New Salamanders Army Project

[wiqid]

Hey folks. I thought I would keep this going and start a new thread to track and get feedback on my new army project. I found this whole process rather helpful and constructive while doing my Flesh Tearer army blog, so why not follow through.

Salamanders have always been a cool army, although polar opposites to the Flesh Tearers who aren't known for nobility and honour or calm temperaments. The colour scheme and iconography are also cool as heck (lava and dinosaurs woot) which make them an interesting project! I have amassed quite an army with loads of conversion n fw bitz and have a number of ideas banked along the way. So hopefully this will be a fun process.

Right now i am just going through the inventory of all the bitz n ideas I have to help finalize my army list. So I will post that soon as I figure that out. In the mean time I have started the laborious process of cleaning and prepping bitz for the first batch of troops that will be built and painted. While doing this I had a few conversion ideas that I thought I would have a crack at. I want to try and customize this army more than my Flesh Tearers. I also want to try and improve my kitbashing n sculpting (which is amateurish).

So I thought I would try converting the heads for my tactical marines to give them more distinction. I might need to go back to try and smooth over things with milliput or add more detail (any feedback or tips is welcome). But the general idea was to try and make them more reptilian by giving them spine/spike like crests and changing the look of the helm. The one on the left still is missing a layer of green stuff to demarcate between the "skin" and the spines" like the one on the right.

Edited December 10, 2018 by wiqid

[wiqid]

Quick update on the progress made with helm conversions for tactical squads. Twenty helms done with an attempt to give each a different look. I still have to figure out how to paint them later. Any suggestions on that or the work thus far is always welcome.

Now back to getting the bodies for these guys ready next for the next progress update.

Thanks for looking!

[Pearson73]

Certainly an interesting idea and will give each marine character and independence.

[wiqid]

@Pearson73

Yea thats the general idea although that means there will be far more detail to paint up. Add battle damage, decals n squad markings, alongside lava bases and I've got quite a task ahead!



Well without further due here is an update on the tactical squads. In the spirit of individuality, I took liberty in coming up names for the marines. CC welcome as always and thanks for looking

Brother Vosarius

Brother Demetreius

Brother Kariel

Brother Restan

Brother Nurien

Brother Argus

Brother Dragoth

Brother Pterassus

Brother Chronisius

Brother Laerath

Edited December 13, 2018 by wiqid

[wiqid]

Last batch of tactical marines done. Now I just need to work on their bases and then kit bash the Pyre guard and Wyverns (Vanguard Veterans)

Brother Herricus

Brother Ulsaro

Brother Malek

Brother Akhtar

\

Brother Tyranno

Brother Fenrith

Brother Tarbak

Brother Vlavik

Veteran Sergeant Zearothar

Veteran Sergeant Ezrak

Any CnC welcome and thanks for looking folks

Edited December 13, 2018 by wiqid

[Kinstryfe]

This is neat, and an awesome idea. Look forward to seeing more.

[Son of Carnelian]

I can appreciate the effort you've gone through to make each of them unique. Great work! Now... Let's see some paint!

[wiqid]

Glad you guys like the looks thus far. My conversions are rather simple and modest compared to some of the skilled and sculptors on here that I can only hope to emulate one day. It's Something I want to try and work on improving with this project. Painting will come soon enough

Did a lot of non stop painting red for my last army. So converting n kit bashing is a welcome break. And on that note I finished up my pyre guard squad. I wasn't too keen on the Forgeworld models as they look like they are wearing niqabs lol. Let me know what you guys think. Next up will be my vanguard veterans.

Edited December 14, 2018 by wiqid

[Pyroclast91]

Awesome conversions so far it's good to see more fireborn taking the field of battle. Seeing so many pop up is giving me the itch to dive back into mine. Keep up the awesome work man with the way your troops look I can't wait to see your characters and HQ.

[wiqid]

@Pyroclast

 

Thanks fellow fireborn! Good to get approval of another son of Vulkan 

 

 

I tried to look at your blog to find some inspiration, but the pics aren't working :(  

 

 

Not much to update just yet as have had a busy weekend so far. But I am going to try and finish up my vanguard veterans and post some pics. I will have to revisit some of the novels by Nick Kyme to draw some inspiration. That and scour these forums n pinterest.

[Pyroclast91]

Ya I just saw that myself it looks like most of my pictures hosting links are no good any more so I'll have to repost everything eventually which kinda blows but it happens. Check out Instagram that's where i've gotten a lot of inspiration a lot of my finished work is on my Instagram too under the same name as here.

[wiqid]

@Pyroclast91

Damn that sucks. I can imagine how tedious uploading and linking all pictures again would be. Guess I will take a gander over on Instagram and look you and other ideas on Salamanders.

Well I have been a bit busy with other commitments, so haven't progressed as much as I would have liked. But here is some work in progress on one of my wing borne veterans. Still need to work on the handle/hilt, thickening it up and add texture while thinking of attaching cabling. This guy is being built up as the sergeant of a squad of 10 Wyverns (vanguard veterans) with SS/TH and various power weapons.

Thanks for lookin

[Pearson73]

Big fan of the sergeant's pose and composition, I do agree that the hammer's haft needs thickening though.

[wiqid]

@Pearson73

Thickening the hammer was a bit trickier than I anticipated. Squeezing and shaping layer of greenstuff into those sections of the haft proved harder than expected. Still have to go over that again and see if I think I can manage adding texture or ribbed grips, or any other added details.

In the mean time I managed to finish up 5/10 of the squad. Well almost finished. Just need to add some GS fill gaps and to touch details up. But pretty happy with how the squad is turning out. Let me know what you think, any CnC is helpful. Thanks

[Pearson73]

You're using some great posing there, the custom helms make them so much more unique and intimidating too.

 

I can imagine it being difficult to get a uniform thickness of putty down on the hammer, I guess the trick is to do small amounts of a time and a heap load of patience?

[wiqid]

@Pearson73

 

Helms are great, albeit maybe with a slight heretical look. I'm not to keen on the FW salamander helm upgrades as I feel compared to other chapters they come across a bit bland/

 

 

Yep. You guessed right about the hammer. Awfully tedious trying to get a uniform thickness and smoothness. It's probably down to my lack of sculpting skill n experience working with GS. Guess I have to learn 

[wiqid]

So finally managed to get the last 5 vanguard veterans done. Somewhat satisfied with how the 2hand hammers turned out since it was a learning process. Still lots of room for improvement, which hopefully I can develop as I go along. Hopefully will be better with sculpting GS by the time I have a go at characters or warlords.

Thanks for looking and would welcome any helpful CnC.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good poses on the Vanguard Veterans. Edited December 23, 2018 by Bjorn Firewalker

[wiqid]

Hey folks

Happy New Year all and hope everyone had a merry Christmas over the break. With the new year here, I thought it best to carry on with the new project that is one of my resolutions for the year ahead. One that I can hopefully stick to despite my poor track record of fulfilling any new year resolutions. Least its more appealing than getting back to the gym I suppose hehe.

Well I have been working on building up my army before I start the painting. Perhaps this is a bad strategy, as by the end of it I may be daunted by the miniatures standing in line. But the resolution shall prevail for only in death does duty (and new year resolutions) end!!!!

So here are a few of the miniatures I have done so far. I'm aiming to get all my characters and troops done first, before I get to the walkers/ tanks etc. Mainly because I made the fatal mistake of buying a fire raptor and dread getting demoralized by trying to fix the damn thing.

Also, I had a weak attempt at trying to convert some terminator helms. Not too happy with the end result, so may end up scrapping them. But thought I would add pic of one to get some feedback nonetheless.

Thanks for looking and have a good weekend and year ahead :)

[wiqid]

Just a quick update. Almost finished all my troops, with the exception of some finishing details on my "counts as vulkan he-stan" with a little more pizzaz. Not sure whether to add mounted guns to or somehow incorporate a flamer to his axe.

Now that I have almost finished the troops and characters of the army, its time to get the more laborious task of painting all these miniatures with all those added details to make it more fun albeit time consuming.

Any CnC is always welcome. Thanks for looking

[Brother Mayhem]

These guys being heavily converted are cool, probably one of the more unique Salamander armies I have seen. The little "fins" on the helmet are a nice touch, you have little reason to question their allegiance. The Stormsheild on the Vanguard Vet with the axe needs a little more Salamander bling to be honest, something simple like what you did with the TT/SS Terminators would be cool with the Chapter Emblem.  

[wiqid]

Thanks for the feedback mate. Do you mean the Vanguard Veterans with the 1hand Thunder hammers? That's a good idea, will have to tweak that to make it in theme with the other shields. I'm planning on adding some scales to the custom HQ as well alongside thinking of ways of adding more detail or texture to the hilt of staff of the axe for Vulkan as well.

[wiqid]

Hey folks,

After a long hiatus.. I have finally got round to making progress on my Salamander army. So here is the first batch of tactical marines. CnC welcome as always.

Thanks for looking

[BadgersinHills]

Nice work! 

[space wolf]

Good stuff! As far as your sculpting goes, if I have learned anything it is, KEEP DOING IT. You will find that before your know it, you're making things that you never thought you could. Just keep playing around with it. Also if you don't have color/clay shapers, get them. They are a life saver. They truly make working with GS so much less of a chore. Looking forward to seeing more.