Today I've decided to take a look back and post a model I made a long time ago. Originally, this model was created to represent an Emperor's Champion for my personal brand of Space Marines, back when all chapters were allowed to have Emperor's Champions. But no sooner was it finished than the rule was invalidated, so he quickly became a Veteran Sgt in my command squad.
I started with the Limited edition Black Templars Marshall model. I thought it fitting that a Black Templar limited release model be converted to be an Emperor's Champion.
Many bemoaned my choice of this model to convert, but I think it was worth while in the long run. Plus I happened to have a second copy of the model, so it really wasn't that risky a sacrifice.
To start with, I chopped off the sword blade, and added the blade from the metal Terminator Captain to give the sword the heft necessary for The Black Blade. I chopped off the bolter, and converted a plastic bolter to be master crafted using some wing detail bits on the housing.
I also decided the Champion needed to be a little less bald, so I sculpted on some hair.
Notice the left shoulder pad has also been cleaned of the Templar's cross. I hand filed it to protect the little Terminator honour badge in the corner.
And to give it a more personalised and characterful touch, I sculpted a sword and laurel on his right shoulder pad to replace his normal squad livery. The sword later became the livery for what are now my Sternguard units derived from the Crusading/Questing company.
Originally, when I sculpted in detail for the power sword, I added the cables for the power nodes, but I didn't feel like that appeared like a relic of the chapter, so I shaved that detail off and painted the sword in fiery colours to give the impression that it was made from an ever burning material of unknown or secret heritage. I also decided to use a banner pole topper as the iron halo, which I glued to the backpack to finish off the model.
There's a bit of a bubo here on the left shoulder pad which I have since repaired since the photo was taken. I have also added the chapter badge to the shoulder.
Overall, I am very pleased with how this model turned out, and it was a very characterful addition to my army, leading the Sternguard to numerous victories...and the occasional defeat.
Awesome conversion/Greenstuff work and an amazing paint job to bring it all to life. Well done Star!
ReplyDeleteYour GS work is outstanding!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Here's a secret. I don't know how to sculpt. I just spit on the tool, push the green stuff around, squint my eye, and hope for the best. Eventually it looks right.
ReplyDeleteWow star...thats some excellent work, that sculpting looks so natural...you'd never know he joined the hair club for marines...but no seriously..thats a great job
ReplyDeleteOh, yes. More Marines, please. As much as I generally love your work, I especially dig your style of painting marines. It has a very artistic touch to it, a little bit of a rennaisance feel to the way how the colors, the light, and the shadows flow... without overdoing it, producing very appealing results.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kenny! Thanks Ithmaril!
ReplyDeleteI like to keep things a bit muted and more subtle in terms of highlighting. The models are 3 dimensional, and do cast their own shadows. But I recognize the need for tonal shift, and that it can really draw a person into the subject. I endeavour to keep all my highlights subtle, simple, and smooth, with an appealling pallette of colour.