Firstborn Templars

[Crusader Reborn]

Nice apothecary, face, buttons and purity seals are detailed well. 

You're Templars make me nostalgic.

 

I would only council that you thin out the paint works a tad on the white. A wet pallete and some medium perhaps for the future.

 

 

[Brother Christopher]

@WAR and @Dr_Ruminahui Thanks, much appreciated!

 

17 hours ago, Crusader Reborn said:

Nice apothecary, face, buttons and purity seals are detailed well. 

You're Templars make me nostalgic.

 

Thanks! I think that nostalgia is the main driving force between this long-overdue project.

 

17 hours ago, Crusader Reborn said:

I would only council that you thin out the paint works a tad on the white. A wet pallete and some medium perhaps for the future.

 

Thanks for the advice. Actually, I've already been attempting to do what you suggested but, admittedly, this was my first try at painting white model. I'll see how it works out for a Primaris heavy Apothecary.

 

However, I think that the apparent thickness/chalkiness of this particular model comes from the texture of the metal (or age of the mini or poorly stripped paint) - I felt that I did a good job at thinning the paint but ended up with what I have. But, as I mentioned, a true test will be when I get around to painting a new, modern miniature.

[Crusader Reborn]

I know the pain.

I learned to work my whites up from brown, through bone to finally white. Adds depth to the white. It also layers so rougher miniatures will look smoother. Takes longer obviously but it depends on the results you will be content with.

[Brother Christopher]

The progress train is slowly leaving the RETRO STATION but not quite yet.

 

Firstly, I think, the oldest model in my collection, a random flamer marine from a bygone era:

 

 

And a custom count-as bladeguard veteran, based on a kitbash using metal vet parts, as well as some green stuff (the cloth on the shoulder pad) and a DIY plasticard shield on the backpack. I painted this model long ago but he needed an upgrade. I decided not to strip him completely and settle with an attempt to 'improve' the original paintjob (for silly reasons — call it nostalgia — I decided not to remove paint from my old models, especially those that did well in games) - so I touched up the tabard, tried to refine the lines and replaced a bolt pistol that was utterly ruined with glue with a metal plasma pistol (I think, from a Sicarius model).

 

 

I think I'll need to revisit the lines on the helmet; seeing them in the photo, I'm not particularly pleased with the result.

 

 

The shield, however, turned out surprisingly dope!

 

 

Some old freehand - a homage to Geralt of Rivia.

 

[TheArtilleryman]

4 minutes ago, Brother Christopher said:

The progress train is slowly leaving the RETRO STATION but not quite yet.

 

Firstly, I think, the oldest model in my collection, a random flamer marine from a bygone era:

 

 

And a custom count-as bladeguard veteran, based on a kitbash using metal vet parts, as well as some green stuff (the cloth on the shoulder pad) and a DIY plasticard shield on the backpack. I painted this model long ago but he needed an upgrade. I decided not to strip him completely and settle with an attempt to 'improve' the original paintjob (for silly reasons — call it nostalgia — I decided not to remove paint from my old models, especially those that did well in games) - so I touched up the tabard, tried to refine the lines and replaced a bolt pistol that was utterly ruined with glue with a metal plasma pistol (I think, from a Sicarius model).

 

 

I think I'll need to revisit the lines on the helmet; seeing them in the photo, I'm not particularly pleased with the result.

 

 

The shield, however, turned out surprisingly dope!

 

 

Some old freehand - a homage to Geralt of Rivia.

 

Love these! I used to have that flamer guy once upon a time. The nostalgia is flowing …

[Rusted Boltgun]

Love that shield!

[Firedrake Cordova]

They look great - the freehand on the shield came out really well

 

Maybe it's just nostalgia, but I do love the old flamer design ...  

Edited June 24, 2024 by Firedrake Cordova

[Brother Christopher]

After a long, loong hiatus, I'm sort of kind of back. My project for the the rest of the year is a little lifting/fixing/updating of my old works (many dating back to the very beginning of my painting) and/or models that got bits replacements and updates.

 

Here's the first batch of updated models:

 

 

 

And here are the before pics:

 

 

And some close-ups:

 

 

And here's probably the biggest upgrade :D The original face was from the second stage of my painting, the first batch after my first attempts at painting the Assault on Black Reach marines.

 

 

While definitely not my best works, I feel like I managed to fix and update the models more or less to my current standard for this project. I do hope that you'll enjoy these silly updates of my ancient paintjobs on my rubbish Marines.

 

Surprisingly, I found the process extremely enjoyable. I felt "in the zone" and not at all frustrated with fixing highlights on models that I'll probably never use. This was an amazing feeling that also reassured me that despite my bickering, I really love my squat Templars.

[Firedrake Cordova]

Always nice to see Firstborn models getting some love, especially that metal Apothecary.  

 

They look great in the group shots, and that's one heck of an improvement on the face!

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks for the kind words! I assure you that somehow they look better in person. Sure, it's not inspired work but I feel that I managed to upgrade the minis. Even though I don't really feel like reworking them (I think I'd prefer to move on and focus on my Primaris and boardgames models), or even finishing my Templars, I'm convinced that finalising the Crusade is the right thing to do.

 

So for the next couple of weeks, I'll be in a strange place - a hobby limbo - but after that, I'll only have the last models to paint and be able to say that I have finished my army.... I'm just about 12 years too late.

 

 

On 11/14/2024 at 9:38 AM, Firedrake Cordova said:

especially that metal Apothecary

 

For whatever reason, I'm very fond of this guy. Having said that, I'm super glad that I only have one more metal model to paint (and not many to rework). I can't stress this enough: I'm in a love-hate relationship with pewter miniatures; they're oldschool, characterful and 'especial' but they're a pain in the neck to paint.

[bloodhound23]

We need to get our squat 3e-inspired armies together!

 

You inspire me to finish mine also, roughly 8 years later. 

[Terminatorinhell]

I'm always happy to see new stuff in one of my favorite threads. It really make some wanna start my box of primaris sword brethren and crusaders. 

[Brother Christopher]

On 11/15/2024 at 4:25 PM, bloodhound23 said:

We need to get our squat 3e-inspired armies together!

 

You inspire me to finish mine also, roughly 8 years later. 

 

That would be rad ;) I'm also so happy to hear that this is inspiring. To be honest, after all this time I'm quite tired of these guys. But duty is it's own reward! I shall finish what I've started.

 

On 11/15/2024 at 4:37 PM, Terminatorinhell said:

I'm always happy to see new stuff in one of my favorite threads. It really make some wanna start my box of primaris sword brethren and crusaders. 

 

This is very lovely of you to say! And I can say the same of your crazy mix of projects.

 

IMHO, Primaris Crusaders got an absolutely excellent box. But for some reason I'm not a huge fan of the Sword Brethren - the details on them are amazing but there's something off about their running poses. Regardless, they're an excellent source of exotic weapons.

 

I managed to finish another two batches of models, this time it's larger than before.

Firstly, some updates to some Initiates that I painted in the second stage of my hobby life:

Before:

 

After:

 

Before:

 

After:

 

For the remaining models, I didn't take before photos since the scope of alterations and updates was too varied to show any meaningful 'upgrades.' All of these models had some kind of work done on them: from upgrading highlights (similarly to those above), through fixing damage and adding new bits (like the OOP pewter jump pack), to heads and weapons swaps.

 

 

 

Since I already had a marine with a power sword on the back, I figured that I'd need a fancy sergeant and added a modified backpack with a chainsword to another marine; it's silly, but I've gotta say: I like it. I don't think it's much dumber than Bladeguard Vets carrying their shields on their backpacks.

 

 

Those guys mostly were subjected to arm/weapon swaps:

 

Like this storm bolter taken from a terminator kit and cut, filed and adjusted to fit the OOP captain:

 

And the last batch:

 

New old backpack and chainsword:

 

New pistol and hammer:

 

A new sword blade replacing a regular power sword (that broke):

 

This model previously had a grav gun but I decided to swap it for a flamer to use him as a count-as Inferno marine; I've also salvaged a converted wrist-mounted auspex from a different model. It's not a great conversion but I remember that I was passionate about kitbashing it so I decided not to get rid of it and figured that it's okay for a flamer marine.

 

And a group shot of the bunch:

 

The photos were taken with a flash so please believe me that they look slightly better in real life; the harsh lighting isn't very flattering. I plan to retake proper photos of ALL MY MODELS after I finish the bases and take a day off for that.

 

Next up, I'll be fixing some character models and, perhaps, my metal Sword Brethren and Sternguards.

[Brother Christopher]

Brothers! The following post may be a bit boring. After all, it's an extract from a spreadsheet! However, I'm quite excited to share it with you.

After (too) many years, the final shape and composition of the Neurode Crusade has emerged. While a census of Space Marines isn't as fun as photos thereof, I still consider this an important step. Somehow counting and organising my models -- something that wasn't classified information since for years they were in a glass display cabinet -- gave me a sense of accomplishment.

The number on the left shows the number of models with a given kind of wargear or a given role. Sometimes, mostly for the sake of better cataloguing my collection, there are additional remarks about the models; e.g. metal (which is self explanatory) or OOP (which I'm defining as 'models older than when I started 40k and back then were described as such,' e.g. ancient, 3rd edition super-small Marines). In my naivety, I attempted to 'future proof' my army. Some models have socketed magnets; this is also reflected in the list below: I either socketed the magnets in wrists (for CCW and special weapons) or shoulders (to replace entire arms, mostly because of swapping Power Fists and Lightning Claws).

The tally doesn't include vehicles; however, it includes bikes and centurions which historically were not counted as vehicles.

THE NEURODE CRUSADE

 

 Power Armour Marines - 166 models

Troops

20          Chainsword and Bolt Pistol

20          Bolter (10 magnets)

3            Sergeant w/ Boltgun and CCW weapon

 

Specialist Weapons

3             Melta guns

3             Plasma guns

5             Flamers/Inferno Squad

1             Heavy Flamer

2             Gravguns

5             Combi Weapons; inc. 1 w/ Chainsword, 1 w/ Power Sword + magnet

5             Special Issue Boltgun/Sternguard

5             5 Plasma guns/Hellblasters

 

Exotic weapons

2             Single Lightning Claw

2             Dual Lightning Claws

1             metal Power Mace

6             Power Fist (inc. 1 Web Exclusive Sergeant, 1 OOP Captain)

5             Power Sword (inc. 1 OOP Captain; 1 Castellan Draco)

3             Thunder Hammer (inc. Games Day 2008 Captain and Master of the Fleet)

5             Power Sword (inc. 1 OOP Captain; 1 Castellan Draco)

3             Power Axe (1 OOP Captain; 1 metal Veteran)

 

Elites

7             Veterans w/ wrist magnets

2             Veteran w/ arm magnet

6             Metal Sword Brethren (1 power fist; 1 power sword; 1 dual lightning claws)

5             Metal Sternguard Veterans

4             converted Blade Guards

 

Marshal’s Household

6             Commanders

               AoBR Captain, converted Marshal, Master of the Arsenal, Sicarius, Seraphicus, Heavy Sniper

3             Apothecaries (2 OOP metal models)

3             Standard Bearers (custom, 1 UM Honour Guard)

3             Fancy Sword Marines (‘Judiciar,’ ‘Company Champion,’ ‘Chapter Champion’)

2             Emperor’s Champion metal models

3             Chaplains

1             Grimaldus

3             Cenobyte Servitors

1             Helbrecht

2             Honour Guard with Axe + magnet

1             Librarian [Heresy]

 

Heavy Support

1             Marine w/ Signum

4             Missile Launcher

4             Multi-Melta

4             Plasma Cannon

4             Lascannon

4             Heavy Bolter

4             Grav Cannon and Amp

 

 Fast Attack

Jump Pack Marines - 36 models

11           Chainsword + Pistol (2 plasma)

5             metal Vanguard Veterans

5             Dual Lightning Claws

4             w/ arm magnets

5             w/ wrist magnet

5             miscellaneous (OOP power fist, OOP grenade, axe, hammer, hand flamer)

1             Chaplain w/ Jump Pack and Power Fist

 

Bikes - 14 models

8             regular Bikers

2             Marshal / Castelan

1             Chaplain

1             Standard Bearer

2             Attack Bikes

 

 Terminators - 53 models

Tactical

13          Storm Bolter + Power Fist/Chainfist

3            Storm Bolter + Power Sword (OOP metal Captain)

1            w/ arm magnets

Heavy weapons:

2             Heavy Flamer

2             Assault Cannon

2             Cyclone Missile Launcher

Assault:

10          dual Lightning Claws

10          Thunder Hammer

HQs:

2             Marshal / Castelan w/arm magnets

1             metal IF Captain (TH+SS)

1             dual Power Fists (Calgar)

1             Apothecary

1             Standard Bearer

1             Librarian [Heresy]

3             Chaplains (1 metal, 1 w/ Crozius and Storm Bolter, 1 w/ Storm Shield and Relic Weapon (flail))

 

Centurions - 6 models

 

Initiates/Scouts - 32 models

2             metal sniper

4             plastic sniper

2             metal shotgun

3             plastic shotgun

3             metal bolter

2             plastic bolter

8             metal CCW

4             plastic CCW

2             fancy Sergeant w/ wrist magnet

1             Missile Launcher

1             Heavy Bolter

 

TOTAL: 317

 

As always, I'm very grateful to GW for ruining 40k for me; the introduction of Primaris was painful but sobering and ultimately helpful. Otherwise, this collection... I don't want to think about how much more draining this project would've been had I not stopped buying new stuff.

 

For the record, I think I can safely say that the majority of the models is painted. Currently, I'm doing the final updates/adjustments on around 10 power armour models and will need to revisit 10-15 Terminators. In terms of models that need to be painted from scratch, there are less than 30 of them. Oh, plus I'll need to base and varnish the lot.

 

I really can't wait to have all of these done so I can take proper photos and close this chapter of my life. While the models aren't as hip as Primaris, I definitely prefer the oldschool aesthetic of Space Marines. Sure, I'm a bit tired of painting the same models over and over again but that's the consequence of my youth's foolishness. However, as the Marshal of this Crusade, I can't see myself abandoning my guys. Also, I do intend to get back to playing tabletop games with these guys, even if it means I'll have to use them as proxies.

Edited December 5, 2024 by Brother Christopher

[YoungWolf7]

That is certainly the accomplishment! You will have enough to field 3 full companies when complete and are already over a full company completely painted. Much farther than I ever got with my goals. Be proud!

[Rusted Boltgun]

Wow! That is a significant number of models and I can imagine them looking fantastic on display or on the tabletop.

I think it is a great achievement, regardless of how GW has changed the game they are 'your guys'.

My favourite category is 'Fancy Sword Marines'!

 

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks guys! I am more and more coming to the realisation that the end is nearish and beginning to feel pride.

 

On 12/5/2024 at 7:20 PM, Rusted Boltgun said:

My favourite category is 'Fancy Sword Marines'!

 

Yeah! I appreciate that you liked that; I felt it's an adequate umbrella term for the models :D

 

I have another batch of models that I did some work on, including one of the fancy sword guys and a bunch of Chaplains:

 

 

 

The metal chaplains are just cool. But here's a more 'special' model that I kitbashed back when I needed a foot Chaplain but didn't have the money to grab one. I must've posted him years ago. In the meanwhile, he got a bit damaged; I had to fix the pistol, pointy finger, crozius and - taking advantage of more modern bits - I replaced the bare, respirator head with a heretical Primaris Skull Helmet.

 

 

 

As you can see, my past self was a bit overzealous with bling and bits. The model is... a bit garish but I kinda like him nonetheless; I remember how happy I was with him back in the day. Now, I wouldn't be so 'brave' with the kitbash.

 

In terms of 'new stuff,' I have had a slightly unspecific idea of doing a colour transition on the helmet - from a white face part, to a black back of the head. However, I didn't think it through beforehand and just went with it.

 

 

 

In retrospect, I think I should've made the white bit more isolated, focused on the face and start with the transition to grey nearer the temples and forehead. But.. yeah, the photo is a bit washed out and doesn't do a good job showing the gradient. I'll take better photos in the future. Regardless, I'm leaving the model as he is (with the reservation that I fixed the gold paint that I rubbed off on the gorget - something I've only noticed in the photo above).

[Firedrake Cordova]

They all look great.  

 

Big fan of the old metal chaplains here, too.  Having said that, I do like the plastic one you've got...

 

 

[Brother Christopher]

On 12/10/2024 at 8:23 AM, Firedrake Cordova said:

Big fan of the old metal chaplains here, too.  Having said that, I do like the plastic one you've got...

 

Thanks for the positive feedback. I remember that I liked him a lot, when I made him, too. It's an okay model but now, I probably wouldn't add as much bling as I did. Then again, there's that one official plastic Terminator Chaplain GW did - an equally over-the-top model.

 

Speaking of, I also have one old Terminator Chaplain kitbash with a similar background to the PA chaplain above; I'll post photos soon, when I fix him (now his arms and croziuz aren't attached because of some changes that I wanted to make but ultimately abandoned).

 

My AoBR Terminators, probably the last example of some of the first models painted I've ever painted:

 

 

And now after the update:

 

It's a bit of a shame that I haven't taken 'before pics' of the backs of the models since that part was probably the worst. There still is room for improvement but I really want to keep focused on the big picture and I don't wat to obsess about old models too much.

 

I've left the face of the leader unchanged, though. I figured it's not that bad and in a stilly, slightly nostalgic way, I want to preserve my original attempts.

 

Also, I probably should remove the sand from the bases since it's WAY TOO THICK. The feet of the models are flooded by sand. But... I think I can't be bothered with that and leave it as-is. Call it a reminder of past ignorance or being lazy.

 

Oh boy; this hobby project scheduled for November/December IS TEDIOUS. Revisiting these old models makes me really appreciate the amount of work I put into this army. At the same time, I'm yearning to do something different; however, my goals and priorities are set: I want to push through the pain of tedium and start the new year with a clean slate.

 

I still need to retouch 5 older Termies and do some minor work on even some more. Then, I plan to fix chipped paint on some relatively awesome pewter models (Sword Bros and Sternguards) and I'll be done with this stage.

 

After that, I might take a break from Black Templars and paint some of my purple not-Primaris.

[Firedrake Cordova]

Whilst I do like your kit-bashed Chaplain, I was actually referring to the 2nd Chaplain in from the left, which for some reason I confused with the plastic Chaplain (despite the fact I have both)   

 

As for the Terminator's bases ... they're just heavy and sinking in a bit due to their weight   Seriously, I probably wouldn't have noticed it if you hadn't mentioned it  

[Rusted Boltgun]

I totally get why you would want to improve certain aspects of the model but retain others (like the face) as a snapshot of how you painted back then. Not silly at all.

 

Not far now and you can switch to something different, looking back at your army with satisfaction!

 

Edited December 13, 2024 by Rusted Boltgun
Spellz

[Brother Christopher]

More of the same; a second batch of my AoBR Terminators:

 

 

 

And some other random models; the guys with the capes had some adjustments done to the capes themselves. I wasn't very happy with how I sculpted/attached them and wanted to 'redo' the most atrocious efforts to little effect. I think that the cape on the guy with the mace still kinda sucks, but the other two are a bit of an upgrade.

 

The guy currently without an arm has magnetised arms so that he can switch both the ranged and melee weapon.

 

 

 

And this is how they looked before:

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Nice work!  

[bloodhound23]

Very nice Terminators.

[Pearson73]

Ace job!