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.

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.

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 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.

Two Deathwatch Veterans

Due to other things taking more of my time recently, I will, for the foreseeable future, make smaller updates. I will keep updating weekly, but instead of making three models at a time, I plan to post about one or two models at a time, with two models for Troops and other more basic models, and one for independent characters. Elites and such will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

I have been wanting to get back to Deathwatch Veterans for a while, and decided now would be the time. Call it a Christmas special.

 I knew I'd want an Iron Hands veteran in the Kill Team, and decided he'd fit the fluff best armed with a heavy weapon. The model is assembled from a mixture of the Kill Team and Devastator Squad kits, with a few Mechanicus bits thrown in there to finish the look. The Devastator Squad's more high-tech greaves in particular fit the Chapter's image well, in my opinion. I also gave him a helmet wih a lot of extra targeting apparati.

This squad was going to be armed mostly with shotguns and frag cannons, and while some of the Chapters in it were fairly obvious (there will definitely be a Minotaur with one of the weapons mentioned), some were less so. I almost made this one an Ultramarine, but decided against it, ending up making him a Crimson Fist. Being known for tactical flexibility and showing orks who is who, I feel like Crimson Fists are like Ultramarines, but without the stink of Mary Suedom on them. Sooner or later, I will have to get over my distaste for the Chapter, but that day is not today. I also consider it fairly certain that any of my Captains or probably even Sergeants won't be Ultramarines.

Three Deathwatch Vanguard Veterans, painted

There are probably several times over more canonical Space Marine chapters that specialise in melee than ones that focus on shooting. This would probably not be very realistic, but it means there is a wide spectrum of different melee-focused marines, from the Black Templar crusaders, swearing oaths full of zeal, to the silent and terrifying Carcharodons Astra, who kill their enemies with naked efficiency. This emables a Deathwatch Vanguard squad to have a nice spread of different marines, whose different styles would complement each other well.

 The Carcharodons Astra veteran's armour's molecular bonding studs give the model a lot of character, as does the fierce pose of th model. I wanted to leave the armour relatively simple and unadorned, as the chapter is known for their simplistic brutality, rather than their artistry.

 The Black Templar somewhat represents the opposite end of the same spectrum. The Marine would have sworn a number of oaths, both at the beginning of his duty in the Deathwatch as well as before each battle, and these should be represented on his armour. I ended up sculpting an extra litany scroll to be worn as a loincloth, just to make extra room for his oaths. I also scribbled some on the front of his right greave.

The Flesh Tearer would probably be the most terrifying of the three, to his opponents as well as his allies, since one can never be certain if one of his Chapter is going to be able to keep his aggression directed towards the enemy, instead of his allies. This is somewhat reflected on the model, in that I can never be sure if the model's heavy thunder hammer is going to stay on or come off, because there is a slight gap between the arms and the torso. To fill in that gap with green stuff, I would have had to first attach the weapon and then prime and paint the model, and I find that fiddly, so I just decided to glue it where it stuck and hope for the best. If it comes off again, I suppose I'll use green stuff.

Three Deathwatch Vanguard Veterans

While shooting is nice, and often the most effective strategy, much of the appeal in Warhammer 40,000 is in melee. Another important aspect are the Space Marines. When you combine the Space Marines all-star force, Deathwatch, and melee specialisation, you may have gone overboard, but I'm going to risk it.

 Black Templar is one of the Chapters I wanted to have represented in my Vanguard Veterans. I made the model to be prepared for a variety of different situations, so I gave him two power weapons, one being an axe, to tackle any 2+ armoured opponents, and one a sword, to strike at I4. In the lore, Black Templars commonly chain their weapons to their vambraces. I decided the model wouldn't really look like a member of the Chapter if I didn't reflect that.

 The Heavy Thunder Hammer is a very aggressive weapon, and I chose the Flesh Tearer to bear it. I gave the model one of the metal Deathwatch heads from the older upgrade kit. I also wanted to have at least one descendant chapter of the Blood Angels represented in the first batch of my Vanguard Veterans, even though I fully intend to have an actual Blood Angel there as well.

One of the chapters not represented in the Deathwatch Veteran kit is the Carcharodons Astra. I like them, though, and the chapter's preference for close assault makes them a natural choice for the Vanguard Veterans. They are often portrayed wearing the Mk.V armour, and I had some extra pieces left over from my previous Skyclaw project.
Lightning claws felt like a natural choice, considering the chapter's brutal style of combat.

I expect the models will be painted for next week's update.

Three Deathwatch Veterans, painted

When I started painting miniatures, I initially thought painting simple black Space Marine armour would be easy, until I tried it. I had no idea how to highlight black, and without highlighting it, the miniatures looked flat and just wrong. Naturally, I went too far to the opposite direction and decided painting black is really difficult, going as far as mixing a separate dark metallic colour for the Chaplains of my Space Marine chapter.

Of course, at the time, my brushes were of very poor quality, and my hand wasn't very steady either, so after painting a few Space Wolves, I tried my hand at painting some Wolf Priests, I found that black is actually fairly simple, and can be accomplished with simple drybrushing, or just highlighting in layers. With Deathwatch, I ended up using the same highlight method as seen on GW's YouTube channel, because it's neutral, but has a little bit of colour to it.

The Raven Guard veteran was the first one that I painted, which worked out well, since when I chose the company and team markings, the model's cloak got somewhat in the way. I probably could have used any of the other marking styles as well, but the diagonal red line of the Watch Company Quartus worked out the best. I also decided to freehand the team number rather than to bother with transfers. As it turned out, the font is surprisingly easy to paint.

 The Red Scorpion veteran was the second one I painted. The bright colours of the shoulder pad were a little challenging, especially since in the raised areas they were easy to accidentally wipe away, but not too difficult in the end.

The Space Wolf veteran would have been the most difficult one, had I not had plenty of practice with painting bare heads and wolfy talismans. As it was, the black armour made the model somewhat easier to paint than an average Space Wolves model.
I also used two different shades of grass tufts on this model, as well as the Red Scorpion. I recently bought a pack of Winter and Frozen tufts to go with my earlier Highland tufts, allowing me to glue a very simple gradient of different colours of grass on bases if needed. That should come in handy with future terrain projects.

Three Deathwatch Veterans with Stalker Pattern Bolters

I was making Deathwatch models with GW's old metal upgrade kit long before the new Codex came out, so naturally, I preordered the Codex and bought a Veterans kit soon after. Generally speaking, I liked the new sprues, though I was disappointed to see it only included one Stalker pattern bolter and two shotguns. Then I remembered Forgeworld's Legion Recon Squad, which I had wanted to do something with for a while already, but didn't really have the need for, since Space Wolf Scouts don't use power armour, and I don't need five Wolf Guard Pack Leaders.
However, the Recon Squad's extra shotguns and bolters with suppressors really did come in handy for a couple of Kill Teams. Of course, having the Maximus pattern power armour seems a little unusual for Deathwatch, but in my headcanon, Mk.IV is stealthier than Mk.VIII, at least until proven otherwise.
The main problem with the recon squad models is that all of them have one of their shoulder pads at least partially covered by the cloak. As both shoulder pads are somewhat more meaningful for Deathwatch marines than most others, this posed a slight problem.
Four out of the five models had their right shoulder pads covered, though, which meant I could work with that, assuming I could find another way to convey which Chapter the veteran comes from. Since Space Marine chapters are about as gimmicky as they get, that shouldn't be a problem.

 The first one I started working on, and the only one whose right shoulder pad is visible, was the Red Scorpions veteran. It made sense to have at least one of the Mk. IV wearing Marines be a Red Scorpion, since the Chapter really seems to like the armour pattern. I gave him a Deathwatch power pack instead of the Mk.IV recon model.
The left shoulder pad was only partially covered, so I carved out the shoulder, replaced it with a Deathwatch pad and resculpted the cloak over it.

 The Raven Guard's Chapter is not obvious at this stage yet, though I plan to paint the Raven Guard badge on his left greave. I wanted to give the model the Mk.VI helmet, since that's the Raven Guard's thing. Considering the Chapter's love of stealth, I feel like the Stalker pattern bolter and the camo cloak fits him well.

If there was one Chapter I knew I could make recognizable, it was the Space Wolves. Regardless, I still considered using the plastic Kill Team bits for him just to make it explicitly clear that he comes from Erik Morkai's Great Company, but eventually, I decided it wouldn't matter that much. In addition to the head from the Space Wolves upgrade sprue, gave him a wolf's head hood, a couple of tail talismans and a other bits and pieces.

I expect it shouldn't take long to paint the black armoured Marines, assuming my can of spray undercoat doesn't run out. I aim to finish them by next Sunday.