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For our campaign, we agreed to give the Raven Guard easy
access to Jump Packs (every chapter needs a gimmick, right?).
I used a triangle pattern decal for the jump pack (from Gorka Morka), and
wing decals on the shoulders (Brettonian). You can also cut
up Blood Angel or Dark angel decals. |
Even though I wasn't planning on doing any Dark Angels
Ravenwing models, I still wanted the Raven Guard to have a distinct color
scheme (not just black). I opted for a blue trim color, seen on this
scout's bolter, head band, sleeves, and knee pads. The scout, by
the way, is one of the old plastics, with an Orlock head in place of the
mohawk. |
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The other modification I made for the Raven Guard scouts
is their sleeves, taken from plastic Bretonnian Knights. The "winglike"
look works quite well and is a nice substitute for the old plastic scout's
"puff-n-slash" sleeves. |
I prefer the the old plastic scouts in some ways- they
look younger, like fresh recruits, and it's a lot easier tell them apart
from the sergeant. But the new sniper models were so nice, I had
to use them in place of the plastic scouts. A black cloak and pants,
and blue shoulder pad complete this model. |
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This converted plastic scout takes advantage of the slim
metal plasma gun that comes in the Blood Angels veteran assault squad.
By placing the arms and head back a bit on the model, it gives him a nice
"leaning" pose. |
Jump packs are a natural for the Raven Guard. Also, the "beaky"
heads of Mk. 6 armor seem appropriate (it ain't called "corvus" armor for
nothing!), and with the new plastics, you can mix head and body types easily
(like this Mk. 5 body, whose power cables look good with jump packs).
I angled the head and weapons down on this guy for the "attacking from
above" look. |
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For the Sergeant, I started with the bike riding chaplain model,
since his legs and feet have a nice pose. I added a chainsword arm
from the assault plastics, and a bird figure cut from the top of a fantasy
model's staff behind his head. You can't really see it here, but
the left shoulder pad is actually an "Emperor's Children" metal pad that
I mail ordered, since it has a nice "winged claw" motif . |
Another "beaky" head, this time on the standard Mk. 7 Jump Pack body.
I used a "grenade clutching" right arm, and added a chaos bolt pistol to
the left arm. When painting, I primarily use black (with tan drybrushing),
dark blue (with light blue drybrushing) for the knee and shoulder pads,
then white and silver for details. The shoulder bears a modified
Ravenwing decal. |
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This plasma gunner was made by adding a jump pack to a marine plasma
gun biker upper torso. I used plastic Khorne Berzerker legs
since they had a dynamic pose, and added a bolt pistol left arm to complete
the model. The grenades, pouches, wood grips, etc. give a rugged
look, especially with the Mk. 7 head. |
The new plastic Assault marine arms are really nice, and since they
have weapons available in both hands, it makes it easy to do 2 handed models
like this guy. The body on this model is actually an old metal Space
Wolf Blood Claw, since the Mk. 6 head and claw icons (like the one on the
knife hilt) are appropriate for the Raven Guard- plus they come loaded
with grenades! The shoulder clearly shows the modified Ravenwing
decals I use. |
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I like to give my standard bearers power gloves (helps 'em keep a grip
on that banner), so this standard bearer started out as the old helmeted
metal jump pack sergeant. I spliced on a plastic right arm
and matched up the metal banner that comes in the Blood Angels Assault
Command box set. The bird icon is a Bretonnian decal.
The Mk. 7 head looks fine even when mixed with other Mk. 6 models, and
takes my "golden eye" color well (yellow washed with brown). |
Here's a back view of one of the assault models. I used decals
on all the jump packs for more character. One advantage to the new
plastic jump packs (like the one seen here) is that they won't unbalance
your model like the metal ones do- especially if the model is plastic!
I tend to weight my plastic assault marines anyway, with pennies glued
under their base... |
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Aah, my Raven Guard Captain is finished at last! I started with
the new Command Squad Captain, replaced his head with Azrael's helmet (carving
it out of the hands of the Watcher in the Dark was not easy!), and replaced
his right arm with a claw from a pit slave, now known as the "Raven's Claw"
(I figure statting it as a bionic arm + power claw should do nicely).
Oh yeah, the jump pack is from Dante, minus the blood drops in the wing
icons. |
Just a bolter equipped Jump Pack guy, but I really like the way his
pose came out. The head is turned just slightly to the right and
down, and the standard bolter marine arms fit well with the plastic assault
body and legs. I like to add extra gear to the legs (like these frags)
to help balance out the massive bulk of the jump packs. Also
you can see the modified Raven Wing decal pretty clearly here. Death
from above, Aieeeeeeeee! |
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