Secret Santa - Unity B4 Heresy into 2021

Hi everyone, Happy New Year! Wow what a year 2020 was. It was a difficult year for most and unsurprisingly all the members from the UB4H Team have been kept busy one way or another.


Despite all of the struggle of 2020 we’ve been able to remain in good spirits. Some of the releases from Forgeworld to support the miniatures from Book Nine: Crusade have been great. As for us well GG has been ploughing along with his AT projects and painting, we even managed to get a cheeky between lockdown game of AT which was great fun and definitely good for morale.

 King Fluff has been keeping the Horus Heresy train going by running weekly hobby hang outs on zoom and bringing the community together despite being separated all around the country.

 Myself (Tylar) I’ve been continuing to attempt to 3D print the world and therefore I have some great stuff to show you coming up in posts soon. So what do we have for you as we begin the Tyler year? Well we have a Secret Santa we ran for a few of us in the community and some exciting news as we move forwards.

 

Secret Santa

The rules were simple, the miniature would be a fairly simple HQ choice with a set of ‘requests’ from the perspective recipient. The idea was to use whatever you could from your bits box to complete the mini and then pass on the respective new commander for them to paint and base as required to fit their army. GS work, 3D printed parts, 3rd party parts etc were encouraged but not necessary.

 

Some of us added Legion specific armour extras or shoulder pads and the results were pretty great. The following is a break down of the minis and what was produced by the guys taking part.

 

Matt 


Knowing it was Iron warriors I was making for it had to have 2 things - bionics and a weapon that doubles as a tool. So I raided the bits box and found a 3rd party cybernetic arm I have had for years and altered a piece of signum-style part that would double for the cortex controller.

Add to this the thunder hammer, rules wise should make a group question taking him on, especially if surrounded by automata.

As he will be part of a loyalist force his armour had to be devoid of heretical iconography, and I always felt mk3 or mk2 suited the 4th legion best.

He also has a plasma pistol, as no doubt he will face others in artificer armour in his games ahead.

Thematically  it makes sense to put the hammer in his cybernetic limb, as the mechanical grunt, in my opinion, would provide a better swing, as well as help him repair armour units as it should be able to incorporate dendrites into the limb.

 

King Fluff

HQ/Unit type: Praevian

Legion: Imperial Fists

Parts list: Mk3 legs, Skitarii backpack, Techmarine servo skull, Command squad box helmet, Plastic Power maul arm, FW power maul weapon upgrade, FW Imperial Fist shoulder pad, plastic shoulder pad, Grey knights bare head, Rapier gun crew Mk3 torso

Special parts used: Primaris Intercessor left arm, Microart studio bionic leg

Inspiration: I had the Grey Knights head lying around for a while and looking like it’s plugged into a cortex controller it was the perfect part for the build. I was also inspired by the cover of Cybernetica.

WIP notes/general build: All the parts went together very well considering there’s potentially 3 different scales at work between 2 different companies. A little green stuff was required where the resin leg met the plastic leg. Both heads were only attached via blutac to allow for magnetising by the recipient.

Pitfalls issues if any: Cutting off the maul head and replacing it with the resin one balanced the model out more. Also shaving down the inner lip of the resin shoulder pad to make it match the plastic one.

What you’re most pleased with: The bare head looking down towards the wrist control pad.

Morgan

HQ/Unit type: Vigilator - Süderbataar “The Pragmatist”

Legion: White Scars

Parts list: Space Marine Devastator legs, Mk2 White Scars Torso, Mk3 Comms backpack and helmet,Mk4 white scars shoulder pad & mk4 plastic pad, Mk4 arms

Special parts used: “The Negotiator” anti-materiel rifle

Inspiration: I wanted to make something like this guy for a while. All the marines across all my forces have been mono-armour mark so mixing things up a bit and having lots of different parts working together has been a project I’ve wanted to tackle for a while. This is reflected in his name as “The Pragmatist”. Will stop at nothing to get the job done and is not concerned with the niceties of what convention dictates. If a Mk4 pad and a Mk2 torso is more efficient for the mission, then so be it.

WIP notes/general build: Pretty standard build to be honest without any major issues. I thought there’d be more scope for issues and gaps with mixing the armour marks but it was pretty straightforward.

Pitfalls issues if any: The damn rifle!! My delivery of the rifle still hasn’t come so my exodus model needed to donate his (hence the paint!) The recipient has requested and “embarrassingly big sniper rifle a Vindicare would be proud of” and I think this fits the bill! It didn’t come off as easily as I’d hope but it went back together ok. Looks a lot more intimidating than the stalker-bolter I used originally.

What you’re most pleased with: That I got it together and delivered in time for Christmas!

Alim

HQ/Unit type: Chapter champion / Praetor / Delagatus - Metatron

Legion: Dark angels fallen or lion loyal

Parts list: Plastic mark vii champion bits, blood angel helmet, dark angel helmet wings/mk via jump pack

Special parts used: Green stuff press moulds (dark angel terminator torso/legs/shoulder pad, dark angel combat shield/icon x3, Khârn arm plate, watcher in the dark, ruins floor plate)

Inspiration: Champion standing over vanquished brother. Could be either loyal to lion or Luther. Watcher in the dark is present in the victor's mind's eye, judging the outcome of the duel. Hence is clear resin and should remain so.

WIP notes/general build: Lots of green stuff to make mk vii more 'heresy'. Unfortunately the armpit greave location prevented a true upward sword point. Khârn arm greaves are to represent victory in xii Legion pits

Pitfalls issues if any. Nearly botched bolt pistol drilling. Wrapping Green stuff icon on right leg was challenging. Getting shield green stuff level was difficult, making vanquished corpse was hard due to rotation of terminator torso relative to legs

What you’re most pleased with.  Green stuffed shoulder pad icons. Watcher in dark. Only a half made cast on purpose and I think it represents the idea fully, should be clear after everything else painted. Magnetised diorama base

General points. I'm not a fan of resin, hence I make as much out of plastic as possible. Wasn't sure if dark angels had storm shields, so have not glued the made one to defeated model. Haven't attached spare chaos sword so as to leave to choice of recipient. Wasn't sure if the Eagle on the sword hilt was canon, but a Dark Angel player assured me it is. 

GG

HQ/Unit type: Rogue Trader militant (x3)

Legion: N/A

Parts list: Rogue trader model from black stone fortress;  Astra militarum scion captain; eldar dire avenger exarch diresword; eldar striking scorpion exarch scorpion claw; 2 x heresy era plasma pistols; wood elf glade guard sentinel head; solar auxilliar strategeos body and head; empire greatsword legs, grey knight cuirass.

Inspiration: Had a rummage through my bits box.  Tried to look on online but there are very few references for a rogue trader model, my by bits box was my only limit on my inspiration however I wasn’t happy with my first attempt. As the scion  jacket made my first attempt look like a heir fleek from allo allo. 

WIP notes/general build: My third attempt saw me use the only non astartes model in my bits box.  The addition of a Striking Scorpion Claw I thought quite esoteric and exotic. I wanted a cowled head as I imagined this chap not a ‘shoulders back, chest puffed out’ gentleman but more a back alley arms dealer, conducting his nefarious business in the shadows. I rounded off the model with a plasma pistol because who doesn’t want to plasma pistol and a few Mechanicum bits to make up his backpack look a little  more the part.

Pitfalls issues if any. My original idea was to acquire the rogue trader model from the blackstone fortress game and kit bask that.   But after seeing it and not thinking I could improve on such a lively model I decided to raid my bits box. Very few non astares era models exist so this was quite a difficult project.  

 Cai


HQ/Unit type: Librarian

Legion: Thousand Sons

Parts list: Chaos champion in terminator armour force staff, chaos librarian horned helm, thousand sons scarab occult champion armour and storm bolter

Inspiration: As he would be running with sekemet troops I thought the scarab armour would look best the librarian/sorcerer has not befallen the fate of many scarab occultist and is still alive in there armour and as thus has been granted the winds of change by the greater deamon himself.

WIP notes/general build: 2 heads just in case the horned one is to chaosy

Pitfalls issues if any. The model vanished into the abyss before being posted but a plea with the lord of change rematerialised the miniature.

What you’re most pleased with. The pose as if they are mid spell

General notes. The bass is built using bits of sprue to look like broken temple grounds with a imperial guard sacrifice.

Ben P. aka The Prince

HQ/Consul: None specified, general Line Officer.

Legion: World Eaters

Parts List: MkIII Command Squad Body/Arms, Plastic MkIII bare head, MkIII assault Melta Bomb/Bolt Pistol, Phobos Chain Axe(s), Phalanx Warder Power Axe, WHF Empire Knight Cloak, Dark Eldar Wych Flail

Inspiration: Most of the idea came from Angron's design mostly, especially for the dual axe and fur cape look. Carried through that into a general 'Istvaan III/Early Heresy' look.

WIP notes/General Build: First stop was having a look at the general World Eaters art/surveying a few WEater players I know for their take on what would be cool. Big chain axe was the response, so I knew I had to do something extra there. Did toss up using Khârn, but instead felt the more bulky command squad gave a more brutish feeling. Once that and the pack of chainaxes had been brought from FW, it was a matter of sticking two axes together and finding a suitable haft (used spare resin sprue in the end).

The head was a suitably angry looking face from the box (no nobility here), and then made sure to add in the very obvious nails (its not a WEater otherwise!). Once the core was down, it was a matter of making him 'feel' right. A cape is always a good symbol of office, but it couldn't be a fancy cloth one. So out came the fur, trimmed to fit around the power pack. A wych's flail, minus the wych, made great belt ornament, alongside a melta bomb (always handy). For the off hand it only seemed right to have the maximum possible axe, and the Phalanx warder axes have a great hooked look to them - perfect for a World Eater! Decided to magnetise his main hand too, that way granting plenty of customisability and options for Alim.

From there it was just iconography time. (This was also the pitfall - my greenstuff work leaves a bit to be desired!)

Most Pleased: Getting the magnets the right way round? Also the overall feel of the model just pleases me, a bulky, heavily armed, assault cadre commander at the front of his men.

Tylar


HQ/Unit type: Delagatus - Tigarius Solum

Legion: Ultramarines

Parts list: Resin MkIII legs, plastic MKIII torso with a MKIV belt, MKIV Power Fist, MKIII holstered bolt pistol (Right thigh-hidden by the shield), MKIV Backpack.

Special parts used: 3D Printed - UM shield, Gladius(Stuck to back of the shield) UM head and shoulder pad.

Inspiration: The recipient requested someone that was likely to have fought in ZM actions and had been through the wars a bit. I thought about the fighting during the battle over Calth and the follow up actions on the Macragge's Honour. I used this as the inspiration for a Consul who had likely led boarding actions or was potentially adept at repelling them.

WIP notes/general build: The build was pretty straight forwards to be honest. I pinned the right arm at the shoulder and wrist to ensure the shield arm would hold. The rest went together very easily I think a clear vision based on the original brief form the recipient made that easier for me.

Pitfalls issues if any. Picking a weapon option.

What you’re most pleased with. The overall look and pose I think the parts all came together really well.

General points. I’m very fortunate to have a 3D printer so it’s great to be able to use that to my advantage, but the best part for me was the fact in was building it for someone else.

 

Exciting News - As I said I’ve spent the last 8 months really getting into the 3D printing world especially for the hobby. As a result we’ll be bringing you some interesting content on this and I’ll be giving away some great Horus Heresy related items as we grow the community and we’re going to get you guys in on it!

We hope you like our little foray into a quick turn around Christmas kitbash. I’d like to thank all the guys from the King Fluff events group who took part, hopefully next year we can include more people.

Keep your eyes peeled for more content coming your way soon.

Only In Death Does Duty End

- UB4H Team

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