A small Astra Militarum army.

[Inso]

For a very long time, I have wanted to build an army that was made up of my own sculpts. I have made other armies of 'stock' miniatures and I have made armies of heavily converted miniatures but I really wanted something that was completely my work (with the exception of casting... I don't have the equipment, time or enthusiasm for casting so I needed someone to deal with that for me).

 

As luck would have it, I was contacted by someone who had come into posession of one of my previous sculpts that I had sculpted (for a competition)... this one:

 

 

At the time, I was collecting for a charitable cause and was after raising quite a lot of money, so I mentioned that I had a couple of other miniatures that were similar and, if the price was right, he could have them as well... these two:

 

 

... and that is how it all started. We chatted about whether more sculpts would be a good thing and when it was agreed that it was, a deal was struck and what followed was a Commissar and a Heavy Weapon Specialist (with three separate Heavy Weapons):

 

 

 

From then on, sculpting has been continuing and other miniatures have been completed.

 

The idea I have for my army is that I want to create an Infantry Company with a Company command Squad and three Infantry Platoons. Each Infantry Platoon will consist of a Command Squad, 2 Infantry Squads and a heavy Weapon Squad. The entire Company, will number around a hundred troops.

 

To try and keep things a bit more varied, I am planning to sculpt a mix of Sgts, Troopers, Officers, Specialists and Characters so that there will be a selection of troops across the army, rather than sticking to a 'clone' army with limited variety.

 

When I get a trooper cast up, I get a couple of copies so that I can remove their heads and sculpt new ones that will also be cast up and join the army.

 

So far, I have sculpted a Commissar, 2 Sgts, 3 Lasgunners (two of which, have had two additional head conversions) and a Heavy Weapons trooper (with three separate weapons). I am in the process of sculpting 2 Special Weapon Troopers and a Comms Trooper.

 

Here is what I have gathered together to get painted so far:

 

 

 

Over time, I would like to 'tick-off' all of the Astra Militarum entries in the list (including medics and other characters... maybe even Ogryn at some point) so that an entire army can be made using my sculpts.

 

So now it's just a case of getting more sculpting in :) ... like the two I've just finished (Sgt and Lasgunner):

 

 

 

Stay tuned :) .

[N1SB]

I am but an apprentice before a great sorcerer.

[Inso]

At the moment, I am building forces in a random manner... painting up what miniatures I can, while the sculpting continues. All of the troops will be in blue company, with red, yellow and black platoons having a right-hand share of the blue, circular badges.

 

I plan of sculpting five Lasgunner poses, each with 3 head options... giving a total of 15 different sculpts.

I also plan on a few different Sgts with different weapons.

 

Once my current three sculpts are finished, they will enable a standard Squad with Special and Heavy Weapons, a Sgt and Comms.

 

Once that is done, I can then get a few officers a medic and more lasgunners done .

Edited June 8, 2020 by Inso

[Are Verlo]

These look amazing!

This takes me right back to the early 90s and 1st ed and the first year or so of 2nd ed. There were two kids my my local area that had squat armies. One buildt around the plastic infantry box, the other had pewter bikers on homemade cardboard bases.

 

A blast from the past and I tip my hat to you...

[Inso]

These look amazing!

This takes me right back to the early 90s and 1st ed and the first year or so of 2nd ed. There were two kids my my local area that had squat armies. One buildt around the plastic infantry box, the other had pewter bikers on homemade cardboard bases.

 

A blast from the past and I tip my hat to you...

 

Cheers :) ... I have a Squat army, based around the plastics as well. It was partly as a result of building that army, that I thought I would make my own. I have been sculpting all the arms on the plastcis (because I didn't like the way the arms looked) and a few extra details, like beards and it was fairly time consuming... so I thought that sculpting a few and getting them cast would make things so much easier :) .

 

An example of some of my plastic Squats:

 

[Inso]

Just the basing tab to go on this one; a Comms-trooper :) :

 

 

Next up will be a pair of Special Weapon troopers :) . Once they are done, a batch of 7 sculpts will be sent off for casting :) .

[tychobi]

Inspiring sir. Don't suppose you are anywhere near western Canada and want to be on youtube?

[Inso]

Inspiring sir. Don't suppose you are anywhere near western Canada and want to be on youtube?

 

Cheers :) ... Sorry but I'm in the UK and probably wouldn't want to be on Youtube :( .

[tychobi]

 

 

Inspiring sir. Don't suppose you are anywhere near western Canada and want to be on youtube?

Cheers :) ... Sorry but I'm in the UK and probably wouldn't want to be on Youtube :( .

Pity. Your work should be showcased! We had a grot themed Imperial Guard army on the channel that would have made an epic foe for your stalwart Squats. Happy greenstuffing!

[Inso]

The latest additions; two Special Weapon troopers:

 

 

They still need basing tabs and the separate weapons making (4 of them: Melta, Flamer, Plasma and Grenade Launcher) but the Squat part is finished :) .

[duz_]

Special weapons indeed invisible pattern :lol:

[Inso]

Okay... physical pattern, coming up ;) ... this is the first of the special weapons finished... just three more to go now...

 

 

Chem-Burnner - A flamer weapon that uses chemical reaction of mixed elements, rather than needing a pilot light to ignite fuel. Two chemicals are loaded into separate tanks and pumped forward into a combining nozzle which ejects the mixture before it reacts and bursts into streams of liquid flame. The weapon tends to be quite long in order to reduce the risk of burning the operator. The weapon counts as a standard flamer in all respects.

[Inso]

Finally... all the special weapons are finished :) ! 4 special weapons and 2 trooper bodies:

 

Flamer:

 

Plasma:

 

Melta:

 

Grenade Launcher:

 

Now I'll get these sent off with the other five and wait to see how the casts turn out :) . I will also take a short sculpting break, before the next Dwarf Sculpts :) .

 

Now that I have finished these and have a new Sgt and Comms trooper, I can really start squad building :) . My squads will consist of a Sgt, a comms, a special weapon and seven lasgunners... so with a few further conversions, I'll be able to get a bunch of 'different' Squads, using a mix of the casts available :) .

 

It's getting there :) .

[Raychu]

whaa. I rarely write in this sub-forum. but man, your skills are amazing. I love the heads.

 

Well done! 

[Inso]

whaa. I rarely write in this sub-forum. but man, your skills are amazing. I love the heads.

 

Well done! 

 

Thanks :) . I appreciate it :) .

[Inso]

These:

 

 

Have now turned into these:

 

 

That means that I will have plenty of casts to convert in order to add a lot more variety to the range, once I have finished the five sculpts I am currently working on :) . 

 

The project continues... :) .

[Are Verlo]

Are you planning to make som hearthguard as well?

And squat bikers are mandatory for this misty trip down memory lane.

[Inso]

Are you planning to make som hearthguard as well?

And squat bikers are mandatory for this misty trip down memory lane.

 

No and no.

 

These are for an Astra Militarum list so Bikes are a definite no. Hearthguard are a possibility... but they'll probably be proxy Crusaders or something like that... so there won't be many of them.

[Inso]

It's been a while but seeing as this isn't just me advertising miniatures and is all about me building an army, I have started to put a bit of paint down on some of the casts. This is mostly because I am not into sculpting at the moment but also because the whole point of this project is to build my army... so I have started to paint a few miniatures :) :

 

 

In a bid to add a bit of variety amongst the same miniatures, the ones at the back have tanned skin, the ones in the middle will have black skin and the ones at the front will have white skin :) . I am not painting these in squads... just as batches of miniatures that will be arranged into squads later so all of the squads will get a good mix of miniatures, skin colours and the odd conversion here and there... but obviously, that's a bit of a way off yet.

 

Still... the journey continues :) ... more to come.

[Inso]

The painting is on hold... as is most of my sculpting :( . I've just not been in the mood for any of my hobby lately and it has been a real struggle to get anything done.

 

As a result, I went back to some of my WIPs and ripped their arms and heads off because I just wasn't happy with them. I then repaired/replaced the arms and have added a head to one of them... so I have made a little bit of progress :) . Here's the Sgt that I have finished:

 

 

The second Sgt is getting his face at some point over the weekend (hopefully) but I am on painkillers (due to chronic pain) so it may or may not happen... If I finish the second one, I'll post pix :) .

[Inso]

I seem to be on a roll :) :

 

[Inso]

The first of the junior officers is now complete :) :

 

 

I am currently at a point with the second one, where I just need to sculpt his head and collar and then detail his weapon and he's finished... and after that, there will be a third junior officer before I move onto a few more basic lasgunner headswaps :) .

[Inso]

Another junior officer, this tiime with a power hammer and a smile :) ...

 

 

The next one is partially finished and it may end up with a power axe... or a power hammer... I haven't decided yet :) .

[Son of Sacrifice]

Incredible work, really well done. Quality sculpting, but the character design is great too, nothing over the top.

[War Angel]

That’s amazing GS work