Brother Christopher's Purple Marines Project

[GSCUprising]

On 10/27/2025 at 9:37 PM, Brother Christopher said:

All around, thank you for all the positivity. I'm super glad you're taking your time to follow what I'm doing.

 

Regarding the second patch of camo  turning on, it's all thanks to you! I was set on painting it over. In the end, I'm glad I left it.

 

 

Yeah, I noticed that just a bit too late. But I've already seen it in your thread (and been meaning to comment but life got in the way) and thought to myself two things: the Slaanesh camo is pretty cool AND it can't be a coincidence that two purple-coloured Marine forces in this forum do some sneakier boys. I sense heresy seeping into my Chapter :P

 

 

This guy.

 

 

 

Initially, he was supposed to be a Lieutenant in a 5-man BladeGuard squad. I've even arranged for However a matching Iron Halo.

 

However, me being me and obsessing about unimportant things (i.e. Chapter and company structure, as well as 'fluff' regarding organisation) I decided to call him a Company Champion - mostly because of the emblem on the chest, as well as the laurel wreath. The change of rank also followed in me removing the Iron Halo, as well as modifying the backpack-mounted Storm Shield (inspired by @Knightsword's work) - I figured I'd prefer to keep true to the old ways and since Champions always used Combat Shields, a smaller Storm Shield should be distinct enough visually to justify using the old name.

 

Following the theme of unimportant things, I think that I'll reserve the gold arms for Champions and/or Honour Guard units. Since I wanted this project to be quite vanilla and want my Chapter to focus more on 'practical' aspects of combat, I think that the gold arms are just a bit too much for ordinary commanders and Command Squads. However, I think it's cool enough to slap it on the more 'ceremonial' roles. After all, if I recall, Champions are supposed to be eye-catching and are supposed to seek combat.

 

I'm not yet sure what to do with the shoulder pads; I think I'm glad I haven't painted them gold yet. I suppose I'll go with either the base purple or maybe a black.

 

 

I like this. A good, simple yet elegant choice of three main colours. I'm also a fan of the pose - quite striking.

[BadgersinHills]

Excellent work.

[The Pounder]

Those Assault Marines look fantastic!

[Brother Christopher]

Thank you, brothers for all the encouragement!

 

May has been an extremely intense month so I don't have as much time for the forum as I'd like. However, between work and preparations for a half-marathon, I have been consistently finding time for the hobby. Over the last week or so, I've been splitting my hobby-time between painting a Stardrake (ineligible  for this forum, regrettably), deliberating on the future Primaris purchases and utterly wasting time on my Techmarine.

 

This Techmarine/MotF is definitely going to be my last ambitious character-level conversion project. As such, I'm chipping away at it without counting the time. Having said that, I'd expect I've spent around 8 hours so far conceptualising the build, dry-fitting and whatnot.

 

The progress isn't impressive, especially given the time, but I am quite happy with it and looking forward to discovering where it takes me. So far, despite some setbacks, I find the project satisfying and, design-wise, quite pleasing.

 

I will post some photos of what I have so far but I'm not sure how useful they are in this still early WIP stage. I feel I finished the sub-assemblies for the top servo arms and am now working on the frame of the backpack.

 

 

 

 

Now, I need your feedback. For some time now, GW opts to use these auxiliary servo arms:

 

They have a very clear design language, with clearly-defined mechanical sections. Do you think that a set of wires/cables from a Centurion kit could work as a base for a pair of these tentacle-like arms or not? If not, I think a cable from a Hellblasters kit is more clearly identifiable but, for whatever reason, I'd prefer to use the leftover bits.

 

And here's a close-up of the backpack:

 

As insignificant as it is, I'm quite proud of the idea to refit the vanilla backpack vent. I'm not sure where the tides of design will take me with this, but I know that I want to retain some of the Primaris design language (the circular bit at the back; the rounded top of the backpack).

 

The part of a hunter-killer missile will serve as a base for the heavy-duty forklift-type servo arm; on the right, below the cables, I will place the flamer servo arm.

 

***

 

I'm also trying a different approach to painting minis/bases. Since I need to properly finish my Assault Squad for the 12MiH vow, I prepared some bases for the Jump Pack Marines, as well as a set of bases for the 5-man squad that's next in line for painting. I want to paint the Marines separately and bases separately. One of the 5 bolter&chainsword marines has a scenic base (he's from the kill team box) with some moulded-on rocks. I decided to try and place similar rocks on the other bases, too.

 

And I updated the tilt shield for the Assault Marine

 

For convenience, here's the before picture:

Spoiler

 

The updated tilt shield is definitely an improvement but I've slighly messed it up, too - the yellow chequered stripe is slightly de-centred but it something that I can live with.  

[Rusted Boltgun]

The chequered stripe is slightly off-centre? I'm just trying to get my head round the freehand skull next to them! The black and yellow really works on those marines.

The Techmarine is really coming on, I think it is a neat idea to keep the bits of Primaries design you like. Those circular elements appear on backpacks, bikes, etc so are a cool element to keep for continuity. 

You've put in a lot of time but it will be worth it in the end! 

[Firedrake Cordova]

The assault marine's tilt shield looks great.  Whilst the chequers look slightly "off true" (slanting to the right from top to bottom), I'm guessing that this is substantially less noticeable on the model, as we're viewing it somewhat magnified. I'm guessing it's likely not very noticeable in person, but you'd be better-placed to judge that than me.  

 

Progress on the tech-marine's harness looks good. Whilst GW uses the more segmented cables for the mecha-dendrites (I think that's the right name..?), they used to look like a wound guitar string, so I think it'd look fine to me with either appearance.

 

Bases look good, too

[Doghouse]

Loving the assault guys, the helmets really pop. Fantastic work on the tech marine, that looks amazing.

Edited May 29 by Doghouse

[gaurdian31]

Techmarine is coming along nicely, I really like the servo harness so far and I think the cables work just fine. The update tilt shied on the assault marine really pops now, great job!

[Brother Christopher]

On 5/28/2026 at 11:29 PM, Rusted Boltgun said:

The chequered stripe is slightly off-centre? I'm just trying to get my head round the freehand skull next to them! The black and yellow really works on those marines.

 

The skull at this scale is a surprisingly fun thing to paint, as I've discovered lately. You just need a large(r) circle with a protruding smaller circle/blob at the bottom. With the basic shape, you just add three dots for the eye sockets and nasal cavity and that's that. When magnified, it doesn't really resemble a skull much, but at a normal distance it's good enough to trick ones mind into seeing a skull.

 

On 5/29/2026 at 11:23 AM, Firedrake Cordova said:

The assault marine's tilt shield looks great.  Whilst the chequers look slightly "off true" (slanting to the right from top to bottom), I'm guessing that this is substantially less noticeable on the model, as we're viewing it somewhat magnified. I'm guessing it's likely not very noticeable in person, but you'd be better-placed to judge that than me.

 

That's right - I mean, it is noticeable, but I don't think it's bad. And I'll give it a pass since it's freehand, too ;) it's like already going the extra distance, so there's no need to beat oneself up for this.
 

 

On 5/29/2026 at 11:23 AM, Firedrake Cordova said:

Progress on the tech-marine's harness looks good. Whilst GW uses the more segmented cables for the mecha-dendrites (I think that's the right name..?), they used to look like a wound guitar string, so I think it'd look fine to me with either appearance.

 

On 5/29/2026 at 7:06 PM, gaurdian31 said:

Techmarine is coming along nicely, I really like the servo harness so far and I think the cables work just fine.

 

On 5/28/2026 at 11:29 PM, Rusted Boltgun said:

The Techmarine is really coming on, I think it is a neat idea to keep the bits of Primaries design you like. Those circular elements appear on backpacks, bikes, etc so are a cool element to keep for continuity.

 

Thanks for the positive feedback. I appreciate that. I'm also stocked that you think the cables will do. At this point, I'm not sure if there will be enough room for them but if I decide to add a mechadendrite (thanks Firedrake for bringing the term to my attention! ), I'll stick to Centurion cables.

 

On 5/29/2026 at 12:07 PM, Doghouse said:

Loving the assault guys, the helmets really pop. Fantastic work on the tech marine, that looks amazing.

 

Thanks a lot!

 

***

I managed to get some more work done on the Techmarine and I'm quite surprised by how cool the servo-harness is shaping up to be. It seems I've put more effort than usual into looking for inspiration, and the results are surprisingly good.

 

Somehow, this project feels different. Maybe it's because of my "relaxed yet focused" approach, where I don't have a specific deadline for finishing the miniature. I've been fiddling with the backpack almost every day—10 minutes here, 20 minutes there—splitting my time between concept sketches, dry-fitting, and actually making the parts. And it works.

The most bizarre thing is that I feel as though the project is evolving on its own. While I'm responsible for every aspect of it, I don't feel like I'm in the driver's seat, even though the whole thing is essentially my own idea-bash, so to speak. It's as if I started with a general concept, made some sketches, built a frame for the pack, and then let all of those ideas be reality-checked during the build. As I said—a bizarre feeling, but a cool one.

 

While I can't wait to share my progress, I think I'll hold off on posting photos until the pack is a bit more complete.

 

On the painting front, I'm making lightning-fast progress—at least by my standards  (so not fast at all!). I've been trying Christopher's speed-painting technique (using sponges) and in just a week I've managed to get most of the bodies ready. Painting the armour with sponges was an absolute blast.Then I remembered I hadn't hated myself recently and decided to paint the weapons and shoulder pads white.  Needless to say, the decision for a new liveryslowed my progress down a bit, but it was still quite fun, albeit somewhat 'stressful.' I feel that painting white requires about 150% more focus than usual if you want to avoid mistakes. For example, I tried to fix an area while a contrast (Xpress Color) paint was only half-dry, which resulted in some ugly marks that were nearly impossible to cover up.

 

And despite painting for all these years, I still struggle with white. I either get specks of dust or brush hairs in the paint, leave visible brush marks, or mess something else up entirely. What I'm trying to say is that I still can't consistently achieve a smooth white finish over a non-white undercoat.

 

Regardless, progress is good, and more importantly, it's been a lot of fun.

 

As for the armour, I think the results are superb considering the time I've spent on it. The colour isn't quite as nice as on the Assault Marines (I'd say that it's 70% of the benchmark), but I think I'll get there with some glazing and panel lining.

 

Photos coming soon!

 

EDIT: Here's an update on the squad's armour. I wanted to take this as a reference photo to later compare how the glazing/shading I'm planning to do turns out.

 

 

 

Edited June 8 by Brother Christopher

[sockwithaticket]

Ooh that's a very rich purple.

[Heraclite]

I hadn't noticed the two tone chest emblems on your previous minis. Have they all been like that from the start? I think it looks really cool and makes them very unique

[Brother Christopher]

10 hours ago, sockwithaticket said:

Ooh that's a very rich purple.

 

Thanks for looking at my stuff and dropping a comment! I appreciate that.

 

10 hours ago, Heraclite said:

I hadn't noticed the two tone chest emblems on your previous minis. Have they all been like that from the start? I think it looks really cool and makes them very unique

 

Come to think of it, I don't think they have. I used to do this for my Oldschool Black Templars, though. I've always figured that's a nice way to subtly add more colours.

[The Pounder]

Great job!

 

Have you changed your recipe or lighting? Somehow the purple looks more vibrant.

[gaurdian31]

The purple looks really good and vibrant and for some reason the white on these guys seems to pop a bit more too. Great work! I really like the chest emblem on the power sword marine, the aquila is awesome!

[MoriyaSchism]

Your next Assault Squad is shaping up nicely. Really clean highlights.

[Brother Christopher]

9 hours ago, The Pounder said:

Great job!

 

Have you changed your recipe or lighting? Somehow the purple looks more vibrant.

 

It turns out that I've messed the camera settings up - haven't been paying attention and made two mistakes: used my landscape preset AND used the off-white background to set the white balance. The recipe is a variation of the previous ones aimed at streamlining the process, but retaining the same colour.

 

7 hours ago, gaurdian31 said:

The purple looks really good and vibrant and for some reason the white on these guys seems to pop a bit more too. Great work! I really like the chest emblem on the power sword marine, the aquila is awesome!

 

Thanks! I'm not entirely convinced that going for the whites was a good example but it doesn't look bad by any means AND I need more practice before I work on my veterans and HQs.

 

2 hours ago, MoriyaSchism said:

Your next Assault Squad is shaping up nicely. Really clean highlights.

 

Thanks!

 

***

 

So, I managed to do some work. I did some panel lining, glazed some darks/shadows onto the armour and removed the Marines from the temporary bases onto their proper, pre-painted bases. I think I'll be doing the same from here on out for the rest of the minis. Not having to pay attention when painting bases was a huge time saver; even if rebasing was a bit problematic and took some time, I think overall the tradeoff is worth it.

 

Here are some quick photos - I think they're better than the ones before. The colours should be more representative of how they look in person.

 

 

 

And two random close-ups:

 

 

So, overall, the current painting process is somehow way better than anything I've done in recent memory. I think that close ups reveal the shortcuts I've taken but all things considered, I like this. The sponges, drybrushing together with actively fighting my natural instinct to hit all possible edges with 2-3 level of highlights do the job, I think, especially given the scope of the project... Especially-especially since I'll probably at least get the squad of intercessors from Armageddon.

 

Now I have to decide on the colour for the squad shoulder pad markings (I think I'll chose between purple black or the standard light blue) and - more importantly - for the helmets (either the regular purple ones for troops or - perhaps - white, to go with the pads and weapons).

[Rusted Boltgun]

They are looking very smart indeed and the torso cabling works very well. 

[phandaal]

These guys are turning out great! Looking forward to seeing another completed unit. Can you remind me what is the chapter for these guys?

[gaurdian31]

Love the update! Nice job on the key in the reliquary on the second close up marine and great job all around! These are shaping up wonderfully! 

[Brother Christopher]

17 hours ago, Rusted Boltgun said:

They are looking very smart indeed and the torso cabling works very well. 

 

Actually, by pure accident, this guy is the best example. For the rest, unfortunately, I don't find the cables satisfactory.

 

13 hours ago, phandaal said:

Can you remind me what is the chapter for these guys?

 

That's still TBD. This is a custom homebrew chapter, that's for sure. I'm still postponing naming them but I think that I might settle for Void Templars.

 

I also plan to post some limited fluff for these.

 

3 hours ago, gaurdian31 said:

Love the update! Nice job on the key in the reliquary on the second close up marine and great job all around! These are shaping up wonderfully! 

 

Thanks for all the support! I'm glad you like them.

 

***

 In other news... I have another project lined up to do next that, frankly, I'm excited to do after these guys, still in the department of chainswords an running guys.

 

Let me quote myself to do some self-flagellation and show that the irony of the next project/idea is not lost on me.

 

On 4/1/2026 at 10:51 AM, Brother Christopher said:

when I initially got my hands on the first Primaris models, I really had wanted to go all-in with conversions like these. In the end, these models will probably be the only reminder of these ambitions. I find kitbashing Primaris models frustrating and unrewarding. 

  

On 5/11/2026 at 11:30 PM, Brother Christopher said:

I'll limit the modifications to the chest plates and knees. Even replacing the abdominal plates with proper, cool oldschool wires is too fiddly. I think I might have sworn that the assault marines are the last converted squad. Well, the next unit WILL be the last converted squad, showing faint glimmers of my ambitions.

 

Yeah, so that's me in a nutshell.

 

I've decided to give it another go with more Assault Squad Marines with Jump Packs. The previous batch looks okay, particularly the straps and livery, but fixing the vents on the packs isn't enough. I think I want to have a team of units with more classic-looking Jump Packs, whose design I find greatly superior. I think I'll skip the new Vanguard Veterans (they're just like more floaty Primaris) and will probably use some Blood Claws as a base since I think that they're the best example of GW doing running/dynamic poses in the Primaris range.

 

But I promise to myself, these Assault Squad v.2.0 will be the last conversion project. Apart from some characters.

 

On 5/19/2026 at 10:36 AM, Brother Christopher said:

- limit kit bashing to a minimum (I have some ideas for a Company Champion, Chapter Master, Commander w/ Jump Pack and perhaps a Master of the Forge);

  

On 5/28/2026 at 10:45 PM, Brother Christopher said:

This Techmarine/MotF is definitely going to be my last ambitious character-level conversion project.

 

So the quotes above are still valid. At least insofar as characters go....

 

I feel a bit bad about myself not being more decisive or whatnot. But the looking at the Armageddon Vanguard Vets and revisiting 4-7th edition codexes made me realise that I really want some proper Jump Pack Marines.

[W.A.Rorie]

Great stuff as always @Brother Christopher

[sockwithaticket]

I didn't notice the adapted leg armour last time, but I really like that detail and the way it apes multiple marks. The stock primaris knees look very ugly to me, so it's good to see them changed to something more traditional. 

[Snakes of Ithaka]

Just been catching upon your thread, I love the conversion you’ve done to the assault intercessors the mixture of the older marks really improves the base models my opinion.