Friday 15 April 2016

Space Marine 30th Anniversary Tribute - LE2 Imperial Space Marine


Hello,
I am sure you are all well aware that it's the 30th anniversary of the (Citadel) Space Marine on 16th April and that Games Workshop will be selling their new celebratory updated version of the LE2 Imperial Space Marine on the weekend of 16th/17th April.  The world seemed to have gone beakie mad since the leak of the Imperial Space Marine miniature and many have dusted off their old Space Marine armies and posted photos of them for our enjoyment across the internet, so when I saw the rumour of this event over on a well known rumours website there was only one thing I could do, dive into the box of heavenly delights and pull out LE2 for a painting session in tribute to my old friend.

LE2 Imperial Space Marine

I painted him up in the colours of the Blood Drinkers chapter although in the Rogue Trader rulebook they do not have black shoulder pad but I thought black suited the gold studs better. Readers who don't remember these original Space Marines before the grimdark will notice that he has a sculpted on power plant on his back that was meant to be a flight pack back then, a large laser rifle with scope and blade and weird looking laser pistol both weapons are far from the weapons of Warhammer 40,000 today.  The real detail I love about this miniature is all the vent holes and computer devices attached to his armour and If you don't keep your paint thin there is a danger of filling in all these lovely details so beware.  
Here's some photos of my efforts.
LE2 Imperial Space Marine - front

LE2 Imperial Space Marine - front

LE2 Imperial Space Marine - side

LE2 Imperial Space Marine - back

Here's the new Games Workshop version for comparison, you see see they have been quite faithful to the original although the laser rifle and pistol now appear more like a bolter and bolt pistol, I like that the helmet studs are still present, I almost filed them off as flash :D 

I will probably buy one but it is a big shame that it's plastic. £18 price tag is extremely steep for a standard miniature, I think you could pick up LE2  Imperial Space Marine on eBay for about £4-5 and I advise you pay no more and just wait for hype to die off.
Games Workshops reimagining of the Imperial Space Marine


LE2 Imperial Space Marines appearing in the Rogue Trader rulebook on page 111 with the proto Land Raider.



And some gorgeous photos of LE2 Imperial Space Marines labelled as Deep Space Mercenaries from the legendary publication Heroes for Wargames (which own 3 copies of :S)


Blade removed from the marine on the right


A head swap on the Marine on the left makes him an excellent officer.  I think the origin of the head is still a mystery.

Last Note, LE10 Power Armoured Marine was really the first Citadel Space Marine for me, it was available in my Games Workshop for ages before we got our hands on a LE2 blister but I don't recall LE10 having a blister or LE code but that's how things were back then just crazy chaos, I may have got it via the mail order trolls which just adds to the confusion as some of my memories are a bit clouded.  (I will take a photo of my LE10 for you another time)

Anyway enough rambling on, I hope you enjoy your Space Marine 30th birthday weekend it's certainly been a trip down memory lane for me, 

Q. Now dare I paint the rest of the C100 Space Marines?

A. No! far too many projects on.

thanks now get following
J

12 comments:

  1. WoNderful job on this one Jason. Those Marines really are a wonder, they have a very high level of detail and they're insanely clever sculpts given the 2 part mould constraints. I can't agree more with you on thining your paints to the max for these babies orelse one would waste plenty of lovely details.
    I don't have much of those but and given the current hype I might wait a tad more but boy these are a treat for painters (and viewers when you people like you care to paint them).

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    1. Thanks JB, the details are gorgeous if only the current marines still had this style, a very generic sci-fi style although thinking about it they probably wouldn't be popular as the take more time to paint.
      J

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  2. You did that model proud Jason, the painting really worked out well.

    It must be satisfying to have that model painted and looking better than any of the paint jobs that the model had in the RT photos :)

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    1. Thanks for the compliment, I am trying to fight the urge to paint some more, Paul :)

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  3. Very nice mate - it's lovely seeing all the LE2s comming out of the woodwork, and yours is one of the nicest I have seen! Thanks for rounding up all the others too :-) Sadly, I don't own one myself... I may have to rectify that *sigh*

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    1. thank you, I hope you track one down and don't get bitten by the renewed interest in this miniature bumping the prices up.

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  4. if anyone has one of the older ones for sale im buying ... lost mine and the new one makes all my beakies look like hobbits compared to him

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    1. There are a few on ebay at the moment, not all are listed as LE2 though if you dig deep you will find one at a reasonable price, also FB trading groups can be good for buying not much good for selling though.
      J

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    3. what groups are you referring to .... nothing on ebay is going for less that $50

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  5. $50 Australian dollars means this little miniature will pass me by.

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    1. Pickup the LE2 original mate, you will be looking to pay about £5 GBP for it ;)

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