Sternguard Veteran Sgt Aristotle

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.

Terminator Assault - Green Stuff

Well, I've gotten some progress done, so here's my update.

The models have been converted and detailed, and are now ready for paint.

I've done a bit of greenstuff work to detail the chapter badges on the shoulder pads.

I've also based them taller so that they appear bigger. They actually now stand taller than a contemporary plastic terminator, and as a result, the eye is fooled to think they are about the same size, because they look slightly bigger than they are. So mixing them with plastic terminators will be less of an issue.

Bulking out the shoulder pads with bits also helps contribute to the size illusion.

Now I just have to wait for the green stuff to dry and then get painting.

And yes, I'm painting right over top of the red paint. There is no reason to strip these models as the layers of paint already on them isn't affecting the detail. And considering the base coat on the blue marines was done with ultramarine blue spray, there will be good bite for building up, and the red was primed with Blood Angels red spray, and the foundation blue base coat I use will coat the red exactly the same as the blue.

Anyway, enjoy until next time!