Herald Claudius, Legio Ultramarine

[greenstuff_gav]

so, before the last Conclave Crash, i began working on a 54mm Legion Of The Damned trooper.
with the utter disappointment in GW's latest minis for them, i thought i'd change my focus.

as Mentioned Elsewhere, i thought i'd go for an Ultramarine.

so, i found the main body out of the bits box and set about the changing of chapters


i spent a lot of time sawing up the legs; Artemis isn't a straightforward slicing-of-the-joints to stand him up; his leg armour plate are different sizes, so a lot of rebuilding was needed.
i attempted the Halo on the shoulder pad several times, to no success


The second picture has a lot of development; i went for a Mural of a Marine facing off against a Stealer; i'm thinking that in the background, he was the lone survivor of his Veteran Squad; heroically facing off against a broodlord, receiving wounds that have, effectively, retired him from active duty into a support role; while in times of need he will fight with the rest of the First, he instead travels the path of the diplomat (or Herald as they are called)

I also rebuilt the lower jaw; a more heroic chin and closed mouth (all marines are snarling apparently :lol: ). I also added a pair of studs to his forehead; originally the background stated a Marine received one after a decade of service. We're not sure on source, but apparently this has been retconned to one per century of experience, so two helps enforce his age.
the studded strips are from a Warmachine figure and i thought they rather fit the Ultramarines' semi-roman influence.
I also followed this studded effect onto the sword's belt-scabbard. this is to allow me to do some freehand on the sword


Picture Three shows the back of the cloak; took a couple of attempts to get to a state i liked; i experimented with different methods, flat, overly folded (like the 28mm stuff), short, long, strips, couldn't get an effect i liked.
Hence the slight roughness at the top; i was fed up
More studded strips (with folds pressed in) to fit in with the front of the mini and some freehand sculpting.
i left the edges plain so that i can, once again, paint on some freehand patterning.
we can also see a press-mold helmet that sucked royally (i'm outta resin at the moment) so that was binned :lol:


so, this is where we are.
Charax pointed out how wonky the chest detail was, so that all came off and was sculpted in one piece.
the fingers went through several attempts; i tried to sculpt them as one piece of greenstuff, repose the arm and sculpt them flat on the sword, tried using small sausages of greenstuff to build the finger joints individually and so on. in the end, they're sculpted over thin brass rod and generally look OK i though.
The helmet is a mis-cast from my faulty mold, i bulked up the mouth guard to fit style of the Honour guard (without looking as daft i feel), added a plume (i may add a metal plate or an eagle to look like support at the front) and a small U to the front of the helmet.

i've still got some tidying up to do, but he's close enough to ready for undercoating that i feel happy enough to post him here

[DapperAnarchist]

An Astartes diplomat? Brilliant - perfect for Inquisitor, and there's a basis for it! The fur-wearing Fist in the Tau Codex...

It amuses me that you found it easier to make a mural than a Halo...

[Tessio Niri]

Wow that is amazing

[Molotov]

I was interested when I read your missive in the other thread (I thought the idea of a herald from the Ultramarines was a very cool one) and I think the model's really come on leaps and bounds. The ceremonial helmet and the bass-relief on the shoulderpad look very cool. If I had some critique it would be that the Chapter symbol on his shoulder seems a little small and/or off-centred, and that the purity seal on his shoulder pad seems to fold the "wrong" way - I think it would look better with green-stuffed parchment going the other way.

I really look forward to seeing this model painted, though.

[Kaled]

Impressive.  Most impessive.

It's clear a lot of time and effort has gone into that model, and it really does show.  I really love the marine vs 'stealer detail on his shoulder pad - that's fantastic work.

Are we going to see him at the ceremony for Lord Grolin's successor?  Even if it is just in a ceremonial role?

[greenstuff_gav]

aye; the Imperial Fists illustration helped inspire me, combined with the thought of an unarmed Marine used as a diplomat as opposed to a combat monster should be interesting to play with (and against ) i think

I also forgot; i've cut down the sticky-out bit that the backpack attaches to... the backpack stuck out too much for my liking!

It amuses me that you found it easier to make a mural than a Halo...

I really love the marine vs 'stealer detail on his shoulder pad

thanks! i must admit tho, the stealer is pressmolded from an Epic one 
i've been Practising Murals just to see if they could be done :lol:

Chapter symbol on his shoulder seems a little small and/or off-centred

i too think it is a little small, it's another thing i struggled with alot
not sure on off-centred tho; that is my photography i think
the Purity Seal is a small running joke with a friend of mine; all marines must have a piece of toilet paper attached somewhere it would seem!
plus at the start (before i'd decided on the helmet being carried), the pad looked a little lonely

Are we going to see him at the ceremony for Lord Grolin's successor?  Even if it is just in a ceremonial role?

aye; the Ultramarines, having freed the sector originally, would have a small presence; just to remind people and to show support for the new official
(but Adept Liwet maybe wandering around too incase people don't like the idea of a Marine wandering about or hte GMs have a Better Use for him :lol: )

a note on colours while i'm here; way back in WH40k 2nd Edition, marines were painted darker and their Chapter Colour (Space Wolf Grey, Dark Angels Green, Blood Angel Orange) was used for the highlights, rather than the actual base colours.
So, i plan on starting dark and working up to Ultramarine Blue, then a smattering of Red and Gold metallics with company colours being White to represent his attachment to the First Company

[enigma]

i look forward to his stats with a reely big gun

[Molotov]

My issue isn't with the purity seal - I'm all for Marines swathed in the things - but rather that the streamers seem to be defying gravity/going against the general "flow" of the model.

[Inquisitor Cade]

Absolutely fantastic.

I could list the thinks I like esspecially but would end up describing the whole model. But the Mural, the back of the cloak, the hand... and so on.

I'd say that some of the ultramarine symbols (upsidedown omega's) aren't perfect, though some are. The ones on the chest and the sword hilt don't curve in enough, and on the ones on the chest and the left shoulder pad both the 'wings' at the top are wedged, could you trim the tops down a bit?

[Heroka Vendile]

holy sweet mother of mercy that is fantastic work gav!!!

An ambassadorial role is exactly the type of thing a space marine should be used for in inquisitor frankly, great stuff.

[Hadriel Caine]

Adam

[Swarbie]

Brilliant. Simply brilliant.

[Robert_the_damned]

  AWESOME!

[RobSkib]

Oh Gav, how your GS skills royally poop all over mine. My only request is that you stop using flash for photographing your models    I think you do yourself a great disservice by flashing, all the effort put into your GS work is lost - I can barely make out most of the murals (the ones on the Basilisks too).

[MarcoSkoll]

Interesting that you've decided to swap the side of each arm. I like it as an idea though, it would actually make the screen on that arm readable to the marine themselves.

My only request is that you stop using flash for photographing your models.

I have to agree. If it can be avoided by ANY means, I don't use flash when photographing models.

Personally, I like to set them up with indirect light, then set my camera to an appropriate exposure time.