Primaris Ultramarines Army So Far

I have had the bases completed for this army for a while, so I sat down today and based all of the new Primaris marines that I have painted. I really like how the force is coming together, but I am having some trouble with my dull coat, which is peeling off in some areas due to me handling the model. It is an easy fix, since all I have to do is respray a diluted new coat, but until I do so, the glossy undercoat shows through. This is not the display board for these guys, but I had it laying around.

Once the bulk of the troops are painted, I'll go back and add paint chipping and streaking to their armor. For now though, only the vehicles will be weathered.

3D Terrain Modeling

With the help of a friend, I've been learning Onshape to produce CAD drawings of terrain we need for our tables. I am astonish by how quickly I am taking to it. This is not normally how it goes when I start learning a new trade. With only a few days under my belt, I've managed to design two terrain pieces for 6mm wargamming. The first is a 28mm 40k-ish building. The second is the beginning of a freeway. I was initially worried about too much detail at such a small scale, but the Form 1+ SLA printer picks up so much detail, that I could easily go with smaller features.

The first print of the building looks fantastic on a Form 1+ SLA printer. I think our Epic Armageddon tables are going to look fantastic!

Custom Bases Painted With Pigments

In a twist of fate, the pigment I normally use on my 30k miniatures, Green Earth, turned reddish orange when applied to the bases using an alcohol wash. To try and tilt the color back towards yellow, I made a water/alcohol wash and applied some more Green Earth mixed with some Yellow Earth. So here we are now, with a blotchy yellowish tone. I like it. The yellow plays off the blue of the ultramarines really well. Now it had been my intention to make these bases work with my older ultramarines bases, as well as my 30k bases. That goal was not met, but I am ready to base these guys an move on.

Casting Bases Using Dental Plaster

The process of making moulds can be pretty easy if you are interested in casting dental plaster and don't intend to use a pressure pot or vacuum chamber. I decided to create a full set of master bases for use across my 40k and 30k armies. I won't use these for all of my miniatures, but it is extremely nice to have a set of bases ready to go whenever I want to create some. An added benefit is that while my regular bases are normally fragile, the solid dental plaster bases are not. These are incredibly durable. Also, since my bases are supposed to be concrete, as they get scratched the grey color material underneath looks like fresh cracked cement adding to the overall effect. 

Step 1: Make master bases

 Step 2: Build mould boxes

Step 3: Spray a coat of primer over the boxes to ensure that any super glue used during construction of the bases or the boxes is covered. Superglue will cause the silicone to cure badly, leaving soft uncured goop where it touches.

Step 4: Mix your silicone. I used two different types of silicone here, one that cures in 6 hours and another that cures in a slightly shorter time. I believe the purple dense one is OOMO 30.

Step 5: After waiting over night, release the silicone from the mould. Try to save your masters. They can be used if desired. (I won't, my masters get dumped straight into storage)

Step 6: Using Excalibur dental plaster start pouring bases. The key to a nice flat base is to overfill it and then after the plaster has started to separate from the water and sink into the moulds, to gently scrape the surface using a flat edge.

 Step 7: Paint. The small 25mm base on the right is one of the new bases. The 50mm base on the left is one of my old bases from several years ago. The 25mm base wasn't even primed. That cement is raw plaster with a dose of Secret Weapon Miniatures Green Earth pigment washed over the top. I then went back and scraped the base with an x-acto knife to add some designs.

Making Cracked Cement Bases

I've had a bunch of nearly finished miniatures awaiting bases for quite some time. Today I decided it was time to take care of that. To create these, I started with thin sheets of cast dental plaster. Using pliers and clippers I broke up the plaster in order to create these designs. I then used the debris from breaking them up mixed with anti-skid sand additive to fill in the holes. I think I have enough designs for an entire army now. Once these are dry, I'll clean them up and prep them for casting. My goal is to have an easy to use set of mould that I can break out and cast whenever I need them.

So, did I miss any base sizes? I think I got them all, but you never know with this strange new Games-Workshop.

Space Marine Centurions Completed (minus bases)

These guys are now complete awaiting bases. I like how they turned out. These were painted really quickly, but I think they fit in really well with the Primaris. The bulk certainly helps.

In terms of basing, I've been pouring plaster and adding pigments to get it colored just right. I'm going for dark concrete. I'm still tempted to try the reddish mud bases I used on my Death Guard.

Space Marine Centurions WIP

This kit has languished on my shelf for maybe 4 years. I realize this is kind of embarrassing, but at last it has made its way to the hobby table. When these came out I hated the design, which is why they sat dejected on the shelf for so long. However, after building them, I've really warmed up to it. I think the under-armor eco-skeleton details are really cool. It is a shame I covered most of that up with the heavy front plating.

One of the things that became clear when building these, is that GW plastics have gone through a revolution in quality several times since these came out. I don't think this moulds would pass muster today at GW. There are loads of soft features on these models, that make them less fun to paint than the newest crisp-edged plastics. They are still cool though, and look right at home next to the giant Primaris.

So what is next? Gold. I have to paint the gold on the models, the purity seals, and then add glow for the grav-cannon. After that I might pause and consider basing a bunch of this stuff. It might be time to get these guys playable.

Hunter or Stalker Completed

It is interesting that by adding the old Ultramarines blue to my mix, that somehow the model appears more cartoony to me. I won't do that again, but I do find the cell shaded look kind of cool. So with this guy completed, and headed for my Primaris shelf, I', beginning to think that I need to paint up a Land Raider. I really like them, and I don't have one completed in this style.