Vox Stellarum: True-Scaled Horus Heresy

[Ryltar Thamior]

Appropriately enough for a 30k log ... it's a blast from the past. 

[i am still working out 'characterization' and other notes; so this part's in flux. Name-wise, I might have had something previously sorted, but I was thinking "Indraj". Both to recall Indra, due to the thunder-club [Vajra ... thunder hammer, you get what i mean], and striking out of the darkness of the storm-clouds [bruise-black armour also], plus a certain 'impetuous' and 'imperious' character [that'll go nicely with/as/for the Eagle].. ; but also, because I delight in double meanings and [theonymic] puns. If you've followed my academic research [which turned up recently in my fantasy log], there's a curious coterminity between words for "rulership' and words for "night" that turn up in, for example, Old Norse [and its descendents] and Sanskrit [and likewise]. I won't go into the full details and CONTEXTUALLY SOLICITED (PROTO-)INDO-EUROPEAN MYTHO-LINGUISTIC TRIVIA ... but the long and the short of it is that "Raj" , dependent upon inflection and pronunciation, can mean "King", "Rulership", etc .. *or* it can mean "Night", "Dark". So, with "Indra" also having the (figurative) ability to mean "Lord" ... you *could* translate "Indraj" as "Night Lord". Or, with another pronunciation, "Shining/Radiance/King/Lord of the Storm". ["Indra", same pronunciation each way, can also mean "Night", because Sanskrit is a "fun" language; and "Raj" can also mean "Dust", so we've got a few other possibilities to get in there, as well, given the figurative connotations of "dust" going on. But I digress]["Lord of Dust", given what's happened to his legion, may be appropriate - especially given the notion of the ashes of the cremation ground which it may therefore also entail]]. 



Now, longer term followers of these efforts of ours may recall some moons ago me putting together a Loyalist VIIIth legionary; separate [but in some ways parallel] to the Pishachas we did way back towards the start of this project; but also very much on the "Malcador's [or other Highest Levels of the Imperium] Chosen" sort of vibe. A "Night Errant", you might say - particularly if you're prone to questionable puns, and haven't yet done proper nomenclaturial resonances and other 'characterization' for him. 



The overarching idea with this chap, I think, was to do something of a 'subversion' of the 'traditional' Night Lords approach. Insofar as while he's *still* abjectly terrifying ... it's not in the more usual 'strike from the shadows' and hit you in the rear where you can't see to shoot back, kinda vein. Rather, it's a *very* prominent, stand his ground in the face of the foe, *hit you direct in the face* modus operandi; replete with the superior strength, and contemptuous daring to pull it off and then pull through back out alive. Like I said - terrifying in a differnet sort to the usual. Especially because *will keep on coming* determinator style, after appearing out of the darkness, almost no matter what. 



One of the hardest things to 'get right' about him was the shield - regular boarding shields just didn't seem quite right; and neither did 40k-era storm-shields. Fortunately, I happened to have a spare Hector Rex =][= shield handy, which managed to get both the ornate and master crafted [and severely dinged up going by all the scratches and dents, from heavy use] vibes, as well as the very prominent "IMPERIUM" and "Sigillite" insignia of loyalty [in multiple senses] that I was looking for. [and plus, the 'tech' feel suggests power-field and other protective generators, rather than simple adamantium; and additional augury equipment with the screen and sensorials; so better than a boarding shield anyway. As it should be. Plus a nice big skull as a 'reminder' of what's coming. Also, as it should be.]. 



Oh, and beause once again one of my culturally North Indian Terran-origin veterans .. plus Imperial Center ... a Raptor Imperialis shoulderpad. We know that whichthat signifies. 



The other 'challenge' wasworking out how to get not only the shield and its arm in a reasonable posing , but also the arm holding the thunder hammer. Much chopping and repositioning was engaged in to attempt to get something htat looked 'realistic', but also 'mid-action shot'. I guess I'm a bit surprised at how well it overall went, with the slightly bent right knee , as well. 



Oh, and finally - those Mk.II plumed helms from the white scars upgrade packs are very, very cool for a Unification and/or Techno-Barbarian[descended .. not by much] sort of vibe. Not least due to the lightning bolts on them, and the wonderful mashup of aesthetics represented by the helmet and its other adornments. It manages to be at once advanced *and* promitive; brutal yet sophisticated; and knightly yet barbaric. *Exactly* what a 30k Marine in the field should be! I should grab ..... a lot more for ... well, quite a few projects, actually. 

I'd initially intended to do another two Loyalist VIIIth to go with him - one for a more ranged approach wielding a bolter; another , probably up-close and personal with two lightning claws. I forget what sort of designs and posing i had in mind, but the concepts may come back to me or find themselves revised. 

Indeed, given my enthusiasm for drawing from our theological-academic works, there's a possibility I might try echoing some of the less-well-known Vedic trinities in the trio: Fire-Lightning-Sun, for instance. [A 'Sunny" Night Lord .. now *there'd* be a thing! Plasma weaponry, maybe]. 

[Ryltar Thamior]

A Salamander with Heavy Flamer; part of an ongoing effort at something a bit down from 'Knights Errant' - i.e. specially talented, or uniquely available (thanks to chance/circumstance) Astartes drawn from quite a variety of Legion backgrounds. The Loyalist VIIIth I posted previously was another Marine I came up with as part of the same concept. 



I did the assembly and conversion work on this chap quite some time ago, even got him mostly painted - but for some reason have only just gotten around to basically finishing him. 

As you can see, he continues my long-running theme of Astartes From Legions You Wouldn't Expect In Mk.VI Armour .. In Mk.VI Armour; along with providing another 'tester' for the utilization of a different set of FW HH terminator legs [in this case, predictably enough, Salamanders Firedrakes] to see how posing and additional detailing works out. Sizewise, they actually seem to be a little *larger* than even other cataphractii legs, which created a further challenge when it came to building the torso/shoulders/arms - he has a bit of a 'hunched together' look in his upper body, in part because it was rather difficult to get things wider/broader while still managing to get a reasonable 'grip' on his heavy flamer. Usually, I manage to 'hide' this somewhat, either by having 'spread-arm' poses with spacers and armpit extensions [an odd phrasing, but you get what i mean] ... or alternatively by utilizing Mk.III shoulder-pauldrons for extra bulk. But this time, I figured that I'd really play up the Mk.VI ness - so a studded shoulder-pad; although with a Mk.III arm on the left , for similar reasons (extra ablative plating). 

Despite this, I'm actually reasonably pleased with the way the posing came together - he has a nicely dynamic energy, running forward while hefting his heavy flamer and shooting gouts of flame on the move as he goes. I'm also surprised and pleased with the probably somewhat accidental black discolouration I managed on the muzzle-grill of the weapon. 



Now I'm a great believer that any Astartes who goes into combat without a rather impressive melee weapon ..is underdressed. And so, with that in mind, a thunder hammer seemed to be *exactly* the right vibe for a Salamander. Big, brutal, forge-related, and *completely unsubtle*. Although this lead to some ... consternations as to how to mount it upon him for easy access, in a way that he could seemingly feasibly reach, when he puts down his heavy flamer. This also lead to me building a haft [wooden for some reason - must be some .. pretty hardy timber to be around all that fire] and a mounting strap with a buckle. 

[Ryltar Thamior]

Space Wolf in Mk.III with heavy bolter:



I decided that my ongoing efforts with building a Vlka Fenryka hunter-pack, might require some on-the-move fire support. A heavy bolter seemed the obvious choice, not least because I could easily imagine it having greater utility in close confines of ship's corridors and such; as well as, I think, some pretty great Space Wolf Long Fang art from many an edition ago. 

The running legs [grave warden terminators] added a very nice sense of motion to the miniature, to counterbalance what would otherwise be a static presumption of a heavy weapon, and keep the 'active hunter'/stalker/pursuer vibe-theme going. I'm genuinely very pleased with how well it's gone with the bulky heavy bolter - it gives the visual impression of , almost , a transhuman-dread 'sledgehammer-glacier' battering-ram-jogging-tank; particularly with that open-mouthed, bearded head on a slight tilt and orientation. *Exactly* what a VIth Marine should be!



Something I'm rather taken with on this miniature, is the way that the Mk.III + Space Wolf aesthetic, means that he doesn't seem entirely restricted to the Heresy-era. I could see him turning up in later periods without too much squinting at all. It's also been very legit how the head goes with the rest of the miniature - I've been somewhat leery of bare-headed Astartes all up, and some of the Space Wolves sprue heads in particular, which have almost seemed 'cartoonish' in characterization. But with both the Haunting Harii of Hvergelmir, and some of my more recent Wolves, I've started branching out - and it's actually turned out pretty decent! Although I'm *still* yet to find a way to actually photograph the incredibly fine glowing-green eyes I keep adding!



He's also in possession of a bit more of an 'ornate' look than a lot of the previous Wolves I've done [well, all three of them] for this project; utilizing actual gold rather than the more brassy, bronzy look ... but also, multiple different kinds of metallic ornamentation [including copper-and-steel on the Mk.III backpack, not that it's hugely obvious from these shots]. This means that he's in some ways quite visually different from the other three ... but if any Astartes force is going to have individual heroes who're equipped as exactly that, it'd have to be the VIth. 



Finally, what was holding up this miniature for *ages* [seriously, literally months], was that I couldn't quite work out where to place the grenades. I'm a general believer in putting everything onto a miniature which it 'should have', so to speak - and have always endeavoured to model my Truescale Astartes as if they really are capable of doing just about anything, each, regardless of their designated specialization. So heavy weapons Marines nevertheless have close combat weapons and sidearms; pretty much all have stowage [including, as we can see here, a pouch [cut-down Guard one, partially for reasons of space, partially because they're an interesting alternative to the Primaris etc. ones I've often otherwise used, and the large 'button'], and the heavy bolter additional ammunition mounted under the power-pack]; and very frequently, grenades are also pointedly equipped. Preferably in places that all of the above are 'realistically' accessible and utilizable by the Astartes in question. Which can create some 'interesting situations' - c.f the Salamander I previously did, with his thunder hammer. 

After trying out a number of different possibilities with various different sorts of grenades [i've been quite taken with Van Saar grenades of late, because they have an obvious maglock or something mechanism, as well as looking pretty high-tech, generally; however, I've also occasionally utilized those massive Goliath 'potato-masher' style stick-grenades, because they're honestly an *excellent* idea given a Marine's size, and the WWI elements for some of what I've been doing previously; and while the plastic Heresy era grenades remain great for Marines, because of the larger size and panelling, shortages relative to my output [also something-something Primaris kits not having grenades, and a shortage of sheathed combat blades!] has often meant i've been dipping into Guard kits to find grenades .. which hasn't always been ideal. ], I eventually settled on an Orlock selection - one each of frag, krak, and what I presume is a smoke-grenade or det-charge. Perfect for some spec-ops-ery. And then mounted it on webbing I built over the pistol holster [another gripe - one can never have too many Astartes-sized holstered sidearms! Also, the Primaris-sized ones are pleasingly *huge* ... looking like the bearer can probably cave in a skull just by hitting somebody with it, without even drawing it - which, given Astartes strength, is probably *exactly* the case], rather than my earlier experimentation wth the left thigh-plate [i uh .. i figured that incoming fire would most likely be hitting the Marine on the left-hand side - hence the mono-molecular studs and such on Mk.V and VI armours, etc. - so therefore would have had a chance of prematurely cooking off the grenades, if he got hit there ... so hence, mounted on the other side]. 

This is also, apropos of nothing in particular, the first time I've done a ginger-haired miniature, I think. Something about him just seemed to demand it. Very Germanic looking, as a result. I've traditionally tended much more towards dark hair colourations - for various reasons, including the arguable over-representation of Indian skin-tones in my output [although interesting fact, there's actually a not insignificant proportion of red hair naturally occurring in North(West) Indian Brahmin populations], and the frequent rather dark or stark colours of the Astartes plate armours in question [not sure, for instance, how well ginger hair would go with the gleaming steel of my Iron Warriors, for instance]. I've had varied success with blond hair colours more recently, as well - and, now that i think about it, the first [Heresy-era] Wolf we ever did was done blond; but ginger and red have been a lot harder to get right - there's a Haunting Harii of Hvergelmir destroyer who's been sitting half-finished himself for months, as a result. 

Anyway, I'm rambling now. Good to finally get this chap painted and posted! 

[Ryltar Thamior]

Finally managed to finish these two ; Loyalist IIIrd Legion demolitions enthusiast, with ... post-human traumatic stress disorder; and one *very* Angry Bird, XIXth Legion. 

 

I've covered in more detail earlier on in the thread [an embarrassing quotient of time  ago], some of the characterization and design choices that went into these miniatures. The IIIrd Legion explosive-exponent, I picture pointing out where something he's previously placed is about to become a lot more *broadly* positioned; as detonated by the device wired into his left-hand forearm-plate [which'll presumably be broadcasting signals to the concealed payloads' detonators thanks to the comm-antenna on his power-pack]. While the rosary upon his other arm was basically there because that's how the relevant primaris arm comes [very handy, those primaris arms, for truescaling endeavours, even on what're ostensiably supposed to be older armour marks], it adds a nice little touch of perhaps religiosity, which may be part of the way he's attempting to cope with his psychiatric condition. The ornate and bejeweled Mk.III shoulder-pauldron is also simultaneously both pretty IIIrd, while also *not* being their actual chapter symbol. I'm presuming that this chap is depicted later on in the Heresy, once the Fall of the rest of the IIIrd Legion has become painfully apparent .. hence in part why he's not wearing its previous insignia, but is still in its broader colour-scheme as a sort of deliberate marking of defiance against the fate of his former fighting-comrades. The ballistic apron, from deathshroud terminator legs, seemed like a pretty decent idea for somebody with his ... proclivities - it'd absorb shrapnel [although it looks like his face has already done some of that, going off the scarification] to protect those behind him. Meanwhile, the two swords he's carrying recall that he's nevertheless *still* a master duelist, who'll presumably be running the whirlwind of blades in a manner not entirely unreminiscent for lightning claws [quasi-ruleswise]. Oh and, of course, the converted Mk.III bionic leg. Perhaps something went off a little early. 

The XIXth legionnaire's another rather less than totally psychologically well-adjusted Astartes; while he's no doubt fully capable of concealing himself and surreptitiously moving about, as is his genetic birthright-competency ... he's here depicted hurling himself at the enemy, in a very active charging-sprinting pose. All the subtlety of a very large axe-head easily the size of a power-armoured Marine's torso, being swung in at even greater speed from up overhead. But also with an Astartes-sized combat-knife, for additional *subtlety* [or, possibly, two-weapon close-assault savagery ... somehow ]. 



They'll probably form something of a kill-team , with the Loyalist VIIIth and XVIIIth I posted awhile back, along with  few others that're still in the works. 

[Ryltar Thamior]

So I decided to try a bit of an experiment ... 

 

Awhile back, we ordered some Lernaean terminators for truescaling purposes ... without noticing that they were body-and-legs-in-one (which .. doesn't really work with my general way of building truescales); and so there they sat, for months, with occasional tinkering here and there attempting to do something with them that'd look decent - and also appropriately XXth-y. Which is harder than it sounds given the leg-and-torso alignments. Anyway. 

 

The first attempt was a lot more 'conventionally' Alpha. And  is still unfinished because *#&$ing difficulties with shoulderpads on Primaris arms on topless cataphractii torso. 

 

Then, a few days ago, for reasons still somewhat unclear, I cut-down another Lernaean, and started messing around with bitz. And *this* time, decided to do something *completely different*. Figuring that he was *really obviously XXth* on the basis of armour stylings, and therefore that the time for subtlety and subterfusion would *long* have passed if he were wandering around like that ... I started experimenting with pretty blatant equipment loadouts, and seeing what sort of posing we could get together - especially in a way that'd offset the seriously *wide* chest we were now dealing with. 

 

Powerfist and plasma pistol [with a mk.III arm for the latter] seemed like the juice, and an alpha legion upgrade head plus one of the thicker older FW Mk.III backpacks, and a suitably large combat knife, completed the look. Oh, and a headhunter shoulderpad for added anti-obscurationy. 

[Lucerne]

Can I ask for a side by side with a primaris-based figure, out of curiosity? I've been tempted by this approach more than once.

[Ryltar Thamior]

Can I ask for a side by side with a primaris-based figure, out of curiosity? I've been tempted by this approach more than once.

As requested, and also alongside one of my more recent truescales done one of the ways I more usually do things. 

 

 

As you can see, *does* work out notably shorter than mk.X; and even than my other pattern of truescaling - with the net impact being he's quite broader, which actually isn't too bad a thing as applies truescaling, recalling the classic Crimson Fist art that people use as a reference for such things. The main issue is that the front of the chest projects rather more than it perhaps ideally should, but it's counterbalanceable; also, utilizing Mk.III parts and especially shoulderpads does help considerably. 

[Ryltar Thamior]

Awhile back, I made a start on doing an Alpha Legion Chaplain, based on the excellent concept-work done by IHF. 

Lockdown's been good for some productivity of old projects that've fallen a bit by the wayside ... so here he is.



Still could use accessorizing with a holstered pistol and grenades, etc. - but otherwise, pretty much done. 

The crozius is ... a bit odd, now that it's attached - but I couldn't think off-hand of any other serpentine parts I had about to use for it. [standard-topper from the Dark Elf Corsairs was an option .. but not one that was around where I could see it in the general bitz-hoard]. 

Here's IHF's original for comparative purposes: 



An XXth 'Redactor'  Chaplain. [well, I'll possibly head my own direction with fluff considerations due to a somewhat heterodox approach that utilizes a lot more Germanic conceptry ... and in this particular case, certain points around Grimnir - 'Masked One' :P ; but the visual is most definitely aligned with IHF's production, at any rate] 

Now, he didn't go into much detail about wargear, so I made my own inferences. Could still use accessorizing with a holstered pistol, grenades and vials and pouches etc. And the Crozius piece ... goes with the Old Norse pun-value around 'hooded one' aforementioned, as well as a Jormungandr reference - large 'wand'/staff. 

I felt that a scoped bolter went with a hanging back and precision shots where required ranged engagement modus operandi; and while the Deathwatch Mk.VIII back-pack might be looked a bit in askance at for Heresy-era purposes ... the Alpha Legion have all sorts of technological resources at their disposal - and it can be said to be a modified Mk.VI or Mk.IV pattern; while the main reason I went for it, the armoured lense, seemed to connote the kind of officer who'd have the entire battlefield under surveillance etc. 

Oh, and I further 'tweaked' IHF's original design with a scaled cloak, because dapper. And also because it actually makes my method of truescaling [pun .. retroactively intended] rather easier . 

In terms of the truescaling, Primaris arms are great, but I couldn't find *quite* the right one for the other - so went with the nice thick knight-like armour ones from the Ravenwing Command. Hands are also often a bit of a pain, because full-size primaris arms .. go nicely with FW terminator gauntlets. So I think the hand holding the Crozius is ... either a Salamander or Iron Hands terminator hammer or axe gripper. 

Gosh, two actual Alpha Legion. I might have to do a few more now ... 

... and try out that contrast paint to see if i can finally do a scheme ... 

Edited April 2, 2020 by Ryltar Thamior

[Ryltar Thamior]

Some WIP, some not so WIP - in a bid to get some energy back to tackle the mountain (er .. embrace the mountain - it's certainly large enough to just crush me if it wants to .. ) , posting photos : 

Auxilia for my Heresy-era loyalist IVth - 





 

[Ryltar Thamior]

Truescale Alpha Legion chaplain 









Scale shot -