The Velsen Sector: KrautScientist's INQ28

[Elzender]

That Carcharodon is looking really nice, KrautScientist! Regarding a new member, it wluld be really ironic that a Marine Malevolent ended up being a comms specialist, considering their bad reputation and emnity with so many chapters :D

[KrautScientist]

Cheers for the feedback, guys! :)

 

@ Gederas: I actually spent quite some time thinking about the kind of skin tone I wanted to achieve, and I decided against simply using grey, mostly because it's such an uninteresting approach, really -- you lose all the small ways of creating a pale, yet still alive, kind of look. So I went for a very pale skintone (which shows really well when comparing the model to the rest of the kill team, which I'll be getting to in a minute), with livid scars as a contrast. Ironically enough, malchy's models have been one of my biggest pieces of inspiration for this guy, but even Malchy has occasionally used a slightly more healthy approach on some of his latest models.

 

@ Elzender: Like I said, nothing's set in stone yet -- not even the decision whether any more members will be added to the killteam at a later date.

 

So anyway, I finally took some proper pictures of the Carcharodon:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, just to prove that every detail has been given the right amount of attention ;)

 

 

And while we are at it, here's the Lamenter with all the finishin touches in place:

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that means the last three members of the killteam are now finished (except for their bases, which I'll be doing in one go as soon as I have the time):

 

 

And the entire team again, mostly to show off the different skin tones, as mentioned above:

 

 

As always, let me know what you think! :)

[Evil Eye]

They really do look quite superb together, and that Carcharodon really is something else. I'm not sure on my favourite member of the team- the Celestial Lion (I think? The one with the Reiver armour), the Carcharodon and the Castigator are definitely all contenders, though the Iron Hand is up there too. I think what I like the best about this team is how flawlessly they integrate Primaris parts, to the point they look like regular old True-Scale Deathwatch. (Though now I'm intrigued to see if a true-scale Primaris is possible.)

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent works, KrautScientist.

[Elzender]

That is an amazing killteam, frater! About my previous comment, I actually would like to see the MM comms specialist happen, because you're just hitting it out of the park with each new killteam member. Moreover, it could even be justified as him being sent to the Deathwatch for being "too nice" for the Chapter standards :D.

[KrautScientist]

Thanks, guys! :)

 

@ Squigsquasher: "True scale Primaris", eh? With Primaris basically serving as readymade truescale Marines these days, the truescaling scene is bound to look for new challenges, so I am pretty sure it's going to happen sooner rather than later ;)

[Augustus b'Raass]

The space shark looks fantastic, buddy! Great work on the detailing, too - those lenses look superb!

 

The entire team is impressive indeed! What's next? A dreadnought?

[Son of Carnelian]

Love these Deathwatch!

[KrautScientist]

Thanks, guys! :)

 

@ Auggs: What's next? Hmm, not sure... I think I'll consider this particular killteam/warband finished, at least for the foreseeable future. I'll probably jump over to my chaos thread and finally get that second Armiger painted ;) But there's always at least half a dozen hobby projects on my mind at any given time, so who knows? ;)

 

For now, however, I have managed to finish the bases on the last three killteam members, so here they are:

 

 

And here's a small sneak peek at the entire finished Killteam Ulrach:

 

 

There'll be more pictures of the models soon, even if this project doesn't seem to elicit all that many reactions. Just bear with me here, okay? ;)

 

As always, let me know what you think! :)

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Well done. The xeno skulls on the Deathwatch Marines' bases are a good touch.

[Evil Eye]

Do I spy a Vespid skull on one of those bases? Nice!

[Azaiel]

Lovely work!

[KrautScientist]

Thanks a lot, guys! And Squigsquasher, yeah that is Indeed a Vespid skull -- I found one in my bitzbox, and it seemed like a nice fit for this project. Are Vespid even still a thing in Tau armies?

[Dosjetka]

Nice Kill Team you've got there, Kraut. My only quibble would be the general lack of a sense of dynamics, and I think this is mostly due to the legs used. However the amount of character each model has definitely compensates for that. :tu:

[KrautScientist]

Cheers, mate! You definitely have a point regarding the rather static poses -- this is very much a result of having used only snapfit Primaris for all but one of the models. I should probably have invested in a proper multipart Primaris kit, but the team was already halfway assembled at that point, so it just didn't make sense. That being said, I rather like the subtle sense of dynamism where it actually exists (such as the advancing Lamenter, the sneaking Celestial Lion). Still, definitely seeing where you are coming from!

 

So anyway, here are some more pictures of the finished models, just to serve as a capstone for the project, if you will:

 

First up, meet Brother Trythus Anteas of the Castigators:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commissar Molotov ended up providing me with the inspiration for the character’s name, by the way — just as intended. Oh, and I chose a T'au skull for the base as a tongue-in-cheek shout-out to Commissar Molotov’s semi-insistance on keeping T’au characters out of his Dalthus Sector adventurescape

 

Next up, Brother Mikahel Zephon of the Lamenters:

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this case, the model’s name is a shout out to my fellow hobbyist and good buddy Augustus b’Raass, who donated the Primaris Marine used for the conversion. Cheers again, buddy!

 

And finally, Brother Komoharai Tetangi of the Carcharodons Astra:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since Brother Tetangi’s armour is almost completely different from the kind of armour worn by the rest of the kill team (and intentionally so, I might add: I wanted him to reflect the chapter’s reliance on the ancient wargear that originated from the time before their “exile”), I had to experiment a bit to fit in all the features I had used on the rest of the kill team — such as the red right knee and =][= symbol. I am really rather happy with the outcome, though! I also had to base Brother Tetangi a bit higher, seeing how he is noticeably shorter than his watch-brothers. Fortunately enough, the difference in height is quite a bit less noticeable now!

Edited November 29, 2018 by KrautScientist

[KrautScientist]

Please excuse the double-post, but this is the only way to feature all the pictures I wanted to include.  So here, without further ado, is the finished Kill Team:

 

=][=

 

Kill Team Ulrach

 

 

Not bad for a problem that actually began as wanting to paint a single, quintessentially loyalist Astartes back in spring, wouldn’t you agree? I think I may have gotten any itch I might have had to paint loyal Space Marines out of my system forever… ;)

 

For now, at least, I am calling this kill team finished! So in order to celebrate the occasion, let’s meet each of the members of Kill Team Ulrach in turn. Here we go:

 

Watch-Sergeant Vorlik Ulrach
of the Iron Hands

 

 

A grizzled veteran of the Iron Hands, Vorlik Ulrach has been the commander of Kill Team Ulrach for quite some time now. His coldly logical approach to problem solving and ability to remain clinically calm even under extreme duress has seen the kill team succeed against overwhelming odds more than once.

 

Brother Trythus Anteas
of the Castigators

 

 

Second in command of the killteam, Brother Anteas could not be more different in nature from the watch-sergeant: Zealous and aggressive where Ulrach is coldly logical, Anteas is a grimly menacing presence, even to his oath-brothers.

 

Brother Arcturus Diomedes
of the Ultramarines
“Stalwart Diomedes”

 

 

One of the younger members of Kill Team Ulrach, Brother Diomedes is nonetheless an exemplar of all the quintessential Astartes traits — as should be expected of an Ultramarine. He is also the kill team’s most talented marksman.

 

Brother Vargo Diaz
of the Crimson Fists
“The Orkslayer”

 

 

Having fought against the barbaric greenskins numerous times, Brother Diaz has become a specialist at fighting at close quarters, the better to counter the fighting style of those brutal Xenos: The Orks have learned to fear the mighty swings of his artificer powerfist.

 

Brother Rudisha Aren
of the Celestial Lions

 

 

A master tracker and proud warrior. Dressed in a suit of slimmed down tactical insertion armour, Brother Aren is the kill team’s infiltration specialist.

 

Brother Komoharai Tetangi
of the Carcharodons Astra
“The Quiet”

 

 

A mysterious, deathly pale Astartes clad in a suit of ancient mongrel plate. Taciturn, save for the curtest replies, uttered in an ancient dialect of High-Gothic, Brother Tetangi transforms into a whirlwind of destruction once the battle is joined.

 

Brother Mikahel Zephon
of the Lamenters
“The Doomsayer”

 

 

Brother Zephon is given to the kind of dark brooding that is so often observed in those of his bloodline. In him, this trait manifests as a grim resignedness to what he considers an inescapable fate, turning him into a relentless warrior with little regard for personal safety.

 

 

So yeah, that’s Kill Team Ulrach — I am actually pretty proud of the finished project, if I do say so myself! A few last observations, if I may:

Fellow hobbyist euansmith pointed out over at the Ammobunker that the squad actually looks pretty colourful for seven guys wearing black armour — and in hindsight, I realise he is correct, of course: They really are rather colourful in that slightly retro-ish, 2nd edition 40k way. Not much of a surprise, really, when the model that kicked off the whole project (the Ultramarine) was very much inspired by the original 54mm Brother Artemis and his classic paintjob:

 

 

Speaking of colourful, though, another objective for this project was to explore the kill team members’ respective chapters and backgrounds, and that extended both to typical weapons and decorations as well as different ethnicities. Not only does this make sense from a lore standpoint, but I also really wanted to force myself to step away from just using the same pale caucasian skin tone on every 40k model. So I used this project to experiment with a couple of different skin tones, which was fun and also arguably adds an extra layer of visual complexity to the squad:

 

 

Another way to differentiate between the models was the inclusion of their respective chapter heraldries, and I am proud to say that I didn’t skimp on this particular element, trying my best to reproduce the various chapter badges as well as I could:

 

 

Two of the shoulder pads simply use a decal. One has sculpted detail. Three designs have been freehanded. And finally, Brother Zephon’s shoulder pad uses a combination of all three approaches ;)

 

So that’s it for Kill Team Ulrach -- as always, let me know what you think! :)

 

Edited November 29, 2018 by KrautScientist

[RolandTHTG]

Since I've been lurking so long without feedback, let me be the first to say they're all awesome, with beautiful conversions and a masterful paintjob. 

Definitely has me looking at the deathwatch scattered back among my bits and pondering making my own scheme. 

[Augustus b'Raass]

Congratulations on the completion of this beautiful squad, mate! It's been a pretty darn cool ride, and I'm happy to have ridden it since day one. The squad looks epic together, and I must say I quite like the fact that it has that 2nd edition colourful vibe to it. Well done on the skin tones and the chapter badges, too, btw, they certainly add an extra dimension. Also, I didn't even realize that Brother Mikahel was named after me! That's so cool! :D

 

So what's next for the Velsen sector? 

[Pandoras Bitz Box]

I'm super Jealous of this unit man. Very much in keeping with your other work, they are so full of character and depth. I love it. I hope I can attempt something similar at some stage... But appart from being long my "to do" list seems to be rather fluid and I have no idea when I might get around to an idea.

 

I know a lot of the poses seem static as a result of the easy fit kits... But to be honest, I didn't even notice. I think because to me it read as being cautious rather than animated. Since I first came accross the Death Watch as small elite teams, alone on the fringes of space, I imagined them covertly exploring space hulks, ruins or the likes of Blackstone Fortress... So your calm, collected "static" poses I think just got absorbed into narrative for me.

 

They look no less awesome for it. Your efforts are visible and worth it.

[HvitrValdyr]

These guys are fantastic. I’m probably going to steal your Iron Hand conversion style. Each guy ties in well to their home chapter.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Beautiful work on both the models, and their backstories.

[Eldrick Shadowblade]

The various skintones are really great! Adds an additional layer of complexity and story to a squad from different chapters. Nice touch. For what it is worth this is my favorite tone, and the salamander as well.

 

[Cryptix]

That's actually a Celestial Lion. Salamanders aren't the only ones with dark skin tones!

[Gederas]

That's actually a Celestial Lion. Salamanders aren't the only ones with dark skin tones!

I think Eldrick might be getting the same confusion the 'eavy Metal team had when they were originally told the Salamanders were black and thought they're human black :lol:

[Pandoras Bitz Box]

Ha ha ha ha ha, yeah I think they are like, thematically African if I remember what Krautscientist's said about them(?). So Ethnically black... Not actually black, like a salamander XD.