Bobby Wong won the 2001 Golden Demon awards Slayer Sword at the US games day with his magnificent Bloodquest squad. We invited him to tell us how he went about producing these amazing models and the article he produced proved highly popular. Now Bobby brings us his guide to converting Uriel Ventris, Ultramarine champion.
Introduction
I wanted to convert a miniature of Uriel Ventris since reading the short story "Chain of Command", Created by Graham McNeill, Sergeant Ventris is an interesting character, a Space Marine who has absolute faith in the teachings of the Codex, but eventually resorts to creative thinking in order to complete his mission objectives. In the novel "Nightbringer" the character of Uriel is revisited as the newly promoted Captain of the 4th company, Ultramarines Chapter. Unique amongst the Adeptus Astartes, Captain Ventris doesn't simply destroy in the name of the Emperor. He feels a noble sense of purpose in the protection of humanity, and has lost none of his compassion for human life despite his centuries of warfare.
I decided to model Captain Ventris after the painting by Clint Langley on the cover of Nightbringer. I wanted to see if I could convert a miniature as accurately as possible to the cover illustration. Since he is new to his position, Ventris has no ceremonial decorations of office other than the Sword of Ideaus. Out of respect for Ideaus, the 4th company still bears his personal heraldry on the company banner.
Uriel Ventris is converted from plastic Space Marine miniatures taken mainly from the Tactical and Assault sprues. Plastics also provided the weapons and detail parts. It is advisable to pin the miniature with metal wires for sturdiness. Because of his unique pose, test fit the miniature with adhesive poster putty until you are satisfied it matches the illustration on the cover of Nightbringer.
References
Uriel Ventris is featured in the novel Nightrbringer, and the short story "Chains of Command" has been reprinted in the "Words of Blood". If you are interested, a larger print of Uriel Ventris can be found in page 5 of "Insignum Astartes".
