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.