"Barbershop Quartet" - Sword Brethren - Part 1 (Sculpting Hair)

Every Sword Brother has earned their place

among the Marshal's household

through acts of unswerving faith

and spectacular violence.

On the battlefield, they are a reaping whirlwind,

unstoppable, uncompromising,

armed with a lethal assortment of

powered blades and thundering pistols

that they turn upon the enemy in the Emperor's name.

- Games Workshop

Welcome back to The Art of Caesura!

This post has been a LONG time in the making! I built these guys over a year ago and painted them back in June, but I held them back until I had turned my attentions back from Hellboy to Warhammer 40k.

Today we're looking at the grizzled veterans of the Black Templars: The Sword Brethren!

Before 40k's last points update, Sword Brethren were considered one of the best units in the whole game. Number crunchers had shown how, with the right buffs, they could take out an Imperial Knight in one round of combat! I am not a meta-gamer - I don't just hobby to create the most powerful army; I am an ardent hobbiest - I build and paint the models that I think look cool, and if they happen to be good in the game, hell, all the better!

Sword Brethren tick all the boxes for me:

They are stunning models: my favourite Space Marines - heavily leaning into the "Space Marine as crusader-knight" aesthetic.
The kit is a joy: while expensive (in money), it comes with LOADS of extra options, weapons, heads, and baubles which are perfect for blinging out any "vanilla" Space Marine unit.
They are incredibly lore thematic: They are the veterans of the Black Templars - a whole squad of the equivalent of Sergeants, led by a Castellan (basically a Lieutenant) who can lead Initiates and Neophytes into battle (as a knight would mentor their squire) or they can join together to form this elite unit which could even act as a bodyguard unit for High Marshal Helbrecht (again, both thematic and good in the game).
They are amazing in the game.

Today, (as you have seen, interspersed throughout this post so far) we are focusing specifically on their models. In my Black Templars army, I model everyone of higher rank than standard trooper (i.e. the Black Templar equivalents of Sergeants, Lieutenants, Captains etc.) without helmets. This makes them standout on the tabletop and also makes them feel a bit more special and individual.

So, to start this unit of Sword Brethren, I went through my bits box for all my Space Marine heads that would be suitable as a basis for these experienced and aggressive knightly folk. I say basis, because I planned to sculpt knightly hairdos onto these dudes (as I did with the previous Sword Brother I made a couple of years ago - who I have pasted again below). I looked for "yelling" heads especially with scars, and then I busted out the Green Stuff and dental tool.

I'm pretty happy with how the heads turned out. I haven't shown the Castellan (unit leader) because at this stage I still hadn't completely decided on which head to use for him. Spoiler alert, I ended up sticking to the standard head that he comes with from the box, and kept it "as is".

Below you can see a test fit of the heads on their bodies (they will sit more naturally when they are glued in - for now it's just blue tack).