Here in the PaintSlam community I absolutely love seeing all your awesome hobby. In addition to the monthly showcase posts, I especially like to feature singular artists and their projects in Community Spotlights just like this one. This time, we’re looking at Jules’ Samurai-themed Space Marines!
So Jules, could you tell us about yourself?
Hello! I’m Jules (he/him or she/her) and I’m a bi genderfluid sometimes dude! I’m 28 and only really started the hobby in 2020, but I’ve been eyeing it for far longer, just without the disposable income. I remember being really into the Admech line when they came out, but when I actually joined in was when the new Adepta Sororitas dropped! Sisters were my first army back then! I also decided back then, that I’d never start a Space Marine army, because they are way too boring. Look at me now!
So what made you change your mind?
I think I got the idea to do Samurai marines for the first time when I watched a battle report, I think it was someone’s custom Mantis Warriors samurai marines. I don’t remember what channel it was, but it definitely sparked an idea in me. I had just recently watched Ran by Akira Kurosawa and the idea of Samurai Space Marines on the then new Outrider bikes formed, similar in look to the samurai horsemen in the movie, with banners on their backs. That was the original idea that led me to buy the Space Marine half of the Indomitus box online, as well as samurai bits from Puppetswar, mainly katanas and shoulder pads.
I later expanded the army and around then I discovered another bits service on Instagram, where I was posting my minis. The service called “The Custom Bit” was also European and very small back then. They had Samurai bits I liked even more, so I incorporated them into models I made from then on, including new heads, back banners, swords and shoulder pads, but also just other small stuff like sword sheathes or custom Dreadnaught modifications.
Do you have any favourite pieces in the army?
The highlight for my army and something of a crowning achievement came when I discovered that I was far from the only one in the niche of Samurai Space Marines on Instagram! A far bigger user in the space, Marco Paroli, was also doing them and we started talking about doing an art trade! So while I was working on a Kabuki-themed librarian for him, he built me a Chapter Master, the coolest model in my army in my opinion.
My favorite models in my army that I’ve done are my custom Khan on Bike and my Bladeguard Veterans. They really exemplify the samurai theme the best. I decided early on that the higher a member in my army ranks, the more customizations I’d give them. My Bladeguard Veterans are essentially my most Samurai Samurai Space Marines!
Can you tell us a little more about the background for the army?
I explained that difference in how much customization I did in the extensive lore I made up for my chapter for no good reason! Since my chapter was entirely Primaris and since I really wasn’t interested in doing anything that wasn’t, I placed them in the Ultima Founding, calling them the Rising Sons, cause it isn’t a Warhammer army if they aren’t a dumb joke taken way too seriously. I placed them as technically a Dark Angels successor chapter, since they were founded by a chaplain of the chapter who crashed onto their feudal homeworld of Honin after a battle with the Fallen and there learned to live a simpler life for a while, as well as the futility of his chapter’s pursuit to hide from their past (a plot shamelessly stolen from the Tom Cruise movie The Last Samurai). Long story short, I got really attached to all that silly lore I created and made writing out snippets from it in my Instagram posts of new models a priority!
Thanks, and finally: What’s next for this army?
I don’t think I’m done with the Rising Sons, or ever will be. There’s rumors of new assault marines in the Primaris range at some point in the near future, so at the very latest when those come, I’ll pick up the Mephiston Red again! Right now I’m working on some Ninja-style Marines for a Phobos Kill Team that I’ve placed in the mysterious 9th company of my chapter. I can’t wait to see where they lead me next and what other cool bits and greenstuff work are in this chapter’s future!
Awesome! Well, this army looks great and I can’t wait to see how it grows in future! Thanks for sharing with us!
If you enjoyed this article and want to share your own hobby project with the community, please get in touch with me (JewelKnightJess) directly on Twitter, Instagram, Discord, or whereever else you might find me! See you next time!
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