Pre Heresy Word Bearer Test Model Done

A post, at long last.

I spent the first part of the day working on a street barricade terrain piece, and ended up making all the wonderfully sculpted sandbags look like poo with my inept paint job. So, frustrated, I put that work aside for the time being and worked on another long neglected project. I'm glad I did, for I finally finished my very first Pre Heresy Word Bearer Space Marine. I'm happy with how he came out, so now I've got a decision to make as to whether to continue doing something with this, or returning to another project like Beastmen or Flesh Tearers.



Here's a closeup shot of the two areas on this model that I sculpted myself. As you may or may not recall, a while back I sculpted my first ever shoulder pad icon. If you're interested in seeing the "before", check the post out here. Well, I made a mold of said sculpting job, and the painted pad you see here is the final result. I'm actually quite happy with this, seeing it all painted. It really does look like a flame springing from the pages of an open book. In case you didn't know, this was the Legion icon of the Word Bearers when they were still loyal. A friend of mine is working on a new version of the shoulder pad that I'm guessing will look a lot better, but I have to say that if that falls through, I could certainly live with my own home-brewed efforts.

The other bit of sculpting you can see in this shot is the Greek-style hair crest. This model is the sergeant for an assault squad, so I thought I'd spruce the ForgeWorld resin head up a bit with a nice horse hair crest. For a DIY effort, I'm happy with it. I'll repeat this sculpting for any other squad sergeants in the future.



Here's a shot from the model's right side. I actually got one of the thick GW decals to adhere properly to the shoulder pad- much rejoicing! I took a sponge with some black paint and dabbed on the decal a bit to distress it.



Finally, here's a closeup of the jump pack. The pack itself is from Chapterhouse Studios. They look great, and are reasonably priced. I gave them a simple paint job to match the armor, and used a little MIG Black Smoke to soot up the lower pack of the pack.

I like how this guy turned out, so we'll see what happens. In the meantime, it's back to the hobby room...