Leave No Model Unconverted: A Tall Scale Battle Company in the making
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These look great. I've thought of doing a little bit of Eldar previously, but never been a big fan of the basic models, (Dark Eldar look better to me than regular Eldar, more stylish and look more fun to paint.) If I ever did do Eldar it would be a corsair force, after seeing the Forge World upgrades. However, I like your take on the corsair design much better.
I'm definitely going to be watching what you do with these.
+1 rep and a cookie for your ingenuity.
I'm definitely going to be watching what you do with these.
+1 rep and a cookie for your ingenuity.
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328 Posts
Yeah, I've never been a fan of Eldar (or elves in general). So it took a while to figure out a way to get excited about them other than thinking of ways to use their corpses as decorations, lol.
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A bit of an aside to the project, since I've been mostly working on Xeno-heresy not allowed on this forum, but something I worked on. For those who enjoyed the original "Veteran Sergeant Plays... Dark Verngernce!", while my buddies played Advanced Squad Leader, I was busy assembling the Space Marine models from Deathstorm.
This is a cool kit, the Death Company Marines. For my taste, they're way too busy-looking and have too many details, but the basic kit is actually well posed, with some interesting bits that allow you to have decent looking miniatures without much scalpel time. In the end, I only ended up having to do some light conversion (arm rotations, weapon swaps) on a couple of the models to get some decent poses. I swapped in a couple of Sanguinary Guard legs I had lying around that I wasn't planning on using to give a couple models some more dynamic poses, given than they all have melee weapons and jump packs.
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My buddy was not excited about the idea of painting this pose.
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Though when we realized he looks like he's about to do a Macho Man Randy Savage elbow drop (but with a chainsword)), it was kept. The thought to paint him up tie-dyed was dropped as too difficult, however.
So you can look forward to Veteran Sergeant Plays... Derthsterm! in the near future. Potentially with scenarios from other Shield of Baal books.
This is a cool kit, the Death Company Marines. For my taste, they're way too busy-looking and have too many details, but the basic kit is actually well posed, with some interesting bits that allow you to have decent looking miniatures without much scalpel time. In the end, I only ended up having to do some light conversion (arm rotations, weapon swaps) on a couple of the models to get some decent poses. I swapped in a couple of Sanguinary Guard legs I had lying around that I wasn't planning on using to give a couple models some more dynamic poses, given than they all have melee weapons and jump packs.
My buddy was not excited about the idea of painting this pose.
Though when we realized he looks like he's about to do a Macho Man Randy Savage elbow drop (but with a chainsword)), it was kept. The thought to paint him up tie-dyed was dropped as too difficult, however.
So you can look forward to Veteran Sergeant Plays... Derthsterm! in the near future. Potentially with scenarios from other Shield of Baal books.
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328 Posts
So it's been a while since I've done any real work on Space Marines (Deathstorm doesn't count because they weren't mine and weren't scaled up, just some minor conversion work.)
I've had the idea for this model floating around in my head for a while. Probably a year. I'd just never actually gotten around to starting it because I burned out on building Space Marines for a while. I wanted an badass Apothecary. But I wanted him to look like he was a Marine first, and since I don't play, it didn't matter what he was armed with, and I like Bolters.
Did you ever worry your Apothecary wasn't badass enough?
Meet Senior Apothecary Donatus, 5th Company, Invectors.
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He will be getting an apothecary backpack shortly, but leaving it off makes the details a bit more apparent. I put the tubes behind him to better protect them from incoming fire, and gave him a Company Champion's shoulderpad (befitting his rank as a Veteran and providing extra ballistic protection while he works on fallen Marines)
You can also see where I shortened up the saw and reductor to look like they've been retracted (so as not to get in the way and to protect them when not in use). The narthecium comes from the Grey Knight Terminators kit (my buddy wasn't using it), obviously with the hand and arm separated, and then mounted on the upper portion of a regular Tactical Squad arm. The legs come from the Death Company kit (my buddy was willing to trade for some Sanguinary Guard legs for his DC). He's also the first model without an aquila torso. Can't remember where the head came from. I picked up a bunch of heads with antennas because I planned to use them for character models, sergeants and squad leaders. I think it's from the Land Raider Crusader kit. I don't much like the Apothecary head with the lamp on the side of it. Looks pretty impractical. This one looks like it's got all kinds of diagnostic equipment on it. Maybe a laser or something to help cauterize wounds. Let your imagination run wild. I just know it looks cool.
It's been so long since I worked on Marines I couldn't find my small drill bit, so his bolter is unattached, but eventually the barrel will get drilled out and converted to a Cerceus-pattern.
I've put him into the classic "advancing at the alert" pose that's not only one of my favorites, but popular among readers of the blog. This was accomplished, by, as usual, a clip and flip of the wrist.
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He still needs a bit of cleanup, but this is effectively his final form. I was quite pleased that it came out more or less like I wanted it. This character ends up in a lot of the fluff that I put together for this project's back story, so I wanted his miniature to look every bit the part and do him justice.
I've had the idea for this model floating around in my head for a while. Probably a year. I'd just never actually gotten around to starting it because I burned out on building Space Marines for a while. I wanted an badass Apothecary. But I wanted him to look like he was a Marine first, and since I don't play, it didn't matter what he was armed with, and I like Bolters.
Did you ever worry your Apothecary wasn't badass enough?
Meet Senior Apothecary Donatus, 5th Company, Invectors.
He will be getting an apothecary backpack shortly, but leaving it off makes the details a bit more apparent. I put the tubes behind him to better protect them from incoming fire, and gave him a Company Champion's shoulderpad (befitting his rank as a Veteran and providing extra ballistic protection while he works on fallen Marines)
You can also see where I shortened up the saw and reductor to look like they've been retracted (so as not to get in the way and to protect them when not in use). The narthecium comes from the Grey Knight Terminators kit (my buddy wasn't using it), obviously with the hand and arm separated, and then mounted on the upper portion of a regular Tactical Squad arm. The legs come from the Death Company kit (my buddy was willing to trade for some Sanguinary Guard legs for his DC). He's also the first model without an aquila torso. Can't remember where the head came from. I picked up a bunch of heads with antennas because I planned to use them for character models, sergeants and squad leaders. I think it's from the Land Raider Crusader kit. I don't much like the Apothecary head with the lamp on the side of it. Looks pretty impractical. This one looks like it's got all kinds of diagnostic equipment on it. Maybe a laser or something to help cauterize wounds. Let your imagination run wild. I just know it looks cool.
It's been so long since I worked on Marines I couldn't find my small drill bit, so his bolter is unattached, but eventually the barrel will get drilled out and converted to a Cerceus-pattern.
I've put him into the classic "advancing at the alert" pose that's not only one of my favorites, but popular among readers of the blog. This was accomplished, by, as usual, a clip and flip of the wrist.
He still needs a bit of cleanup, but this is effectively his final form. I was quite pleased that it came out more or less like I wanted it. This character ends up in a lot of the fluff that I put together for this project's back story, so I wanted his miniature to look every bit the part and do him justice.
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1,665 Posts
nice. Im possibly stealing this idea for my own apothecary (when i get around to it)
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328 Posts
Thanks guys. Glad you like him. Like I said, a lot of time went into planning this guy out, and it was important he ended up looking like I wanted him to.
People have asked for a tutorial on how I do these, so here goes. I tried to take some pictures as I went along with the apothecary.
So, how exactly do I achieve these Tall Scale or True Scale Space Marines? Here's a handy tutorial:
In the end, you'll have turned a 10 part model into a 40 part model. Sound like fun?
My two primary demonstration models will be this Apothecary here:
![]()
And the Section Leader with wrist-mounted auspex (closed).
![]()
Step 1: Preparing the models
Well, the first thing that needs to be done is to decide what you want to do with the model. In the case of the Apothecary, I liked the posture of his legs, so I was only going to be extending them, rather than a full rebuild. In the case of the section leader, I was using the old "squatting" legs from the old Tactical Squad kit, and wanted to do a fully new pose with him. This meant cutting the feet free of the model.
With these projects, I'll typically work in batches. You'll need to allow time for all the components to dry and set once you've glued them anyway, so doing them in groups of 4-5 may cut your downtime significantly. You can see with the ones below, I've removed their feet. The difference in the poses you can achieve can be dramatic since the foot will no longer be anchored to the leg in a static position.
![]()
However, if you're using specialized legs, or if you're simply happy with the pose the legs are currently in, you can leave them alone. In the case of the Apothecary, his legs came from the Death Company kit, and I was happy with the way they were standing. So I moved on to the next step, which was inserting plastic card spacers.
I use 1mm thick card on the legs. One in the shin, one at the hip. If you're keeping the pose, you might want to do a mid-thigh cut, but I've found I like the waist cut better. It gives a lot more options later.
![]()
For the torsos, I use 1.5mm thick plastic card, cutting it into strips to line the outside of the torso "ring". Cut/file the outside edge smooth, then, using a rounded-tip hobby blade, scrape the inner side into a rounded shape.
Adding another small square inside (or some putty) will allow more contact points for gluing the torso to the legs later. This will add length to the torso. Now, I add a lot of gear to my Space Marines because aesthetically I like them that way. If you aren't going to be adding pouches and grenades, you will need to invest in some Green Stuff to model out their belt lines.
Step 2: Re-assembly.
Carefully, using hobby snips or a hobby blade, cut the excess down around the legs. Then, even more carefully, use the blade to trim it as close to the contour of the leg as possible. Once this is done, you can file it smooth if necessary.
Once you've shaved down the plastic inserts, you'll want to use either Green Stuff or Liquid Green Stuff to fill the gaps.
![]()
Now to prepare the pose. What is your Space Marine doing? Is he aiming? Is he patroling? For the Apothecary, I wanted him to be holding his gun at the "alert", which means with the muzzle pointing slightly downward, but ready to be brought up for firing. I felt this gave a certain "attitude" to the model. So how do we accomplish this with the lackluster arms provided in most Space Marine kits? With a knife of course.
Any time you're posing a Space Marine (or any model for that matter), you want to be considering range of movement. At the very least, try the pose yourself. If you can't do it comfortably, why would the Space Marine? If you're trying to impart a swinging motion with a melee weapon for example, try a couple swings while watching yourself in the mirror. Make sure you know how that weapon is used in real life too. You swing a top-heavy weapon like an axe or a hammer much differently than you swing a sword which is balanced closer to the grip.
My Apothecary looks like this:
![]()
So, how do we get there?
Sorry I didn't take any in-progress pictures of the arms. That was an oversight I'll correct in the future. For now, I'll get as good of shots as we can for it. Fortunately I couldn't find my small drill bit for the barrel so the boltgun isn't glued in place yet.
Here's a basic diagram of the arm cuts.
![]()
First, we're going to clip the arm just below the "under shoulder" that the shoulder pad attaches to. Once this is done, we can rotate the arm to do whatever we want, from an aiming pose, to the "alert" pose. This cut is fundamental to pretty much all the Space Marines I do, and is the base of posing. Think about your own body. Almost all of the directions you can move your arm start at the shoulder.
![]()
Second we're going to clip the wrist and flip it around so that the wrist soft armor is sloping up, instead of down. Sounds confusing, but an upward slope will obviously give us a downward angled hand.
![]()
Now, since we've fundamentally altered the way the right hand sits, the left hand isn't going to sit flush on the bolter. So it needs to be cut free and rotated. You can see this best on the Section Leader:
![]()
The Apothecary doesn't make a great example because I had to cut the whole forearm off that model to replace it with the Narthecium anyway. Here it is on another model, and you can see the far more drastic angle that the cuts achieved.
![]()
And there you go. You've now made a 30-40 part model:
![]()
As an aside, I wrote The Brief And Humorous History of the Horus Heresy on my blog. You should check it out:
https://veteransergeant.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/a-brief-history-of-the-horus-heresy/
Thanks for following along.
People have asked for a tutorial on how I do these, so here goes. I tried to take some pictures as I went along with the apothecary.
So, how exactly do I achieve these Tall Scale or True Scale Space Marines? Here's a handy tutorial:
In the end, you'll have turned a 10 part model into a 40 part model. Sound like fun?
My two primary demonstration models will be this Apothecary here:
And the Section Leader with wrist-mounted auspex (closed).
Step 1: Preparing the models
Well, the first thing that needs to be done is to decide what you want to do with the model. In the case of the Apothecary, I liked the posture of his legs, so I was only going to be extending them, rather than a full rebuild. In the case of the section leader, I was using the old "squatting" legs from the old Tactical Squad kit, and wanted to do a fully new pose with him. This meant cutting the feet free of the model.
With these projects, I'll typically work in batches. You'll need to allow time for all the components to dry and set once you've glued them anyway, so doing them in groups of 4-5 may cut your downtime significantly. You can see with the ones below, I've removed their feet. The difference in the poses you can achieve can be dramatic since the foot will no longer be anchored to the leg in a static position.
However, if you're using specialized legs, or if you're simply happy with the pose the legs are currently in, you can leave them alone. In the case of the Apothecary, his legs came from the Death Company kit, and I was happy with the way they were standing. So I moved on to the next step, which was inserting plastic card spacers.
I use 1mm thick card on the legs. One in the shin, one at the hip. If you're keeping the pose, you might want to do a mid-thigh cut, but I've found I like the waist cut better. It gives a lot more options later.
For the torsos, I use 1.5mm thick plastic card, cutting it into strips to line the outside of the torso "ring". Cut/file the outside edge smooth, then, using a rounded-tip hobby blade, scrape the inner side into a rounded shape.
Adding another small square inside (or some putty) will allow more contact points for gluing the torso to the legs later. This will add length to the torso. Now, I add a lot of gear to my Space Marines because aesthetically I like them that way. If you aren't going to be adding pouches and grenades, you will need to invest in some Green Stuff to model out their belt lines.
Step 2: Re-assembly.
Carefully, using hobby snips or a hobby blade, cut the excess down around the legs. Then, even more carefully, use the blade to trim it as close to the contour of the leg as possible. Once this is done, you can file it smooth if necessary.
Once you've shaved down the plastic inserts, you'll want to use either Green Stuff or Liquid Green Stuff to fill the gaps.
Now to prepare the pose. What is your Space Marine doing? Is he aiming? Is he patroling? For the Apothecary, I wanted him to be holding his gun at the "alert", which means with the muzzle pointing slightly downward, but ready to be brought up for firing. I felt this gave a certain "attitude" to the model. So how do we accomplish this with the lackluster arms provided in most Space Marine kits? With a knife of course.
Any time you're posing a Space Marine (or any model for that matter), you want to be considering range of movement. At the very least, try the pose yourself. If you can't do it comfortably, why would the Space Marine? If you're trying to impart a swinging motion with a melee weapon for example, try a couple swings while watching yourself in the mirror. Make sure you know how that weapon is used in real life too. You swing a top-heavy weapon like an axe or a hammer much differently than you swing a sword which is balanced closer to the grip.
My Apothecary looks like this:
So, how do we get there?
Sorry I didn't take any in-progress pictures of the arms. That was an oversight I'll correct in the future. For now, I'll get as good of shots as we can for it. Fortunately I couldn't find my small drill bit for the barrel so the boltgun isn't glued in place yet.
Here's a basic diagram of the arm cuts.
First, we're going to clip the arm just below the "under shoulder" that the shoulder pad attaches to. Once this is done, we can rotate the arm to do whatever we want, from an aiming pose, to the "alert" pose. This cut is fundamental to pretty much all the Space Marines I do, and is the base of posing. Think about your own body. Almost all of the directions you can move your arm start at the shoulder.
Second we're going to clip the wrist and flip it around so that the wrist soft armor is sloping up, instead of down. Sounds confusing, but an upward slope will obviously give us a downward angled hand.
Now, since we've fundamentally altered the way the right hand sits, the left hand isn't going to sit flush on the bolter. So it needs to be cut free and rotated. You can see this best on the Section Leader:
The Apothecary doesn't make a great example because I had to cut the whole forearm off that model to replace it with the Narthecium anyway. Here it is on another model, and you can see the far more drastic angle that the cuts achieved.
And there you go. You've now made a 30-40 part model:
As an aside, I wrote The Brief And Humorous History of the Horus Heresy on my blog. You should check it out:
https://veteransergeant.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/a-brief-history-of-the-horus-heresy/
Thanks for following along.
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2,512 Posts
You are insane. And I love it.
Great tutorial. That's a huge amount of effort to every marine...
I have shrunk and simplified your process... it's not quite as perfect, but works well for larger numbers.
How many have you finished now? And do we get to see a painted one?
Great tutorial. That's a huge amount of effort to every marine...
I have shrunk and simplified your process... it's not quite as perfect, but works well for larger numbers.
How many have you finished now? And do we get to see a painted one?
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3,694 Posts
agree on both.
Joined
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328 Posts
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328 Posts
The first part is certainly true.
So, it's been basically a year. I was really not busy for a while. I moved to a place even closer to the beach, and the hobby was all downhill from there, haha.
Then we started playing X-Wing mostly. Other than magnetizing all my ships, there's not much I can do with that game, conversion-wise.
But, then, suddenly the clouds parted, a ray of sunlight pierced through from the heavens, and Genestealer Cult returned to the Warhammer 40K universe.
So I cut them apart.
More on that project when I have the time to construct a coherent long-form post for it.
Oh, and this:
“We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.” - H. P. Lovecraft
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328 Posts
I've been away for a bit. So busy, so little attention to my forum posts. You guys can always follow me on Facebook, as it will update any time I do anything new. I don't post a ton, so it isn't like I'm going to spam your page. Heck, with Facebook's new algorithm, you'll be lucky to see anything from me at all unless you like/comment on my posts (then Facebook decides you "care" enough).
https://www.facebook.com/LeaveNoModelUnconverted/
Picture dump: .
Oldcrons! with converted gauss weapons and re-posed legs and arms.
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More Eldar Corsairs
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Space Skaven! Proof of concept test models made from Stormvermin, and a variety of 40K weapons. My buddy loves Skaven, but can't seem to get into Necromunda.
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Mordheim
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X-Wing (well, a B-Wing, technically)
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Genestealer Cultists
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A "platoon's" worth of "Upright" Space Orks
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Even started putting a few base-layers of paint on Spess Mahreens
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https://www.facebook.com/LeaveNoModelUnconverted/
Picture dump: .
Oldcrons! with converted gauss weapons and re-posed legs and arms.
More Eldar Corsairs
Space Skaven! Proof of concept test models made from Stormvermin, and a variety of 40K weapons. My buddy loves Skaven, but can't seem to get into Necromunda.
Mordheim
X-Wing (well, a B-Wing, technically)
Genestealer Cultists
A "platoon's" worth of "Upright" Space Orks
Even started putting a few base-layers of paint on Spess Mahreens
Joined
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633 Posts
I love the idea of 40k Skaven in Necromunda. There would totally be mutant ratmen living in the polluted, radioactive depths of the Hives.
A thought on their weapons though. I think their weapons would look a little more varied. Like pulling in orc shootas and cultist, (Chaos & geenstealer) along with some regulation flashlights, err... I mean, lasguns.
Other than that always fun to see an update from you.
A thought on their weapons though. I think their weapons would look a little more varied. Like pulling in orc shootas and cultist, (Chaos & geenstealer) along with some regulation flashlights, err... I mean, lasguns.
Other than that always fun to see an update from you.
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61 Posts
Haha, another fan of having models step up onto bits of sprue 
.
Are you working on all those armies at the same time?
.Are you working on all those armies at the same time?
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328 Posts
I figured Necromunda mutant rats would have scavenged Imperial weapons. Since they'll likely get used for Kill Team too, I gave a couple Kroot rifles too. I put models on sprue because eventually they should have real bases, and the sprue helps hold them in place and keeps them from breaking off the bases.
What are armies? You talk like I actually play 40K ever, lol. We play a little bit of Necromunda and Mordheim, but 40K games are few and far between. I just like cutting up figures and re-posing them to look cooler. I mean, I'd like to play more 40K, but it rarely happens. In the mean time, I just like having cool looking models that are unique to my collection. Because my favorite part of the hobby is seeing what people can create with their imaginations.
I was working on my own variant of Kill Team based closer on 2nd Edition rules mixed with some of the better WW2 games like Chain of Command and Battlegroup Kursk, but it's a massive undertaking to get it all balanced. I'd love to just play some platoon-sized games of 40K where movement and terrain matter again and there aren't any death stars or giant robots etc. So all of my "armies" are built using that idea.
I already have about 200 or so IGuard (Steel Legion and metal Cadians) and some tanks and transports. I'll end up having roughly "platoon" sized forces of Orks, Tau, Necrons, Eldar Corsairs, and Genestealer Cult when I'm "done", along with some vehicles for each. Then I can just play with my friends, since I can supply all the models, heh.
What are armies? You talk like I actually play 40K ever, lol. We play a little bit of Necromunda and Mordheim, but 40K games are few and far between. I just like cutting up figures and re-posing them to look cooler. I mean, I'd like to play more 40K, but it rarely happens. In the mean time, I just like having cool looking models that are unique to my collection. Because my favorite part of the hobby is seeing what people can create with their imaginations.
I was working on my own variant of Kill Team based closer on 2nd Edition rules mixed with some of the better WW2 games like Chain of Command and Battlegroup Kursk, but it's a massive undertaking to get it all balanced. I'd love to just play some platoon-sized games of 40K where movement and terrain matter again and there aren't any death stars or giant robots etc. So all of my "armies" are built using that idea.
I already have about 200 or so IGuard (Steel Legion and metal Cadians) and some tanks and transports. I'll end up having roughly "platoon" sized forces of Orks, Tau, Necrons, Eldar Corsairs, and Genestealer Cult when I'm "done", along with some vehicles for each. Then I can just play with my friends, since I can supply all the models, heh.
Joined
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328 Posts
I've been kind of industrious. My Counts-As Deathwatch using actual Deathwatch parts are taking shape. The Mark 8 kit is cool. Far better proportions and a little taller than the standard kits, so it takes less extension to have them at the same scale. Models on the right are Mk8 bodies, the one on the left is a standard Mk7 from the old kit.
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I threw together some more Fire Warriors with "Shorty" Pulse Rifles. I really like the Breacher Helmet. Wish I had more of them. The new Tau Fire Warrior kit is a massive improvement over the old one. They're still not the most exciting models in the world, but they're way better than they used to be, and the kit actually has some interesting bits on the sprues.
Dark Gray are new, light Gray are old.
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Oh hey, look, I have a medal. Hadn't noticed that before, but apparently I've had it for a while, lol.
I threw together some more Fire Warriors with "Shorty" Pulse Rifles. I really like the Breacher Helmet. Wish I had more of them. The new Tau Fire Warrior kit is a massive improvement over the old one. They're still not the most exciting models in the world, but they're way better than they used to be, and the kit actually has some interesting bits on the sprues.
Dark Gray are new, light Gray are old.
Oh hey, look, I have a medal. Hadn't noticed that before, but apparently I've had it for a while, lol.
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