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.