Deathwing Chaplain and Squad

I painted up some test bases to go with both my Astral Claws and my Dark Angels. Previously I had been creating custom bases for each miniature every time I needed one. The power of home resin casting has freed me from that now! The Deathwing squad above used individual custom bases, and while they look nice, I wanted a way to create a base quickly that showed off the miniatures. The Rhino top hatch base shown below is meant for a hero character, since it allows for dynamic poses. I used one of the new flatter bases for the chaplain, since his pose was rather static, and I was unable to pry his torso off of his legs for repositioning! I am really pleased with how he came out.

The rest of the Deathwing are a little lighter in color than my other squads, but I am just happy to have three squads instead of two. I think I may have to get a game in once I paint up that venerable dread lurking to the side of my painting area.

Deathwing Victory

My deathwing fought their first battle this past weekend at the local GW, so I thought I should commemorate the event with a class photo! It was only a 1030 point game, but I had a really great time, and can't thank my opponent Bill enough. As some know, the east coast of the US was blanketed by snow this past weekend. I faced a drop pod army captained by Lysander so I did not get to do much deep striking.

I've said ti before, but after that game I can't wait until I have raven wing painted up to join these guys in battle. I think the added maneuverability is going to be a lot of fun, freeing up my terminators to gather kill points.

In terms of painting I have added a lot of little details to the land raider, which are probably visible in the photos. I tried to capture the color and the shading of these guys by using a white poster board to reflect natural light.

This might me my last post this year, so happy holidays to everyone!

Deathwing Snow Fest

It is snowing like crazy here on the east coast, so I spent the day being super productive hobby wise. I started by making some snow bases for my space wolves. I think the jury is still out on the bases, but I will put up a stage by stage and recipe so others can see what I did. I then went back to my roots and built 11 deathwing ruined city bases. I made them a little darker, and added a lot of broken tank bits.

Just for fun I finished my last three deathwing troops! This has felt like a marathon, so I am so excited to have these guys done and based (ok two of the white dark angels transfers are going on the two guys with green power fists, but this basically counts as done!)

I have the small PA troops + rhino, and then the Raven wing, which includes 1 master on land speeder, 1 regular speeder, 6 bikes, and one attack bike. I am not sure which order I will paint these in. I think the raven wing will come first just because I have never painted a SM bike!

So now I want to game.....too bad there is a mountain of snow outside, and I have never driven my 10 ton rear wheel drive car in it before!

Deathwing Heavy Flamer

With these two guys done, I only have three more terminators to paint! That will give me 2 squads, belial, and a land raider completed. I am really looking forward to getting all of this done so I can go back and add details at my leisure. I have already practiced painting the apothecary symbol, so I think that will be my first embellishment post completion. I need to create 6 more bases, though I think I will do a new batch of 11 so they all match.

To tie the models in with their bases I am thinking about using some of the black forge world powder lightly dusted knee level down from each model. Has anyone tried this?

I tried to make convincing blood gore using tamiya clear red paint, but it just does not look right to me.

Belial

I have just finished Belial, the Captain of the Deathwing. Compared to some of the other terminators he is a little bland. I am considering painting his right leg green, and then adding a larger version of the red over green stripe heraldry as seen on the trooper to the left of him. Overall I am very happy with how the deathwing is turning out, and am looking forward to the final 5 guys being don so I can just lavish details on them. I am convinced that the black bases are the way to go since they provide the most contrast. Maybe I should raise Belial's base up a bit, or add more ruined detail. So far his only distinguishing characteristics are his chaos lord lightening claws.

I have not even constructed the Ravenwing part of the force yet.

My Imperial Guard army is not forgotten, even though I have loads of bikes and speeders to paint. I finally picked up a box of Catachans, so they will be represented in the force. I am really tempted to paint them up with orange jump suits and give them prison numbers.

WIP Deathwing Apothecary

I wish I had produced a few more hooded deathwing models, since I really like the way this guy is turning out. I know people complain all the time about terminators not wearing helmets, but I really like the character that can be head by painting an actual face. It gives the terminator a sense of scale that is really cool. The model still needs to have some cleanup, as well as censor ball, lenses and heraldry. I am not sure if I should paint the vials on the chainfist or just leave them bone colored. This guy represents 5 out of 11, so I am almost at the half way mark!

More Deathwing WIP

I just finished an AOBR terminator painted up as part of my deathwing, which gives me 4 out of the 11 I am painting. I was not as patient with this guy, which stands out to me, but I am pleased with how he turned out. I tried to paint a little heraldry the knee pad. What is clear to me from attempting it is that I need to buy new brushes.

One of the things that was better than expected.... The red dark angel transfer on the lightening claws guy. I used micro-set and micro-sol, and am really happy with how it turned out. I almost wish I had another bare shoulder pad so I could use another transfer on another guy.

Deathwing WIP

I am churning through deathwing at the moment. Now that I know not to put red and green so closely together on the miniatures I think things are working out. These are really getting an old school clean look to them that I like one moment, and then am irritated by the second. I think I have just gotten used to the idea of mud covered guardsmen that cleanish armor looks weird. The photos do not capture the shading very well, but the I think you get the idea. I met a couple of cool guys named rob at the GW store who were interested in some narrative wargaming, so these DA are being painted up for some hard hitting variety.

The lightning claw guy on the right shows off the inking done with graveyard earth and paint thinner. Once it is dry I paint all of the details, and then go back and clean up the armor.

Now on to basing..would it be weird to base these guys differently than the raven wing they will be supporting?

Deathwing Terminator Done

I finished my first deathwing terminator! I think I may go with a dark brown dried earth for my basing, since that would work well with the raven wing that go along with these guys. The red and the green look a bit christmassy to me, but so be it. I want these guys to be pure bone white angels of death. The fact that they have a bit of holiday spirit should not detract.

While painting this guy I learned an invaluable lesson. Do not finish the armor first. I know it seems weird, but I made so many mistakes while painting the little bits on this guy that I ended up having to go back and cover up brush strokes that accidentally hit the blended armor.

So one is done. If I were to assembly line it I think I could have these done by Sunday, but I think I need to slow down and think about some heraldry for a few of the guys. Now that the whole native americas in space background is gone, I think I will focus on medieval heraldry for the guys with knee pads.

dark Angles Paint Spree Part 3: Land Raider and Terminator

The red on the land raider looks a little pink to me, so I was thinking about lining it with a blood red/orange shade to try to pull out the red tones. I love the way the bone it turning out, both on the raider and on the terminators. The land raider is not shaded yet other than the lining and the natural shading an airbrush produces. It is a little hard to see in the photos, but the terminator is cleanly shaded from bone to white with graveyard earth in the shadows. I really like the clean look of them both, and am looking forward to using powders on the lower halves of both models. I am not sure how to base these guys, since they are part of a raven wing detachment. I really want to paint the rhino that is sometimes part of the force, since I have a hankering for painting something green.