+ inload: Tempestus Maniple nearly ready to walk +

+ inload: Stormlords prepare +

Ahead of their maiden game – alongside Infernus, and against Legios Sisyphus and Astorum – the maniple is receiving some detailing. I've been adding lots (and lots) of tiny chequers, stripes and black panels to the Titans, and they're starting to come together.

My occulobes felt like they were falling out last night while painting the cheques on Tabellus Defixion's carapace armour, so I called it a night; but am planning to go back and fill the rest of that panel. 

As an aside, I'm really glad that GW finally released the Lucius-Alpha head. I know it's a terribly minor thing, and has no in-game effect or anything... but that's part of why I'm pleased. It's nice to have visual options to distinguish things.

Speaking of which, a closer look will reveal the non-standard armour panels. I've mixed and matched the plastics with this set of Traitor Armour Plates, designed by Argonaut and sold by Battle Bling. The aim was to get an asymmetrical look to the Titan – I've always liked the subtle creeping in of corruption during the Horus Heresy (I like shades of grey in the Loyalist/Traitor divide), and asymmetry provides a subtly chaotic look.

I was clearly feeling enthused about cheques when it came to painting Son of Sarum! Deciding where to put them – and how many panels to apply them to – is a matter of taste. Having spent ages highlighting and shading the blue, it can feel a bit wasteful to then cover them over, so I went picked my least favourite panels: those where I felt the highlighting/shading wasn't quite as clean or neat. That way I don't feel bad about covering them up.

The black and white chequers look quite stark; the plan is to soften them in alongside the rest with some burnt sienna oils. This red-brown will link together the various colours, while also making the blue pop.

+ inload: Updating models +

+ inload: Profugon Iratus gets a refit +

+ 'Done is better than perfect' is a phrase I trot out every so often – hackneyed or not, I think there's a lot of truth in getting models completed rather than hemming and hawwing about the last touches. Doing your best is definitely admirable, but not if it's getting in the way of a sense of satisfaction in a job well done. This is particularly apposite for miniatures in acrylics, as the medium's perfect to come back and update to update, tweak, improve or fix. +

+ Profugon Iratus back in the workshop +

And that's exactly what I've done here, replacing an old conversion with a 3D printed part. I was in two minds about the conversion – a combination of a Warlord head top with the bottom of a 40-scale Knight:

The new part is a 3D print of a classic Reaver head that GW have clearly lost the STC for. With a new Reaver kit now out, complete with a new plastic head, I was hoping to see their take on the classic long-snouted look, but – alas – it's another minor variant on the existing ones.

Fortunately the community have come to the rescue, with a series of beautiful variants that have been variously available from Cults3D, Battle Bling and currently, Vanguard Miniatures [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. This particular version, with the wonderfully over-the-top chainsaw face close combat attachment, is called the 'Champion'.

I've been painting this up while waiting for washes to dry on my Tempestus Maniple – I find the relief of actually completing something really helps when you're stuck into a long slog.

The scheme is that of the Vigilants (Legio Maximal) the pet Legio of the Maximal Fire team. The Titan was painted up as support for my Salamanders at one of their events, which detailed the battle for Nabed-Paleae, their Legio homeworld. I thought it would be a shame for there to be no Titans from the Legio involved, so wanted to paint one up for theme. 

The white and orange scheme with black banners denotes he's (probably) a Loyalist – the Traitor contingent has orange and black armour, with white banners.

Once dry, I simply popped off the old head and glued the new one in place:

... and he's all ready to walk in the service of the Emperor. Little updates like this can make all the difference. While I was pleased with the paintjob on the original, since these conversion bits have become available, I've been tempted to replace my conversion with one. The conversion was my version of the original – but I think the 3D sculpt beats mine into a cocked hat.

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Here are some more glamour shots of the finished model. The variant armour is by the multi-talented (and very nice chap) @argo_jasonm, who you can – and should! – follow on Instagram.

+ inload: Legio Tempestus maniple update +

 + Storm warning +

+ A quiet ol' August has seen me beavering away on projects aside from the hobby desk, but I have been sneaking an hour or two here or there to crack on with my Adeptus Titanicus Stormlords (Legio Tempestus) project – so time for an update. +

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+ Building and painting +

The last bits and bobs for the foreseeable arrived over the weekend, including this bog-standard Reaver head for Scythian. With a teetering, twisted pile of Titanicus bits and bobs, I was sure I'd have the default head somewhere, but 'twas not to be. Normally I'd have just used another style or pinched one from another Titan to repaint, but turns out I hadn't magnetised any in this style, and it needs to match the 40k-scale one.

You'll notice – hopefully – that the head has received some paint, too. I've been playing about with some various blues, and have landed on a blue that leans ever so slightly green – primarily to distinguish it from my Ultramarines and give it a slightly sinister air. Compare the (painted) blue on the head and missile launcher with the sprayed basecoat on the carapace and shoulder pads.

The palette I'm using is Prussian blue hue from Golden, Prussian Blue from Vallejo Model Color (and you can see why looking at the paint colour, rather than the name on the label is key), and Citadel's Hoeth blue, which I think is a reference to an elf city, but sounds rather like something throwing up.

That all works up to give this effect, which I'm pleased with. The chequers are a mix of Army Painter cold white with a hint of Prussian blue hue and Citadel Rhinox hide. This takes off the brightness and stops them looking too stark. I like the way the chequers fade in slightly to the surface in the shadows – one of my little bugbears is individually highlighted and shaded chequers, which always makes me think of a quilt.

This colour forms the base for the scheme, and I'll be working back to pick out some off-white and off-black panels on each Titan to look a bit more 'Storm Lordsy'.

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+ Urtica Morifolia +

This Warhound is acting as a tester for the scheme, and seems to be working well. The trim is all Runelord brass, my go-to metallic of the moment. It'll be shaded and highlighted up to a silver eventually.

This chap is pretty much ready for the next stage – transfers, varnish and oils. I'm going to get all of them to this stage, which is game-ready (the even is in three weekends time, and I'm going to be busy), and make an assessment on whether I can get the properly polished off in time.

The nameplate (from Battlebuilder, if you fancy one of your own – use the code MournStarfall for 10% off) was sprayed gold (from Colour Forge), then drybrushed a lighter gold before being washed with Seraphim sepia. Once dry, I painted the panel black (well, actually a very dark mix of Prussian blue hue and burnt sienna), then picked out the name in a yellow ochre (Iyanden Darksun, maybe?) before adding white to highlight the top and bottom parts of the words.

Finding a balance for the stripes and chequers is fun – but I do need to make sure I leave space for transfers, too. Lots to bear in mind, which makes Titans require a bit more planning and forethought than my usual approach. 

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+ Beachhead 2027 +

... and in related news, I was able to secure a ticket to the Beachhead event run by Maximal Fire. I last went to this in 2025 – you can read more through this noospheric inloadlink [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] and searching for my Iron Skulls (Legio Metalica) maniple.

Suffice to say that I had a great time, and since serendipity is smiling down and I'll have a new maniple to take along, I couldn't resist taking down the blues. I'll be writing more about plans and preparations on the Warhounds 2 Warmasters noospheric note [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], as they're running a Road to Beachhead series of articles, so keep an eye out there.

You'll probably get substantially more useful tactical info from the other contributors, but I hope you enjoy!

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In the meantime, here are some more WIP shots of my Maniple: