Grey Hunter with a Plasma Pistol, painted

I was going to make a post about my Void Claw Pack Leader today, but I haven't quite finished painting the model, so here's an older model instead. I'm sure I'll have the Void Claw Pack Leader finished by Tuesday, though.

 As I've previously mentioned, I wanted this pack of Grey Hunters to have a lot of plasma weaponry to tackle on heavy infantry, preferably with a volley straight out of a drop pod. 

 I posed to model so that he's winding his upper body back to deliver a powerful thrust with his chainsword. Shooting poses tend to be easier to make look natural, but I think close combat poses look more dynamic and catch the eye better. I painted the dagaz rune on his left kneepad freehand, just because I figured there should be something there. In hindsight, painting Ragnar Blackmane's army badge might have been a better choice, tying the squad somewhat together with my main force, but seeing as the rune came out fairly clean-looking, I don't mind. Maybe his name starts with the letter (or more accurately, sound) D.

I wanted the model still to have a bolter to take on targets further than 12" away, and used one of the Umbra-Ferrox patterns from Forgeworld to do that. While mixing different bolter types in a unit might not work for the more uniform Chapters, it works for the individualist Space Wolves.

Arjac's Fourth Shieldbrother, painted

I'm not actually putting Arjac's shieldbrothers in any particular order, other than that in which they are modelled and finished, but since I'm not naming them all, I have to call them something.

 The most distinguishing feature on this model is the Thunder Hammer head sculpted from scratch. I carved a few runes on its surface, which I made glow with Temple Guard Blue. I also gave the claws holding the hammer head the same glow, to show that the weapon is definitely powered.
I considered just making the model's hair and sideburns blonde, but ultimately decided to make them grey instead. I wanted to show that the mohawk isn't a phase among the Sky Warriors, though it may well be a sign of unusual ferocity, which would explain why it's so common among the Blood Claws.

 I decided to give his armour's collar some decoration in Wolf Guard's colours. It's also pretty similar to the pack marking I chose for the Shieldbrothers, making it a good fit.

There's still space for another four Terminators aboard the pack's Crusader (which I may have to post about at some point), but after this one, just adding the Pack Leader and Arjac would already make a respectable-sized (and very expensive, points-wise) formation. I think I will end up filling the transport, just to have that option, but I will consider the formation to be "ready" once the pack leader and Arjac are aboard.

Grey Hunter from Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company, pauinted

I think I've used the same header for several models now. To really create a narrative for my army, I should come up with a name for each pack, if not each model, but I'm not very good at naming stuff. We'll see if I think of something later on.

 I wasn't planning on making a Thanksgiving special, but the chainblade close combat attachment on his Umbra-Ferrox pattern bolter could be used to carve a turkey, though there probably would be fairly little left to eat. What do you want from me? They don't celebrate Thanksgiving on Fenris, at least I don't think they do.

 The actual "thing" for this model was the customized square shoulder pad. They are shown on some artwork depicting pre-heresy Vlka Fenryka, and I decided I wanted one of my models to have one. The shoulder pad itself is simply a piece of plasticard with green stuff around the edges and the company badge. I sculpted the fur under it primarily to fill in any gaps between the shoulder and the pad.

As with other bareheaded models, I attached the helmet on his gear to show that he has it with him. I also gave him a combat knife to drive home the point that he has a close combat weapon in addition to his bolt pistol and bolter.

Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarius Ranger with a Transuranic Arquebus, painted

My AdMech force is growing very slowly and unsteadily. It might help if I focused more on the Cult Mechanicus, as their models are more expensive points-wise, with the Electro Priests being the cheapest ones, despite costing approximately the same as a Space Marine Veteran and being nowhere near as useful. The way the models are designed definitely dampens my willingness to invest in them. They are bound to start repeating poses soon.
Anyway, the Transuranic Arquebus is one of the cooler weapons in the army. I like the old-timey design coupled with the idea of the weapon still being extremely hi-tech (by the Imperium's standards).

 The weapons long, thin stand proved to be ridiculously fragile (or alternatively, my hands proved to be ridiculously clumsy). The stand broke off at two points, which I had to pin with thin wire. Fortunately, the fix turned out pretty seamless, but I'm still concerned about how hard it will be to transport and move the models on the tabletop without breaking anything.

 I chose the head with the hood pulled back, because variety is the spice of life, and I intend to have at least one more TUA in the same squad.

Other than the fragile stand, the model was relatively uneventful to put together. I just wonder how the Skitarius is supposed to move quicker than most infantry and yet have time to fire an aimed shot in the same turn when he's using a long weapon with a stand, but I suppose the priests of Mars will have their secrets.

Wolf Guard Pack Leader from Ragnar Blackmane's Company, painted

Chris Wraight raised some interesting questions when he wrote Blood of Asaheim. Gunnlaugr was the vaerangi, or Wolf Guard leader, of the pack and mentioned having been with the pack since the beginning. In the earlier fluff, the Blood Claws and Grey Hunters usually fought by themselves, but sometimes, a member of the Wolf Guard would be assigned to lead a pack for a specific battle. Eventually, I came up with a satisfactory headcanon to explain this. If one of the Grey Hunters distinguishes himself and the Wolf Lord considers him worthy of being a part of the Wolf Guard, but the Grey Hunter chooses to remain with his pack, he may be promoted to the rank of vaerangi. As such, he is of equal rank with the Wolf Lords bodyguard, but remains as a permanent part of his pack. Members of the Wolf Guard are not assigned to lead packs with battle-capable vaerangi, as it would be an insult to the vaerangi's authority over his pack.

Now, I'm aware that there were other problems with the novel, fluff-wise, such as the Grey Hunter with a heavy bolter, for example. I'm effectively covering for mr. Wraight's mistake/use of artistic license.  There's also a problem with the Long Fangs, which can have both, a Long Fang Ancient, the established leader of the pack, and a Wolf Guard Pack Leader. The best way to patch this up that I can think of is that the ancient may be a pack member with the best situational awareness (sort of a super soldier Sterling Archer in space, though they already did that in season 3, IIRC) or sense of target priority, while the vaerangi would be the generally greatest leader, even though tactical leadership and situational awareness are very much connected.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is look, I made a vaerangi.

 I used fairly standard parts for the legs and the torso, but with some decoration from the Space Wolves Pack kit. I painted the same pattern as on Bjorn's leg on the helmet's crest. The pack marking in Blood Claw colours on the knee pad serves to remind him of his beginnings.

 I painted the same shoulder pad marking as the rest of the pack, but in Wolf Guard colours.
The power axe comes from Forgeworld's Mk.IV Power Weapon Set, but with extended haft (a piece of wire and green stuff). I also glued some fine chain around his wrist, just to give it a little more... metal appearance.

The left shoulder pad is one of the older resin Blackmanes pads that GW sold before the new upgrade kit. I wanted to add some variety in the wolftail talismans, so I painted it in red wolf colours.

Deathwatch Raptor Battle Brother

The Raptors is one of my favourite chapters. Their tendency to prefer tactical soundness over bravado is unusual in 40k universe, and particularly among the Astartes. I wanted at least one of my Deathwatch Kill Team members to be a Raptor.

 The kneeling legs felt like a natural choice for a Raptor, having him utilize cover rather than standing up, trying to stop enemy projectiles with his face. The fact that the kneeling set of legs was Mk.VI was just icing on the cake, suiting the Raven Guard successor well. I went with that idea, choosing a helmet and torso of the same mark.

 Unfortunately, since he's kneeling with his left knee down instead of the right one, I found it very difficult to pose him like he's aiming or shooting his weapon. Having the right knee up would have required an awkardly extreme twist at the waist for him to aim his bolter forward. So I decided to have him do something else instead, and using an auspex fit the bill. At first, I had him look rigt at the auspex, but it made him look nearsighted, with the long, conical helmet's beak nearly touching the auspex. I decided to have him look around him instead, as if to confirm the readings on the auspex for himself.

I wanted his armour to be relatively undecorated, and intend to paint all the decorations there are on his armour in rather muted colours. To this end, I chose not to use any of the shoulder pads in the Sternguard kit and just sculpted the Raptors Chapter Badge on a standard one. Luckily, the Raptors have a lot simpler chapter badge than their Primogenitor chapter.

Thunderwolf Cavalry in Mk.IV Armour, painted

You could say I really took my time with this one, though the three months it took between the first time I blogged about the model and now isn't very long at all, compared to the year and a half it took from buying the Thunderwolf Cavalry kit to finishing two thirds of it (the final third is pretty close too, btw).

 I ended up doing fairly little more to the model after the previous post. The most recognisable change was probably changing from the chainaxe I sculpted to a chainsword, which I ended up painting as a frostblade. I did improve the mount's barding somewhat, too, adding a plate to the back of its neck and made the helmet more substantial and symmetrical.

 I also added a couple of small armour plates with runes to the Thunderwolf's hind legs. Other than this, I decided the model was ready for painting.

As usual, the rider's head had the old sculpt syndrome, where his face was not as symmetrical and clean a sculpt as I would have liked. The transition from lower lid to eye was somewhat unclear, and one eye was significantly larger than the other. This may not be so clear from the distance models are usually viewed from, but definitely visible on closer examination. I didn't want to redo the head, though, mostly because I was pretty satisfied with his mouth, beard and hair. 
For the glowing runes on the storm shield, I used thinned-down Temple Guard Blue. I intentionally left it somewhat smudgy, to give the impression of glowing. I might still paint them clean white later on.

At first, I thought I'd just have him wield a close combat weapon, but the double-bladed chainsword has been shown as an example of a frostblade in the codex, and I didn't want to waste the opportunity. To get the message across clearly, I painted the teeth in Caledor Sky, drybrushed with Temple Guard Blue and highlighted with white. I also used the same method for the runes on the flats of the blade as for the ones on the storm shield.

The base was painted in my usual manner: Mourn Mountain Snow lightly brushed over Stirland Mud, finished with grass tufts and modelling snow. The rocks are painted with Mechanicum Standard Grey, shaded with Nuln oil and drybrushed with Dawnstone.
The first post of this model

Grey Hunter of Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company

While it's very understandable to put a lot more effort in HQ models and elite forces than in the normal troops, it should be kept in mind that the relatively cheap Troop choices are the ones that end up determining how the army is going to look. Today, I took a break from a larger model I've geen working on lately to touch up a previously finished Grey Hunter.

 This was one of the first models I painted with blonde hair. The method I use is to start with dark brown base (Rhinox Hide, specifically) and then mix lighter brown with yellow (Gorthor Brown and Yriel Yellow, typically), emphasizing the yellow more on each subsequent layer.  I finally highlight typically with an approximately 1:1 mix of yellow and white.

 The belt-fed bolter is from the Thunderwolf Cavalry kit. I generally like the way belt-fed weapons look. The helmet on his backpack is again a Mk. V. I used one of the older resin Blackmanes shoulderpads on the model.

I decided to give the model a chainaxe, even though Space Wolves codex doesn't allow them. In game terms, it simply counts as a close combat weapon, but looks a lot more wolfy visually.

Pack of Fenrisian Wolves, painted

I finished this Wolf pack a good while ago, but hadn't varnished them. I also didn't have winter grass tufts at the time, so I decided it was high time to varnish them as well as touch up the bases while I was at it.
I wanted my wolves to be of the blackmaned variety, so I kept their coats' colour scheme strictly within the shades of grey.

 The Fenrisian Wolf models have the same problem as the new AdMech models in the sense that there are very few ways they can be assembled. Of couse, in the Wolves' case, it is a lot more acceptable, as the models only have two halves to their bodies and their heads, and the bodies and heads can be combined freely, though there really are only two different expressions for the heads (maw closed or open). Other than filling the gaps and removing mold lines, there's little to do modelling-wise, except for, of course, basing. This wolf had a fairly simple base with a few pieces of cork for rocks and a couple of grass tufts. Simplicity often works well, though, and I have no major problems with the base. Had I had the grass tufts at the time, I could have saved specific space for them, but would-could-should, didn't.
The colour scheme was mostly black, except for the white paws and lighter grey flanks.

 The rearing pose left plenty of space on the base, so I wanted something eye-catching there. A sword would have been a little too much, but a rusty combat knife sticking from the ground gives the impression that the battlefield has seen combat before.
The colour scheme for this wolf was simply black.

 This base was again fairly simple, except for an ork skull, lodged between two rocks. In the fluff, this says quite a lot more than is first apparent: orks constantly drop spores wherever they are, so if there was an ork on the battlefield once, it's very likely there will be again. And again and again.
The wolf's coat is black, except for a lighter grey, almost white, back.

 Another wolf with only one point of contact with the base, I wanted to use the available space on the base. The model looks like it's going around something, so I made a stunted tree out of green stuff there. I wish I had known I was going to get grass tufts at the time, as I would have certainly saved a space for them by the tree.

Another relatively plain base, with nothing but a couple of pieces of cork and a grass tuft.
I wanted one of the wolves to have a white coat, to balance out the other one with the fully black coat.

The pack is fairly small at five wolves, and I may grow it larger in the future. I intend to make my Cyber-Wolves my self, instead of buying the resin model, which probably means I will buy another kit for conversion purposes in the future.

Space Wolf Deathwatch Brother Sergeant

At first, I was going to put my Space Wolf in the Deathwatch Vanguard squad I plan to start on a later date, but I couldn't resist. I may end up having both, though, the other one being there to witness the other's actions, even though Deathwatch veterans can never tell their Chapter brothers what happened during their service.

 The head is from the Thunderwolf Cavalry kit. I could have sculpted one from scratch, but I wasn't planning on putting too much effort in what is going to be a secondary or tertiary army, and besides, I wanted to use these heads for something. Most of the other parts of the model are from the Space Wolves Pack kit.

 The power gladius comes from Forgeworld's Mk.II Power Weapons set.
I decided that the model should have his helmet with him, even if he's not currently wearing it.

I spent a while thinking over his armament. I wanted him to be able to fire his weapon and have the squad charge the same turn, which meant an Assault weapon or a pistol. I considered a Combi-Flamer, but decided that Storm Bolter was a cheaper choice. As for the melee weapon, I didn't want to choose  Lightning Claws, because as a Space Wolf, he'd have access to a better version of those. Seeing how he's in the Deathwatch, I decided he'd be an Ultramarine sergeant's successor. The two would have inevitably locked horns earlier, then won each other's respect, until the Ultramarine would have bequeathed his power sword to the Space Wolf.

Eversor Assassin, painted

Painting a scratch-built model is a little scary. You know that every little flaw that the painting brings to sharper focus is your fault. If you find you don't really like something about the design, the only person you can blame stares back at you from the mirror. Keeping this in mind, I was reasonably content with how this one turned out.

 I decided to use blue instead of grey or white to highlight the model, as dark blue is better suited for stealth than just plain black. It caused the model to look like a female version of Skeletor in the early stages. The impression was significantly weakened with further details, though. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

 Green colour is typically associated with poisons and venoms, so I painted the vials connected to the Neuro Gauntlet green. To differentiate from that, I painted the wire in the sensor array a sort of electric blue.

I painted the combat drug vial on her hip red, as I thought it best reflects the violent nature of the drug cocktail in the assassin's system. I made the base in the same style as my Space Wolves army, even though my AdMech could probably use the assassin's help more.

Land Speeder Typhoon

It's about time to post a vehicle again, and a Land Speeder fits the bill. The armament took some time to decide. After some consideration, I decided to give the speeder some more ranged capability and chose the Typhoon missile launcher over the assault cannon and heavy flamer options.

 I tried to keep my head somewhat cool and to not go overboard with customising the model. I used a Mk.IV helmet for the driver's head and a Mk.VI for the gunner's. There's also a wolf's skull over the cockpit.

 I did have to do a little customising by replacing the Imperial Eagle with a bronze wolf's head. The multi-melta is magnetised and can be swapped for a heavy bolter, once I get it painted. The heat discolouration was achieved with layers of red, purple and blue shades, with some Forgeworld's black soot to finish the look.

I used the same technique for the heat discolouration on the engines, minus the soot.
I considered using the transparent base as-is, but finally decided to be consistent and finish the base similarly to the rest of the army.

Salamanders Deathwatch Battle Brother with a Heavy Flamer

I was originally planning on something else for today's update, but things don't always go as planned, as can be seen by the fact that this isn't a Raptor, despite what I wrote last time.
I always knew I wanted a Salamander on my Kill Team, just wasn't sure what role I wanted him in. There were three options: sergeant, Heavy Flamer or a Multi-Melta. I eventually decided on Heavy Flamer, as I thought it was the most usable straight out of a Drop Pod.

 The legs are the ones with a pelt from the Space Wolves sprue, with the fur taken out and replaced with Salamander-y hide. I chose a chest piece with the chain over the legs to give it some more character, though it's not very visible from behind his weapon. The helmet and shoulder pad are from Games Workshop's Deathwatch Conversion Kit.

 I had to sculpt the Salamanders shoulder pad. Luckily, it's not very different from Ragnar Blackmane's Company Badge, with which I have some experience. The Chapter Badge turned out to be pretty simple to sculpt. Unfortunately, it didn't really fit on any of the more decorative shoulder pads on the Sternguard kit, which is somewhat out of character for the Salamanders, with their tendency towards very ornate armours.

Other than the few kitbashed bits, the model was a fairly standard Sternguard marine. Of course, I may yet further differentiate him in the painting phase.

Iron Hands Deathwatch Battle-Brother

I have been planning to start a Deathwatch kill team for a good while now, and the latest Space Marine codex includes a suitable formation for this. I recently bought a Sternguard Veteran kit to get started. Iron Hands is probably the Chapter I would choose if I had to replace Space Wolves. Visually, they're like a combination of Adeptus Mechanicus and Space Marines, arguably the two most recognisable 40k factions.

 I'm sort of annoyed by Space Marines changing their base size to 32mm, even though I admit the bigger bases look better. It's going to lead to my Space Wolves looking inconsistent, with some of the models on smaller and some on bigger base. Starting from scratch with the Deathwatch gave me a chance to at least keep them consistent.
Most of the squad is going to use the Sternguard legs with the flowing robes. That didn't seem to fit too well with Iron Hands, thoigh, so I decided to give him a bunch of fine chains instead.

 As I'm probably going to use a Great Company badge for the right shoulder pad on my Space Wolves Deathwatch model, I should have really used a clan symbol on the Iron Hands model, too. However, the gauntlet badge was a lot easier to sculpt than the regular cogwheel shapes that all the Iron Hands clan symbols seem to use, so I'm going with this.
Considering the model's chapter, the bionic hand from Forgeworld's character conversion kit was an obvious choice.

The bolter and left shoulder pad are from Games Workshop's Deathwatch Kill Team Conversion Kit. I also added some extra techy bits from Electro Priest set to the backpack, as I feel like an Iron Hands marine couldn't not have his armour's power source improved on.

I haven't yet decided which Chapter will the next Kill Team member represent. I'm considering the Raptors, the Sensible Marines of the game.

Arjac's Shieldbrother with Bionics, painted

I took more risks than usual with this one. The model presented with a challenge to  begin with, having one half of the face bionic and the other natural (relatively speaking). Then, I decided that his shield should be white, instead of red or black, as with the previous two Shieldbrothers.

 White is a fairly demanding colour to shade and highlight. Using inks or shades, it's very easy to just have the end result looking dirty. Also, since you can't really have a piece be brighter than white, highlighting is challenging. I ended up just applying a little Nuln Oil by the rims, and that seems to work well enough.

 I decided to make the cabling to the Thunder Hammer stand out, so I applied the yellow-black pattern I usually use with my Mechanicum models. I also wanted to give the hammer a powered look, so I used thinned down Temple Guard Blue.

Another little touch was the knotwork pattern. I am relatively satisfied with it. Overall, the paintwork could afford to be a little cleaner, but considering what I set out to do, ie. make the model look unique and stand out from GW's stock models, I think I could call it a success.
See the model before painting

Wolf Scout with a Sniper Rifle

Getting around the limitations set by a kit is probably the most typical reason to convert miniatures. In this case, the limitation was that Space Marine Scout kit with sniper rifles only had so many camo cloaks, and while could have just stuck a rolled-up one on his back, I decided to do something a little more interesting instead.

 The idea of using a wolf pelt with its jaw over the warrior's head isn't exacttly new, since they apparently did that in the ancient Rome (haven't reasearched this myself, so not sure), but it's a good look. I also attached a Wolftail Talisman on the rifle.

Having a pelt for cloak works from the fluff perspective, too. I have based my models for a winter environment, so having the pelt of an animal that lives in similar environment should provide fine camouflage, both by having appropriate colour and by breaking the humanoid shape of the scout. The pelt would probably be thick enough to dampen the scout's heat signatures etc. as well.

I glued some cork under his right foot, again to make the pose a little more interesting. Having feet on slightly different levels goes a long way towards making the models' often overdramatic and awkward poses look more natural.