So over at the B&C one of the members runs an unofficial conversion challenge every now and again. The latest gives participants the month of December to convert a sergeant / aspiring champion and write a short story about him. I’m still working on the story, but I completed the model tonight. I took the opportunity to have another go at making a true-scale space marine. Instead of just sticking a regular torso on Terminator legs, I decided to go one step more advanced this time. I scooped out the waist area of the torso and remolded on out of putty, plasticard, guitar wire, and bits. The result was spectacular, but it was a learning experience. And I bought a putty knife the other day, so the putty work was a lot smoother this time around. But I’ll talk about it some more after I’ve shown you the five required pictures from the contest submission:
There was too much putty on the middle of the haft…
In retrospect he’s posed rather like the Khornate Lord model from GW, but custom posing two-handed weapons is difficult. This was not exactly what I was going for, is what I’m saying.
Lots of skulls on the belt. Notice how much smoother the putty filling in the Terminator hydraulics is here. The right tool makes a big difference. I wasn’t sure about the large daemon heads for the exhaust vents; maybe I should have used the medium-sized ones.
These camera angles are awful, but mandated by the contest rules. I worry that his waist is too busy.
Was originally going to use a Skull Champion helmet, but changed my mind during the assembly. I think he has more personality without a helmet, and he is a sergeant after all.
For the contest it’s better not to submit photos of a painted miniature. It’s the conversion you’re showing off, after all. But when I do eventually paint him I’ll do size comparisons like I did the Deathwatch character.
Oh yeah!
His name is Arminius the Butcher, Chosen of Khorne. For the contest the entry had to be a codex legal unit, so I’m saying he’s a Chosen Aspiring Champion and that big axe counts-as a Power Fist. I might lose points for the base not being the correct size, but I figured since it was a true-scale miniature I might get some slack. The base is 30mm instead of 25mm, but since it’s an aftermarket wooden base probably nobody will even pay much attention to it.
I like him, and I can’t wait to paint him. I’ll post his story here when I get around to writing it. It won’t be very long, no more than “a page and a half” as per contest rules. Of the models posted so far I think he’s competitive, but there is a story about a Slaaneshi champion already posted that I think is very good. I need to put a few days thought into it, but not this week because I’ve still got stuff to do dealing with school.
Anyway, there’s my second true-scale attempt. I like him.
Reviresco!
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I do not understand “True-Scale?” Did they change scale or something?
GW makes miniatures in a 28mm “heroic scale”. They did this because regular minis are 25mm, for one, meaning theirs would be bigger than other manufacturers. Another thing about heroic scale is that the proportions are exaggerated. They did this to emphasize certain features of the minis. The third thing about heroic scale is that regular Imperial Guard minis ended up being just as tall as Space Marines. IG are normal humans about 5’10 to 6’2 or so on average, whereas Space Marines are genetically modified post-humans who are 7’6 to 9′ tall. True-scalers attempt to make a Space Marine miniature that is both more physiologically proportionate and more representative of their height when placed next to a miniature of a regular human. That’s why, if you go back and look at my first true-scale effort, I took the size comparison picture against the model of a regular human Sororitas model.
One thing I didn’t do with Arminius here is that I should have used TDA parts for his shoulders and elbows and attached the Berserker hands to those, but I didn’t have the spare parts laying about. Terminator kits are expensive, yo, and true-scaling of the type I’m experimenting with builds off a Terminator base. There is another style of true-scaling that only uses PA bits, but it requires much more extensive cutting and puttying. I’ll get around to having a go at that eventually, but my puttying skills need sharpening before I do.