Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Assault squads painting begins!

The weather has turned rather warm here, meaning it's getting unpleasantly hot up in the hobby loft but I have managed to sneak in a session or two in the mornings while it's still reasonable up there. Figured it was time to knock out a few more troops choices, so the assault squads came out of the foam and onto the painting desk!

Not a whole lot of excitement so far, just blacked in all the joints and laid in the first two greys and whites on the trim. So far so good though!

As a bit of a teaser, I quite enjoyed the green color the Sons of Horus NOVA Charity Army recipe suggested, and after painting up the helmet of one, it was a foregone conclusion that I'd try it out on a full model. Fairly straightforward, it's Vallejo USMC Tank Crew as the mid-tone, with a 50/50 mix with black for the undercoat and the USMC Tank Crew Highlight as the, well, highlight. I rather think there's going to be more of this in the future once I get on the other side of all these Thousand Sons!

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!