Space Marine Apothecaries – Rogue Trader and Primaris
I love doctors. And I love Space Marines. Put them together, and you get Doctor Space Marines, dispensing healthcare and the Emperor’s justice across the battlefields of the 41st millennium.
Here’s the 2017 Primaris Apothecary alongside his very own primogenitor – the very first Apothecary miniature Games Workshop produced back in 1987. Oh, how far miniature design has come in thirty years.
The Primaris Apothcary is absolutely loaded with so much detail he crosses the line from miniature into micro-diorama. He stands over a fallen Battle Brother, having removed the progenoid glands, and every surface is festooned with details like cannisters, helix motifs, lenses and surgical tools. However, I have become obsessed with one detail – the mysterious skull strapped to his arse.
During the long evenings of painting, I came up with my own backstory about who this skull belonged to…
The Rogue Trader Apothecary came from Rochie of Buried Under Lead. Rochie has converted and painted up this mini already – you should check it out here. Thanks for the gift, Rochie!
Patreon Painting Tutorial
If you’d like to learn how to paint white exactly like this, I took super-detailed stage-by-stage photos on the Ninjabread Patreon, and have written up the method, colours and theory.
On top of this tutorial, patrons get instant access to the whole six month back catalogue with five more masterclasses covering other colours of power armour, cloth and my Golden Demon winning piece.
I’m really keen on collecting more Apothecaries now, and am taken by the idea of one with a Crimson Fists one with a bike or jump pack with “Fist Responder” armour graffiti.
The sheet-metal walls you can see above are a preview casting of a Fogou Models terrain set that’s coming soon! Keep your eyes peeled!
Coming soon: even more Space Marines, old and new!
That white is low fat milk, bluey smooth. Exceptionally nice work.
Is the MkVI apothecary/medic’s backpack integral? It looks like it has some character specific geegaws on it.
Thanks sho3y!
I added the obscure medipack backpack to the Rogue Trader Apothecary (he was initally released with simply a plain backpack with the other RT101s). The medipack was released along with the Rogue Trader giant-fan jump packs and some banner-poled backpacks, but never made it into any of the major catalogues so tends to slip people by.
That is brilliant.
I love how you change your painting style to reflect the age of the miniature. Very cool
Thanks Riot! It’s the same colours on both minis, but I switch up the thickness of the highlights to reflect the style of the sculpting. It’s great fun.
The only way this could be more perfect would be if there was a tiny skull on the butt of the RT medic. Actually scratch that, that would be a bit too creepy :s
This was a great idea for a blog post, and some beautifully painted miniatures to compliment it :D And the comic is grand too!
That’s a great idea! Nabbing that for the next Apothecary! Thanks Crooksie. Butts are never creepy.
Quality work there, and the absurdist juxtaposition of the old and the new is real dedication to craft.
Is that Omega Skull marine a chapter of your own devising?
Thanks! I really like having old and new together – I’m working on some of the Black Legion from Blackstone Fortress at the moment and am trying to work out what the original Black Legion minis were, according to Realm of Chaos Slaves to Darkness.
The Omega Skull is my own design. Nemesis Chapter do exist in the background, but with just a standard skull. I developed it into an omega shape to reference them being an Ultramarines successor. And also “Nemesis” was blin in mythology, so it’s also got a blindfold over the eyes of the skull if you look carefully.
Gorgeous as always Curis. I never realized the size difference in the minis, so much bigger. So much charm in those old minis, and the Fist Aid is perfect. I like the idea of the Fist Responder. Can’t wait to see that conversion. ;)
Thanks Grove! The size difference really makes me want to bust out my 54mm Artemis miniature and so some side-by-sides.
That’s absolutely fantastic. I love the way you chose colours and particularly that specific tone of white. Terrific results!
Thanks Suber! I’m really enjoying this particular white as it’s so anti-septic and medical. Can’t wait to show off more Apothecaries in it soon.
Lovely paintwork. Great job.
Thanks Warbie!
Another cool comparison to the old figures. The comic is great fun, and I look forward to reading the tutorial.
Cheers Sean! I love doing comparisons, I’ve got some vintage Black Legion from the RoC era to show off alongside the new Blackstone Fortress stuff soon!
Nice… I’d never seen the old medic backpack before either.
I’m absolutely shocked at how upscaled the Marines have gotten. I don’t have any newer ones, so I keep forgetting.
Yeah, it’s a pleasingly obscure piece the old backpack. There’s a couple of Marines that were released only to fall out the catalogues too, I’m planning a blog on them soon!
Beautiful work as usual, mate. It’s funny to see how much scale creep we’ve had since those early, heady days!
Thanks Azazel! Yeah, these new minaitures feel a bit like those Todd McFarlane shelf art Spawn sculptures at times.