+ inload: Into the fires of battle! +

+ Pellas Mir'san's Second Company Salamanders +

+ It is a relief to finally polish off some models – there have been far too many worked up to a decent WIP, then perforce put to one side. Epic-scale models like these are a nice way to feel like you've done something substantial – even if they only took a few hours. +

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+ Painting Epic Salamanders +

+ Here's a rundown of the process as an aide-memoire:

_1  Prime models Halfords camo brown.

_2  Use Colour Forge Salamander Green to spray them at a 45-degree angle from two opposite sides, to give a bit of zenithal lighting.

_3  Infantry: Paint the backpack, shoulders and gun with Black Templars contrast. Vehicles: Tracks, guns, front recess things, exhausts.

_4  Pick out metals on backpacks, guns and exhausts with Iron Warriors (or Boltgun Metal).

_5  Paint the gun casings with Charadon Granite (or similar dark grey).

_6  Wash the models with Agrax Earthshade.

_7  Once dry, use a mix of Snot Green and Warpstone Glow to highlight the green, concentrating on the head, arms and trailing legs of infantry; and upper edges of the vehicles.

_8  Pick out the markings with an off-white colour (I mixed Vallejo's cold white with Ushabti Bone for a pale cream). Use this to paint the Legion markings.

_9  Add other details – red crests, banners, plasma gun radiators etc. – plus any freehand.

_10  Use a very light drybrush of Ushabti bone over everything. This last step is subtle and east to overdo, but helps ever-so-slightly tie everything on the model together, and integrate it into the base. You could use a light grey if you're on urban bases.

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+ Thoughts on the scheme at this point +

+ Banner  I didn't get a very clear picture of the banner, but it's a miniaturisation of the 40k Salamanders' 2nd Company. A fun little challenge to get across the idea of crossed flaming hammers above a row of volcanos, and I'm quite pleased with it. +

+ Markings  The Chapter icon is necessarily simplified, being reduced to a small teardop shape with a black dot nearer the top, and two short lines off it. It was only after I started painting on the details that it struck me that the bonding studs of Mark VI mean that the icon has to go on the marine's left shoulder. Since the bonding studs are a pain to paint anyway, I'm quite tempted to trim them off the remaining marines so that I can have the Chapter symbol on the right pad, and flames on the left. +

+ The Rhinos also look a bit anonymous, so I'm probably going to add side doors (and maybe top hatch) in the Company colour, then add flames on those. I think that should make them read more clearly as the Salamanders. You'll note the little club symbol on the front and top. The idea for this came from an old White Dwarf article for the markings [+ref: pictcapture below+]. +

+ The text for the Salamanders bit reads:

These designs are based on a number of symbols found within the the STC system. Although their origins are unclear, the Salamanders adopted them as soon as Warmaster Horus became a traitor, as a gesture to confirm their allegiance to the Imperium

+ The use of card suit symbols refers to their use in the Horus Heresy, but since the Ashes of Armageddon project allows me to explore retro ideas, I thought it was a fun little Easter egg. I couldn't find the image when I was painting them, so went with clubs for Tacticals, rather than diamonds as shown above. I might tweak these, but more likely will keep them – after all, it's more the spirit of the idea that's important, rather than the letter. +

+ They look nice in this little group, I think – and the more I add, the better it's going to look. As this inload starts to show, the painting of an army is an ongoing process, so don't get disheartened if something's slightly amiss early on. You can adapt and change the scheme organically as you go – but far better to have something actually done that you can then tweak, than to suffer from analysis paralysis and never put brush to model. +

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