Showing posts with label maxmini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maxmini. Show all posts

Monday, June 13, 2016

Heresy-Era Assault Squad

Behold: a fully assembled, kit-bashed, converted and undercoated Heresy-era assault squad!


This has been a project long in the making, with a gathering of components from a large variety of sources including (but by no means limited to):
Mk II, III, IV, V and VI space marines (both forge world and plastics, including command sets and other veteran sets);
Grey Knights;
Dark Angels;
Space Wolves;
Chaos Space Marines;
Chaos Raptors;
Khorne Berzerkers;
Eldar (mostly the bladed weapons);
Maxmini (the "iron pattern" jump packs).

The goal here was to create a 10-man strong squad where the leader has a plasma pistol and thunder hammer and is accompanied by 9 others, two of whom also sport plasma pistols. Each of them has been extensively kit-bashed and some have minor to strong conversion work applied to make everything fit together and pose well. 

They have each been individually based with a variety of urban-style rubble and mechanised junk. And they've all been undercoated in black spray paint (citadel) for preparation for the next layer. I'm torn on whether to paint them up as Alpha Legion or whether to go for some Black Shields now! The original idea was to go for just a plain assault squad. This idea then morphed in to having a unit of Ultramarine Locutarus Storm Squad stolen by the Alpha Legion under the Coils of the Hydra rite of war. Although the sergeant cannot take a thunder hammer there, I could use it as a counts-as standard weapon perhaps. And now I'm thinking of using them as Black Shields or similar. So many choices. I better get painting them up!

Given that I invested so much time in to them, I thought it appropriate to also take individual pictures of each of them (see below). This way, its easier to gain an appreciation of the level of kit bashing and posing each of them has undergone. 

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Legion Assault Squad Marine Conversion

Another day, another conversion. This time, its an assault squad member. Unlike most of my other space marines, the assault squad will not be featuring true scale legs. I feel this is unnecessary for this squad given its dynamic nature and huge range of poses that I'm going to undertake for it.


The parts are as follows:

Forge World: Torso, right arm
Khorne Berserkers: Legs
Grey Knights: Helmet
Maxmini: Jump pack
Space marines: left arm, bolt pistol, shoulder pads
Eldar: right hand, sword
Base: 32mm

Despite such a wide array of bits being used, the overall aesthetic is certainly one of a legionary, and will make a good complement for the growing 30k forces that I'm assembling. The 32mm base is something that I can whole heartedly recommend to other space marine fans. With miniatures of this scale and with such a large, dominant jump pack, the large bases allow a range of positions and poses to be readily modelled and offset with a quality scenic base.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Alpha Legion Assault Squad Sergeant

This is a wide-scale kit-bash, featuring parts from all over the place and is intended to be an Assault Squad Sergeant for a Pre-Heresy Alpha Legion force. The components are as follows:

Head: Chaos Space Marines troops;
Torso: Resin Mk.II power armour from Forge World;
Legs: Chaos Space Marines raptors (I removed the spikier bits to de-chaotify it a little bit);
Arms: Space Marine troops;
Thunder Hammer: Dark Angels (Raven Wing);
Plasma Pistol: Space Wolves Grey Hunters;
Shoulder Pads: Space Marines;
Jet Pack: MaxMini Iron Pattern.

What I'm ultimately gunning for here is a unique looking miniature which could double up as (e.g.) a Chaplain or alternative Legion Consul. Hope you like it!


Monday, June 8, 2015

Maxmini Iron Jump Pack

Background
For my growing 30k Alpha Legion army list, I am pursuing two simultaneous goals of:
(a) not leaving any model unconverted if at all possible
(b) having them wield alien, xenos, or retro-fitted weaponry.

For (a), I'm going to make an exception for obvious character models in my list such as Armillus Dynat. But for the rest of the models, I'm going to try to stick to these goals. 

Assault Marines
I wanted to construct a unit of assault marines for my 30k army list. These guys are going to be a ten man strong unit, with a mixture of weapons (probably a thunder hammer and artificer armour on the squad leader, and maybe some plasma pistols to give them a bit of extra high strength hitting). The good part of the assault squads are that they are scoring units that are troops in 30k (rather than Fast Attack selections like they are in 40k). Most of the other aspects remain the same such as having a basic load-out of bolt pistols, chain swords and grenades. 

I feel one of the more obvious things about assault marines that makes them stand out on the table top are their jump packs. They are highly synonymous with the assault marine visual impact. 

Forge World makes a series of jump packs - some for Mark IV that look a little odd (a single thruster with a couple of stabilisers) and others for earlier marks that looks a bit more traditional (a pair of thrusters). Although I actually don't mind either, I thought it might be entertaining to track down some alternatives. 

Maxmini Bits
In tracking down the alternatives, I came across a recommendation to try out some Maxmini bits. There are several on offer, ranging from the regular looking "jump pack", through to bronze wing ones that seem like a mixture of the old chaos raptor and 30k, through to silver wing ones which seem good for Blood Angels or Dark Angels armies. The ones that I ended up ordering were the Iron Pattern Jump Packs

I selected these ones as they are the ones that most obviously scream "heresy" to my mind. The rounded bolts that surround one side of the model speak of the Mark V armour very clearly, whilst the patch on the other side of them suggests something of a battle field bodge up, or a retro fitting theme that I'm looking for. 

The picture shows what five of the Iron Pattern Jump Packs look like straight out of the plastic bag. 


Evaluation
The bits are not the cleanest casting I've ever seen to be honest, but I do like the overall look and style of them. There were a number of cleaning up things to do - getting rid of some flashes and the like, but nothing too severe. But one negative for me was the apparent age of the casting. Some of the details on the reverse of the bits were not as crisp as the other bits. The fins that attach to the bottom of the vents were also not flush in a couple of instances and will require some very minor amount of green stuff to make them look good. 

Beyond that, I'm really pleased and thrilled with these parts. They will certainly make the miniatures pop on the table top and give them that 30k feeling without investing in the forge world models.

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