Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Greetings, Brothers. I guess I should preface this with an admission: I hate the Dark Angels. HATE. Loathe. Despise. Abhor. Detest. Well, you get the idea and the thesaurus was running out of synonyms. I can't put my finger on exactly what it is that pulls up this black tidal wave of seething rage whenever someone mentions them. Maybe their cliched "we know secrets and we're not tellin' you" attitude or the most ridiculous name possible for their Primarch? I grew up in Texas, and besides seeing it as a poor way of writing Lionel Jonson, there's also Lion "The" Jonson thanks to the Spanish influences of living here(yes, I know the weirdo spelling was explained in Descent of Angels but I still don't care for it, and see below). Or maybe it's that I see so many over the top conversions where people pile on greenstuff robes and feathered wings to gaudy proportions. I even tried reading their HH books. I really did. I couldn't do it. However, I do happen to like their rules and the livery of their second founding/successor chapter, the Angels of Vengeance. Cool name, cool paint scheme(when do space marines not look good in black?), cool rules. Sounds like a plan. I actually had a go at some AoV termies a long, long time ago, back when the 2nd edition metal ones where the only ones available. I had even ordered a sheet of decals from Griffon Games with their chapter badge, which they no longer sell, most likely due to an unfriendly email by GW lawyers. I finished one out as a test, but he's missing at the moment, so here's a shot of one of the other four that didn't make it past the basecoating and early highlight stages: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/AoV_Old.jpg Mmmmm, old metal Deathwing termies. So, what brings me here today? Mostly that my internal critic didn't like how my Imperial Fists were going, and GW releasing their own AoV decal sheet(which I picked up two of). The E Tenebrae Lux thing also helped with the inspiration, but I saw the competition too late(yesterday, in fact) and there's no way I could finish one pledge in time, much less two. For a starting point, I decided on a terminator captain because I'd been wanting to finish up a model of one that I've had for years. Some of you might remember this guy from my IF thread: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/TermiCaptWIP3f.jpg Long ago mauled by me in my early 40k years in some forgotten conversion attempt, I started to rebuild him last year. Looking through the Dark Angels codices I have(the last 3 incarnations) for inspiration from the art, I began to notice a theme in their armor: skulls. Lots and lots of them, as well as purity seals. High collars on both tactical and terminator armor and a lot of power armor inspired by the plate armor of old knights. That I can do. What did I see little to nothing of? Angel wings all over the place. :o Dusting off my old termie captain, I sat down last night and had a go at him with some greystuff and plastic strip: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/TermiCaptWIP4.jpg Originally, the collar was going to be taller, but it prevented me from getting the head back in place, and I wanted to be able to paint it separately. I also removed the rosarius-looking decoration from his chest because it was interfering with the placement of the collar. I'll find somewhere else for it to go at a later point. I've extended the right side of his tabard to make it look more like a stormcoat, and will be adding a tabard on the backside with skull "buttons". It was an idea I shamelessly ripped off from the old limited edition DA Company Master figure of mine: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/LimEdDA.jpg I really like this guy and may see about reproducing him as an AoV marine with the similar DA Company Master that was recently added to the Finecast roster, rather than chopping up a $60+ figure. I've also bee ogling the AoV chapter master that Chris Borer did 5 years ago for some more inspiration. If you don't know the figure or the man behind it, you should: http://www.fullborerminiatures.com/gallery/chorazin.html I've always felt the same way about the Dark Angels and their kin as Chris mentions in their description, partly from the fluff and partly from their rules - they're patient and careful, so I'm going to make a serious effort to tone down my habit of making running/charging/action-y poses and try to relate that patient stubbornness they're known for. And from this, I'll set down a few guidelines to follow for my theme: 1) Lots of skulls and purity seals 2) Some robes and tabards, but I'm not going to go crazy and do a whole robed army 3) Aside from the chapter badge and a few decorations here and there, the angel wings will be kept to a minimum. 4) No feathers. I never understood why the Deathwing had random feathers all over the place, but they'll be absent here. 5) Bolters will be black, not red. 6) A sprinkling of knight plate armor influences, and I might even steal some ideas from WHFB warrior priests(similar high collars, purity seals, etc). As always, thanks for looking and C&C welcome. -BCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terminatorinhell Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Ah I loved the Chris Borer model, almost made me do DA...almost :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 7, 2012 Author Share Posted June 7, 2012 There's little Chris Borer converts and/or paints that doesn't impress the hell out of me. I even sent him an email years ago about his Golden Demon winning Crimson Fists to ask him for tips and his recipe for painting red, and he was really cool and helpful. Great guy and hobbyist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Kirus Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Greetings, I was considering (I still think I will do it one day) AoV as a loyalist army for myself and needles to say that Chris’s model is my all times favorite. Unlike you, however, I do like the use of feathers and was envisioning that AoV recruit from the feral world where society closely resembles Native Americans. In any case, I will be following your blog and hoping to see more pictures… Good luck with the project! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 7, 2012 Author Share Posted June 7, 2012 I guess I like a more realistic approach to my figures, and I never cared for the really heavy themed armies. The idea of the most elite fighting force in the galaxy going into combat covered in feathers seems a little silly, which is why I'm not including them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 8, 2012 Author Share Posted June 8, 2012 I bulked up the flange on the right shoulderpad and got the back of the tabard/robe done, but I'm not real happy with it and will probably try again. http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/TermiCaptWIP5.jpg I'm considering some lettering on the big flange, maybe his name or some other lettering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 11, 2012 Author Share Posted June 11, 2012 After some more work on the original left arm, I realized that I had just done too much damage to it those years ago when I first sawed it off, and reluctantly put it aside. Borrowing a GK termie arm and a FW shoulder pad, I started making progress again. At one point, I tried to prime the figure to check for little imperfections, but the humidity was having none of that and I ended up tossing him into the tub of Simple Green earlier, so excuse the mess. http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/TermiCaptWIP6.jpg There's still a little more putty work to do here and there, but I think I'm pretty near to being finished with the building stage. -BCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 I was watching the extended version of "Kingdom of Heaven" last night when I got an idea for a new figure to add to my slow-grow AoV army. Btw, if you haven't seen the extended cut, it's worth it. SOOOOO much better than the original hack job that the studio forced Ridley Scott to do for the theatrical release. *ahem* Anyway, a little into the film, Liam Neeson is being confronted by some folks, and his posture while he was talking to them really clicked the idea for me: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/Godfrey.jpg It's a very casual stance, but one that also shows he's ready to start dishing out some violence(and he does), which is the way I want to go with these AoV guys. This weekend, I also purchased the Masters of the Chapter box set in Finecast, and was considering using one of them for this conversion: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/MotC2.jpghttp://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/MotC1.jpg I'm leaning more towards the two on the right. The Master of the Fleet(top left, normally holding a thunderhammer) is the closest one to the pose straight out of the box, but he's almost too stiff. Master of Recruits(bottom left), while having a lot of Angel-esque gubbins(book, scroll, lots of purity seals and litany papers), is in a bit more of an aggressive stance than what I was wanting. Master of the Arsenal(top right) is probably the top contender for me right now, with his Mk III armor definitely looking very knight-ish. Master of the Watch(bottom right) is in 2nd place. Or maybe I could see about chopping up a regular tac marine to get the pose I'm wanting. Opinions, suggestions, etc, are welcome. :P -BCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dynamicspartan Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Your AoV look very good so far. I really like your green stuff work. As for your conversion, I think the Master of the Arsenal body is your best bet as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Blank Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 I think it all depends on how much cutting and converting you want to do. Personally, I think the top right or bottom left could work, with top right being less work, while bottom right will require an arm swap. I think the overall posture is the important part and both seem at ease but ready for action. How long is the director's cut? I agree the theatrical one was a bit choppy but still had some good moments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 Your AoV look very good so far. I really like your green stuff work. As for your conversion, I think the Master of the Arsenal body is your best bet as well. Thanks! I'm really trying to improve my sculpting skills and hope to make a nice looking army theme with these guys. I think it all depends on how much cutting and converting you want to do. Personally, I think the top right or bottom left could work, with top right being less work, while bottom right will require an arm swap. I think the overall posture is the important part and both seem at ease but ready for action. How long is the director's cut? I agree the theatrical one was a bit choppy but still had some good moments. I'm not opposed to some cutting. :o Here's a conversion I did with a Finecast Coteaz into an Imperial Fists Chapter Master: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/IF_ChapterMaster_Comp.jpg I think the Mk III armor is probably going to win out, though. I've wanted to do a conversion with that figure since the Masters of the Chapter were first released. As for the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven, it's 3 hours and 9 minutes, and completely worth it, but I think it's only available on Blu-ray. -BCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badaab Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 As for the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven, it's 3 hours and 9 minutes, and completely worth it, but I think it's only available on Blu-ray. It is, or at least was, available as a 4 disc DVD as well. The boxed set DVD had the movie on two discs and special features on the other two. Some of the special features on the DVD are not on the Blu-ray edition, namely the two History Channel specials which aired before the movie came out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heru2012 Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 namely the two History Channel specials which aired before the movie came out. Explaining how aliens were present in Jerusalem at the time I'm guessing? Oh and very nice work, I applaud your skills man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 It is, or at least was, available as a 4 disc DVD as well. The boxed set DVD had the movie on two discs and special features on the other two. Some of the special features on the DVD are not on the Blu-ray edition, namely the two History Channel specials which aired before the movie came out. Yeah, I remember that now. I got the Blu-ray version of the movie for Christmas '11 and was disappointed that it had no special features at all. namely the two History Channel specials which aired before the movie came out. Explaining how aliens were present in Jerusalem at the time I'm guessing? Oh and very nice work, I applaud your skills man! Ah, History Channel. How far thou hath fallen. It's really depressing how crap("pants" or maybe "rubbish" for you English folks) History and Discovery have become with all the stupid, obviously fake "reality" shows. Aside from Mythbusters, there's little I watch on either channel now. Thanks for the compliment! I wish I could focus more on one hobby instead of bouncing around to several like I do. I really should be a much better painter than I am with all the invested time, but I'll put the hobby aside for 4-6 months and when I come back, I'm rusty as all hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badaab Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 These specials were more about the making of the props and the sets than anything... and I think one might have been about how the characters were based on amalgamations of actual figures in the crusades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 These specials were more about the making of the props and the sets than anything... and I think one might have been about how the characters were based on amalgamations of actual figures in the crusades. I know they butchered the history quite a bit. Balian's father was not named Godfrey, and he was far from the "perfect knight" depicted in the movie. He had joined with Guy de Lusignon in chasing after Saladin, and fled the battle when the rest of the army was getting butchered. He then asked Saladin for permission to pass through the battle lines to Jerusalem to retrieve his wife and children and take them to safety, and Saladin agreed provided that he never raise arms against them again. When he got back to Jerusalem, the church absolved him of this oath to Saladin because it was made to a non-Christian and, well, no harm, no foul. He was not a young man by the time Saladin lay siege to Jerusalem(almost 50), and he did not have an affair with Sibylla, who was 20 years his junior. Nor did she go back to France with him. She reunited with her husband, Guy, after fleeing Jerusalm and proceeded to lay siege to Acre for two years in a bid to regain some of their power. She died with her children in an epidemic that gutted the siege army. Balian would return to the area in the Third Crusade with King Richard. And many, many, many other things were wrong, but it's an entertaining movie and I still thoroughly enjoyed it. To get back on track... more pics! http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/TermiCaptWIP7.jpg I think I'm pretty close to done with this guy. I traded up the eagle on his right greave for a robed angel, added some purity seals, replaced the little trinket I clipped off his chest to just below his belt(hard to see in the pics, I'll try for a better frontal view later), and made the chapter symbol on his right shoulder. Woot! I'm glad to finally see this figure recover from the mauling I gave him probably 15 years ago, and I think he'll look great once painted. Now I just have to decide if he'll be the captain of the first company or "Master of the Deathwing" as these guys call it, or a lowly sergeant. All about the titles, aren't they, these angels? However, since I already have an even more complicated and ridiculous terminator conversion idea in mind, I think he'll just be a sergeant. Plus, I just recently found out the AoV Masters of the Inner Circle all wear black robes and I had imagined the robes on this guy as red the entire time I was working on him. As always, thanks for looking, -BCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 I got the knives out and started on the Company Master conversion earlier today: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/CompanyMaster1.jpg As you can see, I had some issues with removing both shoulder pads. The right one broke apart, but luckily I was able to get a replacement from one of my spare Finecast Sternguard. With his left shoulder, I intended to keep the strip of the cape attached and after repositioning the shoulder pad, I was going to heat up the strip, bend it back into place and then glue it down, filling in any gaps with putty. This also did not go to plan, but it's nothing I can't fix with a little more time. Last night, I started on another terminator conversion, planning on this guy to be a future Belial stand-in. The plan is to make a terminator that looks considerably different from the others and make the armor more reminiscent of medieval European knight plate armor: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/MotDW1.jpg Obviously the base is a Grey Knight, but I'm planning on changing it enough that it, hopefully, won't be immediately obvious what it is. The tassets, for example(thigh armor) are going to be reshaped and possibly extended. The wasp waist won't be staying either. This is still very early in what will probably be a very involved and lengthy project. -BCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terminatorinhell Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 This will be an interesting log to follow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 I certainly hope so. :D I should have some more updates on these guys in a few hours, or maybe early tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 I've been struggling with the hand and arm position on this guy for over an hour and I finally got something close to working - it still needs some adjusting but I think it's pretty close to what I'm wanting: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/CompanyMaster2.jpghttp://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/Godfrey.jpg For a while there, I thought I might have to try sculpting a hand from scratch and God-Emperor help me, I might still have to try sculpting some fingers. What do you think, brothers? Does it get the point across? ;) -BCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrayCatt Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 The only issue i see is with the model's right shoulder. The model's shoulder is up, implying he is doing something more with that arm than just letting it hang. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 17, 2012 Author Share Posted June 17, 2012 The only issue i see is with the model's right shoulder. The model's shoulder is up, implying he is doing something more with that arm than just letting it hang. It's more pronounced in the pic than how it really looks, and I'm just using the pic for inspiration, not a direct copy. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do with the right arm. I got some more work done on the Belial conversion, but since the putty is still curing, you'll just have to settle for the work I did with some strip plastic beforehand: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/MotDW2.jpg He's a tad dusty because I didn't think to snap the pic until I had already mixed up the putty, and I like to use it immediately, so no time to clean him up for the pic. Tomorrow, I'll get some pics up the putty work. I was also looking at the Master of the Fleet figure, wondering what sort of conversion I could do with him, and I think I hit on something: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/LEdCompanyMaster1.jpg I've always wanted to field that LE Company Master on the table, but there's some changes I'd like to make as well - like the ammo box for the combi-bolter. ^_^ Sculpting that much cloth kinda scares me, I gotta admit, but I'm willing to give it a shot. -BCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 17, 2012 Author Share Posted June 17, 2012 I had planned on getting more putty work done before posting today, but some family showed up unexpectedly a little while ago and I'm sneaking in here to post up some pics real quick: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/MotDW3a.jpg Getting closer to finishing the chest. I haven't decided how to equip him yet. I'd hate to lose BS and I 5, but TH-SS offers more protection. Lighting claws can be nasty, but I have NEVER had a model with lighting claws come out looking any good. Here's a pic of him trying on a TH: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/MotDW3b.jpg Ideas or suggestions for gear? Anyone have some experience with Belial and which loadout works well for him? Off to play uncle some more. -BCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Been busy the last couple days so I haven't been able to get a whole lot done. Here's a little more putty work on the termie: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/MotDW4.jpg Tassets reshaped, more detail on the chest, and smoothed over the back of the lower legs. The company master: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x5/Kageboshi/CompanyMaster3.jpg I was originally going to have him holding his helmet under his arm, but try as I might, I couldn't get it to work to my satisfaction. Then his hand resting on his thigh, and my attempted sculpting of a hand failed miserably. So here we are. BTW, for anyone interested in picking up the Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut on Blu-ray, Amazon has on it sale today for $7.99: Throw money here :) -BCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pulse Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Ok, that.. THAT is what terminators should look like, the extra bulk really makes it look menacing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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