Hello again,
I have recently finished painting a full set of Space Crusade models with some extras, and I'd like to share them here. I have the Dutch version of the game (StarQuest, to tie in with HeroQuest), which had translations that connected little to Warhammer 40k.
Let's start with a group shot:
These are the models from the basic game, with added Space Marines so I won't have to swap out fiddly weapons. I had extra Space Crusade marine models on hand so I didn't have to source them separately, which in the end made the decision easier to glue all the parts shut.
Taking a closer look at the Marines, I start with the Blood Angels. These are called "Blood Tasters" (literal ranslation) in Dutch. With extra models I could create all weapon combinations (three heavy weapons, three bolters, three commanders). Having only two commander bodies per chapter I put the bolt pistol/power axe cmbination on a regular Space Marine body. With a little adjustment I think it looks the part. For the Blood Angels I painted the commanders white, because well, just look at the box art! I also gave them a little vampiric touch to tie in with the 40k lore.
The Ultramarines (or "Thunderheads" in Dutch) were the first Marines I painted for Space Crusade (bar the Field Police, more on them later). I painted them to match the Rogue Trader aesthetic and livery from the original rulebook (and the compendium). I like this more than the later uniform/livery choices which seemed more strict. This means helmet stripes, studs (painted on for lack of actual studs), graffitti and a loose take on chapter markings. On some of the Ultras I also painted some red 'claw marks' to signify their war with the genestealers.
The Imperial Fists are called the "Fist Masters" in Dutch, a terrible translation too good to let go. Who better to bear this title than the commander with the big fist? Apart from bad jokes I gave these marines a construction equipment theme. As these marines are boarding parties I want them to look like astronaut soldiers. All the marines were painted with layers of rough drybrusing to speed up painting, but this also gave them a gritty look that I think looks the part.
Now the Field Police were painted years ago when I played Space Crusade with friends. I sourced some spare models from eBay and built a team to take to these gaming nights. I had to improvise/proxy some of the weapons as these were from the expansion rather than the base game. I painted them as Field Police because it was quick. Now they can be added into the mix or maybe stand in if I ever need a marine with a conversion beamer or lascannon. It's also worth noting that for Space Crusade, I just stuck to my 'regular' basing theme for Rogue Trader. It makes mixing and matching a bit easier if I ever do Space Hulk, for example.
Of the baddies I start off with a (bad) picture of the genestealers. These models are a bit more monopose than the 'stealers I knew (from second edition Space Hulk) and I was at a loss for a colour scheme as I had painted my previous genestealers black (like Alien xenomorphs) but I also wanted a bit more colour. In the end a very nicely painted Screamer Killer I saw gave me the inspiration I needed to go for a deep purple/black with purplish pink fleshy bits. I'm really pleased how it turned out as it brings some much appreciated colour to the table.
The robots make it seem like MB wanted Space Crusade to look more like generic Science Fiction than pure Warhammer. The androids bear an obvious resemblance to The Terminator, while the dreadnought ("Dare All" in the Dutch version) looks a lot like ED-209 from Robocop. At the same time he looks little like the Rogue Trader dreadnoughts. I could be wrong though as the whole look of 40k and Warhammer was changing around that time. I just went all-in with a blue steel look for the androids, and to make it look like the same faction I tied in the Chaos Space Marines and the dreadnought (which in Space Crusade is more a robot than a manned vehicle) into the look as well. For the dreadnought I chose to keep the weapons loose as clipping them on isn't such a big hassle or risk.
For some reason I rarely have inspiration to quickly paint Chaos models (called 'Cosmos Warriors' in the Dutch version). I guess there are just too many options. Again I chose for black but I picked purple as an extra colour just to add some different colours on the table. I also kept the blue steel details so the androids wouldn't look too much like a different faction. The purple ties in with the genestealers to some extent.
Just as when I painted HeroQuest and Battle Masters, I started painting Space Crusade by painting the Orks. With these models I also get the feeling they wanted to make them somehow look more generic alien. Of course I could very well be wrong, but their look doesn't mix well with 40k Orks of any era. Their clothing seems decidedly 'red period' but I didn't want these to look like they belong on green fields amid jungle and red-spiked cacti. These are SPACE Orks, so I gave them space uniforms (to some extent) and of course green skin (they are Orks after all).
The gretchin (called 'Mutants' in the Dutch edition) are painted similarly to the Orks but with a little more variation in their clothing. Again these models have a very strong look of their own which doesn't correspond that well to the 40k models that came before or after.
I hope you enjoy this lot. I've had good fun painting the three main gateway games that Games Workshop offered back in the day. THe only thing I'm missing for this lot (apart from expansions) is a storage system, so I'll have to wing it for now.