+ inload: Painting the Blood Angels medic+

 + Medic! +

Upon the seed of the Blood Angels there lies the ancient curse of mutation, a foulness which cannot be seen, which is covered over by the grace, intelligence, and high achievements which are the proud boasts of this most noble of Chapters. Yet the fire that burns behind the eyes of these sons of Sanguinius is bright with a thirst that only the blood of man can slake. Aye, it would be wise to but whisper the name that comes from times heavy with age and fear, a name which echoes in the march of the Blood Angels...

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+ Apothecary Euthan Sansavino (Varchiel 2:06) +

+ The inspiration and build process for this model are covered in this inload [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]; so as with Techmarine Mirandola, I'll concentrate here on the painting decisions. +

+ I went back and forth on the overall scheme, toying with a vertical red/white split; but ended up plumping for the scheme on the original medic from WD139 – white armour with red shoulder pads. This was mainly because – unlike the techmarine – the base model was very different from the inspiration. The robe, back banner instead of big hand-borne banner, the pose... all broke away from the old model. The paint scheme was therefore important to use to create some consistency. +

+ I tackled most of the equipment in a similar way to avoid the model becoming busy. A nice neutral layer of Charadon Granite was used for the hand flamer, the wrist-mounted narthecium, holster and pouches. The metallics were similarly tackled in a cohesive way, with wet-in-wet washes of Leviathan Purple and Seraphim Sepia over Ironbreaker. +

+ A little bit of freehand detailing on the holster, chainsword and text on the shoulder pad scroll add some interest, as does the blood spatter. The latter was achieved with a mix of brown and red. +

+ The robe didn't come out quite how I wanted – I was aiming for a softer, worn leather effect. I may need to go back with some further glazes of sepia ink. I don't think the result here is bad; but it's a bit busy – almost reminiscent of camouflage, which wasn't the intention. +

+ I am, however, pleased with the reduction of the big banner. Having freehanded all the other material in the army, I thought it'd be a cop-out to do something different for the banner. The key elements are faithfully reproduced, and I've turned the row of nine blood drops into three groups of three – a decision that serendipitously proved to echo the tweak I'd made to the Third company symbol across the army. Sometimes happy accidents turn up! +

+ I changed the banner top blood drop into a blue jewel; symbolising Sanguinius' tears of sorrow. This was mainly to add a contrasting accent and cause the viewer's eye to flick back and forth between here and the marine's eye-lenses, taking in the banner a bit more. + 

+ The white armour came out nicely, I thought. I used a Payne's grey ink wash to build up the shading; in much the same way as I use the purple paint and sepia ink to shade the red [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. +

+ Those who have kept their opticalinput augmitters at full will spot that there's a large blood drop honorific on his shin; something absent in the composite image above. I added this at the last minute at the suggestion of a reader. While I like it in and of itself, I am rather kicking myself that I overlaid the blood spatter, which I was pleased with. The two rather fight here, I think. +

+ One final shot of the apothecary/sanguinary priest/medic... and that leaves just three model to complete: the Chaplain, Librarian and Land Speeder. +