Welcome to the trenches

++Thought for the Day: For those who seek perfection – there can be no rest this side of the grave++

Many of you will be familiar with my work on Dakkadakka.com and The Bolter and Chainsword (among other places), but I felt it was time to branch this out to its own beast. A few years back I returned (sorta) to the Warhammer 40K universe after a long time away. What was I doing? Eh, a lot of things. Some of which was being in the Marine Corps, hence the name I go by in the 40K Community; a combination of the classic Space Marine rank, and the fact that I am a Marine Corps veteran and was a Sergeant when I was in. Clever? Maybe.

Anyway, this has been something of a creative outlet for me. I’d actually been a fairly industrious converter back in the old days, which was a lot more work with metal models, I can tell you. There’s not a chance I’d have done anything close to what I can do now with the old pewter figures. I’d always been bothered by how the Space Marine models were “too small” compared to the Imperial Guard and other figures. But it had never occured to me that there was anything that could be done with it.

Then, out of curiosity, and I can’t even remember exactly what sparked the interest, I was browsing around the Internet and stumbled across some blogs demonstrating what are known as True Scale Space Marines. I saw some techniques for converting I felt I could duplicate, and potentially even improve on, and set to work. I’ll outline the work I’ve done on the Space Marines obviously, but I’m also planning to share my other projects, branching out into the Imperial Guard*, Space Orks, Tyranids, Genestealer Cult, Squats, Tau and whatever else strikes my fancy. I own models from just about every faction in 40K at this point, including Chaos and even Sisters of Battle.

My First generation True Scale Space Marine models were a little shorter,

What to expect?

Well, obviously a lot of conversions. Whereas the project logs are a good chronological record, I intend for this site to be a more coherent vision. There will be articles explaining and showcasing the different models and poses and weapons. There will also be the narrative battle reports under the “Veteran Sergeant Plays…” tag line. The first of these was DARK VERNGERNCE, a humorous take on the campaign missions from the Dark Vengeance starter boxed set. There will also be some fluff and examinations of the Warhammer 40K Universe and its mythos.

I’ll also try to keep an accounting on What’s On My Workbench?

Skip to the good parts?
Genestealer Cult
Rogue Trader Squats!
Eldar Corsairs
Ork Conversions
Space Marine Conversions

 

2nd Generation True Scale Space Marine next to one of my taller “Upright” Ork conversions and a Tau Fire Warrior

True Scale Space Marine with paint-in-progress as a member of the Invectors Space Marine Chapter

So here we go. One guy’s lunatic journey into cutting tiny plastic soldiers into even tinier parts, following the philosophy of my project log: Leave No Model Unconverted

 

Oh, and I play X-Wing too, with modified magnetized ships of course. You can follow the adventures of Brown Squadron as my group plays the cooperative campaign, Heroes of the Aturi Cluster

Some of my ship collection. The one on the right is a TIE Avenger from the original X-Wing PC games by Mel’s Miniatures on Shapeways. I’d buy an official one if Fantasy Flight would actually make one. We usually run it if the mission draws Elite Interceptors, Advanced, or Defenders since I like it.

 

 

*Games Workshop may have renamed the Imperial Guard as Astra Militarum, but I’ll take a pass on the rebranding.