Misc Space Marines Pads 2

Another quick post with some freshly finished Space Marine shoulder pad designs that I was commissioned to do, the first one (top) is a lion design, it ended up slightly larger then I'd planned but I'm pretty satisfied with it. The second and third are I assume for a Space Marine Chapter which has been infected by Genestealers no less using a couple of classic Tyranid icons which have then been simplified for this small design.

Commission - Space Marine Shoulder Pads (Part 2)

A little later then planned but the third and forth Marine Pads are now finished.

The first of these is one for the Scythes of the Emperor Chapter, this has given me some trouble despite being one I've done before, the first attempt came out rather thick however the second attempt has worked out much better with a more 'delicate' design for want of a better word. It was done in three stages, first the shafts upto the point where they cross, then the upper part of the shafts and finally the blades.




The second of this batch is for the Storm Lords, this consists of two elements, the central skull which was done first and allowed to cure, and then the three lightning bolts which project from the skull, these were the trickiest bits to do as they need to be identical, a small pair of callipers proved useful to enable this.




Commission complete.

Commission - Space Marine Shoulder Pads (Part 1)

The Brief -

Sculpt up a selection of Space Marine Shoulder Pads.

The Commission -

I've been asked to quickly sculpt four different Space Marine Shoulder Pads for different Chapters, I'm assuming someone's planning some Deathwatch Space Marines!

These sort of projects are fairly simple, my method is just to in my head break down the design into simple shapes so each 'stage' can be tackled methodically.

The first of the four is one for the 'Angels of Vigilence'.



I broke this into four stages, the two wings, the chalice and the flame, each individual bit is done in one stage left to cure before moving onto the next, a small amount of GS is applied, flattend with a flat headed clay shaper and then shaped with a combination of sculpting tool, clay shapers and pins. Roughly speaking the chalice is a half circle, the flame a triangle and the wings both half-ellipses.



The second is the 'Ravenguard'.



I simplified this design a little cutting out the outer circle, it was then broken into two stages the mounting and the Raven. The Raven started as a second circle, I then cut the rough shape out with a scapel blade before working on the detail.

Commission - Belial Conversion Sculpting

The Brief - I was asked by a chap at my local gaming club the Exeter Inquisition to do a little greenstuff work to finish off a conversion for his Dark Angels Belial character which is based on Marneus Calgar. The majority of the work was already done, however after some discussion the things I was too do included adjusting the shoulder pads (DA Dreadnought leg armour), fill in gaps in the shoulder assemblies both above and below the arm and either run pipes from the lightning claws to the sockets in the back of the cloak or complete the cloak over these.

Here's the model as I recieved it.



The Commission -

No work in porgress shots for this one I'm afraid, it was largely done in one hit while I did'nt have my camera to hand.

I removed the shoulder pads and firstly did the connective ribbing under the arms as most space marine models seem to have at such joins, I then built up the shoulders so that the pads would fit with no gaps, testing fitting each time using a lubricant to ensure they did'nt stick as I was doing this. It was at this stage I realised that if I were to disconnect the lightning claws cables and connect them to the back instead the shoulder pads would seems bulky and quite empty so decided to leave the cables in place. I also did a few extra bits like cover some of the Ultramarine icons with small skulls in the center using the original icon as a 'shield' type mount, and filling in some gaps I spotted where he'd fitted a new head.



With the decision to keep the original cables the cloak was a simple matter of filing down the cable connections and then building the cloak over where these sat, I ended up using the skull fixture on the back as a mount for the cloak so having it hanging from below each arm and here blending in the curves.



I also spent five minutes removing a few mold lines that I noticed, mostly on the cloak and lightning claws, job done!

Commission - Spartan Space Marine Shoulder Pads

One of the best ways to customise your Space Marine army - besides it's paint job - remains the marines shoulder pads, one of which typicaly displays the Chapter emblem or badge. There are a number of ways to tackle it, you can use decals, paint or have a physical icon which can be painted, you can do these individually but many people choose too use either one of GW's own sculpted pads or too use the simple technique of greenstuff casting or stamping the pads from a single master.

This is what a number of people at my local club have opted to do including a couple of staff. At a recent club night I turned out quickly a Blood Raven pad and a Scythes of the Emperor pad, though lacking a camera I was'nt able to take any pictures at the time (the Scythes Pad has now gone up country to the Newcastle store, but hopefuly I'll grab some of the Blood Raven one at a later date), however in gap while working on some press molds for the Ogryn Ripper Guns I'm working on at the moment I completed another quick emblem for a Spartan Space Marines pad which another local had asked me to do.

The method is nice and simple, take one blank shoulder pad.



And a design.



The design is then marked roughly on the pad.



It is then built up in stages appropriate to the design so that you can complete a 'section' and leave it to cure without risking undoing any work done while fiddling with another part of the project.



Often as in this case only two or three stages are needed, and you have a finished piece which once cured can be used to make a mold or stamp for adding to as many marines (or indeed any other place!) as you want, and always identical.

Draft Imperial Fist List - 1500pts

More thoughts, more list's, this time for my fledgling Imperial Fist's Space Marines, as with the Ork's they'll be plenty more to add to this, but for the moment this is what I'm looking at working towards. It's themed around Captain Lysander who I love as a model and had to include, so two units of Terminators and a Dreadnought from the 1st Company make an appearance. This is reinforced by three tactical squads and it's all mounted for deep striking just for fun!

Captain Lysander @200pts

===> Love the model, love Imperial Fist's, it's therefore a no-brainer for me even if I normally dont use Special Characters.

Terminator Assault Squad inc. 5xTerminators, 3xLightning Claws, 2xThunderhammer & Storm Shield @200pts

Terminator Squad inc. Sergeant, 3xTerminators, 2xChainfists, Assault Cannon @240pts

===> To go with Lysander come some of his 1st Company, with a basic Terminator Assault Squad and a basic Terminator Squad with Assault Cannon and a couple of Chainfists - I may yet switch to a Cyclone Missile Launcher though as ranged Anti-Tank is a little lacking.

Dreadnought inc. Plasma Cannon, Extra Armour @130pts
Drop Pod @35pts

===> As with the Orks I love the Space Marine Dreadnought, Plasma Cannons meanwhile are just fun though possibly a twin-linked Lascannon may have been more sensible for Anti-Tank, though then again given it's my only threatening vehicle keeping it's cost low may be wise.

Tactical Squad inc. Sergeant, 9 Marines, Flamer, Heavy Bolter @170pts
Drop Pod @35pts

Tactical Squad inc. Sergeant with Power Weapon & Plasma Pistol, 9 Marines, Plasma Gun, Missile Launcher @210pts
Drop Pod @35pts

Tactical Squad inc. Sergeant with Power Fist & Combi-Melta, 9 Marines, Melta Gun, Missile Launcher @210pts
Drop Pod @35pts

===> Three full strength tactical squads giving me between 3 and 6 scoring units depending on the mission and my choice with Lysander, the first is kitted for dealing with hordes, the second for dealing with MEQ's and the third for armour and really tough stuff.

1500pts