Stormcast Custodes conversion - now with Jetbikes

[Frater Cornelius]

Due to budget constraints, I won't be able to buy the golden boys. However, I still have some unused Stormcasts. While the conversion works just fine, they will look different. However, apart from those black guys with scorched armour I do not know any instance of Custodes looking differently. Any ideas how to accommodate that idea in the fluff?

[hushrong]

Make them their own unique branch? Or just make them a sub-sect within the organization.

 

Perhaps there was some world, fortification, or relic that the Emperor Himself decreed defended by his custodies. Thus they have more unique armor to note that sacred position. Maybe they are a more elite or specialist unit within the organization and their variant of armor suits their needs better.

 

Or just don't address them as being different. With the right work they look great as custodes. I think Kizzdoug took one of the stormcast from the WD magazine and made it into a Custodes and it looked perfect. It doesn't share 100% of the same aesthetics of the GW kit but it looks fantastic and easily passes for the intended army.

[Sandlemad]

All their armour is custom made, so it's not like suit patterns for the astartes. It should be pretty easy to justify variations on the look as long as you hit the main aspects: gold, coneheads, guardian spears. As hushrong said, Kizzdoug and others have pulled together pretty sharp looking dudes out of largely stormcast parts. For more specific background justifications...

 

Perhaps they are a partially ceremonial unit or duty? Master of Mankind has the custodes in that Unification Wars flashback wearing plainer but still gold armour. They could be associated with, say, the Tower of the Hegemon's armouries and so wear older versions of their aurumite suits. Less decorations, more fine leather, but they're still custodes so it's not like their abilities are severely hampered. A bit like certain space marine honour guard wearing mkI armour.

 

Or perhaps they have a specialist psyker-killing remit. A lot has been made of the custodes armour in the BL books being adorned with not just the old lightning bolt and raptor emblem of the Emperor but also heaps of zodiacal and astrological symbolism. Perhaps it became apparent that for certain psyker foes, this offers something recognisable to psychically 'latch onto' and use against the wearers, like an alternative to a true name or something. Their minds are resistant to warp-craft but from what Inferno says about how they adopted terminator armour, custodes are pretty pragmatic when it comes to something that helps them fulfill their orders.

So you have a detachment of custodes with stripped-down armour as required for this particular duty, witch-killers and daemon-enders. Stepping on the Grey Knights' toes a little but it's not like the custodes have much trust for other imperial bodies anyway, particularly the GK.

[Frater Cornelius]

Well, I was considering to make a sorrowful thematic, at least for the Shield Captain. A motionless golden face with a stream of bloody tears is powerful symbolism, which can be pulled off. Beyond that, I have sufficient cone heads and adequate weaponry.

 

In terms of fluff, I do not have anything concrete, neither do I want to go into much detail. I am just looking for plausibility. I have some inquisition shenanigans going on, so it is not unlikely that the Eyes of the Emperor branch got in touch. Then there is my Guard regiment, which will be allied with Custodes, as well as some Knights. Basically a coherent Imperial combined arms list, which is based on cooperation between noble houses, the Inquisition and Custodes. Maybe they have a specific purpose or met for a specific mission, which influenced the armour of the Custodes.

[MARK0SIAN]

I would echo what has been said about just not addressing it. They’re your models at the end of the day and if you want them to look that way then you don’t have to justify it to others. Just try and make sure their wargear is pretty obvious and as close to the real thing as possible.

 

If you do want to create some fluff or justification then the other posts have given you some great ideas. Just make them a distinct element in the Custodes, there’s plenty of scope for that.

 

The only thing I would say is (from a personal viewpoint) stay away from making them an elite force in the Custodes. Make them distinct but not necessarily elite. Firstly the elite elements of the Custodes are already well documented but secondly, home made elite factions within factions always have a hint of the Home-Brew Mary Sue about them which I always find off putting, but maybe that’s just me :)

[Frater Cornelius]

@MARK0SIAN - Not just you, mate :D I prefer units of historic and, especially, spiritual significance. I'll have a go at them and see how they turn out. It is good to know that there's some leeway though. I like keeping my head canon straight :P

[Kinstryfe]

As has been said, I think if you use Custodes heads and weapons then they'll look just fine. I've used Stormcast bits here and there on my Custodes, especially legs, and they end up looking just fine.

 

A couple things which may help, in my opinion, if you're planning on using the entire body of the Stormcasts is to try to work on Custodes shoulder pads when you can in place of the Stormcast ones to help give it the right silhouette. Most armies have a certain iconic silhouette to them. For Marines it's rounded shoulders and the backpack. For Chaos Marines it's horns and the extended backpack vents. For Custodes it's mostly the pointy helmet and rounded shoulders. If you can capture that shape it'll go a long way towards saying Custodes. Another idea may be too think of a colour scheme that either doesn't use or uses gold only as an accent. You're effectively mashing up two armies that are iconically predominantly gold. I would look at your other troops for the guard, Inquisiton, knights, etc and find a main armour color that will compliment those. There aren't nearly enough non-gold Custodes armies out there, and going that route will help make them their own thing since they'll end up looking like atypical Custodes anyways.

[Frater Cornelius]

Okay, now I almost do not care about canon. This model is turning about to be pretty baller :O

 

 

 

 

 

Backpack is still WIP, as I am not quite pleased with the top part. Also, how would I go about Hurricane Bolters on that one? Attach it to the mount or add some custom holstered Bolter on the side? Or, entering crazy territory here, some mechanical bird servitor flying long side carrying the weapon? I want these guys to be more into science and philosophy stuff, as opposed to pure military. Would make sense, no?

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Excellent conversion !

[Bjorn Firewalker]

I think hurricane bolters will look best if mounted on the beast's shoulders, forming pauldrons for the Custodes' animal companion.

[MARK0SIAN]

I would definitely add the hurricane bolters to the mount, they’re not really meant to be man-portable so a holstered one would be a bit odd I think. Bjorn’s suggestion about the pauldrons sounds good to me :)

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I actually don't think the hurricane bolters are absolutely necessary - don't ruin the aesthetics of the conversion.

[Frater Cornelius]

I actually don't think the hurricane bolters are absolutely necessary - don't ruin the aesthetics of the conversion.

 

Partically, I am on board with this. It will be hard to get the Hurricanes up and running without taking away from the details of that mount. However, weapons ought to be represented. I think we need to think outside the box here. We got a Stormcast Custodes riding a chicken. Cat's already out of the bag, so why stop now :P

[Charlo]

Looking great dude!

 

I'd almost say try and get the hurricanes into the front of the beast somehow? Make it clear it's been augmented :D

[Frater Cornelius]

While working on the Hurricane Bolters and additional Jetbikes, I encountered an entirely different problem... I am using the new Sacrosanct models from AoS to build these guys. The issue is that the Sancrosanct line is the first one to have a fair amount of female models. While there is nothing in the fluff that makes female Custodes impossible, unlike female Marines, a female Custodes in armour would look exactly like a male one due to the gene therapies and secondary sexual characteristics being unnecessary. At most, the face structure, but behind a helmet, that is not seen. The SCE models are noticeably female though with wider hips and more delicate features. It seems out of place. The models are mostly monopose though, meaning I would need to make extensive modifications, which I am generally against due to time and personal laziness. Ideas?

[MARK0SIAN]

I’ve not seen the AoS models up close so I can’t say with any certainty but I think you’ll have a hard time getting around this quickly and easily. I can only really think of 3 options:

 

1) Just ignore it. Not great advice I know and if you’re like me, once you’ve decided something looks out of place you can never unsee it and in your mind it’s always out of place so this may not be feasible.

 

2) Use some Green stuff to quickly bulk out certain areas. Depends if you’re good with the green stuff though and how long it would take.

 

3) Don’t use the female models. Not great as it will cut down your force considerably. You could however see if someone wants to trade the female models for the male ones. I’d bet there’s more than one or two players out there who would like to build an all female force using your models.

 

Sorry it’s not much help, hope you can find a way past it :)

[Frater Cornelius]

I’ve not seen the AoS models up close so I can’t say with any certainty but I think you’ll have a hard time getting around this quickly and easily. I can only really think of 3 options:

 

1) Just ignore it. Not great advice I know and if you’re like me, once you’ve decided something looks out of place you can never unsee it and in your mind it’s always out of place so this may not be feasible.

 

2) Use some Green stuff to quickly bulk out certain areas. Depends if you’re good with the green stuff though and how long it would take.

 

3) Don’t use the female models. Not great as it will cut down your force considerably. You could however see if someone wants to trade the female models for the male ones. I’d bet there’s more than one or two players out there who would like to build an all female force using your models.

 

Sorry it’s not much help, hope you can find a way past it

 

Oh, I can learn to like it. The models are female warriors in fantasy almost done right (the heels...). The issue is that I may need to adjust the fluff. They would not be able to be regular Custodes anymore. I would need to go into bonkers territory and involve angels and whatnot. Not like it matters though. On the table, it is literally the same.

 

Here is the picture of the dudes that I would need to turn into Jetbikes to keep with the theme of the shown model. Notice the one to the far right. You see that it is a bit thinner, a boobplate, which looks very reasonable, but it is still there, as well as higher heels. The issue with it is that theb legs are already attached to the mount and the models are mostly monopose, meaning that removing the female without finding someone to trade them or buying an extra box would mean using hardware store tools like a dremel tool to remove it and then finding a suitable model, cutting it apart, adjusting the pose and adding back the destroyed details. It will work, but it will take half an eternity and it will not look as great as the real deal. I am by no means a pro with green stuff.

[Frater Cornelius]

Here is a general picture of how it will look ;)

 

 

Having to invert the lances was a pain, but it is all good now. What is left now is the Green Stuff work. Cables and all that stuff.

[Charlo]

Looks great dude!