40k Wordbearers and Deathguard

[Sagentus]

Amazing work! The adjustment to the waist helped old stumpy out lol. You have a great amount of character on each of the termis and in doing so it shows each termi has his own personality. It also shows they have been around for sometime having to repair there armour best they can with the spoils of war

[Aarik]

Love everything you've done here!  The conversions are top notch, and I love the color you've got on the Word Bearers.

 

Any tips on how you did the Dark Apostle's helmet from your first post?  I'm thinking of doing the same thing with the daemon skull helmet from the DV chosen, but i'm worried I'll mess it up cutting it free.  Did you cut the face off of the original helmet the chosen model is holding and then attach it to another another helmet with the front cut off?  Any advice (or WIP pics) would be much appreciated.  Thanks!

[KrautScientist]

Man, those Word Bearers Terminators are really going from strength to strength! Fantastic work!

 

I realise that the arms are only tacked on for now, but one thing I'd pay attention to is to make sure they sit as flush as possible on the finished models -- the mocked up versions show how little it takes to really throw off the proportions.

 

The new legs on the last guy work so much better -- excellent call!

 

Anyway, keep up the amazing work!

Edited March 25, 2018 by KrautScientist

[frankendoodle65]

So it's been a little while again, i'm too easily distracted to update this regularly! I have been reading your comments and they're always appreiated, I just prefer not to update the thread unless I have photos to show.

Speaking of photos, all the terminators are finished and ready for paint now, unless of course one of you guys spots something I've missed! I want to finish off my half painted plague marines I showed in the first page, so it'll be a few days before I start painting the terminators. Not a huge amount has changed since the last photos, so I won't bother with individual descriptions this time. They've each had some form of decoration added up top, as well as 'purity seals' and other small decorations elsewhere. (I would like to point out that the candles may look like messy blobs in these photos, but they should look a lot better once painted!)

And I realise Ive never shown the backs of these guys before. I hate the simplistic vents of standard terminator armour, so I've sawn of Tartaros back vents for two and repurposed mk3 backpacks for the others. One guy uses a backpack from a Khorne bezerker, which looks a little dated by comparison but I made that torso several years ago and it's all that was available at the time. I could replace it to match the others, but I quite like the variety in the squad.

Gederas, steal whatever you like! That's what forums are for

Chickenleg, glad you approve, means a lot coming from the creator of some of the most characterful space marines I've ever seen!

Vairocanum, it'll be a little while yet before I work on the helbrute, but I'm glad you have faith in me! And you're absolutely right, for the veteran unit of an army that's been fighting for 10,000 years, the chaos terminators are super bland! while I could live with that, but what really turns me off is how clunky and dated the sculpts look.

ElDuderino, thank you. I'm the complete opposite, I hate standard terminator helmets so replacing them was always on the cards for these guys. My first thought was Cataphractii or Tartaros helmets, but in the end the chosen and helbrute parts just spoke to me!

Sagentus, thanks! Character and age is exactly what I was going for, as said above these guys have been around for 10,000 and it should show!

Aarik, thank you! Luckily I have another of those helmets so I've taken a couple of quick snaps, which are behind the spoiler below.

It's just a bit of fiddly knife work, I've used a mk4 helmet here but any will work as long as the pipes at the bottom line up well enough.

just Blu-tacked together here, and I rushed it a little so there're some huge gaps that will need filling with greenstuff. If you're careful, you could probably pull this off with almost no sculpting work needed.

KrautScientist, thank you! Luckily I saw your comment before gluing these guys together, but let me know if you think anything needs fine tuning - it'll be a few days before I get to painting them so feel free to critique!

As always thank you everyone for the encouragement, and feel free to be absolutely brutal this time as there's no going back once I get primer on them!

Also, having just previewed this post, I'm shocked by how huge the photos are! I usually use my android tablet which shows the images quite nicely, but I'm on my laptop now and can't believe the difference... how does the thread look to everyone else? I can try to resize photos for future posts if it's an issue?

[ElDuderino]

You hate terminator helmets? Blasphemy! Suitable, but still:)

 

Very nice work on completing these guys, assault cannon guy is my favorite. One minor thing, rivets on the trim would add a lot imo.

[KrautScientist]

These are absolutely fantastic! Brilliant work! :)

 

A couple of tiny things, if I may: I think you should cover up/replace the stylised wing on the assault cannon -- or do you want it to actually look like a recently scavenged weapon? Then I think the twin LC guy could use some kind of icon or trophy on top of his loincloth. And, lastly, whatever happened to the bareheaded guy's nose? ;)

 

But anyway, a really awesome and characterful unit! Worthy veterans of the Long War!

[Vairocanum]

Brilliant work as usual! Really liking the look of these guys, I think some trim or arrows on the "butt plates" might be nice. Can't wait to see what you come up with next!

 

edit: Also I actually quite like the bigger pictures, really nice to see all the details in sculpting!

Edited March 29, 2018 by Vairocanum

[Aarik]

The terminators are looking great! Thanks for taking the time to mock up a little tutorial about the dark apostle helmet, that's above and beyond.  Much appreciated!

[SystemSyn]

How did I miss this log for so long! I've just looked through the whole thing and everything you've been working on is amazing. Your sculpting work is fantastic, the details are great, and you've done an amazing job with making the armour plates smooth. Really great work, I look forward to seeing your Terminators all painted up.

[frankendoodle65]

Thank you everyone!

ElDuderino, sorry to say it, but the standard (and chaos) Indomitus helmets bug the hell out of me! In fairness though, it's probably just due to the age of the sculpt, they just a bit clunky and awkward. The Salamander from Deathwatch Overkill looked pretty cool though, so proof that the helmet design can work!

As for rivets, I wondered when that would come up... I'm not opposed to adding rivets, but I've never found a technique that works for me. Just the tiniest innacuracies can lead to a model looking pretty orkish and wonky which leads to a ton of frustration, so I just tend to avoid that whole ballpark! I may have a fiddle over the weekend and see if I can pull it off to a state I'm happy with, as you're right they'd add a nice bit of detail.

KrautScientist, thank you!

In all honesty I change my mind a lot about the wing on the assault cannon. I keep settling on the fact that the weapon suits the model, but chaos don't usually have access to that particular weapon so it makes sense it would be scavenged. Even if he's had it for a while, I like to think he kept the stylised wing icon as a reminder of where it came from or as a mockery of the next imperials he mows down with the assault cannon.

I'll see what I can find for the lightning claw guy, you're right that his loincloth feels a little bare.

And finally the bareheaded guy's nose was tweaked purely because I hate re-using bare heads, but love that particular head too much not to use again! It's my first time adjusting a face like this, but I'm hoping it'll come out well enough when painted... and besides, who said all space marines have to be handsome? It's a huge universe, maybe there are a few giant-nosed guys out there!

Vairocanum, thanks! I had considered adding trim to the butt plates, but thought these guys probably won't be showing their backsides to the enemy all too often so ended up leaving the backs undecorated. I may add something to one or two of them though, just to add some variety. (And yes I'm having Braveheart flashbacks as I type this...)

Aarik, always happy to help, I'll use that head sooner or later so it really wasn't a hassle to snap a couple of photos.

SystemSyn, there's so much great content around this place that it's easy to miss things! Glad you like what I'm posting, really means a lot

As I said previously, I'm trying to finish off a few plague marines before moving on to painting the terminators. I use a lot of washes on my Deathguard, so I've been using the drying time to tinker with a few guys to start off the next Word Bearers CSM squad. They're pretty simple kitbashes, and everything's just held together with light dabs of superglue so it's likely they'll be ripped apart more than a few times before being completed, I'm just trying to establish the feel of the squad at this stage. here's where they stand now;

I'll post pictures of the plague marines in a few days once they're finished, and hopefully get started painting the terminators once I attempt the tweaks you guys suggested!

[KrautScientist]

KrautScientist, thank you!

In all honesty I change my mind a lot about the wing on the assault cannon. I keep settling on the fact that the weapon suits the model, but chaos don't usually have access to that particular weapon so it makes sense it would be scavenged. Even if he's had it for a while, I like to think he kept the stylised wing icon as a reminder of where it came from or as a mockery of the next imperials he mows down with the assault cannon.

 

Oh, don't worry -- the idea of it being a scavenged weapon totally makes sense the longer I think about it. After all, it happens in the fluff all the time (Talos' stolen BA sword, Khayon's stolen SW axe. Come to think of it, ADB seems to be especially fond of the trope ;) ).

 

Excellent work on the next round of Word Bearers -- the sergeant/champ is a fantastic kitbash! Love the use of the Primaris head!

[frankendoodle65]

Thanks KrautScientist! Shockingly I've never actually read anything by ADB, but I hear the nightlords trilogy is good so it's definitely on my to-read list.

I'm really pleased with the primaris head too, the new range has a ton of great bits that should be fun to corrupt...

Just a really quick update for tonight, the lightning claw terminator never quite sat right for me - lightning claws just don't really feel like a Word Bearers weapon! This is just a mock-up, but I'm thinking about swapping the claws out for a mace and combi-bolter. Any thoughts?

I've also added a chaos star hanging over his loincloth, as per KrautScientist's suggestion.

[KrautScientist]

Huh. To be perfectly honest, I liked him much better before -- there was just something about how elegantly those Chosen arms worked on a Terminator. He also seemed like more of a character, whereas he's now bolter/CC dude number five. But hey, your model, your choices.

 

The chaos icon on the loincloth is a really nice addition, though!

[Pearson73]

I would agree with Kraut regarding the weapon swap; the lightning claw arms really complemented the marine's stance. The terminators are looking great overall, I especially like the brazier.

[Khornestar]

I like the mace and bolter, myself. I bet I’ll like them even better once they look appropriately touched by the warp. Not personally a fan of power armor bits on terminators, and vice versa.

[frankendoodle65]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. After sleeping on it and seeing Krautscientist and Pearson's comments this morning, I decided to revert back to the lightning claw arms and prime the terminators quickly before I doubt my choices further! I don't doubt that the mace and bolter could work, but I was struggling to make them feel natural with his stance.

 

Juggernaut, the mace will absolutely make a return at some point, I like the part far too much not to use it and I still have a ton of terminator parts in my bits box. And ordinarily I'd be against mixing PA and TDA parts, but the chosen guys are so massive that I feel I can get away with it on these guys.

 

I'll keep the thread updated as paint progresses on the terminators. I've finished the plague marines mentioned earlier too - I may have rushed them a little as I was itching to get to work on the terminators, but I'll get a photo up at some point today when I can.

[Kor Dalron]

Loving those Terminators! I personally think you should try and make all the Terminators look like special characters, with all the amazing work you put in it would be a shame if they just looked like some bog-standard dudes (extremly good looking but a bit plain).
Also just because this is my first comment in your topic: Your Dark Apostle and Chosen are just amazing, especially with that paintjob!

[frankendoodle65]

Thanks Kor Dalron! I'm a little confused whether you think my terminators DO look like special characters or not, but either way I'm glad you like them! My aim has been to make them look like elite veterans with armour replaced and upgraded/repaired over contless fights, without making them too OTT or blingy. Hopefully this comes across?

I'm glad you like the chosen and dark apostle, both were done some time ago but were great fun to work on.

As I've said earlier, the last batch of plague marines is finally finished, if a little rushed. This means I'm free to focus on painting the terminators!

This is the five I've just finished;

And with the champion and plasma gunner shown previously

I'm happy to post individual shots if anyone's interested, but I appreciate there's a lot more interest in the Word Bearers so I'll probably keep the focus there.

[Kor Dalron]

Oh huh yeah, I worded that a bit weird... at the moment they look to me like very individual guys each one unique in his own way but still a bit reserved and (like you intended) not too blingy. I think it would just take some small additions to make them into characters, which would be great in my opinion but it could possibly ruin your intended look of them as an elite squad. 

So in essence: Go with what you like, you´re doing a great job either way!

PS: also nice Paintjob on the DG

Edited April 1, 2018 by Kor Dalron

[KrautScientist]

The DG Marines are looking awesome! I, for one, could certainly live with you switching between these and your Word Bearers.

 

I do think both the black horns and guts/mutations could use one more round of highlights, though. And, once again, those guts would look even more disturbing with a bit of gloss varnish on them.

 

I am also really happy you've decided to return to the twin LC look on the Terminator! Behold the power of my magnetic charisma, eh? ;)

[Pearson73]

The glowing eyes of the Death Guard are very nicely done and provide a nice contrast to the rest of the palette.

[Shovellovin]

Good job on your Death Guard. Echoing Pearson73, I too really like the glowing eyes on your Death Guard. They look very sinister. Almost as if the warp is infused in their armor and shining out.

[Vairocanum]

Awesome looking Death Guard, love the eyes in particular! The rusty boltguns look great as well, looking forward to seeing more!

[Skeggold]

Really nice work all round, keep it up mate!

[Markus_]

Those terminators are a sight to behold! Great sculpting work.
The plague marines look menacing as well.