Kua’s Crowing Conversions – 1st and Reserve Companies forces

[Kua]

After seeing you liked the WIP pictures in the Hidden Hand of the Emperor thread, here is a proper WIP thread for my RG project.

This project already had a thread once. It was on the Sons-of-Corax forum, 5 to 7 years ago. This is how long I didn’t touch my 40k stuff, and am now resuming it hoping that the 8th will be some fun. I didn’t get many models actually finished back then, but started quite a few ideas waiting for completion still.


Choice of placement in the background

Sure, the company number on a Raven Guard power armour is just a tiny letter on the knee pad.
But it is an important letter. It is giving information about who the warrior is serving with and beneath, whether the army is acting as a company or the single unit supporting another force by request of a foreign shadow-captain.

When the project was started back then, it was dedicated to the 4th company. 4th company is a battle company not beset by prominent GW characters like Shrike (before he became chapter master) or Solari, there only were a few references in BL literature, namely the Ultramarine novels, and it was not half destroyed like the 5th company was. About everyone is building 4th company. Because… why would anyone like Shrike and the others?

But on a second third thought several years later:
Why choosing a company for what is not if one should choose one for what it is?
If there are going to be several terminator units in addition to the obligatory vanguard veterans and maybe sternguard one day anyway, wouldn’t the 1st company make a much more appropriate thematic core of the army?
Wouldn’t a widely unknown shadow captain of the 1st Company (who has a name since Kauyon but nothing more) come much closer to the headquarter tactician, who only puts on his venerable Terminator armour if he must, how I wish to see a RG leader instead of just another ninja, make the perfect main character for the project?
Aren’t the reserve companies even less known and make the ideal source for tactical marines and whatnot in support of the 1st company instead of being the other way around?
Also, since Kauyon, they have fancy names and the 7th comp captain an even more fancy title. ^^

Well, you see…
The main problem is: Orange looks better with black than purple, but 7th has the more fancy Captain title.

But for now I’ll stop bothering you with fluff thoughts and start showing some models.

Pics!

Just a few, there is more unfinished stuff in a more early stage of becoming.

1st Company Squad VIII, equipped with terminator armour:

This is how far I got back then with actually painted models: Three terminators without bases.

(But if anyone was wondering how to de-angel Space Hulk BA termies… I have unpainted pics from back then where one can see what actually is made from green stuff and where the changes are.)


Yet-to-be-chosen reserve company squad II, tactical:

(@ People wondering about the DA deco in the DV box.)

It is not yet complete since I’m not sure about the armament of the Sergeant and the special weapon choice. And the heavy weapon anyway but I don’t see myself using the latter one soon. I’m considering giving the units both special weapons (making them 11 members each) and choosing depending of the plan. How do you solve this question?


And here is my most current dilemma – the bikes.

You see, I don’t like the design of the regular SM bikes.
I have some Ravenwing bikes from the DV box, which are OK.
I don’t have but am OK with scout bikes.
But then, there are those I’m building now:

The most right one is just an experiment in making a scout bike out of a regular one, it’s just there for comparison (isn’t worth the effort if one can simply by scout bikes).
The other two have parts put in place for the photo, they partly aren’t glued.

But I don’t know what bikes best to use as what.

We have:

• The converted ones
• The Ravenwing ones
• Maybe the Scout ones if I buy some in the future

And there are the following units using bikes:

• Scout Bikes (obviously)
• Regular Bikes
• Command Squad/Company Veterans on bikes
• Single characters on bikes

To make things even more complicated, Scout and Ravenwing bikes follow the largely same design while the converted ones from the chaos bikes are clearly different, which makes the choice
Scout for Scout / Converted for regular / Ravenwing for Veterans / no chars
not that obvious as it might seem.
I also could imagine:
Converted for Scouts / Ravenwing for regular or vets / no chars
And then there certainly are more and better options, that’s where I need your help…

[duz_]

Looking forward to seeing more and these all painted!

[Mr. Poe]

These are some wonderful conversions man!

 

It's good to see some plasticard and green stuff being used on some raven guard. Can't wait to see these painted. 

[Race Bannon]

These look VERY familiar to me.  I visited the SoC forum often for a spell ...

 

Keep bringing more!

[Kua]

From the models showed here, on SoC you will only have seen the terminators.

And some more very early experiments I didn’t consider worth taking pictures of now.

 

But it’s a good sign you remember them, I guess. ^^

In any case, I’m glad you all like what you see, thanks!

 

Now, I was hoping for some advice from you on the two question.

 

The minor one being how you handle special weapon flexibility if the unit is supposed to have fixed squad numbers recognizable on the armour (so that it would look silly to mix different squads).

And the major and more urgent one about what unit to put on what bike type.

(I was also hoping for some comments on the bikes idea, particularly the lights thing and if it is worth the effort.)

 

Everything showed here so far is supposed to get based and painted for the HHotE vow, the bikes at least built, but even for this there is a way to go.

But usually I have a number of unpainted conversions on the table, so don’t expect everything to get colour immediately. I prefer to basecoat stuff just before it is about to get painted and not sooner.

[Claws and Effect]

General consensus has been to use magnets to attach special weapons so you can swap them out whenever you like.

[Kua]

On infantry? Is this method even compatible with giving them any mentionable pose?

[Mr. Poe]

You can magnetize the hand with the gun alone with 1/16 size magnets. So that way the arm can be set however you like. Might get tricky if you're trying fancy stuff though.

[duz_]

Yeh magnet in shoulder or wrist either works especially if you have lots of extra arms floating around.

 

Or do what I do and dont do squad markings. ;)

[Kua]

Naa, squad markings have to be!

 

I had a closer look at the miniatures last night, and I think I’ll have to do the 11 troop members thing. We are speaking of the starter set marines after all, and on the plasmagun marine the arms are slightly further apart than on the others. The Mk-old bolters from the 2nd Edi starter set would fit worse. Maybe I’ll make the flamer magnetized (on another marine) though, so when plasma and flamer become obsolete and melta the way to go in 9th edition (…), I could change them. Now, in 8th, I don’t see a place for full 10 men squads anyway, rather 2x5.

Magnetizing the combi-weapons on the sergeant could work well.

I’d only have to decide on a CC weapon for him – chansword or power axe.

Wounds against MEQs: 0,33 (CS) vs 0,59 (PA)

Wounds against a Rhino: 0,22 (CS) vs. 0,3 (PA)

…

I think the serges will all have to get axes.

Now I only need the axes…

Already have some in mind, but for not ordering lots of bits I’ll have to see how to reproduce them.

Or are hidden fists still (again?) the way to go, despite their costs?

 

Apropos 2x5:

Does anyone remember the fluff and markings of the second-in-command of a sergeant? Something about that when a squad is divided into battle squads, someone is leading the other half?

They could become a thing now in 8th, if playing by fluff…

 

And also I have to decide on a company.

Do you think violet (7th) would work well with black an white? Maybe on the gauntlet? Because the shoulder trims already show the troop type and there are no knee pads on Mk-VI armour.

For some reason I can imagine orange (6th) looking better, but I’m not sure.

[Race Bannon]

If it may help (and you'll have to dig), but in my thread I painted 6th Co trim on my bikes and 7th Co trim on my Land Speeders ^_^

[Kua]

Found them:

Bikes

Landspeeder

 

This might help, thx.

I’ll have a second look at them when mine are about to actually be painted.

 

Experiments with the base will be another bigger step to go before.

(I’ll writing this to remind myself of what I actually have to do instead of getting distracted with later considerations, so don’t mind it.)

[Kua]

For not swamping the thread with soliloquy, here are some pics again.

First, the flamer guy for the Tacs. Magnetized.
But exchangeable not with other special weapons, but with a bolter.

This way I’ll have the choice between:

• Full unit with plasma gun and heavy weapon (and serge combi-weapon)
• Battlesquad with flamer and serge combi-weapon

(The latter one is yet to be built.)

Plasma is on another unit member for resons I wrote in a previous post.
But I like how the magnetizing worked, it immediately clips in place and then one cannot even tell it is magnetized.



Next, some progress on the bikes, here the entire squad but in different states of progress:

The prolonged mudguard in the front seemed too long on one bike and I cut it bit back on the other one.
Do you agree on the decision?
Thereof depends how they will look on the remaining three.

And I’ll ask one more time, does no one of you have any opinion whether these bikes look more appropriate for elite or more for scout units?

[Bedouin2]

I like the added plates at the top to offer the hands some cover.... I'll probably steal that idea from you later

 

And too me they look more on the Scout side. Like the Scout Bikes GW has, I feel they would be more stripped down of armour than the regular bikes for added speed and mobility.

[duz_]

Front cowl kinda looks more dirt (scout) bike to me! :D

 

Looking good!

[Kua]

Alright, 2 votes for scout bikes so far. ^^

 

And what are the opinions on the front mudguard, the longer one, the shorter one or something in between? Or do you need another photo perspective and a non-white background first?

[Race Bannon]

Longer one. I'm hella-impressed with the metal scout!

[Kua]

What about it? ^^

I have one more, for the rest I’ll have to order plastic.

You, too, recommend them using for scouts even though they could outshine the more elite bikes?

And:

Hidden Content

Still the longer one, even from this perspective?

[duz_]

Hrmm I was gonna say longer, now I'm thinking shorter...

[Kua]

Combi-flamer.

Sorry for unsharp photos, it’s starting getting dark outside.

(As for the bikes’ front mudguard, I decided for a middle ground between the two lengths.)

[Race Bannon]

That's some love for the humble flamer :tu:

[Kua]

Love is the foe of getting finished.

But the Empire of mankind has many foes!

Thunder Hammer.

[Race Bannon]

That's going old school and I love it!

[WAR]

very nicely done Kua

[Kua]

Thx. ^^

 

I replaced the more recent photos by better ones.

Next will be, probably, a Landspeeder.

Not started painting anything, though.