A small Astra Militarum army.

[Inso]

Thank you :) . I have started on the next one so he'll (hopefully) be ready very soon :) .

[Inso]

The final junior officer is finished (apart from the basing tab) :) :

 

 

The next one will be a standard bearer :) .

[Inso]

I've just got the basing tab to go on the Standard Bearer:

 

 

Next up... a Medic :) .

[Inso]

The show must go on so I'm well underway with the next batch :) :

 

[Lord Raven 19]

It's nice to see what they look like quite early in the process, looking good btw.

[Inso]

Cheers :) .

 

If you would like to see the whole process for another of my miniatures, you can see it here :) :

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/zQttm

 

This one was done for a competition but ended up being sold (for charity) to a private buyer, who then sold it to Macrocosm Miniatures... who then got in touch with me and the rest, is history :) . They now carry the growing range that I am sculpting... so it was good that I entered the competition :) .

[The Pounder]

Always good to see your work!

 

Lucky you entered indeed.

 

Looking forward to seeing what you create next.

[Slave to Darkness]

Looking forward to seeing what you create next.

Id love to see some Squat Exo Armour. :wub: 

[Inso]

 

Looking forward to seeing what you create next.

Id love to see some Squat Exo Armour.

 

 

Thank you... I'm glad you like them :) .

 

The idea behind this army is to create a proxy Astra Militarum army. With this in mind I am sculpting basic 'guard' so that I can build a full army with all of the basic troops I need. That means officers, sgts, troopers, special weapons, heavy weapons, medics, comms troopers and a standard bearer. I have also sculpted a Commissar and a Berserker (who could proxy as a priest).

 

I am hoping to bulk out the range with plenty of lasgunners and a few options for each of the troops that I have mentioned already.

 

Sadly, the Astra Militarum doesn't have any units that would act as a proxy Exo Squat so it isn't high on the agenda... HOWEVER, I plan to sculpt one at some point but it won't be until I have finished this current project (and I have 20+ sculpts to go).

 

As an aside, I'd like to share the philosophy behind this project.

 

I managed to come to a deal with Chris (at Macrocosm Miniatures) that suits everyone. It goes like this:

 

1. I decide what I need to sculpt for my 'list' and sculpt it.

2. When I have a batch finished (usually five), I send them to Chris for casting.

3. He casts them but casts a small number in resin for me, before he casts them in metal for the range.

4. I get my resin casts for my army with maybe one or two for converting to add to the existing range. I usually get five casts of each, three of which go directly into my army.

5. My payment is purely the casts. I receive no money and have no control over what happens to the miniatures at Macrocosm.

6. Chris gets a range of miniatures that (appear) to sell well, that are credited to me, as the sculptor (INSO).

7. I get my army. I also get a range of MY miniatures out there, with minimal effort (which is a tick off my bucket list).

8. People are given the opportunity to buy my miniatures without me having to sell/package/send them.

 

It works out perfectly for everyone :) .

 

So far, there have been a couple of Kickstarters, which have done quite well and the miniatures are slowly being released (in batches) at Macrocosm Miniatures. If you are interested in them, here's a link (like I've said, I don't get any money for these at all :) ): https://www.macrocosm.co.uk/product-category/macrocosm/space-dwarves-macrocosm/

 

Not all of the miniatures are there yet... but there are others already produced that will probably join the range very soon, from this finished Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2076383099/sci-fi-dwarves-command-squad/description

 

Once the five WIP sculpts (above) have been finished, I will be focussing on getting a few more lasgunners finished and additional versions of the comms trooper and medic so that there is a bit of variety :) .

 

I think that covers everything.

 

My plan is to build a company of Squats and have them transported in four super-heavy vehicles... and then... who knows?

[Lord Raven 19]

Could exo armour squats be used as bulgryns? I think that could work.

[Inso]

Could exo armour squats be used as bulgryns? I think that could work.

 

They probably could... if you stood them on something but like I said, they aren't on the current list so will be a future thing at best :) .

[Inso]

I've had some army time, this weekend... an officer and some Sgts:

 

 

Some support troopers:

 

 

and some progress on a few sculpts:

 

[Slave to Darkness]

I found your stuff on their website the other day, Im glad I can finally get my hands on some of your sculpts. Now I just need to get my hands on the money lol. 

[Inso]

I'm glad you like them :) .

 

The Lasgunner and Heavy Flamer Trooper are now finished (apart from the basing tab):

 

 

I'll be directing my focus towards the two Medics now :) .

 

If you are interested in the Sgts and Officers, there's a Kickstarter going at the moment...

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2076383099/sci-fi-space-dwarves/description

[Inso]

The Medics are now finished:

 

 

Next up, are the two Officers.

[Inso]

I'm keeping the machine rolling with an AutoCannon to go with the existing Heavy Weapon Trooper and a Grenadier:

 

 

I'm not sure what's next yet :) .

[tychobi]

Sniper? Demo team? Master of Ordinance?

[walter h]

He already did sniper teams. Master of Ordanance, would be interesting, or fleet officer because right now the advisers title slips my mind. What about psychers?

[Inso]

Banging the table gets nothing.

 

Snipers: https://cpmodels.co.uk/shop/ru13-halfling-snipers-full-gillie-suits/

 

I won't be making Squat snipers... I use my Ratlings (as linked to above). Are there demo-charges still? Even if there are, they are so niche that it isn't really worth making them (I don't use them either).

 

The advisors are something I have been thinking about, as are psykers but they are not on the list as yet. 

 

All that I have planned to complete my army are a few more officers, a few more comms troopers and a bunch of lasgunners. After that, I expect to take a break before taking on anything new.

[GreenScorpion]

Your sculpts are really amazing :)
How big is the actual army at the moment? I remember a few tanks with commanders, converted transports and a few more things, it would be interesting to see just how many you sculpted or converted so far.

I am sure you will find out what you should sculpt next from your list soon :)

[Inso]

Your sculpts are really amazing

How big is the actual army at the moment? I remember a few tanks with commanders, converted transports and a few more things, it would be interesting to see just how many you sculpted or converted so far.

 

I am sure you will find out what you should sculpt next from your list soon

 

The army is two armies :) .

 

The first army is a converted army that uses other people's miniatures and that one is a full company with support and a tank company... It'll end up with around 25 armoured vehicles, a flier, 2 dreadnoughts, 6 (or 12) bikes, 6 sentinels, a few Ogryn/bullgryn and over a hundred and fifty troops.

 

The army that I am focusing on at the moment, is made up of all my own sculpts and I am aiming at around a hundred troops... maybe a hundred and thirty... and they will get super heavy transports that I will scratch build :) . Currently, I have about 50 troops but the more I sculpt, the more the army grows. 

 

As an aside, I am sculpting MY army. I am not sculpting a range of miniatures. It just so happens that my army needs a lot of the miniatures in the AM codex... and I am getting them cast so that people can share. No one should expect all of the Codex list to be in the range... I won't be sculpting things that aren't required for my army... Psykers, for example, are something that I think SHOULDN'T be in a Squat army... however, the army could be JOINED by psykers from a different race...

 

... My next planned army is a Beastman Scions army... and they would certainly have psykers in the form of Shaman... who could possibly work in my Squat army ;) ...

[GreenScorpion]

Your army is getting nicely sized :)

I really like that you make something very customized to your own desires and obviously I agree that you only do those units/models you actually want.

I might try to reference your pictures for the berserker while trying to sculpt something of my own, nothing as detailed I am sure, but it might help with all the spare bits I currently have and as they say practice makes perfect :)
I remember the scratch built super heavy from some pictures you shared before on some initial progress.

Beastman would be interesting I am sure.

[Inso]

@GreenScorpion - All sculpting is good sculpting because you learn as you go :) ... good luck with yours and feel free to share a pic here, when you have finished :) .

 

Unfortunately, a lot of projects are on hold due to this particular sculpting project so the super-heavy hasn't been worked on since the last images were taken. Once all of the sculpting for this current army is finished, I plan to revisit a number of old projects so it should get worked on then :) .

 

I've always liked GW Besatmen but have been disappointed that they didn't make the transition to 40k in any real substance. I think they would work well as a Scions army, equipped by the squats and working along side them as alies :) .

[Inso]

With the completion of this Lasgunner:

 

 

I can now send the latest batch off, for casting :) :

 

 

Less than 15 sculpts/conversions to go now :) .

[Inso]

A Captain with his Dog, today :) :