First "Melta Trio"

My army continues to grow, slowly but surely, as I work on the models I primed just before the onset of winter. The latest is a Tactical Marine with a multi-melta:

The Ultramarines' Tactical Doctrine just barely makes heavy
weapons viable in a drop pod-based Tactical Squad

Admittedly, I wanted a multi-melta Marine as much
(or more) for its looks as for its effectiveness

The cables on the gun and the backpack weren't easy to line up

The multi-melta Marine is painted in the same style as my recent combi-melta Sergeant. As usual, Micro-Set and Micro-Sol worked miracles in applying the Ultramarines and Tactical Squad decals. Unfortunately, one decal had an annoying wrinkle that no amount of Micro-Sol could fix. The wrinkle turned out to be a fiber trapped under the decal, reminding me to better clean model surfaces beforehand. Removal of the fiber slightly damaged the decal, but Micro-Sol and a touch of paint were able to get it to an acceptable condition.

While trying to assemble the model, I found out the hard way that the cable connecting the backpack and the gun can easily interfere with the right leg if the torso isn't turned just right. I didn't realize that I was going to have the problem until I failed to glue the gun onto a torso and backpack that had already been mounted to the legs. I ended up smearing glue in several places, which is particularly annoying when you do most of your painting before a model is assembled. In the end, I had to glue the backpack and the gun to the torso before gluing the torso onto the legs.

The completion of this model gives me my first "Melta Trio"; a combination of drop pod-based melta weapons that the numbers say should give enemy armor a run for its money.

40.5% chance of exploding AV14, 50.1% chance of exploding AV13,
and 57.8% chance of exploding AV12

In addition to these newer models, I've been updating the bases of my older models for consistency. My first models had plain gray bases with a clumsily applied wash:

The bases were definitely an afterthought in 2011

With a little bit of work, and a generous helping of Stirland Mud texture paint (another amazing product), the old models match the new ones a lot better, even if I'm not entirely satisfied with my painting skills of three and a half years ago.

The texture paint helps hide the bases' slots, too