The crux terminatus is one of the seemingly endless honours that space marines can get just for breathing in the 40k universe. I’m surprised there aren’t any chapter that go into battle just wearing seals, honours, medals and awards.
Anyway, this prop came about after I was asked to make one so thought it would be a nice prop to put together. I based it on a classic piece of artwork which crops up all over the place whenever crux terminatus get a mention.
The basic back plate was designed in 3d and then I printed it. I’ve always felt a bit funny about 3d printing things as I think it defeats the point of me sculpting but its just another tool in the kit. Once printed I sculpted the skull over the top with Aves Epoxy sculpt and I am getting more and more attached to that stuff. It’s nice to sculpt with and sets in a hardness which is just right for carving back if needed.
Once I had the basic shape done it was a case of priming and sanding. Then priming and sanding again. Before priming and sanding… You know the drill. The rivets are brass furniture pins with the void underneath filled with milliput to ensure no silicone slipped in at the casting phase because, yup, next was moulding.
Casting was easy. I primed a few in gold to paint while other I cast with a mix of marble powder and resin to get an off white colour. These white ones are then weathered with oil paint to give them a bone like finish.
I then also tried a few different companies sprays of gold to see what works best for the painted one. The GW citadel spray is easier to paint over but I really like the Wilko gold as a colour.
The final ones when painted all came out well even if I had to go over the other two a couple of times to get the paint to stick as their not formulated to have paint adhere.
Each was weathered and sealed with a spray of matte varnish to protect them.
So what do you call a group of them? A gaggle of crux terminatus? An award of crux terminatus? A marine of crux terminatus?