Subject:   Space Marines Kit Used: Games Workshop 28mm

Review & model by: Travis Blevins Pictures: R. Forys

January 2007 Junior Model of the Month

The Space Marines are space born shock troops, heavily armed and armored, and present an effective mobile ground force.   The ceramite-armored, bolter-wielding creatures prowl the depths of the Games Workshop, Warhammer 40,000 universe.   The concept of a "Space Marine" actually dates back to books and stories written as early as 1939, and in 1959, the novel Starship Troopers brought the idea new popularity.   They have resurfaced time and time again in movies like Star Wars and Alien, and it is certain that we have not seen the last of them!

Currently, Space Marines figures are produced by a company called Games Workshop, and they offer everything you need to put together a project like this, including terrain, building ruins, game rules, and even painting and modeling tips.   Of course there is also a rich story and culture that has been developed to give the characters depth, and just to bring everyone up to speed, here is an excerpt of the tale Games Workshop has created: Space Marines are the most powerful and dreaded of all the human warriors in the galaxy.   They are not human at all, but superhuman, having been made superior, in all respects, to a normal man by a harsh regime of genetic modification, psycho-conditioning and rigorous training.   Being few in number compared to the uncounted billions of humanity, Space Marines are organized into small independent armies called Chapters.   Their unswerving loyalty is to the Emperor of Mankind, their Chapter second, and no other.

The Games Workshop sets are very popular and these Space Marines show why.   They are excellent in quality and overall appeal, and feature great detail and fit.   In general they weren't any harder then your average figure, and the only thing done extra, was to drill out the gun barrel, and the hole in the big "steel" drum.   Barbed wire was also added to the ruins.

Games Workshop paints were used for the project, and Travis said the hardest thing was painting the building ruins.   He repainted it three times to get it right.   It was painted flat black, and then heavily dry-brushed with fortress gray.   The big "steel" drum received a coating of chestnut ink right over the bare plastic.   The figures were painted ultramarines blue and then washed with blue ink, and finally dry-brushed with ice blue.

The base is flagstone rock with Games Workshop rubble added.   The books, "How to Paint Space Marines" and "How to Paint Citadel Miniatures", both by Games Workshop, were used as reference for the project.   Travis said his favorite part was setting up all the pieces, and figuring out where everything looked the best.