Transfers the Easy Way: You were all right!

After doing a pretty poor job putting transfers on my dreadnought a few of you suggested I use gloss varnish along with microsol and microset. You were right! I did not have gloss varnish, but I used GW 'ardcoat, followed by microset on the shoulder, followed by microsol on the transfer. I could not be more pleased! The transfer has none of the weird air bubble discoloration that the dread had. I should have been using gloss varnish a long time ago! The only downside is that I had to use testors dull coat, which after a mishap a while back has left me fully in the camp of those who do not varnish models at all!

I should listen to other people's advice more often!

BA Terminator Librarian

After having so much fun painting the BA dread and the jump pack Sergeant, I thought I would take a stab at one of the the Space Hulk miniatures. This guy will either lead the Land Raider assault, or the Storm Raven assault (picked up a Storm Raven last night!). I used a lot of air brushing on this guy, which I am really proud of. The base is one of the resin bases, I have been tinkering with, and works well with the pose this guy comes in. I have a red micro-pen which I plant to use to mark up the prayer sheet on his leg, and on his magical tome. I would like to make the marking look like cuneiform, but so far my practice markings have not worked out very well. I have the FW BA transfers, but I need to wait until I have some gloss varnish before I try them again. I mucked up part of the libby dread and I don't want a repeat of that. (I used microsol and microset, but they still went on poorly)

When I went to the GW store yesterday I spent some time looking at the Armies on Parade contest. I really want to participate in it, but have never made an army display board. June 25th seems kind of close if I want to really lavish time on the Army. If I want to take BA, then I will have to completely redo my army with my new style. I was thinking though that a lessor known chapter might make a bigger splash.

Color Schemes for Marines (BA,DA or just turned Chaos)

• Pastel Green / light Purple with gold trim (just turned or turning to Chaos)
• DA green / Bleached Bone (DA successor)
• flesh Tearers
• Blood Red / Bleached Bone (BA successor)
• My Iron Scythes scheme with new models (and painted this decade!) I could also cast some roman crests to add to their helmets.

Units I would like to include:

• Storm Raven
• Rhino
• Land Speeder
• Jump pack troops
• Tactical Squad
• Dreadnought
• Terminators

Settings:

• Hanger bay with rearmament vehicles, servitors, and chapter serfs preparing the drop ships. (storm raven in this case)
• Hive city ruins with flying units up top and ground units driving through rubble.
• broken up desert battlefield with destroyed ultramarines vehicles, and dead strewn about. The bright blue would add a striking color, and it is always fun seeing another chapter picking up the pieces. A few live ultramarines could be in consultation with the BA relief force. That would let me integrate red and blue and not have my librarians sticking out so much.

Just some ideas.... How much of a diorama is needed on these boards? Does anyone know? Should I repaint my Squat army instead?

Finished Blood Angels Dread & WIP Sergeant

I finished up the Dreadnought, baring matte varnish. I think I am going to avoid transfers until I find a better way to put them on. I am getting a lot of air pockets despite the surface being extremely smooth. In any event, I love how the dread turned out.

I used the same techniques to paint up the special order Sergeant from GW. I was not thrilled with the mini at first, but now that I see it painted and interspersed with a squad, I really like the way the pose stands out. The new plastics have loads of detail, but less character pose wise. This guy has it all. I tried a new way to paint his power sword, and I think I am hooked. Lost of small passes with an air brush and I have the best blade I have painted! I finished and based the model a few hours ago, and started on the BA librarian from the Space Hulk game. I'll post some photos tomorrow of him. It turns out one of my custom resin bases is perfect for his pose. It almost looks like the base and the model were made for each other!

Kit Bashed Librarian Dreadnought Part 2

I am beginning to really like this paint job. I think the trick is the black undercoat + air brushed blood red. It gives the model such rich tones, while keeping large portions of the model in shadow. Since this is my librarian dread, I painted a little more gold/bronze on him than usual. I blocked in all the colors last night prior to a 50/50 dev mud/water + 1 drop of thinner wash. Now that I am learning to thin my washes I think I am getting much better results. I think I have reached the point where decals have to be added. I always dread this step since it is hit or miss with me. I still need to paint the cables, wash and highlight the purity seals, and do something with the etched brass on his right leg, but I've had those FW blood angels decals sitting near my desk since receiving them as a Christmas gift from my wife. I think it would be nice to use them. I also have that Arvus Lighter to paint from her!

Kit Bashed Librarian Dreadnought Part 1

I started a new Blood Angel's army when I first got back into 40k after a long hiatus, and consequently after a few years my painting style had changed. Since my first BA dread with FW CCW, I have moved on to heavy air brushing, and shading, giving a slightly comic book feel to the force. In preparation for my first libby dread, I purchased on dreadnought FW CCW and one Grey Knight dreadnought force weapon. I have had these pieces sitting in a box for ages.

As it turns out, work has been pretty busy, so I have not been able to make it out to the GW store. Rather than pass up the opportunity, I decided to finally convert my own libby anyway. This guy will eventually be towed behind a storm raven, but that requires me to have some time to shop.

My new BA recipe is the same for vehicles as it is for dreads or troops.

1. Prime Black
2. Spray Gore Red lightly, keeping as much black as possible.
3. Spray Blood Red
4. Mix in Blazing Orange into the airbrush and highlight edges.
5. Spray with diluted baal red (this step is probably a bad idea! since it removes a lot of the shading in favor of richer color)

I have held off putting battle damage on my new BA, but I think I am going to go with chardon granite followed by chainmail. Som heavy streaking of black will follow.

WIP Techpriest

Since I had a bunch of resin bases, I needed something to put on them. A few minutes of rummaging, and voila, the techpriest I purchased ages ago for my IG. This guy got a really fast and sloppy paint job, so I have a lot of cleanup work and final highlighting to do, but as he is, I kind of like him. I've found that the older metal miniatures are weird in that they have both more detail, and worse castings. With plastics, the older models are just barren of detail.

So in game terms, does anyone use this guy in their army lists? Is there ever a reason to take one? In fluff terms I feel the need to paint up as many priests from Mars as possible, but they seem kind of weak in game. the problem with having this guy, and all of the advisors I recently painted is that I now want to field them!

Deathwing Chaplain and Squad

I painted up some test bases to go with both my Astral Claws and my Dark Angels. Previously I had been creating custom bases for each miniature every time I needed one. The power of home resin casting has freed me from that now! The Deathwing squad above used individual custom bases, and while they look nice, I wanted a way to create a base quickly that showed off the miniatures. The Rhino top hatch base shown below is meant for a hero character, since it allows for dynamic poses. I used one of the new flatter bases for the chaplain, since his pose was rather static, and I was unable to pry his torso off of his legs for repositioning! I am really pleased with how he came out.

The rest of the Deathwing are a little lighter in color than my other squads, but I am just happy to have three squads instead of two. I think I may have to get a game in once I paint up that venerable dread lurking to the side of my painting area.

Home Made Resin Bases

I finished and based my dark angels terminator chaplain, and then followed him up with another squad of deathwing terminators. The problem was that I was out of bases. Normally I make a load of bases ahead of time, and then have them ready for miniatures as I finish them. This time I decided to create resin molds of ruined space marine equipment. These bases will find dual use on my Astral Claws chapter, which is why some of them are desert brown. The deathwing bases I paint dark, with loads of rust.

Custom bases are just too cool!