Battle Brother Arthas WIP

[Nevermore2010]

Ok so its been awhile since i challenged myself with a good bit of modeling, and i decided to kick it up a gear with a Space Marine conversion. I always enjoy a challenging model so i'm looking forward to the hard work.

This model is not for game play, and apart from the name i havent really worked up a back story. I plan to work from this sketch by Jes Goodwin of the MK 8 Errant design. And the marines Chapter is going to be Blood Ravens, Normaly i paint Salamanders however i wanted to branch out and after painting a few test 40k models to get the paint right i know the Blood Ravens is the right scheme for me.



My thanks to Ancelyn for giving me his unused SM helmet for this project. And seeing as both Artemis and the helmet arrived yesterday i've spent my day off work getting stuck into the helmet and chest.

Helmet as it arrived,



Helmet now,



still needs a bit of work before it looks like the Mk 8's redesigned helmet but i'm hopeful. I also started on one of the more challenging parts of making Artemis stand up straight, resulpting his abdomen so its nice and straight, not to mention the armour'd covering of the cableing. I chose to cut away the entire abdomen and rebuild from scratch as i want him to look as natural as possible.




You can see i've removed the collar decoration and plan to file out the semi circle out of the collar. I've also removed the skull decoration and replaced it with a gem style chest peice. I've also cleaned up the armour beneth the chest.

The groin and belt are next on the list, converting the belt so it sits evenly on the hips and is segmented is not really a hard job but my craft knife broke today so i've had to wait before cutting out the plasticard i need to do this. And as my fingers are now sore from holding various parts whilst i saw, i'm gonna pop to the shops tomorrow and buy a new one. I'm hopeing to finish the abdomen and belt tomorrow or over the weekend (depending on Work). I'll try to finish the Helmet tonight so i have somthing to show.

[Ancelyn]

A very promising start. It is certainly an ambitious project,

[RobSkib]

Looking good so far! Keep up the momentum though, don't get disheartened - I imagine there's a crazy amount of filing and snipping involved.

[Nevermore2010]

No photo's this update they'll be coming up on Monday.
Began working on the legs today, have sawed, filed, drilled and pined to my hearts content, and finally have worked the legs into a comfortable replica of the sketch. GS happens tomorrow to resculpt the joints and with a finished belt the groin and chest can be joined then mounted on the legs. Once thats done all i'll have left to work out is just how i want the arms. Like i said photo's will be up by monday afternoon.

[horuswaspretty]

Looks great so far. I am in the process of converting an Artemis too, so I know how much hard work it is! Ill be watching this with interest, may be able to steal a few ideas 

[Nevermore2010]

I'll keep an eye out for a WIP of your artemis model then   
If you do see me doing somthing good please let me know, i can never tell if i'm actually doing somthing right or not lol

[Nevermore2010]

Ok, so i have to pull 2 shifts 2day and i'm between them now, i figgured i'd get some work done on Arthas. After all what else do we do in our spare time lol

Assembled the legs today, i think i've managed to get a fairly natural pose going on. Still needs GS and i'd prefer to do that when i havent had only 3 hours sleep. Maybe tomorrow. If i get the time then tomorrow looks to be a big day, the chest will be mounted onto the legs and the abdomen sculpted in, the legs will be GS'd and my belt will have to get finished to. In short, the next session will hopefully see the main bulk of the model finished leaving only the arms, and details left to go.  Wish me luck.









I know the left leg looks a bit odd but trust me its fine, once its GS'd it should look normal again. Also, taken purely coz i wanted to see how it would sit (going to be lengthening his abdomen for a more natual look) A photo or 2 of the torso and head on the legs.

[MarcoSkoll]

Is this one of those Marines who can't remember his left and right, so they've painted it on his kneepads?
(Nah, I know why you've done it.)

Word of warning, he'll probably look off balance like that. In a static and straight standing pose, the pelvis sits over the middle of the feet, not the ankles, so he already looks a bit funny. Add in his backpack, and he'll likely look like he's in the middle of toppling over. You probably need to bend him forward slightly around the ankles.

[Ancelyn]

Wow! Very nice work. So Alex, are you going to use brass rod to attach the torso to the legs? It will offer a more stable platform. Also, I assume you are going to file off the seam lines? An impressive start.

Edit: I would also agree with Marco on his positioning.

[Nevermore2010]

Ok boys made a few minor tweaks to his stance today. Thanks for the advice

[Rayner]

A very good start, looking forward to seeing how this goes. Clean and well thought out construction, keep up the good work!

[Nevermore2010]

Right did some GSing this morningafter work, gonna sleep and finish the legs today. Just a bit more on joints and some more detail. Then i'll move onto the chest. I've pinned it in place (sort of, lose pinning so i can adjust if i need to) so one i've got it exactly right i can just GS around the pin until i have the solid part of the abdomen done, minus a layer for detail. Then i'll have to sculpt the pipe guard. Anyway, Pics so enjoy!

[Gestalt]

Cool GS work. The skull is very good. Did you use a homemade mould or just sculpt it freehand?

[Nevermore2010]

Freehand. Dont know how to do moulds lol but i'm fairly skilled when i set my mind to it so its never been much of a problem.

[Nevermore2010]

OK! Photo's are coming, as soon as i get new batteries. BUT as an update this one is fairly big. He's assembled. fully. I'm still playing with the backpack mind. I've built a new right arm for his pose and finished the GS sculpting. I'll be interested to get input once the photo's are up 2morro.