+ inload: Kill Team Clawthorn completed – part I +

+ By Their Fear Shall You Know Us +

+ Giant pic-laden inload today, as I polished off the Astral Claws squad I've been working on. Two in detail today; and the others on Saturday and Monday – keep your occulobes peeled and auspex pinging, troops. +

+ Brother Lyron Acast +

Both pragmatic and cautious, Acest maintained a healthy scepticism of the Tyrant's creation of the Legion; though not to the extent to speak up against it. Loyal to his beloved Chapter above all, Acast maintained the crest of the Astral Claws rather than the Tyrant's own sigil. This was a common indulgence, well-accepted within the Chapter; though such half-heartedness proved no defence in the face of Imperial retribution. His analytical and sceptical mindset proved useful in keeping him and his comrades alive – but not forever. Acast's charred remains were discovered in the wake of the Star Phantoms' first assault on Gonda.

+ Fun with freehand. Breaking down the Astral Claws' original big cat icon was fun. I used off-black and off-white, to avoid it looking too stark. +

+ I introduced a thin wash of the same rusty-red brown used for the base to the lower legs and feet, rubbing it away before it settled. This left it in the recesses, and helps tie the figure to the base. +

+ He may be sceptical, but he's pragmatic, too. He wears the Tyrant's symbol on his right pauldron – y'know, just in case. +

+ Pleased with the freehand here. A very 'standard' space marine, but I rather like the effect you get by back-converting Primaris into classic Mark VII. +

+ Brother Yoruban +

Sharp-eyed and incisive, Yoruban was a popular member of the squad, particularly noted for his wit – and his aim. Fully trained as the squad's support member, his skills were put to use as sharpshooter when Soter – who Yoruban joked needed the practice more – was assigned to the squad.

+ Very enjoyable to get back to some variety in skintones. Most of the recent skin I've been doing has been fairly similar – ruddy dwarfs; so it was fun to experiment with some warm dark skin tones. I worked from a midtone base of even amounts of red, yellow, blue, white and some same red-brown I used for the basing, then worked down into the shades (adding more brown and blue) and up into the highlights (adding more yellow and white). As with almost all the skin I paint, there's a hint more red in the cheeks, chin, nose and lower lip, as these are areas where the blood is closer to the surface. + 

+ I'm fond of the conversion work here, and the paintjob seems to complement it well. The pauldron is relatively simple, bearing the squad number and a campaign honorific. Between the bare head, Mark VI conversion and carried helm, he's already interesting enough to avoid needing help with freehand. +

+ Some gouges were already taken out of the pauldron – I was tempted to develop the weathering a little further, but decided to keep the squad relatively spare for this project. The rest of the PCRC tend to paint very cleanly and neatly, and I want the Astral Claws to fit in. +

+ As well as carrying his helm – really love this bit, taken from the lieutenant model that makes up the basis of Sergeant Aldin – this marine bears a different weapon to the rest of the squad. I think it's an auto-bolter; but that might be what the others are carrying. Perhaps this is a stalker bolter? +

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