Death Guard Daemon Prince WIP 2

This old finecast model is quickly becoming one of my favorite Death Guard models so far. Given that, I figured it would be interesting to post a photo of the model before I add the orange rust. I think the large orange rusty blade is going to add a tremendous amount of contrast and interest. I wanted to share the photo with you guys before the big reveal. (too much HGTV with my wife!)

Death Guard Daemon Prince & Friends WIP

I found an old finecast space marine daemon prince, and have begun adding the base colors to the model. At this point in my painting I have refined my color scheme, so the bright orange has been replaced with a fleshy orange. Because I already have a squad painted with orange innards, I'll make sure to add orange to other models. I'm thinking about making the nurgle symbols orange on purple. I think that would make a cool looking battle standard as well.

I think I waited so long to paint this model because traditionally people painting chaos had to deal with armor to flesh transitions. This can be really hard to figure out how to paint. I've solved the problem using an airbrush to blend them. That gets me 99% of the way there. Then I can enjoy painting all the random crap on the model.

I really want to base these guys, but I have to wait until I have a full force. I need my mud color to be uniform, and that means it is best done in one sitting.

Hell Brute and Blight Drone

The Hell Brute is coming along nicely, though the weathering powders spread everywhere. I'm still carefully removing the powders using alcohol, but I figured it was a good time to stop and take some photos. This is one of those moments where I need to just slow down or stop painting or I will keep making mistakes.

So with the Brute almost ready, I have two squads, three characters, and two vehicles painted. I think I need to paint up a Rhino or Land Raider to go with these guys. What works well these days? I haven't bought the chaos index yet, so I have no idea what my options are.

Hell Brute WIP 1

I dug around yesterday and found one of the two Hell Brutes I had in storage. I think this is a sign of just how cool the new Death Guard models are. This guy would have continued gathering dust if I hadn't been inspired by the new Dark Imperium box. I feel like I've missed out on this wonderful miniature for years. Clearly I knew it would be great when it came out since I bought a spare, but that is almost habit at this point when a new box comes out. I think I have 6 unpainted DA tac squads! 

I'm spending a little more time on this miniature than the rest. The base coat is cleaner and more precise. I also added a fleshier look to him. I think once I have a few rounds of enamels on this guy he will start to shine. I am really digging this. 

Old Chaos Versus New Chaos

I've had loads of boxes of Chaos miniatures sitting around for ages, so I figured it was time to grab some ancient bits and build myself a second squad for my budding Nurgle army. I tried to emulate the painting style I used on the new miniatures despite the old miniatures having bizarre areas of half realized detail and poor casting all around. I'm glad to have another squad because that means I am close to playing the game, but I wouldn't hold the dwarf squad out as an example of either inspired or good painting. Painting the old models puts the new ones in perspective. GW has finally mastered model making. The new kits are light years better than the old ones. At least with the dwarf squad I have some miniatures to test the basing with.

I was planning on painting the hell brute from the last starter set. How have those models aged? Are they still worth painting?

Dark Imperium Death Guard WIP 2

I haven't decided how to approach the zombies, so instead of figuring that painting puzzle out I decided to paint some more of the details on the Death Guard. I'm itching to paint up a rhino for these guys, so that might come before the shambling horde. I am also tempted to hunt down my old Typhus model and repaint him using this new color scheme/technique.

Has anyone else broken open their box and started painting? I've seen a lack of Dark Imperium stuff online.

Dark Imperium Death Guard WIP 1

The Dark Imperium box set is wonderful, however GW seems to have forgotten that people have to paint the miniatures. The Death Guard models are so complex, it they really should be painted individually rather than batch painted as I did here. That way the hyper individualized sculpts can be individually analyzed. That said, I think these models are doing ok. I wish I had not lost my bright green base coat, but that was a lesson learned with my blending layers. What I thought was a semi transparent mint color went on super-opaque.

Things like lenses and faces have not been painted yet. I have to wait till I dull coat the models to remove the semi-gloss protective coat on them right now. If I don't do that the acrylic paint beads up on the lacquer surface. Normally I wouldn't take a photo of models while in this state, but I like these guys. They get a pass.

So what about basing? Cracked red martian earth would be a good base color. Alternately, I could mix up some plaster and weathering powder and make mud. That would let me splash wet mud all over their feet, and have pools of yellow water effects. The counter to that is that orange/red cracked dusty bases would contrast really well with the cool green.

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?