Recently I was sorting through a box of old models given to me by a friend when I stumbled upon this old Space Marine. I might have just passed over him but something about his hairdo and aggressive pose made me think of the Space Wolves, which in turn made me think of fellow blogger Alex of Leadballoony, who’s been working on some of these grey-armoured space barbarians recently as part of his Wolf Time project. Over the last several months Alex has been lovingly, and with outstanding attention to detail, crafting a horde of Orks and Space Wolves in order to recreate the Wolf Time campaign from the Rogue Trader era of 40k – a project that’s well worth taking a look at and being inspired by!
Anyway, given my aversion to the Space Wolves (something I could go into the whys and wherefores of but which I think I’ll save for whenever I get around to my long planned Space Wolf kill team), and my close and long-standing affiliation with the Orks, you would have assumed that this would inspire me to paint something green – all very logical but you’d be dead wrong in this case. Instead, in the kind of headlong, spur-of-the-moment charge often associated with the Sons of Leman Russ, I found myself painting my first ever Space Wolf. Plus, it gave me the chance to use some of the vast drifts of modelling snow I was given by another friend who was having a clear out and, given my tendency to base my models in a grubby, Underhive and distinctly precipitation free style, hasn’t really done very much apart from sit on the shelf making me look like I might be a cocaine dealer.
I went for a darker grey scheme than is usually associated with post-Heresy Space Wolves, partly because I think that suits a scout better and partly because I feel the baby-blue scheme is just a tiny bit naff. Throughout painting him I kept thinking that I recognised the colour choices I was making, and sure enough it’s exactly the same as the scheme I used for my first Van Saar (another project I must get around to working on again soon…).
Surprisingly, given that work remains flat out at the moment, I found the time to work on a couple of other models over the weekend as well so, all being well, I should be able to finish them off, get them photographed and string together some words about them over the next few days.
May 20th, 2019 at 7:08 am
Oh mate, thanks for the kind words, and great mini – he’s looking really cool! Grey and yellow man, who would’ve thought it. You should do more though, he looks lonely 😉
May 20th, 2019 at 10:40 am
No worries dude, keep up the inspiring work! 🙂 I think he’ll have to carry on being lonely for the foreseeable, although I would like to do a Space Wolf kill team at some point (using Primaris bodies and all the trophies and pelts they can carry!).
May 20th, 2019 at 11:40 am
That would look awesome… 🙂
May 20th, 2019 at 12:32 pm
Thanks! Well, it’s on the back burner at the moment but I plan to get around to it sooner or later (plus some Thousand Sons so the whole Prospero issue can get dragged out and raked over again!)
May 20th, 2019 at 12:37 pm
Yep that’d be very cool my friend
May 20th, 2019 at 9:46 am
Nice work, mate – and if you rebased him (or even if you didn’t) you could easily incorporate him into that Van Saar gang as a gun for hire wearing the team colours! 😉
May 20th, 2019 at 10:42 am
Cheers! You know, that’s a fine idea. He may be a little small and low tech compared to a modern space marine but he wouldn’t look out of place in ‘munda.
May 24th, 2019 at 7:15 am
Even his kit is closer to Necromunda than (modern) Marine Scout gear.
May 26th, 2019 at 12:34 pm
Yeah, the guy who originally owned him saw your comment and messaged me to say “Van Saar is the way to go!” As I’m trying convince him to play some Necromunda next time we meet up I think we have a winner!
May 27th, 2019 at 12:09 am
Sounds like all the stars have aligned!
May 20th, 2019 at 12:37 pm
Love the sculpt. He looks like Johnny Rotten hehe. Nice pint job mate
May 20th, 2019 at 6:05 pm
You know, I do see the resemblance 🙂 Wonder if the sculptor intended it? Glad you like him mate!
May 20th, 2019 at 4:48 pm
Wow thanks for introducing me to alex’s project. I’m doing something with some old orks at the minute as i just love seeing people painting old minis up nice. This guy looks great and i think he could definitly pass as a van saar ganger
May 21st, 2019 at 7:19 am
No worries, if there’s a good project on the go and I get the chance to point people towards it then I will do 🙂 I think in this era of Instagram and other social media a lot of bloggers find they get less and less in the way of views, comments etc. Now I don’t think most of us do it for the attention – otherwise I’d be posting more topless selfies (I jest – no-one wants to see that!) but at the same time the aim of the exercise is surely participatory, we share our ideas and creations with other hobbyists and as a result we inspire and encourage each other. A lot of the bloggers that inspired me when I started were the ones who spread the word about other people’s projects that had motivated them and so it’s something I try to do in turn when the chance arises.
Anyway, jumping down off my soap box, glad you like him. Was just chatting to the guy who gave him to me and he likes the Van Saar idea as well so I think it’s a winner (especially as I’ll be trying to get a game or two of Necromunda out of him next time we meet up!)
May 20th, 2019 at 5:39 pm
Hey, sometimes you just gotta wolf it out!
I heartily approve of the darker grey. The regular paints for SW have gotten a bit better over the years, but they still look closer to robin’s egg blue than anything I’d call a grey. It is kind of amusing that you subconsciously made an exact match with you Van Saar, tho!
May 21st, 2019 at 7:35 am
Aye, when Russ comes back he’s hardly going to recognise his lads in their lovely gentle-blue shades. At least Guilliman woke up and didn’t have to work out who the guys in blue were! 😀 When I get around to doing any more Wolves I’ll be sticking with a stormy grey scheme (although I’ll tweak it so it’s not exactly the same as the Van Saar – wouldn’t want the gangers and the Wolves turning up somewhere dressed exactly the same after all!) Something closer to the dark Heresy-era scheme would be more my speed.
Yeah, that cracked me up that it was such a neat match – but I guess if you paint lots of smaller gangs and warbands rather than a few big armies then it becomes increasingly likely sooner or later.
May 21st, 2019 at 2:23 pm
It is *such* a faux pas to show up at a firefight in the same colours as someone else! 😉
May 21st, 2019 at 5:11 pm
That’s what my Chaos Lord said to explain why my CSM army are allied to the Black Legion but haven’t painted their armour in Black Legion colours. I’m still waiting for Abaddon’s reply…
May 21st, 2019 at 12:04 am
Lovely work- old school and loads of character.
Cheers,
Pete.
May 21st, 2019 at 7:40 am
Cheers – there’s just so much personality in some of those old models 🙂
May 21st, 2019 at 4:00 am
Well there I was all prepared for your silent period due to your work commitments and then along comes a nice little bonus! Very nice mate and the colour scheme really works too.
May 21st, 2019 at 7:35 am
Cheers! Ah, you know I couldn’t abandon you all for too long – things wouldn’t be the same without me! 😉 Actually scored myself an unexpected day off today (it’s pouring with rain!), need to get a few desk jobs sorted first but all being well I might even get some painting in.
May 21st, 2019 at 9:54 am
Looks great, and suitably savage. I love the early scouts, they are the psychos they should be. All the scouts since have been so boring, with their sensible haircuts etc.
May 21st, 2019 at 1:22 pm
Yeah, I’ve always liked the idea of savage/feral world scouts. I remember years ago when all the rumour sites “confirmed” that Blood Angel scouts were coming soon who were going to be Baalite youths from the tech-barbarian clans there, very post-apocalyptic in appearance. Of course it turned out to be bollocks but I still wish it had been true, in my mind’s eye at least those would have been some very cool looking scouts.
May 21st, 2019 at 3:47 pm
That sounds very cool indeed, I hadn’t heard such rumours. If I had a Blood Angels army, I’d be contemplating the contents of my bits boxes now…