Back at the turn of the millennium, there was a hyper-rare Space Marine that was only available in England if you spent £500 in a Games Workshop during the Skulz programme. On a pocket money budget, it took the co-ordinated efforts of all my friends to get one. And over two decades later, here he is painted.

He’s a stellar miniature that was really ahead of his time for a number of reasons. First, he came with a solid metal base (40mm no less, when nothing larger than 25mm for infantry had ever been seen) depicting a fallen Chaos standard – at a time when scenic bases were incredibly rare. Second, he clutches a standard of Ultramar – a sculpted banner at a time when banners were paper affairs you photocopied from White Dwarf or came supplied as self-adhesive labels. Third, he was sculpted by Shane Hoyle, one of my favourite sculptors – and notable as he’s one of the first Imperial Space Marines since 1990 not sculpted by Jes Goodwin.

I wondered back in 1999 if he was Ancient Helveticus – the Ultramarines special character. But Helveticus’ defining feature is the Banner of Macragge, and this sculpted banner didn’t match the design from White Dwarf 195. Plus his wargear didn’t match the 2nd edition Warhammer 40,000 Ultramarines Codex (or the 3rd edition Chapter Approved incarnation). And critically, as you can just about see in the photo above, his left shoulder has a skull marking inside an Ultramarines’ inverted omega sculpted on – meaning his rank is more likely Sergeant than Chapter Ancient.

On the subject of shoulder marking – his right pad features a sculpted-on Tactical Squad arrow. This is a source of irritation to me, as I’ve copied the white trims of the original ‘Eavy Metal paintjob. If you’re strict about the Codex Astartes – and Ultramarines are strict – the only two Companies identified with white shoulder pad trims are First and Tenth, and neither has any Tactical Squads. I will conceptualise my version not as a Chapter Ancient (or Company Ancient for that matter), but as a Third Company Sergeant with non-standard trim markings denoting Veteran status (and will back this up by pointing to the Crux Terminatus on his left calf as further proof of Veteran-ness), holding a sacred Ultramarines standard (but not a Company or Chapter banner).

HIs release through the tertiary channel of exclusive Skulz retail incentives makes him one of the rarest Ultramarines miniatures, except for perhaps the 2004 Black Library Uriel Ventris diorama. So here he is alongside my other limited editions, marching for Macragge.

Ninjabread out!

This March I am proud to present an Ultramarines combat squad deliberately contrived to conjure up a very particular point in time – November 1990. It’s March for Macragge.

Tactical Squad Rhenus. Their presence remakes the past.

In November 1990 Space Marine design saw a step change with the release of the RTB15 Strike Force boxed set. The new age of Warhammer 40,000 was ushered in with these brand new metal-plastic hybrid Marines.

It was the transition point from mk6 power armour to mk7 power armour. It was the transition from one-piece metal castings to metal torsos with plastic arms and accessories. It was the transition from Bob Naismith, Aly Morrison and Mark Copplestone designing Space Marines to Jes Goodwin.

There are two versions of each of the Strike Force torsos – the earlier verion had rounded shoulders which made them backwards compatible with the RTB01 plastic arms, and the later version had the shoulders flattened off to fit with the 1991 redesigned arm sprue. The 1990 arm sprue from the Strike Force box was curiously discontinued – if you know why, please enlighten me in the comments.

The 1990s would go on to see the mk7 range fully rounded out with more torso designs, special and heavy weapons, jump packs, and all new accessory sprues. But in November 1990 if you wanted any of that for your mk7 marines you had to use the old mk6 pieces – which is what I’ve done on this squad. The Sergeant’s powerfist and weeny bolt pistol, the rocket launcher, various ammo packs and binox are all pilfered from the RTB01 kit.

The RTB01 rocket launcher (below left) requires a bit of fiddly modelling to get it to work on a Strike Force torso – the arm toting it is a combination of the original RTB01 arm with a Strike Force shoulder pad, and some putty for the wrist armour.

The Ultramarines project means I’m painting three blue Space Marine armies concurrently. I’d be nice to have the three projects more visually distinct, but I’ve got strong emotional reasons for each scheme individually so I will just have to live with a big jumble of blue in the display cabinet. It’s like that Eiffel 65 song. Da Ba Dee. Da Ba Daa.

I’m bursting with ideas for other Ultramarines squads, and while I’m not going to collect the entire Chapter there are 99 other squads to explore with 1990s-themed collecting and modelling ideas.

This squad makes me feel as nostalgically 1990s my other hobby – standing outside derelict Global Video stores.

I’m putting together a full tutorial for Ultramarines power armour which will publish soon. If you head over to the Patreon, there’s already a wealth of tutorials for how to paint Blood Angels, Crimson Fists, Nemesis Chapter, an Apothecary, Deathwatch, gold power armour and battered yellow armour, as well as lots of skin recipes and special freehand walkthroughs.

Coming soon, more blue Space Marines. Ninjabread out!

Buenos dias, Ninjabread readers. Today my Mexican-flavoured vintage Space Marine army gets some Adeptus Mechanicus reinforcements. An “Adeptus Mexicanicus”, if you will.

This Marine is one of the vintage Mark Copplestone designs, wearing a modified suit of Mk 6 power armour – instantly recognisable from its chest cabling and beaked helmet. What makes the Copplestone Techmarines really stand out is the wealth of bonus tech details – the toolbox, the magnifying lenses, the drillbit and equipment mounted on the belt. They’re a joy to paint.

The gnarly witch hand sculpted onto the right shoulder is the original symbol of the Adeptus Mechanicus, before it changed to the skull cog of today.

Back in the olden days, Techmarines were just basic lads with a bolt pistol, who you had to field one for each vehicle or support weapon in your army. Over the years they’ve grown in stature and are now mighty HQ choices striding around the battlefield with an exotic array of wargear and special rules. So that I can field this miniature in modern games of 8th edition Warhammer 40,000 and still have it backwards compatible for Rogue Trader, I modelled his modern wargear as a separate little drone.

The drone’s chassis started life as an upside-down 6mm Epic-scale Land Raider with the smoke launchers and sponsons sliced away. The weapon is the business end of the standard Rogue Trader Imperial Conversion Beamer, mounted on the much meatier body of a Eldar D-Cannon.

To descale it, I added big chunky rivets made from sliced down plastic tubing, and a big fat radio-control antenna with a pennant with the classic Beamer identification symbol.

In games of Warhammer 40,000 he’s been great at zapping enemies, but has yet to unlock his full potential as the army has precisely zero vehicles for him to repair. But I plan to remedy that soon with some solid lead Dreadnoughts, Landspeeders and support weapons!

Ninjabread communication complete!

Space Marine Chapter founders love a good animal name. Mythical beasts of terror (Howling Griffons, Minotaurs, Silver Drakes…), apex predators (Space Wolves, Celestial Lions, White Panthers…), birds of prey (Hawk Lords, Necropolis Hawks, Raven Guard…), venomous reptiles (Iron Snakes, Viper Legion, Salamanders…). But I’ve just painted these Deathwatch, the Chapter named after tiny insects that burrow into your wooden furniture.

They’ve come to destroy the xeno-filth of the galaxy just like the beetles destroy your antique furniture. I suppose they’re not the only Space Marine chapter named after insects – there’s Mantis Warriors. But Mantises are cool insects that do decapitation and look like samurai. Maybe my problem with the Deathwatch name is just me, growing up binging on episodes of Antiques Roadshow and Lovejoy, and Joe Public just thinks it’s kewl as it starts with “Death” and death is kewl.

The Primaris Aggressors’ poses are entirely fixed, so the closest thing you get to choice is slicing the tag off the heads so you slightly twist them, though not too much as they’ll just end up staring at the inside of their armoured hoods. Fixed poses aren’t a bad thing, if they’re dramatic, but all three are “video game character selection screen” poses. It would have been cool to them pointing their guns not at the ground, and have the Sergeant pointing dramatically. But attempting any of that requires a filthy amount of modelling work, re-engineering all the pipes and ammo feeds.

So, with no reposing potential, I stamped these Deathwatch as “mine” with a big freehand banner on the Sergeant. It’s taken from the Ironclad Dreadnought kit – just like my Nemesis Chapter Intercessor Sergeant. The design is a combination of the Deathwatch and Ultramarines chapter icons, bordered with black and white checks. I was super-keen to get Ultramarines icongraphy front and centre since both the Sergeant’s shoulder pads are taken up with sculpted details.

I picked out the Deathwatch skull in red with a white stripe (along with the skulls on the fist, leg and shoulder), echoing the Codex Astartes veteran sergeant helmet markings. He’s named Amorgaudium as it’s High Gothic for Lovejoy – a rascally antiques dealer who understands how terrifying Deathwatch Beetles are.

I’ve photographed and written up a masterclass tutorial with all the steps, paint mixes and theory for the black on these Deathwatch. If you’d like access, it’s over on the Ninjabread Patreon page, along with over a dozen other masterclasses.

The squad’s now ready to join my Nemesis Chapter army as an Auxiliary Support Detachment. What next for the army? Maybe some Troops, maybe some HQ, (Death)watch this space!

With Space Marine players jumping for joy that the new Primaris miniatures get jump heavy weapons, I’ve jumped at the chance to do a Rogue Trader era squad – when jump heavy weapons were also a thing.

Stamped out in Warhammer 40,000’s second edition, and now only just reappearing 26 years later – Space Marines with heavy weapons could also select jump packs in a number of ways in the various army lists. Squad Taurasi have done it here by being a Tactical Squad upgraded to “Cobra Squad” status in the 1988 Book of the Astronomican army list – and the highly mobile lad on the far right is toting a Heavy Bolter.

I had a lot of fun painting checks on the jump packs, to give the squad some visual interest, and distract from the assymetrically lumpen sculpting of these vintage Marine miniatures. This design of jump pack commands a high price on the collector’s market and is frequently pirated, meaning it’s taken years of patient hunting to source five genuine castings – so they’re worth lavishing the paitning time on.

Sergeant Taurasi is not actually a Space Marine miniature, but “Female Warrior Jayne” from the RT601 Adventurers range, meaning this blog counts as part of the Choose Your Own Adventurers series I’ve been doing with cheet0r and axiom. Recently, cheet0r has incorporated some of the Adventurer Cyborgs into his Necron army, and axiom has turned an Adventurer Pilot into a Buck Rogers homage – check ’em out!

To spin Female Warrior Jayne as a sergeant she’s received a thigh-mounted helmet with rank stripe markings, and an an Imperial Eagle command trinket (in lieu of an unaerodynamic back banner) on her jump pack.

Squad Taurasi pushes my Crimson Fists force pleasantly closer to the initial 1000 points goal.

SQUAD TAURASI

1 Marine Champion [9], Power Sword [7]
16 POINTS

1 Marine [8], Power Axe [6], Bolt Gun [2]
16 POINTS

1 Marine [8], 2 Power Gloves [2*15]
38 POINTS

1 Marine [8], Plasma Gun [5.5], Hand Flamer [2]
38 POINTS

1 Marine [8], Heavy Bolter [15], Targeter [5], 2 Suspensors [2*2]
32 POINTS

Basic Equipment (all models): Bolt Pistol [1.5], Jump Pack [2], Knife [0], Powered Armour [6] (with Communicator [0.5], Respirator [0.5], Auto-senses [0.5])
55 POINTS

TOTAL: 195 POINTS

Crimson Fists Painting Tutorial

If you’d like to learn how I paint Crimson Fists, I’ve photographed a Marine in between each step of the blue power armour process.

These steps broken down, with the techniques and theory behind them spelt out, the tutorial is available on Patreon.  The skills you’ll learn are transferable to all colours of power armour. The back catalogue of tutorials also covers white armour and brass armour – and will continue to expand every month.

Coming soon – some vehicles and support characters to round out this vintage Rogue Trader force. I’ve been painting a Missile Armour Dreadnought on the twitch, and also powering through the original metal Land Speeder, and collecting the glorious classic Techmarines. Stay tuned!

It was Christmas 1987, and Games Workshop celebrated the festive season by releasing two limited edition Space Marines (or “Spaced Out Marines” as the advertising called them).  I’ve painted the pair for my growing Crimson Fists force.

Crimson Fists, more like … Crimson Pisseds.

These castings came thanks to @DocRods – who’s been sending me an absolute surfeit of vintage beakies and 2000AD bits.  Thanks Doc!  A very merry Christmas to you, more of them appearing painted very soon.

The Battle Brothers have I FEEL FISTIVE and PUNCH DRUNK graffitied onto their armour.

The cigar-smoking Space Marine has a wisp of tobacco smoke sculpted onto his cheek, which other painters have misinterpreted as a casting worm to remove, or a facial scar to paint pink.

There are two varieties of plastic mk6. backpacks – identical except for the placement of the depressions where they attach to the Marine.   One hole is so high up that when mounted on the metal Rogue Trader Space Marines it looks like it’s sliding down his back – but on this one Marine it’s perfect for the drunken dishevelled feel.

The Crimson Fists stagger back from the Candlemas celebrations.  But who-ho-ho is lurking in the woodlands?

Crimson Fists Painting Tutorial

This month my painting tutorials have seen a record number of sign ups in the wake of the Golden Demon victory.  Thanks to all the new Ninjabread patrons who are supporting the photography and write ups, and also the website in general!

If you want to see these steps broken down, wth the techniques and theory behind them spelt out, the tutorial is available on Patreon. The skills you’ll learn are transferable to all colours of power armour.

I’ve brought a pile of metal Space Marines away with me at Christmas, so hopefully it won’t be too long before I can post up some new squads, characters and vehicles.  Will 2019 be the year they can reach the critical mass of a workable army?

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Time to collect a new Space Marine force!  Crimson Fists – the Rogue Trader poster boys.  These Fists are hand-picked from the 1987–1989 Imperial Space Marine ranges sculpted by Bob Naismith, Aly Morrison and Mark Copplestone.  I have a real soft spot for this era of Mk6 design.  There’s a certain je ne sais quoi to the early Warhammer 40,000 aesthetic that was lost when the Mk7 Jes Goodwin designs were introduced in 1990.  There’s a joyful bulbousness to them that reflects the early days of Rogue Trader, before it settled down into the tightly-codified juggernaut that endures to this day.

Fist in, last out – Squad Onan.

Veteran Sergeant Onan’s casting had a damaged head, and has had a new one grafted on from a Golden Heroes Supervillain.  I added the bionic eye during painting to hide the incredibly long eyeball that continued round the side of his head.  The banner is tomato puree foil mounted on a brass rod pole.  The bladed bionic arm with its super-awkward pose is entirely original – if anyone know what he’s actually meant to be doing please leave a comment.

The backpacks and other elements were sculpted with a beautifully ham-fisted assymetry.

I’ve settled on the rule of left-hands-crimson on Battle Brothers, and both-hands-crimson on Veterans.  The Heavy Bolter Marine has Veteran status to justify him wearing a Power Glove.  I particularly love this model as his nonsensical wargear (that’s illegal in all future editions of Warhammer 40,000) places him firmly in Rogue Trader territory.

Freehand Fist Icons

My rendition of the Crimson Fist icon is based on the banner from the Rogue Trader cover, but I’ve experimented with simplifying the thumb/forefinger area between Marines.  Since their armour designs differ so much I’m not going to revisit and amend any designs once I’ve settled on the final iteration.

This hobby is called: The Freehand Fists Hobby.

I couldn’t resist adding the correct weaponry icons and armour graffiti too.  I’ve got to add a Medic to the force simply so I can scrawl “FIST AID” on his armour.  I also fancy a Marine with “FIST BUMP”.  In fact I’ve got a whole list of quickfire “FIST” and “HAND” phrases ready to deploy.

Crimson Fists Grand Plan

I’ve planned 1,000 points using the Whitescars army list from the Book of the Astronomican.  This era of army list is the sweet spot for me.  Space Marines have been rounded out from the single squad type presented in the Rogue Trader rulebook, but it’s before a lot of their iconic troop types have been dreamed up – no Terminators, no Scouts, no Rhinos, no Techmarines.  On one hand they’re recognisable enough to a modern Warhammer 40,000 player, but on the other hand there’s a smattering of ideas like “Cobra squad” and “Reconnaissance squad” that have since disappeared from the background.  I love this particular early incarnation of the Warhammer 40,000 universe where the concepts are still crystallising.

SQUAD ONAN

1 Marine Champion [9], Bionic Arm [30], Bionic Eye [30]
69 POINTS

3 Marines  [3*8], 3 Bolt Guns [3*2] and 3 Frag Grenades [3*1]
33 POINTS

1 Marine [8], Heavy Bolter [15], Power Glove [15], Targeter [5], 2 Suspensors [2*2]
47 POINTS

Basic Equipment (all models): Bolt Pistol [1.5], Knife [0], Powered Armour [6] (with Communicator [0.5], Respirator [0.5], Auto-senses[0.5])
45 POINTS

TOTAL: 194 POINTS

The full force (17 Marines on foot and a Dreadnought) is partially based on the seminal Rogue Trader Battle at the Farm scenario (which was Pedro Cantor plus fifteen Tactical Marines), but I’ve spiced up the weapon choices for the sake of variety and model availability.  Here’s the first squad defending make-shift farm barricades!

Bonus Ninjabread points if you can spot where Tech-priest Theodolitus is hiding.

Sho3box has very generously lent me Skabsquig’s Skallywags for these Battle at the Farm photos.  You can see more of them here and here.

Crimson Fists parading their farm candy.

This terrain I’m using as the iconic Rogue Trader farm is going to launch on Kickstarter imminently from the excellent Fogou Models.  Mr. Fogou sent me an advance casting in return for me taking photographs like this.

Crimson Fists Painting Tutorial

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how I paint Crimson Fists, so I photographed a Marine inbetween each step of the blue power armour process.

If you want to see these steps broken down, wth the techniques and theory behind them spelt out the tutorial is available on Patreon. The skills you’ll learn are transferable to all colours of power armour.

Coming soon – another Rogue Trader Crimson Fists squad and maybe a character!