Firstborn Templars

[Brother Christopher]

Wow, this hobby can be very rewarding and very frustrating. In a work-wise extremely busy week, I'm trying to find some time to work on my Judiciar from couple of posts above. And I can tell you this: I'M SO GLAD THAT, if I'm not mistaken, THIS IS MY LAST CONVERSION OF THIS TYPE.

 

By "this type" I mean a model kitbashed from bits that were not intended to go together: an arm salvaged from this kit, a hand from that, attached to a sword from another one, etc. The problem is that, it turns out, bits not intended to go together don't go together. Who would've thought, right? Unfortunately for me, I don't have a good memories for bad things. But the experience of having to deal with this model brings back the trauma of working on, e.g., my Standard Bearer holding the standard in two hands.

 

So instead of finishing the model in 2 sittings, as initially planned, it's going to take way more time and involve some gap-filling that'll take another day. Also, the final pose will be a bit off due to how bits fit together (the extra flexibility of blue tack really helped with the pose I wanted to go with but created false expectations). And all of this for a rather mediocre conversion. But that's what this hobby is about - at least when you toil for personalisation using primitive tools and skills (I'm thinking about 3D printing and how it probably saves time).

 

Luckily, after briefly inspecting my collection, I don't see any models that'll require this kind of job.

 

And for my other army project, I'll make sure to stick to the arm poses available in the box. Oh, I do intend to continue toiling for personalisation using primitive tools and skills but I'll keep to cosmetic changes, not 'structural' ones.

 

On the up side, I think that the DIY lantern turned out really cool and the updated paintjob will be a clear upgrade. WIP photos to come. I think, I'll post them together with the finished model.

[Firedrake Cordova]

That sounds frustrating.  As you say, on the plus side, you do have a unique character.  

[TheArtilleryman]

Kitbashing is always worth it. I love having a unique character that I know nobody else has instead of the same generic model. 

[Brother Christopher]

Here's the model after my yesterday's struggles. The paintjob on the robe is updated and the arms are glued in place.

 

 

Today I managed to attach the hand with the sword (thus obscuring the cross on the knee) and fill the gaps with greenstuff.

 

For easy comparison, a repost of a photo of the original paintjob:

 

Spoiler

 

And here's the lantern thingy:

 

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

He looks good. I like the purple and the litanies  

[Brother Christopher]

So, here's the updated model. I managed to get him done before the weekend. I'm planning to base him on Monday.

 

The new paintjob is definitely an upgrade over the original one, though. I'm particularly happy about the lantern. I didn't have a specific idea how to go about painting it and just improvised. Quite accidentally, the glow/heat effect looks quite natural and cool, at least in person.

 

However, with the old models in my collection, I aim at keeping as much of the original paintjob as possible out of nostalgia, as well as 'respect' for the miniatures and their glory days on the battlefield, when I actually played the game. This chap, although without a lantern, was my power sword Initiate and did particularly well against some Mega Nobz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Looks great

[ZeroWolf]

Nice work on the upgraded paint job 

[Brother Christopher]

With my army 'almost assembled,' it seems I've gone a bit crazy with some leftover bits and you'll see the results below.

 

I think I used some torsos from an old Khorne Berzerker, legs are from a Blood Angel, backpack from the old BT upgrade sprue, heads from a Primaris kit, legs from a squat-Sternguard, accessories from DA veterans, as well as a pewter body. I don't' suppose you think that the bits are sourced from too many kits spanning too many years, don't you? :P

 

 

 

So, the direction the cloth on the shoulder pad flows is all wrong but I salvaged that bit from a second-hand model and appreciated someone else's idea.

 

My first count-as Bladeguard:

 

 

At this point, I don't care and I've also embraced the foreign iconography, as well as the silliness: the scabbard that's way too long and clunky and an arm that's a bit too bulky for the pewter body.

 

And finally, another Bladeguard vet:

 

 

This one with a custom shield arm and sword arm. I HAD TO use that sword: I probably bought it 12 years ago and have been saving it for a special model. Unfortunately, it seems I've ran out of models to use it on and decided to chop it up and attach the sword-hand to another arm to get this stance.

 

Overall, I've probably had a bit too much fun kitbashing these almost final models. They're not perfect but I really like them. Maybe because they are some of the last models that I have to assemble for this army?

[bloodhound23]

Nice kitbashes!

[ZeroWolf]

Looking good 

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks guys, I'm glad you like them!

 

Motivated by my arbitrary goals, I'm still in the process of assembling models for my Firstborn army. I don't want to get into the small Primaris project without sorting out the older stuff. It really feels like the last leg of a long journey. Hopefully, till the end of this week I'll be done with assembling all non-vehicle models for my army.

 

I think that assembling models is the least enjoyable part of the hobby for me. That's why I also have the deceptively positive feeling that it's going to be all downhill from now on.

 

Yesterday, I went through the soul-crushing task of magnetising the primary weapons for 3 centurions. I started this last year and right now had to go through with the process since I've already 'ruined' the arms with the magnets. Today, with all the changes with 40k and rules, I would've have started this now. I am genuinely worried that GW ill invalidate Centurions next edition, before I'll ever get around to use these models.

 

All those years ago, when I bought the original, extremely pricy kit, I wanted to go all-in on magnetising these. Right now, after dealing with the primary weapons, I think Ill leave them as-is.

 

1. I'll skip the power cables; it seems like too big of a bother to get them done right.

2. For the chest-mounted weapons, I think I'll go with variety and do one of each variants.

3. For the siege drills (or whatever the name is), I think I'll go with what I'd like to see as a 'fluffy' or reasonable approach: I think I'll do two sets with flamers for anti-infantry control and one set with meltas for the additional anti-armour; after all, the drills themselves are dedicated anti-heavy-things weapon and, as such, I figure that Centurions could use some anti-chaff when closing in on heavy targets.

 

On top of these three, brand-new Centurions, I also have a set of 3 devastators with Grav Cannons and Amps. Those models were bought second-hand and don't have the power cables and I think it's quite reasonable to use the leftover cables from the kit I'm building now on the painted ones.

 

Because magnetising these cables would be madness, right?

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Sounds like a reasonable approach.  

 

I always went with what looked cool/matched the background, because (for me) the background drives the game, and the models are more permanent than any given ruleset. Also, I'm too lazy to magnetise the models   

Edited March 5 by Firedrake Cordova

[ZeroWolf]

On 3/5/2024 at 11:32 AM, Firedrake Cordova said:

Sounds like a reasonable approach.  

 

I always went with what looked cool/matched the background, because (for me) the background drives the game, and the models are more permanent than any given ruleset. Also, I'm too lazy to magnetise the models   

Same! That and I'm sure I'd do myself an injury 

 

Brother Christopher, I think the approach you've taken sounds good as is, and I don't think anyone would crucify you for leaving/reusing the power cables. Nice bit of recycling that!

[Brother Christopher]

So I'll leave the both squads of Centurions without the power cables. Unfortunately, the already painted squad was assmebled by somebody else who made soem alterations to the arms and I can't find a way to make the cables work. Too bad. I'll maybe recycle them and use for one of my scratch built vehicles.

 

The photos below are, I think, mostly therapeutic. A photographic evidence that I did something substantial.

 

 

 

And two of my 'veteran neophytes' - a kitbashed Marine with PA legs and scout torso. Both will be used as sergeants with a chainsword an a swappable weapon (the gun-arm is magnetised). Please note the custom shotgun on the shouting guy with a tabard.

 

 

 

The Techmarine is quite rubbish with a particulalry striking gorilla arm, but, well, I don't care - it is what it is ;) I've checked and the length is right. It's the angle that makes things worse.

 

I've also made a custom sabre-like sword for the standard bearer; the model had an arm missing so I used a leftover hand from a resin Emperor's champion, some plasticard, as well as bits of a 'regular' power sword and did some precision filing and cutting. I think the result is adequate. The process was very time-consuming and I probably should've used a regular sword but - to be honest - I wanted to practice this level of precision/detail for a future project. I can live with the result.

 

In addition to this, I still have to assemble 3 metal cenobyte servitors and glue in some heads and... that's it. I mean, after ~15 years, my infantry is assembled.

 

Well... mostly. But not really fully. By this I mean that technically I still need to prep some terminators but most of them are from Space Hulk and I need to strip paint off them.

 

One thing's for sure: I can't wait to slap some paint onto some of these minis!

[Firedrake Cordova]

I think they work well. The sword on the standard bearer came out great.  

 

I'm wondering if the Techmarine's plastic arm is slightly too low (comparing the shoulder pad with the other side), causing the "Gorilla arm" ?

 

8 hours ago, Brother Christopher said:

Unfortunately, the already painted squad was assmebled by somebody else who made soem alterations to the arms and I can't find a way to make the cables work. Too bad. I'll maybe recycle them and use for one of my scratch built vehicles

Sounds like a good idea. No point trying to fight what can't be changed  

[Brother Christopher]

5 hours ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

I think they work well. The sword on the standard bearer came out great.  

 

Thanks, I just have to hope that paint won't expose all the shoddy 'craftsmanship' - filing and glue spillage ;)

 

5 hours ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

I'm wondering if the Techmarine's plastic arm is slightly too low (comparing the shoulder pad with the other side), causing the "Gorilla arm" ?

 

Aaah, your comment pushed me to go the extra metre and try doing something with the model. Thanks - your third-party feedback helped me realise that I kinda care, after all... and should try to fix something I'm not happy with.

 

The fundamental problem is that there's a size difference between the super-old model and newer plastic arm; while the lenght of the arm is 'right' (I compared that to the arm of another metal Techmarine from that time), the shoulder of the plastic arm is way bigger than the 'socket' on the pewter miniature.

 

In order to address this issue, I tried scooping out some of the plastic in order to make the arm sit deeper; I think it's a bit of an improvement.

 

 

The new issue is that the 'cowl' is a bit too far, alomost touching against the model's head, but yeah... Extra protection, right? :P

 

In other news, from the land of my self-imposed misery, time-squandering, hobby experiments I finished a storm shield. A single, hand-made, storm shield.

 

 

Some time ago, I made preparations to build 10 of these. I had the template rounded sheet of plasticard all prepped. But then GW butchered some of the rules and right now I just can't find it in me to care about finishing any of these shields.

 

This one was most advanced so I figured I'll finish it and stick it on a Marine's backpack, the silly way that Bladeguard Veterans carry theirs. In addition to wanting to finish it because of reasons, I figured, it'll be an excellent text of my skills: I wanted to see what level of detail I can achieve with the mods to Primaris minis I have in mind. Just like with the Ancient's sword.

 

The biggest complaint is that apparently I had a mental block and failed to notice that the ornamental plate at the top is not in the middle and that the top ornamental strip is not symmetrical: tehre are two holes on one side, and one on the other. However, well, I shush: from now on, I'll claim that this was done by design!

Edited March 8 by Brother Christopher

[Firedrake Cordova]

I think it's definitely an improvement on the Techmarine.  If you look at the metal shoulderpad, it's almost touching the head, so I wouldn't worry about that  

[Brother Christopher]

After the GRAND ASSEMBLY, I found myself yearning to do some painting. Yearning, I say! The zeal is strong and I decided to jump in at the deep end with the ancient (and the two converted Bladeguards that I particularly like).

 

 

Aaaaaaaand I'll probably end up painting the best freehand that I don't like.

 

 

I did some scribbles of the freehand and it looked way better in pencil. Don't get me wrong, I think this is about as good as I can make it with my skills but there's something off with how I designed and executed the Aquila. I think I don't like the shape of the wings; I should've make it more truncated towards the edges of the banner. Like so:

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Well, but considering the colour of the banner, I'd probably have to start everything from scratch to redo it the way I'd prefer it to be... So, it is what it is. The worst thing is that I'm to blame with rushing to paint this without sleeping on it or consulting the design with this community.

 

I think I'll paint the ribbon at the bottom red.

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

I think you're being too hard on yourself.  

[TheArtilleryman]

Agree with @Firedrake Cordova. The banner looks ace. Literally the only thing it needs is a slight touch-up of the white where the yellow has gone out of the line in a couple of tiny spots. Otherwise it’s great! 

[Brother Carpenter]

Agree with previous. Banner looks great. Id wish i could get that level of neatness and detail.

 

[ZeroWolf]

I have to agree with all three posters above me, that banner looks really good to me. I can understand being your own harshest critic but in this case, you've got nothing to worry about 

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. I think I just had a painting equivalent of feeling buyer's remorse. I'll leave the design as-is just clean up the 'spillage' that TheArtilleryman mentioned and finish the darn thing. Considering that the model is a large and heavy chunk of metal and is prone to tipping onto one side, I think I'll treat the finished back of the banner with a gloss varnish before starting work on the rest of the model. From my experience glass varnishes offer the best level of protection and I shouldn't have a problem with removing the shine afterwards with a coat of matte/satin varnish.

 

In the meantime, I started working on the other two models. Painting the Ancient requires more focus and I don't have time to properly focus on it. Since me and my wife are a bit short on time now, I'm squeezing in painting while we're spending 'quality time' playing Civ VI. I can, sorta, manage drybrushing and painting larger surfaces during her turns but I think I wouldn't be able to pull this off with the level of detail required for the banner.

[Brother Christopher]

I kinda conceded and left the back of the banner almost as-is, I just tidied it up a bit and added the crusade name ('NEURODE') on the 'ribbon'. Initially, I wanted to paint the 'ribbon' red but now I think it would be too stark of a contrast. As always, due to my lack of artistic training, I have some doubts about my choices but I think it'll do.

 

 

Surprisingly, I've also managed to paint the two kitbashed, count as Bladeguard Vets:

 

 

 

Considering the time it took me to paint them, I'm rather pleased with the result. Sure, I can see that there's room for improvement that I could realistically introduce but I'd also love to finish painting my Templars.

 

I mean, I'd really love to finish them.

 

My excuse for cutting corners is this: the army, something I've been working on for too many years, will be inconsistent. I can't strive for perfection with these models because it'll drive me crazy. I should focus on a general aesthetic to create the illusion that the project I've been working on for over 12 years is more or less consistent.

 

I'm repeating this like mantra because I placed these two guys next to the third Bladeguard (I think I painted him 1-2 years ago) and there's already a difference between them. I really can't afford to revisit every model according to the one step forward, two steps back philosophy.

Edited March 13 by Brother Christopher