November 27, 2024, 07:30:40 PM

Author Topic: "We're gonna need a bigger thunderhawk..." converting primaris carcharadons  (Read 38593 times)

Offline osjclatchford

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so I got the first scout-biker done:

rather pleased with the result on this.
I was not 100% looking forward to doing these but found a way to do it that got a great result with very little effort.
The incrusted dirt (most obvious on the wheels and lower bodywork) was done with a steel-legion-drab wash (as was done on the f302 fighter-interceptor in my royston rifles thread) in the recesses. then the dark mud over this. it creates the dried mud/dirt in the recesses and fresh dark/wet stuff on the prominent edges, just the effect I was after and not an airbrush in sight!
the fact that this wash also can pass for rust helps too as it makes it a go-to effect for bare and painted metalwork on vehicles with almost zero effort required, just judicous use. dont slap it everywhere! its not a nurgle bike afterall LOL...

the head was a conversion I'd meant to do a while back. *essentially a proof of concept that a good scout helmet can exist without being too similar to guard or enforcer bits.
I had originally intended this to be used on one of my foot-slogging scouts but never did use it as I felt it was odd with just one of them having one and I liked the other heads the rest of the squad had.
however, since Ive made the bikes, I felt it makes more sense using it here as; helmets and bikes, it just goes...

I chose to do the seat in a cracked red vinyl and the gascan in yellow as I felt it added a bit more life to an otherwise monochomatic model...












*Finding a good scout helmet design...
finding good heads for scouts has always been an issue in the community. simple use of stormtrooper or cadian heads always leaves a sour taste in the mouth, as its such an obvious thing.
good conversions should not look like conversions. they should look like official releases.
so, for a bit of difference i chose an IG tank crew head as a base.
the one with the 'shades' on was the obvious choice.
the removal of the guard 'logo' and the addition of the vented top crest and the furrowed 'brows' and this helmet looked like a lightweight version of an astertes helmet, specifically designed for the scout program.
The altered eybrow line and top-crest just scream spacemarine helmet to me but the open face and side details (with the mic-pickup etc...) and the lower-tech chinstrap tie it in with the scouts a bit more. its not a 'true' astartes helm, but it is a carapace armour helmet that is designed by the same artisans and, as such, shares similar design elements.
kinda looks like the rt-era guard helmets a bit (only us old-uns will remember those) which were little more than a beakie hemet without the beak.




 
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Offline Lord Borak

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God Damn you're making me want to do Space Sharks...... and I've given up on 40k lol. The Marines are fantastic. the posing, the converting and the painting.... The biker is awesome. He has a sort of Judge Dread, Fifth element vibe that I'm really digging.

Offline osjclatchford

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Thanks! cant unsee the 5th element 'cops' look now! its true its also very dredd-esque.

its generally 80's vibe all round which suits me fine...

more in a couple of days or so...
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Offline osjclatchford

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Two more done:

This guy is kinda a primaris version of the castellan crowe pose.
Inspired by the 'space marine'  game, this guy is gorenoed up with tamiya's x27 red for a satisfying shiny bloodspatter finish!
for a good helmet look I'm now using deathwatch heads on my second edition inspired mk7 type guys. the heads are a little slimmer and allow for some more characterisation due to the freedom of movement the slimmer lids afford...
With simple addition of the sob bolter stowed on his waist band and the 'right' mk4 backpack he's truely loking about as second ed' as he could...


...and then this guy with a belt fed bolter.
he was previously the guy with the knife drawn but the second I saw that chaos bolter I knew it was that or bust. Its so archaic and oldskool looking that I felt it too ideal for the sharks not to use...
Bit tricky to remove the chaosisation to the bolter and hands/arms and in truth I'm sure it could have been done better but as far as I was concerned, no spikes, no stars and removal of any of the chaotic fillagree was enough for me.
the resultant look of the bolter was generally that of third edition so I chose a suitable third ed' backpack for this and he was done...

more soon...
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Offline osjclatchford

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so yeah, decided to finish off the scout bikers before my desire for them began to wane...



boltpistol guy



shotgun guy


as you can see I've made sure that all the scouts have their eyes covered, nvgs, visor and helmet. the idea being, who can see anything when driving around at high speed on a bike otherwise?
the squad is, as with the sgt, kitted out with scout weapons and kit and the hh boltmags and boltpistols-holsters that I love on my marine stuff.
the bolter-holster is off the marine attack-bike sprue and the scabbarded ccw from the scout sprue.
I decided to use the rope/grapple kitbag as that also reminded me of the scout sprue stuff.
not much else to say about these that Ive not covered when I posted the sgt...


the obligitory full-squad shot
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Offline Lord Borak

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I love the ultra realistic look you've achieved on these. The models, the gear, the poses all make sense and the painting and weathering just pulls it all together.


Offline osjclatchford

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Thanks Lord B! that means a lot coming from a man of your painting skill!

so here is the finished 'slash' captain:

based on the lt. amulius geezer I chose the the most badass head I could find that I'd not already used and to make him look even more of a badass painted his right eye dead.
the helmet I painted black as not only a mark of rank but also so it stood out and did not get lost in a sea of grey under the arm.
the man-ending superchainsword sat rather nicely in the place of the weenie little powersword and its typical of sharks to have chainweapons.
the backpack is sanguinary-guard (sans wings) plus some studs. I chose to keep his pads stud-free as I liked the sleek look I did on my mk4 alike guy also, like that one, I painted the edged black as well as the puldron itself.

when he's not standing gazing off into the middle distance or bouncing across the battlefield to find and end the enemy commander, he's walking the front-lines trying to sell his vast collection of belts...

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Offline Lord Borak

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Looking good as always. Honestly though, I though the helmet was grey until you said it was black. It's a bit hard to tell with the grey highlights!!  :D

The face is great though. Very realistic. He looks a bit like Dwayne Johnsons older, angrier brother.

Offline osjclatchford

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thanks lord B! thats exactly who I had in mind when painting him. Yeah I went for darker skintone but I deliberately emphasized that raised eyebrow with 'the rock' in mind... hes one of my favourites...

"semper fi! ...motherf*cker!"
ah... thats real acting... ;)

Also re the lid? this image is a bit washed out with sunlight but I should mention thatt he 'face' of the helmet is indeed the dark grey (skavenblight base) and only the dome of the helmet (essentially all the bits not the 'face') are black...
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Offline osjclatchford

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the last two marines are now done:


one of the monopose marines, this guy has the deathwatch lid, and mk4 backpack (the one with lots of holes) for 2nd ed flavour, he also has a mk3 holstered boltpistol and mag-pouch.
to enhance the 2nd ed feeling even further his bolter is an actual 2nd ed bolter but with the 3rd edition bolter mag assembly and a bit of rod for that detail just above the barrel. the supporting hand is again from the sanguinary guard sprue.


this marine, with his 'balls of steel' pose is inspired by that classic marine artwork by kev walker:
https://40k.gallery/img/40K-artwork/40K-20170929114703.jpg
again the deathwatch head and same mk4 backpack as above but this time his bolter is a phobos bolter from the mk3 set (which lets face it is just a modern version of the 2nd ed bolter)
the bolter has the 'flip-mag' from the chaos sprue as its a great detail that is best viewed on a model such as this where you can see both sides of the gun and magazine detail.
sanguinary guard hand again and mk3 pockets and primaris nades on the belt.

thats all the models currently in this force done now.
so untill I get anything new to add to it that this thread may go a little quiet from me for a while...
was looking at heavy intercessors but they look to cost an arm and a leg for what they are so perhaps that wont be whats next...

who knows eh..?
« Last Edit: February 18, 2021, 05:27:01 PM by osjclatchford »
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Offline Lord Borak

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Your bitz box must be amazing to be pulling all of these bits out. The poses and paint jobs are awesome (as usual).

Any chance of a picture of all your Sharks together?

Offline Malika

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I can't help but think of Transformers when seeing those helmets. And that's just cool!
Bits Blitz - the place to be for all your bits needs!

Offline osjclatchford

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@lord B, when I was working my bitzbox used to get periodically updated from bitzbox.co.uk when new kits emerge. Im a perrenial hunter of sexie bitz and pour over any new kit frames just to poach bits I want or even think I may want in future conversions. guard, marine, necromunda, aos nothing is sacred.
the scout kit pockets and the mk3 kit for marine pockets is a popular choice of mine as I like that you can see the actual mags in the pouches it adds to the massive scale of them too. Im always collecting different nades, and pockets and knives and all that for guard and the chaos marine sprue bits were one  of the last editions to my box before I ended up out of work. they (like some other bits) were an ebay search for the bits as craig is often out of stock on stuff...
no lie to say I've been wearing the box a little thin of late but theres still a fair bit of stuff in there.
and yeah old bolters Ive had since new, so. yeah. Im old...

@malika funny you mention transformers. for me, whenever I hear the music form the movie I cant unsee in my mind a bunch of marines in slow motion walking endlessly to/from somewhere in a cheese 80'smovie style...

dont ask why, only god knows, my mind is a bag of cats...

and thanks guys. will be doing some 'squad-shots' with the ol' cameratic-device soon

not really got enough room here to get a good shot of all of them at once. but squads i can do...



I really did fancy converting the heavy intercessors with all sorts of different kit/weapons etc, terminators references, classic marine influences, centurion heads in particular I think would look great.
oh, and studs.
lots and lots of studs...

but shit on me, £48 for a squad of five on pre-order from ebay? 'fuck-you' says I!

never would I pay that money for five infantry models.
not even if I were rolling in the benjamins.
its absurd on the face of it...


 
 
« Last Edit: February 19, 2021, 11:08:51 PM by osjclatchford »
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Offline Lord Borak

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@lord B, yeah old bolters Ive had since new, so. yeah. Im old...

but shit on me, £48 for a squad of five on pre-order from ebay? 'fuck-you' says I!

never would I pay that money for five infantry models.
not even if I were rolling in the benjamins.
its absurd on the face of it...

Well..... I'd like to disagree with you. Not to defend you but to defend me! As I have a load of 2nd ED Bolters in my bitz box as well  ::) God, they've been sat in my bitz Box for 20 odd years.  :o

Prices are getting a little mad. but then I remember a squad of 5 metal Ogryns being £40. And they we're the old classic 2nd ED ones that are probably about the same size as a Primaris marine now  ;D Park of me baulks at the thought of buying a whole new Primaris army as my brain says I can't justify it...... but I've spent over a Grand on all my Titanicus models so.......... there's logic for you.  8)

Offline osjclatchford

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you're right of course.
in all seriousness, Id shit a chicken if I tallied up what I've actually spent over the last two or so years on this project. its only an issue now because I'm counting every penny...

anyway the as promised squad-shots of the project (so far...)

infantry first.
the intercessor/combat squads

mk6 squad

mk7 squad

mixed squad of mk2, mk3, mk4 and two mk5's

next up the light infantry

rogue trader inspired phobos armoured squad aka the sneakie-beakies
 

and the palanite scouts

the heavy support:

the primaris centurion battlesuits and a lone devastator (perhaps some buddies might yet join him in the future)

command:

from left to right, captain Hollands - master of the scouts, Lieutenant Hall, and the 'slash' Captain Brodie, current commander of the force

Vehicles


Rhino and bikes for scout transportation

all for now...
« Last Edit: February 20, 2021, 10:26:15 AM by osjclatchford »
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