Welcome to the completed model post for the February challenge of the Model Masterclass series.
February's challenge:
A single, fully painted, Iron Hands Space Marine tactical squad member.
The only thing that must be on the model is some kind of bionics.
And that was it. There were no more rules to the challenge. We were both free to interpret the challenge however we saw fit. The only thing we had to do was include some kind of bionics on the model.
My Iron Hands model for this month:
It was actually pretty hard to pick and use just a few of the bits to use on the model and not use everything. I have to say the bits came with very little flash and required even less cleaning. Less than your average resin bits normally do which was really nice.
The bionics are "bulky" and "blocky." They look like they fit the world of 40k. They aren't streamlined and perfect like they would be if you were dealing with a technologically advanced race. These have the feel of being retro and assembled together by a Techmarine who is not quite sure of the process or workings behind what he's doing. It translates into creating a feel for the model which I think turned out really well.
I was worried that they might not fit in with the standard GW arm and leg poses in terms of scale, but that was not an issue at all. I messed up cutting the regular Space Marine legs apart and ended up needing to resculpt a bit of his backside to fill in what I accidentally cut away. I added some cables and tubes for good measure as well. I'd planned to use a helmeted head, but getting a cool looking partially bionic head changed that plan right away.
I think he's got some good and bad aspects. I like the dark look to him. The small power cables really add emphasis to the bionics and bring him to life. The weathering needs some work. I don't do much with light colored powders and it shows here.
In hindsight, I might have found a way to work the chapter symbol in there too. I left it off since I cut away his left shoulderpad to expose the bionics. The right one is the only indication of what chapter he belongs to. While this might work with him being part of a squad, it comes up short here.
John's Iron Hands model for this month:
I hacked it off and fitted it to my Iron Hands model and was happy with the more bulky look. I also greenstuffed the shoulder icons.
When I greenstuff, I like to print the subject matter out and have it on the workbench for inspiration. I had a hard time keeping the icons small and centered, and after about a million tries ended up with these as "good enough" after that it was on to paint.
I am not sure if Ron knew I hated painting black, but I figured I would just have to suck it up and go for it, I hit the edges with a very dark grey highlight, and went over it with a few black washes to knock the contrast down. the metal bionics were basecoated highlighted and also washed in black to get some depth.
I went with red lenses and the red/orange Mars-ish soil for contrast and to add color, and also a small tuft of grass to add a bit of contrasting organic hope too the bleak looking base.
I am pretty happy with the model overall, with the bionic leg really saving the build for me.
