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.

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.

Primaris Hellblasters

More Primaris progress. I now have quite a bit of the new Primaris stuff painted. The temptation is to paint something else now, maybe something from the last Space Marines release that has been gathering dust. It is kind of embarrassing to have stuff unopened from releases years ago, but was the norm for me. The new model is to paint stuff up as I buy it. It can't go directly into long term storage. So what should I paint next?

Primars Reavers (Easy To Build)

I finished a second set of the easy to build Primaris Reavers today. I still don't know what my blue recipe is, despite a lot of trial and error. The original batch is vastly better, but I think these fit in pretty well. As for basing, no idea. I'll probably default to the same basing I've used for years, cracked concrete. The advantage to that is that these will fit in with the rest of my modern armies.

Thoughts on the new kits.... great...if you only include the easy to build stuff. I think the dreadnought is hellish to build. I'm a huge fan of the easy to build stuff. Sure, I won't have all the cool gadgets, but I will have enjoyed the model building and painting process that much more than I would have if I had spend hours deciphering ridiculous instructions.

*Edit... the new reavers have developed awful white-ish stains in the crevices. It seems the AK-Interactive ultra-matte I used reacted poorly with the enamels. The color is good underneath however, so, I just added a heavy wash of army painter strong tone, to try and recover the models. If this doesn't work these are going to be paint stripped and re-painted. Annoying, but necessary. This army doesn't get to have crap minis in it.

Drop Pod Rehab: From Junk to Ok

I wanted to jump back into painting my Primaris marines, but decided to paint a test model to get back into the flow of things. For years a salvaged Blood Angels drop pod has been collecting dust, so I scooped it up, tore it down, and repainted it. The process worked well until the enamel phase, where things just went wrong. My ultra smooth blends on the interior were lost, and a lot of enamel chalked up on the model. However, I plowed on through, and in the end I think this is a pretty good outcome for a model I was planning on tossing in the garbage. Unfortunately, the color is completely off. It looks nothing like my newest Ultramarines. I have no idea what I did wrong, except use the wrong recipe. Too bad I didn't write down the colors I used on my newest Ultras. Fortunately, I think the paints I originally used are still on my desk, so all I have to do is paint up some more test pieces using all the available blues and hopefully I'll stumble on the recipe. I think the pod is done though. It accomplished its' purpose, buy saving the model I really want to paint from suffering the same wrong hue.

Primaris Marines So Far

Here is a little group shot of all the Primaris marines that I have painted so far. I like the way these guys are turning out. I can easily imagine a whole army of them, which is good, since I bought enough to make one!

Repulsor WIP 3 More Parts

After a stint showing a new friend around DC, I put in some time attaching the missing parts to the tank. I think it is starting to really come together now.

Primaris Repulsor WIP 2

I had to matte coat the model in order to see the streaking, which makes the process pretty weird, but I'll be able to go and work on the streaking layer after removing matte sections as needed. Goofy, but the semi-gloss made it way too difficult to see.

This Primaris force is meant to look like it has been giving a beating to chaos. No reason to make a war machine look new!

Primaris Space Marine Repulsor WIP

I went heavy with the paint chipping on this Primaris Repulor, partially because of my chipping fluid failure last time. Weathering will tone down the chipping somewhat. That said, this model is not fun to put together. I think this is right up there with the storm eagle for un-fun. There are too many parts, and they do not go together cleanly.

Primaris Space Marines First Take

I've finally spent some time putting together the Primaris Space Marines that come in the Dark Imperium boxed set. Initially I was ambivalent towards the new models. As I've hinted at for a while, I've been slowly accumulating a large Dark Angles for to paint. Then these new models dropped. I like them a lot now. All it took was building two squads for my opinion to radically change. I'm not sure I even want to paint old GW plastic marines anymore. I wasn't expecting to experience such a shift. I agree with some of the reviews I've read online that GW must be planning to phase out the old plastics. These new models are so vastly better proportioned than the old kits. Gone are the gorilla pose marines!

So what should I paint these up as? Do go Dark Angels as planned, or do I paint these up as ultramarines and add them to the Guilliman model I already painted?