WIP Star Phantoms ... RIW Painting Showcase
/Warhammer 40,000 – One of the game stores I frequent is working on a new program that will showcase local painters in the store. It's a pretty cool program, they give you a box to assemble and paint however you want and you bring it back with a detailed cost breakdown. They'll display this in the case along with your contact info/ad and have it for sale.
It's not a consignment program so there's no money from the store to the painter other than the free advertising in their shop. Of course it's likely that anyone who buys the models is going to want more painted in the same fashion so it show equate to more clients for the painter.
To do something unique I decided on the new space marine command box. (Don't be fooled it's the same sprue as before, which are showing their age, hello flash! They just stuck the limited edition Raven Guard captain in there and painted him blue for the box cover.) It's a good starting point for someone getting into a new army and will give me the opportunity to show off a good mid level table top job with some options.
To make this even more enticing I converted the captain to be a stand in for Captain Zhrukal Androcles of the Star Phantoms. It's a simple conversion and he can do some cool things with Devastator Marines which are also fun to paint.
For the rest of the squad I equipped them with melta guns and included a generic banner bearer and apothecary. I usually only do vets and the apothecary in command squads but the banner is cool loking and is more of a center piece.
To paint I started with a base coat of light grey and picked out the metal details. Once I get this done I'll wash everything black and add the white highlights. It's a simple technique I use for the helmets on all my veterans that really pops off the table.
The bases are a custom design I've been working on for my genestealer cult. Based on the Star Phantoms fluff I think a ship deck is going to be a good fit. I'm also working on a decal sheet so I'll be able to continue the army if someone bites on it.