Jump Pack Sergeant and Chaplain

Unfortunately, I've finished very few models since I completed the Assault Squad back in November. Because I'm a huge fan of how the Eviscerator looks (if not its points cost), I decided to build a second Veteran Sergeant for the Assault Squad wielding a heavy chainsword. Immediately thereafter, I moved on to a jump pack Chaplain conversion to fulfill the HQ requirement for a Space Marine Demi-Company.

The Veteran Sergeant is built with a Vanguard Veteran torso and jump pack, the Eviscerator from the Assault Squad kit, Tactical Marine legs (since his weapon is huge and unwieldy, I wanted to model him with a firm stance as if he were getting ready to swing it), a head from the Sternguard box, and Mk IV shoulder pads.

In addition to being a relatively inexpensive HQ, I wanted to paint a Chaplain so I could work out a technique for painting black armor. That's something I'm going to have to figure out if I'm ever going to start working on the Deathwatch in earnest.

In the end I went with a very simple style, using light strokes of Eshin Grey on the edges of Abaddon Black armor. GW generally recommends Eshin Grey followed by Dawnstone for highlighting black armor, but I was unable to get the lighter gray quite as fine as I would like and instead went with a more subtle look. This is the first time I've ever used line highlighting on a model's armor rather than dry brushing.

The model was built using arms, legs, and a torso from the Vanguard Veterans box; various decorative bits from several sources; a shoulder pad from the Sternguard kit and a shoulder pad from the Ultramarines upgrade sprue; a Crozius Arcanum built from a Vanguard Squad axe and a banner decoration from the Command Squad kit; and a Chaos Space Marine helmet from which I removed a large Chaos arrow on the forehead.

First Assault Marine

The release of the 7th Edition Space Marine codex threw my whole modeling schedule for a loop. Just as I was ready to start on a Tactical Marine-heavy list with a cheap Librarian at its head, GW introduced the concept of the Demi-Company and the Gladius Formation and I lost all interest in fielding a solitary CAD. Models that I felt no urgency to build suddenly became necessary additions to the army while certain other models (e.g., Librarians) found their futures in question.

The Assault Squad ended up on my must-build list, not only because it fills a position in the Demi-Company, but because I completely lack any fast attack units. (That's right, I've been playing the game for over four years and I've never taken any units in the Fast Attack slots.) I don't know how many times I've found myself in a mission where I was too slow to grab objectives in time.

Although I already had Assault Squad bits that I bought a few years ago, I grabbed up a new Assault Squad box immediately after its release. The kit has a good variety of bits in it, including normal backpacks and torsos without jump pack straps for those who want to build a foot-slogging squad. It even has a Mk VI backpack (the first ever in plastic, I believe), allowing you to build a Marine in 100% Corvus armor.

My first Assault Marine is a Veteran Sergeant with dual lightning claws. Unfortunately, the model is a tremendously expensive 57 points with these upgrades (a Vanguard Marine with the same exact wargear and stats is only 32 points), but it looks great.

The legs are from the new Assault Squad kit, the right shoulder pad, torso, jump pack, and lightning claws are from the Vanguard kit, the left shoulder pad is from the Commander kit, and the head is a Mk IV helmet from the Betrayal at Calth box. (Yes, I said I probably wouldn't buy Betrayal at Calth, but it was a great value and Bryce and I split the cost.)

I'm very happy with how the model turned out. The Mk IV helmet looks great and I'm fairly proud of my hand painted laurels. The Assault logo on his right shoulder worked out pretty well, too. After cutting off the bottom third of the transfer, I used my usual technique to apply it to the shoulder pad. Once the decal was dry, I used a razor to scrape away the bits of stray decal from the Imperialis on his shoulder pad.

More Tactical Marines and Modelling

The New Models
The new models keep coming:

I finished the combi-flamer Sergeant at 1:00 AM on February 6. The plasma gun Marine was completed on February 28, the final stint of painting lasting a full five hours. I was hoping to keep up a rate of an infantry model every week to a week and a half, but a particularly stressful couple months at work and my wife's purchase of a PlayStation 4 had an unfortunate effect on that goal.

The combi-flamer Sergeant was built almost entirely out of bits from the new Tactical Squad kit. The plasma gun Marine was built from older bits that I had primed much too long ago (I think it was Summer, 2013). The difference in quality is extremely noticeable. The newer bits have much sharper details, are more symmetrical (the left eye lens in the old kit's Mk VI helmet is noticeably deeper set than the right lens), and the parts are simply better formed (the backpack exhausts are actually spherical on the new bits).

Modelling Materials
Dry Brushes
With these last two or three models, I've started using GW dry brushes. I had previously used older brushes that were no longer good for normal painting or cheap brushes that you can buy from Walmart. However, these didn't survive too many models and their fibers would curl so badly after only one or two models that you couldn't easily use them on smaller areas. Although there has been a little curling at the tip of my GW Small Drybrush, it doesn't affect its performance at all. The Small Drybrush works perfectly on the small parts of a Marine model, even allowing me to dry brush its gauntlets without worrying about getting Macragge Blue on its bolter. The Medium Drybrush is great for larger areas such as the greaves and backpack. Since I'm going to be working on a second Razorback soon, I expect to finally get some use out of my Large Drybrush.

Texture Paints
As before, I continue to update my older models' bases; in a few months, all my older models should match my current style. This time Sergeant Telion and one of his Scouts have gotten the Stirland Mud treatment. I really love GW's texture paints and have been looking for opportunities to use the others. The Cabal has a gaming table covered in white fabric and some snow covered terrain. I've considered building some scenery specifically for use with that table so I can use GW's Mourn Mountain Snow.

It should be noted that the texture paints can't really be used alone; they can only produce a monochromatic textured surface. To produce a more realistic color contrast, I wash the Stirland Mud with Agrax Earthshade and dry brush it with Mournfang Brown.

Micro-Set and Micro-Sol
At this point I might as well be a paid spokesman for Microscale Industries. After a horrendous experience trying to put a decal on an Astartes shoulder pad, I was convinced that I would never again apply a decal to any complex curved surface. Later, I found people swearing by Micro-Set and Micro-Sol and decided I would try them myself. After all, the worst that could happen would be having to scrape the decal off and go back to time-intensive hand painting of the Ultramarines logo. Lo and behold, Micro-Set and Micro-Sol really are as good as they say. It can take a little bit of work to get a decal right, but those two products actually make it look like a part of the paint job.

And it looks a lot better than GW's approach of cutting
away the clear part, tearing the decal trying to apply it, and
still having an unsightly edge

Back to Basics, Part II: Completed Tactical Marines

It's been just over a month since I started my "Back to Basics" campaign. On average, I've finished one Tactical Marine a week, which is downright speedy compared to my usual pace. I tried to work on two Marines at a time, but I ended up taking two weeks to finish both, so I've gone back to working on one model at a time.

I think the one model at a time approach may have finally beaten my real problem; i.e., modelling burnout. Excluding the month I lost thanks to a tonsillectomy and the resulting complications, eight Close Combat Terminators took me nearly four months to complete. A lot of that time was spent wanting to paint or planning to paint instead of actually painting. I just couldn't face painting another pair of legs or another set of arms. When I work on one model at a time, I lose the efficiency that comes with mass production, but I actually enjoy painting and look forward to it as a pastime and not a chore.

Only a few months ago, I wondered if I really needed
meltaguns in my Tactical Squads, then 7th Edition came along...

I've finished four models thus far. Although I have several more primed, they're all equipped with special or heavy weapons. Since I need bolter Marines to fill out my Tactical Squads, I've spent the past week or so preparing to prime about a dozen more.

Sadly enough, these four completed models were primed long before the release of the 6th Edition of C:SM, so their bits are almost entirely from the old Tactical Squad kit. The major exception is the cluster of missiles carried by one of the Marines; this bit comes from the new Tactical box and includes a flakk missile alongside the classic frag and krak missiles:

I didn't really need another Marine with a missile
launcher. I just wanted to build one in a kneeling pose.

For variety, each of these four models uses bits that aren't included in the Black Reach or starter paint set. Specifically, one is kneeling, two of them have Mk VII torsos decorated with a lone skull rather than the Imperial aquila, one has a Mk V torso, and two of them have a studded left shoulder pad.

I can't believe I ever hand painted those logos

I continue to be impressed by Micro-Set and Micro-Sol, which have saved me a huge amount of time on each model. Now that I can confidently apply decals that will fully contour to the surface and completely blend in with the paint job, I'm constantly looking for opportunities to use them.

And as can be seen in the photos, I finally got rid of the old piece of cardboard that I've been covering my hobby table with for nearly three years. I've since replaced it with a nice Fiskars cutting mat my family gave me for Father's Day.

Back to Basics: Tactical Marines

This month is the third anniversary of my first game of 40K (my wife still curses that day). During that game, and for quite a few games afterward, I used a borrowed Space Marine army. Within a month I had bought a starter paint set and had finished my first Tactical Marine. By the three month mark I had finished the five paint set Marines and ten from the Black Reach set (I used to paint a lot faster). Unfortunately, those 15 Tactical Marines represent the entirety of my painted power armored Troops to this day.

My first Tactical Marine

Until 6th Edition was released, the Cabal focused almost entirely on annihilation games. I didn't even know what a "scoring unit" was until long after I started playing. In those early games, unless the army had awesome Troop choices (e.g., Grey Knights), the only Troop squads we bothered to bring were there to meet the minimum requirements of the Force Organization Chart. At the time, Tactical Marines seemed nearly worthless to me. Under 5th Edition, Tactical Marines were relatively expensive, they had to come in a squad of 10 just to get a special and/or a heavy weapon, the whole squad had to hold still just to fire the heavy weapon, and rapid fire weapons couldn't fire at their maximum range if the squad had moved.

All of my power armored Marines as of August 2011.
The number hasn't changed since then.

By February 2012 the Troops section of my lists consisted entirely of the Black Reach Tactical Squad and a six man Sniper Scout Squad with Sergeant Telion. My five paint set Marines gathered dust in a carrying case while I spent the rest of my points on more useful models. Then 6th Edition came along, rapid fire weapons got better, heavy weapons gained snap shots, and the Cabal started to shift its focus towards capturing and holding objectives rather than simply trying to wipe out the other player. (It had taken us over a year, but we had finally recognized that annihilation games tended to favor certain armies.) All of a sudden, Troops started to become more important.

When the 6th Edition C:SM came out, I found that 15 Tactical Marines - a number I had previously thought was too much - was a woefully inadequate number. Tactical Squads had become a lot cheaper once we were given the option to leave out upgrades whose cost had been hidden in the previous edition; e.g., Veterancy for the Sergeant and, depending on the weapon, all or part of the cost for the special and heavy weapons. The allowance to give a single special or heavy weapon to a squad with less than 10 models was huge (and something that had been allowed in prior editions). Finally, the introduction of the Ultramarines' Tactical Doctrine made it ridiculous not to maximize the number of Tactical Marines I field.

With that in mind, I recently mentioned that I desperately need more Tactical Marines. Although I knew that I hadn't worked on a power armored Marine in some time, I was surprised to find that every single one had been finished in my first three months of the hobby, over two and a half years ago. Fortunately, I've purchased several Tactical Squad kits since then, including the beautiful new kit released last year.

With my close combat Terminators and their Land Raider Crusader transport done, I've finally moved on to the Tactical Marines I primed last year as part of a spray painting marathon. This past Monday I started on a lone bolter Marine, eschewing my usual assembly line method that has burned me out so many times in the past. While working on him, I was reminded of how I was able to finish so many models early on; Tactical Marines are by far the most basic Marine models to paint. Sure, I'm taking a bit longer to finish this model than I did three years ago, but that's because my later models are more detailed. Still, it's nice to get back to the basics.

Now here's the really exciting part; after disastrous attempts to apply Ultramarine decals to the Black Reach Tactical Marines' shoulder pads drove me to hand painting logos on all infantry models for the next two and a half years, I've finally found a way to satisfactorily apply water-slide transfers to curved surfaces. As before with the Crusader, I first applied 'Ardcoat to the surface. To prevent the discontinuities in texture and color that I encountered before, I painted the 'Ardcoat on the entirety of the shoulder pad and used a much thinner layer than before.

Following the advice Red gave in this blog's comments section, I made a cut about 25% of the way down an Ultramarine decal, right through the opening in the inverted omega. After applying Micro-Set to the shoulder pad, I carefully slid the decal into place and let it dry enough to resist movement. Then, using an Army Painter-brand brush with soft, natural fibers, I brushed on the Micro-Sol. After the Micro-Sol dried, I used the tip of a razor to pierce any bubbles I found and then applied more Micro-Sol. I think I used between three and four applications of Micro-Sol before I was satisfied.

By the end, there was a slight wrinkle in the clear part of the decal at the bottom of my incision as well as two 1/64-inch wrinkles in the clear portion surrounding the logo. However, the Micro-Sol had significantly thinned those regions and I was able to scrape the wrinkles off with a sharp razor blade. A final application of Micro-Sol completely hid the edges of the decal and, exactly as the product advertises, it made the decal look like it had been painted on.

   

I used a final layer of 'Ardcoat to seal the transfer and two layers of Lahmian Medium to remove the gloss. I didn't apply any Nuln Oil wash to the shoulder pad until after I was finished with the protective layers. The lighter patches around the omega in the photos above aren't the edges of the decal, they're regions where I avoided painting the wash onto the logo.

Although several hours passed between preparing the surface and finishing up the decal, the amount of hands-on time was miniscule compared to hand painting the logo. While I've been proud of many of my hand-painted logos, the final result of this technique is sharper, more durable, and easier to achieve. In all, I'm extremely happy with Micro-Set and Micro-Sol, particularly since I had no idea how I was going to hand paint the squad logos on the Assault Marines and Land Speeder crews I want to get to in the next year.

A recent visit to GW's website suggests that someone needs to let GW know about Micro-Set and Micro-Sol:

An official promotional image from games-workshop.com.
Nothing detracts from a professional paint job like bad decals.

The photo above shows that at least one of GW's professionals avoided wrinkling by cutting away most of the clear part of the decal. The modified decal was so fragile that it obviously tore during application. Not only that, but its edges are extremely visible in this lighting. Micro-Sol would have caused the decal to conform to the surface with a minimum of cutting. It also would have dissolved the clear portion of the decal and effectively melted it onto the surface. This would have removed nearly all evidence of the decal's edges.

I've always found it odd that GW's painters will put huge amounts of effort into painting the miniatures just to ruin them with poorly applied decals.

Land Raider Crusader WIP, Part V

After an embarrassingly long time, the Land Raider Crusader Primarch's Fury is finally finished:

It's still purple, though

Although I'm pleased with the final result, I wasn't able to fully recreate the look of my previous vehicles. The color is a base coat of Macragge Blue, two to three layers of Altdorf Guard Blue, two washes of Drakenhof Nightshade, a dry brushed coat of Macragge Blue, and a final dry brushed coat of Altdorf Guard Blue.

In the end, I wasn't able to suppress Macragge Blue's purplish tint. I like the color quite a bit, but it's just not the same as my other models.

What did work for me, though, is the new way I added the decals. I've been avoiding decals on my troops like the plague, but the larger and more complicated markings found on vehicles are just too much for me to freehand. Unfortunately, none of the decals on my previous models look all that good; they don't fully seal to a matte surface covered in brush strokes and end up looking less than fully transparent. This effect, combined with the glossiness of the decals themselves, often detracts from the look of the model.

When I realized that my Imperial Knight models are going to be covered in decals, I decided to look for a better way to apply them. I ended up finding some advice in several hobbyists' blogs and videos that gave me pretty good results.

First, I painted the area where each decal was going to go with 'Ardcoat. The smoothness of a layer of 'Ardcoat allows the decal to better adhere to the surface. While I allowed each decal to soak, I brushed a layer of Microscale Industries, Inc. Micro-Set over the 'Ardcoat. Once the decal had been slid into place, the Micro-Set slightly softened it (from the smell, I suspect that vinegar or a similar mild acid is involved) while improving adhesion.

After everything had dried, I applied a layer of 'Ardcoat over the decal to seal it and make it a permanent part of the model. To remove 'Ardcoat's glossiness, I brushed Lahmian Medium over the surface. The layers of 'Ardcoat and Lahmian Medium slightly affect the color of the surface, so I touched-up the region around the decal with a little bit of Macragge Blue. When I was finally finished, the various decals actually looked like they had been painted on.

In addition to Micro-Set, I also have a bottle of Micro-Sol. This stuff is supposed to be lightly brushed over a still-drying decal to dissolve the transparent portion of it and allow it to conform to just about any surface. Since all the Crusader's decals were applied to flat surfaces, I didn't bother to use Micro-Sol. However, I'm eager to try it out on highly curved surfaces like Space Marine shoulder pads.

While I've been happy with my hand painted logos, the process is tedious and doesn't always give me consistent results. This problem would be solved immediately if I could get a decal to properly conform to the surface. While looking into Micro-Sol's effectiveness, I found plenty of photos of decals that were successfully applied to shoulder pads without folds or creases thanks to Micro-Sol.

Since recent games have shown that I desperately need more Tactical Marines, I'm going to start painting the half dozen or so Marines that I primed last summer. I have shoulder pads and Ultramarine decals in abundance, so I'll have plenty of chances to see if I can satisfactorily apply decals to my troops' shoulder pads.

Land Raider Crusader WIP, Part IV

I've accelerated my efforts on the Crusader in recent days so I can move on to the two Imperial Knights I bought from Jake last week. During this time I learned a very important lesson; if you're going to use a new paint scheme, don't use a model as large and expensive as a Land Raider Crusader for your first attempt.

Until GW changed its paint line, I primed my vehicles with Army Painter Ultramarine Blue, base coated with Ultramarines Blue, applied two to three washes of Badab Black, and then finished with a dry brushing of Ultramarines Blue. My Vindicator, Razorback, and Predator were all painted this way.

The Vindicator was my first vehicle

The Predator and Razorback used the older paint line

I started my drop pods after the change to the paint line. I had thought that I could simply recreate my old vehicle paint scheme using Altdorf Guard Blue (which is a layer paint) in place of Ultramarines Blue. Altdorf Guard went over the Army Painter primer well and Nuln Oil was nearly indistinguishable from Badab Black. However, when I started dry brushing with Altdorf Guard, the color was entirely off from my previous vehicles. Altdorf Guard lacks the purplish tint found in Ultramarines Blue, giving the surfaces I had painted a washed-out look. Fortunately, there were enough dregs left in my old bottle of Ultramarines Blue to finish the drop pods.

The drop pods were base coated with Altdorf Guard Blue
but the final dry brushing was with Ultramarines Blue

I first used Macragge Blue on my Ironclad Dreadnought. I paint Dreadnoughts more like my infantry and had therefore base coated it with Mordian Blue (I bought two bottles just before they went out of stock) and washed it with Nuln Oil. On previous troops, I finished with a dry brushing of Ultramarines Blue. Having depleted my Ultramarines Blue on the drop pods, and knowing that I wasn't happy with Altdorf Guard as a the final dry brushed layer, I decided to use Macragge instead. The final product looked good, but a comparison with other models showed that Macragge Blue had left a slight purple tint that wasn't present on my other models. Once all the weathering was done, though, the Ironclad fit right in with my other models and I haven't noticed the difference since I finished the model. I used the same paint scheme on my Close Combat Terminator Squad, which doesn't stand out significantly from my other infantry.

The Ironclad Dreadnought was base coated with Mordian Blue
and had a final dry brushing with Macragge Blue

Which brings me to the Land Raider Crusader. Having accepted that GW was now pushing purple-tinted Ultramarines (making them genuinely ultramarine blue in color), I had decided to bite the bullet and paint each subsequent vehicle with a Macragge Blue base coat (I think I still have enough Mordian Blue to finish out the rest of my infantry). The rest of the model would be washed with Nuln Oil and dry brushed with Macragge.

It's not quite the color Ultramarines were when
I started the hobby almost three years ago

What I didn't realize is that my previous experience with Macragge Blue involved dry brushed layers only. The underlying base coat of Mordian Blue still dominated the overall color of the Ironclad and the Terminators.

As I began painting Macragge Blue over my usual primer coat of Army Painter Ultramarine Blue, I noticed a couple things. First, Macragge flows well, goes onto the surface smoothly, and has a rich, attractive color. Second, no model painted with a Macragge Blue base coat could possibly match my previous vehicles or infantry since the strong purple tint would stand out like a sore thumb. (I apologize for the lack of photos here. My camera tends to wash out the purple enough that you can barely distinguish between the different shades of blue.)

It looked something like this

Had I started the hobby less than a year later than I did, I would have been happily base coating my Ultramarines with Macragge Blue from day one. Unfortunately, I have far too many points worth of models painted in the Ultramarines' 5th Edition colors to change the scheme so drastically now. I obviously didn't know myself when I said that I was "willing to paint future models in the new Ultramarines color scheme".

I think I've come up with a solution, though. Thanks to the drop pods, I already know that I can paint a model with Altdorf Guard and come out with a satisfying final color as long as I don't use it for the final dry brushing. I also know that I can use Macragge Blue for the final dry brushed layer without its purple tint dominating the overall color of the model. By combining the two, I think I can come up with a satisfactory scheme.

I've already started painting Altdorf Guard over the Macragge Blue. Although GW's recommendation for painting Ultramarines already involves layering Altdorf Guard over a base coat of Macragge Blue, I've been using enough of the layer paint to almost entirely obscure the base coat. Had I known that I would end up with this scheme, I would have simply skipped the Macragge Blue base coat and painted Altdorf Guard over the Ultramarine Blue primer like I did with the drop pods.

I've also done some experimentation with a spare Rhino hatch. When I painted the drop pods, I used two to three layers of Nuln Oil over Altdorf Guard Blue. I've since found that I can get much more attractive results with a layer of Drakenhof Nightshade followed by a layer of Nuln Oil. This combination compares favorably to a base coat of Mordian Blue followed by two layers of Nuln Oil.

Overall, I think I've come up with a satisfying paint scheme to use on the Crusader and subsequent vehicles. It's not dependent on paints that are out of production and it should allow me to maintain some consistency between my vehicles. I just wish that I had tried out the new method on something smaller and cheaper like the Razorback I primed along with several other models back in 2012 and still haven't gotten around to finishing.

Land Raider Crusader WIP, Part III

The Land Raider Crusader continues along, slowly but steadily. As I tend to do with all my models, I started with the most detailed components and will eventually finish with the large, simple surfaces.

Late last month I finished the interior, which got a lot more attention that any hard to see region ever should. I pulled out my Razorback so that I could make sure that the Land Raider's interior matched that of the previous vehicle; i.e., a Fortress Grey base, with Charadon Granite bench structures, Chainmail details, and a Badab Black/Nuln Oil wash:

Last time, I was unhappy with how obvious the brush strokes showed up in the wash. This time I dry brushed the base coat back over the wash to hide the brush strokes, which is also how I clean up washes on exterior surfaces:

Once I finished the interior, I moved on to the hurricane bolters and the twin-linked assault cannon. These are nearly complete, which leaves the exterior engine compartment as the final area with any significant detail.

Land Raider Crusader WIP, Part II

Much to my disappointment, between the holidays, a vicious cold that ran through my family, and burnout from finishing my Terminators, I got very little done on the Crusader between late November and this weekend. However, I found myself wishing for a Land Raider in nearly every game I've played over the past two months. Thus, I decided to buckle down and get some painting done.

With three to four hours of work per night, starting Thursday evening, I finished the majority of the interior. The logical portion of my brain understands that much of my work will be difficult to see, but I've since found that the logical portion of my brain isn't the part that determines whether or not I'm satisfied with the results.

Since I finish off the interior the same way I finish the exterior (i.e., with a heavy wash and then a dry brushing to clean it up), most of my work isn't quite photogenic yet. However, I've very nearly completed the engine:

I experimented with Typhus Corrosion on the various pipes leading away from the engine block and was very happy with the result. The new technical paint is perfect for recreating the brownish crusty look you find on exhaust pipes, turbine blades, steam generators, etc.

Land Raider Crusader WIP, Part I

Although I already knew that foot slogging my new Close Combat Terminators wasn't going to be very effective, the disastrous results of the past few games have only proven it. A large squad of Terminators marching across the board is going to get a lot of unfavorable attention, which meant that my latest models regularly ate so much firepower that they were very nearly toothless by the time they finally reached their target. More often than not, the bulk of the squad was lost to massed AP5 fire rather than AP1 or AP2 weapons. The answer to that, of course, is protecting them inside a Dedicated Transport. Although I'm very excited to start on my new Sternguard models, building the Land Raider Crusader has become my top priority.

Here's the Crusader thus far:

It doesn't look too impressive, but it was a major feat to get the Crusader to this stage. It's late November in Idaho, which typically means cold temperatures and high relative humidity. I've been following the weather forecast for weeks looking for a window in which I could prime the model. Unfortunately, the best times were usually in the early afternoon on a weekday while I was at work.

Finally, the weather service predicted an unusually warm and dry day yesterday, which I had already decided to take off in preparation for Thanksgiving. The temperature was below 30°F (-1°C) with 67% relative humidity up until 10:00AM and it didn't look like conditions were about to get much better. However, around 2:00PM the Emperor smiled upon me and we got a sudden spike in temperature. By 2:30PM the temperature was about 48°F (9°C) with 36% relative humidity. Since the temperature inside my garage tends to be a few degrees higher than the outdoor temperature, I hauled out the Crusader, my trusty Rust-Oleum Camouflage, and a can of Army Painter Ultramarine Blue.

I finished spraying by about 4:00PM. The Fates gave me a couple more hours of good weather to allow the primer coat to dry before the temperature dropped below freezing again and the relative humidity rose.

I might try to get a few more models prepped for their primer coat since it's predicted that we'll have a few more days of good weather. This could be my last chance to spray until early spring; by this time next week we're predicted to have a high of 22°F (-6°C) and a low of 6°F (-14°C). In my eight years living in Idaho, I've learned that once the weather starts to turn that cold, there's a good chance we might not see temperatures more than a few degrees above freezing for a few months.

Close Combat Terminators WIP, Part III

It took an embarrassingly long time, but the Close Combat Terminators are finally done:

The eight man Terminator Squad with Captain Agemman

As I've mentioned before, the squad is composed of eight Terminators: three with thunder hammers and storm shields and five with lightning claws. The unit was sized to fill a Land Raider Crusader, although it will probably consist of seven Terminators or less in most games to allow room for an HQ in Terminator armor.

Nine Terminators are noticeably more imposing than a full Tactical Squad

I'm pretty happy with the models overall; definitely happier than I am with the Black Reach Terminators I painted a couple years ago. Unfortunately, I've found that Terminators aren't the most interesting models to paint, in part because they're relatively featureless compared to models in power armor. I tried to break up the monotony here and there with script.

The Terminator in the foreground with the outstretched hammer is my favorite

This squad has finally convinced me that I shouldn't focus on more than five models at a time. My practice of doing most of my painting prior to assembly and the use of mass-production techniques mean that I usually don't have a playable squad until all the models are completely done. With the Terminators complete, I've turned my attention towards Sternguard and Tactical Marines. Fortunately, five man Sternguard squads are reasonably viable while the 6th Edition of C:SM has made five man Tactical Squads useful again.

"Give me a hug"

My only problem with the lightning claw Terminators is that the positioning of their arms is somewhat awkward and static. The lightning claw arms provided with the new Vanguard Kit are a lot more dynamic and characterful. The Terminators look like they don't know what to do with their hands while the Vanguard Marines' arms mesh very well with the poses of the models.

Vanguard lightning claws have much better poses

With the Idaho winter quickly approaching, I don't have much time left before I'll be unable to confidently use spray paint in my garage. My next project will involve prepping a lot of parts for priming before the weather becomes too cold and humid. At the top of my priorities is the Land Raider Crusader that will ensure that my new squad won't have to footslog through too many games.

"When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a xenos skull"

Close Combat Terminators WIP, Part II

An Unwanted Vacation
Finally, I've made some progress! As I mentioned before, I had a tonsillectomy and a septoplasty late last month. The night before the surgery I was able to finish the fourth member of the eight man Close Combat Terminator Squad I started this summer.

I finished the lightning claw Terminator the night before the surgery

It turns out that a tonsillectomy is rough on an adult and I ended up taking hydrocodone regularly to control the pain. This meant that my head was never very clear and it left my hands unsteady. Additionally, the septoplasty affected the ability of my sinuses to properly drain. Merely leaning forward left me dizzy and feeling ill. Things got even worse when I started having bleeding problems that eventually ended in an emergency surgery to re-cauterize the wound.

Thus, despite having three weeks free of any obligations other than recovering from surgery, I was completely unable to work on my Close Combat Terminators. However, the last Friday night before having to go back to work I felt well enough to finally return to the hobby desk. I was able to put a good three hours into the fifth Terminator, meaning that I'm on track to finish the squad before the Cabal's next game night.

Terminator number five (I forgot to include the helmet in the picture)

The Assembly Line
Once again I've neglected to photographically document my modeling process so I'm stuck describing it verbally. I began with the bases since they seemed to be the logical starting point. I then moved on to the most onerous processes just to get them out of the way; i.e., the helmets and the shoulder pads with the free-hand Ultramarines logo.

Terminator helmets in various stages of completion

Next I base coated the legs, torsos, and arms in Mordian Blue, the stone areas (i.e., the Crux Terminatus, various decorations, and the center of each storm shield) were base coated in Codex Grey, metallic regions were base coated in Leadbelchers, and bundled power cables were base coated in Steel Legion Drab. I went back and finished the stone areas by giving them a Nuln Oil wash and dry brushing them with Fortress Grey. The metallic regions received a Nuln Oil wash and were dry brushed with Chainmail. Bundled power cables were painted with Tin Bitz, washed with Devlan Mud, and then dry brushed with Hashut Copper. The tiny wires running to each lightning claw blade were painted with Hashut Copper.

The chest decorations were base coated with Codex Grey and then painted with Ceramite White. I tried to replicate the effect I achieved with the helmets by painting Drakenhof Nightshade into the crevices, but the thick coat of Ceramite White obscured the details and the wash ended up going where I didn't want it. I cleaned everything up as well as I could with Skull White and then attached various Crux Terminatus medals and purity seals to dress up my partial success.

A nearly complete lightning claw

Up to this point I had been working on the models in an assembly line fashion. Since I prefer to do most of my painting prior to final assembly, each Terminator consisted of a pile eight parts (for the lightning claw Terminators) or eleven parts (for the thunder hammer/storm shield Terminators). It's because of this particular habit that I never field bare plastic squads.

The Final Stage
I'm currently in the final painting and assembly steps, which is where I focus on a single model at a time. The first thing I do in this phase is cleanup. All the dry brushing I do on the cables, metallic areas, and stone areas leaves copper, metallic, and gray streaks on the power armor. Thus, I carefully clean up these areas with Mordian Blue, usually with my trusty Atlas 970-3/0 brush. I then wash all blue regions with Nuln Oil, taking care not to re-wash the previously detailed areas.

Once washed, I dry brush the power armor with Macragge Blue. This gives raised details and edges a mild highlight while also lightening the armor and giving it a worn appearance. I prefer this approach over GW-style edge highlighting since I've never been happy with my own attempts at edge highlighting while I generally like the effect that simple dry brushing produces. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who struggles with highlighting, either. For every attractive highlighting job I've seen on the Internet, I've seen at least two or three models with heavy and/or inconsistent highlights that adversely affect the model's appearance.

Only now, when the painting is practically done, do I fully assemble the model. Although I built model airplanes using model cement for years before getting into 40K, nowadays I much prefer superglue. Superglue doesn't mar the plastic nor does it care if you don't fully scrape the paint from parts that you're about to join.

I start by gluing the legs to the base and giving the assembly a decent amount of time to dry before attaching any more parts. More than once I've had the problem of superglue fumes leaving a white residue on parts of the feet; leaving the other parts off makes it easier to repaint the feet as necessary. Next I do a dry fit of the torso to the legs and of the arms to the torso. This lets me see how I want to position the arms and how I should orient the torso to get the effect I want. I then glue the torso in place followed by the head. The arms are next and then I finish with the shoulder pads. Once everything is dry, I scrape away any glue that seeped out and touch up those areas with a little paint and some wash.

Since they had a slightly more complex paint job and a few fiddly parts that weren't exactly easy to glue into place, I finished the three thunder hammer/storm shield Terminators first. I've since moved on to the lightning claw Terminators and have one finished and another halfway through the final stage. With a little diligence, I should have all eight Terminators ready for next week's game.

Tyrannic War Veterans WIP, Part III: What Now?

Before the rumor of a plastic Sternguard kit had been solidified, I had pieced out the entire Tyrannic War Veteran/Sternguard Squad. Except for a late addition, all the parts were primed along with the Close Combat Terminators and the Ironclad Dreadnought. I decided to piece together a final model after I converted a highly prized combi-weapon, which wasn't until after all his squad-mates were primed.

Finding the Parts
I had had a lot of fun dredging up parts from multiple kits and a pile of sprues that Bryce gave me almost two years ago. I spent several hours going through the Commander, Tactical Squad, Assault Squad, Command Squad, and Devastator Squad boxes to gather the bits I wanted. Since I was building a squad of experienced Veterans, I wanted them to look the part.

Helmets with the Iron Skull badge were easy to find, and I was able to collect nearly a dozen of them. I got a lot of great Veteran bits from the Commander and Command Squad boxes. At the time, the Commander box was the sole source for a plastic Imperium-style combi-melta and combi-plasma. The two boxes were also my source for several unique or rare shoulder pads. I got a number of power armor-sized Crux Terminatus shoulder pads and several Deathwatch shoulder pads.

Since Veterans often wear older patterns of armor, I gathered together the bits for Mk V and Mk VI armor from various boxes. These included Mk VI Corvus helmets and Mk V/VI studded shoulder pads. Mk V torsos (i.e., the ones with power cabling instead of the Aquila) and Mk VI legs (i.e., the legs with greaves instead of knee pads) were relatively plentiful. I was able to get a prized Mk IV helmet from the bits Bryce gave me.

I was rather pleased with one Marine I pieced together who had Mk VI legs, a Mk V/VI studded shoulder pad, a right shoulder pad with the rim scraped off to match the plain right pad of Mk V and Mk VI armor, a Mk V torso, a Mk VI Corvus helmet, and one of the more ornate Mk VII backpacks.

But my proudest achievement was the construction of seven Sternguard bolters with box magazines:

and a combi-flamer of my own design:

And Then...
Pictures of the new model kits started to leak:

The Vanguard kit alone was very impressive; the helmets and shoulder pads were far more elaborate than any I had found before and were exactly the kind of thing I wanted for my Sternguard. At the same time, the rumors were saying that the Sternguard kit was even better. In fact, it was said that the Sternguard kit built 5 Marines but had 120 components; that's an average of 24 parts per model. The high piece count meant that the Sternguard kit was going to be loaded with extra bits. Many of these bits were supposed to be combi-weapons; the plastic bits that had been so hard to find in the previous edition. Finally we got to see what the new Sternguard looked like:

... and all of a sudden my Sternguard conversions assembled from a hodgepodge of Marine bits looked pretty paltry by comparison. When photos of the new Tactical Squad box leaked, I found that we now had access to two Mk VI torsos and a pair of Mk IV legs; bits that had never been available in plastic before. I had to have these parts for my squad.

What Now?
For starters, the revised points values of the C:SM 6th Edition and the greater availability of plastic combi-weapons changed my plans for the Squad. Originally I was going to build a 10 man squad carrying the few combi-weapons I could scavange or convert; i.e., one combi-melta, a combi-plasma, and a combi-flamer. I was also going to build one Marine with a heavy bolter and one with a plasma gun. All told, I would have 12 models for list-building flexibility. When I heard that the plastic kit would have more combi-weapons, I figured that I would equip nearly all the Veterans with combi-weapons.

40K Radio eventually revealed that the cost of combi-weapons was going to increase from 5 points to 10 points each; a five point change that more than negated the 3 point per-model decrease that Sternguard received in this edition. Additionally, I realized that I get the most out of a Sternguard Squad that's geared towards a generic anti-infantry role, meaning that the one-shot combi-meltas are of little use to me and that combi-gravs are a bit too specialized. I dropped the plasma Marine when I realized how silly it is to add a 15 point weapon to a model that's already paying a premium for special ammunition. Finally, the heavy bolter fell by the wayside when I soured on using heavy weapons in any squad that's supposed to maintain mobility.

Here's the revised plan:
10 Man Sternguard Squad: 230 points
1X Lightning Claw: 15 points
2X Combi-Plasmas: 20 points
3X Combi-Flamers (two from the kit plus my conversion): 30 points
Total Cost: 295 points

The Bits
As much as I love the new Sternguard models, I didn't want to spend an extra $50 to buy two kits. Not only do I want to be able to take advantage of some of my earlier work, but I also feel that bits in this new box are too distinctive to have two copies of each part without drawing attention to that fact.

Some of the bits in the Sternguard kit actually seem a little too ornate for mere Veterans. For example, the robed torso looks like it belongs on a Captain rather than a Sergeant. And the enormous Aquila found on the left shin of one of the pairs of legs is more commonly found on the armor of a Commander (e.g., Calgar's artificer armor). Thus, I'll be repurposing the robed torso and the legs with the large Aquila for a model of Captain Agemman in artificer armor. Since there's an extra torso in the kit, this leaves me with five Sternguard torsos and four pairs of legs.

This guy is dressed more like a
Captain than a Veteran Sergeant

I'll be able to get several pairs of Veterans' legs by raiding the Vanguard kit. While I felt compelled to buy the kit upon its release, I knew that I would never use it to build an actual Vanguard Squad since they now take up an Elite slot. The squad is justifiable in a Raven Guard army with the Winged Deliverance rule, but it just doesn't work for an Ultramarine army that already has too many Elite choices as it is. However, the Vanguard kit is a great source of parts, including running legs that look great on any kind of model. I'll be saving the most ornate pair of Vanguard legs for an Assault Squad's Veteran Sergeant, but the other four will go into my Sternguard Squad.

The Vanguard kit will also supply the lightning claw for my Sternguard Sergeant, as well as several helmets. I'm particularly fond of the helmets with the molded laurels. And given how much I love the look of a Marine firing a bolter one-handed, I'll be using some of the Vanguard's straight arms as well.

This leaves me with five Sternguard torsos, four pairs of Sternguard legs, and four pairs of Vanguard legs. I'll take one of the Mk VI torsos from the new Tactical box, along with the torso with the laurels in place of the wings. The three remaining torsos will come from the models I've already primed. The final two pairs of legs will probably be the Mk IV legs and the Mk VI legs with the studs from the new Tactical Squad kit.

This mixture of parts will produce a pretty varied squad of Veterans. Four will be more ornate than the others, particularly with the full-length loincloths (for obvious reasons, I won't be putting combi-flamers on any of these guys). The four pairs of running legs will be a bit fancier than the two pairs taken from the Tactical Squad, although the latter have the advantage of being from older Marks of armor.

As much as my obsessive-compulsive personality would have liked to make the Veterans a bit more uniform, it seems reasonable that there could be a lot of variety among the members of a Squad. Among the Ultramarines, you would find experienced Marines who were promoted to the 1st Company shortly after the Battle of Macragge completely annihilated the Veteran Company. Others may have been Veteran Sergeants who had been seconded to other Companies and returned to the 1st to help rebuild it. These Marines may have been Veterans for many years by this point and would probably wear armor that's picked up any number of awards, trophies, or decorations over their years of service. Some Squad members may have achieved Veteran status through subsequent wars with the Tyranids, their simpler armor indicating the recent promotion from one of the Battle Companies. Others may have been made Veterans through unique experiences, such as serving in the Deathwatch. At least one of my 10 Sternguard will be wearing a Deathwatch pad as proof of his service on the Vigil.

As for the Rest of the Converted Models...
The latest plans for the Sternguard Squad don't make use of most of my primed models or the converted Sternguard bolters I put so much effort into. However, I've been inspired to try something new by the recently released Apocalypse: War Zone Damnos. Included in the book is a Deathwatch formation that consists of 2+ Sternguard and/or Vanguard Squads and a Space Marine Captain. These Deathwatch Kill-teams have the Preferred Enemy special rule against a single Xenos codex chosen while determining their Warlord Traits. Additionally, Kill-team members with bolters or combi-bolters are able to take a type of anti-Necron round in addition to their usual special ammunition.

Although I obviously won't be able to give them the Preferred Enemy special rule or anti-Necron rounds in a normal game of 40K, I've decided to paint my extra models as a five man Deathwatch Kill-team, complete with a Watch Captain. I'll build the Kill-team as a simple (and relatively cheap) Sternguard Squad with a heavy flamer while the Watch Captain will give me an excuse to model the Teeth of Terra relic. I like the Deathwatch fluff quite a bit and this gives me a chance to add some variety to my army. Even better, although they're effectively Veterans, the members of the Deatwatch wear relatively inornate armor, meaning that my original Sternguard conversions won't look out of place.