Thursday 17 August 2017

Space Marine - Mark 1 Thunder Armour


Hello, something a bit strange for me today, if you are a twitter follower you may have noticed that one night I got a little bored and wanted to do something a bit different so I dug out a resin (Finecast) Space Marine in Mark 1 "Thunder Armour" from the Armour Through the Ages set that Games Workshop released about 3 years ago, why a Finecast and not the metal equivalent? well I wanted a quick start minimal prep, as you are well aware resurrecting your Oldhammer miniatures takes time, stripping, cleaning up oxidation, etc, etc I wanted an immediate start and prepping this one took about 5 minutes.

I believe this was designed by John Blanche, sculpted by Jes Goodwin and released in 1990. There were two versions of this miniature, this one is armed with a primitive bolt gun and sword, the other a Power Axe/Pole Arm type weapon.

I really wanted to achieve a Techno-barbarian feel and went with Imperial Roman palette, plenty of browns and tans while leaving the shoulder pads black to tie him in with the small Flesh Tearers project I have on the backburner.  I was going to stick on a proper old school metal back pack but it looked to small and didn't sit right so I went with the one supplied and as it was also resin it took 2 minutes to magnetise with tiny rare earth magnets, this modification made it a lot easier to paint. 

Space Marine in Mark 1 "Thunder Armour" - front

Space Marine in Mark 1 "Thunder Armour" - back


Space Marine in Mark 1 "Thunder Armour" - magnetised power pack

Background from White Dwarf 129
More Thunder Armout fluff from the Lexicanum:

Mark I plate was developed by the techno-barbarian factions that dominated Terra prior to the Emperor's ascendancy. When the Emperor began his conquest of Earth, the "Thunder Warriors", the proto-Space Marines which formed part of his retinue, were armoured in the same way as the soldiers of the other warlords. A thunderbolt and lightning symbol was displayed on the breastplate of warriors loyal to the Emperor - this was the personal badge of the Emperor in those days, predating the Imperial Aquila which only became the symbol of the Imperium much later. The emblem gives the suit its common name – "Thunder Armour."
Thunder Armour was not an enclosing suit and offered no life support functions, being unnecessary while the fighting was confined to Terra and the similar environments of Luna and Mars. This early armour was produced on a completely local basis and as such individual suits varied heavily and their exact designs were often a matter of personal taste.
The main part of the armour is the massive powered torso which encloses the chest and arms. Coiled energy cables beneath the armour plating transmit power from the power pack on the back to the arms, greatly increasing physical strength by a factor of between 3 and 4 times. Since fighting on Terra during this period was primarily close-quarters, the strength of a warrior's chest and arms was of paramount importance. The legs of this armour Mark are typically not power-armoured at all, but are enclosed in tough padded breeches. The best-equipped warriors sometimes wore armoured greaves and armoured boots, and such additional protection was common amongst the Thunder Warriors.
As with all powered armour, the power supply is contained with a notably bulky back-mounted unit, most of which is taken up by cooling systems designed to prevent the entire armour design from overheating.
Although it is very rarely used in the 41st Millennium, some suits of Thunder Armour are maintained for ceremonial purposes.

This ancient style of armour is noticeably noisier than later Marks. 


Space Marine in Mark 1 "Thunder Armour"

First advert featuring the Mark 1 "Thunder Armour" from White Dwarf 133


Games Workshops re-release as Finecast 'Armour Through The Ages'

Space Marine in Mark 1 "Thunder Armour" - Variant 2

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this miniature.
J

Wednesday 9 August 2017

Citadel Judge Dredd Perps Part 7

Borag Thungg Earthlets,
Today we have more scrotnig miniatures from the 1985 citadel Judge Dredd miniatures range, as usual these miniatures are mostly from the JD3 Perps and Muties code with the occasional ugly and Slaughter Margin campaign miniature, I was really trying to discipline myself to get the Perps and Muties painted before moving on but have already become distracted by the Dark Judges.  I hope you enjoy my latest work as there are some really cool miniatures here, any photos with a blue background were taken in my office by my mate Andy who is a wildlife photography nut, we have been trying to apply his skills to miniature photography, let us know what you think.


First up we have 'Rhode Island Redfrom the JD3 Muties code, this miniature is the holy grail to many a JD miniature collector, I am lucky enough to own two, I have seen these go for £25 each on eBay such is the demand, this hideous mutie appeared in the story 'The Fear That Made Milwaukee Famous' which featured in the Judge Dredd Annual 1981 so hunt that one down if you want to know more about him. I painted him in the colours of the comic strip,  lots of good paint jobs of this miniature about, like this one here on Sho3box.



Rhode Island Red - front
Rhode Island Red - back
Rhode Island Red

Second up we have 'Two-Heads' another miniature from the JD3 Muties code a 1985 sculpt and also appeared in the story 'The Fear That Made Milwaukee Famous' which featured in the Judge Dredd Annual 1981.


Mutie Two-Heads - front
Mutie Two-Heads - back


Two-Heads


Next we have 'Citizen 1' from the Slaughter Margin range sometimes referred to as 'Citizen Hetfield' probably as he bears some resemblance to Mettalica's James Hetfield with his late 1980's haircut, another great addition to my non-combatant miniatures, I ended up going full goth on this one and think it works.
Citizen 1/Citizen Hetfield - front

Citizen 1/Citizen Hetfield - back

Citizen Hetfield

Next we have the last of the three Wreckers in the range, 'Wrecker' from the story 'The Wreckers' in Progs 374-375. Here are his mates.



Wrecker - front

Wrecker - back

Wrecker

Here we have 'Kneepad Jones'  a JD3 Perp, the name is really familar I am sure he was in a story but can't find anything on it so i guess I am mistaken although he could of been in a daily star strip, this miniatures in made up of a lot of bits and pieces of others, which came first who knows? I love his outfit totally Mega-City One.


Kneepad Jones - front

Kneepad Jones - back

Kneepad Jones


Next is 'Jason Basin' sometimes mistaken for 'Perpolito' due to the grainy images of the original adverts, I am quite familar with his name has this was one of the names my mate would scream at me in the playground as children :D
I took a lot of photos of this miniature to show off his amazing outfit and appears to have a problem remembering is left, right, up and down as both kneepads and boots are labelled with 'L' and 'R', his helmet has 'UP' on it and arms have up and down arrows, bizarre there must be story in there.


Jason Basin - front


Jason Basin - back

Jason Basin - front

Jason Basin - side

Jason Basin - side

Jason Basin - back

Jason Basin - front

Jason Basin

Here we have a Ugly 10 one of the many Uglies variants (I nearly have them all) which I painted up in the early 1990's, rebased him to my current favourite scheme and jazzed him up a little.  Sculpting/Moulding around his outreached hand was a bit rough so I filed it and painted it up as a Mega-city Cred.

Ugly 10 - side


Ugly 10 - front
Ugly 10 - back


And lastly we have another miniature from the Slaughter Margin range and another miniature which I painted up in the early 1990's, rebased and tidied up, it's quite tough work painting over gloss varnish, this one is 'Vid Crew Camera', a later sculpt/variant he has the body of an Ugly with the head of Kneepad Jones, I am still looking for 'Vid Crew Sound' to complete my collection if anyone out there has him.


Vid Crew Camera - front
Vid Crew Camera - back


Thanks for stopping, Florix Grabundae

Oh and don't forget to follow me on Twitter @fuljason for some live action from the paint station.
J