29 Dec 2014
This was an awesome army that never made it to the paint table on account of a massive project task list with higher priority items. Still, it was a great build with lots of lessons learned.
Lots of work went into this force. Honestly, more than I expected or would do again for something that was originally a salvage of random marine models and a bitz burn. Yet, I can't help but feel really pumped when I look at conversions like the Sabazius kitbash or the assault marines.
I learned some big lessons on this project. My faith in The Army Painter black spray primer has waned due to worrisome overspray on the plastic models. While I admit that impatience, the cold and stuck-on old paint contributed, ultimately, I blame the spray because I've worked under these conditions before without issue. I still think it's ideal for the sharp surfaces of pewter models. And the colour primer range is top-notch on anything. There's just something odd about the heaviness of the black.
This is the current state of the Deathwatch army. I consider it an army now because it almost tops 6 full squads with 4 HQs.
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| these models are prepped and primed for paint |
Everything is done except for the priming!
24 Jan 2014
I decided to go for a little authenticity on the Deathwatch shoulders since they are such a big part of the model scheme. However, I did not have opportunity to get 60 of these rare shoulder pads. Even if I did it would have been useless because most of my marines were the old two piece casts, which have both shoulders built on.
The solution was simple and rewarding. I bought some InstaMold and followed the instructions. I even made the mold impression with a painted Grey Knight model that happened to have the desired shoulder. It did not mess up the paint job. I then balled up green stuff, pressed it onto the blank left shoulders and squished the mold over it. It wasn't perfect and required some repetition but it worked.
I then let the emblems dry before cutting away the excess with a sharp hobby knife. I tried drill sanding it down and it was terrible. Best thing to do is to clean by cutting the green stuff edges on a slant so they transition into the flat areas of the shoulder. Afterwards I dripped superglue around the emblem to hold it in place and soaked up the excess with bits of paper towel.
When all was said and done I applied liquid green stuff around the emblem to further blend it into the shoulder. That's it!
14-16 Jan 2014
Here's the gradual completion of the Deathwatch marines. Some interesting ideas came to me while I was trying to shove as many bitz as possible on these guys. The knife in the backpack is one of those that makes them feel more like special forces to me. Same goes for the ammo pouches. Ammo pouches everywhere.
When doing larger volume conversions notes are key. They help you visualize the use of bitz and make compiling shopping lists for missing parts a breeze.
Here comes the Deathwatch! Climbing in your windows snatchin' yo people up. Now that most of my other armies and models are primed and awaiting some much needed painting, I get to focus on the Deathwatch. For those that are unfamiliar with the fluff, the Deathwatch is kind of like the Night's Watch in Game of Thrones. They are marines from various chapters that are seconded to serve in the watch as special forces. Like the GoT counterparts the Deathwatch marines shed their original armour colours in favor of a black paint scheme. The left arm and left Deathwatch shoulder pad are painted silver while their right shoulder carries the insignia of their home chapter.
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| all the source bits save for ten armless marines |
A Deathwatch army offers bonus opportunities for the conversion enthusiast because it allows you to make a unified force where each character is unique in its detailing and overall feel. Plus, you get to put so many leftover bitz to work. That is never a bad thing.
What you see in the picture above are lots of unused marine bits I've been collecting with a view to crafting a small Deathwatch force. I plan to use it in my Inquisitorial warbands or as vets in other Space Marine armies. While some people go to great lengths re-posing Deathwatch marines with wire pinning I will not go this route.
You can see above that many of my stock body models are from older releases where the torsos and limbs were cast as a single piece. Cutting and posing them would be hell and I'm just looking for max-effect with min-effort. The plan, therefore, will be to trick the audience by converting just enough parts on each model to make it seem unique. I will then mix the various marine sets up in the different squads so they don't all look the same.
It won't be a mind-blowing finished product. I know this already. Still, it will be epic for the limitations of the parts. Expect lots of green stuff work. The origin chapters I plan to represent include some second tier favorites like the Fire Hawks, Iron Knights, Iron Hands, Exorcists, Red Scorpions, Iron Snakes, Sons of Medusa, Mantis Warriors, Astral Claws, Minotaurs and Carcharodons.
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