Deathwatch Battle Brother with a Shotgun

I decided to keep building one of my previous Deathwatch squads this time around. The Kill Team kit only includes two shotguns and frag cannons, but considering I have two kits and that it only takes five models to make a squad, that's not really a problem.

The hood and cape in the kit have always reminded me more of Dark Angels than of a Blackshield. I expect the latter would wear either a mask that hides his face entirely, or just trust that he wouldn't be recognisable by his face. Dark Angels, however, have traditionally worn monastic robes over their armour.
I keep going to the same well with the poses fairly often, but adding something under the bent leg just works, especially when the models are holding firearms. The situation is somewhat different with melee poses, as lunges etc. can look a lot more natural in a close combat situation.

I have quite a backlog of models already, and don't know which one I'll finish by next week. However, given Deathwatch's simple colour scheme, this one would be a fairly strong contender.

Two Deathwatch Veterans

Due to other things taking more of my time recently, I will, for the foreseeable future, make smaller updates. I will keep updating weekly, but instead of making three models at a time, I plan to post about one or two models at a time, with two models for Troops and other more basic models, and one for independent characters. Elites and such will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

I have been wanting to get back to Deathwatch Veterans for a while, and decided now would be the time. Call it a Christmas special.

 I knew I'd want an Iron Hands veteran in the Kill Team, and decided he'd fit the fluff best armed with a heavy weapon. The model is assembled from a mixture of the Kill Team and Devastator Squad kits, with a few Mechanicus bits thrown in there to finish the look. The Devastator Squad's more high-tech greaves in particular fit the Chapter's image well, in my opinion. I also gave him a helmet wih a lot of extra targeting apparati.

This squad was going to be armed mostly with shotguns and frag cannons, and while some of the Chapters in it were fairly obvious (there will definitely be a Minotaur with one of the weapons mentioned), some were less so. I almost made this one an Ultramarine, but decided against it, ending up making him a Crimson Fist. Being known for tactical flexibility and showing orks who is who, I feel like Crimson Fists are like Ultramarines, but without the stink of Mary Suedom on them. Sooner or later, I will have to get over my distaste for the Chapter, but that day is not today. I also consider it fairly certain that any of my Captains or probably even Sergeants won't be Ultramarines.

Deathwatch Raptor Battle Brother

The Raptors is one of my favourite chapters. Their tendency to prefer tactical soundness over bravado is unusual in 40k universe, and particularly among the Astartes. I wanted at least one of my Deathwatch Kill Team members to be a Raptor.

 The kneeling legs felt like a natural choice for a Raptor, having him utilize cover rather than standing up, trying to stop enemy projectiles with his face. The fact that the kneeling set of legs was Mk.VI was just icing on the cake, suiting the Raven Guard successor well. I went with that idea, choosing a helmet and torso of the same mark.

 Unfortunately, since he's kneeling with his left knee down instead of the right one, I found it very difficult to pose him like he's aiming or shooting his weapon. Having the right knee up would have required an awkardly extreme twist at the waist for him to aim his bolter forward. So I decided to have him do something else instead, and using an auspex fit the bill. At first, I had him look rigt at the auspex, but it made him look nearsighted, with the long, conical helmet's beak nearly touching the auspex. I decided to have him look around him instead, as if to confirm the readings on the auspex for himself.

I wanted his armour to be relatively undecorated, and intend to paint all the decorations there are on his armour in rather muted colours. To this end, I chose not to use any of the shoulder pads in the Sternguard kit and just sculpted the Raptors Chapter Badge on a standard one. Luckily, the Raptors have a lot simpler chapter badge than their Primogenitor chapter.

Space Wolf Deathwatch Brother Sergeant

At first, I was going to put my Space Wolf in the Deathwatch Vanguard squad I plan to start on a later date, but I couldn't resist. I may end up having both, though, the other one being there to witness the other's actions, even though Deathwatch veterans can never tell their Chapter brothers what happened during their service.

 The head is from the Thunderwolf Cavalry kit. I could have sculpted one from scratch, but I wasn't planning on putting too much effort in what is going to be a secondary or tertiary army, and besides, I wanted to use these heads for something. Most of the other parts of the model are from the Space Wolves Pack kit.

 The power gladius comes from Forgeworld's Mk.II Power Weapons set.
I decided that the model should have his helmet with him, even if he's not currently wearing it.

I spent a while thinking over his armament. I wanted him to be able to fire his weapon and have the squad charge the same turn, which meant an Assault weapon or a pistol. I considered a Combi-Flamer, but decided that Storm Bolter was a cheaper choice. As for the melee weapon, I didn't want to choose  Lightning Claws, because as a Space Wolf, he'd have access to a better version of those. Seeing how he's in the Deathwatch, I decided he'd be an Ultramarine sergeant's successor. The two would have inevitably locked horns earlier, then won each other's respect, until the Ultramarine would have bequeathed his power sword to the Space Wolf.

Salamanders Deathwatch Battle Brother with a Heavy Flamer

I was originally planning on something else for today's update, but things don't always go as planned, as can be seen by the fact that this isn't a Raptor, despite what I wrote last time.
I always knew I wanted a Salamander on my Kill Team, just wasn't sure what role I wanted him in. There were three options: sergeant, Heavy Flamer or a Multi-Melta. I eventually decided on Heavy Flamer, as I thought it was the most usable straight out of a Drop Pod.

 The legs are the ones with a pelt from the Space Wolves sprue, with the fur taken out and replaced with Salamander-y hide. I chose a chest piece with the chain over the legs to give it some more character, though it's not very visible from behind his weapon. The helmet and shoulder pad are from Games Workshop's Deathwatch Conversion Kit.

 I had to sculpt the Salamanders shoulder pad. Luckily, it's not very different from Ragnar Blackmane's Company Badge, with which I have some experience. The Chapter Badge turned out to be pretty simple to sculpt. Unfortunately, it didn't really fit on any of the more decorative shoulder pads on the Sternguard kit, which is somewhat out of character for the Salamanders, with their tendency towards very ornate armours.

Other than the few kitbashed bits, the model was a fairly standard Sternguard marine. Of course, I may yet further differentiate him in the painting phase.

Iron Hands Deathwatch Battle-Brother

I have been planning to start a Deathwatch kill team for a good while now, and the latest Space Marine codex includes a suitable formation for this. I recently bought a Sternguard Veteran kit to get started. Iron Hands is probably the Chapter I would choose if I had to replace Space Wolves. Visually, they're like a combination of Adeptus Mechanicus and Space Marines, arguably the two most recognisable 40k factions.

 I'm sort of annoyed by Space Marines changing their base size to 32mm, even though I admit the bigger bases look better. It's going to lead to my Space Wolves looking inconsistent, with some of the models on smaller and some on bigger base. Starting from scratch with the Deathwatch gave me a chance to at least keep them consistent.
Most of the squad is going to use the Sternguard legs with the flowing robes. That didn't seem to fit too well with Iron Hands, thoigh, so I decided to give him a bunch of fine chains instead.

 As I'm probably going to use a Great Company badge for the right shoulder pad on my Space Wolves Deathwatch model, I should have really used a clan symbol on the Iron Hands model, too. However, the gauntlet badge was a lot easier to sculpt than the regular cogwheel shapes that all the Iron Hands clan symbols seem to use, so I'm going with this.
Considering the model's chapter, the bionic hand from Forgeworld's character conversion kit was an obvious choice.

The bolter and left shoulder pad are from Games Workshop's Deathwatch Kill Team Conversion Kit. I also added some extra techy bits from Electro Priest set to the backpack, as I feel like an Iron Hands marine couldn't not have his armour's power source improved on.

I haven't yet decided which Chapter will the next Kill Team member represent. I'm considering the Raptors, the Sensible Marines of the game.