The Lord Captain has forbidden me to write down the events of our journey, but what use is a remembrancer who does not remember? I can only hope that, if we survive, this journal will be a record of victory over these traitors and not an account of the end of our Imperium.

The Emperor protects. ~J

Thursday 25 December 2014

VIII. Building on a Theme

When I first decided that the Horus Heresy was where my interest lay, I was faced with the problem of having to decide what the ordinary men and women of that time looked like. The release of Forge World's Solar Auxilia has been an absolute godsend in this regard and they have really helped me cement my ideas. I see many people online describing them as having a 'steampunk' look but to me they are definitely more 'deiselpunk'.

It's a slight distinction perhaps to some people and I think often anything with a retro look gets lumped in with 'steampunk', but to my mind the difference in clear. The Solar Auxilia would not have looked out of place in an episode of the old 1930s Flash Gordon. So, out with the 41st Millennium gothic medievalism and in with the Art Deco retro-futurism. Think Flash Gordon and Metropolis with an injection of the grimdark.

Someone on Dakka suggested that I might want to use cataphracti pattern terminator legs to build art scale marines. They were spot on. The cataphractii legs have that wonderful cog pattern running around the soles of their feet which fit perfectly with the Iron Hands. This is where I'm at;


What started as an experiment, seems to be working beautifully. I've hopefully managed to build a marine with the bulk, height and power I was after.

The Quartermaster is getting a bit of a make over too, to fit better with the deiselpunk aesthetic. I've lost track of how many months I've been working on this one miniature, but I want to get him perfect to be the benchmark for everything else I go on to create. Gone are the medieval, ruffled sleeves and the sword (which I was never happy with) is being replaced with an Art Deco looking laspistol. I'm also thinking of trying to remove the purity seal from his waist. Is it just too 40k looking? I don't know; some of Forge World's Horus Heresy miniatures do have what look like purity seals modeled onto them so perhaps I can get away with it.

Thanks for reading and a Very Merry Christmas.

1 comment:

  1. That is an excellent start to a true/art-scale marine! One of the best I have ever seen in fact. The use of cataphractii legs was a great choice, but what I think really sells it is that you extended the length of the shins. Too many people who use those legs leave them how they are stock, and they end up looking a little short, or too much like terminators. I cannot wait to see how he ends up!

    Merry Christmas to you too!

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