Adeptus Arbites WIP Aug. 3, '23

[eMills]

I decided to stop the Warzone stuff, since Res Nova is doing a decent job and it doesn't make much sense for me to spend my very limited free time essentially duplicating their work.  Sorry for being something of a hobby butterfly, I suspect ADHD is at least partially to blame.

One thing I have always wanted to have are decent Arbites figures.  I do not like the new ones by GW, so, time to revive and old project.


Not exactly sure what to call him, maybe Judge Captain.  I originally started making Arbites parts to convert a Space Marine Scouts counts as for the Kill Team rules.  In v1 they would be a Scout Squad with a PA Sergeant, IIRC.  Not sure what this guy would proxy as these days.  I haven't really dug into the v2 rules yet.  He has power armor but I wanted the design to heavily reflect the carapace worn by the rank and file Arbites. 

This figure is heavily inspired by this John Blanche piece:

I intend to make 2 of the robed acolyte looking guys.  One like in the drawing, and one holding the Captain's helmet.

I also made a test print to see how it looks.


Next to a partially built Cadian:


Some small support failures, but I don't care since this is just a test.  Size seems decent.  I need to dig out an OG Space Marine and compare him next to another power armor wearer, and maybe a few other human-sized figures (especially the Enforcers) since the Cadians feel small.  The wrapping on the handle of his power hammer needs to be redone too.

I did more work on the base file for some regular Arbites:


I made a test print of him too:


Shotgun:


Next to the Cadian:


Judge and Arbites together:


Again, size and detail look good.  I compared this print to the Enforcers that I have still on the sprue and they are comparable size-wise, so I'm getting pretty close to done with the base design. 

Also, very, very early work:


Feedback welcome, as always.

[Freddy]

They look cool, but why so big?
I am also not a big fan of the look of new GW plastics (happy for the fact we have plastic arbites, but the old ones had better design), but for me a head swap will be enough.

[eMills]

They look cool, but why so big?
I am also not a big fan of the look of new GW plastics (happy for the fact we have plastic arbites, but the old ones had better design), but for me a head swap will be enough.

I want them to be a bit on the beefy side, but as I mentioned, the Cadians seem smaller than other human sized models.  I need to get a few more of my unaltered human 40K figures built to compare to.  Once I do that I can make final comparisons and readjust if necessary.

I thought about trying to just do a head swap also, but the new design is just too far away from what I want.

[Freddy]

I want them to be a bit on the beefy side, but as I mentioned, the Cadians seem smaller than other human sized models.  I need to get a few more of my unaltered human 40K figures built to compare to.  Once I do that I can make final comparisons and readjust if necessary.

New Cadians are pretty decent 30mm eye level figures, maybe a little bit higher than the old ones. Less beefier though. Primaris marines are 36-37 mm eye levels, but they are intended to be superhuman half-giants.

I thought about trying to just do a head swap also, but the new design is just too far away from what I want.

They might need some of the striped knee/elbowpads too.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

I have to agree they do look big.

Arbites are human sized, I am not sure about current GW human figures, but have they suffered scale creep?

Arbites have carapace armour so should be about the size and bulk of the Imperial Guard equivalent (whose name eludes me).

[axiom]

I really like your Judge Captain - the pose and feel is excellent. For me, I think you could add more definition on his fur, as well as softening the cloth with some folds to help distinguish it from the hard carapace armour.

Scale is totally a point of preference, but as someone who he's RT scale figures in the main, I'd want him at about 60% of your print size if he was in my collection

Looking forward to seeing how this project progresses.

[eMills]

I have to agree they do look big.

Arbites are human sized, I am not sure about current GW human figures, but have they suffered scale creep?

Arbites have carapace armour so should be about the size and bulk of the Imperial Guard equivalent (whose name eludes me).

Kasrkin are the Guard Carapace Armored troops.  I don't have any of the Kasrkin to compare to but the new Enforcers and the Kasrkin are the size I will be shooting for.  This print matches decently well to the Enforcers on a bit by bit basis.  Ultimately, I want them to be big bruiser types, but still not Space Marine (or Goliath...) sized.

I think it looks extra huge too because it is standing straight up.  It will match better once it is posed I believe.

I really like your Judge Captain - the pose and feel is excellent. For me, I think you could add more definition on his fur, as well as softening the cloth with some folds to help distinguish it from the hard carapace armour.

Scale is totally a point of preference, but as someone who he's RT scale figures in the main, I'd want him at about 60% of your print size if he was in my collection

Looking forward to seeing how this project progresses.

I actually am thinking of leaving the fur like it is and representing a more wooly type fur rather than hairy, if that makes sense.

This is still very WIP so the coat is just blocked in.  No detail at all really.

If I put this out into the wild, I will consider making a smaller version since I'm sure you are not alone.

Thanks everyone for stopping by.

[eMills]

New Cadians are pretty decent 30mm eye level figures, maybe a little bit higher than the old ones. Less beefier though. Primaris marines are 36-37 mm eye levels, but they are intended to be superhuman half-giants.

They might need some of the striped knee/elbowpads too.

The Arbites is about 36mm to the eye here, but he is standing straight up.  I will definitely reevaluate though, once I have more stuff to compare with.

Actually, the helmets with the knee and elbow pads could work.  I'm trying to find some of the new Arbites, but they are proving elusive unless you are willing to spend 2x the price.

[Freddy]

The Arbites is about 36mm to the eye here, but he is standing straight up.  I will definitely reevaluate though, once I have more stuff to compare with.

I measured both the Cadians and the Primaris standing straingt up, thats how the values above come. New Necromunda Enforcers are 32mm to eye level.

[eMills]

I measured both the Cadians and the Primaris standing straingt up, thats how the values above come. New Necromunda Enforcers are 32mm to eye level.

Intersting.  How did you go about that?  I've tried measuring bit by bit (leg, thigh, torso, etc.) and haven't really gotten good, consistent results myself.  I'd love to know your method, it would make my life a lot simpler.

[Freddy]

Intersting.  How did you go about that?  I've tried measuring bit by bit (leg, thigh, torso, etc.) and haven't really gotten good, consistent results myself.  I'd love to know your method, it would make my life a lot simpler.

I have straight up standing figures from the Cadians and Enforcers, simply measured them with a caliper probe  . Measuring bit-by-bit usually gives a bigger result. Drawing dollies also helps, thats how I set the size for my sculpts.

[eMills]

I have straight up standing figures from the Cadians and Enforcers, simply measured them with a caliper probe  . Measuring bit-by-bit usually gives a bigger result. Drawing dollies also helps, thats how I set the size for my sculpts.

I'll have to try to find those straight standing figures.  The ones I have are all standing with their legs spread fairly wide.  I use a base for my figures too, but that doesn't help when figure lines are different sizes.  I suppose I am trying to be much more precise than I need to be, but it seems I can't help it.

[de_polignac]

Absolutly obsessed with this project, I wish I could get my hands on that Judge Captain