A Little Progress: Eldar, Ultramarines, and Berzerkers

Cleaned a couple of projects off the to-do list last night...

The Farseer -- I'm aiming for the Alaitoic color scheme, but didn't quite hit the mark here.  First, painting yellow over black is a nightmare, but second, I didn't get the right balance of dark blues and yellows that I wanted.  I think this is because of how the cloak came out -- it's too bright. But I like the black robes and turquoise wraithbone.

Next, the Ultramarines Captain ... love how this one turned out.  He's a metal cast with a resin HH-era backpack slapped on.  Didn't go for the weathered look -- he's an Ultramarine after all. His base looks like crap, but I'm waiting on some 32mm to show up so that I can rebase him.

Finally, the Berzerker.  My CSM Khorne theme is one of Blood Angels fallen to Chaos ... so the blond hair and white skin is a deliberate move to make him look like some Lestat knock off.  As you can see, this model is a mix of CSM Berzerker and the old SM Tactical box.

Try not to focus on how terribly oversized his left hand is compared to his right.

"SING IT!!!"

"Hey, at least I don't wear glitter..."

Iron Hands Project - Demi-Squad 1

Armed with some resin crack, I am setting out on the path of building a small Heresy-era force.  Am aiming for something I can use to play the 'Victory is Vengeance' campaign from Book 3 of the HH series.

Got these fellows on Ebay ... which has its own challenges.  The casts are nice and clean, but the resin is very soft and frequently snapped when I was trimming them out.

For the paint scheme, it's Leadbelcher with a black wash (in this case Vallejo's Black Wash heavily thinned down) and some flat black for the armor -- and then some rust and dirt (Vallejo's flat earth) liberally stippled on.  I also stippled some more Leadbelcher on to put chips on their armor.

The effect I'm looking for is 'it's Day 27 after the Dropsite Massacre ... we're still here, and we're REALLY pissed off.'

All in all, quite pleased with them -- frankly they make my 40K-era Iron Hands test models look too clean and well behaved.

 

"Get off my lawn!"

Ultramarines Standard Bearer - Games Workshop Skullz Limited Edition

Once upon a time, when I was a poor college student, Games Workshop had the Skullz program. Basically, if you sold enough of your blood to buy mountains of their stuff, you could get swag -- which included some neat limited edition miniatures.  For a long time, I coveted that Ultramarines standard bearer -- I thought it was a neat cast, despite its waspish waist.

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!!

So many years later, Ebay, blessed blessed Ebay, delivered said model unto me for a staggeringly reasonable price ($20, if memory serves...).

I chose a red banner, because GFY if you think I'm going to try to paint that much white...

Iron Hands Project - Captain

A simple conversion, taking my inspiration from some podcast or Independent Characters HPC post ... I honestly can't remember where.  But the simple addition of a Grey Knights sword - cut to make it a bit more like what I think the sword used by Bion Henricos in the Little Horus short story would be like.  If you've not read that particular piece, I highly recommend it... it's Abnett at his best.

Add to this some purchases of both 30K and 40K Iron Hands models and I find myself doing a lot of edge highlighting of black armor.

For the 30K folks, I'm thinking more and more about a force composed of Shattered Legionaries, with the odd member from either a mainstream force (e.g.: a small band of Space Wolves) or some of the nameless unmarked legionaries mentioned in Book IV -- those who cast off all their parent legion markings.

As for 40K, not sure... probably just enough to get a feel for painting that legion.  I'm an unapologetic junky for the 6th Legion, with a penchant for Ultramarines in my spare time.

Elves and Cockroaches

Finally got around to finishing up some projects that I'd been toying with for a while ... namely a Carnifex and the Eldar Avatar.

For the former, my goal was to make it look as realistic as possible, more like a cockroach than any kind of specific Hive Fleet. 

Of course, when I tried to base the model, I got a lot of dusting and clumping and had to soak the mini in Purple Power to get that back to a more normal coating.  That completed, I proceeded to use a combination of Vallejo Iraqi Sand for the flesh and Chocolate Brown (70.872) for the carapace, with an overbrush of German Camo Ochre for highlights, with a heavy wash of Agrathax Earthshade and then a layer of 'Ard Coat to give it a shiny appearance. 

As to the Avatar, its an unaltered use of the Dark Eldar Cauldron of Blood statute.  I used multiple layers of Citadel's Stegadon Scale Green, gradually working more and more white into it. A little Guillaman Blue glaze on the chest plate, and that was that.  I deliberately kept the sword as clean and metallic as possible -- the better to contrast with the darker tones of the Avatar itself. 

The challenge now, of course, is to find something other than a shaving cream cap to use as a base! I've got a good one from the Secret Weapon Miniatures "Bone Fields' range, but the Avatar's feet don't really fit well in the slots provided.

http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=79_30_60&products_id=248

And of course, now that I stare at the mini some more, I find myself reminded of another otherworldy being that underwent a tragic transformation ...

Special Rule - "Moonwalk" - This model has a 3+ Jink Save