Ferrum Aeternum - A brief return - with Paint!

[golfdeltafoxtrot]

 

These are some amazing conversions!

 

I love how Iron Hands-y they are, you've really captured their spirit.

 

On the Librarian issue, I painted my Raven Guard Librarian with full Chapter colours and a specialist right shoulder pad. I didn't want him standing out too much from all the black of my other Marines.

 

Edited October 19, 2018 by golfdeltafoxtrot

[PowerHungryMonkey]

I clearly need to follow this thread, because HOLY ing , that's an amazing techmarine model! I love the way you represented the harness's various bits, and I very much look forward to your next posts.

 

How easy to put together was the thunderfire cannon? I'm considering getting one of those for my thunderfire cannons (gifted to the chapter long before from the Black Lords) and I was wondering about the quality of the build and model.

 

Thanks for the kind words. I'm slowly working on the final details of the Techmarine alongside an Intercessor squad but its slow going. I'm only getting an hour or so a week to hobby at the moment and the bionic legs are proving harder than expected; I must have just lucked-out when I did the Librarian one. Hopefully pics of the first stages of the squad soon.

 

As for the Thunderfire, its a bit of a mixed bag. Its a really simple kit, 9 parts: body, 2 tracks, 2 mud-guards, cannon barrel, cannon body, cannon control panel. All really chunky and easy to fit. The detail is nice and the cast is pretty clean. This issues are the sprue tags are HUGE, especially on the tracks and they're not always placed in the best spots. Also while the detail is good, there's (for me) a bit too much of it. There are no nice flat areas large enough to put any icons or the likeso its hard to personalise. Overall I'm happy I got it over the standard GW kit.

 

 

 

These are some amazing conversions!

 

I love how Iron Hands-y they are, you've really captured their spirit.

 

On the Librarian issue, I painted my Raven Guard Librarian with full Chapter colours and a specialist right shoulder pad. I didn't want him standing out too much from all the black of my other Marines.

 

 

 

Thanks. Yeah, I'm definatly going to go for mostly black armour with the specialist colour on the shoulder. Whether I go for arm and/or helmet as well is yet to be decided

[PowerHungryMonkey]

Finaly got some more time to do some proper work on the IHs. No more progress on the Techmarine; I'm still trying to figure out what will look best with the backpack and connections to the fist-weapons.

What I have been working on is the first of the Intercessor squads. Its been a very slow start as the bionic legs were a lot harder than expected but I manged to get four of them done before giving up. Here's the start of the squad:

The Thallax legs are actually too tall even for the new Primaris scale but a little bit of jiggery-pokery got them looking ok. Will need to cover/path around the hip joint on them to his a bit of the jankyness.

The sergeant was great fun to build tho. I was a bit miffed when I first read the rules for the Primaris marines and found they had almost no weapons options either on the characters or in the units. Not the best for a compulsive converter. Then I figured "I don't actually play any games so why the h**l should I have to make them by the rules?" Thus an Intercessor Veteran Sergeant with power axe:

So happy with how he turned out. There's a little more to add to him but he's nearly there. The Deathwatch heavy thunderhammers are great bits and really add a lot of character to the model. The bionic are is also off the Thallax kits and seems to be a better fit than the legs.

C&C welcome and should have more on these guys soon

PHM

[Gederas]

I quite like these conversions. I do have a question though:

What would you recommend for bionic legs for Iron Hands Primaris that aren't the Thallax kit? Brass rod and tubing?

[hushrong]

Nice start on the squad! Looking forward to seeing how the Iron Hands shape up!

 

And yes, build what looks awesome! The sarge looks sweet with the axe!

[PowerHungryMonkey]

I quite like these conversions. I do have a question though:

 

What would you recommend for bionic legs for Iron Hands Primaris that aren't the Thallax kit? Brass rod and tubing?

 

Hi Gederas. Other than the Thallax, which as I have found out are slightly too large, the best fit, from GW, will be the Imperial Knights from Adeptus Titanicus. They're a near perfect match but not very easy to come by. Otherwise, Anvil Industries does some good bionics that fit Primaris and 'normal' marine scale

 

Right. Now I have a questions for the Brothers and Sisters. Should I continue with this army as a Primaris army or should I change it to be a Truescale army using the Primaris as base models? I originally wanted to do an all-Primaris army for something a bit different. I've done sooooo many marine armies in the past that the old units are getting a bit stale for me. Plus I really loved the Aggressors when I first saw them. The flip side to this is that, conversion-wise, a full Primairs army is very boring and vanillia. There's very little in wargear options that allow you to personalise the units or characters. And since I really don't like the Inceptors or the Reivers very much, I'm left with Intercessors, Hellblasters, Aggressors and Redemptors as my only unit options.

 

All that said, so far, nothing I've built is actually wysiwyg for a Primaris army anyway, heh. The Librarian has a staff (not a wargear option) the Sarge has a power axe (not a wargear option) and there's a Thunderfire and Techmarine (not Primaris). I'm very tempted to just build the units how I like them and damn the rules.

 

Thoughts?

[TheTrans]

Mate, currently working on an Astral Claws truescale army, using primaris for the line marines and Custode Termies for Terminators.

Go the true scale path. Especially with the Iron Hands, you have 10,000 years of time line they can slot into, and do all sorts of cool stuff (hell they could be the Sons of Medusa pre schism etc) and as you've said a huge variety of WYSIWYG conversion options, as well as more of a fieldable army if it comes to that.

 

I loathe the deus ex machina of Cawl and the Primaris marines that and you're also limited to the 'last' 100 or so years to place them in.. so I'd always avoid them, but to each their own haha.

Loving the stuff so far mate and will enjoy it which ever way you go! 

Edited October 23, 2018 by TheTrans

[Gederas]

I quite like these conversions. I do have a question though:

 

What would you recommend for bionic legs for Iron Hands Primaris that aren't the Thallax kit? Brass rod and tubing?

Hi Gederas. Other than the Thallax, which as I have found out are slightly too large, the best fit, from GW, will be the Imperial Knights from Adeptus Titanicus. They're a near perfect match but not very easy to come by. Otherwise, Anvil Industries does some good bionics that fit Primaris and 'normal' marine scale

.... I did not even think about the Titanicus Knights. That's brilliant. Thanks!

 

As to your question: True-scale it. If you want to have some be Primaris, you could just mark the squads. Like, maybe the Primaris are the purely flesh?

[PowerHungryMonkey]

I quite like these conversions. I do have a question though:

What would you recommend for bionic legs for Iron Hands Primaris that aren't the Thallax kit? Brass rod and tubing?

Hi Gederas. Other than the Thallax, which as I have found out are slightly too large, the best fit, from GW, will be the Imperial Knights from Adeptus Titanicus. They're a near perfect match but not very easy to come by. Otherwise, Anvil Industries does some good bionics that fit Primaris and 'normal' marine scale

.... I did not even think about the Titanicus Knights. That's brilliant. Thanks!

As to your question: True-scale it. If you want to have some be Primaris, you could just mark the squads. Like, maybe the Primaris are the purely flesh?

Gederas, further to the Knightly bionics, here's a pic I was sent to show scale next to each other:

Mate, currently working on an Astral Claws truescale army, using primaris for the line marines and Custode Termies for Terminators.

Go the true scale path. Especially with the Iron Hands, you have 10,000 years of time line they can slot into, and do all sorts of cool stuff (hell they could be the Sons of Medusa pre schism etc) and as you've said a huge variety of WYSIWYG conversion options, as well as more of a fieldable army if it comes to that.

I loathe the deus ex machina of Cawl and the Primaris marines that and you're also limited to the 'last' 100 or so years to place them in.. so I'd always avoid them, but to each their own haha.

Loving the stuff so far mate and will enjoy it which ever way you go!

TheTrans, I (and I think everyone) agree that the Primaris fluff is just plain . Its a real shame they took such a short-cut on it becuase normally I love the depth and inventivness of the 30k/40k fluff. Normally I will base an army purley around fluff or a theme and damn the playability of it (and often it is very dammned). For once tho I was happy to ignore fluff in the face of new minis. What put me off, as mentioned before, was the near-total lack of wargear options for anything Primaris and thus a sever restriction to wysiwyg conversions. So, in short, I'M GOING TRUESCALE BABY!

Yep, re-image and re-work of almost everything I was planning for the army. I'm now not gonna make up ANY Primaris units (rules wise) but instead use them as the base models for a Truescale marine army. I've been tossing this around since before I put knife to plastic with this army but was always reticent to do "another marine army" but now it feels like a weight has been lifted and my mind has already thrown up so very cool ideas that I've already put into motion...

First up tho is the transition from making an Intercessor squad to making a Tactical squad. Very easy at this point since I'd barely even started the unit and nothing was armed yet. I've got speacial and heavy weapons comming this week thanks to some fellow local nerds and I've taken steps to bring the sarge in line with the army's new image:

Just a new head but I think it fits much better. The Primaris helmet actually looked a bit small. Also the lack of bionics on Primaris helmets meant getting a good Iron Hands feel to the army was going to involve A LOT of fiddly conversion work on this front. Two birds stoned to death.

My hobby time has been woeful this last week (I've managed to glue 2 arms together all week!!!) but hopefully there'll be a decent update on the new Tactical squad soon.

Cheers, PHM

Edited October 28, 2018 by PowerHungryMonkey

[Gederas]

.... I did not even think about the Titanicus Knights. That's brilliant. Thanks!

Gederas, further to the Knightly bionics, here's a pic I was sent to show scale next to each other:

Oh my word, that's amazing, and PERFECTLY SIZED. God, I could replace his entire leg with that and not just the shin/foot!

Edited October 28, 2018 by Gederas

[Jukkiz]

Necron immortal/deathmark legs are almost perfect sized if you cut above the knee of them(keeping the bolt looking knee) to replace the knee and lower leg part of primaris. You might need to make tiny piston there though.

[HvitrValdyr]

I’m building a truescale Wolves army using Primaris as the base so I totally support your truescale decision.

 

Great looking conversions so far.

[apologist]

Just want to echo that the inventiveness and creativity here is the sign of a worthy son of Ferrus! I'm fairly sure I remember your previous awesome Iron Hands work on here way back – the dreadnought definitely rings a bell. 

 

 

 

I'm very tempted to just build the units how I like them and damn the rules.

This is the best guideline for building any models, I reckon. I've never run into any problems with my armies – finding like-minded players who are happy with a quick pre-game chat will overcome 99% of problems; the rest is just down to consistency.

[Markus_]

Great idea mill regarding all the bionics! Looking forward to what you will come up with.

[hushrong]

Dang. I’ve got a box of unbuilt Titanicus I want to sell that I’m now tempted to cut up for bionics.

 

And awesome to hear you are going true-scale. Build what makes you happy and exited you the most I say!

[Luna707]

I'M GOING TRUESCALE BABY!

Hell yeah! Nice to see another Truescale Iron Father around here

[PowerHungryMonkey]

I ain'tn't dead!

Firstly, thanks for the kind words and support in my going truescale. If I had any doubts left, they've been purged with holy fires.

The hobby time has been short and far between this last month or so what with the mini-mes deciding sleep is something that other people do. That said, there has been some progress with the first tactical squad:

Nothing too flash. There's still 3 boys to go and then all the detailing and gubbinz to add to the unit but it's at least moving forward.

While the hobby end of stuff has been near stagnant, the brain-worms have been feasting and making my wallet very unhappy. I've been on a bit of a rampage on the local buy/swap/sell facebook page and have aquired all the parts needed to make 2 scout squads, a big-ass ironclad dread, a squad of terminators (Apologist, this is all your fault!!!!) and the Iron Father. There's also bases from Tiny Worlds incoming and bitz from a few 3rd party sites. Plus, only today, the worms were active again and I now have plans on how to do centurions, servitors and a different kind of big-ass dread. All very Iron Hands-y in theme.

So, while it will be SLOW going, watch this space and enjoy the ride.

PHM

Edited November 20, 2018 by PowerHungryMonkey

[apologist]

Looking great! 

 

 

 

(Apologist, this is all your fault!!!!)

 

The Flesh is Weak :D  To drop another little worm in there, have you considered dual purposing for HH? All it'd take is a few headswaps...

 

Best of luck – looking forward to seeing some paint on these chaps. 

[Gederas]

Looking great! 

(Apologist, this is all your fault!!!!)

The Flesh is Weak   To drop another little worm in there, have you considered dual purposing for HH? All it'd take is a few headswaps...

 

Best of luck – looking forward to seeing some paint on these chaps. 

Remember: Mark VII armour came out DURING the Heresy. So even if he does, they'd still work for HH, as they could be late-Heresy era Iron Hands. ;)

[MosesGunn]

Good work mate.

 

Have made the decision to switch to true scale as well for my hands. Found the new Titanucs Knights work like a charm for bionic legs as well. I have a ton of the old upgrade sprue lying around and really want to make use of them and am trying to find the best way to go about scaling the legs up as well, a bigger challenge than necessary but I refuse to waste those bits!

[PowerHungryMonkey]

The Flesh is Weak

You have no freakin idea man. The flesh and brain.

Not gonna fall into the Heresy rabbit hole just yet but the Truescale train is running strong, if lamentably slow.

No progress on the Tact squad, still waiting on a few bitz from mates and Bitzbox. What I have been doing is this:

[apologist]

Looking good to me! Nice additions to the legs; these'll make some great Terminators.

[Brother Lunkhead]

Excellent work brother...… your kitbashing has really made this a unique and standout army

[PowerHungryMonkey]

A few things this update.

Small progress on the Terminator. Btw, he's going to be the Iron Father.

I'm really enjoying detailing him up. There's already 12 parts to the legs alone. This guy is gonna have a very high bitz count once I'm done. Should get a start on the torso pretty soon.

Next, I've been toying with the idea of doing some 3D printed conversion sets and bases for a while but didn't want to invest in a high-end printer and go through all the rigmarol of setting up even a small business. Luckily a mate of mine has recently done just that. I decided to test the waters by doing up an 80mm base to match the ones I got from Tiny Worlds as they don't produce them that size. Here's the CAD file image:

And here's the printed base:

Really happy with it. Needs a little cleaning up and TLC but for a free test print on a fast run, its great quality. He's just starting up but already has a huge range of terrain pieces for 40k and Adeptus Titanicus. If you're looking for some detailed scenery pieces, check out his shop: Vault of Moravec

Last of all. I mentioned before I'd been hoarding bitz and kits while my hobby time was near nil. Well the last few things have turned up and I felt like sharing a photo of the loot.

That's 10 Reivers, a Leviathan, Belisarius Caul, 5 Aquilon Terminators, a bunch of scenic bases and some shoulders from Master Crafted Miniatures. That coupled with all the loose bitz I've already sorted into the bitz boxes gives me a good stack of stuff to get through.

I'll be working my way through the pile soon.

PHM

[Cadmus Tyro]

The attention to detail on those terminator legs is amazing mate! Looking forward to more!

 

Cadmus