Changing update schedule

First of all, I will not be posting an update tonight. Second, in the future, I will not be following a weekly schedule, but rather, intend to make posts when I can find the time and the subject matter for them. While they may still be approximately weekly, I suspect they will not, and I don't intend to aim for that.
The reason for this is simply my job. I work a lot of evenings, and will have more hours in the future (which means more money in my pocket, but less time to spend it), and keeping a regular update schedule with irregular working hours doesn't really work.

No update today

As the title says, I'm skipping this week's update. I'm still working on the two previous one. Having a job with irregular hours makes running this blog somewhat tricky, and I may have to further cut my update schedule down to every two weeks, or possibly just make it monthly, and try to make those updates count.

Space Wolves Heavy Support Legionnaire

Although they may not be all that great in terms of rules, I like the style and idea behind large-bore full automatic weapons of 40k, such as autocannons in this case. Same goes for assault cannons and, to some degree, heavy bolters.

Pictures up tomorrow.

Grey Slayer, painted

Pictures up soon

Post delayed

My schedule this weekend and tomorrow hasn't really left a lot of time for modelling. I'll see if I manage an extra post some point during next week.

VI Legion Warrior

I recently made some acquisitions that are going to make an appearance on this blog soon-ish. Not today, though, today I'll just keep slowly building up my 30k Space Wolves.

I wanted to keep the miniature simple this time, so I just put together a Mk.III Marine with a bionically enhanced head from Forgeworld's Space Marine Character kit, gave him a pistol and a combat blade and added some cork to the base.
I thought the model would represent a veteran of the Rout from the pre-Fenrisian era. While many of the long serving members of the Legion would have completely embraced Leman Russ' reforms to remake the Legion in a more Fenrisian image, and would have had their experience used to the fullest by becoming officers, not everyone would transition seamlessly from the undisciplined berserkers of the past to the more controlled savagery.
The model has no Fenrisian honour markings, and while he hasn't done anything particularly shameful, he's unlikely to become a hero of the Legion.

VI Legion Destroyer

I still haven't upgraded to the 8th edition of 40k, and am currently thinking of waiting for the Space Wolves codex to come out before I make the shift. In the meantime, I plan to continue to build my 30k army, which leads to a curious situation where I have no army ready for the current edition of either system. To this end, I'll continue to build my VI Legion, albeit with a unit that doesn't really help much.

In the Horus Heresy Book VII: Inferno, it was mentioned that Space Wolves often mixed & matched parts from Mk.IV and Mk.III to supplement the protection of the newer, lighter armour as needed. Since Mk.III Power Armour is known for its protective capabilities, and the Destroyers typically wear reinforced armour, I decided it made sense for a Destroyer to use a Mk.III helmet, exchanging the more sophisticated autosenses for thicker armour (particularly because a Space Wolf can just remove his helmet and use his acute senses if necessary).
I also added some battle damage to the armour, and used one of Forgeworld's Mk.II Space Wolves shoulder pads for the left pauldron.

Space Wolves Legion Huscarl, painted

Though bareheaded models are both cool and appropriate to the lore of the Space Wolves, I like the earlier marks of power armour helmets, particularly the marks IV and V, enough to sometimes prefer them to bareheaded models.

One of the advantages 30k Space Wolves have over their 40k counterparts is the focus on the Viking imagery over the constant wolfwolfwolf gimmick. To that end, I wanted to paint the plume on top of the model's helmet in a colour that makes clear it's not a wolf's tail, and red plumes had been shown in previous 30k Space Wolves artwork.

The frost claw was painted in the same way I use to paint my 40k Space Wolves frost weapons. I also painted the specific 13th Great Company icon on the left pauldron, instead of the generic Legion symbol.

Space Wolves Legion Destroyer with a Missile Launcher, painted

Destroyers were the first Horus Heresy unit type that really caught my interest, so it makes sense I would try to finish my Destroyer squad first. No model in the unit is as iconic as the one carrying the rad missiles, so this guy is a fairly high priority.

I prefer to use a fairly limited palette with my Space Wolves, with Mechanicus Standard Grey -> Dawnstone -> Administratum Grey for the armour, Leadbelcher and Runefang Steel for grey metals and Warplock Bronze -> Hashut Copper -> Sycorax Bronze for yellow metals. That way, when I venture outside these colours, it will pop out better, and the army will look more consistent.
With this model, the only dabs of colour were the red eye lenses and the dark red markings on the shoulder pads.

I realize I'm still a few posts behind my schedule, and I hope to catch up in the upcoming couple of weeks. Helmeted Space Wolves are fairly quick and easy to paint, especially the non-Destroyer ones that don't need all that much weathering.

Space Wolves Legion Destroyer, painted

The description of the Destroyers makes it clear that weathering would be more important to these models than to most. I didn't want to make the armours look neglected, especially since 30k-era Space Wolves wouldn't really consider Destroyers outsiders like some other legions would, but they would be constantly taking a lot of damage.

I wanted to make the model look like it had lost large parts of its upper body to friendly fire from a Phosphex grenade, to complement the bionic left arm. I considered using some soot to blacken parts of the armour as well, but decided against it, as it wouldn't really be visible against the already dark armour of the Space Wolves. I may revisit this with the Sergeant, since he's the one actually carrying the Phosphex grenades.

VI Legion Huscarl

I decided to keep building my 30k Space Wolves again. I had built a couple of troopers previously, and thought the squad could use a leader.

The model started out with just the Mk.IV torso with the cingulum militare. I was planning to just add Mk IV limbs to it, but ultimately found that the Mk III just worked better.
I have always liked the look of the older lightning claws (or frost claws, as is the case here), and with the pointing finger, it seemed like a natural choice for a squad leader. I finished the model with a banner pole from a 40k Space Wolves kit, as well as a piece of fur on the right shoulder pad and a crest on the model's helmet.

VI Legion Trooper

I know I still haven't uploaded photos of my last week's model, but the problem is that the model's chainfist fell off and got lost. I plan to keep looking, but if I can't find it, I'll just take a photo of an incomplete model and add another if I ever do find the missing weapon.

This time, I wanted to go back to the rank and file troops of the Vlka Fenryka. I had previously made one Grey Slayer model, and that one was wearing Mk.III armour. This time, I wanted the model to have mostly Mk.IV Maximus armour, partially because I really like its sleek look.

Most of the model's armour came from the Betrayal at Calth set. I exchanged the arms for Mk.III models from the Burning of Prospero set, because I didn't have Mk.IV arms posed the way I wanted. Having more protected arms does make martial sense, because in a swordfight, the fighters hands are the most extended and therefore the most vulnerable target much of the time.
I used one of Forgeworld's Space Wolves torsos, mostly because I could, and covered the right shoulder pad largely with fur, because I don't have as clear an idea how 30k Space Wolves Legion shoulder pad heraldry goes as I do with 40k Space Wolves Chapter.

I may decide to paint this model for next week's update, just to get back to the swing of things.

VI Legion Centurion in Cataphract Armour, painted

Considering Leman Russ' points value is just under 500 points, IIRC, I need to have at least two HQ units to ever field him. Also, 30k Space Wolves need an HQ unit for every 1000 points, so having a wide variety to choose from is always a plus. Of course, having one HQ unit is the first step of having several, so here is the first one.

Pictures up tomorrow.

VI Legion Destroyer with a Missile Launcher

I haven't gotten around to buying the 8th edition Warhammer 40k box set, so there will be no Primaris Space Wolves to be expected any time soon. Instead, I'm going to keep my focus on 30k, largely because 30k Space Wolves haven't jumped the wol... shark the way 40k Space Wolves have. Of course, self parody is an important part of 40k, and 30k takes itself possibly a little too seriously, so I expect I'll get to it sooner or later.

The main point of Legion Destroyers, along with phosphex grenades, is probably the Missile Launcher with rad missiles. Therefore, the squad wouldn't be complete without one, even if it does look more like a grenade launcher than a missile launcher to me, at least.

I decided I wanted my missile launcer legionary to have a solid stance, so I took one of the Destroyer bodies with widely spaced feet and shaved off the empty holsters, then replacing one of them with a chainsword and the other with a holstered bolt pistol. Other than those modifications, I mostly went with a fairly standard Destroyer set up, just replacing the backpack with a plastic one, adding decoration from the 40k Wulfen frame to the Missile Launcer and sculpting some decorative elements to the helmet.

Update postponed

Once again, I had work until late tonight, so I'll have to do an update later. This time, however, I expect to be able to show something fairly soon.

Mk.IV Vlka Fenryka Destroyer

As the Legion who was always willing to do whatever the Allfather needed done, the Space Wolves Legion had few scruples when it came to using Destroyer corps. This was brought to a sharp focus during the Prospero campaign, when Leman Russ had already decided to wipe out the planet, having been manipulated by the Primordial Annihilator.

 I wanted to make the model look battle-worn, chipping and drilling small holes to the surface of the armour. I also exchanged the model's left hand for a bionic one, and sculpted a head with heavy scarring on the left side. I imagine the warrior had taken friendly fire from a Phosphex grenade during an earlier battle.

I repositioned the legs slightly by heating them in hot water and raised one foot. This foot rests on pieces of cork I glued to the base, a technique I keep using fairly often because it works.

I still have two updates to catch up, but considering I have reasonably lots of projects in the works, that should happen soon-ish.

Another update postponed

I'm aware I still haven't done my previous postponed update, but here I go again. On the plus side, I expect I'll be able to catch up at the end of this week.

Update postponed

Again, I had a late shift at work today and will have an early one tomorrow, so I'll have to get some sleep. I may have to rethink the whole regular update schedule thing at some point, since my job is anything but regular.

VI Legion Centurion in Cataphracti Armour

So I entirely forgot to post the picture for last week's model (will be corrected shortly). Apparently, my Horus Heresy army isn't off to a great start. Onwards and upwards, however. The Betrayal at Calth set comes with two character models, which at first don't really seem very space wolf-y, but I decided to go for it and make them into VI Legion models. I started with the Terminator Captain.

 One of the simplest and possibly most effective things I could think of to make the model look more like a part of the Rout, was adding a wolf skull to the model. I also glued one of the rondels from the Wulfen set to the gorget and added some green stuff to make it an amulet.

Having just plain capes doesn't really fit the Space Wolves style, but I decided to add a pelt to the mix. Originally, I was thinking of just adding some fur lining, but decided ultimately to add a head and paws to the mix.

The model may go through some more minor modifications before painting, but I mostly, I think it's ready. It remains to be seen if this will be painted by next Sunday.

Space Wolves Legionary, painted

Because 8th edition of 40k will be released soon, I'm probably not going to do any major additions to my 40k armies in the near future, but will focus on 30k instead, as ForgeWorld has stated that Horus Heresy will continue to use 7th edition rules. I alreeady have the Primarch, and the Fenrisian Wolves can be used for either time period. That just leaves everything else, ie. almost the entirety of VI Legion, a much larger fighting force than Space Wolves the chapter.

I wanted to link my 30k and 40k Space Wolves, and the way to do this were the Wulfen. I had previously painted the 13th Great Company badge on my Wulfen shoulder pads, so to tie them in with the 30k army, all I had to do was to have at least some of my models carry the same emblem.

The part I most like about 30k Space Wolves is their dark colour scheme. To that end, I painted the model's armour in Mechanicus Standard Grey, washed it with Nuln Oil and lightly drybrushed with Dawnstone, finally adding a few highlights in Administratum Grey. I also kept the bronze parts of the armour relatively dark.

Adeptus Custodes Custodian, painted

Painting mostly metallic armour is something I have been wanting to do for a while now. I'm not really interested in Age of Sigmar, partially because I hadn't gotten into Fantasy Battle's lore that much before they blew it all up, and am not really into getting into it now. Point is, I don't really have a reason to paint Sigmarines, so this Custodian is the first miniature in golden armour that I'm painting.

I used Retributor Armour for the base colour of the armour, then washed it with Reikland Fleshshade (interesting that I seem to use that for a lot of things, but shading flesh is barely among them) and then highlighted it with Liberator Gold. I could have gone brighter with highlights, but they seemed clear enough already to me, so I decided that was enough.
I painted the severed head on the ground in the Thousand Sons metallic red colour scheme (though my paint mixture could use some brighter red) and added some Blood For the Blood God to the ground around it. While this places the model fairly clearly at the Burning of Prospero (or possibly Terra later on, when the Thousand Sons joined the siege), I don't really mind that. I like to keep my 40k models' bases somewhat ambiguous, but 30k could be considered re-enactment, to a point.

Update postponed until tomorrow

Again, my work shifts leave me little time to finish a post tonight. I have something in the works for tomorrow, though.

EDIT: Postponed until Tuesday, for similar reasons, plus I forgot to reload my camera's batteries.

Adeptus Custodes Custodian

While Space Wolves and Thousand Sons in 30k were certainly anticipated, the probably biggest thing about the Burning of Prospero was the publishing of new Adeptus Custodes and Sisters of Silence models. While I'm not planning on building that many 30k armies, I think I will have to at least make the models in the box, and I wouldn't be too surprised if I ended up supplementing them with the army's Contemptor Dreadnought.

While the model's legs weren't positioned in a too unnatural a pose, I still felt like it looked better with the rear foot raised. I also glued a Mk.II helmet on the base, to be painted in Thousand Sons' colours.
I may add some tiling and/or rubble to the base, to represent the ruined city of Tizca, even though I plan to mostly keep my Space Wolves' bases similar in 30k and 40k, even if only to allow the Fenrisian Wolves to cross over.

Update postponed until Monday

I worked evening shift today and will have morning shift tomorrow, leaving me time to basically sleep and do little else in between. Consequently, I'll post today's update tomorrow.

Space Wolves Legionary in Mk.III Power Armour

I finally received my copy of the Horus Heresy Book VII: Inferno, and am currently reading it through. I did already skim through it once or twice, and am now comfortable to officially start my 30k Space Wolves army (trumpet blast goes here).
Every army needs some basic troops, so I decided to start with a simple Legionary with a bolt pistol and a chainsword.

The core of the miniature is a very simple combination of the Mk.III parts in the Burning of Prospero kit, with a wolf's head over the helmet. This fits well to both the Roman theme of 30k Legions, as well as Space Wolves, specifically. I also took a pommel decoration from the frost blade in the Space Wolves kit and added it to the bolt pistol. I intend to do most of the decorating in the painting stage.

Though I'll start with just the Burning of Prospero miniatures, I'll probably grow my 30k Space Wolves in the future with a full Betrayal at Calth to get some Mk. IV miniatures to go with the Mk. III models. I also intend to expand the army with some Destroyers, as they perfectly fit the VI Legion's modus operandi.

Deathwatch Battle Brother with a Shotgun

I decided to keep building one of my previous Deathwatch squads this time around. The Kill Team kit only includes two shotguns and frag cannons, but considering I have two kits and that it only takes five models to make a squad, that's not really a problem.

The hood and cape in the kit have always reminded me more of Dark Angels than of a Blackshield. I expect the latter would wear either a mask that hides his face entirely, or just trust that he wouldn't be recognisable by his face. Dark Angels, however, have traditionally worn monastic robes over their armour.
I keep going to the same well with the poses fairly often, but adding something under the bent leg just works, especially when the models are holding firearms. The situation is somewhat different with melee poses, as lunges etc. can look a lot more natural in a close combat situation.

I have quite a backlog of models already, and don't know which one I'll finish by next week. However, given Deathwatch's simple colour scheme, this one would be a fairly strong contender.

Eldar Harlequin, painted

Posing Eldar Harlequins is fun. Their theatricality gives even more of a permission to put martial practicality on the backseat and just do what looks good. Furthermore, their bright colours form an interesting contrast with the more muted browns and greys of the bases.

 I still have to find a better way to paint gradients without an airbrush than drybrushing, but it looks fine on single miniature sized models. I used the same method on the model's crest.

I painted the left side of the model's halved face gold, to make sure it looks theatrical enough.
I painted the lozenge shapes on the cloak and limbs by painting a grid on a red background first, blacking out every other rectangle and then drybrushing the area white, focusing more on the bottom areas, then redoing the now faded black rectangles. The end result ended up working better than any masking system I have tried so far.

Eldar Harlequin Skyweaver Jetbike

I'm not a big fan of Craftworld Eldar, nor Dark Eldar, but when they put on clown costumes and become Harlequins, they're suddenly cool. I think it's because they're the only kind of Eldar I can imagine laughing at themselves, as well as anything and everything else. Also, Cegorah is possibly my favourite deity in 40k universe.

I find flyers and skimmers look more interesting when they are banking to one side or another, with the pilot looking slightly to one side. I followed this advice when assembling the jetbike.
I decided to arm the jetbike with a haywire cannon for some anti-armour ability, as even though Harlequins can be armed with sort of melta weapons, blowing up enemy vehicles at point blank range doesn't mix well with fragile and numerically few space clowns.

Iron Priest on a Thunderwolf (WIP)

It's been a while since I've made a Work In Progress post, and now is as good a time as any. Though it does make sense from a lore standpoint, I wish Rune Priests and Wolf Priests weren't excluded from riding Thunderwolves. That only leaves three different non-named characters capable of doing so, and since Wolf Guard Battle Leader and Wolf Lord are very similar in most respects, Iron Priest is where I get to use my creativity.

The headless and armless horse... wolf-man look is obviously going to change. I've been thinking about Mk.III arms, for the extra protected look, and custom-sculpting a head with some bionic augmentations to it, just enough to mark the Iron Priest for who he is.
I thought it would make sense that an Iron Priest would combine the proven effectiveness of the ancient Mk.IV Maximus armour and the newer innovations, such as the raised gorget in Mk.VIII Errant armour. After all, Iron Priests wear 2+ armour, and this has to be represented on the model.
I have studied historical horse armour for tips on how to armour the Thunderwolf, but horses have typically been protected by quilted cloth and/or chainmail, which would not really work in the 40k setting. Admittedly, GW's own Thunderwolf models haven't been armoured at all, despite having 3+ armour save, so I'm not taking too much pressure from this.

I have no idea when this will be finished. Hopefully relatively soon, but that may still mean months ahead.

Deathwatch Watch Captain Artemis

So I'm still one update behind schedule. I do have several models in the works at the moment, but considering my schedule for next week, it remains to be seen if I'll have the time to finish two of them by next Sunday. I do have high hopes, though.

Artemis is one of those characters I never really cared that much about. That's not a bad thing, though, because now I can use the default GW model without feeling lazy about not having made one from standard parts and Green Stuff.

 Though he's now included in the Start Collecting Deathwatch box, originally, Watch Captain Artemis was only available in the Death Masque box, and that's where I got my model from. I like the model, but since my Deathwatch army isn't stationed at Talasa Prime in my headcanon (I'm not that interested in defending Smurfville), I don't know how much use I'll get out of him.

Unlike on the illustrations in the Codex, I painted his shoulder pad in the established Mortifactors colours, ie. with a yellow trim and bone coloured skull. I also added a couple of skulls on the base, one human(oid) and one ork.

Mostly, however, the model was painted fairly unsurprisingly. I noticed that my satin varnish can is probably starting to go empty, judging by how glossy the models turn out now. Will have to fix that soon.

Deathwatch Venerable Dreadnought

As it turns out, I didn't manage to make an extra update last week. I worked evenings towards the end of the week, leaving me with little time after work before sleep overcame me, and mornings at the start of the week, leaving me too tired to do anything creative after work. Fortunately, I have entire next week off, so I should be able to make an extra blog post during the week.

While I have nothing against the Ultramarines per se, I do think they get some overexposure through being GW's Space Marine Chapter of choice. Even if we don't take a certain lore butcher's blatant favoritism into account, that would probably be enough to turn some people away from them. As a result, I found myself unwilling to add any Ultramarines to my Deathwatch army, even though having battled a massive invasion of the Tyranids on their own home planet gives them invaluable experience fighting Xenos at their deadliest (not referring to Codex power levels, obviously).
However, Dreadnoughts, being tragic figures who typically live on more through duty than out of choice, gave me a way out. It's hard to hold a grudge against an almost-corpse preserved in a walking life support system.

 I prefer the more expressive Mk.IV Dreadnought over the simpler Mk.V model, as the turnable head can give the model a lot of character.
Speaking of the head, I used one from the Kill Team set, slightly cut down to size, to properly tie the model in with the army it belongs to. I also glued a Deathwatch symbol to the right side of the torso, as well as the left shoulder, where the symbol would be on a fully living Astartes of the Deathwatch.

For the first time ever, I sculpted an Ultramarines symbol out of Green Stuff. I  placed the symbol on the model's right shoulder, again, where it would be on a living marine.
I also raised the Dreadnought's right foot a little. I may overuse that particular way to decorate Dreadnought bases, but it still works.

I hope to get something painted (probably not this, though) by the middle of next week and post about it. We'll see what it will be, I'm thinking of some Deathwatch for then, too.

Update postponed until next week

I have to get up downright irresponsibly early tomorrow, and I can't really cut into the few hours of sleep I have to make a hurried post, so I'm postponing today's update until some time next week. Wednesday or Thursday seem like the most probable days, but we'll see.

Harlequin Troupe Master

One of the things you don't get to do with a Space Wolves army is to make models of female characters. That's fine, in the lore, there are no female Astartes at all, and even if there were, realistically (as far as the term applies to 40k at all) they would be nearly indistinguishable from male Astartes, considering how much of an applicant's body is completely reworked to fit the Astartes mold.
However, sometimes all the whiskers and overdeveloped muscles get a little boring, and I find myself wanting to model a female character. Now, the Eldar are the easiest way to get to do that, which, funnily enough, is a result of male and female Eldar being very similar physically, too. However, what mildly annoyed me with the Harlequins box is that there was only one Troupe Master torso with the greatcoat, and that character was clearly intended to be a male. As I plan mean to have at least three troupes of Harlequins, I don't want all of the troupe masters to have identical torsos, as that would just get boring. It's easy enough to sculpt a pair of breasts on the torso, though, and as I mentioned, male and female Eldar resemble each other greatly.

 

 I wanted to decorate the model's base somewhat more than with just the piece of debris in the kit with the legs, and glued a piece of cork and a resin skull to it.

I intend to somewhat improve the final shape of the model's breasts before I paint it. As it is, the entire sculpt was made in one take, so to speak, without any time to let the putty cure in between. To finish the look, I find that a detail usually needs at least a few finishing touches after it has cured. This may be different for professional sculptors, of course.

 

I decided to give the model a horned female mask, and in process probably ended up deciding that this would be the Troupe of the Dark. As for the armament, I decided to take the most out of the Troupe Master's higher BS and A stats. I also like how expressive the Caress is.

I hope to get at least some of the models I have built painted by next week. Until then.

Harlequin Death Jester

Last week, I mentioned having bought the Death Masque box. This time, I thought I might actually show something from that box. Of course, Death Jesters are available elsewhere, as is nearly everything else in the box, now that Artemis is included in the Deathwatch's Start Collecting box set.

Death Jesters are among my favourite Harlequin units, both in fluff and in appearance. At the same time, however, I don't really like the model, mostly because the pose is too specific. Either I'd have to customise the models fairly heavily, or, if I ever have several, I'd have a whole group of squatting Eldar heavy weapon specialists.

What I decided to do was to give the miniature a new pair of standing legs.
I have to say, if I disliked the miniature before I assembled it, I dislike it now more. The various pieces of the miniature need to be attached in some sort of a parallel universe where time is not linear or something. It definitely was not designed to accommodate my preference to prime the model assembled, then disassemble it for painting.

It remains to be seen if I paint this or some other model for next week.

Valentine's Day Special: Orc Thrower, Blitzer and Black Orc Blocker

I haven't done any holiday specials lately, so I decided I would do something for this Valentine's day, for a change. I originally planned to just paint the Orc team in the standard Gouged Eye scheme, but I couldn't find any way to get excited about the idea in the slightest. Instead, I decided to do something to contrast with the football hooligan image of the Orcs. I would paint their armour in pink.

 The Black Orc Blocker was the first of the models I (mostly) finished painting, and the one that would have the greatest contrast between the colour scheme and the appearance.
I originally considered painting little hearts on their chest pieces, but decided it would be a little too on the nose, and went for a nice flower design instead.

 The thrower is the figure most differing from the Blocker in the whole team, with only a minimum of armour and almost delicate lines. I considered painting the flowing sash in another colour, and may end up doing that with the other thrower.

 The Blitzer is the team's figurehead. I decded to paint the flowing crest in a sort of light purple colour. After the Blockers, the Blitzers are the second-heaviest armoured models on the field, giving plenty of surface to paint pink. In the picture, the armour does look darker than it is, but trust me, it's pink.

A portrait of all the three finished members of the team together.

Will return with a normally scheduled update on Sunday.

Corvus Blackstar

The retailer I usually buy my 40k stuff from happened to have one Death Masque box set left. Since its story was apparently fairly important in the now-progressing story of 40k, and it included two armies I have relatively recently started collecting, Deathwatch and Eldar Harlequins, I decided to buy it. Of course, it doesn't include a Corvus Blackstar, so this introductory chapter was just a ruse.

 I'm still not sure about what would be the best way to photograph flyers, since they tend to be not only on the large side, but only relatively tall with their flying bases. This time, I ended up taking two separate photos from different perspectives.
Since clean, sleek, and menacing is Deathwatch's style, I elected not to make any elaborate Green Stuff decorations on it. I did glue one of the icons from the accessory sprue on the nose, but that was it.

 I originally intended to magnetize the front guns so that I could swap them from lascannons to assault cannons or vice versa as needed, but it turns out the fit is snug enough to not need magnets to stay on. Also true for the missiles, and the hurricane bolters stay on through gravity alone.

I have no idea when this will be ready and painted. On one hand, it's a very large model with lots of detail, but on the other hand, it's mostly black, and the sleekness demands certain asceticism. I may need to get a new bottle of primer spray first. Remains to be seen.

Two Grey Hunters

Apparently, I have lost the right arm of one of the previous Grey Hunters of this pack. Though nothing like a disaster, this is nevertheless annoying, and I'm not sure yet if I'll end up finding it or replacing it with another one.
In either case, time to go on with the show.

 Time is a factor these days, so I decided to have both of these Grey Hunters wear their helmets. In a happy coincidence, this one ended up having mostly Mk.VI armour parts, including the left pauldron (invisible in the picture). I tend to forget to add the bolt pistol, so I had him aiming it, with the bolter mag-locked to his backpack.

I wasn't initially going to make another Deathwatch Veteran, but after I decided to give the model a Deathwatch bolter arm, I just went with it and also gave him the appropriate left pauldron. To set the model apart, I gave him an extra helping of grenades, too, with one attached to the torso, two glued to his left thigh and one attached to the bolt pistol holster.

I plan to paint the models by next week, as usual.

Eversor Assassin, painted

I wasn't going to make another Officio Assassinorum post so soon, but I have to get up ridiculously early in the morning, and I had the miniature basically painted already, so what the hay.

 The pose of GW's official Eversor Assassin is certainly dynamic. In a way, wallrun is an obvious answer for the dilemma of having a dynamic position while still maintaining a solid connection to the base, without the need to attach extra-powerful magnets or other methods of levitating the miniature. Of course, the pose would certainly get old if used too often, but it works for the crazed, drug-fuelled killing machine that is Eversor Assassin.
Generally speaking, I followed the same colour scheme as GW's 'Eavy Metal team, with the main exception being the metallic red of the armour plates and gun casing. I just painted thinned Khorne Red over Leadbelcher base and highlighted with Ironbreaker. I didn't want the miniature to look too clean and toy-like, as easily happens without any weathering effects. Speaking of...

I wanted the piece of terrain on the base to look appropriately aged, so I used tome Nihilakh Oxide for the copper-y parts and some Forgeworld's Orange Rust powder over Typhus Corruption for the iron/steel parts. I then drybrushed it all with Ironbreaker.
I'm reasonably happy with the end result. The final miniature doesn't look too clean to be credible.

We'll see if I'll continue to blow through the Officio Assassinorum next week, or if we'll get back to the Astartes, for example. No-one, including me, knows yet.

Vindicare Assassin, painted

I managed to buy an Execution Force box before they ran out (well before, I'm not sure if they're still making it), and got it at half price from my retailer when they had a sale. I wasn't sure if I was interested in it originally, but the cooperative game mechanic and some nice models made the decision for me. Besides, I have liked the Officio Assassinorum since reading about if in one of the second edition 40k books, and the box set included all four of the battlefield models (though I would sort of like to see at least a Venenum model at some point).

 I decided to start with the Vindicare, the most classic type of an Assassin: just a guy with a powerful rifle laying in wait. I would have started with the Eversor, but I have already made a post of my scratch-built Eversor Assassin previously, and didn't want to be too redundant.
I painted the model in a fairly unimaginative, canonical scheme of bone colour mask and black bodysuit and rifle. I painted all the straps on the model brown, as well as his gloves and pistol holster.

I do like the base that came with the model. Taking cover behind some ruins is very much in character for a Vindicare, and it makes for an impressive base. I decided to paint the relief in a lighter colour, to represent white marble.

I may post about another assassin next week, or possibly something else entirely. We'll know in a week.

Wolf Priest, painted

Between the Deathwatch and a couple of Wolf Priests (Ulrik included), I have been getting plenty of practice in painting black armour, which I remember finding difficult when I first originally started 40k back in the primitive days of the late 1990's. I probably would have originally started collecting Black Templars, if I could have sorted out how to highlight black armour properly. Of course, I had much less experience in painting and even just with my general manual dexterity.

Most of the model being coloured either black or bone, I wanted to give it a little colour where I could. The rope around his thigh was painted bright red, to contrast with the cold blue jewels.
I have to say I like the way the fur hood turned out. It looks somewhat like a mail coif, giving the model a very Medieval flavour.

The purity scrolls fluttering to a completely different direction from the wolf cloak is something of a flaw. The backpack the scrolls are attached to cannot move in a different direction than the torso that the cloak is attached to. The only explanation I can think of is that the much lighter purity seals are flying in the wind, while the heavier cloak is being thrown back by its own momentum.

Wolf Priest

I have quite a few Blood Claws already, but at WS and BS of 3, they're not very effective on their own, even if they get a lot of attacks on a charge. I decided they could use a boost, and the various Priests of the Space Wolves are a natural choice. I already have a couple of Rune Priests, and Iron Priests aren't really meant for this, so here's a Wolf Priest.

 I wanted to clearly differentiate the 'generic' Wolf Priest from Ulrik the Slayer, so in addition to the different ranged weapon (bolt pistol vs. Ulrik's plasma pistol) I decided to give him a fur hood. The legs are from the Space Marine Vanguard Veteran kit, with some of the less chapter appropriate details filled in and a Space Wolves style gemstone added. The torso is a very vanilla Mk.VII power armour front combined with the cloak from the Space Wolves upgrade kit. I also sculpted some extra details on it. The pointing bionic arm is from the Devastator Squad kit.

I wanted to make a very norse-looking power maul, so I ended up taking a relatively typical Scandinavian interpretation of the mjölnir (Thor's hammer) and scaling it down enough to look more like a power maul than a thunder hammer. Incidentally, it almost looks small enough to be actually useful as a blunt weapon, at least when used two-handed.

As a model wearing black armour, the model should be done by next week.

Two Deathwatch Battle Brothers, painted

One of the nice things about Deathwatch as an army is that it's a fairly elite force, keeping the model count low. Also, I never really intended my Deathwatch troops to be a stand-alone force, except perhaps for the purposes of a Kill Team game, so there's no pressure to build a large army.

From the painting and modelling perspective, the Deathwatch are a great complimentary force for Space Wolves, as I can use the more vanilla Space Marine bits on them, and the black armour is quick and easy to paint.

 The Iron Hands brother with the frag cannon was fairly simple to paint in the end. I used thinned down Khorne Red over Leadbelcher for the frag cannon's casing, highlighting it with Ironbreaker. I also added some simple green stuff patterns over the model's right hand, to suggest a bionic replacement as fits the Chapter.

In the build stage, I glued a backpack from an Electro-Priest on top of a Space Marine backpack to suggest the Chapter's close ties with the Mechanicus. Together with the Devastator legs, I think the model's background comes across clearly enough.

The Crimson Fist's shotgun was painted in a similar fashion to the frag cannon.
I decided to use the same Watch Company as for the two other squads I have started so far. I already had started on squads 2 and 3, so I decided I might as well start on number one.

I didn't want to use all gold for the accents, so I painted the skull on the backpack with Khorne Red highlighted with Mephiston Red and finally Evil Sunz Scarlet.

Despite the Kill Team kit having only two shotguns, I have some extras that came with the Mk.IV Legion Recon team.
I hope Forgeworld or the main company produce some more Deathwatch weapons in the future, as the plastic kit was seriously limited. Especially the Stalker pattern boltguns were limited to one currently being reloaded in the default configuration, which is way too specific for my liking.