+ inload: Tutorial – building 'true-scale' Astartes part I +

+ The Emperor's work: truescale Space Marines tutorial +

+ Apologist's guide to building true-scale marines. +

+ I've been building 'true-scale' or 'art-scale' marines for a while now, and have written a few explanations of how I go about building them – generally when someone has asked for a detail of a particular element. I thought it might prove helpful to show a full step-by-step process of making a bigger marine. +

+ This tutorial will show you how to build a marine based on a Terminator. The result will look something like this:

+ What do I need? +

+ I'm well aware that this can be an expensive hobby! For that reason, this tutorial is based around the least monetary outlay possible. My hope is that you will be able to build a squad of 'true-scale' marines for minimum outlay: with just a box of Grey Knight Terminators and your bits box. + 

+ It can also be intimidating to start modelling work like this, so I've used as few tools and materials as possible. The great joy of making miniatures is getting your own ideas into the figures. For that reason, I encourage you to use this tutorial as a springboard rather than 'holy writ'. It will show you how to make a basic marine, but please feel free to vary the parts used based on what you have, to embellish and improve on the basic marine I show here. +

+ With that said, for this tutorial you will need: 

• Greenstuff putty
• Superglue
• Craft knife and cutting mat
• Polystyrene cement
• A tub of lip balm (or similar lubricant)
• A sculpting tool with a point, edge and smooth end; such as this [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+]
• The following parts from a plastic Grey Knight Terminator kit:
• Torso front
• Torso back
• Left arm
• Right arm
• Legs
• Two shoulder pads
• The following parts from a plastic Space Marine Tactical kit:
• Right hand with a weapon
• Left hand
• Backpack
• Head

+ The exact part you select will depend on the pose etc. you want; experiment and enjoy. Equally, if you have some other cool bits – a Forge World head, some grenades and holsters etc., feel free to embellish the marine. Similarly, if you prefer larger hands, substitute the hands from the Grey Knight Terminator kit. +

+ This marine will be wearing a Mark IV armour suit. Once this basic tutorial is complete, my intention is to show some tips and variations for other marks of armour. If there's a particular type you'd like to see first, please let me know in the comments. + 

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[VAL-request=OPTIONAL] + If you find this tutorial useful, please consider using this Ko-fi exloadlink to support the creation of more free tutorials. + [+exload:GRATITUDESPOOL//+]

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+ Part 1: Legs I +

+ Cutting away flared armour +

I_ The first thing we need to do is trim the legs from the sprue. The flared knee armour is the first thing to go.

II_ Carefully cut up towards the joint, taking the knife up parallel with the lower leg armour. Do not cut through the central part (with the indent).

III_ Press the knife down at the angle shown, cutting through the plate.

IV_ Gently cut away the section by repeating the cuts earlier until the section drops away. Aim to keep the surrounding area clean, revealing the shape of the lower leg armour.

V_ Repeat the process at the top; cutting under towards the joint, then near the joint. 

VI_ Continue until the top of the flared shield drops away.

VII_ Carefully cut away the 'point' this leaves at the back of the knee joint, trimming until you have a round shape as shown.

+ Removing raised surface detail +

VIII_ Use the blade of the knife to trim down the surface parallel with the armour plate. Work gradually for large areas of raised detail – trim away layers rather than lumps.

IX_ To smooth the surface, draw the back of the blade back over the area – as though shaving – to remove any slight imperfections.

X_ The hip plates need to go. Hold the legs as shown, and press the knife in to make a guide cut parallel with the top of the upper leg armour. Note that the flared knee shield has been removed here, as described earlier. 

XI_ 'Roll' the blade round the upper leg along the line of the upper armour, using the guide cut to start you, and finishing at the top of the armour visible on the inside of the leg.

XII_ You should end up with a cut like this, that follows the shape of the upper leg. Deepen the cut with gentle, gradual pressure.

XIII_ Using the instructions for cutting away flared armour (see above), carefully and gradually trim away the hip plate. It's almost inevitable that it'll look a little ragged, but aim to be as clean as you can. When trimming down the plate on the leg, use the raised 'piping' reinforcement rods on the thigh to guide you; cut the hip plate down to this depth, not down to the underlying armour.

+ This completes the first part of the tutorial. In the next part, we'll introduce the putty and start modelling. I hope this has been useful – please let me know if anything's unclear and I'll do my best to revise the tutorial. +

+ The second part can be found here: [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+]