Alright! I have more eye candy today, because I’m either incredibly productive or not productive at all.
Part 1: Facelifts
As a few readers commented previously, my first couple Deathwatch models were rather dark. I’ve tried to remedy this with some bright detailing. I’m not entirely sure if I’m satisfied, so be sure to let me know what you think!
This is the one I’m least sure about, as I feel that the incredibly light blue severely jeopardizes the quiet, dark menace that the model had previously. I am very happy with the darker blue feathers, though.
I really like the “sapphire” skull on the chestplate.
I am quite pleased with this one. I think the additional red brightens the model nicely without being overpowering.
Michael Garyos got the simplest additions – the Guardians of the Covenant crossed swords freehanded on his cloak, and a black background added to his Chapter pauldron (I realized that I had done the scheme partially incorrectly).
I brightened up Velthro’s heraldry and added blue to the inverted omegas. The additions grow on me a little each time I see them, I think.
All in all, not bad, insofar as touch ups are concerned!
Part 2: Fresh Blood
I also have several new models for you today!
First up is my Librarian, Jax Dearthsun.
Here he is with a couple squad mates.
I decided that he’s a member of the Angels of Sorrow Chapter, instead of whatever I initially identified him as in the Files Inquisitae, which allows me to take a very different take on the Blood Ravens iconography on his legs – particularly the winged blood drop on the left shin, which becomes a winged tear drop.
The shoulder pad is a stylized version of Sanguinius (the actual bit came from the Death Company). My infantile lore for the Chapter is that they revere the Primarchs as a pantheon of deities, with the Emperor at their head, and that the Chapter is specifically dedicated to following Sanguinius. I’m toying with the idea that they may have been disowned by their parent Chapter and be seeking Sanguinius’ approval as a way of reentering what they view as the fold of “Chosen” Marine Chapters.
I swung his right arm upwards slightly, because the standard “arms down and screaming” librarian pose is overused and relatively boring. This, however, gives him a sense of being in combat, which I really like.
I quite like the contrast between the green of his Chapter colors and the blue of the Librarius. I think he readily identifies as both Deathwatch and a Librarian, which is awesome.
I’m not quite sure if I like to Force Sword detailing or not. It’s always seemed a little silly to me, not to mention difficult to paint.
This last picture has him compared to my two other Librarians. The far left was my first, and the center was my second. The broken Grey Knight teleporter backpack irks me every time I see it… Ah well. I quite like the recipe I came up with for balancing the blue that marks the models as Librarians with their Chapter colors – gauntlets. torso, part of the backpack, thighs, and boots blue, everything else as per normal. I think it’s simple but effective.
Now, I need a little help – I can’t decide if I’d rather he be a biomancer like the Librarian in the box, or a diviner. He would either have the wall name of “Quicksilver” or “Seer” respectively, but, honestly, he could be of any discipline with a suitably honest name. Post your thoughts and suggestions in the comments!
Second, we have the Space Wolf.
I’ll be honest, I’ve never really liked Space Wolves. They’ve always seemed like they were trying too hard to be awesome. Exhibit a –
Regardless, I had a model, and I didn’t want to waste it. I decided to try and emulate Black Panther from Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, and thus came up with the Great Company of the Silent Hunt, a subdivision of the Space Wolves who focus on elegance and assassination.
I give you Bress Silkpaw.
The goal with the tabard was to do something slightly different and make it a sort of snow wolf pelt, but the jury’s still out as to whether or not I’ve succeeded.
The head is a Sanguinary Guard Death Mask with a Winter Soldier style mask sculpted over the mouth, and I am very proud of it. I tried to use colors that would tie Bress to Eryk, given that in my fluff they’re close friends.
Other than that, I feel that there isn’t much to say here, so moving right along.
Third, we have “Wrecker” Cyryander, my Dorn’s Vambrace marine. In all honesty, I am quite pleased with this model, which surprises me, given that there’s next to no conversion work on him and I’ve never been a huge fan of the Fists or any of their successors.
The laurel wreath on the model’s shoulder was taken from Cassius’ backpack. It’s the only conversion work on the model, unfortunately, primarily for a lack of bits.
I painted the backpack with leadbelcher, because I find that the paint has a very nice industrial look, very fitting of both a heavy weapon and of a son of Dorn.
For the first time I can remember, I’m reasonably satisfied with the bone color on the Servo Skull.
From a fluff standpoint, this guy is the one who first introduces the rest of the Squad to the concept of wall names, which I first found in the novel “I Am Slaughter” by Dan Abnett. The idea is that each Fist gets given a name from their brothers that characterizes how they behave in battle – “Killshot,” “Severance,” or, indeed, “Slaughter.” I quite liked the concept and have given each model in the squad such a name.
Fourth, we have the biker, Walsh “Striker” Khan of the Flash Knights Chapter.
In all honesty, while he’s far from my favorite model in the squad, I’m quite happy with him.
My goal was for him to read as a bitter veteran, the kind of warrior who feels superior to others, but is at least partially vindicated in that belief. He’s an indispensable asset and he knows it, and as such he tends to push the line as to what’s acceptable and what isn’t, hence the unorthodox wargear and accouterments. This was at least partially to help me remain interested in the model, but also to explain the slightly stranger elements of the model.
The Tyranid head isn’t finished and I have yet to decide if I’m going to give the model an alternative shoulder pad or not. The head, unlike the pad, which is waiting on bits, is waiting for my brother to lock in a color scheme for his Tyranids, if you catch my drift. 😉
The story behind the helmet on the back (and the helmetless model, which is a Games Workshop trend I despise) is that Walsh has something of a death wish ever since he was too slow to reinforce a particular squad of his brothers. The helmet belonged to the squad’s sergeant, and Walsh carries it into every battle as a reminder of what he views as his one true failure.
Possibly my favorite element of the models is the shield on the back of the bike. I just wish it were an actual piece of equipment in the game, instead of mere decoration.
I honestly thought I was going to hate this model, but the more I worked with it, the more I realized that it has managed to overcome my biggest complaint about Space Marine Bikes – the reclining look of the riders.
Those aren’t speed demons – if anything they look silly! Call me ridiculous, but I much prefer the nearly horizontal look of the riders from Tron Legacy’s Light Cycles.
Say what you like about the movie itself, the bikes are gorgeous. Their design conveys the sheer speed that the rider is traveling with a real sense of motion and danger, which is something that Space Marine bikes always failed to do for me.
However, the Jetek Suberei sculpt has a slightly hunched over look, which, combined with his topknot, the tilt of the bike, and the extended sword, actually works in my mind.
You probably noticed that the cyber-eagle is missing.
That’s because I’m planning on using it on Inquisitor Mikhailovich at some point, a la Inquisitor Coteaz.
Anyways, the fifth and final new model for this post is Io “Gorestorm” Sylvus, with arguably both the most involved conversion of the squad and easily the most violent wall name of the bunch (unless you count “Shredder,” a Flesh Tearer Marine who, at this point, exists only in WIP fluff and has no model form at present).
Anyways, here the Son of Sanguinius is, for your enjoyment.
Probably the most obvious change to the model is the presence of a Death Mask instead of the original head. While I cannot simply discard the original after Kraut Scientist so lovingly lauded its sculpt, I didn’t like it on this particular model, and I needed to communicate my piece of fluff that this guy was a Sanguinary Guard. Exchanging the old head for the Death Mask handled both birds with one stone.
Slightly less obvious but the source of significantly greater pride, I managed to modify the left arm with some careful cutting and some greenstuff to extend its angle slightly. Between this effort and the head swap, I manged to solve my biggest gripe with the model. The original appeared to be holding its hand flamer to its stomach and be yelling over the top of it, while mine appears to be using the flamer as it lands, an aesthetic I prefer immensely.
This guy is intentionally very different from Eryk Sylven. I wanted them to be potentially the two least similar models in the squad, almost like sun and moon. As such, where Eryk is predominantly silver, Io has plentiful gold.
For the Chapter symbol I gave him a black background, a gold foreground, and a red blood drop. This is a significant divergence from the original Blood of the Aquilla Chapter heraldry I devised for my Blood Angels army, but is much more striking and will probably be added to most of the models in it in the relatively near future.
I’m never quite sure what to do with the back side of a Jump Pack.
As you may recall, I used some Blood Angel shoulder pad ornaments on Chaplain Velthro’s helmet, which left me with two blood drop jewels left over. One was added to the twelve o’clock position of the Death Mask, while the second found use on the side of the hand flamer, as you can see above.
Personally, I think the model is one of the best in the squad, perhaps because I painted him last.
As it currently stands, here is the full squad –
With closeups because the group picture is so bad –
I’m quite pleased with them, but, as always, comments and criticism are welcome! Thoughts on my fluff are appreciated every bit as much as thoughts on my models, so be sure to include those as well!
Until next time, the Emperor Protects.
) is represented partially by Space Marine Scouts.
Killing 'Crons 