# Librarian Conversion - Brethren of the Phoenix



## xenobiotic (Jun 7, 2008)

Hi, all!

Some of you know me from my ongoing project log here on heresy which I've been working on for almost a year now.

To this end I've now reached a point where I'm building more HQ choices (specifically for the Army Painting Challenge here on heresy). I had planned for this particular miniature to be a Secret Project for the Challenge but it's a somewhat trial and error conversion and I feel like some input would be good for me (I've almost come to depend on it :spiteful before I pick up the brushes some time in the future.

This is a Librarian for my Brethren of the Phoenix. 









He's a splice between parts from the Shadow Captain Korvydae and the Sevrin Loth set along with a Raven Guard veteran helmet. What I've done so far is that I've tried to add a psychic hood made out of grey stuff and green stuff to represent the actual equipment. I've also adjusted the right arm and spliced together and Honour Guard axe with a normal handle from the sanguinary guard box in order to create the Force Axe or Halberd. I'm worried the handle might be two long as it is? Maybe I should change the head of the weapon into something other than a blade to make it into a staff instead?

Thoughts and input on this conversion? Does it look enough like a Librarian to you?

For more pictures check out my project log.


----------



## MaidenManiac (Oct 2, 2008)

Id keep him the way he is, see no problem with him as a Libby at all. Its nice to see different force weapons so keep the Axe/Halberd weapon, everyone and their dog has a staff, the axe is a winner


----------



## Bane_of_Kings (Oct 28, 2009)

Nice work, love the Librarian , can't wait to see it painted.

EDIT: Also, yeah, keep him the way he is. :victory:.
Bane of Kings Out.


----------



## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

Yes! keep it the way it is mate, he looks awesome and the axe looks just right, just the right length and ornate enough for a libby. 

excellent work! 

Rev


----------



## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Looks really good, keep him as it.


----------



## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Sweet model. Funnily enough I have a very similar idea for a rune priest. Can't wait to see him painted to your usual high standard.


----------



## durian (Oct 1, 2008)

Hey sweet model!
im trying to be as nit-picky as possible and one thing i notice is his right leg looks slightly bent inwards towards his other leg. this may will be just photo angles as there isn't a front on view. and the only other thing and this is just preference is the pistol holster is too far back for practicality just imagine in that armour moving your hand that far back to get a pistol out. but it may hide a cool detail if you put it forward so no worries there.

in all honesty those are very small details and its such an epic model. it feels wrong to post it but i want to put in my 2cents to see if i can help make it look even cooler!

Durian


----------



## HorusReborn (Nov 19, 2008)

I like the pose and the look, just fill in the gap on the jump pack and it'll be boss fo sho!


----------



## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

xenobiotic said:


> Thoughts and input on this conversion? Does it look enough like a Librarian to you?


The shoulder-pad is all you really need to look like a Librarian, although the other touches make it even more clear. I especially like casting hand.

If you are concerned then you can always make the paint scheme blatantly Librarian.


----------



## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

As Dave said, a Librarian has 3 things needed - the Shoulder Pad, the Force Weapon, and the Psychic Hood.

For me, it's a shame that Korvydae is so heavily sculpted in the Raven Guard manner that unless I choose another Eagle identified model, it will look like an oddly painted Raven Guard, which is a shame.

But yes, that looks fantastic, I'd keep it as it is. Personally, I'm not a fan of the Force Axe blade, but then again, the model and game is written and designed by people who apparently over compensate for something =D.


----------



## Medic Marine (Jun 28, 2009)

Axe = violent like a BA. 
Staff = well not violent enough... the rest of your army seems pretty rough and tumble, why take away from that with no bladed weapon? 
Posing is grand as always, super splice work as always. 
It seems very ornate like many BA things and with the shoulder pad and hand gesture it is a librarian.


----------



## Varakir (Sep 2, 2009)

For any other army i'd probably say it needs some more work to define it as a librarian, but in the context of your phoenix when compared to the other troops I think he'll make a perfect libby.

I've really tried to think of something to criticise, but I have to say I'm struggling! Lovely model :victory:


----------



## xenobiotic (Jun 7, 2008)

First of all, thanks for all the comments, input, appraisal and +rep! 

Secondly:


MaidenManiac said:


> Id keep him the way he is, see no problem with him as a Libby at all. Its nice to see different force weapons so keep the Axe/Halberd weapon, everyone and their dog has a staff, the axe is a winner


Staffs are that common? I must have been out of the loop for a while, I thought Bob and his Uncle all had axes or swords, hehe.



Bane_of_Kings said:


> Nice work, love the Librarian , can't wait to see it painted.
> 
> EDIT: Also, yeah, keep him the way he is. :victory:.
> Bane of Kings Out.


You'll have to wait for a busy RL month for me to pick him up for the army painting challenge, he will be done this year though - not that it's any consolation 



TheReverend said:


> Yes! keep it the way it is mate, he looks awesome and the axe looks just right, just the right length and ornate enough for a libby.
> 
> excellent work!
> 
> Rev


I'm glad you like him. I was going back and forth about the length off the chain wrapped part of the handle but I actually think it's a good thing that it's a bit longer than the other part. 



djinn24 said:


> Looks really good, keep him as it.


Thanks!



Khorne's Fist said:


> Sweet model. Funnily enough I have a very similar idea for a rune priest. Can't wait to see him painted to your usual high standard.


Similar in what way, parts or pose? Captain Korvydae is an excellent miniature but he's almost overdone with raven guard symbols (lucky me I have birds and feathers all over my army ). As above it will probably be a while before I paint him.



durian said:


> Hey sweet model!
> im trying to be as nit-picky as possible and one thing i notice is his right leg looks slightly bent inwards towards his other leg. this may will be just photo angles as there isn't a front on view. and the only other thing and this is just preference is the pistol holster is too far back for practicality just imagine in that armour moving your hand that far back to get a pistol out. but it may hide a cool detail if you put it forward so no worries there.
> 
> in all honesty those are very small details and its such an epic model. it feels wrong to post it but i want to put in my 2cents to see if i can help make it look even cooler!
> ...


The position of the legs and most of the extra things in the belt is not something I have done since it comes with the sculpt of the main body. I do however agree about the placement of the pistol holster. Oddly enough most of FWs characters with pistols have their holster far back which looks like an awkward place to reach quickly with the armour on...

Thanks for the comment nonetheless!



HorusReborn said:


> I like the pose and the look, just fill in the gap on the jump pack and it'll be boss fo sho!


Thanks!



Dave T Hobbit said:


> The shoulder-pad is all you really need to look like a Librarian, although the other touches make it even more clear. I especially like casting hand.
> 
> If you are concerned then you can always make the paint scheme blatantly Librarian.


Agreed, seeing as how the shoulder-pad is the badge of office that would have been a dead give-away had I not got my hands on an extra pair. 

I'm thinking about doing a blue paint scheme just to break up all the red in the rest of the force. Blue with white arms and white helmet to be precise. It looks good in my head - we'll see how it works out IRL.

Thanks for the input.



Vaz said:


> As Dave said, a Librarian has 3 things needed - the Shoulder Pad, the Force Weapon, and the Psychic Hood.
> 
> For me, it's a shame that Korvydae is so heavily sculpted in the Raven Guard manner that unless I choose another Eagle identified model, it will look like an oddly painted Raven Guard, which is a shame.
> 
> But yes, that looks fantastic, I'd keep it as it is. Personally, I'm not a fan of the Force Axe blade, but then again, the model and game is written and designed by people who apparently over compensate for something =D.


I agree about the Raven guard symbols on Korvydae, it's almost overdone. At least if you use all the parts you're supposed to. The guy has a raven guard symbol on some of his raven guard symbols for crying out loud, hehe.

Shoulder-pard CHECK
Force Weaon CHECK
Psychic Hood CHECK

Guess I'm all game then?

And we all know that Marines are compensating for something...



Medic Marine said:


> Axe = violent like a BA.
> Staff = well not violent enough... the rest of your army seems pretty rough and tumble, why take away from that with no bladed weapon?
> Posing is grand as always, super splice work as always.
> It seems very ornate like many BA things and with the shoulder pad and hand gesture it is a librarian.


Thank you, you made a good point about the axe 



Varakir said:


> For any other army i'd probably say it needs some more work to define it as a librarian, but in the context of your phoenix when compared to the other troops I think he'll make a perfect libby.
> 
> I've really tried to think of something to criticise, but I have to say I'm struggling! Lovely model :victory:


I guess I see your point. I'm hoping the extended hood below does the trick. I've just tried to make him ornate enough to pass the initial look test while unpainted. I think that a blue paintjob with white arms will make him stand out even better amongst his fellow jump troops.

----

A lot of the guys over at the project log forum voiced concerns about the somewhat semi-visible psychic hood when the JP was on the miniature. Seeing as how this miniature would have a jump pack on at all times I decided I should try to do something about it. First of all I change jump pack as the one I had chosen before did not leave room enough to extend the hood. I took a generic resin jump pack with aquilas on it that I have lying around for projects just like this.

It did however look a little bland compared to the Captin Korvydae JP so I decided to steal some details from said JP and put them on the new one. Some press mould later and I had made myself some wing details!

The hood was then extended by the use of InstantMold creativity as well as some steel wire. Later I added details (copper wire) and I ensured a snug fit with the chosen helmet (which meant cutting out a small piece in the back (which isn't visible unless you're really examining the miniature for faults).

Without further ado, here he is once again:








Close-up on sculpted details:









I'll be sure to post the librarian up once he's been painted, feel free to check out my other Brethren of the Phoenix in the log in the meantime.

Cheers for the input once again! :friends:


----------



## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

xenobiotic said:


> Similar in what way, parts or pose?


Both actually. I have the Severin Loth model, bought primarily just for the arm. I was gonna put it on a jump pack rune priest and give him the big fuck off axe in the WG termie box or one of the Sanguinary Guard glaives. You have given me a few little tidbits to help hone the idea though.k:


----------



## Jayeldog (Aug 23, 2010)

Aye, keep the halberd. It's different and looks good. I think he's either picking a fight, or saying "get over here!"


----------



## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

Sack it, I'm doing pre-heresy Emperor's Children, and that's my new Company Master. Kleptomania is a curse.


----------



## xenobiotic (Jun 7, 2008)

Khorne's Fist said:


> Both actually. I have the Severin Loth model, bought primarily just for the arm. I was gonna put it on a jump pack rune priest and give him the big fuck off axe in the WG termie box or one of the Sanguinary Guard glaives. You have given me a few little tidbits to help hone the idea though.k:


The Sevrin Loth with Honour Guard is a nice kit for character conversions over all, lot's of interesting pieces if you can just get rid of the scorpions scattered round them.

Glad I could push your inspiration along :biggrin:



Jayeldog said:


> Aye, keep the halberd. It's different and looks good. I think he's either picking a fight, or saying "get over here!"


I was thinking more of a "I'm blasting that guy to pieces with my mind and this generic throwing a 'magic power' pose of my hand" :wink:



Vaz said:


> Sack it, I'm doing pre-heresy Emperor's Children, and that's my new Company Master. Kleptomania is a curse.


[enter small child mode] You can't have him, I saw him first, he's mine! [exit small child mode] :drinks:

----

I though you guys might be interested in some pictures with paint 
I'm not sure what colours to paint the bird on the shin armour in or the wings on the chest for that matter. Usually my chapter have black aquilas on their chests but something tells me that might look odd on this miniature..








Thoughts?


----------



## GrimzagGorwazza (Aug 5, 2010)

How about going with reds and oranges. It'll give you a nice contrast and tie in with the Phoenix iconography you have going on. I'd use a similar pallet to that which you used on your Chaplains bird.


----------



## yanlou (Aug 17, 2008)

I think going for silver would be a nice contrast, to me silver seems more librarian, like reflection of power, hard to explain what i mean lol, but yer silver would be a nice opposite colour, dark and light.


----------



## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Looking good so far.


----------



## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

Just thought of something; Brethren of the Phoenix = Brotherhood of the Phoenix, aka Emperor's Children Warrior Lodge?

But no, you can keep it, it's not purple.


----------



## xenobiotic (Jun 7, 2008)

Vaz said:


> Just thought of something; Brethren of the Phoenix = Brotherhood of the Phoenix, aka Emperor's Children Warrior Lodge?
> 
> But no, you can keep it, it's not purple.


Even with that particular similarity it wasn't something I had planned for or set out with. So no, no association to the warrior lodge (or is there? DUN DUN DUN DUN! :shok



djinn24 said:


> Looking good so far.


k:



yanlou said:


> I think going for silver would be a nice contrast, to me silver seems more librarian, like reflection of power, hard to explain what i mean lol, but yer silver would be a nice opposite colour, dark and light.


Gold is a better contrast to blue though, one is warm and one is cold. To much silver on a blue surface and it becomes a bit stale and lifeless to look at.



GrimzagGorwazza said:


> How about going with reds and oranges. It'll give you a nice contrast and tie in with the Phoenix iconography you have going on. I'd use a similar pallet to that which you used on your Chaplains bird.


I tried a few different alternatives in photoshop and I liked the white ones better actually  (thank god for photoshopping sometimes).

----

I just wanted to tell you that the librarian is finished (click the image to go to the blogpost):


----------

