Indomitus Crusade- It Remembers the Flesh - Daemon Sculpt

[jaxom]

I'm 85% sure that the sleeve is a Yojimbo reference.

[Eberious]

Great work on the Judicar, planning on doing much the same at this point. 

[Doghouse]

Jaxom: Thanks mate, yeah I was thinking that but the other lapel can be seen on the thigh and has studs as well.

 

Majkhel: Thanks, I think we'll see a lot of conversions based on this model as people tweek it.

 

Eberious: Thanks, it's a nice and straight forward conversion.

 

Well things have mostly ground to a bit of a halt beyond assembling and buying stuff. It's looking like I have a case of long covid which is kicking the snot out of me at the moment so everything is a little bit harder. I'm sure I'll be ok in the long run but right now even trying to lift the rulebook is genuinely exhausting.

I think even with a rebreather mask on I don't think it'll do my chest any good at the moment so I am holding off a bit on undercoating.

 

On a more positive note I've started a second Captain which is a bit more detailed. I'm going to paint up both and see which I prefer. This one uses parts of the Gravis Captain I picked up on Ebay and the sword from the Bladeguard Lieutenant.

 

 

Also with the two wound leaks for Firstborn I may have to make some more of the truescale guys as a patrol might be fun.

 

 

Lastly got stuck into the first Repulsor. I found the grav plates a real pain in the backside to assemble and fit to the hull untill I saw the video linked below. If you are going to make one of these or an executioner I highly recommend checking it out.

 

 

 

 

[Doghouse]

Well I've finally nailed the final look of the Captain. While I like bare headed models because of the character that it can add I also always try to include the helmet as part of the model to satisfy the little irrational voice that craves realism in a fantastical world. The look I am going for is like in the Halo ODST trailer where you see the two ODSTs at the end acknowledge the coming threat after burying their comrade and put their helmets on. He's removed his helmet as he delivers his battle sermon to his men reinforcing their resolve and faith in Him on Terra before putting it back on.

 

I'm going with calling this guy Captain Arden Vecht, company master of the Ninth company of the Execrators Chapter. The chapter being a devout and zealous force who were created in the 17th Founding but are now almost entirely all Primaris save for a few Firstborn veterans.

They are armoured entirely in Gravis and Terminator armour due to the nature of their missions. When all else is lost they are the grim harbingers of the Emperor's absolution, they are not saviours of civilisations. They are those that release the souls of those bound to our mortal existence sacrificed for the survival of the Imperium, they are the burners of worlds.

 

 

I'm still on hold with the Red Wolves at the moment mainly because there have been so many changes of late as new information is released that I want to be sure before committing to them.

[Doghouse]

And so it begins...

 

Base coated the Astartes in Mechanicus Standard Grey and I will next go over them with Dawn Stone as the first layer.

 

 

These Exterminatus charges on the other hand are so wonderfully absurd that they genuinely make me smile. I've got nine of these, six for objectives and three for potential vehicle conversions. The idea of the army possessing such incredibly destructive devices is wonderful to me, while there are tales of heroism in 40k that could fill volumes I love idea that some of these moments are born out of such utterly dire and desperate circumstances. I've base coated them in Retributor Gold spray and will go over them with Agrax and some other golds. As these represent the benevolent absolution of Him on Terra I decided to go for a gold rather than a dull heretical Lead Belcher finish.

 

 

Given that regular Astartes are now bumped up to two wounds I am seriously tempted to convert some Intercessors into Firstborn to represent the remenants of a decimated Chapter that realise that all is lost and are attempting to aid the Execrators that have just arrived.

I like the idea that no one has really heard of the Execrators not because they are secretive or super special elite forces it's just their particular specialisation normally doesn't leave many survivors to speak of them.

I love the idea of a potential Firstborn Tactical Squad, beleagued and beaten to the point being the last of their Chapter making their final stand seeing the gunships of the Execrators break through with their first thoughts of relief forces. Then seeing them unload the Exterminatus devices realisation sets in, rather than panic and freak out in utter terror like a Guard commander may they fully accept only in death does their duty end and without question aid the Execrators. I think that would create a very powerful narrative hook for the army.

[Doghouse]

Bit of an update.

 

Decided against the grey in the end, I tried to make it work but just ended up stripping the models and going with a dark golden colour instead. Still very much WIP but I'm going for a simple colour scheme that uses mostly washes broken up by the blue and a simple skull chapter icon as it's easily resourced and the skulls on armour represent the face of the Emperor according to Jes Goodwin. Still need to clean up the white on the tilting plate and then add a few more icons. Not sure if I will paint the aquilla silver or not, might go with bone or leave it gold I'm not sure yet.

 

 

[Ironwrought Huw]

Lovely stuff Doghouse - I can only echo the comments of the other fraters here, I always thoroughly enjoy reading through your topics. The conversions and paintwork is always very nice (especially interesting to see what can be achieved with the Indominitus stuff) 

 

Particularly like what you've done with Captain Vecht - he looks suitably imposing and authoritative. 

[Doghouse]

Thanks mate.

 

I do enjoy sharing some of my thoughts on my stuff as people have often come to me saying how it's given them ideas for their own stuff which is always great. I think even when visiting other people's threads some sort of dialogue is very encouraging, I think it's always nice when you can get a conversation going. I think it also good way to flesh your models out not just on paper but in your mind as well.

 

Just another quick udate.

 

Made a bit of a mess of the chest eagle so I'm going to strip that but got the final look for the Chapter down now. I've added a blue omega icon to the skull to make it a bit more unique.

 

 

[Doghouse]

With the announcement that marines will be going up to two wounds I got the itch to do some truescaling. I'm not sure what I'll use them for but I thought I'd expand a bit on the Mk II version I did a while back. I'm currently just putting together the basics and then GSing in the details like what will be the sectioned plates on the back of the legs and rivets and things. At this point I know MK II armour so well I could do this in my sleep.

 

 

As you can see here I'm just cleaning up the armour plating before starting on the backs.

 

 

The officer may well just be a Lieutenant, not sure yet. I was toying with doing a five man squad lead by a Lieutenant and using a Land Raider. The idea behind this was either a lost squad stuck far behind enemy minds raiding and scavanging for equipment while using the raider as a mobile base. This would work well for either loyalist or traitor Astartes and would make for a thematic little patrol.

 

 

I quite like the idea of some Imperial Fists trying to get back to friendly lines or think the Imperium is gone and have turned renegade. Or maybe some traitors like Iron Warriors scavenging armour from the dead with no way to repaint it so you get a mish mash of chapters thrown in.

[Master Umbra]

Just went through the thread (you'll notice thanks to the trail of Likes I left behind). I am familiar with your awesome skills since many years now. Your commitment to just scrap stuff and begin from scratch is to be praised. That's true excellence. Lastly, it is always a pleasure to see your conversions and read about your process.

[Doghouse]

Well I can't get a much bigger compliment than that so thank you very much. :)

[BadgersinHills]

Lovely stuff! 

[Doghouse]

Thanks

 

Just a quick update of sorts. I've got five built along with the leader and I am in the process of shaving down the tops of the knee pads and starting the green stuff work. Not sure what I will do with these guys, maybe Word Bearers or a loyalist chapter. I'm leaning more towards traitors because it'd give me an excuse to sculpt a daemon prince from scratch and truth be told Word Bearers probably aren't that far off being like the more religious chapters anyways.

Anything but metallics, i'm still painting Execrators and Silver Templars and metallics which is a shame because I love Iron Warriors.

 

 

 

 

[jaxom]

Looking great! The torsos are just the normal MkIIIs with spacers to bulk out the depth? It's kind of funny, but the mix of Primaris and the torsos give a perfect (in my opinion) scale of the body to the bolter.

 

I always feel picking a paint scheme for MkIIIs is made tougher by the fact that they feature so heavily in people's Death Guard and Iron Warriors. I have a hard time imagining them as anything but them. Would you be aiming for the very dark, blood red candy coat look that the Word Bearers sometimes get or more of a satin/matte finish?

[Doghouse]

Thanks mate. I'll do a WIP shot next time I make one but I've cut the front plate off a Mk III torso, cut down the front of the Mk X torso then put the plate over the top.

 

Yeah I know what you mean, MK III guys scream Iron Warriors, Death Guard or Imperial Fists to me because of the siege/ trench warfare feel of them. If I did I'd probably go with dark red, maybe even Heresy colours. One thing I would really, really like to do though if I did go these guys would be to find a way to get a generic greater daemon in the army or even a really messed up looking Lord of Change proxy.

[Bryan Blaire]

Those Mk3 guys look fantastic! Very much the type of look that I think GW would love and one I want to get for my Wolves, although I think I sort of like the raised knee ridge now (for some reason, I like using it as a rank indicator, and I don't know why, but I think it fits, armor's up the knee join above the soft armor more). Any reason you didn't keep the hanging plates from the Mk3 torsos?

 

I'm very interested in your method when you have the chance - had something similar planned with the Mk3, Mk4, and SW Pack torso stuff when I finally get my sculpting order in.

[Doghouse]

Thanks mate, yeah no problem I'll run you through it with some pictures. I used a dremel for most of it but a knife will do the trick. It's mostly removing the chest piece and cutting back the mk x chest to fit.

 

You can do it without sculpting, maybe a bit of gap filling if need be but most of the model you could leave untouched to be perfectly honest. It's based on a conversion I did a while back just lowered a bit. The Mk III hybrid (Mk X-III? :D ) look would work well for space wolves or chapters going for an older look.

 

 

 

[deathspectersgt7]

Great update

[Doghouse]

Thanks mate

 

As promised this is the first part of how you make the MkX-III style armour.

 

First off you want to remove the front crutch plate along the line of divide as closely as possible to maintain the hinge so you can add it later.

 

 

Next you cut down the torso to leave just the chest plate

 

 

You can do this with just a pair of clippers and a knife but what I have found to be an invaluable conversion tool is a cheap dremel I got on Amazon months ago. Cost less than £20 at the time and I think it's a fantastic tool to use for shaping, drilling and removing large sections. It will melt the plastic after a little while so it's best used in bursts.

 

 

Like I say you can clip it but I try and use it as a miniature lathe and it's great for stuff like this.

 

 

Regardless of how you do it you are looking to thin the front plate so that when you reduce the Mk X chest piece it can fit nicely on the front without sticking out too much.

 

 

Once I find a spare Intercessor I'll post up a how to prepare the torso.

 

[Doghouse]

I've got this Intercessor I was stripping but the black undercoat should make the cuts more visable.

 

Next I've removed the front of the collar and shaved the front of the torso down, like I say you can do this with a knife or a dremel either works fine.

 

 

Most I am happy with this cutting it back a little of a time, then dry fitting and cutting again then dry fitting and so forth till I am happy with how it sits. I try to line up the collar with the sides of the neck as snuggly as possible to cut down on filling later.

 

 

Here you can see how i have cut it back more after the first dry fit so it fits better.

 

 

Once I am completely happy I glue it in place and can fill the little gaps I left where the two parts meet and just stick the head, arms and other bits in place.

 

 

[Bryan Blaire]

Fanastic, mate, seems much how I'd imagined and it ends up looking so good - smashing work!

 

Thanks you for the step by step.

[Doghouse]

No problem, I hope it helps. :)

[jaxom]

It did indeed! I've been thinking a lot lately about what makes different armour marks identifiable for conversion purposes and part of that has been looking at what people choose to use when they do the conversions.

[Doghouse]

I did a few others a while back, some are pretty easy to pull off.

 

 

Funny thing is you can even make a truescale Primaris without altering the Limited Edition Lieutenant when compared to these guys because he is so tall.

 

 

You could do Mk VIII really easily without much work needed.

 

Reiver arms are the best for this because they are scaled up Mk VII arms and the carbines look like bolters.

[Custom Hero]

Nice work Doghouse! You never cease to amaze!