Plague Marine Conversions, Maggot Bases Re-done and Ready for War

Old School here with the first unit from my Chaos Refresh Project. In an another article I struggled with the idea of fielding my older Chaos Space Marine models or buying new ones. I decided that when it came down to it, units like these Plague Marines were something I really could never get rid of. They were some of the first conversions I ever made. Each is a unique model I made from the Chaos Space Marine kit and Green Stuff. Anyway, I laid down a layer or two of new paint on these models and shot some updated photos this week. Let's take a look.

When I approached painting these over, I decided that I would leave some original aspects from the first paint job (some of these were actually painted the first time by Wolfson while he watched my house for a weekend in 2008). I used the new GW green shade (which I cannot remember the new name of) and laid it over all of the open armor areas.

The shade did a great job of making some of the old oil and blood stains look older and grimier and help blend in some of the shading, which turned out really well on some of the shoulder pads.

I really like the new shades as a rich green like this would have been impossible with the THrakka Green wash. It does tend to pool in some areas (like near the left foot on the right Plague Marine. While I left it here as a sickly algae color, it could be a bit much on a less polluted model.

The brass details on the legs and shoulder pads were re-painted using Brass Scorpion and highlighted using Runelord Brass.

All of the conversions are exactly as I originally created them in 2008 and as I went back over them, I was pretty happy with how the flesh turned out with the limited Green Stuff skills I had at the time. When I created them, I was looking at the art in the codices and also across the Internet. I liked the idea of Nurgle being not only a god of decay, but also a twisted god of life. I wanted the "blessings" he gave his followers to be manifested in growths of flesh which constantly seeped out fresh but decayed just as quickly in a constant circle - representing the duplicitous nature of the Plague God.

Here is a photo of one of the Death Guard with their original paint job, not bad, but I really wanted to revamp the model a little to make it fit my current work and make the models stand out on the table. Anyway, back to the new look ...

The flesh itself was painted using layers of drybrushed colors with washes and glazes added selectively in between. I added a crudely drawn fly tattoo on the one shoulder pad here as a sign of devotion. I wanted it to look real for its scale, so I didn't get super fancy with it - I like the idea of it being kind of a jailhouse style mark.

The maggot bases were added about a year ago to the original models after CVinton made them for me and cast them up. If they interest you, drop us an email at darkfuturegames@gmail.com and I am sure we can work something out. I know fighting in a sea of maggots may seem a little extreme, but I like to think that strength of corruption present in the Plague Marines would act as a bond to the immaterium that would allow the dark powers to manifest themselves through the giant blowfly larvae.

Many of the Plague Marines are armed with a bolter and chainsword. I really liked the old "True Grit" rule and thought it would be cool to make them have that true grit feel.

One of my favorite conversions from this project is the Plague Marine on the left with the plague flesh growing out of his vox grill - it's just super creepy.

While these models are some of the oldest Chaos Marines in my collection, they remind me of what can be done when you really want to make something unique. I, like many, really don't like the regular Chaos Space Marine box, but when you use the kit as a base, you can still make great looking CSM.

Throughout the next few months, I will be rolling out more and more of my older Chaos Space Marine models with improved paint jobs and minor tweaks. I will also be making some new Chaos models as well to fit into my forces. That means new Noise Marines, New Plague Marines (with different weapons to match the current meta ect) and of course I will dive into some of the new kits like the Forge Fiend and more. I also plan to make some kind of giant maggot and some other really unique conversions.

So now I turn it over to you. Are you re-creating some of your older Chaos models? Are you getting ready to refit your stuff for the new codex? Are you just starting your own Chaos Legions?

In any case, thanks for checking these foul fellow out and we would love to here from you and also I would love to here what you think of these Plague Marines!