NOVA Open Charitable Foundation Army - Thallax ready to go!

Turns out the deadline for the models for the NOVA Charity army is sooner than expected, luckily I was near the finish line when I got the word!

Really dig the basing color scheme that was provided, definitely going to be revisiting the recipe again on some future project. The Secret Weapon bases that were provided were top notch as usual and really cool!

The recipe called for a verdigris brass which I hadn't really tried before, but I was eager to give it a shot. mixed up a little green and brown wash which worked reasonably well. Always a bit scary trying new things, but Marc put together a rather in-depth guide to his process. It's fun to break out of the usual recipe/technique rut, and I've really enjoyed that aspect of participating in the charity painting. Getting them boxed up and in the mail tomorrow to join their robotic brethren!

I'll post up the pics of the full armies and details on how to get in on the auction once the forces muster over the next few weeks!

NOVA Open Charitable Foundation Army - Thallax painting continues!

Been a rather busy week with work and concerts (both Primus and Jethro Tull played at Red Rocks over the last week, two of my favorite bands playing at one of the most beautiful places in Colorado), so less brush time that I prefer. That said, I did get a little more work done on the two Thallax units for the NOVA Open Charity Auction.

Got the yellow laid in, added some cog-tooth patterning on the shoulders, and worked on the verdigris brass. Definitely starting to come together now!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Osiron Dreadnought and Castellax-Achea Battle Maniple built!

Some reinforcements arrived from Zhao-Arkkad, and since I've managed to get a fair bit of painting done recently I decided to reward myself with some time gluing my fingers together and cranked out some new models for the force, starting with the Castellax-Achea Battle Maniple:

In the sorting and cleaning process I managed to lose a couple of the claw talons, so in order to hide a bit of a bodge job, one of the Castellax is carrying a legion banner. Doesn't do anything in-game, but thought it could be a neat look and a good focal point for the unit!

  

Next up was an Osiron Contemptor. My original Great Crusade era Thousand Sons force included a Casteferrum Dread armed with a force weapon and a plasma cannon, so as an homage to that old model I present Seraphis, Revenant Primaris of the Khamasiin's cohort of the dead. I have plans for a further pair of 'vanilla' Thousand Sons Contemptors who will act as Seraphis' bodyguards, though I'm unsure how I'm going to arm them just yet. I sort of want to come up with some large Heqa staffs or the like...

NOVA Open Charitable Foundation Army - Thallax painting begins!

With the days slipping by toward NOVA, it is high time I got off my duff and start painting up the two Thallax cohorts intended for inclusion in the NOVA 2017 charitable auctions!

Nothing too fancy just yet, just laid in the underpinning metals and got the red armor plates on. We've been provided a painting guide for paint recipes but otherwise have been given fairly free rein on the details. A goodly chunk of the metallics will be getting some further verdigris bronze sections, and we'll get some greens and blues in there as well on various cables and coils!

As a bit of a nod to the Heresy Sons of Horus charity army also up for grabs, I thought it could be amusing to have one of the Thallaxi be holding up a trophy helmet. Rather liked how the sea green turned out, which is dangerous.

...I think it may be a foregone conclusion that I'll have to do a Sons of Horus army of my own once I get done with the Thousand Sons. I have always wanted to build and paint Horus, Abbadon and Loken after all!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Sorcerers Complete!

We had a couple nice days and it was temperate enough to get the sorcerer cabal flocked and sealed! Brace yourself for a mess of pics!

Gotta have the full group up first - Everybody pose for an action shot!

 

The leader of the current force, Sorcerer Lord Sethep Khet is the commander of the Khamasiin. Borne aloft by the twin flames of his devotion to the cult of the Pyrae, and the burning hate for the loyalists who destroyed his legion and his home.

 

Sorcerer Adept T'khat-Mose joins the Hyskos Sky-Chariot unit (jetbikes), riding on his personal Disc. Definitely my second-favorite model, pretty pleased with the flame in his hand - He too is a disciple of the Pyrae.

  

The second Sorcerer Adept of the force, T'khat-Enkhanen is struggling with the flesh-change but has found new depths of resolve in his constant war to keep his form stable.

 

Adept Asherat follows the Raptora, his fearsome telekinetic powers further bolstered by the constantly-rotating psychic astrolabe atop his force staff.

 

Adept Jamshid is a devotee of the Corvidae cult, which shouldn't come as a surprise. Even his fellow sorcerers thing he's carrying the bird motif a little too far.

 

Acolyte Khonsu is one of two lesser wielders of the arts, and generally accompanies one of the Veteran or tactical squads in to battle, providing further psychic might.

 

Acolyte Djet is the second subaltern psyker of the force and like Khonsu generally skulks around with the support squads.

 

As a secondary 'named character', the Khamasiin is occasionally allied with other fragmented elements of the the shattered Thousand Sons legion prior to the Scouring and the Legion Wars. Prior to become a founding member of the Black Legion, Iskandar Khayon and his daemon-wolf Gyre led diverse elements of the sons of Magnus in a last ditch attempt to prevent Ahriman from completing his Rubric.

 

The villain of the piece, Azhek Ahriman will not take the field in this instance of the army, but will be used in the vignette I'm planning!

With that a goodly chunk of the painting chart turns green, which is always a good feeling! Next up, going to switch gears a little and work on the Thallax for the NOVA charity army. Pics to follow of the work done so far!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Sorcerers nearing completion...

It's been a hectic week so not as much brush time as I'd like. Coupled with the fact that the temperatures are soaring, it's becoming less comfortable in the hobby loft after work. Oof!

That said, I have been putting a little time in here and there on the sorcerers and they're almost done! Just a few little touch-ups to go, a few tufts of grass and they'll be ready for a sealant pass. Once they're done I'll be switching gears to work on the NOVA mechanicum models - Gotta get them finished and sent off soon!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Sorcerer Cabal continues, again...

Another quick hit - Not a huge amount of painting time but managed to squeeze in enough to block in the basic white and blue undercoats. They're looking a little less Khorne-y now!

They're very flat so far, just a Vallejo Stonewall Grey as the underpinning of the white, and Magic Blue for the basecoat of the turquoise. More highlights and washes to go before these two colors are complete. The weather has turned rather warm of late and the hobby loft is starting to get less amenable - Time to get the window AC unit reinstalled, I think. Though it being Colorado we could still get one more snowstorm before spring is out!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Sorcerer Cabal continues...

Just a quick hit today, got a little brush time in and laid in the gold trim and the green effect for all the psychic shenanigans. At the moment they look a little Khornate, amusingly - Khorne would be disgusted by all this magical frippery, after all!

Holy moly was that ever a ton of filigree to pick out! Next up will be the whites and blues for the loincloths and robes, which should help them start to look a bit more Thousand Sons-y. So far, so good!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Sorcerer Cabal begins!

Once the new Thousand Sons plastics were released I fell in love with the Exalted Sorcerers kit - No real surprise there I suppose! I ended up picking up several boxes worth and just couldn't stop building Sorcerers until I reached Tzeentch's favored nine. Now it's time to paint 'em!

Sethep-Khet is already done, so I have him out to ensure I'm maintaining the scheme correctly on the next eight! I have a scheme in mind to do a little vignette with Khayon facing off against Ahriman at the height of the casting of the Rubric, we'll see how it pans out!

In other news, I've been doing a fair bit of research into transport solutions as I'm going to more destination events these days. While I've been reasonably happy with the Battlefoam PackAir and Pack720, after three or four trips each they're starting to get pretty beat up - the extendable handle on my PackAir no longer functions, and the 720 is suffering some stitching issues. Had a little extra cash squirreled away for a replacement for the Air, and ended up deciding on going for the daddy of transport and picked up a Pelican 1615, which arrived a few days ago!

I have to say that I'm well pleased with it so far! The interior dimensions allow for 6" of trays, with one set of large and two sets of mediums side-by-side. A little shallower than I'd hoped due to the top and bottom foam - there's an inch-thick chunk on the bottom that fits around the wheel and handle insets, as well as an inch and a half of eggshell in the lid, but in the end that's probably best for transport safety anyway!

It comes with some very robust-seeming wheels and handle arrangement, time will tell as to how it will hold up, but I have to say I'm not concerned based on Pelican's well-known ruggedness! A bit spendier than the more-or-less-equivalently-sized 1520, but I have a feeling it'll withstand a lot more abuse at the hands of the airline baggage gorillas!