Citadel C100 Imperial Marines Squad

  Bob Naismith was among the lead sculptors during the developing years of Citadel Miniatures and Games Workshop. His talented hands were crafting the very first incarnations of what would quickly become signature GW properties, and there are few names as revered among Oldhammer collectors today.

  As many now know, Rick Preistly lead the writing of what would become Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader, and it was published in 1987. The publication was tied to a large selection of products to be released at the same time, and the ambitious launch proved more sucessful than they might have hoped.(For a cool interview with Rick Priestly, check out the John Wombat Blog here.)

  But in the years before the Rogue Trader publication, while the 40k products were still being developed, some figures that were made in the early phases, as designs were being ironed out, were put into production. For those here who did not already know this; the very first Citadel Space Marines were designed and created by Bob Naismith.

Sculpted in 1985, and released in the August 1986 Citadel Flyer, Warhammer gamers were given their very first peek at the "Imperium of Man", a full year before the legendary game would be published.

   They were Named and coded as C100 Imperial Marines. And though the Space Marine design would see some modification before the official release a year later (possibly due to technical constraints on their crucial Space Marines plastics), these early models were close enough that they remained a part of the standard line for many years.

Below is my own paintjob on a quad of them. Though I was happy to accept a small prize for the Bring Out Your Lead Painting Contest with them (With special guest Judge, Tony Ackland. Check out the John Wombat Blog recent interview of him here.), I must confess I had asked the talented Delaney King if I might use her decidedly retro paint scheme from 2011. These figures were a snapshot of that period between Asgard Miniatures Laserburn, and Citadel Miniatures bombastic 40k, and so I too, wanted to use colors that harkenned back those late 70's to early 80's sci-fi days. Also, just so you know, my lightbox backdrop used in these shots was hand painted by Thomas over at Skull & Crown. Thanks Thomas!

And by the way, Bob Naismith may have retired from Games Workshop long ago, but he has always been busy since then. Today he creates a range of 3D tactical miniatures model designs to print, and also has a Patreon account. Check it out! Bob's Naismith's Overrunners Just to be thorough, here is yet another John Wombat Blog interview featuring Bob Naismith.

Thanks for visiting!