How to build a Space Marine

[Zhu Bajie]

Out of completely pre-existing designs...

Legs... of a Fugitoid!

Fugitoid, a minor TMNT characacter, first comic book in 1985. The flared Greaves and Sabatons are quite familiar.

Shoulderpads... of a Strontium Dog!

Strontium Dog, first appearance 1978. Knobbly one on on the right, smooth on the left.

Anyone else spotted any other design cues that predate the 1987 GW model?

 

[Count Von Bruno]

Excellent observations!

 

[Zhu Bajie]

Cheers Count... but wait... there's more!

Helmet.. of a 1980s Motocross Rider

It's a Bell Moto 3 from 1975? OK so it's not quite there... the streamlining is more exaggerated and the air-vents are orientated differently, but I always thought the looked like BMX bandits.

 

[Coopdevil]

Helmet stripes from 80's NFL helmets.

Coop

 

[Fimm McCool]

Ever wondered what those back packs were for? No, they weren't exhaust vents, they were....

Rocket Packs!

 

[Asslessman]

 

[Fimm McCool]

 

[Zhu Bajie]

Those "Popular Science" Jet Belts were really popular with the Chaos Mutant Traitor Renegade types.

And yes, I did assume space marines were automatically equipped with jump-packs

 

[Count Von Bruno]

I just love opening a thread and seeing the Fugitoid

 

[Zhu Bajie]

I know, Fugitoid is cool. I have the Ral Partha Fugitoid mini somewhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7snWptj-N9Q

... voiced by David Tennant, and they're making Doctor Who gags! Geekout!

Speaking of Who:

Vacuum Cleaner tubes of a 1960s Cyberman!

Exposed tubework on the front, always a great idea for armour .or...

Vacuum Cleaner Tubes..... of a Souther out of Rogue Trooper

While we're there - just blank out the face-plate on the Souther and it's very close to the Space Marine helmet.

 

[Aiteal]

Out of completely pre-existing designs...

It's a strong word I know, but I've always hated that picture, it invokes a response in me I can't quite explain, somewhere between the need to grab a wooden clog to smash machines, to picturing a human being poured into a container. It's up there with a painting of Chris Foss of some wreckage that I first saw when I was about 9 that gave me nightmares for a few nights later about human flesh being burned and pierced with wire.

Apologies for the off topic weirdness, but I had to get that out

 

[Scalene]

Always loved that picture. The car manual technical style made it seem very realistic. No glitz, just a diagram of how it worked. Also the bits on the right exactly matched those in the rtb01 spruce, which made it even better.

 

[Zhu Bajie]

nightmares for a few nights later about human flesh being burned and pierced with wire.

I recommend you avoid the Tetsuo series by Shinya Tsukamoto and the book Crash by JG Ballard, Cronenburgs film adaptation is unmemorabe, but probably avoid it. Or perhaps as some kind of exposure therapy. Have to say I'm with Scalene on that one tho, the whole Haynes Manual approach really caught the dieselpunk vibe of the Imperium at that point.

As we're sharing nightmare inducing nonsense:

taps into the same kind of weird cosmic devourer as Galactus added to a creepy fruit based father christmas clown. In space. I dunno, it's just bloody wrong

...and I dare say someone else had a bad experience overdosing on popping candy...

 

[Aiteal]

Tetsuo has never bothered me, the first one is bit more nightmarish, the second one lapses in comedy territory from time to time. Like your Space Dust, unintentional nightmares are the worst sort.

 

[Count Von Bruno]

I know, Fugitoid is cool. I have the Ral Partha Fugitoid mini somewhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7snWptj-N9Q

... voiced by David Tennant, and they're making Doctor Who gags! Geekout!

That's awesome.
Besides tin soldiers, TMNT is "one of my things"

 

[Legiocustodes]

I love that old technical sketch of the MK VI armour! It just made it so realistic and gritty as opposed to now ... Where a thousand techno-geeks chant to the omni-shiter while some slave boy puts on you armoured pants for you!

 

[Zhu Bajie]

Another Proto-Marine helmet option:

Philippe Druillet, 1970-somehting, maybe Mr Assless knows the actual correct date

 

[AranaszarSzuur]

Out of completely pre-existing designs...

It's a strong word I know, but I've always hated that picture, it invokes a response in me I can't quite explain, somewhere between the need to grab a wooden clog to smash machines, to picturing a human being poured into a container. It's up there with a painting of Chris Foss of some wreckage that I first saw when I was about 9 that gave me nightmares for a few nights later about human flesh being burned and pierced with wire.

Apologies for the off topic weirdness, but I had to get that out

Haha, so true. I don't know how they didn't notice the impossibility of fitting a human being into that armour .

 

[Niibl]

I have heard that fashion companies also struggle with the concept...

 

[Scalene]

Do you think that marines suffer from body image problems? Perhaps they get spam like "Get a body like Roboute Gulliman in only 39 days". Or maybe "Delight your sergeant with this simple trick".