Beyond Reason: Heresy Word Bearers WIP

[Aarik]

Beyond Reason

A Word Bearers WIP

Greetings, fratres.

I have been out of the hobby for more than a few years (first started with third edition and fell out around fifth maybe), but I decided to get back into the hobby and try my hand at a Word Bearers force. To that end, I got my hands on the Betrayal at Calth and Burning of Prospero boxes, as well some Word Bearers Mk. IV helmets, torsos, and shoulder pads.

I see this army as being set sometime during or after the Battle of Calth, as I want to incorporate some subtle chaotic influences into the rank and file. I envision the Word Bearers as having a bit of a dual nature. On the one hand, I can see them as dour religious scholars, dark and monkish; studious of the new, true gods they now serve, and eager to unlock the secretive knowledge the gods bestow. Lots of runes, script, parchment, robes, and hoods. On the other hand, I also imagine them having a more animalistic side, twisted barbarism brought about by their cavorting with daemons. The Gal Vorbak influence; warped, shamanistic, and angry. More horns and mutated armor trim, which will allow me a few select CSM and other chaos bits. I plan to try to incorporate both influences into the theme of this army.

Without further ado, here are the first five tactical marines I've put together:

Tactical No. 1:

This guy is pretty much straight out of BaC, with the addition of a head from the Chaos Space Marine box with the top knot cut off, and a knife from the same set. I'm hoping that the more brutal-looking knife lends a bit of an edge to him.

Tactical No. 2:

Straight from BoP, with my first take at a greenstuff parchment on the right shoulder. He will also be getting either a Forge World Mk. III Word Bearers pad, or I will see if I can greenstuff press the symbol off of one of the Mk. IV pads I have. Any advice on doing so would be much appreciated. I would also love any feedback on the greenstuff parchment that I tried. I was very pleased with how it came out for a first attempt, but I do feel it could be improved, especially around the bottom. What sort of tatters/fluttering would help? You can see in the last three pics how it contours around the trim on the shoulderpad, I would love to hear what you think about that, as well. I also plan too add two nails that would be pinning the parchment up in each corner, but I need to figure out the best method of doing so. Perhaps drilling holes and inserting small pins so that just the tip would be poking out?

Tactical No. 3

Straight BaC marine with a CSM knife. What do you guys think of the parchment strips here? I like how the top halves are laying/folded, but do you think the bottoms could benefit from a little more movement/fluttering?

Tacticals Nos. 4 and 5:

These guys are a little more boring so I'm just putting them together here.

I wanted to keep these guys somewhat basic, as they will be my guinea pigs. That's why I'm saving the Forge World helmets and torsos, I don't want to waste them until I get the paint scheme down.

I also had fun making the bases. The cork board was really easy to work with, and the little bricks were fun to use, as well. The two who are standing on the cork board are just pinned there, for easy removal when painting. The other three are just stuck on the bases with PVA glue. My thinking was that I will be able to pop them off the bases with relative ease now that they are based, which would leave convenient footprints for them to fit back into (as I don't like trying to get them to stick to the stop of the sand).

Also, is there any sort of consensus about the best way to arm the tacticals? Like an accepted base force from these two boxes? I figured I would just build a bunch of bolter ones to start.

Anyway, I know this isn't very much so far, but any comments or critiques would be much appreciated!

Edited January 9, 2017 by Aarik

[Aarik]

I got some work done on the BaC Contemptor:

The head tilt was surprisingly simple and does a lot to cure the static nature of the model.

Cut the head out like so, and sand down the corner on the opposite side from the direction you want to tilt it.

Then sand down the piece it was cut out from i the direction you want to tilt the head (I was probably a bit excessive here, but it doesn't show once you put the armor plate on top):

Then just glue the head into the hole on the front armored piece in your preferred pose. It can both tilt left/right and rotate left/right. This is what mine looked like from the inside so you can get an idea of how it sits (it will not align perfectly from the back, but that doesn't show; just make sure there are no gaps that can be seen from the font):

All in all, it took maybe 10-15 min!

I also sketched this out quickly and was thinking of scraping the chest decorations off and trying to sculpt the daemon face instead.

I was also considering painting a field of skulls below it (as I started to roughly sketch on the left) similar to the banner on the right here: http://www.tabletop-art.de/Banner-Set-1_1

Do you think that 1) the daemon face and 2) the skulls would be too explicitly chaos-y/evil for 30k? I like the challenge of trying to execute it, but I don't want to go too OTT. Also considering sculpting a bit of trim on the shoulder pads, and will likely add a few parchment strips, as well.

I also did a little more thinking about the parchment I tried sculpting on the tactical marines, and I think I figured out a source of my dissatisfaction. I was treating them too much like cloth in that they flowed smoothly (e.g. the way they sit on the shoulderpad trim and fold over smoothly), whereas parchment would be more fluttery and less smooth (if that makes sense). Creasing rather than smooth curved folds.

Anyway, let me know what you think!

Edited January 10, 2017 by Aarik

[Aarik]

After an extended absence because of work and real life, I am back with some progress! I currently have two tactical squads about 70% painted, and got some sculpting and basecoating done on the Contemptor. With 8th edition coming out, I am going to run the Word Bearers as 40k Chaos Space Marines game-wise for now, but continue with the Heresy-era modeling to keep them usable once/if 30k makes the transition to 8th edition.

I also have five BaC terminators and five Gal Vorbak waiting to be undercoated, and a Leviathan dreadnought waiting to be assembled, as well. My immediate goal is to get 1000 points of CSM done, and put the finishing touches on the 1000 points of space marines I have from my last foray into the hobby, so that I can teach my girlfriend how to play. (If anyone knows of any gaming groups in Los Angeles, let me know!!)

I've snapped some pics of my first tactical squad and the Contemptor.

These guys were the first models I've painted in several years, so they are of inconsistent quality. They were also the subject of some experimentation to find a technique I was happy with and can reproduce at a reasonable pace. I think the bases also need a little *something* more; maybe another drybrush highlight? I had the idea that they were fighting in a ruined city on Calth.

This guy is from the second tactical squad that I'm working on. He is more representative of the quality/color shade I'm aiming for going forward. He still needs highlights and other work, but I would love some opinions on the weathering/armor so far. I think the scratches look pretty good, but would love to hear how they could be improved. I tried sponge weathering on half of the tactical squad above, but I couldn't quite get the effect I was hoping for. I found that painting and highlighting the scratches made them more visible/striking on the tabletop. The sponge weathering just seemed to blend into the armor, but that could also be because of the darker shade of red on the first squad. You can also see my attempt at some marble tiles on his base.

Here's the Contemptor. I'm pretty happy with the demon skull as it was my first attempt at anything like that with green stuff. Though I did misjudge the positioning of it and end up without enough space to sculpt the bottom jaw (leaving it looking a bit Night Lords-y). I'm trying to decide what color to ultimately paint it. My plan now is to go with a kind of ancient, tarnished silver; but have also thought about going with bone instead. What do you think?

I also had a good time magnetizing this guy. I think allowing for some rotation in the waist and the arms, along with tilting the helmet, does a lot to help the BaC contemptor.

[apologist]

These are lovely! Great rich warm red; and I like the subtle additions to the rank-and-file. Regarding your question about nailing on parchment, have you considered pressing the tip of a propelling pencil into the corners while the greenstuff is still malleable? Remove the lead beforehand and you end up with a very fine tube. When pressed into putty, it will create a recessed rivet shape. 

[Aarik]

Thanks, Apologist, much appreciated! That's a good idea about the mechanical pencil. Seems like a super easy way to do it. I'll see if I can rustle one up that would work.

 

(I've never heard them called propelling pencils before, that's a funny US/UK difference).

[Aarik]

Got a bit more work done on the first tactical (CSM now) squad. I added a bit more weathering on half of them, finished up the details, and did the eyes. They're pretty much done except for shoulder pads, backpacks, guns, and finishing up the bases.

I had fun with the transfers on the parchment and want to play around with them further. Maybe add the little white runes to the knee pads. I'm not 100% pleased with the "writing" on the parchments, though. I think I put it a bit too close to the transfers, and it sort of overwhelms them. The two little black runes I added to the loincloth definitely got a bit lost.

And here's a closer shot that shows the color of the eyes better:

Up next is getting my second tactical squad to this stage. I'm going to get the backpacks for this squad and the shoulder pads and guns for both squads basecoated when I have time to break out my airbrush next.

[outlanders_luke]

Looks a great start, I like the use of the cork bases

[Aarik]

@outlanders_luke: Thank you!

Added a few more highlights to the first member of the second squad and finished the armor on the second member: