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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Two Wulfen, painted

With the upcoming Thousand Sons releases, it looks like it's high time I returned to my Space Wolves. They're going to need reinforcements soon. Luckily, I had already started last week (actually much earlier, but I had these two finished last Sunday). Should probably also get to work on a pack of Long Fangs, but all in good time.

 I had originally planned to make the pack look like they had just been changed by the curse, while still wearing most of their original equipment, but the Wulfen models don't really allow for that, as they are wearing pelts etc. over their black carapace, as well as pieces of armour specifically made for their changed physique. I then decided to use one of the Blood Claws pack markings shown in the Codex to be a part of Ragnar Blackmane's army in the battle for Alaric Prime, but switched the yellow in their marking for white, to fit the Wulfen scheme.

 I don't want my packs to look too homogenous, as their members are recruited from all over Fenris, so I decided to paint the chainsword wielding Wulfen with a slightly darker skintone than the other one. I used Reikland Fleshshade for shading this model, but I have to say I prefer Seraphim Sepia for most lighter fleshtones.

 The Wulfen with the improvised weapon was given a lighter fleshtone of Kislev Flesh, shaded with Seraphim Sepia and highlighted with Kislev Flesh again and finally with Flayed One Flesh. I also painted the Great Company badge on his knee, as his left shoulder pad couldn't really display it with all the studs. The Blood For The Blood God was added to the improvised maul after the model had been varnished.

The smaller backpacks seem to fit the Wulfen just fine, and I may choose to use some to model one more pack from the previously lost 13th Great Company in the future. I expect I'll put that off at least until the next Horus Heresy book from Forgeworld is published, though.
This pack still needs three more models, however. I'll continue working on it once I've finished sculpting a few more Wulfen heads.

Two Wulfen

When the Wulfen returned in the first War Zone Fenris, they were described being the lost battle-brothers of the 13th Great Company in the aftermath of the burning of Prospero. However, it was also made clear that the contemporary members of the Space Wolves chapter started to fall to the curse on their return, and I wanted to explore this aspect of the curse. Blood Claws are the warriors most suspectible to the curse, so I decided to convert a pack of Wulfen who until recently were just a pack of Blood Claws under Ragnar Blackmane's command.

 Unlike the 13th Great Company, who had 10 000 years to craft their weaponry, and were granted access to the Chapter's armoury, I decided that a group of whelps who have surrendered to the curse would not be given much in the way of hallowed relics of the Chapter. I imagine them having been outfitted with just some armour better suited for their altered physique and not much else.
I took one of the model's hands off a Thunder Hammer and used it to fit a chainsword in his hand. I also used a standard power armour backpack with the model. I also attached two normal shoulder pads to display the model's pack and Great Company markings. The most work intensive part of the model was to sculpt him a whole new head. I also decided to sculpt a tall mohawk, using similar structure to the one included in the Space Wolves Pack sprue.

Having sculpted one head with a closed mouth, I wanted another one with slightly parted jaws. The backpack came from the Mk.VI armour, as did the shoulder pads. I decided the model should have an improvised club, and glued some pieces of resin sprue to the base, with some iron wire through them to represent rebar.

I aim to get these jolly fellows painted by next Sunday.

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.

The Void Claws Formation

I have been meaning to do a post on a whole unit or formation for a while now, and thought today is the day. At first I intended to post about my Wulfen unit, but as it turns out, one of the models had lost his backpack and I have no idea where it could have gone and will probably end up just making another one to replace it. So, an older unit it is, and a formation to boot.

 The Void Claws are a unit of Wolf Guard Terminators, who, unusually for Space Wolves, specialize in deploying by teleportation. They are also used for fighting aboard enemy spaceships, hence the name (and my decision to give them all helmets).
I had also originally made a Terminator-armoured Rune Priest to go with the formation, but it is somewhat unclear if a Rune Priest could actually deploy with them, considering the Formation's benefits include being able to Deep Strike on turn 1 and to reroll the scatter dice, something the Rune Priest would not be able to do normally. I don't think this was covered in the Space Wolves FAQ either, so it would pretty much depend on if the opponent would agree to it.

Here's rear view of the unit, which the controlling player would see most often. I rarely put anything too special on the backsides of my units, though I do paint them to pretty much same standard as the front.

On a different note, I have been thinking about changing my update schedule again. I haven't decided anything yet, but there's a fair chance I'd only do one post per week in the future. This weekly post would be somewhat bigger than most of my posts so far, as it might include two or three units, or possibly both assembled and painted pictures of a single model, along with more detailed information.
As I mentioned, I haven't decided anything yet, but it would make sense from my perspective, and I think it might work well for the readers, too.

Space Hulk's Sergeant Lorenzo, painted

It's been a while since I posted an update on Space Hulk miniatures. At this rate, it's gonna take a looong while before the whole set is completed, especially since I've barely even started on the Genestealers yet. Anyway, here's Wonderw... Sergeant Lorenzo.

I don't know if it's because of the difference in miniature quality between Space Hulk and normal 40k miniatures, but for some reason, I had a lot of trouble with the face of the model. The colours kept looking weirdly flat. I did finally manage to get it done well enough, though Kislev Flesh does look a little bit unhealthy, in my opinion. Of course, the Astartes spend most of their time on spaceships, in their fortress monastery and wearing helmets, so some pallor is very fitting.

 The model's sword was first painted with a mix of Leadbelcher and Altdorf Guard Blue (IIRC), then highlighted with Runefang Steel. I like the effect that this gives, with the sword being blue enough to give the impression of being powered, yet metallic enough to make it clear it's not supposed to be a lightsabre.

Lorenzo's cloak's highlighting wasn't very successful, and I may have to redo it at a later date. I used too wet a brush, with too much paint on it. In hindsight, it would probably been good to thin the white with some Lahmian Medium first.
I may (and probably should) start to paint the Space Hulk models a little more frequently in the future. I recently relocated the Librarian Calistarius model included in Space Hulk set, which was a relief, as I thought I had lost the model. After all, with no Calistarius, there's no Mephiston, and with no Mephiston, who's going to scare the kids on Baal?

Fifth Wulfen, painted

Units of five models tend to not be all that useful. Smaller model mass means fewer attacks in assault and fewer wounds the unit can absorb before being wiped out. However, with the Wulfen, I feel like five-man packs is the way to go. If I have ten models, splitting them into two packs and using them as a Murderpack formation makes more sense than having one large pack that will be shot at by everything in the enemy army.

 I decided I wanted at least one of my Wulfen to have dark skin. The variance in skin tones helps make the pack look like it consists of individuals, instead of copies from one template.
I considered painting the skull's helmet in winter camo at first, but decided against it. The skull has clearly been on the ground long enough to be picked clean, and while it's impossible to know how long the winters are on whatever planet my bases represent in any given situation, the dark green is suitable pretty much anywhere.

 The 13th Great Company shoulder pads still work, which is good, because it would be a problem if they stopped working before the pack was done. The dark skin was painted by starting with Rhinox Hide over black undercoat, painting that Doombull Brown, shaded with Druchii Violet and finally highlighted with Gorthor Brown.

My first pack of Wulfen is now done, excluding transport (though the Land Raider Crusader or the Stormwolf could fill that role very easily), and I think I will focus on other stuff before starting on a second one.

Wulfen Pack Leader, painted

 Slowly but surely, I keep building up my Wulfen pack. The pack leader is arguably the most important challenge of the project. The standard model's goofy looks embodies much of why the Wulfen models are ridiculed, and my goal with the Wulfen is to distinguish the models enough from the originals to get rid of the goofiness, and at the same time keep them recognisable.

One of the more central ideas behind this model was the juxtaposition between the old Thousand Sons helmet on top of his power pack and the new(er) one on the ground. I wanted to give the impression the Wulfen had been fightin Chaos for millennia.
Other than that, the model was a fairly standard Wulfen. I did paint him pale and redheaded, in an effort to display the same variety of fleshtones and hair colours as the 41st millennium Space Wolves.

 In addition to the helmet driven through with a combat knife and the bone rack, I painted the Chaos Marine helmet in Black Legion colours, to show that the Wulfen hadn't forgotten who the archtraitors were (you could argue that the Word Bearers are the true archtraitors, but I'll let the Ultramarines worry about them -- if their Codex is so great, let them prove it).

 The Wulfen pack is now 80% finished, or 90%, if you consider the modelling part to be equal to painting. I haven't decided on a transport for these guys yet, but I've been considering adding a Godhammer pattern Land Raider to the Blackmanes for a while now. I may yet choose to kill two birds with one stone.

Sicarian Ruststalker, painted

I sometimes forget that I have an Adeptus Mechanicus army, too. The models aren't as poseable and easily convertd as Space Marine models tend to be (though I've noticed an unfortunate trend of chipping away this benefit in the more recent releases), and when I decided on the reddish-brown bases, I did pretty severely limit my basing options. However, I do try to grow the army, little by little.

 The freely rotating wrist joints of the Sicarians enable some martial techniques that would be very difficult, if not impossible, for an unenhanced human to perform. For example, changing the sword between what functions much like a reverse grip and a normal grip wouldn't work as well on normal wrists, as a normal hand would probably accidentally fling away any blade with actual weight to it. I decided that, since the Ruststalker is armed with two swords, it'd have the other one behind its back, ready to parry or counterattack as necessary, while keeping the point towards its opponent.

 The colour scheme on the swords is still pretty effective, with the transition from black to white through blue. It's pretty hard to imagine what the actual sonic-based blades would look like, and I have no idea why they'd really glow blue, but again, let's not overthink 40k.

I'm pretty satisfied with the outcome of the model. I'm still not sure how to avoid the clone trooper syndrome, but as long as I keep the army small, that shouldn't be a problem, and that, in turn, should be simple enough, because the assembling the models gets samey pretty soon.