Imperial Fists Heresy Era Army

[Daeothar]

So I've finally taken up the gauntlet and have started the first squad of this project. This was originally intended to be a way of painting my RT era minis to the very best standard I could achieve. I fleshed out the idea with my favourite mini in the GW line of all time, the Captain with Bionic Leg. Now, I know he strictly speaking is not RT era but he is very early 2nd ed, the time I started to play 40K, after having collected since late RT days. he might not be your fave mini, but to me, there is so much character in there, I'll probably end up painting at least one more, just for kicks...

The very first Imperial Fist I did up though is the following mini; an RT era Dreadnought for the B&C Dread contest. It got disqualified because of the gribbly on the base but I liked the overall effect nonetheless. I will revisit this one somewhere along the project though, as I'm not satisfied at all with the banner and the gems. I also want to add some more detailed freehand somewhere on the model. I'll get back on that...

So, now on to the new stuff.

I wanted to carry the theme I started with the Dread through all the way to the rest of the army (a 500pts force to begin with), so I decided to make the first squad one that's made up out of Mk2/3, 4 and 5 armour, as would have been worn during the Siege of Terra. Here they are, all deflashed and with their barrels drilled out. The one on the right will be the sergeant, carrying a powerweapon.

There's quite a range of one piece metal minis actually; enough to make a squad out of. However, I needed more variety and some special and heavy weapons too. So I took a Mk5 marine with plastic arms, reposed the arm slightly (I might use some GS to fill up a small gap but might forego that completely; I haven't decided yet). I took 2nd ed shoulderpads and filed the rims off. I don't have any of those new studded pads, so I had to do it the hard way. So I added studs to the left one by drilling small indentations where the studs go and added pieces of plastic rod, which I had filed round before cutting them off. Labour intensive? Yes. Looking good? I think so.

So, all I needed now was a special weapon. I decided on a Plasmagun but the new ones would look out of place. Moreover, I have limited myself to using only RT and 2nd ed minis and bitz (I like a challenge, besides; that was the point of this project in the first place...). I thus took a 2nd ed Plasmapistol and fused it with a 2nd ed Bolter and strengthened it with a small stip of plasticard. I then added some sprue to the underside to lengthen the body of the gun, filed it flush with the plasmapistol's curvature and glued a 2nd ed Bolter grip into place. Some plastirod cut offs worked well as the fuel bottle underneath and finally, I added the emergency vent of the plasmapistol to the top. All done:

I'm very pleased with this thing and I might 'mass produce' them for my entire army.

Now I'll be concentrating on the sergeant's banner, which will be made of winebottle foil (as will the dread's be) and getting he last two members of the 8 man squad (a Mk4 and Mk3 one).

Then it's off to the painting table with them. If I can keep myself to a schedule, I'll try and finish them for a small doubles tournament in November, requiring each player to bring 500 points. now, if only my regular opponent is willing to paint 500 points of his BT... :)

[Obliterator]

* sits in his easy chair, waiting with anticipation for the first updates to roll in *

:)

 

Very nice idea, brother Daeothar, if all of those 'oldtimers' are going to be painted to the same standards as your Captain, this will become a striking force (pun intended :) ). That yellow is gorgeous. If you need some help getting the raw materials for your banners, I'll be happy to give you a hand :( .

[Rorschach]

There's something about that Dreadnought of yours that make me go all wobbly inside (and in that good manner, too) every time I see it. And it might just be that utterly beautiful yellow you've managed. I'll be following this thread closely, that's for sure - this is a really cool project you've embarked upon.

 

Love that Plasmagun too - makes me wanna go out and create an identical one for my Ultramarine Veterans... :wub:

 

So, consider your concept officially stolen. At least I tell you in advance :P

[Doghouse]

I love the dread. Really cool!

That captain is one of my favourites as well. Nicely done! :wub:

[Hertz]

this will be interesting to watch, nice idea!

[StormDragon]

I love that captian, I really like the bolter casing simple but so effective. I've got a few of those RT bolters laying around, looks like I'm going to have "borrow" your idea. <_<

 

I can't wait to see further updates, this should be a really good looking army.

[NemFX]

I like that. I recently got some third edition marines and painted them up Ultramarines style and tried to go for a similar overall look, and I think they are some of my best painted, but even they pale in comparison with your flare for painting..

[rivers3162]

Congratulations on the dreadnought, I discovered one I painted when I first got into the hobby...in thick yellow enamel I should add. Nice to see one nicely painted for a change!

 

And I agree with you about the captain, it's IMHO one of the best old marine sculpts ever. And excellently painted too I might add.

 

Looking forward to seeing more!

[Daeothar]

A quick WIP update: another bolter marine, this one a Mk2. I saw I forgot to remove the terminator honours from his left shoulderpad, so I'll do that in a minute. He also needs some more deflashing, so I'll do that after the mockup comes apart again.

I've got a Mk4 Marine (the one sans arms) to wield the Plasmagun but that needs to be, uhm, 3 dimensionally backed up first before attaching it to the marine... :unsure:

Backpacks have been prepped and will be painted seperately of course. I used the 2nd ed ones, as the RT era backpacks are too small for these guys. Besides; the Captain sports a 2nd ed cloak and backpack, so they will fit right in. The sergeant will tote a banner, for which I've used the 2nd ed character backpack. he'll be flying the company colours for the captain.

I've also decided to go through with revisiting the Dread's banner. I'm on the lookout for any old (and I mean OLD depictions of IF banners and artwork, so if anyone can direct me to sources for them, I'd be really grateful.

[wokkers]

wow! this is going to be one seriously mean looking army. well done.

 

i am in love with that bolter conversion. it is excellent. *yoink* ;)

 

more updates please ;)

[major buzzmore]

WOW !! these are looking fantastic, knida puts my Pre Heresy Emporrs children to shame !!

 

The yellow is Beautifully done, really crisp & bright

 

Well done sir

[Master of Sanctity]

Gorgeous yellows and conversion work.

[T14]

The mini that makes up trooper #7 is MY favorite old-timing model.

The only thing "wrong" with these guys is that they are only 25mm.

 

But since all of them are that size (right?) then that shouldn't matter in the slightest.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing your progress on this ;)

 

Cheers

-T14

[Stuart]

These guys are looking great, and I'd just like to let you know that I also have a soft spot for the Bionic-Leg Veteran Captain model.

 

Out of curiosity, are the bases just plasticard squares made to look like tiles, or do you have some secret technique you'd like to share?

[fireangel]

The Vet Captain you have up there is totally Rogue Trader erra. It was available atleast two years before 2nd Edition was on the shelf.

 

p.s. great mini's

[Daeothar]

Another little update; the Sergeant has received his banner. It's made from metal from an energy drink tin. Great material to make banners of. I discovered it's also razorsharp and when cutting and bending the metal from the tin to straighten it, the thought of deep arterial cuts was never far from my mind. :ph34r:

Luckily I was spared injury (this time) and I now have a sheet that will last me dozens of banners. I filed the edges round, so there's no sharp edges anymore. I also had to shorten and pin the bannerpole proper because the legion number on top made it just too high. This, I think, is just perfect. It will be the squad's banner, flown to honour the fact they're going into battle with the Company Captain himself. It will be strongly patterned after the banners on the back of the little red Space Marine painting guide from RT days (some of you will know what I mean).

[Widowmaker]

If that's the guide I'm thinking of, you're showing you age daeothar.

 

:ph34r:

 

nice job on that banner

 

Widowmaker

[rivers3162]

The banner on the Sgt. looks amazing!

Keep the updates a' comin!

[Daeothar]

I saw I forgot to answer some questions along the way, so here goes:

@ Templar14: yeah; they're all 25mm. But they'll look tall compared to the RTB01 beakies that might make up some other squads. Other option might be to take the metal Beakies (plenty of poses) but I'll need to gather those, while I have boxes full of RTB01 Marines stored. at any rate, as long as the army's reference material is small too, it won't be noticed; this is true true-scale bub! :)

@ Stuart: for the Dread, I used so called free-cards. Basically they're postcards that are free to take from racks in every bar in the Netherlands. They suited my purpose well. although future tiles might become plasticard after all, as those can be made thicker, which will look better if I want to model shattered ones for variety (the one covering the tail of the Chaos snake thingy on the Dread's base is made from CD jewel box plastic; far too brittle and labour intensive to try on a large scale but it was all I had at the time...)

@ Widowmaker: Thanks; I feel positively ancient now... :(

To the next update! (it's been a good night for me... :D )

here's the last trooper: the Mk4 Plasmagunner. the gun's just mocked up in his hands, so it'll be removed before painting. Yeah, painting, that's it... :ph34r:

Anyhow, lastly, there is a picture of the full 500 points force I'll be deploying at the end of November, in a doubles tournament, together with either Space Wolves or Black Templars; my team mate hasn't decided yet. Needless to say, these guys will be the anvil to go with the assaulty hammer, be that drunk or fanatical...

[Horus Reborn]

Needless to say, these guys will be the anvil to go with the assaulty hammer, be that drunk or fanatical...

 

Haha, is there really a difference?

 

This is possibly my current favorite ongoing project happening these days. If I had some more RT era marines left, I'd probably even copy you. A lot of mine from my youth were lost, sold, or just painted and played around with one too many times.

 

That banner is absolutely perfect, and I can't wait to see these guys painted up by squads.

 

And as far as the scale...I still kind of wish that GW models were closer to the original 25mm/real 28mm that they started out as. Things just keep getting bigger and bigger and won't really even be 'miniatures' anymore in a couple of years.

[Daeothar]

Another little update: the squad is undercoated and touched up. Two have received the black undercoat for all parts not yellow. They will be the first two to be painted, as I will be working at them in pairs.

 

The Mk5 marine with ML has received a new left shoulderpad. After basecoating, I found the studs I had made too small and out of place when compared to the other studs on his armour. so I repeated the process with a larger diameter plastic rod, which yielded a much more satisfactory result. The pad's still shiney here, as it's still drying after just having been painted. You can see the old pad in front of him.

 

I used a third party spray paint for the undercoat, for the first time. It was a bit of a gamble for me, but I decided to give it a try. I used a spray can bought at an art supply store, for little over half a GW can costs (same size!). I bough one that came close to the latest colour I'd build up to before starting on the yellow proper: Vomit Brown. Great stuff, it turned out; it is very close to the real deal (I touched up with it at places; you can see some slightly more yellowish patches; that's the actual Vomit Brown). Saves me 4 layers to paint as I did on the captain and the dread... Did I mention the spraypaint dried in just 10 minutes as it said on the can? ;)

 

Last update (no picture as of yet) is the new banner I made for the dread. It billows in the same direction as the Sergeant's banner now. Also made of soda can metal and looking suitably tattered.

 

Speaking of the Sergeant by the way; he'll be promoted to Lieutenant, with another Mk2 Marine (the one with the knife) being promoted to Sergeant. Why? because it'll give me more opportunity for freehanding heraldry and rank badges! :P

 

Also, I've been tinkering with the list somewhat and if I drop the TLLC on the dread (turn it into an AC) , the Mastercrafting of the Captain's LC and also drop the Tankhunters skill on the squad, I can give them a Rhino with extra armour and smoke instead! But only if I am comfortable making the deadline...

[Stuart]

I really like the idea of the soda can banners (though it sounds a bit risky). Overall, looking really great.

 

As for the list, I personally would stick with the Lascannon Dread and Tankhunting skill. If you're allying with an Assault Heavy army, I would think you'd be better off having your army more focused on shooting / blasting tanks. Also, did you say your Captain has a Lightning Claw? Looks like just a glove to me :wink: .

 

Keep up the good work, these guys are gonna be awesome inspiration for my upcoming Fists.

[Daeothar]

Okay, as of yesterday evening, I've finally gone officially bonkers... :P

 

After getting some advice here and there on my army's composition, I decided that they need transportation more than they need their Tankhunters skill. so I've switched some things around and the squad (and Captain of course) now can move around in style and relative comfort in their own Rhino!

 

Now, given the limitations I've set for myself here, I can't go any other route but the old Rhino one. Not a problem; a dive into the boxes archive revealed a blast from the past: an original boxed Rhino!

 

So I set to work assembling it; I had forgotten what a joy of a kit this really is! Fits together like a dream and has enough options to keep me happy, whilst being at the core a very simple kit. Two pairs of identical sprues and that's it; not exceptionally pretty but easy. Just like most of my dates actually... ;)

 

Here it is; mocked up for the picture. yes; those are filed down and cut up 25mm bases; I have plans for the original doors. I'll get back on those though...

 

++EDIT++Picture lost

 

Assembling the sides I remembered how my regular opponent always gloatingly opens up the back door of his (new) Rhinos when unloading a troop of ravening Bloodclaws in my carefully prepared lines. 'I want that too', I thought. But that required some doing with this kit (especially with me only able to use RT era stuff and scratchbuilding materials). But I got it in the end.

 

I made a metal bracket from a paperclip under the lower edge of the rearhatch. Then I put a plastic tube over it and glued the door to the tube; instant hinged door.

 

++EDIT++Picture lost

 

But now the interior (or lack thereof) was visible and the door kept dropping open even when just looking at it... so I had to model something of an interior and also make the door look like an actual ramp. And think of a way to keep the door shut. And detail the interior. Oh, and I gave it extra armour too, so spaced armour was going to have to be made as well...

 

On to the interior though. I decided against modelling benches, as the old Rhino is a bit of a midget and seating 10 full sized Marines in there is beyond me (although I once saw a guy on the web who pulled it off. But he used 10 RT era Landspeeder pilots, as those are smaller even than the RTB01 plastics! Looked cool though but still cramped even with the smallest Marines out there jammed in it...). I decided instead to make it a bit of a Utility Van if you will; stocks of ammo and weapons in there, and if they want a ride, they can remain standing (sitting makes them soft!).

 

After modelling the magnet and cleverly disguising it as a 'Go' light, I imagined the sergeant needed some way of communicating with the crew, so I added a communicator near the door. Of course those need power and leads and signal and all of that, so I made conduits to fit those:

 

++EDIT++Picture lost

 

The hatches are placed exactly where the doors are and latches and hinges for those are next. I will also have to model the top hatches, a hatch to the drivers' compartment and the weapons and ammo I mentioned. Please note that the door is just mocked up there; it's not yet attached to the hinge, which is the tube just above it...

 

Then it's off to the Spaced Armour, which will be removable (as if I'd ever field a Marine vehicle without Extra Armour when it can take it...). I will fit the original doors (there you have them again) onto that, with the bases acting as a scantly visible replacement for the originals (hinges will be provided of course).

 

It will sport a suitable camouflage scheme (the norm back then) and freehanded symbols and banners. I will place it on its own base, to elevate it up to the level of a Marine and to avoid it looking too tiny. the base will also provide the required altitude for the rear hatch's handle not to obstruct full deployment when down (as in the picture above ;) ).

 

So yeah; there you have it. Like I don't have enought to do already... ^_^

[Obliterator]

It's madness! Madness I tells ya!

 

But a sweet kind of madness :P . It's a nice Rhino already, but it could some more details IMHO, like some equipment/bolter racks to fill the interior walls (between the door and the communicator).

 

Can't wait to see it painted though ;) .

[Daeothar]

Thanks Oblit, but I'm way ahead of you ;) :

 

Interior is about complete. I'll paint it shortly, so I can close it up and assemble the rest...

 

++EDIT++Pictures lost