Ultramarine Scout Squad

Hi there fellow hobbyists!

Today Little Max and myself headed into the City Store to get some hobby done with around 4 other mates who usually hobby with us at Chatswood Gw. We all had a good time seeing guys we hadn't seen in a while and actually got a decent amount of hobby done (well for us anyway!). So the plan is to head into the city again on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as I'm currently doing some conversions for my next Scout Squad and my Terminators. I'll let you guys know a bit more about them once I've made some serious head-way on them as I only really planned them out and started their basing as well as build some heavy weapon marines for my tactical squads today.

Ok here are some picts of my Scouts which I mentioned a little while back which will form my first squad. I still need to a bit of green stuff work on these fellows to give them the Ultramarines symbol on their shoulder pad and to base them but otherwise these babies are done! (Other than some paint maybe)














This is my first Combat Squad in action ready to take on all comers and defend those objectives! Since this photo I have built I think another two Scouts in a similar fashion. Next is to crack out some of the Scouts from the Landspeeder Storm kit to further mix up those units and individualise my marines as well as the conversions I am working on.... As Scouts are a particular love of mine in terms of modelling and background I think I'm willing to sink a bit more time into them than normally. Also I can't seem to stop buying the little blighters, they are in a few of the Battleforce boxes and at only $35/40 a pop whenever I need a hobby fix or have forgotten my models I seem to walk home with a box or two of them and sometimes a scout biker sneaks in there as well.














So first off we have the kick arse Sergeant. As you can see I've done a bit of kit bashing on these guys with parts coming from both scout boxes as well as the scout biker box. The Sergeant also takes his powerfist from the Assault Marines box (of which I have a few for the running legs and previous squad) and it fits in quite well I think. No conversion is needed on it since the shoulder part which would normally supports the shoulder pad once smoothed makes for an excellent scout shoulder pad. His head is from the Scout Biker box but his vox rig didn't seem impressive enough so I replaced it with a brass rod.

My secondary (but really primary) reason and secret shame is I am always worried about these sorts of details being damaged it during gameplay and handling so I replace such parts with brass rods. The model also seems much weightier and sturdy (as absurd as that may sound). Hence why all of my Lord of the Rings models have brass spears.














If you notice carefully the rock he is leaning on is actually a piece of slate from the 40k Basing Kit as I cut out the rock the model was standing on to replace it with a more authentic version which would match those featured on the bases of my other marines. I can not tell you how much bullocking I have gotten over this from a few of my hobby friends pointing out yet again why I am such a slow hobbyist. That's true but to them I say "nuts". I really like how this model turned out and along with the Assault Marine Sergeant he's really a highlight model for me and I think this is how I want all my Sergeants to be, an anchor for the unit both in terms of game play and hobby.














Next are my two shotgun armed Scouts which have been kitted out for action behind enemy lines with the addition of a few cables and body traps. I really like the idea of these guys kicking down doors and clearing rooms in a cityscape and as such gave them some gear so they can do this sort of thing but didn't want to crowd the model with too many extras.

Finally are my two Scouts with bolt pistols and close combat weapons to round out the squad. The second Scout was to actually be a test model but after deciding I was going to give them a chapter symbol I stopped so I could green stuff it on later. Also he didn't get that extra bit of kit so I think I'll need to find something for him.

Although technically not part of this squad I couldn't leave out my heavy bolter Scout! As you can see he has had the same "rock replacement" as my Sergeant has as well as a few casings being ejected from the weapon. Although nervous about the "flying" shell casing I did trim two or three off and so far I haven't had any troubles with him in our travels. Obviously these are taken directly from the Ork Boys box and make the model that bit more dynamic.

Ok so hopefully over the next few days I'll bust out 5 or more converted Scouts and the beginnings of my Assault Terminator squad.

So any comments or thoughts?