Heresy era Legio XIV and other assorted projects

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The dazzler camouflage pattern looks AWESOME, but unit markings will have to be carefully painted to make them legible against such a background.

[Markus_]

hushrong: Thanks! I currently have no interest for Blackshields, or for too much personal fluff for that matter. Just wanna churn these boys out.
Bjorn Firewalker: Cheers!

Friends are playing Shadow Crusade and I want the Word Bearer's to chime so this is a perfect time to have them on the work table.
Finally painted up all of my current Unburdened. They will get some pigment love and shrubbery once they've been varnished.





Also done converting my first five chosen or veterans, really happy with the look. Next five will have combiflamers.

That's it for now, Thanks for looking!
Cheers!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the Unburdened. What does the name mean? That the warband's members are free of the burden of serving under an absolute tyrant (the Emperor), a fool (Lorgar, if they hate their own Primarch for some reason), or an usurper to a position that rightfully belongs to their father (Abaddon the Despoiler)?

[Markus_]

Bjorn Firewalker: Thanks! I think it specifically refers to the warriors of Kurtha Sedd that were doomed to die on Calth but it's also a cool alternative name for Gal Vorbak as his men would take in to daemonic possession.

[hushrong]

The unburdened looking properly menacing and corrupted. But those veterans you converted are divine (as the chaos gods would prefer)!

[Markus_]

hushrong: Thanks! I really like how they're turning out. Will work on them more in the future, I've got the bodies for a 10 man squad.

Okay it's been a while, don't really even know what to show you guys. Painting progress has been a bit slow during the summer but the melta squad, specialists etc. are now post the boring stage of flat colours and are waiting for decals and finishing touches. Here's some stuff off the top of my head just to show what's been going on.

This is what started out as a basic second HQ choice for the Word Bearers but turned out to be one of my favourite conversions for the Legion so far. I like the simplicity of it and a relatively clean and seamless look with the bits.




Here's a Mortis for the Word Bearers. All weapons are magnetised.




I had amassed a bunch of dead soldiers, and not really knowing what to do with them I did some small bits of scatter terrain to fluff out the battlefields a bit.




Once an actor for the glory of humanity, now a feast for the crows. Such is the Horus Heresy.




Okay this is a fun one. My local library is testing out 3D printers for public use, so you can book a day to come and print something. Now, I had had an idea of buying and building a siege drill at some point but I would've liked it to look like it's just burst out the ground. However I thought paying for the model just to chop it up with a handsaw was a bit too excessive even in my book. A most devilish plan was then formed.
I picked up a free file off the net and delivered it to print. The quality was reduced considerably as the whole process had to be squeezed into under 9 hours, but I am now a proud owner of a siege drill paid exclusively in public funds. I think the whole process was worth the joke.
Anyways here's the drill. I've already based it at this point.





Lastly I'm in a bit of a conundrum. I've pondered a lot on what to do with my projects and what to work on and I think I need to cut my plans back a bit. There's plenty to work on with the Death Guard, Word Bearers and Imperial Army at this point, not to mention a small Sisters of Silence and House Makabius ally list planned already so there's really no sense starting up any more Legions for now so my Dark Angels project is canned. Maybe doing a one of each kind of deal with the Legions would ease this compulsion.

But you can always have more models in an army, right?




Wondering what to actually do with these lads and if they'd look good in dirty white and green, I've been thinking if an alternative Rite of War for the Death Guard would scratch the itch I've been having. That would mean I'd have more bodies readily available if the list needed to be widened and new acquisitions would be moderate at best. How does a small Death Guard recon company in mk6 sound to you guys?




That's it for now. C&C is always welcome.
Cheers!

Edited August 16, 2019 by Markus_

[Pearson73]

The new Word Bearers officer definitely looks the part, I like the hand raised aloft grasping the censer, promotes the warrior priest image. The crow perched upon the fallen legionnaire is a nice touch. The siege drill looks great bursting out of the ground, much more realistic than just having it sat on the battlefield, handy to be able get it done at the library too. Those MKVI fellows would look great as recon troopers, would be nice to see a Death Guard take on such a force too, not one that is often seen.

[hushrong]

Yesss!

 

The WB HQ is sweet! Love the look and pose! As Pearson said he fits the bill perfectly. The dread for the WB looks great and I can’t wait to see more of those vets! I’m trying to figure out parts because I’m thinking those are iconoclast legs and gal vorbak torsos?

 

The scatter terrain of bodies is sweet! And the library printed drill is real sweet! That’s a pretty sweet program they’ve got where you can get some printed goodies.

 

And I would love to see you finish those mkVI bodies. Recon force would be retry cool and definitely different for the DG Legion but I’d love to see it.

[Lucerne]

Hushrong: Thanks! It's not over yet.   I really like the look of the brush helmet too, ties them into the Legion aesthetic nicely and stands out from the regular meat and potatoes. As it happens while I was sorting out bits I still found a single manreaper and a Death Guard legion shoulder pad, so doing a third scythe champion for an alternative command squad doesn't sound that far off. Also copy away!

 

Hungry Nostraman Lizard: Thanks! The model is still intact so don't worry, I was only referring to the background story.

 

Had a nice little painting session with Mekol so things are starting to shape up.

 

 

 

I also couldn't resist the temptation so I bought the new Chaos Space Marine kit just to see what all the cool new bits look like up close. I also couldn't resist trying to scale one up just for kicks. I think it was a bit too much of a hassle, but it was a fun little experiment regardless.

 

 

Our buddy Hushrong had an interesting question regarding some of the details on how I made the true scale mk6 models so I'll post it here as well for posterity.

The rest of the tutorial can be found here: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/331356-heresy-era-legio-xiv-in-sterquiliniis-invenitur/?p=5171777

 

I am trying to copy your mk6 conversion at the moment. Had to bust out the green stuff cable makers I bought forever ago and put it to work. Any tips on how you make them? Size you used? How long did you let it cure/dry before modeling it on? Where do they end over the shoulder? Kind of want to pick your brain on that.

I use the smaller corrugation plates and make a bunch of cable strings I can later use how I please. I let them cure straight as they are easy enough to bend. If I needed extreme angles for a cable I would put it in place while it's still setting. It's not the most consistent job, but the measure I'm going for is about 1.5mm in diameter. The cables end at right about the shoulder, and on most models the pauldrons will hide them. To make them sit better I cut a small portion off the end at an angle so it will sit more neatly. The center bit on the torso is a 2mm bit of plasticard I've cut into shape to which the cables are then glued. To top it off I shaved off the round bit from the belt and moved it onto the torso bit as a nice little detail, replacing the belt buckle with a punched out bit of plasticard. Picture for reference, I hope this helps.

 

 

 

That's all for now, C&C always appreciated.

Cheers!

 

Sorry to dig up an old question, but when you say you used a bunch of 1mm spacers on the new plastic CSM here (and presumably that gorgeous apostle model above), did that include a thigh spacer as well as a shin spacer, and was the waist just a single 1 mm spacer?

 

And how did you get such an imperceptible truescaling?

Edited August 17, 2019 by Ugolino

[Markus_]

Pearson73: Thank you! I'm very happy with the pose. Will have to think further on the recon company idea.
hushrong: Thanks! The legs are from Firedrakes and the torsos and shoulderpads are from Ashen Circle. I'd imagine every Legion deploying a variety of tactics and the Death Guard receiving new wargear such as armour as the Heresy progressed so it would be alright.
Ugolino: Here's some pics I dug up for you, I hope you find them useful. I ended up using it as a body for the apostle as you correctly observed.

The legs are cut up in the shin and thigh and a 1mm spacer is added inbetween. The chest is cut from the waist and is raised with 2mm of plasticard. After that I sculpted back the details. I wanted the legs to be beefier so I sculpted the details smooth. All in all it was a fun little deviation and an exploration of the new CSM kit, but it was quite a bother. I'm sure there are plenty of madlads in this hobby to offer some hobby fuel for the fire though.





In other news I had some good hobby time to myself so I worked on some random things. Here's a third and last Vexilla for the Imperial Army. The rifle was a UV resin cast from the same mould I've made for the bodies. The stuff has proven quite handy. I also started work on the bodies themselves and did a quick job on some blast craters. For these I used spraycans and a big makeup brush which makes for some really nice smooth drybrushing.







That's all for now, cheers!

[Lucerne]

Thank you, that's very helpful- and I hadn't actually spotted that you'd sculpted the legs smooth rather than filing- a nice touch. :p

[hushrong]

Dang, waaaay off on those parts for the veterans! But taking notes if the opportunity to get some of those bits and copy your work comes up again haha.

 

And thinking about MkVI DG recon sounds better and better the more I think about it. So many ways they could have received the armor. Issued before the heresy, seized in an operation against throne loyalists, maybe taken from the dead in bulk and refurbished, or even gifted by Horus with his connections (kind of like the sicaran tanks). Really excited to see you go to work on them soon.

[Sherrypie]

Those casualties are great, I've had a similar idea in mind for years but "what if I had a dead version of everybody in the army to put on the table as they die" seemed a bit silly before there was a proper army, even

 

How much did the drill cost, btw? In Helsinki they charge 0.7 e per printing basically, though you only get four hours at a time.

[Markus_]

Ugolino: Glad I could help.
hushrong: Aye, The Heresy gives some liberties in that regard.
Sherrypie: The drill cost me a solid nothing. The guy behind the desk was talking about making it so that people can print on their own at some point, could be they will take a small fee for material costs.

Some musings from the hobby desk. I've started work on the Death Guard vehicles (finally! ) pressed mostly by the weather since warm summer days are soon over and the only space I have for airbrushing is the balcony. I went nuts with some decal work, but otherwise they are still some ways from being finished.










 

To whom it may concern:
This door opens outwards only!
Do not test the hinges of this divine machine again.

Tech Adept

I also went to town with decals on the current legionnaires and they are very close to being done with only  battle damage, highlight on the armour and detail to be added.




I've also started work on some alien forestation as a terrain project. I plan to have an assortment of these along with the Death World forest set and a bunch of other woodland scenery. Dried seed pods make for some unnerving vegetation and they seem to be quite sturdy on their own.





I'd like to finish with a small sculpting tutorial I made up for sculpting fur since it's very quick and easy to do with only a few steps.
1. First, add a blob of putty where you want the fur to be.
2. Poke it with a small tool.
3. Slice it with downward cuts. You'll start to see shapes emerge already.
4. Use a small sculpting tool to differentiate and refine the shapes until you're satisfied and you're done.







That's all for now. C&C is always appreciated.
Cheers!

[Sherrypie]

Very nice alien (well, evidently extremely Earth-born) plants! Now just paint them in the most garish of 90's colours

[Markus_]

Sherrypie: Thanks, I have some colours inspired by coral reefs (the still living ones) in mind.

I had a nice game against my buddy Mekol's Raven Guard with a narrow victory for me by securing the objective on round six.
Here's some memorable snap shots.

What my command squad pre-occupied with his Esoterist couldn't do, a single surviving tactical sergeant did as he wiped out the remnants of a Dark Fury squad. Here he is chasing away the gloomy magpies with a sharp edged broom.



Here's one of my Contemptors taking the objective for himself by wiping out a support squad entirely after inflicting only a single wound. His glory was shortlived however.




On the painting block I've had some small decisive victories with Battlecaptain and Legion of One Nathaniel Garro all done apart from pigments on the base. I also managed to finish both of the tactical sergeants with the Primarch's recommendation.










Lastly I've done all the flat parts on my MKIIB Land Raider and it's waiting for heavy weathering at this point.




That's all for now, C&C most welcome as always.
Cheers!

[Pearson73]

Capital work on the scythe-bearing sergeants, the weathering and oil streaking are on point, as per. Always cool seeing shots of two true-scale forces at war.

[Lucerne]

The land raider is a stock kit, right?

[Jukkiz]

Dare i ask where the that apostles/chaplains right hand is from?

I thought it was from old resin apostle but he has left hand holding chaos stars.

[Markus_]

Pearson73: Many thanks. Only way to top it off is to have some mortals in the mix to truly encompass the might of the Astartes.
Ugolino: It's a Land Raider MKIIB kit I got off a friend. The plastic bits were in a pretty bad way, but I did what I could on it.
Jukkiz: His right hand holding the censer is from the Plague Marine kit I believe, one that is taking a pin off a stielhandgranate. The power maul is from a Dark Angel kit I think.

Thanks for the continued interest in my hobby endeavours lads! Currently my phone camera is smashed, so I can't take pics of what I'm working on. With Garro and the sergeants done I've moved on to finishing the rest of the command squad in power armour as well as the melta squad and specialists with only a highlight for the armour and detail work to be added. It's been a rainy two weeks so painting days outside are numbered. I've also been doing some casting for possible future projects so hopefully I have something cool to show when the lens is fixed.

Cheers!

[Jukkiz]

Must have taken awhile to save those fingers since it looks pretty great bit to try out.

Thanks for answers and glory to your efforts!

[Gederas]

The new guys are looking good! :tu:

 

Side note:

Jukkiz: His right hand holding the censer is from the Plague Marine kit I believe, one that is taking a pin off a stielhandgranate. The power maul is from a Dark Angel kit I think.

Must have taken awhile to save those fingers since it looks pretty great bit to try out.

Thanks for answers and glory to your efforts!

You could also grab one of the closed hands from the Devastators box, as it comes with a closed fist for both the right and left hands.

[Hungry Nostraman Lizard]

Loving the weathering on that raider, my good sir. 

[Markus_]

Jukkiz: It was quite straightforward to be honest.
Gederas: Thanks!
Hungry Nostraman Lizard: Cheers!

Alright got my camera lens fixed so here's some new stuff. The command squad and specialists are now done apart from a coat of varnish and some pigment work on the bases and Tamiya red in the lenses.






Another conversion for the Imperial Army I got excited by was doing a kind of 'primus' medicae orderly to accompany a command squad and I found the Sanistasia model to be perfect so I had to grab it. I did find she is a bit on the tall side compared to the rest of the army so I cut her down a bit and added some suitable folds on the boots to hide the seams. Could still probably pass as a voidborn. Fur hat and shoulder pad are from a Vostroyan sergeant model. Here she is with the finished and basecoated third Vexilla.




Lastly here's some shots of the casting I mentioned. I've done a mould for some 2nd edition models to work on if I need some cool abhumans or militiamen as these models are quite hard to come by in large quantities. As I lack a pressure pot or anything of the sort the casts are never perfect, but it's nothing a bit of greenstuff can't fix. I haven't actually tried the Squat mould yet but I hope to see my fiddling with the models a bit before casting fixed the problem of bubbles getting stuck specifically in the nose area and extended thumbs.





That's all for now, C&C always welcome.
Cheers! :tu:

[Bjorn Firewalker]

In the Emperor's name, those Death Guard members are FILTHY. Excellent work on the models.