+ inload: Bludgeoning force +

+ More Gatebreakers +

+ Having rested on my laurels for the past few days, I picked up a brush while chatting with the PCRC last night and polished off a few new Gatebreakers. +

+ Adding new figures to a playable force can sometimes be a bit of motivational challenge; particularly when you've taken a break in working on them. I felt a bit rusty working on these, but soon got into the swing of things. +

+ Emblem WIP +

+ One figure that gave me no hesitation was Emblem [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], who is ticking along nicely. Although the basing is done, the model himself is not quite complete – I just wanted to complete the base while I was doing a small batch. +

+ The mysterious sigil-blade (probably not that mysterious if you've been following the Endworlds story)was painted using the same method as K0rdhal's Necrons; namely working red into the recesses of a dark metal. +

+ I like how he's coming along overall; the additions will be minor – working up the coat more, and adding a few markings. Not quite sure what to put on his right pauldron... As a wandering Eremite [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], he doesn't really have a rank per se. Perhaps I'll have a play with some freehand. +

+++ 

+ Members-Ordinary +

+ The standard 'battle-brothers' of the Chapter, the Members-Ordinary are always fun to paint. The squads are a mongrel mix of Chapter 333 Primaris Intercessors and uplifted Astartes of the original Chapter; so to represent that I've included a mix of armour marks, helms and boltgun types led by nothing other than random whim while building. This is probably not the clearest on the field, but then I've got other armies for that – the Gatebreakers are an unapologetically freeform project. +

+ This marine has a Mark II 'Crusade-pattern' helm. Up to this point I haven't used too many bits that are so old in-universe; instead sticking with a preponderance of shiny new Tacticus helms [vizref: below] punctuated with the occasional Mark VI and VII helms. That's deliberate – I want the army to visually reflect that the Gatebreakers have either willingly adopted the new armour, or have been forced to do so through damage and disrepair. The scattered few non-Mark X helms are thus presumably either owing to battlefield necessity or the wearer's stubbornness. +

+ However, a select few older bits here and there – there are so far just two marines with helms so old – also help reflect the patchwork nature of the Gatebreakers. More importantly, they add some visual flavour, which is really the important bit. The cycloptic Crusade helm is lovely, and it's been a treat to paint it up in the grass green and sun yellow of the Chapter. +

+ The Tacticus helm is, after all, a lovely design. It combines the cool grille of the Mark IV Maximus with the batlike ear-coverings of Mark VIII; design features that give it a simultaneously novel and familiar impression. This marine is built using one of the new Assault Intercessor models – the easy-build ones from the Indomitus box set. As with different armour bits (like the shoulder pad), varying the poses within squads helps to give a slightly less-disciplined impression that fits with the Chapter's demeanour. +

+ Speaking of Chapter style, this marine is a Member-Cardinal; an equivalent to a sergeant. I've built two of these; and will add them to the existing squads. I've taken a rather (dare-I-say?) chaotic approach to building this army; simply making individual models without planning out how they'll fit into squads and so forth.  Partially this was just to provide me with a break from the extremely formal and structured approach I was taking with the Blood Angels [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], and partially it was because I think this is going to be my primary 'Crusade gaming' army for a while. I therefore wanted to make sure that it was game-legal. +

+ Having bought the new Codex: Space Marines (more on this in a future inload, I think), I'm pleased to see that the Successor Chapter Tactics – that is, the Chapter's special rules – I picked for the army's first game, Massacre at Phen Mun [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], are still there. These are, for the record, Rapid Assault, which reflects the Chapter's mobile small-arms-led approach, and Stalwart, which represents their historical desperation to endure in the face of extinction. +

+ Coming back to the Member-Cardinal models, I think I will eventually come back to the squads to add some squad and rank markings and organise them more permanently. I really like adding these markings and details, and I think that it'll be a lovely way to reflect their growing history: picking out new skills learned and battle scars endured. +

+ I promise I'll stop banging on about the minutiae of Space Marine helmets soon, but this last group picture shows how much personality a few select pieces can add to a uniform group. The simple inclusion of different helmets, weapons, shoulder pads and similar details really helps them to look a bit ramshackle and hotch-potch, without making them look out-and-out orky. +

+ Mark X is exctiging and new; Mark VI has retro appeal; Mark IV is perfect for fans of clean sci-fi; Marks II and III look pleasingly crude; and Mark V is wonderfully brutal... but having been the default for so long, Mark VII is rarely celebrated in the same way as the other armour types. The Mark VII helm on the Member-Cardinal is a reminder to me of how much I like Armorum Impetor. Now that it's starting to be phased out, I've realised that the bulldog snout and frowning mask is the classic image of Astartes for me. I'll have to make a mental note to include a few more of these. +

+ inload: Endworlds +

His head ached. This was, perhaps, to be expected; as Member-Ordinary Gond had been roundly clouted by a Taran's cudgel while suppressing the turquoise-skinned biped's foxhole. He grinned. 'Suppressing', he thought, as orange blood trickled and dripped from his armour. I'm picking up the Coreworlder's coy speech-patterns now. Musing on this, he jogged after the rest of the squad.

The arrival of the Primaris marines had heralded changes for the Gatebreakers. New armour, new equipment. New training to take it on. Adaptation and compromise – not every marine would relinquish his hard-won and ancient wargear; though many welcomed the opportunity to replace their patchwork or jury-rigged systems with the clean lines of the new Mark X plate.

More than that, though; there was a fundamental change in the Chapter. All the long-hidden maladies of their failing biology: the lost organs, the fading rituals; all that had seemingly been resolved. Indeed, Gond was perversely glad of the pain in his head – it reminded him of all the bodily ailments from which he no longer suffered. The Belisarian furnace within him roared; and its voice meant that the Gentles would no longer need to wear the black and surreptitiously steal material from their Deathwatch cousins, merely to stave off a terminal decline. It was more than physical improvement: it cleansed the Chapter's collective conscience. Pride could be felt once more; the yellow and gold of Andocrine could stand in the light.

Even the marines who steadfastly refused to 'cross the Rubicon' – another euphemism – felt the optimism. After an age in which the Chapter had suffered incremental losses, from which they could not recover, the arrival of Scipius and his men – a thousand tall, clean-limbed Primaris marines – had given the old Chapter back its teeth; and swollen the strength of the various Strikeforces. Contact had been made with Eremites on previously abandoned frontiers.

It was good to be back in the field. It was good to reclaim lands lost generations before. It made Gond, and all his brethren, glad. The simple joy of feeling one's body moving and working in the way it should was revitalising. 

And yet... something nagged at Gond, as it nagged at all the old Gatebreakers, and none of the new. The sorry state of their domain was not owing to a failing Imperial grip; it was considerably more than that. As all Gatebreakers once had known – though none would speak it for shame – the Endworlds had never been Imperial, not truly.

Would their new strength be sufficient to break the shackles of Uridimmu?

 

+ inload: Necrons, Eldar and Krell +

 + Elder races +

+ Dread species abound in the grim darkness of the far future; many of which pre-date (and predate upon...) humanity. With the Blood Angels polished off, it's time to have a look at some more xenos. Some will join the Alien Wars project, others will be coming into conflict with the Gatebreakers in the Endworlds. +

+ Necrontyr +

+ Primary antagonists of the Gatebreakers, the Necrons from the Indomitus boxed set will be serving as a subserviant group under K0rdhal's Urdimmu. My ones will be very straightforward – a typical zombie robot horde, to provide some contrast with K0rdhal's awesome conversions. +

+ Some of the unpainted Necrons are shown more clearly in an earlier inload [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], and I'm pleased to say that they're painting up both quickly and effectively. Starting from a black undercoat, the batch above was cranked out in an evening using the following process:

• Place small pools of black paint, dark brown paint, silver paint, pearlescent ink and sepia ink on your palette.
• Muddle the colours together in the centre, leaving some areas of the pure colour still available.
• Use a large brush to paint the figures semi-randomly. The idea is to create a varied underpainting, with some areas of brighter silver and duller browns and blacks.
• Once dry, layer with Agrax Earthshade (or other dark wash).
• Once dry, use a fine-tipped brush to selectively apply Stormhost silver (or other bright metallic) to the armour plates; emphasising the edges and leaving gaps and interesting shapes.

The scribbly, patchy effect that we're looking for.

+ This is a variation on my method for painting Iron Warriors [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], though the result is brighter and cleaner – which suits the more high-tech aliens. +

+ The effect will be further refined with touches of green, yellow and purple washes, as per Designation Samaritan [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], the Cryptek that's raising all of these warriors. After that, it's down to painting the purple that will – I hope – make everything pop. +

+++

+ Eldar +

+ Having built and painted an homage to the WD139 Blood Angels, it was all but inevitable that I'd end up creating the opposing force, wasn't it? I'm not anticipating these being ready anytime soon; but equally I'm hoping it won't be years and years before they're fit to grace the table. +

+ The modern Banshees are lovely models; and I hope to see the other Aspect Warriors receive updates in a timely manner. My prognostication/supposition-augurs suggest that Eldar infantry have been particularly slow to transition into plastic because of the distinctive background of the Aspects: offering alternative weapons etc. goes against the background principles of the units; and creating new units that share the same base body would dilute the supposed uniqueness of each aspect. +

+ The details above mean that Aspect Warrriors don't fit into GW's dual-build box structure. That's a problem, as I suspect the reason behind GW's decision to have most boxes building two distinct units (e.g. Ogryns and Bullgryns, Deathmarks and Immortals etc.) is twofold: minimising SKU codes and maximising shelf space; and helping to insure against a flop gaming release – if one unit is seen as uncompetitive, the other might still be worthwhile from a Match Play gamer's point of view. With the exception of the Dire Avengers, they're all specialist units, and therefore are unlikely to be taken multiple times in an army. All of these points weigh against the likely commercial success of a launch of an individual Aspect box. +

+ Part of me wonders if the Ynnari background is GW's way to sidestepping this issue. By making units like the Banshees available to two in-game armies – Craftworld and Ynnari, you're broadening the number of potential buyers – in the same way as having the same plastic kit serving multiple Space Marine forces, or allowing the Leman Russ tank to be taken by Genestealer cults. Having a 'year of the Eldar' or something, in which both Craftworld and Ynnari are released, would allow all the remaining aspects to be brought out in swift succession – but not so close together than they cannibalise each others' sales. +

+ To be clear, I don't have any insider knowledge on this – I just find it interesting to speculate, based on what GW have done in the past. It's not beyond the bounds of reason for an army to receive half a dozen kits at once – just look at the Sisters of Battle or orks – but I think GW are slightly more wary of the Eldar. They could easily go back to being hugely popular, but as-is, they strike me as in a uniquely awkward position in terms of the armies. + 

+++

+ Krell +

+ 40k, like a lot of sci-fi, has a lot of fairly similar protaganist species. With the exception of the Tyranids, almost all of the main factions are humanoid. Also known as the Enslavers, the Krell are the perfect example of a non-humanoid alien species that hasn't really been seen since Rogue Trader – and they're a species that, frankly, I think are pretty much the coolest thing since sliced bread. +

+ I created the Alien Wars project with the idea that it'd give me a space to play around with less familiar forces, like the Saharduin and the Fomn. The project stems from a simple concept: what would X model/faction look like if it were released today? +

+ The weird, warp-based, gribbly, mind-eating tentacle monsters have had some cool hints as to their continued existence in 40k – they appeared as the Psyren in a couple of short stories, and some concept sketches and conversions appeared in a Creature Feature article in White Dwarf. Had you asked me a few years back, I'd have said there's no chance of seeing GW re-release them; but we've now seen the release of models like the ambull and zoats. I don't think it's beyond the realm of possibility that we'll eventually see official GW models. +

+ For the moment, however, I'll be using the rather delightfully grotesque figures from Tagged Events [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+]. Drawing heavily on the White Dwarf concept sketches I mention above, I got these as part of a Kickstarter, and the quality of cast is lovely – judging by the box they arrived in, they were cast by the excellent Artel "W" [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+]. The design is slightly awkward, requiring quite a bit of hot water work (I'll try to get some shots when I build the remaining two), but I'm delighted with the results. +

+ The models are very fragile, and I'm very sceptical that the delicate tentacles would last any time at all in storage, let alone play. To help avoid (or at least minimise) damage, I've used wire to connect them to the bases to relieve the weight and pressure. I've also shifted them from the 40mm bases with which they were supplied to large 50mm bases. As well as helping to avoid overlapping the base edge, it also gives them a bit more table presence – fitting for these creepy invaders from being reality itself! +

+ As mentioned, I love the design. The only reservation I have is that there are no options, and the head on the portal/gate figure. I trimmed it off mine, and I think its loss is a substantial improvement. Other than that, it's classic 50s style B-movie monsters from space, and I'm really looking forward to painting them. +

+ inload: Finished Blood Angels army +

+ Mission accomplished + 

+++

A hot wind blew in from the north, stirring the grasses. A great rushing sound swelled in the woodland as the strange air rushed through the trees and sent them waving; as though in silent alarm. In its midst stood a gold-armoured Space Marine, his crimson cloak likewise perturbed.

Prince Dauhavron – Erasmus Tycho; First of that Name – turned the impassive mask of his helm to face the wind. Inside, clicks and warning chimes sounded alongside vox-request tones. Ancient runes crawled across Tycho's vision, marking the on-rush of hard radiation and spiteful gamma-rays. The vox-net erupted as his men began curt reports from across the valley. To his left, he saw brother Brunellecci hurriedly donning his own helm, his skin darkening protectively under the aegis of his melanchromic organ. 

Atomics. The greenskins had bombarded the city.

Though it still stood clad in autumnal finery, the woodland was already dead; its potential curdled and soured in an instant.

The gilt surface of Tycho's helm gleamed in the low, late sunshine; and the large black eye-lenses gave away nothing.

He said not a word, but dipped his head to unholster his boltgun, and began to march north.

+++

+ Retrohammer Blood Angels complete +

+ At last; here we are. The army is complete and the project at an end (well, at least this first part). The ambition was to re-create the GW studio army of 1991. The original was painted by Tim Prow, who now runs the amazing Diehard Miniatures [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]; and the list and accompanying article by Andy Chambers, who went on to work on an array of formative tabletop and computer games at GW and Blizzard. (As an aside, Andy once wrote a very encouraging hand-written reply to a hastily-cobbled together Kroot Codex that I sent in to White Dwarf – very gently suggesting that it was perhaps a little overly-enthusiastically inspired by Predator. I appreciate his tact! :)) +

+ Based on the then-current Rogue Trader rules, the army was detailed in White Dwarf issue 139, along with a painting guide, and later appeared in what I believe was the first Warhammer 40,000 battle report in issue 141. +

+ The pict-capture below shows my army alongside the inspiration. I hope you'll excuse the lack of goblin green on the bases! +

+ Alongside its Eldar and Ork counterparts, the army appeared numerous times, notably in issue 166; when a battle report to showcase the release of 2nd edition Warhammer 40,000 saw Captain Tycho felled by an ork psychic blast. +

+ That period – from 1991 onwards – was when I got into the hobby, and this army was the seed for my enthusiasm. Like many, I suspect, I started building my own Blood Angels force. I've still got a couple of them – and Brother Engel [pictured below] even made a reappearance:

Brother Engel – one of the Space Marine Strikeforce figures

Brother Engel – a conversion based on an Intercessor

+++

+ Theoretical: Re-imagining +

+ I do like a bit of 'high-concept' in my hobby; so rather than simply swapping things out for their modern equivalents (Intercessors in place of Tactical marines, for example), I've converted the relevant figures to better match the modern scale. I've got a lot of fondness for the originals, so I wanted to make sure my figures paid homage to the classics. +

+ In essence, the idea was to create the army that Tim and Andy would have made had modern manufacturing methods been available at the time. Good design, after all, is timeless. Balancing putting my own spin on things with them being instantly recognisable was key. +

+ Space Marines +

+ At the heart of the army are the two Tactical Marine squads. Long-time inloaders will know that the basic infantry are my favourite part of 40k – perhaps because I grew up looking at armies like the GW studio ones, with few, if any, tanks. +

+ The proportions of the new Primaris marines are, in my opinion, a big step up over the more stylised older models. In the past I've built large armies of Ultramarines, Iron Warriors and various other marines; all converted from Terminators, in the style that's been dubbed truescale. It's rewarding, but time-consuming; so having the opportunity to use far more standard parts opened up the converting palette nicely. +

+ This army has enabled me to experiment more than in the past – have a look to the right for the +High-access datacores+ column with links to the tutorials for converting Primaris-sized Terminators and Mark VI marines. +

+ I still feel that opposing mobs of infantry make the closest, most tense games; if for no other reason than the results are less 'swingy' than using high-risk, high-reward war engines and characters. I'm very much looking forward to gaming with the army – the new edition of 40k includes actions like raising banners and securing comms-links for units to do. I hope this'll lead to more cinematic games, where units can – and should – have more to do than line up and shoot until they die. +

+ The scale differences between Primaris and the firstborn/normal marines is marked – and has led to lots of online discussion. It's interesting to see that the same thing happened back in the 90s. The original army used both the original 'beakies' – from the RTB01 and the accompanying lead range – and the new, larger Mark VII marines. Even here the difference was marked: sufficiently so that there wasn't a mix within squads. The Devastators were all RTB01 plastics, while the Tactical squads were the newer marines. +

+ Finding a way to nod to this without introducing an odd, artificial distinction was tricky. The way I did it was to convert and mix parts on a roughly 4:1 ratio across the army; with the majority of models sticking faithfully as updates to the originals, and the remainder swapping out things like helmets or chestplate styles. Subtle stuff, but I think it makes the army as a whole work more coherently. +

+++

+ Artwork +

+ It wasn't just the models that grabbed my attention originally – the surrounding artwork and mythos of the Warhammer 40,000 universe was wonderfully grotesque, and shot through with a streak of black humour that has stuck with me. +

+ In particular, David Gallagher – who you can follow on Instagram via @david.gallagher.art – produced a fantastic piece depicting Blood Angels fighting a genestealer cult. This artwork directly inspired my version of Captain Tycho [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] – and later Chaplain Savonarola [+noosphericinloadink embedded+], pictured above. +

+ Studying the artwork closely just kept revealing more and more details, I must confess that I hadn't really paid much attention to the Chaplain and background marines as a nipper – it was only coming back to it that I even realised he was silver. I think that really demonstrates the sheer evocative depth David invested into the piece. +

+++

+ Going your own way +

+ This project could easily have been a direct duplicate; using period models rather than modern reinterpretations. I might have followed Tim Prow's painting recipes more closely – though I doubt I'd be able to match his skill! I might have decided to recreate the army in Epic scale, or perhaps tried to build a complementary force made up of the members of the Third Company who weren't present – Tactical squads 3 and 4, for example. The point is simple: There's no right way to collect or game. +

+ Whenever you start a project, I recommend that you don't fix the plan too rigidly. Leave yourself space to grow into it. This army started as a quick and less intensive way of converting 'truescale' marines; so the early Tactical Marines still have the long-barrelled bolt rifles of the Intercessors. As I progressed, I decided to invest more into what had been a bit of a side-project; until it became a very central part of my hobby. In contrast to those early marines, the later ones are as near to being copies of the originals as my skills allow. +

+ This applies to the background, too. I enjoy finding plausible explanations for apparent contradictions and ret-cons in the background. A lot of these are based on real-world developments, but it's fun to have an in-universe explanation for why Space Marines have different armour styles, or why back banners suddenly fell out of use. +

+ The silver-armoured Chaplain is one of a number of slight detours I took in producing my version of the army; both aesthetic and background-driven. As the tagline goes, Everything you have been told is a lie. I love that phrase. As well as sounding cool, it also highlights the creative freedom you have. Rather than our armies being perfect replicas of a particular moment, they're slightly nebulous possibilities based on partial data. 40k is sci-fi, but it's also heavily influenced by the Dark Ages – lost records and ignorance are critical. +

+ I've called this army the Third Company of the Blood Angels; but there's at least two alternative versions – the 1991 GW Studio version and the modern Studio army. Am I trying to say mine's the right one? No, not at all – but that doesn't mean it's something lesser. Rather, this is my vision of a future history; slightly different to Andy and Tim's, different again to Dave Gallagher's. Like two historians putting together a recreation from the same partial sources, we can each give shape to our own version. +

+ There is at root no definitive, final version of this fictional force; but by being creative we can still tie it together. To explain why the army is different to the current GW studio one, and polyfilla over the inevitable narrative gaps between 90s-era GW and now, I've set mine in M35; during the Nova Terra Interregnum. Hinted at but unexplored, the army thus has a definite, staked 'place' in the galaxy. +

+ Of course, it's nice not to answer all the mysteries – is this Captain Erasmus Tycho the selfsame one as in M41? Probably not; but the necessary doublethink required to explain this to yourself is perhaps the most 40k thing I could create! +

+++

+ Enough pontificating +

+ Thanks for reading this far. I'll leave you with some atmosphere shots of the army. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas – either through the +Commentary Submission Access+ portal below, on Instagram (@death_of_a_rubricist)or on the +Death of a Rubricist+ Facebook page. +

+ Thought for the day: Weigh the fist that strikes men down and salutes the battle won. +

+++

+ inload: Blood Angels Support +

+ And then it was done + 

+ The Land Speeder is complete – and with that, the army as a whole is finished. Back in June 2017 [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] I wrote:

+ I'm not going to be obsessive about the army composition. There'll doubtless be a few nods to old models (I'm particularly keen to have a go at updating the proto-Tycho Blood Angels Captain) and the paint scheme, but the force will be a more general homage to the Blood Angels of the time – so tying in bits from the tail end of Rogue Trader through 2nd edition; particularly the artwork. +

+ Well, it turned out to be rather more obsessive than I'd intended; becoming a straight-up duplicate of the army! It's been three years, but I've now got a complete, re-imagined version of the Blood Angels army that inspired me. +

+ In a future inload I'll post up the finished army. I had hoped to get some good pict-captures over the weekend, but alas it was not to be. Anyway, for the moment it's the Land Speeder's time for a bit of attention. +

+++

+ Land Speeder +

+ The crew and speeder itself are painted with slightly different techniques, so while the palette is common between them, the resulting hue is subtly different. The idea behind this is that the Astartes' own armour is treated differently from the vehicle pool. I've tried to emphasise the nature of the vehicle as a piece of equipment by adding little warning symbols below hatches and above the intakes, as you can see above. +

+ As with the Rhino [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], I used a stippling technique to build texture on the Speeder. This gives an appearance evocative of WWII-era cast-iron tanks; which strikes me as pleasingly anachronous. The Marines, meanwhile, have a smoother, finer finish. +

+ Close study of the inspiration shows that the left-hand figure had a yellow hand symbol painted on his pad, and a striped leg. I didn't realise it at the time, but this is presuamably marking him out as a techmarine. As with Brother Mirandola [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], I changed the Rogue Trader-era hand symbol for the modern Opus Machina skull-in-cog. +

+ This was particularly interesting (well, in a very trainspottery way) to me because I'd wondered where all the techmarines were. The old army lists required multiple techmarines – one for each vehicle – but the painted army didn't seem to include them. Having one present on the Land Speeder makes things a lot more clear; they were mostly hidden within the vehicles, piloting them. +

+ That might also answer another question – why does the pilot have yellow shoulder pads? I had assumed that this was a simple aesthetic flourish, or perhaps a precursor to the later idea that most Land Speeders were attached from the 8th (Assault) Company, the colour of which is yellow. +

+ Looking back over the army list, it may be that this figure represents the Lieutenant – another figure that's present in the army list (a Lieutenant was compulsory during the later Rogue Trader period) but missing from the army as a physical model. +

+ That's confirmed by Andy Chambers' notes in the later battle report, where he writes that 'the Lieutenant acted as gunner on board the Land Speeder, accompanied by a single techmarine.' It's funny; I must have read that report dozens of times, but it had never clicked with me that the Speeder crew was always planned and painted up to be a Lieutenant and techmarine – it wasn't just a quick way to justify not having those models painted. I should have had more faith! +

+ I included the yellow tip on the multimelta. Not only is that a pretty iconic look for the period, but it added an important point of interest to an otherwise fairly simple model. +

+ The army badge (blue circle) is present on both crew and speeder, though it's much reduced – it was massive on the original. +

+ On the other side we can see further markings – a little bit of freehand helps to add interest to big black areas. The model is Forge World's own retrohammer reimagining of the original; and I'm pleased to see that they kept some of the large blank areas of the original. It's nice to have space and opportunity to play around with texture and freehand. +

+ A word here to say thank-you to Ilmarinen, who picked this up for me when it had a limited advanced release – sorry that it took me over two years to get it built and painted! +

+ The front. The techmarine's hazard-stripe greave has been reduced to a stripe in my interpretation, and he's got a Mark IV helm – just to help the model to blend in with the army. The Lieutenant is Mark VI accurate, just like the original. I enjoyed painting the yellow; even round the studs. +

+ As a little fun flourish, I painted the large scanner/screen in front of the techmarine with a detail of the battle report in WD141; simplifying things to red spots for the enemy Eldar and white for friendly forces. I should probably have added more contrast to the hills, as they're kinda lost – but then as it's just a bit of fun, it doesn't matter too much. +

+ Techmarine and quad-launcher +

+ Talking about the techmarine above reminded me that I hadn't posted a picture of the techmarine and his charge – so here you go:

+ When texturing the large 80mm base, I left a subtle space for the techmarine to slot on, which helps the two to be clearly associated. +

+ inload: Painting the Blood Angels Librarian +

+ He that is first shall be last +

+ Well, we're settling into quite the routine, aren't we? For those of us getting a bit fatigued with Space Marine characters, I can reassure you that this is the final character from my Blood Angels force. Only the Land Speeder remains. As with many projects like this, I end up limping over the finish line, enthusiasm drained – only for it to be reignited when I can set up the whole force and play a game with them. +

+++

+ Theoretical: the inspiration +

+ Unlike the other characters, where there's either been kick-ass artwork or a classic model to build up my enthusiasm, the Librarian suffered from a lack of inspiration. It was also one of the first models I created for the army; before I decided to get more involved with the conversions. As a result, it's a relatively simple conversion based on the librarian model from WD139. +

+ I'm not a huge fan of this model, but then I'm not that enthused by any of the period Librarian models. There are some nice details, however. It's interesting to see that while the Techmarine symbol changed, the Librarian logo has remained the original horned skull. +

+ Unlike a lot of the army, I don't think this one has aged well. The halved scheme, with blue top and red bottom, looks awkward, and the whole figure has a simultaneously cluttered and oddly sparse appearance; with the purity seal and loincloth(?) looking a bit stuck on. +

+ My conversion involved using the (then-)new Primaris Librarian and reposing the arms. I converted the chest to make it a Mark VI torso, and swapped the head for something a bit decorative. The idea was for the robes to partially obscure the red legs. +

+ With red and blue both being used, I kept the robes neutral to avoid the figure becoming too busy. When considering how to paint robes, I tend to look at whether they're practical or ornamental. Here, the Librarian has both inner and outer robes. I decided to paint the outer one as a weatherworn leather, building up the colour with repeated stippling and washes. The inner robes were painted in a contrasting lighter tone, intended to frame the armour and provide a bit of visual pop. I added some ritualistic details (some Enochian letters) around the hem, and suggested a red decorative hem on the inside. +

+ The leather effect is clear here. I may have sounded a bit negative about this figure above; but this is a lot of lovely subtle details on the base sculpt, such as the decorated reinforcement where the split cape joins and the pipework joining the psychic hood to the backpack. +

+ I replaced the modern backpack with a period one. You can also see the decorative shoulder pad I added on the left here. It's from one of Forge World's Emperor's Children kits – these two highly-decorative Legions have lots of pieces that work well with each other's kits. +

+ I added a trussed bird to the banner (it's from the late-lamented Bretonnian Men-at-Arms sprue) as a suitably outré addition. I painted it up as a light-coloured pigeon, or dove. Perhaps he uses it as some sort of sacrifice, perhaps some sort of communication. Who knows? The little shield on the kit proved a great place to add the Company markings. +

+ The horned skull shoulder pad is part of the standard kit. I added his apotropaic name on the scroll, and added an Enochian sigil to the forehead of the skull. +

+ The split scheme can be seen nicely here. I'm glad I went for a robed figure. It allowed me to keep the homage to the original, while partially hiding a device I'm not the fond of! The robes also give a nice 'Obi Wan Kenobi' feel, which I like. The banner, as with the other personalities in the army, is a replication of the original. +

+ I don't think the Librarian is my finest work, but I'm still broadly pleased with how he's come out. I guess I'm just not all that enthused by wizards at the best of times. Must be my inner dawi. With all that said, he's definitely growing on me. Even the red/blue split isn't looking so obnoxious as I remember! +

+ inload: Blood Angels Chaplain +

+ Chaplain Savonarola (Amaliel 7:13)+

Blessed is the mind too small to doubt.

+ Imperial aphorism +

+++

+ Theoretical +

+ Unlike most of this project, the inspiration for this Chaplain came not from the Games Workshop Studio army of WD139, but from the Dave Gallagher artwork that graced the cover of the Warhammer 40,000 Compendium (and which inspired my Captain Tycho conversion [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]). One of the supporting elements in this painting is a curious silver-coloured Chaplain. +

+ It's a very distinctive look that I don't think has turned up elsewhere, but works really nicely. It's particularly suitable for the Blood Angels, I think, as it complements the golden armour of their heroes and champions and contrasts with the black armour of their Death Company. +

+ Appearing as it did at the back end of Rogue Trader, the image differs from the black-armoured Chaplain of the studio army and elsewhere; but it's such a striking look that I wanted to include it. +

+ Of course, this raised the question of whether to tackle it with non-metallic  metal (NMM) techniques – as in the original artwork – or with metallic paints. The former would have worked well alongside my Captain Tycho, where I used a NMM approach; while the latter would sit better alongside the rest of the army. +

+ Unable to decide, I split the difference and decided to experiment, using metallic paints alongside non-metallic paints to create a halfway house. +

+ Practical +

+ I was not at all confident that this would work, but gave it a go anyway – that's the only way I know to improve! When approaching a model like this, I find it helps to start with some safe elements – those bits you can do easily. Here, I painted the robe. Having something like this finished or blocked out is reassuring when the experimental areas go through the (almost inevitable) stage where they're a bit crap looking. +

+ I started the silver itself with a base of Fenris Grey (one of the old Foundation paints) mixed with Payne's grey acrylic ink. This gave a nice, deep, cool underpainting. +

+ I then overlaid this with a mix of Iron Warriors acrylic paint, and both Payne's Grey and White Pearl acrylic ink. The latter is material I bust out when I need to dilute metallics. It's effectively a clear carrier of metallic flakes, which means that it doesn't alter the hue of what you're working on. This allows you to thin metallic paints without losing the metallic effect; and also lets you give non-metallic paints a sheen. +

+ The effect is pretty clear here in this shot of a later stage. I've worked up through various metallic paints including Chainmail and Stormhost silver. All had White Pearl acrylic ink added, to ensure smooth transitions. However, even the lightest tint of GW's metallics are slightly grey, so for the final touches I took a photograph of the figure under a spotlight, then used a mix of Instar paint's Arctic White and White Pearl acrylic ink to copy the reflections. This let me create the forced highlights that you can see. +

+++

+ And so to the finished figure. He was turned around in an evening; and I'm pretty pleased with the result. I'll certainly call it a successful experiment. Omricon suggested the technique might suit Stormcast, too; which is a good idea. +

+ Figures painted completely with metallics can look a bit unfinished, so I made sure to include some other textures, such as the cloak lining, purity seals and weapons. +

+ The half-seen three-skull motif on the shoulder pad and torso is visible nicely here. It was applied with dilute Payne's grey ink. +

+ This close-up demonstrates how the metal and non-metal areas interest. +

+ Polishing this figure off (ho ho) means it's just the Librarian and Land Speeder left. +