The Albigensian Crusade

[Honda]

I have an awesome friend...and this awesome friend decided to honor my Templars with  one of his new  endeavors...

 

 

 

His modeling thread...

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/320550-the-november-ix-wip-thread-custom-army-cases-and-dice-boxes/?p=5028049

Edited March 9, 2018 by Honda

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

Those cases are absolutely beautiful! I am zealously jealous!

 

By the way, did I miss your completed Grimaldus banner carrier, or does he still lie in limbo?

[Honda]

It has been awhile...

Although I have been playing my Templars exclusively, from a modeling perspective, I have a wide variety of units to choose from and so haven't felt the need to add to my armories.

But the with the Templars is where my heart resides. So while I dabbled with various possible allies (many who are yet to manifest themselves), I was slowly developing a concept around which I wanted to build something.

As it turned out, one image that I spied while wandering through the Internet captured my imagination in a manner that I had not experienced in quite some time. Surely, the Emperor was speaking to me.

What was that image you ask?

It was this...

A knight with a shield and a hammer...how...that became the boiled down essence of being a Templar. That image then led to finding the maker of that shield and other bits, driven by this image...

And at that point, resistance became futile.

So I began to collect the things I needed in order to pursue this inner drive.

While that purchasing initiative was under weigh, I needed to come up with a scheme, which ended up becoming quite a struggle. There are so many amazing knight models out there. It was very hard to pick something that would not only look cool as a part of my crusade, but also fit within the medieval visual aspects that I was increasingly drawn to.

That meant finding a historical model that could fit in with a crusade theme. It seems obvious now, but I really went through a lot of varied imagery until my searches began to coalesce around these and similar images...

So, now I have a color palette to work from. As an aside, I can foresee creating a squad or two of Knights Templar initiates to field with my Black Templars to give me some visual variety as well as tie into the knights I am introducing into the Albigensian Crusade.

From there, all I needed was the right opportunity to allow me to focus on this effort.

And then ETL VI was announced and the rest, as they say, was history.

As far as what this force will evolve into, I really can't say. I know I'll have two knights, but one will be dedicated to firesupport. However, I have two shields, so I think another knight will manifest itself after some time. I'm also someone who likes to do things in threes.

Here is my progress to date:

And to spice things up a bit, I purchased two of these to put on the knight bearing the shield and lance.

And so begins the "March of the Knights Templar".

Epilogue:

By the way, did I miss your completed Grimaldus banner carrier, or does he still lie in limbo?

Alas, he remains banner-less still, to my shame. Much of that struggle comes from not wanting to decide which banner to paint, the banner as described in "Helsreach", which would appear to look more like Helbrecht's banner, or as our illustrious "Helsreach" movie maker has defined.

In the end I have decided to attempt a version that looks like the banner in "our" movie. A decision has been made.

My goal, not an ETL vow because Artarion is already painted, is to finish the banner by the end of ETL.

So there we are. A bit long winded, but then sometimes a story takes awhile to unfold.

Cheers,

[Sword Brother Adelard]

Brother Honda,

 

You cannot tease us with this glory and yet not leave links for questing knights to follow in your noble footsteps!

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

Seconded! I've been considering knights for some time, and I think you just nailed it on the head. Please share your source!?

[Honda]

Equipment comes  from an Etsy store:

 

Taro Modelmaker:

 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TaroModelmaker?ref=search_shop_redirect

 

The shoulder covers come from Shapeways, Gadget Plus:

 

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/gadgetsplus

 

Go forth brothers, let us drown the weak, the faithless, and the alien in knights.

[TheOneTrueZon]

I await to see how you use your bits. I'm using the Taro chainaxe for my Cerastus Castigator instead of the stock sword.

I got one of the shields as well but am waiting for the new codex to release before coming up with a loadout that could possibly include it.

[Honda]

Quick update:

Leg assemblies finished and primered:

All of the guards and whatnots will be painted separately and attached later.

As I started working on the upper bodies, I scraped off the skull on the cog and placed something better because <mytoyz>

Cheers,

[Marshal Reinhard]

That is a really cool usage of a brass templar cross. The giant robot enthusiast in me is liking where this going

[Honda]

Updates on the legs while the modeling on the torso continues...

If you recall the last time I flashed my legs (Stop. Just stop it! ), they had been primered with Auto Red.

The next step was to darken the red to a more brown color and deepen the recesses. I was only partially successful at this, but did get a dirty, grungy brown that I liked.

Now, I'm not a plain silver kind of guy, I like to see variations in my metals when I can. To that effect I pulled out a paint that I just recently purchased (accidentally, I might add) and drybrushed it on.

Yes, that's VMC Gunmetal. I just love that color and foresee using it on all sorts of things. However, I didn't want all blue metals, so out came AP Gunmetal, which is a lot less blue. I drybrushed that on to get this effect.

I still have a ways to go with this, but I'm at a point where I can get the second set of legs to the same level before I start inking down the whole component in preparation for a final highlight with AP Plate metal.

ONWARDS!

[TheOneTrueZon]

That's a great work on the legs!

[Honda]

More work performed on the legs. Still a few things here and there to do. The bright silver on the "rods" for the legs didn't come out the way I thought so, I'll probably go over them with some AP Plate Metal.

Edged highlights were done by drybrushing a 50/50 mixture of VMC Silver and Brass. It gives you a...nickel looking color that I like.

I find taking pics of metallics kind of annoying. Obviously, I'm no pictographic remembrancer, so the images are close, but the metal is darker than it looks above. More importantly, I got the varied metallic tones I was looking for. I think it will look good against the armor treatment I have planned.

Now that these guys are at a workable stage, I'll resume efforts on the upper torso. Outside temps in Houston/Katy are starting to get up there, so I'll need to be careful with painting here on in.

"Accept any challenge, no matter the odds!"

ONWARDS BROTHERS!

[TheOneTrueZon]

You'll always have that issue with the photos due to the fact that you're using (from what I can guess from the image) direct on-camera flash for your lighting. I would suggest using daylight - unless you're a vampire - with diffused light. One can get very nice results by simply putting a white bed sheet in front of the sun during late morning or afternoon light for best results. 

[Honda]

Woot! Shapeways order came in.

ONWARDS!

[Sword Brother Adelard]

I'm intrigued by your Knights Templar Honda, do you have a rough sketch/idea of what the knights' colour scheme will look like when done?

 

In my mind, The Knights Templar could be very much like the real thing. Instead of them being a separate Knight House, where every knight is from the same place and family, they could be an order comprised of individual freeblades and groups of knights from other houses who have come together to join the Great Crusade the Black Templars have continued over the past 10,000 years. In the same way the real Knights Templar were comprised of nobles from across Christendom who joined together to capture and rule the Holy Land. Each having sworn their allegiance to the Order. What do you think?

[Honda]

In my mind, The Knights Templar could be very much like the real thing. Instead of them being a separate Knight House, where every knight is from the same place and family, they could be an order comprised of individual freeblades and groups of knights from other houses who have come together to join the Great Crusade the Black Templars have continued over the past 10,000 years. In the same way the real Knights Templar were comprised of nobles from across Christendom who joined together to capture and rule the Holy Land. Each having sworn their allegiance to the Order. What do you think?

 

 

The fluff below is the "rough" justification I came up with to frame the Knights Templar (KT). I will fully admit to not having spent much time building their history out as at the time, I was more interested in coming up with a "style" for the knights.

 

Knights Templar

 

Emissaries of the Knights Templar presented themselves to the Albigensian Crusade nearly as soon as forward elements of the crusade entered the Helios Septa Cluster. Evidence recording the existence of these warriors does not exist within the Crusade archives. That their representatives immediately swore their fealty to the Crusade in the name of the Holy Emperor, including adding Black Templar devices to their heraldry in good faith, has assuaged the immediate concerns of the Command circle. A link up of resources for future operations is underway.

 

Helios Septa: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/253019-the-albigensian-crusade-the-knights-templar-march-051618/?p=4995217

 

In a sense (and reinforced by a recent viewing of "Kingdom of Heaven"), I imagine the Knights Templar operating in a part of the Helios Septa system, and their holdings roughly correlate to an equivalent "Palestine in Space". The knights  who  maintain the KT holdings, now discovered by the Black Templar crusade, remember their oaths of allegiance to the Emperor, and come to align themselves with his representatives.

 

I'm intrigued by your Knights Templar Honda, do you have a rough sketch/idea of what the knights' colour scheme will look like when done?

 

 

I do not.

 

• I know that the major color of  their armor will be an off-white, laid over a darker brown.
• I know that the majority of  the heraldry will be a deeper red, with the metal work in a paler gold or bronze.
• I am considering checkerboards and/or stripes as secondary devices, with the majority of the heraldry arranged around the red cross of St. George.
• I am considering smaller crosses and heraldic devices.

 

But I haven't put it all together yet. It's turned out to be a little more challenging than I thought, mostly because something as big as a knight needs to be done  right. :)

 

I'll get there, but please do feel free to offer suggestions, as you just never know where the next great idea is going to come from.

 

Cheers,

[Sword Brother Adelard]

How were you planning on playing the Knight? Lance counts as Chainsword, shield Counts as fist?

[Honda]

How were you planning on playing the Knight? Lance counts as Chainsword, shield Counts as fist?

I'm actually planning on playing him as a "counts as" Cerastus. In general, I like the GW chassis and look over the FW versions...except for the guy that looks like a mini-titan (Porphyrion).

Since I have another two shields and it mounts on the back of the fist, it will "counts as" the powerfist equivalent when I get a third knight.

So...I'm getting close to finishing most of the construction. I say most because after I paint all the components, there will be a fair amount of post-painting construction, which I really don't like, but sometimes it's the only way to paint something correctly.

Some of the resin bits....

The story behind the plastic stripping is, while I was scraping the <curlicue iron work things> off of the front of the shield, I cut a little too deeply into the resin. Putting a center lined bracing bar in the middle seems like the easiest fix.

And here are the Templar shoulder pads. I like how they look on the shoulders.

This is turning into quite the journey and I'm not even close to Tibbetts's level of modifications. :)

Now if I can get some decent painting weather after the Memorial Day holiday, I'll be in a good spot. However, it is "summer" in the Gulf and the humidity has returned after sleeping most of the Spring. Accept any challenge, no matter the odds.

Cheers,

[Sword Brother Adelard]

Ah, I forgot about the Cerastus, yeah I agree, they are a bit spindly.

[Marshal Wolfhart]

Shouldn't that center line bracing bar extend to the sides and be shaped like a maltese cross?:P Not that i had any skills with plasticard to base my big mouth on, but... ;)

Lovely work altogether, makes me want to finish my Eldar even faster so i can get back to the beauty of imperial bulkiness :D

[Honda]

Thank you Veterans, wherever you may be.

[Honda]

Ok, it's been a little while, but May was pretty darn full and blazed by pretty fast. On top of getting "some" ETL progress, we also graduated one son from A&M, and one from high school (along with his siblings flying in), and the A&M graduate is in the process of emigrating to Connecticut. Oh, and job and all that stuff. All good times.

So the Enprimering has begun on the upper parts of the knights.

Torsos (one with stubber, one with melta)

Shoulders

Bits and bobs

And finally, the reds I will be using for my crosses and heraldry.

Now, the predominant color for the knight's armor plate will still be white, but I'm going to base coat some reds and blacks, then do some negative masking to get the crosses and whatever I need before spraying over with a soft, off white.

If you are wondering what negative masking is, here's a link from upthread that helps explain. You'll have to scroll through a few posts to get to the end results, but it shows how it comes out.

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/253019-the-albigensian-crusade-veterans-day-052818/?p=3685126

ONWARDS!

[Hawklynn]

I am totally stealing that barricade idea.

[Honda]

I am totally stealing that barricade idea.

 

 

Go for it! It's a great way to get an ADL for cheap. Originally, the mantlets were made because I was playing around with the FW Siege list, which was a lot of fun. I haven't looked at it  yet for 8th, but it was still a fun exercise.

[Razblood]

Going through this thread has really inspired me to get back to Templars, which I think I'll do after I finish my current ETL vow!

 

ZEAL levels rising.....