Ferrum Aeternum - A brief return - with Paint!

[PowerHungryMonkey]

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

Cadmus

Thanks mate. Means a lot. I've been a big fan of both your IH and AL for a while now.

More progress on the Iron Father:

I'm chipping away at him a bit every night at the moment and still really enjoying it. Spent a good while last night toying with the pose. I was originaly going to go with a double-handed axe but in testing it looked odd and would have hidden too much of the chest/belt detail. There are still looks of little things to add to the chest and canopy before i'm happy to call that section done. I've spaced the waist a little bit to give him height over the 'normal' termies and now there is a lot of space at the back needs hiding/detailing. The legs themselves are also looking a bit plain to me...

More to come soon I hope.

PHM

[Bjorn Firewalker]

I like the fact you adjusted the Terminator's proportions to be more human, making the Iron Father NOT look like a deformed dwarf with arms sticking out the sides of his head.

[Pearson73]

Great work on the Iron Father, the chain loincloth and extra details look really good.

[PowerHungryMonkey]

Another night, another good bit of progress on the Iron Father:

And a scale shot next to the Tact Sarge:

I am loveing having such a large, blank model to work with. Still a lot of detailing to do Also still don't know what to do with his left hand...

PHM

Edited December 11, 2018 by PowerHungryMonkey

[Pearson73]

Fantastic, the hooded head was definitely the right choice. The fact that the Dominus' axe fits just right, shows his size.

[PowerHungryMonkey]

Thanks Pearson. I've always seen the Iron Fathers as being half marine and half techpriest, much more than a techmarine from another chapter. The hood and tabbard are how I'm showing this and I think it works well. He would have looked great with a bare head or even a suitably bionic helm but I think the hood is the right choice.

And because no one likes an update without eye-candy, here you go:

Aside from the stonking great fist he's now sporting I've also done a little extra to the armour. The left greave and right vambrace have been hit with some plasticard to give them the iconic cog-tooth patterns the Iron Hands are known for. They're a bit rough right now and need a little TLC with the greenstuff to blend them better but I like the effect. I was really hoping to avoid GS entirly for this guy but needs must.

More soon.

PHM

Edited December 15, 2018 by PowerHungryMonkey

[PowerHungryMonkey]

A solem and holy Candlemass to all you Imperial Citizens out there. And a happy 'whatever foul and depraved worship day' to all Choas and Xenos filth too

Last post before Christmas and possibly the last for the year too with the way things are looking sleep-wise at the moment. Not a lot this weekto show off. Got the rest of the Tactical squad finished finally thanks to some choice heads from a mate finaly turning up:

Nothing too flash but I am really happy with the Comms operator on the left. Here's a close-up:

Just adds a little character to the unit, and if I ever run a Kill Team, I've got that specialist sorted. The antenna is the prow armament off an Imperial BFG ship

The squad all togther:

Still more detailing and cleaning to do on the whole unit but at least it's got 10 members now. You may notice the Sarge now has a Techmarine shoulder pad in place of his clan badge. I'll be giving the squad sergeants these pads and when (IF!!!) I ever get around to painting them I'll be doing the skull red to denote sargeant status (not that hefting a massive axe doesn't mark him out enough). I was toying for a long time with going the Codex Astartes route and giving the sarges red helms and white to denote Veteran status, like I did on a my previous army (see first page), but in the end I thought it would brake up the unit too much. I'm not going as gothic with this army as I did on the last.

There's also been a little more work done to the Iron Father. He's now got a fist-mounted plasma-array (will count as plasma cutter in-game):

I'm still soooo happy with where this guy is going. He's currently sitting at 40 seperate parts (inc. base model) plus plasticard. No greenstuff yet but I'll be keeping that to a bare minimum, just patching and filling. I'm now looking into what to do for the servo arms, scanning the GW and FW range for the choicest parts, and also looking at doing a little work to the axe. I'm thinking of going along the lines of the Custodes weapons and mounting a bolter in the head of the weapon. I've got a cog-toothed blade spare so I'll do a test before I take clippers to the Iron Father proper.

Since I've gone so all-out on this guy I'm looking back at the previous models in the army and they're looking kinda bland or just "not right." The Tactical squad is still WIP so I'm gonna give them a bit of tech-bling and maybe some armour detailing in plasticard like what I've done with the Father. The Librarian I'm still really happy with but I think he just needs a bit more "something" to bring him up to the same aesthetic as his commander. Just a few additions, no other changes as I still love his pose ect... maybe a head-swap... maybe. The Techmarine Gunner for the Thunderfire is another matter entirely. I now hate him. He's too chunky and awkward, his fist-mounted weapons look weird and he's not 'techy' enough. Gonna rip him apart and start fresh using standard Mk X armour, not Gravis variant. Thinking maybe the Captain model as a base so I can keep the tabbard look going from the Iron Father.

Anyway, enough musings and rantings. Happy holidays to all and see you soon with more WIP.

PHM

Edited December 23, 2018 by PowerHungryMonkey

[PowerHungryMonkey]

Happy New Solar Rotation!

I'm finally nearing the end of work on the Iron Father. After agonising over the servo-arm(s) for ages; which ones to use, how many, what to arm them with, etc, I managed last night to coble something together that I'm happy with:

Old-school FTW! I new I baught that second-hand, 2nd Ed techmarine for a reason other than nostalgia. The servo-arm is just right I feel. The ones off the current techmarine, while cool looking, are far too spindly and looked weedy when I put them on him as testers. The massive grippy one too is really disproportioned, there's almost nothing to the arm itself and then you get this stonking big claw at the end.

Anyway. To make the servo-arm look right I had to mount it pratically floating off the back-left of the armour so there was a lot of cutting and adding-of-bitz to tie it back into the model. Once again the Caul sprues came to the rescue. Those frames are great! I originlly got him to use the head, axe and back-gear-thingy on this guy but all of them weren't right. Instead I'm used so many other wires, techy bitz and gribblies from the frames that its still made it worthwhile. So here's how I managed to get the arm to look like it was part of the suit:

Still some filling with GS to do but the wires and cables hide a lot of the joins.

Just a little way to go on this guy now. A bit more GS filling, some plasticard to blend the plasma-array into the fist and I still think the right greave needs 'something' probably a skull, its 40k, a skull is never out of place.

Cheers,

PHM

[Markus_]

The Iron Father looks formidable! That arm really made the difference, it balances the model out with the axe swung to the side.
If you're lost on what details to add, there's never too many rivets on a model.

[PowerHungryMonkey]

Thanks, Markus_. Rivets, hmmm, yes, I've done my fair share of rivets in the past. Maybe skulls will be easier, heh.

So something new for you all this time. While the Iron Father is almost there and I'm so close to calling him finished I've been sidetracked an idea that wouldn;t leave me alone till I put knife to plastic. What is an Iron Hands army with out lots of Techmarines, right? And what do you give a Techmarine when a servo-arm just won't cut it? A Conversion Beamer!

Remember that Gravis Techmarine I did early on? Yeah, he's dead. I used his corpse to make this guy and I'm SOOOOO much happier with him. Still a long ways to go with him (arms for instance) but he's looking the biz already I recon.

In other news. These guys!!!

golly! I can't wait to get my grubby little mitts on these guys. They are gonna end up as a Siege Automata Maniple slaved to my Techmarine. Running them as Assault Centurions I'm waaaay too excited about these bad boys. Hopefully the wait won't be too long on them.

Anyway. More work on the Techmarine probably end of the week. C&C always welcome.

Cheers,

PHM

Edited January 6, 2019 by PowerHungryMonkey

[KrautScientist]

Man, I simply love the amount of attention you've given that Iron Father conversion! A fantastic model! And the conversion beam tech-marine seems to be coming along swimmingly as well. Excellent work so far! :)

[PowerHungryMonkey]

Thanks Kraut, Always love seeing the great things you come up with and the attention you put into your conversions too.

I wasn't going to do an update on the techmarine so soon but the Bug got me last night and I'm so please with the resault I just had to share:

I think he looks CHUNKY! Really love what this guy has become. Was doing my head in trying to give him an axe but once I gave up on that the whole thing came together.

Cheers,

PHM

[KrautScientist]

Yes, that Tech-Marine is quite fantastic, indeed! The armour just works so well! That vent grafted to the right side of his breastplate has to be my favourite detail.

 

Maybe you should experiment with adding some kind of servo-skull to the right side of his backpack, both to serve as a kind of targeting cogitator, so to speak, and to work as a small counterpoint to that massive conversion beamer.

[wiqid]

Just found this thread and damn those conversions are awesome. That is one thic technmarine. I'm generally not too fond of the centurion helmets, but you really pulled that one off and changed my mind. 

 

I'm also really digging the use of all those adeptus mechanicus bits. Looks like I may have to get a box or two for future conversion ideas.

 

Keep up the great work. Look forward to seeing your future posts!

[Marius Perdo]

Looks good, certainly going to be inspiring for when I do a forge Lord.

The centurion head looks very good.

[Kizzdougs]

Dude, awesome level of detail on the Iron Father! He looks great and I also love the bionics that you've added to the regular marines :tu:

[Pearson73]

That's one heavy looking Techmarine, which certainly works well with his role bearing the conversion beamer. The Centurion(?) head is a nice choice too, a bit of a mesh between terminator and power armour, spot on for a master artificer and armourer.

[PowerHungryMonkey]

Yes, that Tech-Marine is quite fantastic, indeed! The armour just works so well! That vent grafted to the right side of his breastplate has to be my favourite detail.

 

Maybe you should experiment with adding some kind of servo-skull to the right side of his backpack, both to serve as a kind of targeting cogitator, so to speak, and to work as a small counterpoint to that massive conversion beamer.

 

Cheers again Kraut. Funny thing, I agonised over the chest detail for ages and just added the vent for lack of something else. I was actually afraid it'd look to Noisemarine-y. I like it now tho.

 

Yeah, I'll be putting something on the other side of the backpack, I was thiking a targeter array, like on the Apothecary or the new Imperial Fists upgrade frames. There's still plenty of detailing to be done on him, especially the back pack and some gap filling (WIRES!) for the front to ease the join of the chainmail.

 

Just found this thread and damn those conversions are awesome. That is one thic technmarine. I'm generally not too fond of the centurion helmets, but you really pulled that one off and changed my mind. 

 

I'm also really digging the use of all those adeptus mechanicus bits. Looks like I may have to get a box or two for future conversion ideas.

 

Keep up the great work. Look forward to seeing your future posts!

 

Thanks Wiqid, glad you like them.

 

Most of the Ad Mech bitz so far have come of Big Daddy Caul. There is so much gribbly on that kit. Pretty much everything extra you see on the Iron Father is from it.

 

Dude, awesome level of detail on the Iron Father! He looks great and I also love the bionics that you've added to the regular marines

 

Thanks Kizzdougs

 

That's one heavy looking Techmarine, which certainly works well with his role bearing the conversion beamer. The Centurion(?) head is a nice choice too, a bit of a mesh between terminator and power armour, spot on for a master artificer and armourer.

 

Cheers. I went with the Aggressor body for just that reason. Same as the Devastators have the reinforced leg armour I figured the Techy would need the same with the Beamer. The helmet is a Centurion, yeah. I've never really found the appeal of those heads, especially on basic marines, but the scale of the Gravis armour makes it fit well.

 

I'll be doing some more work on the Techmarine soon (WIRES!) and then getting back onto the other units I've got to build. This guy was really just a side-track after talking with some mates. Still gotta do final work on the Iron Father and Tactical squad too and I think the Librarian needs a little more love now to come up to the same level as the Techmarines.

 

Once that's all done I've got the choice of a Combat Scout Squad, a Sniper Scout Squad, an Ironclad Dread and a Terminator Squad. Which do you guys want to see next?

[Pearson73]

 

That's one heavy looking Techmarine, which certainly works well with his role bearing the conversion beamer. The Centurion(?) head is a nice choice too, a bit of a mesh between terminator and power armour, spot on for a master artificer and armourer.

 

Cheers. I went with the Aggressor body for just that reason. Same as the Devastators have the reinforced leg armour I figured the Techy would need the same with the Beamer. The helmet is a Centurion, yeah. I've never really found the appeal of those heads, especially on basic marines, but the scale of the Gravis armour makes it fit well.

 

Once that's all done I've got the choice of a Combat Scout Squad, a Sniper Scout Squad, an Ironclad Dread and a Terminator Squad. Which do you guys want to see next?

 

 

I recentlygot my hands on some Centurion sprues as part of a bits lot and I admit that my only thoughts were that they were spectacularly ugly, though the heads could perhaps work for truescale terminators (particularly Gorgons), so matching Gravis for scale confirms this.

 

I know I'd love to see you take on Terminators, having seen the Iron Father and Techmarine.

[PowerHungryMonkey]

 

 

That's one heavy looking Techmarine, which certainly works well with his role bearing the conversion beamer. The Centurion(?) head is a nice choice too, a bit of a mesh between terminator and power armour, spot on for a master artificer and armourer.

 

Cheers. I went with the Aggressor body for just that reason. Same as the Devastators have the reinforced leg armour I figured the Techy would need the same with the Beamer. The helmet is a Centurion, yeah. I've never really found the appeal of those heads, especially on basic marines, but the scale of the Gravis armour makes it fit well.

 

Once that's all done I've got the choice of a Combat Scout Squad, a Sniper Scout Squad, an Ironclad Dread and a Terminator Squad. Which do you guys want to see next?

 

 

I recentlygot my hands on some Centurion sprues as part of a bits lot and I admit that my only thoughts were that they were spectacularly ugly, though the heads could perhaps work for truescale terminators (particularly Gorgons), so matching Gravis for scale confirms this.

 

I know I'd love to see you take on Terminators, having seen the Iron Father and Techmarine.

 

 

Well I've got 5 more Aquilon figures just waiting to be made up so they might be the next unit on the cutting mat. Although I'd be remis to not make a Dread up, coz Iron Hands. Then there's the cool ideas I have for my scouts. And the promise of Ambots in March (?) is making my eyes twitch with anticipation...

[Pearson73]

Ah yes, the Aquilon serve really well as a true-scale Terminator base; I'd not realised how big they were until folk started repurposing them as such. Of course a dread must certainly be on the cards, are you thinking of something classic, or getting inventive with the Redemptor chassis?

 

I figure Ambots could make some absolutely brutal looking battle automata, though they may look a little too ramshackle for Mechanicum. I can definitely see them being used in some Ork madness.

[PowerHungryMonkey]

Gonna be using the Leviathan as a base for my Dread. I know its huge but I've wanted to use one ever since they came out and could never find a good reason. Truescale seems to be the answer there. Everything is bigger!

 

As for the Ambots. I'm gonna use them as a Siege Automata Maniple. Rules wise they'll be a Centurion Assault Squad. I'm so looking forward to building that unit

[Pearson73]

Good lord, using a Leviathan as the base? It'll be a monster!  Very excited for that to start being developed, Ambull/Centurions too.

[PowerHungryMonkey]

Good lord, using a Leviathan as the base? It'll be a monster!

That's what I'm hoping

So more work has gone in to the Techmarine last night and I'm calling him done! Nothing major done, just some detailing around the belt, some on the backpack and a targeting array to kinda offset the Beamer:

As always, there's a little GS work to fill gaps and smooth joins but I tend to do that in batches for a few models at once.

Also, just for funsies, here's a pic of the Iron Father, Techmarine and Librarian all together:

Still want to go back and finish off the tactical squad but now that Pearson73 has gotten me thinking about the Dread that may be next on the cutting mat. Wait and see...

[PowerHungryMonkey]

Well, Pearson got into my brain and this has happened:

Man, these guys are big