backs that have psychic hoods attached, that can then be uses with which ever torso front you care to use. I'd say that would be the iconic piece of war gear for a librarian.

 

Quoted For Truth. 

[BrightStarNova]

LOVE THAT PICTURE. BLESSINGS OF THE EMPEROR. THAT IS AN AWESOME 1ST EDITION PICTURE ON THAT. *

[appiah4]

If anyone has issues with using this dude as a chaplain, for example, it's time to quit 40K:

[BrightStarNova]

Does that have to be a mace or can a Chaplain use a Sword or Axe? Was wanting to make one from a Tactical Marine then add the skull emblem from WHFB Shields as a mask.

 

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[sockwithaticket]

One of the weapons HAS to be a Crozius (which has maul rules, but the aesthetic is pretty established as not simply being a maul). The other weapon can be whatever a Chaplain can select, anything from a plasma pistol to a power fist. A sword or an axe would be just fine.

[Major_Gilbear]

Yes, the "Crozius Arcanum" is one of the Chaplain's marks of rank/office. It is treated in-game as being a power mace, but is often quite a lot more ornate than most power maces. In most editions of 40k, it's actually a pretty decent weapon in it's own right, and many players often pair it with a plasma or bolt pistol (although you can choose to pair the Crozius with any pistol, gun, or other melee weapon allowed instead).

 

Oddly enough, whilst the Force weapon and Psychic Hood are obviously associated with Librarians, they are not part of a Librarian's marks of rank/office in the same way as the Crozius is for the Chaplains. However, some snippets of fluff (and indeed many players and GW studio members) regard one or both of these items as being as essential part of denoting a Librarian's rank/office.

 

Likewise, other specialist equipment associated with Techmarines (Servo Harness and power axe) and Apothecaries (Reductor and Narthecium) are also not inherently badges of rank/office either, but again tend to be regarded that way by most players.

 

Notable exceptions may be where a specialist roles are combined (for example, the Space Wolf Rune Priests), or where they may be other symbols/traditions within a Chapter (for example, a Salamanders Techmarine might have a master-crafted thunder hammer instead of a power axe, and the Space Wolves Iron Priests are often shown with thunder hammers too).

 

 

//Edit: spelling//

[appiah4]

The shape of the crozius is not set in stone, it can be anything from a mace..

 

to a cudgel (bottom right)..

http://www.solegends.com/citrt/Wd108p47SMChaplainsx-02.jpg

 

to a winged weirdness that looks more like a broad axe than a bludgeoning weapon.

 

 

http://www.coolminiornot.com/pics/pics16/img4f443b1dbf2b5.jpg

 

So yeah, any bludgeoning power weapon will go.  Don't diss the regular power mace, it works just fine (and looks better than half the official crozius models.)

[Xenith]

From the warp has an amazing article on converting Space Marine characters and remembering to stick to visual cues for those characters. I'd give this a good read, it's very insightful.

 

http://fromthewarp.blogspot.ch/2012/05/space-marine-librarians-should-be-blue.html

[sockwithaticket]

The shape of the crozius is not set in stone, it can be anything from a mace..

 

So yeah, any bludgeoning power weapon will go.  Don't diss the regular power mace, it works just fine (and looks better than half the official crozius models.)

 

The shape, no. Aesthetically, though, it very much is. Even the mace-ish one in your first example adheres to the essential design prinicipals of a crozius: wings/auila + skull(s).

 

You may well prefer the look of the mace you've used (or the regular mauls/maces sold in FW power weapon sets and sported by that old metal veteran) and I would happily accept your model as a Chaplain if we were playing, but it  does buck the established Crozius aesthetic. It's no diss to point that out, nor would it be unreasonable for people to look at it and not instantly think 'oh, that's a Chaplain's Crozius'.

 

 

 

[Claws and Effect]

It definitely helps to have things on your model look more or less how people expect them to.

 

Not directly related, but in the same vein:

 

I'm working on a Raven Guard army that is going to have little or no iconography on it (because I suck at freehand painting and can't afford the Forge World transfer sheets right now). But people are likely to take one look at the models arrayed on the table and immediately think "Raven Guard".

 

Sure, they're wearing black armor, which could be Raven Guard, Iron Hands, Black Templars, or some random DIY chapter. But there are 2 things that will stand out as "Raven Guard" and not one of the other 2 well known black-armored chapters.

 

1: The company indicator consists of just the right shoulder pad's trim being painted a specific color. It is part of why I'm avoiding using the 5th company, because their color is black..

 

2: There will be a lot of troops with jump packs and lightning claws. When was the last time you saw an Iron Hand or Black Templar with that particular combination of equipment?

 

I'm relying on the fact that anyone who is familiar with the game will likely know at least those two things about the Raven Guard to sell the fact that my army is of that chapter.

 

With that said you can use whatever models you like for your Chaplain and Librarian as long as you make sure they have a couple visual cues.

 

Chaplain: If your army is not black already, having one guy on the table with black armor will make what he is clear enough. But he should also have a skull helmet if doable (or at least a skull motif), and an ornate power maul that can be a crozius.

 

Librarian: Blue armor. If you aren't playing Ultramarines or Crimson Fists, that alone will tell people what he is. But he should have a book somehwere on him, and something that resembles a psychic hood, A big, ornate weapon of practically any type will complete the look.

[BrightStarNova]

The closest I have to a hammer are either a Sword or Axe On That.

 

Also , Do Chaplains Still Come With Iron Halos Or Was That Somebody Else? I Forgot On That.

 

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[Major_Gilbear]

Iron Halo = Captains and Chapter Masters. The halo (normally rendered in a silver metal or a red colour) is a Codex symbol for command, which is why you often see it on a squad leader's heraldry as well - when the squad splits into two, the sergeant commands one half and the squad leader the other half. For senior command, a physical representation of the halo is worn, and it incorporates a protective energy field within.

 

Rosarius = Chaplain. This is a symbol of office, normally worn as a chain around the neck (the Refractor field it contains is normally housed in a pendant suspended from the chain).

[BrightStarNova]

But For The Crozius I Don't Have A Blunt Weapon Good To Use. Only Axes Or Swords.

 

As For The Rosarius, I Don't Have That Either Except As An Item Hanging From A Metal Banner.

 

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[Black Cohort]

But For The Crozius I Don't Have A Blunt Weapon Good To Use. Only Axes Or Swords.

 

As For The Rosarius, I Don't Have That Either Except As An Item Hanging From A Metal Banner.

 

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rosarius is less important.

 

Do you have a spare thunderhammer?  I have had success with cutting the top part off and using one of the hammer heads as the mace bit.

 

 

Or some kits have various eagle standard bits that you could use as the head of the maul.  I used one in the picture below for a standard.

 

 

There are probably some other ways you can convert a power maul as well.