Greetings Terrans, how goes it? I have something new and different to share with you today (yey!!). I fancied a break from my LoTD project & picked up a Truescale Marine that I had converted by splicing bits from the LE2 anniversary Marine on to a Primaris bod. I wanted to paint him up to include in my Daemon Ink warband, so green and gold was very much the order of the day. I also really liked his crazy experimental gun, so figured that the Mentor Legion would be a good fit for him. I went back through my OldHammer book stash, and found this beauty of an illustration in the 40k Compendium from 1989:
I wanted to follow the colour scheme & markings as closely as I could – whoever designed that Chapter badge is a sadistic sod, but I gave it a damn good go. The only real deviation from the book art is the use of gold instead of yellow for the chest & left shoulder studs, and the repeat of the Chapter badge & Tutor marking on the left leg. I also added a Chapter number to the right knee & some chequered detailing on the right hip for a bit of visual interest. I added some light battle damage, and this is what I ended up with:
I have also been clearing out my loft & found a Kill Team box that I had picked up a while back. As I was thinking about my Daemon Ink warband, painting up the ‘Elucidian Starstriders’ to join the crew was a no-brainer, so I quickly assembled the Voidsmen to paint up. I love the steampunk vibe with these guys, and was reminded of Nemo and his crew in the movie League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, (a very underrated film in my opinion!). With that in mind, I did a very light conversion on the squad leader & swapped his head for a turbaned one that came free with a modelling magazine. I also repositioned the head on the rotor-cannon guy – no big deal, but the face on look stuck out a bit too much for my taste. Other than that, I left these minis well alone – they are gorgeous as they are if you ask me! Again, I let the green & gold of the Inquisitor guide my palette, and ended up with this:
So here’s the whole warband as it stands today – not too bad eh?
I’m particularly pleased that they manage to be cohesive without being uniform. I’m also happy with how big the Marine is in proportion to the baseline humans – just what I wanted!!
Anyway, that’s all for now – I’ll be finishing of the rest of the Starstriders in the run up to Christmas, and then I might go back to the LoTD, or maybe dip into the Blackstone Fortress… we’ll see what floats my boat… Peace out dudes, stay safe out there!
Leadballoony - It's a lead thing 
Ooooh, all really nice! :-) Not being familiar with the various marks of space marine armour (I know, “who is this guy?” you’re saying) I must admit to liking the “beaky” helmets best!
Cheers mate, & I hear you – the Mk VI helmet is still the best 😉
Ooh, those are tasty!
I have been promising myself an Imperial Navy force for an age, with miniatures put aside, so I skipped these, splitting the set with a buddy and taking the Gellerpox.
I never see these without mild pangs of regret. Still, can’t paint everything, and seeing a someone like you get them done is the next best thing Alex.
Cheers dude, glad you like ‘em & I can highly recommend them if you get the chance. It occurred to me that minis like these & the Blackstone characters are very much the spiritual successors to the old Space Adventurers range – monopose oddities that are a pain to convert & a real pleasure to paint 😉
I like the marine and the kill team as well, particularly the doberman. I worked part-time at an animal shelter back in the ’80’s and favored dobermans at the time. After I was done working I’d take some of the dogs for walks, particularly any dobermans and smaller poodles, which I also favored at the time (and still do).
Cheers Ann, the lil doggie was great fun to paint – a few reference pics to get the pattern right, but very quick and easy to do 😊
You did a great job making it look like a classic dobie. I will say this about dobermans: they are an awful lot cuter if the ears aren’t cut. :)
Cheers 😊👍
Love the visors on those voidsmen, the whole squad looks great but that detail really stands out. The turbaned head works really well too, better than the original IMO (oh and I’m with on League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – that’s a cracking film). Really like the Mentor as well, he looks very much like a truescale RT-era marine, which isn’t something I’d really considered until I saw him. I was never too keen on the Mentors until I read ADB’s Spear of the Emperor and found out lots of other space marines don’t think too highly of them either, for some reason that little snippet really made me sympathise with them. Not too sure about that character who’s helping him with his armour though – looks like a filthy xenos to me! Mind you that was back in the era when you had a half-eldar holding high office in the Ultramarines, thankfully the Imperium has tightened up on these things since!
Cheers mate, yeah, those Voidsmen were a blast to paint, and I’m so pleased with the headswap – way more character IMO. Glad you’re liking the Mentor as well – I struggled with painting the white armour, but I’m pretty happy with the conversion itself… It has that oldschool vibe, but is also the right size – win/win!
Oh, and that dude helping the guy with his armour? That’s how AdMech started out back in the day ;-)
Those are fantastic- love the star striders especially.
Cheers,
Pete.
Cheers mate, they are lovely minis, so glad I could do them justice!
Love the look of that marine Alex and that green and gold on the Voidsman really works a treat, a great colour combo. The turband head is an inspired change and very multi cultural. I think that must be the first ever ethic minority and politically correct figure I have ever seen. More to the point it really works! 🙂
Cheers mate, I’m loving green & gold :-)
While I love the idea of different cultural elements and traditions surviving into the 41st Millennium, I didn’t really intend this as a multicultural thing… In 40k there is only the Imperial cult & worship of the corpse-Emperor, with anything else being heresy… Any cultural similarity with our world is purely therefore incidental. It’s a big galaxy, and turbans must be a thing somewhere :-)
Love it, those white-and-green armour plates look as good as they did back in the depths of 1989. I think that the combined rifle / flamethrower / bayonet is a perfect weapon for the sort of unhinged lunatics that the original Space Marines were described as in Rogue Trader.
Cheers mate, yeah, it’s a really nice colour scheme – white looks great with the deep green & gold, but it’s such a sod to paint… I hope I did ok with it!
Oh, and what’s not to love about Bolter/flamer/bayonet? (or a stabby-burny-bang-bang as it is more formally known) Eminently sensible :-)
Oh, I don’t know where to start! The marine is ace, you nailed it. Mentors are charming just for being Mentors, and this one turned out perfect. But the Nemo crew is out of scale in awesomeness. Really nice theme and wonderful colours. I love all of them!
Cheers dude, I’m chuffed with all of them, but yeah, the Voidsmen are my faves too (shhh… don’t tell the others!! 😉)
Nice choice of retinue! That inquisitor really doesn’t know the meaning of subtle, does he? Loving the Mentor, excellent work on the insignia.
Cheers mate, that insignia was a pain but worth it I think… pretty sure I stuck my tongue out for the ridiculously small owl face 🤔
Damn fine work my friend! You’ve made such good head way on your war-band and they look superb all standing there in their green and gold. I’ll have to come up with a suitably nasty foe for them! 😈😈
Thanks mate, in particular for providing a reason to do ‘em!! Glad you likey 😊
Alex, I too love the green and gold. Really well done and hope you will have more!
Cheers mate, a few more to come in the same style 😉
So much goodness in one blog post mate. The voidsmen are brilliant. Great head choice with the turban head and I agree, LOEG was a very cool movie. Well done on the marine too mate I love his weapon.
Cheers mate, I’ve been really pushing myself with these guys & I’m pleased – glad you like ‘em too! 😁
That green and gold combo is stunning!
Also, I love that they have a doberman with them. :D
Cheers IM – I love that dog too, so much character in the sculpt, he’s really cool & fun to pant too! :-)