WIP Space Marine Chaplain & Anvil Industry bits - Crimson Minotaurs

Anvil Industry Plumes & Skull Helmets

I like the conversion parts that Anvil Industry make. I bought some of their leather strap loin clothes which I used on my Tactical Marines and they fit well with Games Workshop models. They are probably slightly on the expensive side but it's easy to justify for specific conversions. I have been looking for parts to use in a custom Space Marine Chaplain for a while now. I have seen a few tutorials online for using green stuff to modify a standard skull which I could have tried. There are also a few very specific Games Workshop heads that tend to fit Chaplains quite well. One being the Warhammer Chaos warrior champion head and another being a Khorne Berserker helmet (after cutting off the bunny ears). Both of these options are hard to get hold of cheaply (ebay sellers seem to be savvy to chaplain part woes and price them high).


Finally realised that Anvil Industry, who I had already bought products from, also sold some very appropriate looking skull helmets that look designed to fit with power armour. Given the trouble finding a good option this was a no brainer for me. I particularly like the metal banding on the back of the helmets. it's a nice touch of detail. Not so much a fan of the one with wings though I am sure someone out there will find a good use for it.

I also picked up some plumes to put on some of my characters, to fit the greek/minotaur theme. Again the plumes seem to fit particularly well with Space Marine helmets. I imagine it would be easy to correct if required as you could modify the shape with a bit of hot water dunking. I am thinking of adding one to my Chapter Master if it will fit with his Jump pack (it's quite close to the back of his helmet).

Origins in Forgeworld - the rest of the parts

I saw the shot for forgeworld night lord raptor squad in the new Warhammer: Visions magazine. The pose on one of the bodies immediately stood out to me and it sent me straight to ebay to locate the target model. It was pretty easy to find. You do pay a premium on these individual parts from ebay resellers but I find I can generally keep the cost down to below that of an actual vanilla character model straight from the GW site (£13 -ish for characters in general. Even £18 for the new space marine captain and librarian). So it seems good value to me, especially when you are putting so much of your own personal flare and creativity into a completely unique miniature. The rest of the parts are my standard Puppetswar minotaur shoulder pads, a chainsword arm and plasma pistol arm from standard space marine boxes (devastators, assault maybe?) and a choice of shoulder pads from the Vanguard box which I am still undecided on. I am going to chop up the chain sword and make a Crozius Arcanum out of a space marine banner icon top. I also have another vanguard jump pack back piece in the post but it has not arrived yet. I will be magnetizing the back pack so I can switch between a normal or assault version.

I had to chop off the shoulders which I must say was a horrible experience. It was painful to clip away at such beautifully crafted resin but it was for a good cause. Arms and shoulders can be easily replaced, I wanted the sculpt for the posing on the legs and upper body mainly.

My progress so far is to build it all together without glue, holding the parts together with blue tac for the moment. I am extremely happy with how he is looking so far. Can't wait to see how he looks with a Jump pack on too. I have also been building up a pretty simple urban base to give him a bit of height over normal marines. It's a really easy technique of just layers of chopped up sprue and resin with sand over the top. Not too much of a time sink and is quite a strong visual look.

Here is my progress:

Let me know what you think!