40k Objective Markers Complete, and the start of something big!

Finished off the objective markers this past weekend, and got a nice little package from shapeways containing the next batch of bits for the next project. It's Christmas in July (but only just)!

Nothing too crazily different from the last shot, other than some cleanup, the addition of the number markers (the 5 is on the backside of the stasis tank) and some quick color on the bases. Nothing too fancy but they'll stand out nicely on the table during a game! Overall I really enjoyed this set, and am looking forward to giving 'em a whirl.

Next up however is a nice big centerpiece model for the Zhao Arkkad force - A Knight Warden! I came across these poseable knight legs on ebay a while back and rather liked the look of 'em, but they've been sitting in a box waiting for some inspiration. They went together rather well, and allow for a nice range of motion - I was going for a 'striding forward' pose, but the way it ended up the weight of the hips actually settles on the rear leg so it may end up in a braced firing position in the end. We'll see how the upper torso and arms come along I suppose!

Speaking of arms, I intend to give it a gatling cannon and a missile pod, but wanted to do something a little more Egyptian for the close combat weapon - Found a massive chain khopesh on Shapeways that fits the bill nicely! I also picked up a rather neat Anubis/Jackal head but am saving the pic of that until I get it mounted on the torso. Suffice it to say there'll be no doubt that it's a Knight aligned to the Zhao Arkkad Mechanicum and the Thousand Sons! From a color theory standpoint I'm planning on going blue and yellow as a contrast to all the red and white of the rest of the force as well as a nod to the color scheme of the modern era Thousand Sons. Looking forward to getting some more build time in on it!

40k Objective Markers - With apologies to Mr. Henson...

Why are there so many songs about lasguns 

enforcing the Emperor's might?

Bolters smite chaos, and warp-borne delusions

and flamers set Xenos alight.

So we've been told to take fortifications

charging through battle debris

Someday we'll find them, the rainbow objectives

The Emperor, my sergeant and me...

(to the tune of 'Rainbow Connection')

Little more forward motion on the objective markers - turns out there a TON of detail on 'em, what I thought was going to be a quick job is actually turning out to be rather involved. ...And quite fun I might add! I'm really quite pleased with how they're coming along!

40k Objective Markers - The Rainbow Connection... Of DOOM!

Quick hit this morning - I was wrestling with whether to press on with the last of the Thousand Sons or work on some other project for a while, and settled on a bit of a compromise. I really want to get the last of the Sons off the plate but before I do so I thought I'd bash out a quick set of the new objective markers as a little palatte cleanser before making the final push.

Most games need somewhere between one and six objectives, and I thought it might be fun to do each one in a different primary color. So far I've just laid in the basic colors, going through the rainbow - Next up will be doing all the little detailing to finish them off! Having a lot of fun with 'em, they have a ton of character already!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Terminators and Storm Eagle complete, and a family photo!

Had a surprising amount of hobby time over the weekend and got quite a bit of work done! Polished off the Terminators, the Storm Eagle, and pulled everything that has been completed so far out for a family portrait. Woo!

I find I have a hard time photographing the shiny red, depending on the light it looks way lighter and darker, shinier and matte in the photos. It's odd! The Cataphractii will likely be hitting the table at NOVA, it's hard to go wrong with a whole mess of chainfists!

That said, I think I do actually prefer the look of the Tartaros terminators, the greater amount of blue on 'em really helps them pop. The five combi-plasmas will mean their opponents will pop too! ...As will at least one of the Tartaros from a plasma gun meltdown.

The Storm Eagle is a contentious piece for me. While it's a great centerpiece for the army, it's an absolute nightmare to build and has consistently under-performed on the table for me (mostly down to poor reserve rolls meaning a good 600 points isn't on the table until late in the game). Coupled with the fact that it takes up a huge amount of room in the travel bag, it ended up getting cut from the NOVA list, which is a bit of a shame. The points and space will be better used elsewhere in the majority of the games I have scheduled out there though...

With those three units done I figured it was high time to pull out everything that's been painted so far and get a group shot. It's about 5000 points as shown here, though a good chunk of that is down to the sorcerous overkill in the HQ slots. Only three more units to go before it's all complete!

Speaking of, it was really encouraging to see the painting chart flip over to almost entirely green at this point. The end is in sight!

This has been a rather fun project, but I'll admit to feeling some army painter's fatigue at this point. I'm struggling to decide whether to make the last push and knock out the last few models, or take a little breather and do something else for a bit. I can rest on my laurels a touch as all of the models intended to go out to NOVA are done, as are quite a few extras to allow for some last minute mix-and-match army build testing. Feels good!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Sekhmet Terminators painting continues!

Just a quick hit this morning - Been fiercely hot of late, so it's mostly by early morning paint sessions that I've been able to do much work up in the hobby loft. That said, I have pressed onward with the Sekhmet!

Both squads are being done in parallel, and the recent work has been laying in the bone and leather colors, and while I was about it I laid down the basecoat for the bases. It's always interesting to me how doing so always helps bring the models to life and 'pop' a bit more.

Of course it's not one of my projects without the use of some good ol' blue power cables/weapons/etc.! The Tartaros models definitely have a lot more blue on 'em than the Cataphractii, which I rather like. In comparison their Cataphractii brethren are starting to look a little bit drab - will have to see what I can do to address that situation.

Got some free time this coming weekend, so hopefully I can get them polished off and move on to the last two units remaining for the force. A family photo is probably in order soon too!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Sekhmet Terminators begin!

A quick hit this afternoon, managed to sneak in a decent amount of hobby time over the weekend! Not too many Thousand Sons units await the attentions of the painting servitor at this point, next up on deck are the two 5-man Sekhmet Terminator units.

I decided I'd do one set in Tartaros armor armed with combi-plasma guns and power fists, using a combination of the heresy Tartaros kit, the new 40k thousand sons plastics, and some shoulder pads from Pop Goes The Monkey on shapeways.

The second unit wears Cataphractii suits and are armed with combi-bolters with Asphyx shells and chainfists (my favorite melee weapon for terminators). Again a mix of bits and kits, with the leftover thousand sons combi-bolters from the tartaros set, resin torsos and loincloths from Wargames Exclusive, the heresy Cataphractii legs and arms and further shoulder pads from PGtM.

Doing all ten concurrently, and thus far it's just the white and gold trim on 'em, but that comprises the most tedious portion by far. Still quite a ways to go, but pretty happy with how they're coming along so far!

40k Blood Ravens - Test model painted

A quick hit today after a long, long week at work. I needed a little break from all the crimson and gold and bone I've been doing on all the Thousand Sons and figured I'd work on one of the new primaris marine models I'd picked up on a lark last weekend, so I settled in to paint some crimson... and... gold... and... dammit.

 

I knew that if I was going to drink the Kool-aid and do some (erstwhile) loyalist 40k marines there was only one chapter that I could really do - The Blood Ravens, of course! With their ties to the Thousand Sons how could I not? Overall I really rather dig the model and enjoyed painting it quite a bit! I don't have any other primaris marines in the hopper as I'm not super thrilled by the push fit models in the 8th ed. box, so I'm more or less in a holding pattern until such time as the multi-pose models are released. So, just a one-off speed-painting exercise before diving back into their primogenitor legion once again!

Heresy Era Mechanicum - Zhao Arkkad Cybernetica force complete!

With NOVA bearing down on me, I had to take stock of what remains to be done - As I'd been working on the Castellax recently (who are pulling double duty in both the Thousand Sons and Mechanicum forces) I figured I ought to pull out the rest of the Zhao Arkkad force and get all the waterslides, glossy faceplates and so forth complete. Once that was done it turns out the whole Cybernetica contingent is ready to go!

1500 points doesn't go very far in a Cybernetica force! This army will form half of the team game force, and will take the field alongside 1500 points of Thousand Sons. Should be good times! They're currently hanging out on a very cool gaming tray made by the inestimable Zab over at Almost Perftec.

I wanted to do something a little different for the Archmagos Dominus, and dug up an old "Telepathica Emancipator" model from the Tempus Fugitives days. I kind of like the "canopic jar" look, I'm envisioning the Magos as being a mummified husk inside (or perhaps it's just sacs of organs)...

Quite happy with how the Castellax Achea turned out - the transfer sheets from Forge World included a couple rather cool banners, and I really dug this one in particular. Added a little touch of the wyrdlight green to help tie them in to the rest of the Thousand Sons force, as they are controlled via a psychic link.

Nothing really new with the Thallax, they were pretty much done already and just needed their faceplates given a going-over with the brush-on gloss varnish.

Similarly the Vorax just got the shiny eye treatment, and the addition of a small Thousand Sons nova in white. Helps to tie them in with the rest of the force, all of whom have the white nova on one shoulder or another. Still my favorite of the new robot re-imaginings from FW, I adore these models (fiddly though they are to assemble)!

The big guy got a similar large transfer on his shoulder as a callback to the imagery on the Castellax banner, and the shiny faceplate treatment. They're all ready to be packed up for transit to the event!

While I was about it I updated the Thousand Sons painting chart. Very close to the finish line now! Trying very hard to stay focused on this project so I don't have to worry about models for NOVA, but have been entertaining thoughts of which project to pick up next - Both the Genestealer Cult and Dark Eldar/Harlequins appeal as a way to dip my toes into 8th edition (which I still haven't had a chance to play), but on the other hand I do really want to start that Sons of Horus army... Decisions, decisions!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Castellax Achea painting begins!

Happy 4th of July to our stateside readers, and I suppose a happy Tuesday to everyone else! Just a quick hit between BBQ and relaxation on the day off - I managed to squeeze in a fair bit of work on the unit of Castellax Achea this morning:

Basic gold, red and blues laid in so far, but heck, that's more than halfway to the finish line, right? Pretty happy with how they're turning out so far, hope to have them done by the end of the week!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Javelin Attack Speeders and Hyskos Sky Chariots complete!

Managed to get quite a bit of work done over the long weekend and polished off another couple units for the Thousand Sons - Gotten acclimated to the summer morning painting schedule and have managed to get a good hour or so in before work, and had a couple good sessions over the weekend as well. Feels good to be back in the zone!

The Javelins were very nearly complete as of last post, just the additional golds, bone and the ubiquitous blue! Once that was done, they got a hit of spray sealant, then the waterslide transfers go on. With the help of some Micro-Set and Micro-Sol, of course!

I had some cool cartouche transfers from Fallout Hobbies that work well on the smaller of the two black panels. Gives 'em a bit of flair, I think.

While I was about it, I also polished of the Hyskos Sky Chariots, which will act as a counts-as Jetbike squadron. Pretty bare-bones, just the heavy bolters...

...And a mess of melta bombs! I am definitely worried about anti-tank with the force, as the Javelins are quite fragile, so I'm trying to spread around the melta love across a few units as well as a backup plan!

Next up, the Castellax-Achea for the Mechanicum side of the force!