Firstborn Templars

[Grotsmasha]

On 3/19/2024 at 9:20 PM, Brother Christopher said:

I'm using a magnification lens/converter for photography to take a closer look at what I'm painting but I don't have any 'handle' or 'stand' for it to magnify and paint at the same time.

I have a painting hack for you. Magnified non-prescription reading glasses, 3x magnification. I generally paint without them until the finer details and faces require it.

[Firedrake Cordova]

The banner looks good - I'm sure you won't notice any of the issues you've identified with it on the table or shelf  

[bloodhound23]

Excellent work on the banner!

[Brother Christopher]

I've finally finished the standard-bearer:

 

 

 

As a bonus, my three count-as Bladeguards.

[Wormwoods]

There's little in this hobby that I enjoy more than a kitbashed and converted Bladeguard. Bravo, these are gorgeous. Great banner, too! 

[bloodhound23]

The cloaks turned out quite nicely!

[Firedrake Cordova]

The banner came out great, and I really like how the red of the tabards look

[TheArtilleryman]

Nothing I love more in this hobby than unique kitbashes. Excellent work as usual Brother.

[Brother Christopher]

Thank you, Brothers! I'm here to serve, with these oldschool conversions and kitbashes. I'm glad you like what you're seeing and, as feedback, you motivate me to keep on doing the things I've planned years ago. Especially now, in the final stages of this project (final stages that'll probably take me another year or two to finish).

 

By my standards, I have an ambitious plan for April:

 

 

3 Centurions, 2 regular choppy marines and 2 characters, including the foulest of heresies: A BLACK TEMPLARS LIBRARIAN.

 

Funny how corporate shenanigans affect one's (well, my) optics. 6-7 years ago I'd probably be a very angry nerd having seen a Black Templars Librarian. Now, though... I don't care :P I mean, I still dig the old lore, but at the same time I want to have the right model for purely mechanical reasons, in case I find myself using my outdated models as vanilla space marines (because of rules) or want to try Grimdark Future. Also, this particular metal sculpt is quite amazing.

[Firedrake Cordova]

I do love the classic Librarian and Techmarine sculpts.  

 

I'm wondering if a (lore-appropriate) explanation for the Librarian could be Deathwatch-related? Advisor from a co-operating Chapter? Chaos Sorcerer using a glamour to confuse everyone?

[Brother Christopher]

I'm going with a 'renegade' explanation. My Crusaders have broken off from the Black Templars chapter (of have they?) and are have been excommunicated by the Inquisition. While they remain loyal to Mankind and think themselves as still fighting for the Imperium, the Imperium appears not to agree with this.

 

As a result, the Neurode Crusade has access to custom, unsanctioned vehicles (an explanation for my conversions), follows a somewhat altered organisation structure and now allows psychers; however, treats them instrumentally.

 

Since I got the Emperor's miniature, I figured that I can take a more liberal approach to my army. Lore-wise, I'm qunite sure that I don't presume that this entity is the Emperor; however, he might be an offspring of the Emperor from the old lore (fanfiction?) or another benevolent or malicious warp-entity. I'm not sure, neither is the Inquisition; hence, the renegade status.

 

Having said that, I'm also sure one day I'll get around to writing some proper fluff for my army. Right now, I just have some snippets here and there.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Terminatorinhell]

Phew that's a nicely painted emperor. I have an old metal 3rd party one from who knows where I got over 10 years ago... Still didn't said to paint him lol. 

[Brother Christopher]

On 3/30/2024 at 8:41 AM, Firedrake Cordova said:

and I really like how the red of the tabards look

 

I forgot to mention this. I paint almost exclusively all of my tabards and capes beige/bone; however, I felt that the count-as Bladeguard squad should be a bit more distinct, not just through the selection of wargear: a combat shields and sword. That's why I went with the reds. On top of that, I think the colour is very pleasant to paint ;)

 

The down side is that the colour is a bit inconsistent with my other models; if I'm not mistaken, I only paubted red tabards on Chaplains and Apothecaries... Well, rule of cool supersedes other factors, I guess.

 

 

@Terminatorinhell Thanks! I think I could've painted him better now and kinda regret tackling him earlier in my painting 'career.' On the other hand, I had a blast back then!

 

The model that you have is intriguing. I hope that you'll get around to painting him some time. Your hobby projects are always full of surprises and your collection of models from different ranges is very impressive.

 

***

 

In the spirit of rushing my army, I managed to do a lot of work on the Centurions. I mean, a lot by my usual standards. Over two painting sessions, I managed to base coat the models, do two layers of edge highlighting by drybrushing and basically do most of the metallics.

 

 

 

Currently, the blacks and greys are a mess bu that's part of the process; I discovered that refining messy, drybrushed highlights isn't as mentally straining as doing it the usual way. With these larger models, the initial output is way more rubbish that usual; partly because I was tired and partly because I've been experimenting with different brushes.

 

At this pace, if nothing goes south professionally-wise, I think I might finish these models by the end of the week. I think that the next stage will be tidying up the greys followed by non-metalic details.

 

Also, for these three models, I think I'll go for a rather no-frills paintjob. To be honest, I kind of dig the all-black finish. I might go for some red-and-white chequered pattern for the leader/sergeant/sword brother.

 

The previous squad that I painted years ago, well... I had a bad phase of wanting to add colour to my models. In retrospect, I must say, that phase was a mistake. The clunky, beige-and-turquoise chequered pattern is quite quite garish.

 

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

9 hours ago, Brother Christopher said:

The down side is that the colour is a bit inconsistent with my other models; if I'm not mistaken, I only paubted red tabards on Chaplains and Apothecaries... Well, rule of cool supersedes other factors, I guess.

I wouldn't say it was inconsistent - red is your army's "accent" colour (bolters, quartered knee caps, etc), and the reverse of the other tabards is red, so it fits in quite well, I thought.  

[Brother Christopher]

Dear Emperor, are these metal models problematic. I've made a mistake I already made many a time in the past by setting overly optimistic expectations that ruin my hobby time. I had really hoped to get the models done sooner but it turns out that there's just so much unexpected work. And I needed another day and another day and another day and there's still stuff to paint. However, I finished the Techmarine and the Librarian is hopefully soon to follow (I need to retouch the cloth bits and finish the shoulder pads).

 

 

 

 

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

I think he came out very nicely,  

 

When you say the metal models are "problematic", what do you mean?

[Pearson73]

Excellent job on the techmarine, the armour highlights are really nicely done. I love the splash of colour from the chequers and heraldry on the Centurion suits too.

[TheArtilleryman]

Ah the nostalgia! I used to have that guy … I wonder where he went 

[Brother Christopher]

5 hours ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

When you say the metal models are "problematic", what do you mean?

 

In this particular instance, I meant the 'discovery' of more and more details that require a lot of attention. In general, I hate how tricky they are to paint, i.e. how easily paint chips or rubs off, as well as how some of the details/edges are difficult to paint because they are not well-defined. But that's also the charm of these old, hand-made sculpts.

 

5 hours ago, Pearson73 said:

Excellent job on the techmarine, the armour highlights are really nicely done. I love the splash of colour from the chequers and heraldry on the Centurion suits too.

 

Thank you, I also appreciate that you like the chequered pattern.

 

3 hours ago, TheArtilleryman said:

Ah the nostalgia! I used to have that guy … I wonder where he went 

 

I'm sure he's somewhere nice, fixing engines of war and enjoying the smell of incense mixed with oils and lubricants ;)

 

***

And here's another painted guy:

 

 

 

 

I also think that after >15 years, I'm getting the hang od painting faces. I'll even risk it and post some close-ups:

 

 

Edited April 11 by Brother Christopher

[Firedrake Cordova]

Ah, that makes complete sense.  Surprise detail combined with less-sharp edges can be a right pain (we're spoiled by modern models, really).

 

Nice work on the Librarian, and the faces look good to me, especially the Techmarine

 

6 hours ago, TheArtilleryman said:

Ah the nostalgia! I used to have that guy … I wonder where he went 

If you notice you have the odd vehicle you didn't realise you had, that might give you a clue as to what they've been up to   

[Terminatorinhell]

I'm loving that old techmarine. 

Also I forgot to mention, I actually kinda like the checkered patterns on the centurions. I still need to finish converting and building mine and thinking about painting them is scary lol. 

[Brother Christopher]

Riiight. I think that there's still more to be done but I'm going to call these three Centurions done:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Nice work

[hd3]

Damn, that banner looks tremendous!

 

Unrelated, how do you make sure all your templars are 'firstborn' models?

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks, as always!

 

2 hours ago, hd3 said:

Unrelated, how do you make sure all your templars are 'firstborn' models?

 

Sorry, I didn't get this bit: what do you mean? Did I misspell or misuse the term for squat-Marines?