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Into the fires of battle - More salamanders

28K views 128 replies 41 participants last post by  dutchy1982 
#1 ·
This log will be a continuation of my Ashbringers (Salamanders 3rd company), the log for which can be found here:

http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=46698

I've decided to chuck up a new log as i'm intending to move away from the 3rd company, and expand the other sections of my army. Hopefully this week i'll be re-shooting photos of my force to date, and uploading them all to the Army Showcase, as it's a great feature of heresy and it'll be nice to have them all in one place.

So, the aims for this log are:

2 x scout squads
1 x vulkan he'stan
1 x sternguard squad
1 x assault termie squad

In addition i'll also be reworking my master of the forge, adding a new chaplain, a librarian and hopefully brayarth ashmantle from IA10 once forgeworld has him on sale.

These are all things i've wanted to do for a long time, but i think my skills have developed to teh point where i can really pull my ideas off now.....so here we go!

I couldn't leave you without some pics, so here's the first 2 projects being undertaken.

Scout Squad caudata:

I've done scouts before, but they were one of my first paint jobs after coming back to the hobby and i'm not really happy with them. The metal ones have been stripped and will be re-painted soon, but i also had some plastics lying around. The problem with the plastics is I loathe the heads....they look ridiculous, and I like to have all my marines either wearing or carrying a helmet. I've seen Pig Iron heads used to solve this problem in several places, so i decided to give them a try. The results aren't half bad, and i like them a lot more than the plastic scout heads.



Vulkan:


I like the official sculpt, but his pose doesn't sit well with me. I also like trying out new things and creating my own characters, so i really had to convert my own Vulkan.

I've spent countless hours looking through Vulkan conversions, and this is an amalgamation of ides i've nicked, and a few of my own ideas.





The body is sicarius, with a wolf fist chopped together with a lightning claw to make the gauntlet.



I got quite lucky in the last 2 months with the release of the FW sallie pads and the GK kits, as they filled 2 gaps in my model that I was struggling to source parts for. The staff is perfect for the spear shaft in conjunction with sicaruius (i might mount him higher up to straighten the spear out though), and once i've decided on what to use for the tip I think it'll look pretty sexy.

The next step is to complete the obvious clean up work, then start sculpting the loin cloth and mantle. I'm not sure whether the mantle will be formed from the cloak itself, or if i'll sculpt it on top like the space wolf pelts. Either way i'm a bit anxious about my abilities to pull it off well, but nothing ventured as they say.....

C&C is very much welcome, and any thoughts on the spear tip, mantle or anything else to do with these conversions will be appreciated :victory:

Unto the anvil of war!
 
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#2 ·
Looking good Varakir. I am much more impressed by the unpainted FW shoulder pads. I was hoping that the horrid pictures on the FW website was just due to a hasty paint job and that seems to be the case. The conversion is going well, I like the Pig Iron heads on the scouts, and I am really looking forward to seeing Ashmantle completed. I will be following your progress.
 
#5 ·
I like the conversions, but something's bugging me about Vulkan's staff...
In the pics in the codex it was more of a halberd, and that just looks too much like a libby's staff.
Or maybe that's just me :laugh: and great work on all the rest.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the warm reception on Vulkan, i'm really looking forward to getting him completed :)

something's bugging me about Vulkan's staff...
In the pics in the codex it was more of a halberd, and that just looks too much like a libby's staff.
You read the bit where I said I was replacing the top right? :wink:
 
#10 ·
Solid work.

The only thing that bugs me is it seems like Vulkan has a really long neck...anyone else seeing that? :search:
 
#14 ·
Subscribing to this thread too as I need all the inspiration I can get for my Salamanders company.
 
#18 ·
thats a great vulkan conversion! as a fellow lizard myself, i understand how frustrating the vulkan conversion gets... aargghhh... been trying to get mine right for a year.
 
#19 ·
hey, I'm starting (well close to finishing) my Salamander army as well. I saw all of your plog and it looks amazing! So I was wondering if you could visit my plog and advice me or give me suggestions about conversions or painting techniques... thank you in advance :D
 
#21 ·
*yawn*

Well that was a rather long break, time for updates!

Got some more prep done for vulkan this week:

Dry fit parts:


Spear:


Gauntlet:


Green stuff kesare's mantle:


I'm very happy with the spear, it looks huge and properly pretty. The flamer glove isn't too bad either, it looks fairly close to the art and distinctive enough for my tastes.

I haven't really played with GS much before, so that's been a bit of a learning curve. I'm pretty happy with the mantle, but the loin cloth just hasn't played nicely. I'm going to try and get it a bit smoother before paint goes on.

I decided to do the mantle rather than stick scales straight on the cape, as one of the key reasons for using sicarius was how pretty the cape is. I couldn't put scales straight on without obscuring the detail, so i think this is a decent compromise.

Finally here's the first of my scouts with a lick of paint:



I like this infinitely more than the regular scout models, and it'll be a pretty nice unit once they're all done. When all 5 are done i'll take some proper pictures as the light is killing some of the highlights here.
 
#22 ·
Excellent stuff, Varakir. Dare I say it - about time too!

The work on your Vulkan is pretty brilliant. I like the pose and composition a lot. (As you've probably noticed - my own conversion is much more crude and not quite as captivating...but also very easy as it involved only kitbashing plastics, so it comes out as 'nice' rather than decent.)

Anyhow, I love the feel on the scout. I may well set about chopping up the scouts I have to repose them along these lines.

I look forward to seeing future development!
 
#23 ·
When I first saw the scout conversions on the first page, I was curious how they would turn out. I must say that with the paint that figure looks fantastic.
 
#24 ·
I like the Vulkan conversion so far mate, though I agree with you that the loin cloth looks a little rough. But for a first time GS attempt things are looking great! The scout is looking good as well, the helms worked out nicely.
 
#25 ·
Vulkan is finally ready for primer, and hopefully will get paint on him this month :victory:

I also assembled some of my sternguard, and got some more GS practice along the way (which i really need...)


Re-posed marine with converted bolter


Heavy flamer chap with HUGE backpack. Not sure if it looks stupid or awesome, but that fits with most of my army :grin:
 
#26 ·
Slowly getting there with Vulkan. haven't had as much time to paint this month as i'd like, but he has been fun to paint. I cheated with the loin cloth in the end, and just covered it with scales. Still looks a bit rough, but better than it did.

I'm not sure about what freehand to do on the cape - thinking about flames but not sure how they will turn out on a red background. I'll probably do some tests, but if anyone has some examples to share that would be appreciated!




 
#29 ·
nice work all 'round mate, I am taking a lot of inspiration from this Plog for my own Salamanders.
 
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