"Imagine carrying a child for 9 months and raising it to adulthood, only to find out that they run pistols on their Vanguard Veterans." - Me
Hello! It's finally here! My long-awaited rework of my original Primaris Vanguard Veteran tutorial I posted back in May. In fact, it was my first real post on here and to-date it stands as my most-viewed post.
I'll stop gassing myself up now. Without further ado, here's the new and improved edition of Crossing the Rubicon: Primaris Vanguard Veterans.
What is 'Crossing the Rubicon'?
Crossing the Rubicon is the name of a series* of posts I have on this wonderful site, detailing how to convert classic firstborn space marine units to a primaris/truescale proportion and aesthetic. These tutorials are not gospel and are designed to be fast and loose. For example, while technically most of the conversions will be 'primaris' you may be in a similar school of thought to myself, in that you still want them to read noticeably as firstborn. Hence why most of my firstborn>primaris conversions still feature classic mk4 heads and upper torsos, while sporting a noticeably primaris scale. At the end of the day, it's your models and you can do as you wish.
By lore definition, "crossing the rubicon" refers to the often-deadly process of an astartes enhancing himself with all the extra features and organs that come with Bellisarius Cawl's new cookbook. Many space marines have made the crossing and many have died. Perhaps it is worth it in the name of progress. I guess astartes really like that +1 Attack.
Magnetising
While this tutorial won't explicitly go into magnetising your Primaris Vanguard Veterans, the process is pretty self-explanatory and I did opt to do it. All you really need to know is that I used 3mm magnets for the shoulders and 1mm magnets for the wrists. Pay close attention to the images in this tutorial for a better idea.
Shopping List
First up, you'll need two kits:
Vanguard Veterans
Unsurprisingly, this is a must-buy for this conversion. The Vanguard Veteran kit from games workshop is an excellent source of power weapons and jump packs. I highly encourage you start here.
Primaris Assault Intercessors
These serve as a strong base for the conversion, offering dynamic and mobile poses for that 'charging in' look. Do note that this kit contains enough bits for 10 marines. As such, when you finish this conversion you will have a spare assault intercessor squad. Alternatively, pick up a second box of Vanguard Veterans and repeat the conversion process on them to make use of the extra bodies and field yourself a 10-man (highly recommended).
Assembly
Begin by deciding which pose you would like to use from the Primaris Assault Intercessors kit and snip out the required components. Next, use your snippers to cut off the bulk of the upper torso, making sure to leave the "tummy plate" and the smooth curved edge it offers (see image). Be careful not to cut too much off as it could disrupt the fit later on. No biggie if you do, a simple green stuff job will have it looking slick again.
Do this for both the front and back of the torso, as pictured above. Note that the pose will only really apply to the legs and torso. The arms will typically be fixed with what comes in the Vanguard Vet box so try to think ahead if you aren't planning on magnetising.
Next, select a torso style of your choice from the Vanguard Veterans kit. Carefully cut and file down the base of the torso where it would normally affix to the legs until it is a smooth curve. Your upper torso pieces should be looking like the pieces on the right side of the image above after some time. This step is simple enough.
The next step is to put it all together. Stick together the legs and lower torso, as well as the upper torso (which should fit together like a clamshell). Try to nest the curved tummy plate of the Assault Intercessor into the curve of the Vanguard Veteran torso. This may take some dry fitting and some back-and-forth with the file/scalpel so be patient.
If you're having real issues with it, simply use a blob of green stuff to tack the two pieces together. This also helps for filling in any of the gaps, such as any underneath where the power pack would rest. This can be filled in easily enough by just wetting a blob of green stuff and smoothing it into the gap with a smooth tool.
When the two halves fit nicely together simply throw on the head and jump pack as you would expect to, slap it on one of the numerous 32mm bases you'll have from the kits, and you're ready to choose your weapons. I recommend the power weapons that come with the Vanguard Veterans kit for the firstborn look but feel free to use whatever weapons you have in your bits box.
Be careful when attaching a head. Many of the Assault Intercessor poses incorporate a strong forward lean which can lead to the models head being pointed at the ground. It's generally a good rule of thumb to make the marine's head point "up" as this will give it a more direct-forward gaze.
If you plan on magnetising I would suggest drilling your holes into the sides of the torso before attaching it to the legs, at least if you don't plan on waiting for the glue to fully cure. Simply drill into the shoulder of one of the many arms provided in either kit as seen above.
If you have no intention to magnetise, I admire your decisiveness. Unfortunately for me, I lack that quality and am doomed to have baggies full of unpainted magnetised bits of varying painting qualities from how far apart they were painted.
Finished Product
And there we have it! If you followed along closely you should have at least a 5 man squad of "Primaris" Vanguard Veterans! These guys will absolutely slay ass in all 4 corners of your kitchen table, especially with the new 'Psalm of Remorseless Persecution' rules in Codex Supplement: Black Templars, but more on that at a later date 👀.
As I mentioned at the start of the post, this is a rework of my original attempt. I consider this one a lot more informative but if you're curious to see the old one, simply click
here.
Until next time, remember: If you run these guys with pistols, you're fucking dumb.
Cheers,
Ryan.
*I say "series" like I haven't only ever made one post about it...
