Make Heresy Era Space Marines from 40k ones on a budget: Part 1; Breaking apart.

Short attention spans can be a boon sometimes, this is my desk at the moment

That big blob of mostly Green are my Sons of Omega 40k force, currently and gradually being converted into a 30k Sons of Horus force. 

I loved these guys, seriously. Look at the beginning of this blog for proof. Lots of attention lavished and time spent. 

They did their job well. And then I read the Heresy rules. 

Bring me my scalpel!


The Heresy fiction, coupled with the Forgeworld books are some of the most visceral stories from Warhammer that I've read. They are just so, unwholesomely grim and epic. Reason 1.

So many people also complimented my unintentionally 'Sons of Horus' paint scheme for the Son's of Omega, considering that its mixed each time, the pale green of these guys didn't really marry with the images in the Forgeworld books, but it was close enough to sustain a bit of grime. Reason 2.

Couple this with the number of enjoyable 30k games that my friends and I have been playing compared to 40k and that means that these guys are getting pulled apart with glee. Reason 3.


So these are the various completed squads, 

As the bulk of my guys are made up of tactical-type units these are getting the attention first. At the back above here we have the A Squad, with actual Sons of Horus shoulder pads and any decent heresy era bits I can cobble together, axes, pistols, actual context matching bolters thanks to some old style bolters recently acquired. (More later).

If I wanted people to check out my force, I'd swerve them towards these guys.

These look much more retro than the rest generally.

In the middle is the B Squad, with some improvements but generally converted stock pose marines, not bad but not great,

At the front we have the very hard to convert C squad, who’ll likely be backsquad filler, or not used at all!

So while I'm cutting these guys up and reglueing, by this point you're thinking 

'they don't look very 30k at all?'

I would agree. At this point they do not. They all have the wrong helms, they aren't painted with the colours of the Sons, they don't have any distinguishing marks. 

However, reread the title of the post. Budget. We have to restrain ourselves with several key rules and this is only phase 1.

Key Rule 1. Be logical.

Another army, another project, good for me, bad for my wallet. Add an entire army to the mix of this, and you've got a price and wallet commitment and a half.

Have a guess where I am rich (ish) in? 

Time, this is my hobby list as it currently stands.

·         Give 3 guardsmen magnets and Meltaguns/plasmaguns

·         Give 2 Stormtroopers Meltaguns

·         Finish painting Chaos spawn

·         Finish giant spawn

·         Paint some infinity troopers

·         Paint Stormtroopers

·         Paint Imperial guard heavy weapons teams

·         Cast more rebreathers for Dark Mechanicus/Sons of Sek

·         Convert Knight

·         Convert Cultists + Mechanicus

·         Spray everything

·         Make mortalis snow entranceway

·         Paint Dark mechanicus

·         Paint Sons of Sek Tanks

This means that I'll have to focus on improving what I have, with what I've currently got.

Key Rule 2. Be frugal

I've been very good with this, that means no major purchases. Everything is reposing, reassembly, rearming. (Which is not easy when stuff is so pretty)

My purchases amount to around £20 of stuff, and the rest are spare bits. (so say another £10)
£5 Old pattern bolters from the original Space Marine multi-part sprue. Think I got around 10. Can be found easily on ebay as 'retro'.

30k is much more bolter orientated, so I've re purposed the 40k Tactical squad specialists to use these, a nice and easy swap.
£12 Sons of Horus shoulder pads. Forgeworld official. Ten Marines nicely distinguished as part of the Heresy. I have tried to use them on the better models I've made as they are finite!

£5 Other Legion MK 2? shoulder pads (which also brought a couple of augmetic arms too) which further enhance the shared aesthetic.

£10 Finally as you can see below in the pics, some broken and damaged Khorne Berserkers from a prior purchase which have some really distinctive armour. My Assault guys used them and they look nicely suited to the Sons of Horus as they are dynamic and archaic.

Key Rule 3. Improve the army as a whole

Of those purchases above, they apply across the whole of the army, rather than benefiting any one squad or the individual. This is key to getting a Heresy feel.

Look at the guys above, shockingly modern armour. Now these. This guy was a bit of pride and joy of my most recent paint jobbies.

Now look at him! I've now desecrated him further by removing the breastplate eagle as well.

These guys below, when they have paint added and the ever present grime added they should look much better. If you were to count up the actual armour marks you wouldn't make that many at all.

They still have very modern marks but the general aesthetic is hopefully more Heresy era than modern, I'll say they are a loyalists Sons of Horus Expedition, advanced tech etc.

As well as this, you can make your obvious items such as your Godwyn bolters go a bit further with some simple cutting and repurposing.

Dunno what the variant is that these guys are using...

But its a different profile, non-standard.

I flattened the top of the bolter completely and removed any panel markings. Then cutting about a mm into the bolter top gives the different look. Otherwise wasted bolters.

TOP TIP. When ‘pinging’ the shoulderpads off of existing marines do not use a hefty craft knife, as even this will snap.

 I use a steel ruler as its incredibly strong at that angle and flat enough just to get underneath their arms.

Key Rule 4. Take everything with a pinch of salt

Remember you are making Heresy Era Space Marines from 40k ones. That means stuff won't be perfect. 

Are you putting them up for display in GW HQ? Or are you just playing with your mates?

The general thinking is ‘no Mark, you cannot buy all that resin, convert as much as you can, you really won’t know the difference when they are on the table’. If anything, you'll love these guys more than the non-converted sorts.

My justification that the Sons of Horus  are the better bunch to pick is backed up by the fact that these guys were known for using the most up to date equipment, so there will be a nice spread of old vs new.

At least 25 of these relatively unused Sons of Omega have come out nice enough considering they have been basically pulled apart. 

I do have various combinations of squads in mind for who will be what on the field.

These Terminators I cannot really edit much as they are the stock pose, thankfully they have some nice heresy-era touches already and have had all Emperor emblems removed apart from the crux (we’ll assume that prior to the melting of the Emperors armour, this was just a regular seal). These will be changed with correct painting in sons of Horus blacks and reds.

My Praetor model guy got a new face.

I’ve been attempting to cast some very small studs to use on the SOH. This means casting! First attempts with spikes, and then as I had room a spare bolter and a spare chain-bayonette, that experiment was mixed

Then over here we have a Dreadclaw drop-pod that I whacked together and quickly weathered more after seeing how easy the conversions were, and that it would benefit my 30k army more than my 40k army. Literally broke off the fins, shaved them a bit, reverse, remount, finish. Much more useful!

Still not ideal though so out comes the razor saw again.

Much better, I'll add spikes to the bottom of the feet for a last bit of height.

The snow on the base I’m going to leave as it reminds me that this is a flyer/hover type.It landed and the snow was blown back into its retros as it took off. Will think that one through… 


This thing will deep strike in as a fast skimmer in the movement phase, turbo boost in the shooting phase to where I want (burning all who approach) and land where I need ready to assault next turn. Jinks galore should keep whoever is inside alive.

Lastly, a squad of Heavy support guys with Plasma cannons that will get some greenstuffed icons and things to make then more 30k.

I hope this has helped, next time it will be greenstuff and more detailed conversions on the various bits of armour and troops that can improve the overall aesthetic.