| Q: What was the motivation
to create an entire army based on the story
of the Imperium’s darkest hour? Was
it because of the artwork being created
for the Horus Heresy collectible
card game or has this been in the works
(or at least an idea) for a while now? If
it wasn’t the illustrations by Adrian
Smith and others, did they at least help
you create a cohesive look for your force? |
|
 Dave:
After my last 40K army, the Genswick
33rd (heavily influenced by
the
British and American armies of
the First World War), I was
keen to
do another army that would provoke
an immediate, visceral reaction.
The artwork of Adrian Smith was
certainly the launch pad I needed
to focus this project. The Legio
Custodes (now the Adeptus Custodes)
have long been of interest to many
40K goobs whether they play Imperial
armies or not, so I figured this
army idea would get some good reactions.
I knew that I couldn’t build
an army that matched the Sabertooth
artwork identically without thousands
of hours of work, so I tried to
focus on giving a good impression.
|
|
| Q: Could you give us
some sort of time frame of how long this
army took to convert? How about the time
spent painting it? Which part of the army-building
process did you enjoy the most? |
|
Dave: I started
working on the army immediately
after Conflict: Baltimore
in March and had most of the conversions
and painting done by the time I
moved into a new home in late June.
As far as time spent converting
and painting these guys…I’m
usually really good at knowing exactly
how long a squad or model has taken
me to paint, but this army threw
all that out the window. Some nights
I’d paint five models from
start to finish, others I’d
spend 4 hours converting one or
two guys. In a way, it was really
refreshing to just “go with
the flow.”
The most enjoyable part of the
process was, without a doubt, the
converting. There are four or five
new pieces of art from Sabertooth
that I’ve seen that are begging
to see time on the gaming table.
I’m sure I’ll be heading
back to work on a few more models.
|
|
| Q: Could you list the
ranges you used for bitz for your Custodes
conversions? What made you choose these
ranges or bitz? |
| Dave: The bulk
of the models use bitz drawn from
the Space Marine and Chaos Space Marine
ranges, but the bitz for the “Companion”
Custodes include the helmet from the
High Elf Classic range (Spearman Front
Rank 2 – 021006102) and the
halberds from the Grey Knight Terminator
Brother Captain Nemesis Force Halberd
(phew, what a mouthful!). The rest
of the pieces are crudely sculpted
from green stuff or carved from plasticard.
The reason I chose these bitz was
for ease of conversion and the impression
they gave. Are the helmets for the
“Companion” models exactly
the same as the artwork? No, but they
do create that immediate recognition. |
|
| Q: Can you tell us how
you created the large rivets on the
shoulder pads and leg armour of the Space
Marines in Heresy Armour? Or some of
the
special helmets seen on the Mk3 and Mk4
Space Marines? How did you create the
flowing
tabards? How did you use plasticard in
the conversions and what thicknesses
gave you
the best results? |
|
Dave: This question
is huge! I made the large rivets
on the shoulder pads and leg
armour from
brass pins found at HobbyTown USA.
Tucked away in the model boat
building
section, these pins were just the
right size and easy to work with
(at least easier than dressmaking
pins...er...nevermind). They
were
12-mm Brass Pin-Nails (LAT8108),
and they fit the bill nicely.
I
drilled holes at appropriate points
and slipped the trimmed-down
studs
into place.
The Mk3 and Mk4 helmets were quick
approximations of the old models.
I browsed through the Classic Space
Marine range and did a quick search
of fan sites to get plenty of ideas.
These helmets are predominantly
cut-down Mk6 and Mk7 helmets sculpted
back into shape with green stuff.
The loincloths and cloaks were
made from green stuf.
Once the green stuff was flattened
out, I cut it in the shape I
required,
glued one end to the legs or the
backpack, and teased the green
stuff
into place with a modeling tool.
For the plasticard pieces, I used
a variety of thicknesses. I used
the thinnest card you can get for
the Roman-style strapping and an
average thickness for the shoulder
pad shrapnel guards. I say buy a
bunch of plasticard and have fun
experimenting.
|
|
| Q: What tools and non-Games
Workshop items did you use the most (i.e.,
hobby knife, pliers, guitar wire, etc.)? |
| Dave: The usual
suspects: hobby knife, half-round
file, sculpting tools, pin vise drills,
paper clips, green stuff, Ziploc bags,
guitar strings (the wound strings
are great for piping and conduit),
and lots of plasticard. |
|
| Q: How did you set about
converting your tanks, especially the Horus
Heresy-style Land Raider? Did you use
any resin Forge World pieces or was it all
scratch built? Tell us how you painted the
statue to look chipped and battle-damaged. |
|
Dave: The Rhinos
were pretty straight forward –
in addition to the Forge World
doors and front, I added smoke
stacks
from the Empire Steam Tank variants.
For the top hatches, I cut stylised
eagle and aquilla motifs and had
fun carving new scrolls from plasticard.
Cutting these objects isn’t
too difficult but requires a bit
of care.
I designed the Land Raider as
a mobile shine. The remains of a
great hero of the Imperium rest
in the sarcophagus-style shrine
atop the Land Raider. I built this
structure from plasticard with additional
stripping cut to match much of the
standard Land Raider design. I constructed
the statue of this mighty hero of
the Imperium from the Crusader Henchman
from the Witch Hunter range. I replaced
the shield to match the shields
carried by the Custodes from the
new Horus Heresy card art.
I hacked at the statue with a pair
of clippers and painted it as a
stone statue that has seen its fair
share of battle damage. A spider
web of lines creates the impression
of cracked stone, and I reinforced
this effect by the sharp edge highlighting.
|
|
| Q: What was the most
difficult part about building this army? |
| Dave: The most
difficult part about building this
army was knowing when to put down
the conversion tools and pick up the
paint brush. Seriously – I could
convert Legio Custodes models till
the cows come home, but painting all
that gold...that's a lot of work! |
|
| Q: Could you please explain
to us how this heavily converted army works
in game terms and on the tabletop? What
rules would the Custodes army employ? |
| Dave: To get the
army that was depicted in the Sabertooth
artwork, I had to do a bit of shuffling.
Essentially, it’s a Space Marine
army with Grey Knight allies. The
Chaplain, Terminators, Dreadnoughts,
Tactical Squads, Rhinos, and Land
Raider are all from the Space Marine
list, and the “Companion”
Custodians represent a Troops squad
of Grey Knights and a Fast Attack
Squad of Grey Knights (Deep Striking,
of course). Basically, if it has a
halberd and a tall, plumed helmet,
then it's a Grey Knight. |
|
| Q: Will you be sculpting
a model to represent the Emperor himself
for the fun of it? Do you think you’ll
ever make some of those snazzy Custodes
on jet bikes? |
| Dave: It’ll
take a lot more practice to get me
near a model of the Emperor. Of all
the models you don’t want to
screw up, he’d have to be at
the top of the list. However, I’m
really keen on those jet bikers. I
can include them in the list as Space
Marine bikers, especially now that
all bikes can use the Turbo-Booster
special rule. |
|
| Q: Do you think you might
try to convert a Chaos Space Marine army
to look as if it’s fighting in the
same time period? |
| Dave: I’m
an Imperial player at heart, so I
think I’d like to do an army
of Thousand Sons or Death Guard –
the ones who didn’t turn their
back on the Emperor (right away) but
fought their traitorous brethren to
the bitter end. |
|
| Q: What future projects
can we expect to see from you? |
|
Dave: I’m
super-psyched to build an Ogre army,
and I’d like to do a couple
of new Space Marine armies, and
of course there are about eight
Imperial Guard projects to choose
from. Watch this space for more
in the future!
|
|
