Durendin’s about 99% done. It’ll be a while before I paint him because of other work, but it’s nice to see him realized. I had a lot of trouble finalizing his pose, but eventually settled on a crozius resting at his side rather than the usual held aloft pose common to all Chaplains. It helps give an impression of weight to his mighty hammer, but also allows the fitting of the shoulder pad to look far less awkward. Although this model has 9 pins holding him together, there are elements that are definitely fragile (the iron halo for example) but there’s not much I can do to improve that. Guess I better not drop him.

Work in Progress Actual Scale, Chaplain, Grey Knight Chaplain, Thunder Hammer

So I figured I’d actually make this Chaplain the named character featured in Ben Counter’s Grey Knight novels. Why not eh?

I finished filling in the terminator legs to make them appear like power armour (sorry forgot to photograph back of the model), and greenstuff the torso to be a bit more in line with the rest of my marine conversions. I’m not entirely happy with the abdomen shape, so there’ll be some conveniently placed purity seals when it’s finished I’m sure. Still need to add a belt buckle and cables, and I think I may end up sculpting a bigger chest eagle over the existing one, despite plans to keep the torso’s original details. Oh well.

The large book has been scavenged from the familiar in a previous post (typical – spend time converting and then go chop it up!). Once the torso is finished, I’ll add a heavy duty strap or chain over his shoulder.

I opted to go Crozius/Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield set up. I could count the weapon as a standard Nemesis Force Weapon or Thunder Hammer, without causing any confusion.

The Crozius/Hammer has been made a bit more compact by shortening the hammer heads and adding a smaller handle. The forearm is taken from the Hector Rex mini, just so it matches the arm holding the storm shield. I really like how this weapon has turned out. Took a lot of tinkering with to get it right but it got there in the end. It did in fact start out as the Thunder Hammer on the Preacher Josef model but has been chopped up and whittled down till only the center part between the hammer heads is left… and I could easily have used plasticard to build that bit

I think they’ll some issues getting the shoulder pads to fit but I’ll leave that till last.

Work in Progress Chaplain, Crozius Arcanum, Durendin, Grey Knight Chaplain, Grey Knights, Thunder Hammer

Hey all,

So I finished a number of projects recently and have managed to clear a bit of space on my desk for some fresh stuff.

I’ve just started piecing together 2 Actual Scale Salamanders characters that will count as Kantor and Khan. The challenge of an Actual Scale bike is proving challenging, but I’m starting to make progress with it (pics incoming).

I figured I would try and have a few different projects on the go at once, so I can keep switching over whenever I need a break. My second currently running project is a set of 3 more Red Scorpions captains. These will be regular scale (for a change) and painted.

I also decided I wanted to do some work on my own collection, else I’ll never have any Space Marines of my own. I’ve been quite keen to make a Grey Knights Chaplain for quite some time, and whilst there are a hundred other models I want to work on, this is the one that’s peaked my interest right now. I was also highly inspired by this amazing image.

I’m sure some of you would argue against the existence within the fluff of GK Chaplains, but I rather like the idea, if nothing else just for aesthetic reasons – Chaplains always look cool, but a Grey Knight Chaplain should be something really special.

I started this with a few ideas in mind. When finished it will fit approximately the description of the Chaplain mentioned in Ben Counter’s Grey Knights book, ie: all black power armour and a gun metal skull helm. I also had this idea of him carrying a thunder hammer that looks similar to a crozius arcanum. I’ve made a largely scratch built double headed TH, but I’m not entirely sure I’m satisfied with it yet.

You can probably see where the parts have come from. The legs are from the Grey Knight Terminator Brother Captain, and the torso/head is from one of the standard Chaplain models. Normally I would make the torso from plastic and green stuff to give it extra depth and position the head properly, but in this case I felt it look good as is. I’m not decided yet on his final pose or weapons. You can see a selection of possibles here (swords, thunder hammer (crozius), stormbolter and storm shield). Any thoughts?

I do know I want him to have a large book (in photo), either on a chain, or held in his hand, as imagine one of his roles in the chapter is to record the names of the Imperium’s greatest unsung heroes.

In games terms, he will “count as” one of the Grey Knight Squad’s Justicar.

Work in Progress Actual Scale, Chaplain, Grey Knight, Grey Knight Chaplain, Thunder Hammer

Effectively finished awaiting varnish (raining outside, so it’ll have to be tomorrow). I believe the client wants a more heavily battle damaged figure, but as I always apply battle damage last, I figured I’d show him as he is and get some feedback from the client at the same time.

Work in Progress Magnets, Red Scorpions, Regular Scale, Storm Shield, Terminator Armour, Thunder Hammer

Hi all,

For those of you waiting for an update on the Alpha Legionnaires, it’s coming tomorrow. The whole squad should be finished by the end of the week. The biggest stumbling block has been the Mk3 torsos, but a lot of the other details are underway now.

In the meantime I have an update on another project, namely a Red Scorpions character. The client has commissioned four Red Scorpions Captains each equipped differently. This is the first, equipped with terminator armour, thunder hammer and storm shield. The pics are pretty self explanatory. The thunder hammer arm is magnetized at the shoulder joint, allowing rotation and removal for easy transporting. The shield will be a conversion of Lysander’s without the Imperial Fist iconography. The finished conversion will also be painted (hopefully by the end of the week, along with Ciaphas Cain for a separate client).

The head on this model came from the AoBR captain, a great mini I just have to keep hacking up, as is the loin cloth. The bit on the base is a dead Tyranid Ripper from the Chaplain Cassius model and the head of the thunder hammer came from an Iron Hands model. Although the hammer head is smaller than a regular plastic one, I find it looks a nicer scale and will be unique amongst other thunder hammer wielding terminators.

This model still has some details to be added, and the client has request acid splash battle damage (veteran Nid basher!), something I need to be really careful about to make sure I get it right and don’t ruin the model.

Work in Progress Red Scorpions, Terminator Armour, Thunder Hammer

Completed Project Errant Armour, Jump Pack, Mark VIII, Thunder Hammer

Though there’s a little cleaning up to do (when the greenstuff has dried) and perhaps a few accessories to add (an eagle or skull). I’ll get some better photos tomorrow.

I decided to resculpt both hands so they’d look similar and because the standard right hand did look bizarrely small. I think it’ll be a common thing to be sculpting hands.

Completed Project Errant Armour, Hands, Jump Pack, Mark VIII, Thunder Hammer

This mini is being made as the prize for the winner of my “name the website” competition.

He requested a marine in Mk 8 armour carrying a thunder hammer. Originally I was going to make a flying through the air pose with his thunder hammer held two-handed ready to strike, but after putting together the  initial pieces the model looked too OTT.

I’m trying to pose the arms like the 2008 Games Day Space Marine with thunder hammer. It’s a little fiddly getting the arms to fit and I’ll have to sculpt the one hand but it should be fine.

I’m using this as the guide for how the finished armour should look.

I normally attach a model’s head last as I always feel the direction it’s looking has the most overall effect on its pose. In this case the helmet would not sit comfortably in any other position without looking odd. I also had to trim down the helm to make it fit. The greenstuff on the helm is to try and represent the “sharper” look of the helm in the illustration, and deviate slightly from the mark 7 design.

Things left to do; the trim on the pads needs to be made thinner, the greaves need bulking slightly at the bottom and the boots need a little work. The knee pads need a slight point added to them and the belt buckle need adding. After that it’s just the arms to sort out. I’ve done the Thunder Hammer already by modifying the plastic one to look more like the GD Space Marine version.

Also finished the legs and torsos for the second Mk V tac squad. Pictures due soon.

Work in Progress Jump Pack, Mark VIII, Thunder Hammer