Scions of Manus

[Amulius]

Hi Everybody!

 

I'm returning to the hobby after almost a decade break for school/work. With the recent shutdown and being only one semester away from finishing grad school, I wanted to start a project I've thought about for years, making my own chapter. 

I like the look of the primaris and decided to make a primaris-only chapter. Unlike my other marines, I'd like to take my time with these guys, converting each model (doesn't have to be much) and actually painting them. I'm hoping having a place to post my progress will keep me honest, even if I'm posting often (still have that thesis to write). 

 

I'm still writing the lore for these guys and can post some of it if anyone is interested. The theme is a combination of mortuary practices and Mycenaean Greek. I have one test intercessor, a chaplain dread, and a storm talon done. I have pics of the first two below. I look forward to any feedback you guys have!

 

 

 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Your models are well-painted.

[N1SB]

I agree and I like the Dreadnought conversion.

 

Moreover, I really dig the idea of a mortuary-themed Space Marine army, especially with Iron Hands Successors.  I've been thinking something similar, starting actually from a list-building perspective, as I wanted Dreadnoughts ("even in death I still serve") and the Hunter tank (where they fire the remains of Chapter serfs at people, man that's just hilariously morbid).

 

I formed my own personal take in parallel, where such a Successor associate their fascination with bionics with the God-Emperor Himself, for He, too, relies on the machinery of His Golden Throne to continue to exist.  If even the Master of Mankind serves beyond death, how can they, his Astartes, strive for anything less?  It's like they're Paladins to a Lich God.

 

Btw, I'm just comparing notes.  Just a thing I've been thinking about before the confirmation of 9th edition, I really, really dig that Dreadnought, Brother.

[Yosef Hausakluif]

Love the painted skull helm. A whole squad of those will look sick!

I feel like the overall color scheme needs some black or darker colors somehow to set it off. Maybe dark brown for their gear and pouches, or something like just the rest of their helms or power pack in black or heavily washed in black? The dred looks great too; cool action pose; I’d never attempt cutting and moving the leg so kudos to you!

Edited May 28, 2020 by Yosef Hausakluif

[Amulius]

Your models are well-painted.

Thanks!

 

 

I agree and I like the Dreadnought conversion.

 

Moreover, I really dig the idea of a mortuary-themed Space Marine army, especially with Iron Hands Successors.  I've been thinking something similar, starting actually from a list-building perspective, as I wanted Dreadnoughts ("even in death I still serve") and the Hunter tank (where they fire the remains of Chapter serfs at people, man that's just hilariously morbid).

 

I formed my own personal take in parallel, where such a Successor associate their fascination with bionics with the God-Emperor Himself, for He, too, relies on the machinery of His Golden Throne to continue to exist.  If even the Master of Mankind serves beyond death, how can they, his Astartes, strive for anything less?  It's like they're Paladins to a Lich God.

 

Btw, I'm just comparing notes.  Just a thing I've been thinking about before the confirmation of 9th edition, I really, really dig that Dreadnought, Brother.

Thanks! Chaplain models where always amongst my favorite, and served as an inspiration for the look of this chapter (skulls, skulls everywhere...). I was also planning on a decent amount of dreads, although I'm not going to go as full-out like I did for the chaplain dread. These guys are going to be fairly diverged from the Iron Hands, especially since they don't regard bionics/machines highly. Instead they are exemplars of Ferrus Manus's spirit and purpose. Ie. taciturn, stubborn, and unyielding to their duty. The death of Manus affected the Iron Hands deeply (see Saphire King), and this chapter takes the rage and grief over his death and formed their belief structure around what they believe was his sacrifice in the pursuit of punishing traitors. Manus was the first to die, and his Scions will not rest until all the traitor astartes have been punished in kind. 

 

 

Love the painted skull helm. A whole squad of those will look sick!

I feel like the overall color scheme needs some black or darker colors somehow to set it off. Maybe dark brown for their gear and pouches, or something like just the rest of their helms or power pack in black or heavily washed in black? The dred looks great too; cool action pose; I’d never attempt cutting and moving the leg so kudos to you!

Thanks! I'm not completely happy with how the skull came out. The model is a little darker in person, but not by much. I think I will try another layer of wash, being especially careful around the skull so it actually goes into those recesses. 

 

The legs weren't too bad. The first thing I did was throw away the ones that came in the box. They're short and close to useless when trying to repose. Most of what you see came out of the pneumatic arm-part of a Grey Knight Dreadknight I converted years ago, and covered them with the armor. Takes some patience to wait for the glue to dry in the right position, but that's pretty much it. It looks harder than it is. 

 

 

Thank you all for your kind words and feedback!

[Yosef Hausakluif]

Maybe paint the Bolter case and parts of his pack, lower greaves or just upper thigh armor black and darker grey; use agrax as a wash on the red and golds. That’ll darken him up and also provide depth. I’d say the helm looks great; maybe another wash or Badab black/nuln oil; etc. think something along the lines of the Mortifactors scheme; another chapter that is very ‘mortuary’ obsessed. Edited May 28, 2020 by Yosef Hausakluif

[Amulius]

Maybe paint the Bolter case and parts of his pack, lower greaves or just upper thigh armor black and darker grey; use agrax as a wash on the red and golds. That’ll darken him up and also provide depth. I’d say the helm looks great; maybe another wash or Badab black/nuln oil; etc. think something along the lines of the Mortifactors scheme; another chapter that is very ‘mortuary’ obsessed.

 

I'll take your advice for the bolter, skull, and pack, but I don't want the armor to be all that dark. It should be more similar to freshly dried cement than dark shades of grey. I'll give the model another once-over and repost later today. 

 

 

I was able to find a pic of my storm talon, enjoy!

 

[Yosef Hausakluif]

Def get the ‘freshly dried’ cement vibe and color and looks great on the storm talon. In all honesty that color will serve you well given the chapters’s fluff and background your creating. Ceramite armor like the color of granite and stone tombstones and crypts!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Your modified Stormtalon looks great!

[Amulius]

Added another layer of wash to the bolter and pack. Lightly applied the wash to the skull and finished with a little white highlight. I'm satisfied with the end result, although I should set up a little photo booth or something...

 

 

 

Your modified Stormtalon looks great!

Thanks! I thought that a GSV/Intercepter should look something like a fighter rather than just a VTOL. I'm currently working on a Storm Raven, although its not as modified as the stormtalon there, I just extended the cargo space so it looks like it could transport 10 marines.

[PAF]

I'm going to enjoy watching this unfold!

 

Colors and theme are great, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with that armless helmeted skull marine in your gallery.

 

What are your thoughts on making the chaplain go full grim reaper? Take the skull theme to full skeleton motif on the armour and give him a robe and scythe?

 

Unless I wasn't reading properly and your dread is the chaplain.

 

Sorry I lose focus when I'm excited.

 

Following!

[Yosef Hausakluif]

Looks ace after the washes! These will look really good all painted up in that scheme. Deaths head skull helm really pops!

[Amulius]

I'm going to enjoy watching this unfold!

 

Colors and theme are great, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with that armless helmeted skull marine in your gallery.

 

What are your thoughts on making the chaplain go full grim reaper? Take the skull theme to full skeleton motif on the armour and give him a robe and scythe?

 

Unless I wasn't reading properly and your dread is the chaplain.

 

Sorry I lose focus when I'm excited.

 

Following!

Thanks! The chaplain is the dreadnought, although their will be other 'normal' chaplains down the road... 

 

None of the characters will go full reaper, instead they will be more similar to the historical analogs the army is themed on. I.e. 1st company will borrow heavily from the Mycenean greeks towards the end of the Bronze Age (think early-proto hoplites), while the chapter's beliefs are borrow from the Etruscans. The Chapter master is still quite a ways off, but his inspiration will be Charun. The armless marine you saw was a test fitting for that helmet to see if it worked for the hoplite style (I think it does!). I was debating whether to have that helmet for the sergeants as well, but then decided against it, and keep the squads more or less homogeneous, 

 

 

Looks ace after the washes! These will look really good all painted up in that scheme. Deaths head skull helm really pops!

Thanks! I'm very happy with how it came out! Although to fully paint one marine its going to take me like 4-5hours per guy. I am not a fast painter. 

 

 

Instead of finishing the rest of my intercessor squad like a rational person, I decided to finish my storm raven first! Here's some shots of it assembled and before any paint. Hopefully it'll be finished by next weekend. 

 

 

Thanks for everyone's kind words and support!

[Amulius]

Progress has been slow this week. The Storm Raven has been taking especially long (and is oh so boring putting on the three coats), so I've switched focus from painting that to finishing the combat squad as the focus of my attention. They are built and I've started painting them. They should be done by the end of next week. Pic below.

 

 

I've also been thinking about the new primaris minis coming out. I've always liked cc units, so the assault intercessors and bladeguard coming out are fantastic! BUT the bladeguard do not have the same aesthetics that I'd like for my vets. Ideally I want my veterans to look more mycanean/hellenistic greeks (plus skulls), so I jumped online and ordered a bunch of parts. Unfortunately some of those parts are from puppets war, which means it'll be some time before they get to me in the states. I was also thinking of switching up the color scheme for the veterans; no grey, more red and gold. I was thinking something like one of the two below, but more of a gold/bronze yellow so they don't look like a McDonalds toy. Let me know your thoughts or if I should wait until I've built the test model. 

 

 

Thanks for looking!

[Sandalphon]

Hey that's a great looking DIY chapter and a tasty dread, they remind me somewhat of the Mortifactors who I always thought could be given a bit more love.. I mean who doesn't want to see loyalist power scythes??

 

I really like the grey scheme with the bronze trims but wonder if the contrast between the vets might be too much? Worth testing of course!.. Minotaurs are a good reference for bronze / ancient Greek themed armies if looking for further inspiration :)

 

Looking forward to seeing more!

[Amulius]

Hey that's a great looking DIY chapter and a tasty dread, they remind me somewhat of the Mortifactors who I always thought could be given a bit more love.. I mean who doesn't want to see loyalist power scythes??

 

I really like the grey scheme with the bronze trims but wonder if the contrast between the vets might be too much? Worth testing of course!.. Minotaurs are a good reference for bronze / ancient Greek themed armies if looking for further inspiration

 

Looking forward to seeing more!

Thanks! The Mortifactors and Minotaurs were two of the inspirations for this chapter. I can't get the colors I wanted on MS Paint, but the red and bronze on the hinthias (battle-brother) were the shades I was thinking off. Honestly it would probably be better holding off any decision there until the parts come in and I can build the model. I'm hoping to have the combat squad done and posted by next Friday.

[Amulius]

Hi everybody! Good news and bad news. 

Bad News: I ran out of grey and haven't had a chance to get more yet. The normal hobby store I get paints from is still closed, so I'm looking around and will hopefully have more to finally  finish that combat squad.

 

Good News: Some of the bits I ordered came in! Not enough to create the bladeguard, but enough to tinker with most of the look and create a primaris lieutenant! See below. I was thinking about switching up the color scheme for officers/elites as well from bronze/red color scheme to an iron/red color scheme (bottom pic). Let me know what you think and as always, thanks for looking! 

 

 

[Vairocanum]

The Primaris Lieutenant is looking great! I'm quite fond of the iron/red color scheme and is the one I think I like more. Looking forward to seeing more

[Amulius]

The Primaris Lieutenant is looking great! I'm quite fond of the iron/red color scheme and is the one I think I like more. Looking forward to seeing more

Thanks! He was my third try. Naturally its the hardest way with the most drilling, filing, and greenstuff. I will be forever disappointed and frustrated with whomever decided GW models should no longer be modular. I am going to paint him up either today or tomorrow in the metal/red color scheme. After the post yesterday i was debating having bronze highlights in the same style as a normal marine. Would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

[Amulius]

I was able to finish some work early and got down enough paint for the basic pattern for the lieutenant (see pic below). I know, still lots of work before he's done, but once my garage reaches 100F, I'm out.

 

Before I go farther, I'm curious to know if anyone thinks if this color scheme is better or worse than a bronze/red color scheme I was debating before. Thanks for looking!

 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The Marine looks good in that color scheme. I think I recognize the helmet as that of Forge World's model of the Minotaurs Chaplain. Edited June 12, 2020 by Bjorn Firewalker

[Sandalphon]

Iron looks great, it's the elite version of grey! :)

[Amulius]

Hey Guys! woke up early to finish that lieutenant. Aaaand here he is! I apologize for the low pic quality.

 

 

 

The Marine looks good in that color scheme. I think I recognize the helmet as that of Forge World's model of the Minotaurs Chaplain.

Thanks, and good guess. These heads are from puppet's war, although they are in the same style.

 

 

Iron looks great, it's the elite version of grey!

I'm so glad to hear that! I was looking at the two done marines side-by-side and wondering how easy it would be to mistake them for coming from two different chapters. This helps reassure me!

 

 

Thanks again to everybody for looking!

Edited June 13, 2020 by Amulius