On the painting table ... Stompy Robots

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Warhammer 40,000 – Thump, Thump, Thump stomping onto my painting table is a "standard" Dark Angel Dreadnought. This piece should be about the end of this commission as I believe my client has just about every option he may need built and painted for this force.

It looks like he built this using a few parts from various kits. Painting Dreadnoughts is always interesting because so much of the model is gunmetal. I like painting these parts as it's really easy and looks great when it's done. I've just started blocking in the colors on this and will follow the same process as I've done in the past with these Dark Angels models.

In other stompy robot news I did have a chance to pick up and assemble one of the Knight Titans. This is a very impressive kit, however I won't go on and one about it as every other blog on the internet has already beat this one to death. It's a shame there weren't more options in the kit but for what you get it is a pretty substantial model. (Although my Reaper Cthulu is the same size and signifcantly bulkier than this and it only cost me $15 ... so your mileage may vary)

I'm working on a base to match my space marines as this particular unit will join up with them more often than not when I need access to a Rapid Fire Battle Cannon and Strength-D Close Combat option. It fills a unique hole in my forces and I'm looking forward to trying it out first hand on the tabletop soon.

I'm not sure if I'm going to opt for one of the Studio Paint Schemes on this to match up with the decals included with the kit or if I'm going to develop my own Freeblade Knight with his own backstory. With all the other stuff I need to wrap up it might be a while before I can make a decision on the paint.

Plastic Thunderhawk Complete

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Plastic Thunderhawk Complete

Warhammer 40,000 – I finally wrapped up the paint job on the Plastic Thunderhawk. The piece is very large and bulky so it took a bit longer than normal to finish. Overall I'm really happy with how it turned out. In the future with big pieces like this I might opt to use an airbrush for the base coating to save some time. The edge highlighting took what seems like forever. I think part of the problem was my hand would get tiered from holding it up so I could only do small portions at a time.

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On the painting table ... Plastic Thunderhawk

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Warhammer 40,000 – This beast is finally done. Massive models like this are tricky because it's much more difficult to hold it in place when you're doing the detail work. Edge highlighting took forever because I had to space it out so I could keep my arm from getting fatigued. 

Having seen this in action on the table I'm not super impressed with what it can do. Once it's on the table it's pretty impressive but in the game I saw it in action it didn't come in until turn 4 or 5 and at that point it was able to take out a titan but the damage had already been done by the super heavy that started on the table.

If GW ever makes a true plastic kit of this I'll be first in line to pick one up just for the coolness factor. 

On the painting table ... Who's Fallen?

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Warhammer 40,000 – Dark Angels you seem to have no end. One of my regular clients recently provided me with some more models to paint up for his Dark Angels/Marine Equivalent force. It sounds like his goal is to have a complete Deathwing, Ravenwing and I dunno ... Plainwing force with all the options from either book that he may want to use. He also seems to be following the "Rule of Cool" by looking at a unit entry and deciding if it's a modeling project he wants to undertake rather than just picking the most broken combos to make (although there's probably a bit of that as well)

First up is a Ravenwing Command Squad, with this one he designed some custom weapon mounts that he had 3D printed. The look like a grav gun and a melta gun mounted to the front of the bike. He then made some twin linked bolters that he has the riders holding. The way he explained it is this way he has all the options he might want WYSIWYG on the model. This makes sense to me as it saves cash and provides unique looking models. Hopefully his opponents share my opinion.

Paint on these is fairly simple, block in the base colors, wash with black, brown or green then go in to highlight the details.

Next we have his take on the Legion of the Damned. These are a weird unit in Codex: Space Marines that represent the ghost riders of the Imperium: Hellish flaming marines that appear in times of need. The flaming skull thing wasn't up my clients alley so he decided to do a fluffy representation of them as remembers of the Fallen. Dark Angles that were sucked into the warp during the Heresy who may or may not be the true loyalists.

Going with this idea he asked me to paint them in a Pre-Heresy color scheme without the red bolters that are featured in the rest of his force. I always thought the Pre-Heresy color was black and repainted to green post heresy however my client insists that it was actually a really deep green that was almost black. The customer is always right so I went about crating a really dark green for these models.

On the painting table ... Plastic Thunderhawk Conversion

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Warhammer 40K – More Dark Angel stuff on the table this week, my client is focusing on getting his Deathwing and Raven Wing wrapped up so I have some larger projects that need to get a tabletop paint job.

First up is a converted Thunderhawk, my client wanted to have something that he could field in an apocalypse game and didn't want to pay/wait for Forgeworld so he built this himself. From what I can tell this consists of two Storm Ravens, a Rhino, some Cities of Death bits, Dark Angel Flyer and some 3D printed parts. As with previous commissions I've painted for him he likes to design his own stuff in 3D Max and have it printed through Shapeways. He got a slightly better finish on these parts but there is still a definite texture to the final finish, not to hard to hide with the paint job but not the same as injection molded plastic.

I still have to detail out the cockpit and do the edge highlighting but I'm excited about the project so I wanted to share an in progress look at it.

've had a Thunderhawk on my wish list for ages as I really like the Forgewoeld model, however the cost to use ratio never did it for me. From what I can tell this is a pretty good approximation of the model and will work just fine in game. With paint on it it looks really sharp.

Next he sent along a Landraider Crusader that is a Deathwing Transport. My guess is he's realized that deepstriking isn't always the best option and having a way to haul slow moving terminators to where the action is is a safe plan. This model has some minor conversions to it as well mostly the addition of some Cities of Death bits to mimick what he did with his Landspeeder conversion and the details he added to the Thunderhawk.

On the painting table ... A stern look

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Warhammer 40K – Anytime a new power armor book comes out it seems like a get swamped with new commission work. This is a good thing, so I'm looking forward to all the supplemental codexes that are coming out hopefully they'll have some cool unique units that my clients will want to add to their forces.

On the table now are some Sternguard Veterans to go along with the Dark Angels army I'm been painting for the same client. His goal is to have a nice looking tabletop force without breaking the bank. Which means all I'm doing it applying paint, I have to repeat this any time I post things for this army as personally mold lines and flash drive me crazy. However to keep the project within budget I have to remind myself that these were provided "ready to paint."

Anyway the new Sternguard plastics are pretty nice. They have all "ten pieces of flair" just like the old metal/finecast versions as well as all the weapon options in the kit for the basic entry. Looking at the way he's assembled these models I definitely want to pick up the set for the extra parts there are plenty of cool bits to make some unique models from this kit.

Painting is pretty basic a green base with a wash for the armor. I went in with gold and tan to pick out the robes and bling. Then gunmetal and red on the weapons. Once that was done I went in and picked out some of the highlights on the models and applied the single sword decal my client is using to denote veterans.

Also in this batch is his custom version of Ko'soro Khan on foot. I guess he's working on the mounted version as well so the two models will look the same. In an effort to make the most out of his power armor models I'm painting him as a master of the Ravenwing. My client likes to run a Codex: Space Marine list for his bikes with Kahn and pairs them with an allied detachment of Dark Angels. 

On the painting table ... Shrouded

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On the painting table ... Shrouded

Warhammer 40K – On the table this week is a converted Dark Shroud to go with the Dark Angels commission I worked on earlier this year. My client realized this is a great piece to ally with his Codex: Space Marines White Scars list. He however hated the stock model and decided to build his own using some plasticard and a landspeeder storm.

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Warhammer 40,000 – What's this, more green marines? Turns out my client had a few more models he needed painted for his Dark Angels force. Included in this batch are the remaining Devastators and a Vanguard Veteran squad. The Vanguard are interesting because he chose to build them as Deathwatch marines an interesting choice to add some variety. 

I started with the Deathwatch marines. Painting black armor can be a challenge as I found with the Ravenwing. Getting the right shade of grey for the edge highlight is key. From there I then had to find the color for each of the Marine Chapters represented in the squad. My client also asked that I do a knee pad on each marine in their chapter colors to break up the black.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Deathwatch here's a brief summary. Every Chapter has to send a tithe of warriors to serve a tour of duty with the Deathwatch. The Deathwatch act as the military arm of the Ordo Xenos, essentially alien hunters (where the Sisters serve the Ordo Hereticus, Witch Hunters and the Grey Knight serve the Ordo Malleous, daemon hunters.) When the marines join they paint their armor black with a silver arm only leaving one shoulder pad with their chapter heraldry. 

With the Devastators they follow the same pattern as the rest of the force. The only real difference is with one of the marines the client asked for him to have a tactical marking to indicate he just picked up the missile launcher and joined the squad. This serves the dual purpose of allowing him to swap out the heavy weapon in tactical squads easily.

 

Transformers ... Getting more use out of tanks

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Warhammer 40,000 – Oh look another green tank! This time around I'm working on a Razorback/Rhino for the Dark Angels commission I've been grinding through. My client was creative with this one and used 3D Studio Max to sculpt some custom parts and have them 3D printed by Shapeways. From what he was telling me they were really reasonably priced running about $2 a part (which is comperable to only bitz sellers) so if you have access to a 3D modeling program you can make some pretty cool unique stuff.

He created a front door hatch similar to the Rogue Trader style rhinos, some custum doors and a rear hatch variation that looks really cool. It looks like he was also able to make his own variation on the gun cowel and turrent so with one kit he has both options he'd plan on using.

Paint follows the same formula as the rest of the army, green base, wash, edge highlight. Then go in and get the other colors.

Also in this batch is a Deathwing Apothacary. It's weird painting bone and bright white on the same model as it can look like a mistake. However that's the official scheme so I'm going to stick with it.

On the painting table ... Death Wing Contemptor

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Warhammer 40,000 – Continuing along I have some more models I'm painting for that Dark Angels commission. Again in order to save costs the client provided the models "clean and assembled" so all I'm doing is putting a tabletop quality finish on the models. Apparently he had some issue with putting the Contemptor together and had to put a rod in so it would stand up properly. After seeing what he had done I gave him a quick walk through of cleaning and prepping resin for assembly. He didn't want to take apart what he had done so ... I'm just painting it as is. I'll paint the rod black in an attempt to hide it.

I began the same as I did with the Terminators a stone base coat with a earthshade wash followed by a bone highlight. The metal was washed with black and highlighted with silver. Overall the Contemptor is a joy to paint and looks like a very cool model. (Once I finish all the stuff I already own I might pick one up for my own marines)

Also in this batch are some Raven Wing bikers, these are the three that came in the Dark Vengeance set. The sculpts on these are a bit weird as I'm not sure why a marine would have a scroll on the outside of his calf like a bad tatoo other than the digital sculptor just thought they need something there. (I imagine an art director screaming more flair, 15 is not enough). My client wasn't a fan of the wings on the back and clipped them off to add some gas cans (long range patrols need extra fuel, right?)

Painting on Raven Wing is pretty down and dirty. Paint the metallics, black basecoat, black wash go back and edge highlight/ pick out details. 

Vindication ... The end is nigh

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Warhammer 40,000 – It sounds like I'm near the end of this Dark Angels commission. It's been a fun ride and I've impressed myself by painting two full Space Marine armies in a few months time. As this project winds down I'm going to have a little time to continue work on my own company. One of my favorite things about doing commission work is finding quicker and easier ways of painting that will get you the same or similar results.

This time around I'm working on a Vindicator. This heavy choice is ideal for situations where you face lots of deep striking units or 3+ saves. I never have much luck with it but I've seen others use it on the table for devastating results. Imagine your rhino gets blown up but a lucky shot then the squad stuck in the crater proceeds to take a direct hit by this massive template cannon. Most of the time that means you've lost that squad. (Of course when I use one in my own lists it always scatters to far to make up it's points).

Painting on this one is just like the rest of the "regular" Dark Angels troops. A Orkhide base coat followed with a green wash and edge highlighting completes the green sections. The metallic bits are painted gunmetal, washed black and edge highlighted with silver. To keep the red weapon casing theme in tact I painted the gun cowl the same as the line troopers bolters.

My client said he's going to have a Razorback to round off the force and then will be done with it for a while. He's looking into doing a Blood Angel biker force next which sounds pretty cool and should have a pretty low model count, once he gets it wrapped up I anticipate it making its way to my painting table in the future.

Scouting Ahead ... Dark Angels New Units

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Warhammer 40,000 – Sick of green yet? Just kidding with the new book out for a little while my client has decided to add more models to his Dark Angels force. I'm honestly a little jealous of his forward thinking. He essentially has a completed force with most of the bells and whistles to match up with the new book done and thanks to me, completely painted.

Next up is a nifty troop choice. Space Marine scouts are cheap objective takers. If you can get them into cover they can harass units with their sniper rifles and divert attention from your key units to take care of the annoyance they provide. 

I also painted up a custom Belial, Deathwing Champion, Plasma Cannon Terminator and two drop pods. I'm not looking forward playing against these models as a unit of 11 terminator equipped to handle anything that doesn't scatter when they come in (on whatever turn you want) is pretty nasty. 

On the painting table ... Dark Angel Command Squad

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Warhammer 40,000 – No catchy title today, I'm starting to run out of ideas for these Dark Angels. I started work on a command squad for my Dark Angels commission. Essentially the paint follows the same pattern as the first few batches I did, if you want the details and recipes check that post.

Interestingly enough my client ran out of Dark Angel pads and provided these with a single sword shoulder pad. I believe these are from the Black Templar sprues. He requested I cut in the decals to create a semi 3D shoulder pad. Honestly it was a pain to get the cut right but I think it paid off and looks really sharp.

Now that the new codex is out I'm anticipating several more units to fill out his force.

On the painting table ... Deathwing Terminators

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Warhammer 40,000 – The third batch of my Dark Angel commission consists of 10 Terminators. Five of these are from the Dark Vengeance set and five are thunderhammer close combat terminators. These came to me assembled and "cleaned" for a tabletop quality paintjob. I offer a better price to customers that don't need their models assembled and cleaned up, some clients are good about removing the mold lines others not-so-much. I have to hold back from cleaning them up however (as much as it pains me) otherwise I'd have to charge a higher price to break even.

I based these with Deneb stone and gave an earthshade wash to bring out the detail. From there I went in with Screaming Skull to pick out the edge hightlights and do some basic flat surface highlights. I find this to be a really quick and effective way to paint bone armor. 

The rest of the painting followed suit with the other models in the army. Green base with a green wash to bring out the detail and edge highlights. The gold was painted bronze, earthshade wash and a gold highlight. 

On the painting table ... Super Secret Angels

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Warhammer 40K – I received the second batch of Dark Angels the other day and am quite happy to report I was able to paint them up in a single sitting. (Well for the most part) I got all the colors blocked in and the basic washes done. Next up is the edge highlights and the minor detail work. 

These probably look very similar as its the same squad that comes with Dark Vengeance with some minor conversion work on the sergeant. The client has informed me that the next batch with be Deathwing Terminators. I'm looking forward to painting them as it's been a long time since I painted a mostly white (OK fine ... bone) model.

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On a side note I'm back in the lab casting a boatload more of those LED flame counters. It seems like just when I finish up a big batch they sell out and I get another big order. Thanks again for everyone's patience on these. I think I need to revisit the molds for these to try and make a more efficient way of producing them. 

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Also Dork Tower has a great strip that everyone should read. Happy Holidays!

 

Decoding the Cypher – Dark Angels Successor Chapter (sorta)

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Warhammer 40k – The commissions just keep rolling in. This time around my client picked up several of the Dark Vengeance boxes to build a marine army. He started out playing Tau and Tyranids however given that most of our group plays some variety of marines he decided that it would be good to have a small marine force to keep on even ground.

Couple that with the really cool fluff about Cypher that rumours say might be rearing his head again and you have motivation to put together a secret fallen themed marine list. Come January I'm guessing he's going to have a bunch more dudes to add when the Dark Angels Codex releases. (mmmm plasma goodness and tons of terminators).

He used the marine painter on Bolter and Chainsword to come up with a pretty cool two color scheme. The top half is black and the bottom is green. I really like when I client provides me good reference material for a job. It keeps us on the same page and means less back and forth regarding basic color choice. (of course I also love when I client says do what you want and loves whatever I come up with). However after some hemming and hawing he decided to stick with the traditional Dark Angels color scheme. 

One of the things he mentioned before turning the models over to me is that he planned on using them as Dark Angels and as whatever marine codex he felt like playing at the time. To accomplish that he did some nifty conversions including building his own "Cypher" model which has enough bitz and do-dads to count as whatever piece of wargear he might want to equip in any game. I personally find this to be a better way of building a multipurpose model. I know some guys love their magnets, but for me they seem to be more trouble than they're worth.

Painting is pretty straightforward. I started with an Orchide base coat and did a Biel-tan green wash. This gave me the basic shading I was looking for on these models. From there I went in and painted the cloaks Denab Stone. The plasma coils and power weapons with Mordheim Blue and then a gun metal and brass color for the metallic parts. I quick wash of Nuln Oil shaded the metallic bits and a sepia wash gave me the shading for the cloaks.

Next step is to pick out the details and edge highlight the models. The client requested tabletop quality so I'm not going to go overboard with the highlighting. The first batch he provided included a tactical squad, librarian, chaplain and two commanders.