I was making Deathwatch models with GW's old metal upgrade kit long before the new Codex came out, so naturally, I preordered the Codex and bought a Veterans kit soon after. Generally speaking, I liked the new sprues, though I was disappointed to see it only included one Stalker pattern bolter and two shotguns. Then I remembered Forgeworld's Legion Recon Squad, which I had wanted to do something with for a while already, but didn't really have the need for, since Space Wolf Scouts don't use power armour, and I don't need five Wolf Guard Pack Leaders.
However, the Recon Squad's extra shotguns and bolters with suppressors really did come in handy for a couple of Kill Teams. Of course, having the Maximus pattern power armour seems a little unusual for Deathwatch, but in my headcanon, Mk.IV is stealthier than Mk.VIII, at least until proven otherwise.
The main problem with the recon squad models is that all of them have one of their shoulder pads at least partially covered by the cloak. As both shoulder pads are somewhat more meaningful for Deathwatch marines than most others, this posed a slight problem.
Four out of the five models had their right shoulder pads covered, though, which meant I could work with that, assuming I could find another way to convey which Chapter the veteran comes from. Since Space Marine chapters are about as gimmicky as they get, that shouldn't be a problem.
The first one I started working on, and the only one whose right shoulder pad is visible, was the Red Scorpions veteran. It made sense to have at least one of the Mk. IV wearing Marines be a Red Scorpion, since the Chapter really seems to like the armour pattern. I gave him a Deathwatch power pack instead of the Mk.IV recon model.
The left shoulder pad was only partially covered, so I carved out the shoulder, replaced it with a Deathwatch pad and resculpted the cloak over it.
The Raven Guard's Chapter is not obvious at this stage yet, though I plan to paint the Raven Guard badge on his left greave. I wanted to give the model the Mk.VI helmet, since that's the Raven Guard's thing. Considering the Chapter's love of stealth, I feel like the Stalker pattern bolter and the camo cloak fits him well.
If there was one Chapter I knew I could make recognizable, it was the Space Wolves. Regardless, I still considered using the plastic Kill Team bits for him just to make it explicitly clear that he comes from Erik Morkai's Great Company, but eventually, I decided it wouldn't matter that much. In addition to the head from the Space Wolves upgrade sprue, gave him a wolf's head hood, a couple of tail talismans and a other bits and pieces.
I expect it shouldn't take long to paint the black armoured Marines, assuming my can of spray undercoat doesn't run out. I aim to finish them by next Sunday.
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