+ inload: Blood Angels Rhino and Zinge Industries review +

 + Rhino Armoured Personnel Carrier +

+ What do you get if you take hyper-advanced Dark Age colonising technology and tell it to make a tractor that can run on local materials, survive anything short of military-grade technology, repair itself on the run, and carry twenty colonists? +

+ ...and what if you then rediscover this, armour it with inch-thick plating, mount a pair of micro-rocket launchers and stuff it full of the most terrifying human warriors ever created? +

+ Okay, so I've probably spoiled the riddle in the title, but the Imperial Rhino APC is about as classic as is gets. Almost as recognisable as Space Marines themselves, the vehicle is an icon of the army, and of the Imperium in general. +

+ Used in the past by loads of Imperial (and, almost by implication, also Traitor) factions, I'm a bit sad to see it get sidelined from the Space Marines in favour of the new grav vehicles, as brutal tracked vehicles have an appeal to anyone who was raised on war films. Fortunately for me, The M35 Nova Terra Interregnum setting is way before any of that, so Rhinos are still the Astartes' default transport option. +

+++

+ Theoretical: the inspiration +

+ As with the rest of this 'childhood dream' project, the Rhino's intended to reimagine part the GW studio army, beautifully painted by Tim Prow (now of the awesome Diehard Miniatures [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+]). +

+ Pict capture from the back cover of White Dwarf #140 +
+ credit: Games Workshop +

+++

+ Practical +

+ The original model (above) is a lovely clean warm red, with large, bold geometric markings. To give it an 'apologist-style' makeover, my update is a bit more grounded and less striking. +

+ The scheme is a more muted red, to match the rest of my army. I've also used outline markings on the doors, rather than the large flat blooddrop symbol. This was partially because I wanted to keep as much of the red showing (I'm pleased with how it came out), but also because Forge World's Deimos-pattern Mk1C Rhino that I'm using has much more sculpted detail than the original plastic kit. I felt that working the marking into the recesses would have looked odd, as would leaving an odd cog-toothed line running through it. A military-style stencil outline seemed to fit nicely. +

+ As explained in the WD139 article, the white blooddrop here denotes that the Rhino is part of Third Company. Thinking about it, since I've made the minor tweak to include two small flanking blooddrops for that symbol elsewhere in the army (you can see this on the flag above), I ought to go back and adjust the door markings to include these. +

+ Coded symbols +

+ From left to right, the front shows:

• Army badge – the blue circle. I've used Vallejo Prussian blue to get a dark, desaturated blue for this.
• Squad marking – the boxed '1' marks this as Squad Raphael's transport.
• Chapter symbol – The winged blooddrop of the Blood Angels.

+ All of these are copied fairly faithfully from the original; though I've reduced them all in size slightly. The Army Badge has had to be bumped up a bit, as the Deimos Rhino has raised detailing where the original had a flat panel. +

+ I used blue-grey for the vision and targetting lenses here. I could have matched them to the marines' green/orange accents, but thought that a cool dead grey worked well for glass. +

+ The top shows the double-headed arrow that's a common Codex marking denoting a Tactical squad. Background-wise, Epic: Space Marine explained that these markings are intended to assist with orbital (or air-support) identification. A neat idea, and – I'm sure coincidentally – it's a brilliant place for easy reference during a game. +

+ To avoid a flat white look over the more battered red effect, I used a combination of stippling, negative painting (painting carefully to leave little gaps, rather than creating them afterwards), and two or three off-white hues to create a similarly varied and textured finish to the rest of the paintjob. +

+ Musing on this, sometimes paint detailing can really make a game run more smoothly – both for you and the other player(s). 9th edition makes it explicit that you must share what's in each transport vehicle. With this system of markings, it's easy to explain that the white '1' appears both on the transport (on front and back) and also on the banner of its sergeant and veteran. All the Codex markings help with clarity, which make real-world interaction a bit smoother. +

+++

+ Optional upgrades: Review of Zinge Industries' Rhino Upgrade Conversion kit +

+ I'm often guilty of treating transport vehicles as little more than upgrades to squads, painting and using them very much as an after-thought. However, this is a lovely model in and of itself, and I felt it deserved a bit more attention than I usually would to a tank. +

+ To put it another way, gothic warrior-monks from the far future might not have much need for heated seats or air-conditioning, but I added a few bells and whistles to (hopefully) make this über-familiar vehicle a bit more eye-catching. +

+ The most obvious additions are the grab rails and pennants. These, along with a couple of other details like the top hatch handles and storage crates, are missing from the modern plastic Rhino. I suspect this is partially because the plastic rails and banner poles of the original were notoriously fragile. +

+ I really wanted to include them on my re-imagined version, and in stepped Zinge Industries, which produces a Rhino upgrade conversion kit [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] designed precisely for this purpose. The kit comes with four resin grab rail ends; two lengths of plastic tubing to form the rail itself; a 'sprue tree' of various handles (giving you some options); two resin flags and two resin crates. +

+ It's a very cleverly designed upgrade kit, as it includes two oddly-shaped pieces of resin that fit perfectly into the recesses on either side of the sloping rear of the Rhino track units, creating a flush surface for the crates to sit on. You can see how cleanly and well-cast they are above: there's no filling there at all – just a dot of superglue to place it. +

+ You need to trim the styrene tubing to length, but you get a reassuring amount of it in the kit – I used just one of the lengths for both sides, so if you accidentally trim it too short, you should still be alright. +

+ Indeed, the quality of the kit is very good, particularly given the budget price (£8). All the parts are made from a sturdy resin that's a pleasure to work with: neither brittle nor soft. The kit is cleanly cast, with very little flash and no bubbles, distortion, shrinkage or other casting defects. +

+ The flags are perhaps a little thick, but that's a very minor criticism. I used some hot water to reshape the flags, and they responded very well. Here, the thickness was a virtue, as it meant I could twist them quite vigorously without the banner pole itself bending. +

+ There's a cheaper (£6) option, too, which leaves out the sprue of handles. If you're planning to upgrade a fleet of tanks, you might save a few quid by using different handles on each. The sprue tree comes with enough handles to outfit six tanks. +

+ In short, Zinge have produced a fantastic little upgrade kit that I have no reservations whatsoever about recommending. Affordable, well-designed, versatile and tough – a bit like the Rhino itself! +

+ inload: In which work-in-progress is revealed +

 + Revelation +

+ Indulge me on the portentous title to this inload; there's nothing hugely new here! However, it's a good demonstration of what's I've got on the blocks. +

+++

+ 'You ever been mistaken for a Cadian?' 'No, have you?' +

+ First off, sergeant 'Ripper' Jackson; the new Catachan sergeant. Lord Blood the Hungry was kind enough to pick up a box for me, as I was otherwise indisposed over the weekend. Absolutely fantastic little model; and if GW release a Catachan squad kit of this quality, I am in like Flynn. + 

+ A very nicely engineered kit, the joins are well hidden when you construct her. Loads of beautiful details, from the relatively crude bionics to the characterful expression and pose; Jackson just bleeds bad-ass. I'm especially taken by the integrated base, which goes a huge way to making her look at home in the jungle. A word of warning for those about to construct your own version of the kit – the fern is delicate, and one of the sprue attachment points is near the tip. I managed to ping the end off, and had a few grumpy minutes scrabbling around trying to find the tip of a plastic toy leaf! +

+ Jackson is going to join Inquisitrix Barbari Kills for a bit – but with a mind to a future Catachan project, her base won't match the Gatebreakers. I've long fancied doing a Kroot/Catachan/jungle 'thing'. Whether that ends up in two small opposing forces, a combined army of some sort, or merely remains a pipe dream, I do not yet know. +

+++

+ RH1N0 utility tractor Armoured Personnel Carrier +

+ Regular inloaders will know my dread/loathing/fear of painting tanks. Few of my usual techniques work, and I just find them a drag. As a result, when I was seized by the infrequent desire to work on one, I went for it! +

+ The tracks – and some other fun accessories – are not pictured, but are currently drying, too. You'll spot the Rhino's on a base: that's part of my plan to help frame the piece and to give it a bit of additional height. It'll still look rather undersized in comparison with the infantry, but hopefully not too markedly. The large oval size base seems to fit the Rhino well; not so large that it's obstrusive, but not so small it gets lost. +

+ Painting it was partly an exercise in trying new techniques, and partly a dry run for painting the Gatebreakers' Land Raider. I used stippling to build up the red here in the following layers:

1_ Vallejo Flat Red

2_ Vallejo Flat Red, Dryad Bark and Xereus Purple

3_ Vallejo Flat Red, Vallejo Off-white and cadmium yellow

+ Stippling – that is, holding a brush perpendicular to the surface and tapping it up and down to deposit subtle dots of paint – allowed me to build up some variation and visual texture without an air-brush style smooth gradient. I think the latter would be great for Eldar tanks or similar, but I see Space Marines as a bit more rough-and-ready. Some texture on the tank also helps sell it as a scale model of a battle tank. Big smooth flat surfaces can easily look toy-like. 

+ I use an old 20mm (¾in) flat brush, which had started to splay for the stippling, which sped things up considerably, and avoided the repetitive identifiable 'stamp' which you can get with a smaller or round brush. +

+ The metals were approached in the same way as my Iron Warriors [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], for a deep, dirty effect. +

+ From the details above, you'll note I've supplemented the effect with some edge highlighting. This throws some of the more important lines into contrast, and helps to make the model 'pop'. The lower left detail shows the glazed windows, a detail I'm absurdly – and quite disproportionately! – proud of. They were made with blister plastic glued to the inside with PVA (don't use superglue, as it can fog). +

+ The markings are still to go on; I'll use the original as a guide, but likely modify things a touch. The big flat markings look great on Tim Prow's clean, crisp original, but my grungier style is nowhere near as clear and accomplished. I think my work will be better suited to more 'realistic' stencil-type markings. There's a balance to be struck between making it recognisable and making it my own. +

+++

+ Legion Sumer-Nikator +

+ These moderati build on the collector's project covered here [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], and use all my favourite paints – Macharius Solar Orange and Hawk Turquoise (for the accents), Dheneb Stone (for the fatigues), and Charadon Granite (for the helmet, boots and so forth). +

+ Lovely little sculpts, these are unaltered. +

+++

+ Gatebreakers: Emblem +

+ The Eremite known as Emblem (above) has got some paint down on him. He's got to be varnished, and then I'll be doing a batch of burnt umber oil washes on him and the arms for the soldiers below. +

+ For the coat, I'm planning on using the same deep worn leather look I used on Nayam Shai Murad's coat [+noosphericinloadlink emdedded+], as this looks practical and utilitarian, and will also give some nice eye-catching contrast. +

+ Having lots of projects on the go can sometimes be paralysing; making you feel like you're not getting anywhere with any of them. Try to bear in mind that none of this is a job. There are no deadlines save those you set yourself; and painting should be full of enjoyment. +

+ inload: Librarian, Devastators and... er... something else +

+ Blood Angels +

+ Ecanus, Codicier +

+ Codicier Epigines El'Grigor, known as Ecanus 3:08 of the Withinlookmen +

+ A fairly simple conversion; I wanted to nod to the Librarian from 1991 [vizref: pictcapture below] by incorporating a back banner, and playing about with the pose a little. I think I'll add a little scroll in his open left hand to further cement the bond. I toyed with a Mark VI helm, as per the original, but it just didn't look right. I decided to run with an artificer helm that evokes some of the detailing of the original. After all, we shouldn't be slavish when converting. +

+ Besides the twist in pose and bits swapping, the left arm has been fairly subtly repositioned to look a bit more passive than the standard sculpt. This took a fair bit of trimming and testing for not much obvious result, but I think it was worth it – if I'm adding a scroll, I want the focus of the model to be on it. A sword held more tensely robs the pose of that focus. +

+ The only other thing of note in the conversion is the Mark VI torso – a simple case of scraping away detail and replacing it with other detail is part of what will make this model feel like part of the overall force. It's easy for character models to stand out in a bad way. +

+++

+ Devastators +

+ Woo; big guns! These two mark the final outstanding members of the line infantry for the army; leaving just the Chaplain and Medic to build. +

+ Just to demonstrate I am a glutton for punishment, the Mark VI cabling and detail is present on the bolter-armed marine; it's just completely covered up! +

+ I ummed and ahhed about whether to go with boltguns or boltrifles for the right-hand marine, and ended up going with the boltgun – mainly swayed by comments from the Bolter & Chainsword blog [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+].  +

+ Glad I did; he looks much closer to the source material as a result. +

+++

+ Other bits and bobs +

+ Besides Ecanus and the Devastators, I built another casualty, this time taken from the new Black Legion character Haarken Worldclaimer. Really wish GW would release some more casualties as a standalone. +

+ Finally, an 'assault' marine. Not the jump-pack equipped sort, but a unit intended to leg it across the battlefield spraying bolts into all sorts of nasty xenos. +

+ Likely counting as an Intercessor in-game, he'll probably be painted up with Assault markings. +

+ ...and finally +

+ Something I'm disproportionately pleased with: the glass panels in my Rhino. +

+ inload: Theoretical: Tanks and markings +

+ inload: Theoretical: Tanks and markings +

+ A column of armoured vehicles is an image likely familiar to anyone who watched movies about the second world war; and since 40k warfare is fairly similar, it's an image that works well. Above, a Land Raider Proteus leads three Rhino APCs across a peculiar landscape. +

+ Painting tanks +

+ The Land Raider's at an earlier stage, but none of them are finished yet. A quick rundown of the approach to painting I use for these:

1. Prime black.
2. Necron Abyss basecoat.
3. Dilute Mordian Blue built up in layers.
4. Space Wolf Grey added to Mordian Blue and roughly 8–10 layers of drybrush.

+ This is considerably different to the infantry, so I thought it might be of interest to explain why. Firstly, I usually use grey primer for infantry because it helps to produce a muted midtone. Tanks have lots of metallics and (because they're larger) naturally reflect more light. A black undercoat therefore makes sense to save re-painting the metals more than necessary. 

+ The Necron Abyss basecoat is used in place of the lighter Mordian Blue of the infantry  because I find it very hard to build up good highlights through wet blending on such large surfaces. So rather than shading down and highlighting up from a basic midtone (as I do with the infantry), I prefer to work from the deepest tone up to the highlights. Necron Abyss also has a sligthly purple gloss, which serves two purposes: it removes the necessity of using a purple wash (as I do on the infantry) which would be awkward and frustrating to apply on such large surfaces, and also gives a slightly different hue to the infantry's armour. To me, the Legion colour is heraldic, and should be reserved for the Astartes themselves – it's a potent symbol of their heritage. As a result, equipment (like small arms, support weaponry and tanks) are painted in a similar but distinctly different hue. This allows me to maintain a small palette without sacrificing the identity of the components. +

+ The boltgun, as equipment, is painted a different blue to the armour +

+ Getting a smooth midtone layer of Mordian Blue is useful, but not vital. Most real-life armoured vehicles aren't smooth due to wear and tear, so a little texture and variance in tone won't hurt the finished effect. That said, it's not an excuse to be lazy – obvious brushstrokes will still be clearly brushstrokes, and you don't want paint to pool or be too heavy. I use acrylic medium to help the flow of paint. You can use a (tiny!) touch of detergent and water to the same effect as long as you don't scrub (or you'll end up with bubbles). +

+ As an aside, construction equipment like cranes, lorries and diggers offer good reference material for tanks, as both types of vehicles are sturdily constructed and see more physical wear and tear than road vehicles. +

+ Drybrushing is a much-derided technique for highlighting, but ultimately it's just another tool. I think edge highlighting tends to be a bit too stark on vehicles at this scale, whereas proper drybrushing can bring out a more subtle gradation that reinforces the shape without exaggerating it. The trick is to use a large soft brush, and work as gradually as you possibly can –  you should not really see the effect until you've worked three or so layers, and even then it should be very subtle. If you get anything other than a 'smoky' effect on the surfaces – such as obvious paint marks or strokes – you've used too much. +

+ This side-on view neatly shows both how to do it, and how not to do it! The central door show how I've gradually reduced the area that has been drybrushed as I work up, so that there's a natural gradient of light. The upper part of the is slightly more highlighted than the lower part, and the repeated layers of drybrushing has naturally deposited a graduated highlight to the upper parts of the hinges and door, rather than a stark 'glow' of an edge highlight. +

+ The exhaust stack on the right (in particular, though the left isn't great either) shows exactly how not to do it! Here, I've had too much paint on the side of the brush, which has deposited in an ugly smear. I'll need to either clean up this area or work over the top of it at the weathering stage. +

+ Markings +

+ I've been a bit hesitant with the markings on these. I was hoping that Tempest would offer something that really leapt out, but the Ultramarines vehicles presented are almost in parade order, which didn't quite fit with the twin themes of the army – rugged old veterans and new recruits. Instead, I've fallen back on a few simple icons, but I may develop them further. If you've got any cool ideas, please let me know! +

+ The front shows the Legion symbol combined with the thunderbolt device (common to Terra and the Great Crusade) below the left-hand viewport, and a row of chequers below the right-hand one. In addition, there's a quartered circle, to which I may add a numeral or symbol. Please excuse the red on the plough. by the way; two of these Rhinos were from ebay and came with a (actually quite nice) World Eaters paintjob. I'll be repainting this bit when I come to approach the metals. As it stands, it provides a good basecoat. +

 + The rear hatch includes a Chapter marking (so this is a Rhino from the XV), and you'll notice a dark grey bar. Each of the squads of Praetors of Calth had a name: Apaesians and Ciconians, as examples, and I'm intending to paint the squad names on each hatch (for intra-Chapter reference). 

+ The other side, showing the black bar above the door. +

+ A final little note on the placement of markings and decoration. I think that details should be added so that they make sense in-universe. The only people likely to use the identifiers on top of a vehicle are aircraft and those on distant vantage points. Both would require large, simple icons, rather than fussy details. + 

+ Personal notes and specific squad information, meanwhile, would be used by foot soldiers etc. approaching from the same level, so they need to be on the sides and rear of the vehicle, probably on or near the hatches. +

+ The enemy should be intimidated by the use of striking iconography that proclaims the power of the vehicle and the warriors inside, so the front of the vehicle can receive Legion markings that show off – martial decoration and finery. More important or famous vehicles might have more decoration; perhaps painted or even sculpted on by Legion artificers, but for workhorses like these 31st Millennium Rhinos, I think a more spartan look is appropriate. +

+ Finally, in addition to these official markings, soldiers of all stripes have superstitions and traditions, so things like kill markings, mottoes and slogans can be added almost wherever there's space. However, I think these should be mostly kept relatively unobtrusive; and when you do apply them, remember that someone has had to physically apply it – so make sure it's in a position someone could realistically reach. + 

+ The tank below, from the Lamb's World LV, shows a scrawled 'No Hitchers' sign on the rearmost door at eye-level for a 28mm figure – doubtless some obscure in-joke for the crew. Note that the marking has been kept small and relatively unobtrusive. It's intended as a fun little detail for someone looking more closely at the vehicle, not something that's immediately obvious. For this reason, I'm been careful not to use pure white or black for any markings, as these extreme tones really jump out. +