+ inload: Blood Angels retrohammer Dreadnought +

+ Furibundus-Perfidium Dreadnought +

+ A real blast from the pa... no, wait, a beautifully executed fan-resculpt; an affectionate update of the classic Rogue Trader-era Dreadnought. I'm blocking in a few bits here and there, and thoroughly enjoying it. +

+ Painting is progressing fairly slowly as I feel my way around the sculpt. This is, I hasten to add, no fault of the sculpting (great) or casting (beautifully clean), but simply that it's fun to work on a model that updates a real childhood favourite. +

+ The image above it quite a good example of what layering translucent paint layers (I hesitate to call it glazing, as the layers aren't as dilute) can do. The lower half has a couple of additional layers of Vallejo's Flat Red; the upper part is just Mephiston Red undercoat. +

[+ACT=NOSTALGIAFILE: SPOOLING+]

+ Spot-On Models in Swindon was the only place I could buy models for many years (likely owing to the appearance of GW Swindon, it now specialises as a model train shop), and in amongst the racks of blisters from the likes of Grenadier, Marauder, Citadel and Old Crow was a second-hand area. +

+ Clutching a birthday fiver, I bought a Dreadnought from this stash, beautifully-painted in red. It got used as a robot for my Imperial Guard; turned up in Space Crusade games as a counterpoint to the ED-209 Chaos Dreadnought; and at my dogged insistence* once appeared in my (very indulgent brother's) Advanced Heroquest dungeon. It got boxed-up, uncovered, dropped, repaired, repainted into a quartered scheme – and then I lost it. +

+ A quick scale comparison shot +

+ Even through the mists of nostalgia, I can recognise that the original sculpt was fairly crude, but it's lovely to have a modern version. To modern eyes it may be blocky and unrefined, but it just absolutely radiates the Rogue Trader era to me. I'm delighted to have it in my army! + 


* Whinging.

+++