Elzender's tales of the Heresy: the Fists are back in town!

[Elzender]

Greetings frater of the AoD!

So after quite a while roaming around the forums, ocassionally contributing and rarely posting any of my projects, I've decided to take the plunge and finally start a thread for my projects regarding the Horus Heresy.

The main project is an Imperial Fists "narrative" army, mainly following the story of the 81th Company from the void engagements of the battle of Phall to the desperate defense of the Siege of Terra, reaching to its maddened aftermath. Although some units might have a single iteration, I intend to show the progression of some characters and units through the turmoil and events of the Heresy, be it in the fluff or in miniature form (maybe both). It might also include elements from other legions or armies that join them in their battles, but the Fists should and will be the core of it.

Occassionally, however, I might show individual pieces that I might fancy doing, little snippets or scenes from various points in this vast conflict. It might go from a single miniature, to a unit, or a small diorama or scene.

For now, I will just dump some pictures of different miniatures and units I have at different stages of progression, from early WIPs to finished miniatures (there are very, very few of them, I must say ). Most of them have some degree of fluff associated, but it is mainly inside my head and I usually can't be bothered to write it down (which is something I intend to change, although being a non-native English speaker might make it a bit complicated ). Maybe hearing your thoughts or opinions might help me find motivation and ideas to finish my ideas, since I tend to start building miniatures or thinking fluff for them just to leave it unfinished for months/years .

So, without further delays, my humble dump of pictures, with some anotations to them (to give some insight, but also to keep the mistery where needed):

Second squad of the 81th Company, under the command of veteran sergeant Raimund.

http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w490/Risollano/00b2347f-6a43-48cc-bd8e-279fcc9b55ba_zpsestwanar.jpg

http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w490/Risollano/8d765384-e274-4455-acb7-ef8261b3c647_zpszodobr87.jpg

http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w490/Risollano/20160815_121522_zpsa5o4k3ra.jpg

Master of signals, first lieutenant of the 81th Company and commander of the frigate Herald of Liberation, Loctar Dibarion.

http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w490/Risollano/Warhammer/Dibarion/1. Front_zpsc8gff9lg.jpg

Captain of the 81th Company and member of the Templar Brethren, Caelon Gerhild.

http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w490/Risollano/19622257_1449706305097094_1937353334_n_zpsztogvflm.jpg

The Siege Breaker.
http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w490/Risollano/19622587_1449706495097075_1601353725_n_zpsxc2q0hfu.jpg

[http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w490/Risollano/19551155_1449706468430411_712956650_n_zpsrlgmkg3j.jpg


A tired man goes to war.

http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w490/Risollano/60ef1047-80cc-4b2c-8867-2d330a46796e_zps5prwtin6.jpg


I'll be adding more pictures in the following days, still have to take updated pics of some of the miniatures, and recover those from a while ago. I'll also try to start to post some of the ongoing WIPs to ask for the wise advice of this board. Fluff will be added sporadically.

Edited August 10, 2022 by Elzender

[Semper Fortis]

Good start! I especially like you Master of Signal.

[Elzender]

So, new post, this time with pictures from some of the Templar brethren that accompany captain Gerhild to battle. Most of them are fairly early WIPs, still playing with the stances, posing and finding the perfect bits for each of them (mobile pictures are all I can get, so apologies for the quality of some of the pics ).

 

http://i.imgur.com/8IMqpFo.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/QP8tFlO.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/iNc4lyz.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/QgwQosb.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/covtEsu.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/TTZHqol.jpg

 

On the other hand, I will start building soon a heavy support squad with missile launchers (turns out the BaC ones can be easily adapted to FW mkIII heavy weapon squads ), and I'm trying to decide the head for veteran sergeant Ívarr. Currently there are three options:

 

Option 1

http://i.imgur.com/Oahfkqd.jpg

 

Option 2

http://i.imgur.com/8nRj3pZ.jpg

 

Option 3

http://i.imgur.com/5DZjNfF.jpg

 

I'm leaning towards options 1 or 2, the bionic eye or the comms equipment look nice, but the third head looks imposing, maybe I'll use it on one of the templars.

 

Feel free to comment and criticize, that's what we're here for , and if you'd like to see any other detail or are curious about a specific bit, please ask.

 

@Semper: thanks! Glad you like it, I'm actually pretty proud of him. It was a fun project involving quite a bit of kitbashing and also some sculpting, and it's probably the best painted miniature I've produced so far   (although that's not really difficult ). There are some WIP pictures and more of the finished miniature in the March of the legions topic for the VII.

 

Edited July 11, 2017 by Elzender

[Kizzdougs]

Some really nice conversions here, especially on the Templar Brethren! I'd choose the third head for the rocket launcher marine :tu:

 

One fluff question; Is it fluffy to have Templar Brethren with the 81^st Company? I'm not familiar with the 81^st so I've got no idea :)

[Elzender]

@Kizzdougs: Thanks, glad you like them! Well, the 81^st (thanks for the tip, not familiarized with English ordinals ) is, as far as I know, a personal project, so if there is any official fluff about it I did not know about . I'm still writing the initial fluff, but the main idea is that Gerhild and his brethren were members of the 81^st that were induced into the first company to replenish losses (I need to re-read Extermination, but I if I recall correctly, the first company recruits from veterans from other companies). After a long time, Caelon is offered command of the 81^st, and he returns with his brethren as a "honour guard". So, while he's officially no longer a Templar, he retains honorary membership and the spirit of the first company. Probably a bit of headcanon, but I think it is not completely unbelievable .

[Kizzdougs]

@Kizzdougs: Thanks, glad you like them! Well, the 81^st (thanks for the tip, not familiarized with English ordinals ) is, as far as I know, a personal project, so if there is any official fluff about it I did not know about . I'm still writing the initial fluff, but the main idea is that Gerhild and his brethren were members of the 81^st that were induced into the first company to replenish losses (I need to re-read Extermination, but I if I recall correctly, the first company recruits from veterans from other companies). After a long time, Caelon is offered command of the 81^st, and he returns with his brethren as a "honour guard". So, while he's officially no longer a Templar, he retains honorary membership and the spirit of the first company. Probably a bit of headcanon, but I think it is not completely unbelievable .

Sounds good to me! I'm looking forward to seeing some more :)

[Jackalwolf]

Great sense of dynamism and yellow!

[Elzender]

The ancient machine strode forwards, impassible to the traitors weapons. Although it was the atomantic reactor what powered its legs, the burning hatred was the fuel for its furious advance. Its gun blazed and the legionaires disappeared under a cloud of dust and debris, a gasped shout signalling the impact. The hulking machine leaped through the ruined wall, scanning the building remains. The traitorous marines surged towards the dreadnought, primed grenades in hand. In another time, it might have acknowledged the bravery of his enemies for such a bold dare, but the taint of betrayal instilled only contempt and deserved no remorse nor respect. The first marine was sent across the ruins, his breastplate completely shattered by a violent kick, and two more were brought down by a sweeping motion of its fist. The other traitors tried to surround the raging behemoth, looking for an opening in his guard to jam their grenades in a weak point. The only thing they found was their death, shot down by the weapon in its left arm or crushed by its enraged fist.

 

The dreadnought stopped to assess its surroundings. A single legionaire stood, a devilish axe in his hands. Its unnatural glow revealed its vile origin, and the fiendish smile of the traitor disgusted and infuriated the undying marine to his core. The ancient machine charged.

 

http://i.imgur.com/0fINCAV.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/SXuquh4.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/AGFh3eH.jpg

 

So, I finally dared to try to pose my contemptor dreadnought, which had been sitting in a plastic bag for more than a year since I last worked on it. Again, quite happy with the posing, the kit allows great dynamism and I really wanted to get the most out of it. I may modify or replace the head and the pose might still be slightly tweaked or changed, so suggestions are very welcome.

 

@Kizzdougs and @Grieux, thanks for your kind words, both of you are really talented modellers and painters, and inspire many of the frater here on the B&C, so I feel really flattered to see both of you commenting here .

(Fun fact: the "old face" on the first post has a sculpted beard, and I still have to start with the hair, but I don't think I would have dared if I hadn't seen Grieux Vlka Fenryka).

Edited July 14, 2017 by Elzender

[Elzender]

It seems I got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowb...I mean, more contemptors!

 

So, some of the pieces for the resin assault cannon went missing, and I decided to see if the plastic assault cannon from the BaC contemptor would work,  or at least to use it as a template to cast the missing parts. But when I had the sprue in hand, I couldn't resist having a look at the rest of the dread to see if there was a way to deal with its infamously static pose.

 

An afternoon later Ancient Hallr, former breacher sergeant of the 81^th company, has started to take form. I still have to decide about the bit I'm going to use for the havoc launcher, here are the two current options:

 

http://i.imgur.com/a17IOFp.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/Xf4sL6K.jpg

 

I still have to get the final stance on the legs,as I'm not entirely satisfied with it right now, and I will need to work quite a bit to fill the gaps and remodel some parts that got slightly damaged in the process. I will also look for a way to give a bit more height to the legs, as it looks a bit short legged. I might try to add height in the soles, although I'm not sure it will have a noticeable effect. However, other options would involved even more cutting and resculpting, and it might be too much work for me.

 

I cannot take credit for the chainfingers, as I saw it some time ago here in the B&C, but sadly I cannot remember who I need to thank for the idea. The multimelta is magnetized should I want to change its weaponry, but I think I will stick with it, it fits with the breacher/boarding dread theme. The plasticard stripe on the torso is just the start of the up-armouring, inspired on the FW ironclad dread and the Death Guard contemptor. The head is from the resin contemptor, which is currently headless, but I intend to sculpt a fitting helmet for it (or more likely screw up and end up with an angry, headless dreadnought in my desk ). This head will also be converted, as I want it to resemble one of the plastic venerable dreadnought helms, this one in particular (original helmet to the left, venerable dread helmet to the right):

 

http://i.imgur.com/BJ2wMfo.jpg

 

So I guess that's another miniature in the probably-not-finished-until-months-or-years pile . As usual, any and all feedback is welcome .

 

 

 

[Gorgoff]

Wouldn't the chain fingers be WAY more effective if they'd be upside down?

[Elzender]

Wouldn't the chain fingers be WAY more effective if they'd be upside down?

I thought about that, but the idea is that the fist still can be closed, and that way the chains are exposed and the dread can "punch" with them. The other way the chains would be enclosed inside the fist (useful if the dread is grabbing something that fits inside his fist, but no so much for bigger things such as walls and vehicle plates).

[Dantay VI]

You could use the SW chain swords as they have exposed on both sides, or use the BoP chain swords as they look pretty brutal

 

If he is a former breachr sargeant, what about a breacher shield or Phalanx warder shield for the "gut-plate" or as arm decoration?

 

Dread looks great!!

[Elzender]

You could use the SW chain swords as they have exposed on both sides, or use the BoP chain swords as they look pretty brutal

 

If he is a former breachr sargeant, what about a breacher shield or Phalanx warder shield for the "gut-plate" or as arm decoration?

 

Dread looks great!!

 

Thanks! I'll have a look at the BoP chainswords, could be an interesting option (I've got them around here, just have to find the sprue), although I'm happy with the current build, guess I'll decide it when I get around to try it .

 

About the shield, thank you for the suggestion. I actually thought about it, mainly because of BrotherCaptainArkhan astonishing Leviathan, but I didn't want to just steal that idea. However, I had a boarding shield laying around (from one of many half-assembled breachers ), and I tried it on one of the shoulders. I think it is going to stay, probably chained (sorry and thank you BrotherCaptainArkhan for the idea ):

 

http://i.imgur.com/U9lmwuz.jpg

 

I've actually taken the plunge and cut the legs to properly repose them, and this is the result, a lot of scultping will be required:

 

http://i.imgur.com/35jqkOf.jpg

 

The legs are not glued to the pelvis, as it will easen reaching all the spots that need resculpting. The body isn't glued either, as its angle will depend on the final build of the legs and pelvis. Don't know when I'll get enough leisure time to sculpt all that, as I'm fairly slow and don't have that much practice with it yet, and these days I'll be quite busy with uni work.

 

Changing the subject a little bit, I shall present another of the characters for this story. I must say that I didn't plan it too much, but something clicked in my head when trying a combination for fun, and suddenly I saw it clear. Without further delay, enter...

 

http://i.imgur.com/L5Hmq2P.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/SjuWuMu.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/igNsEuG.jpg

 

 

...Seneschal Scallus, praetor of the VIIth Legion.

 

I'm quite happy with it for a couple of reasons:

- First, I was not sure about how to represent him, he should be a hardy veteran and a stern but fair commander, but I wasn't sure about the "old bearded man" look for him (plus, I kinda have that reserved for another character). I just decided to try that head on the BaC terminator captain, and when I saw the result I knew it was just fitting. This also brings us to the second point...

- I think I've managed to like the plastic BaC captain . While not a bad sculpt per se, its stance just didn't appeal too much to me. Previous attempts to modify it a bit didn't convince me either, but I think this one works. Moreover, BaC being so popular meant that there are many similar miniatures around there, and I like to try and personalize a bit most or all of my models. I'm not completely sold on the tabard, but it fits almost perfectly between the legs, I'll ponder a couple more options and how feasible they would be. The armour is ornate but not over the top, which I think befits a high ranking member of the Imperial Fists. The pose might be a bit cliché (pointy finger of doom), but picturing him commanding his men as his battle barge is being boarded during the battle of Phall makes it a bit more interesting, at least in my head .

Edited July 21, 2017 by Elzender

[Supe robot gangster #1]

Oh man that's a lovely job on the BAC praetor! Nice use of the custodes shield as well!

[lionofjudah]

Loving the boarder dread... I've had my Fists dread in pieces for months starin at the pile of bits and wanting to do something different... perhaps borrowing upon your inspiration I may have found something fun.

Really enjoying your praetor as Well!! I might recommend a dofferent head (personally just find that one boring... the old man from the sternguard set would make a great praetor;)

[Elzender]

So, just to let you know I have not given up (yet), just a couple snippets of my recent activity, with astonishingly bad quality pictures (really sorry about the flash, just made them in a hurry and without it the pics came out extemely blurry).

 

I present you a WIP of Camus Edrare, veteran sergeant of the Ist Breacher Squad of the 81^st Company:

 

 

 

 

Once I get a it of fluff for him written (I have some in Spanish, but it is not finished and if I start translating it before I finish it it will end up a mess), I will post better pictures, and hopefully with the model finished.

 

I have also started to work a bit on the breacher contemptor:

 

 

And finally, I have started a small diorama, not for the Imperial Fists, but it is HH related:

 

 

Again, I will upload better pictures once I have done a bit more work.

 

 

[Pearson73]

The repose of the contemptor gives it such a sense of movement and dynamism. The chain blades of the fist are absolutely brutal too.

 

 

Camus is looking solid too.

[Elzender]

It seems I cannot focus enough to finish things one at a time, but at least I'm doing something.

First, I'm posting the pictures of the praetor I made for Grotsmasha's Warlord Challenge, with which I proudly placed in the top 5.

 

Front


Left


Right


Back


Two angles

 

I wanted to wait until the Challenge results came out, but I will eventually touch up some of the details that I had to rush to get him done on time, as I think it would be a shame that I left them as is after all the effort I've put on this miniature.

 

I have also progressed with Camus' squad, and I already have the ten miniatures built, although some of them need to receive battle damage and some more details, plus sculpting the underarmour on some of the arms.

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, I have started the first member of the command squad for the above praetor.

 

 

Although he is supposed to be part of the command squad, I might eventually use him as a praetor, as it seems a shame to just give him a power sword and not a paragon blade. I'm waiting for an order from Kromlech to modify a Ferrum pattern helmet to make it more "Templary" and see if I can fit it.

[Elzender]

A bit of progress for Legion Champion Alstan, specifically his tabard:

 

 

I will have to touch it up a bit, specially around the belt, but I'm fairly happy with the overall shape I've achieved. Next will be finishing the scratchbuilt power pack, tidying up the sides of the torso which are a mess, and the arch over the head. I will also have to reesculpt some pteruges for the right arm, but I will use procreate for that as a test, since I got a sample some days ago. Finally, I will tackle the sword and the shield, and still waiting for the order to arrive and see if the Kromlech helmet will do or not.

 

I also blinged out his last victim, using the fantastic work of Kizzdougs from his WIP thread (both his GS work and the concept art he's shown there) as a reference:

 

 

 

The work is still a bit rough, I will trim away and file some irregularities before going at it again to smoothen or sharpen details as needed. Also, I still need to sculpt his (severed) right arm.

[Pearson73]

Detailing on the SoH victim marine is nicely done; I like the whole idea behind Alstan's pose, he'll certainly be a commanding figure on the table.

[Elzender]

Thank you Pearson73! About the commanding pose, as I've said in a previous post he was originally supposed to be a command squad member, but depending on the final result I might end up "promoting" him . 

[Elzender]

Small update: the kromlech helmets have arrived, and I have started modifying one of them for Alstan:

 

 

 

Sorry for the quality of the pictures, next time I'll try to get them with daylight and hopefully I'll have all details polished. At least I think I have given it more of a "crusader helmet" vibe. Moreover, I have also tested one of the Grey Knights terminators bare heads, as it wears an arming cap (I saw some Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus in WHW a couple years ago that made use of them and looked pretty great, so I saved that idea for some of my templar brethren).

 

I'm actually quite liking it, so he might get magnetized. What do you guys think, does this head fit?

[Pearson73]

Grey Knight heads fits in well; the expression suits his temperament and pose, whilst the cap and wiring mesh with the housing of his armour.

[Elzender]

So, I know I should be working on my ETL pledge, and that I have lots and lots of characters and miniatures to finish building, but one thing I want to try to do is to give unhelmeted heads to at least some of the characters on my army. I have a Lugft Huron coming in a FW order, since I want his body for another member of the praetor bodyguard, and I have been considering using his head for Dibarion for a good while. However, I want to change his expression a bit, for a two-fold reason: first, his head has been widely used for a number of conversions on different characters, so I want to change it a bit, and also I'm not completely sold on his mouth; and second, I want it to resemble myself a bit more, since Dibarion is kinda supposed to be my self-insert into the Horus Heresy (yeah, I know, mary-sue this, childish mentality that ). So this afternoon I have been playing around with the image of Huron's face, and I ended up with my first attempt to fit some of my facial features into a super-human tyrant/killing machine:

 

 

According to my mother, I do not resemble the drawing at all , although I've modified it a little bit since I've shown it to her. Anyways, even if the drawing has a certain resemblance to me, translating it into the miniature will be a completely different story, both at the sculpting and the painting levels.

 

I will try my best to make a bit of progress on my ETL pledge during the week, and hopefully my next post on this topic will be one with a complete unit from my pledge.

[Elzender]

So, time to revive this thread!

 

Although I am not bringing Imperial Fists news (I have done some little work on them, but I would like to get a couple of sculpts done before posting them), but Solar Auxilia!

 

Some months ago, I backed the fantastic Anvil Industries Kickstarter for their Daughters of the Rose line, and a few days ago I finally received my pledge! Although with what I received I am not sure I can make a legal detachment, I do have around 30 infantry to make a lasrifle squad, a flamer section and a squad of veletaris carrying volkites, plus a few characters to use as officers and or supporting personnel. I am currently cleaning a few bits because I want to test a couple of combinations of torsos, helmets and shoulder pads and show them here to see which combination fits the most for rank and file and which fits the veletari elite better. I will also try to modify some torsos to make them less feminine, as while I will keep a majority of females, I want to have some males sprinkled in the squads. As for the fluff, while I do not have much planned, and I am not very familiar with Solar Auxilia lore, my idea is to make them come from a planet in the Solar segmentum that became an early Crusade recruitment world for the Legions. This way, the clear predominance of females in the cohort is explained simply due to the majority of adequate male candidates being redirected into the Legions for testing and training.

 

I will hopefully post pictures of the combinations soon, but in the meanwhile, I would like to ask if somebody had any idea regarding a colour scheme that might complement or contrast nicely with the Imperial Fists one? I am wary of using black or dark metallics as some IF units, specially veterans, tend to wear those colours, and I would like to have these miniatures as a way of changing a bit.

Edited April 5, 2019 by Elzender