Crimson Fists Imperial Space Marines

We're going back to the future with this post!

Your eyes do not deceive you, these are the classic original Space Marines from 1986(!) redone as 3D prints. As you can imagine, these made it into my Etsy basket at roughly warp 10 as soon as I laid eyes on them.

As there's no way I can get all 10 into one focused photo, I'm showing them two at a time.

Here's the advert for the original metal models. Note that you could get the lot for under six quid, about $11 back in those days.

When it came to deciding which chapter to paint them, I was originally going to go back to my teenage years and do them as Ultramarines. But then I remembered the classic Rogue Trader cover from 1987:

Behold the image that sold a squillion plastic beakies. The Crimson Fists were also one of the original 12 chapters from Rogue Trader, and are famous for accidentally blowing up their own fortress-monastery while being invaded by Orks.

After being primed black, each marine was basecoated with Heavy Blue and then washed over with Nuln Oil. They were given a good drybrushing with Kantor Blue and I added some Alaitoc Blue for the second highlights, and then some Dark Sky Blue to finish off.

Their red fists were all painted Khorne Red and washed with Nuln Oil. I wanted to keep the gauntlets a darker red, so I mixed in some Mephiston Red in a roughly 60/40 ratio for the highlights and only used pure Mephiston Red on the edges.

One thing I learned while painting the gauntlets is that only the left one starts off in crimson; the right gauntlet is painted red once the marine reaches veteran status. Of course, there's no definition I could find as to when a marine reaches veteran status, and as I know bugger all about how Marine chapters are organised I mixed in a few veterans. Whoops.

All their weapons and backpacks are Black with some Iron Warriors gently drybrushed on. And then, to keep with the old-skool look, I attempted some helmet stripes.

These are the original helmet stripes, which were binned with the release of Second Edition and the Mark VII armour. Boo. I think they went OK on my Crimson Fists, especially as I can barely draw a straight line with a pencil.

But the helmet fun doesn't end there, oh no. 

Back in the day you could tell which Marines were in charge thanks to this handy image published in the 1989 Space Marine Painting Guide. I really liked these markings, although I was utterly incapable of painting them back then, and so did my best to recreate them by using White to block in the basic shape and Averland Sunset for the yellow, with a dab of Mephiston Red for the diamond. Not that mine look like diamonds, more like dabs of Mephiston Red.

I was more nervous about painting the faces on the bareheaded marines more than anything else as I hadn't painted an actual human skintone in months. But I'm really happy with how they turned out; the flesh colours, which are basically my own flesh mix with some Light Flesh added for the highlights, look great and even the eyes came out right the first time.

I based them pretty simply, just dumping Stirland Mud onto the 32mm bases and then adding flock and tufts. After a coat of matte varnish they were all finished, and I am incredibly happy with them. The painting went really well, they look just like the original metal minis, and as a huge fan of Oldhammer figures I'm delighted to have them in my collection. Another upside was the price; these chaps cost me $27 including shipping, whereas one of the original metal models can sell for up to $50.

I still have five unpainted models so I'll be doing those as random chapters at some point. As always, stay tuned!