Death of a Rubricist

+ inload: Primarch WIP +

+ Last night I arrived home to find the parts for my new version of Guilliman had arrived, so I got stuck in. My older version (above) depicts Guilliman during the Hypon campaign (a home-made campaign set at the height of the Great Crusade), but with Forge World's release of Primarch models, I've had plans to build a new version using those as a basis. 

+ Forge World doubtless have plans for their own version of Guilliman. I'll likely get a copy when he's released (such... fanboy...), but before he appears, I'm really keen to get my current vision of Guilliman down before I'm influenced by Forge World. The older version was built before the Ultramarines had had any coverage in the Horus Heresy series, so I was very free indeed. This was great in creating my own character, but now there's a bit more information, I'd like to see where I can take the character with a little more direction. +

Old and new Guilliman

+ This shot shows that I wasn't a million miles off the 'official' size, which was interesting to note. When I built the first version, that size was about the maximum I was happy with given the limits of the parts available – particuarly the head, which is superhero comic proportions (i.e relatively small) and which, even taking into account the exaggerated scale of GW/FW's miniatures, is verging on slightly pin-headed. The access to new Primarch-scaled parts meant that parts should be a lot easier to source and scale comfortably. +

+ The conversion is based on Ferrus Manus' torso on Vulkan's legs. These are two of the largest Primarchs in terms of both background and model size. Guilliman doesn't have a huge amount of description in terms of size except for being slightly shorter than the Lion, stockier than Lorgar, and smaller than Angron (and by extension, Vulkan and Ferrus). However, given the slightly larger size of my marines, I think the basic structure works. 

+ Nevertheless, I've trimmed down Vulkan's legs to remove a little of the bulk, and used Ferrus' torso – slightly slimmer than Vulkan's, an effect I've exaggerated by extending the waist. This should help to give my version of Guilliman an upright but slighter silhouette than both of the donor figures. 

+ When converting, I like to hide the stock models as much as possible. This was part of the reasoning behind using Vulkan's legs: they're in a more neutral position than Ferrus' very distinctive hammer-swinging pose. This neutral pose meant that it was easier to heat and bend them into a different position – in this case stepping upwards. This is complemented by the torso, twisted in the opposite direction to both donor models to further hide the source. My pal Bob_Hunk pointed out that Guilliman is about 'stepping up to responsibility', rather than looking down on his men – a description I thought really captured his character, so I'm glad I was able to show this through his pose.

+ Similarly, I've carefully trimmed away almost all of the Legion detailing from both donors. This will be replaced with Ultramarine-themed material; probably mostly during painting, as I'm more confident there than with sculpting. +

+ This shot shows the Primarch next to one of my marines. I think the height and proportion work quite nicely. One thing I'm not sure about is the shoulder pads. Do I give him the segmented ones shown above, the iconic round pauldrons of Space Marines (shown below), or something more elaborate? I'm also unsure on asymmetry. I could have different shoulder pads, but I'm erring towards identical ones to get that idea of 'perfect balance' which I think is important to Guilliman. I'm open to ideas, so please let me know what you think. +

+ These shots show a little of the remaining detailing. Vulkan's kneepad had XVIII (his Legion number) on it. I trimmed the numbers off, then replaced them to read XIII (the Ultramarines' legion number).

+ The back of the legs shows the similarity to mark II Crusade Armour. I love this detail. The sculptor's love for the background really shows through. +

+ As described, here's the round shoulder pauldron. They ones I use as standard on my marines fit quite comfortably here. They're arguably a bit oversized on my marines, but I like the broad surface they give, and the great bowl evokes the round shields of Ancient Greek warfare, which I really like. One big plus for choosing this pauldron option is that the size difference between Guilliman and his men gets an obvious reference. I'm leaning towards these, perhaps with the addition of some leather strapping hanging down to draw the eye and increase the apparent size. +

+ I've retained a lot of the lightning bolt decoration, as this seems to be universal amongst the Primarchs. In altering the models to create Guilliman, I think I'll have to be careful to make sure he ends up both as decorated as his brethren, but not over-elaborate. Guilliman strikes me as inspiring, but practical. +

+ So, there's Guilliman so far. If you've got any thoughts on his armament, pose choice of pauldrons, or anything else, please let me know. +

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+ Finally, don't forget the Vessel of Ages project – see inload C: +[noospheric inload link: http://apologentsia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/inload-c-post-one-hundred-you-may-have.html +