WIP: Heresy Era Dark Angels Deredeo Pattern Dreadnought - Applying Decals

I wanted to round out the week showing off the Deredeo with more livery.  I put some time into transfers last night, picking out legion iconography and personal livery for the warrior entombed within.  A Terran veteran of the unification wars lies within this dreadnought.  This probably deserves a lightning bolt or two, but I haven't located the proper decals yet form my large and unwieldy collection.

For now, we have legion black and white checkers along with the legion designation and icon on the knees.  It is always fun to break out the ancient dark angels icons (the wings on the left knee) from the earliest GW sets for these Horus Heresy kits.

A unit designation and personal heraldry have been applied to the right side of the missile launcher unit, since this dreadnought does not have a proper shoulder pad. I will go back in and pick out the gold trip again, which barely shows up in the picture. I'm considering adding some skulls or other significant kill markings on the broad ankle plates.  I don't want to over do it though with the bling. :)

On the other side we have an honer mark (maybe from a past campaign?) and a tribute to the emperor and the Imperium (the Aquila). The Aquila is form the same old decal sheet as the DA icon.

And last, we have a tribute to the home world and the Sol system on the left underside of the front hull. With that, the allegiance of this veteran warrior should not be in doubt. I'm going to checkout some of the Custodes transfers and other bits I have about to see what I can come up with for crossed thunderbolts that don't look like they belong to someone else (like a Custodian :) ).  I might free hand this as well.  I'm not confident with my free hand skills, but let's be honest, we're talking about a couple straight lines in a simple pattern...what could go wrong?

That's how the Dreadnought will end the week.  I hope to wrap this project up next week by completing the base and remaining paint work; mostly highlights and detailing left.

Best of luck for your own projects.

Cheers and Happy Gaming!

WIP: Heresy Era Dark Angels Deredeo Pattern Dreadnought - Part 3

After a pause to indulge a distraction building HQ models for the First Legion, I got back to making progress on the Deredeo.  This started with Vallejo Game Color Ghost Grey highlights on the black armor.  There is a lot to highlight, and I'm not convinced I hit all of it.  Still, progress was made.  I'm pleased with my learning curve.  Since embarking on Deathwatch marines, then this first legion project, I've been slowly improving my edge highlighting skill.  It really is a "practice makes perfect" sort of journey.

I chose white missiles for the rack.  With red targeting lenses and red legion iconography coming, I felt red missiles might over due it. I was debating black tips on the missiles, but that might be getting too cute...also hard to get a nice consistent look for all of those missiles, I think, making the job look blochy if I don't get it right....we'll see. I think I'm likely to leave things well enough alone at this point.

Did I mention there was a lot of area to edge highlight? Sometimes I think this gets over done...yet still I carry on.  Been thinking about the power cables. Probably going with a simple dark rubber.  Also need to bring some interest into the missile launcher.  Lots of bare steel at the back now, even with the shading.  Like this profile, though.  The plasma weapons are coming out just as I had hoped.  More highlighting on the brass and steel soon.

Red targeting lenses picked out now. Also painted in the "head lights" above the canopy.  Basic white with a couple layers of yellow glaze.  Then a spot of white in the center and another layer of glaze.  The edge highlights advance as well, extending to the missile launcher and feet.  Wet palettes are great for this.  It helps so much to be able to leave the highlights for a bit to paint something else, then come back to them here and there with the paint still moist and usable, not drying out at all. Super helpful.

With the back of the dreadnought largely metal skeleton, it's important to bring in some additional color for interest and to pick out the mechanics a bit.  Here I've chosen to pick out the gears in a brassy metal to accentuate the portions of the model that move. Much more to do here, but it's a start. You have to love all the detail on the Forge World resin!  Remember this while donating organs to cover the cost...

While it feels like there is so much left to do, this model is actually very close to the finish line for me.  Soon legion iconography will be added, highlights and other accents completed.  The base needs paint as well and then this beauty will be mounted, sealed and ready to stride the battle fields of Heresy.  For anyone curious as to what delayed me from the last post on the Deredeo, you can blame the Praetor and his veteran coterie.

I got the building bug bad this month...

Cheers and Happy Gaming!!

WIP: Heresy Era Dark Angels Deredeo Pattern Dreadnought - Part 2

Progress!  I had less time this week than I planned for so I focused on painting the head and getting it attached, then worked on the key feature of the model - giant plasma guns!! :)

Glued temporarily to a pin, it was an easy matter to get the base colors painted in on the dreadnought's helmet.  Nothing fancy here, just a few brass accents to lend an air of special to this relic from the dark age of technology. In the end, the highlight on the center ridge of the helmet is a bit severe.  I'll add some layers of GW Nuln Oil to tone that down as I go, I think. For now, it's time to paint PLASMA.

I followed my usual recipe for painting plasma weapons.  Above the base coat of GW Sotek Green has been laid down.  As I was painting that, I though about all the silver on the weapons and decided I needed to tone that down.  So when I went over the armor panels with a GW Abaddon Black base coat, I also painted in portions of the plasma weapons.

Yes, that's looking much better.  Now there is a clearer view of what the overall model will look like. Next, I moved on to the plasma effects.  As I've written before, I prefer to infer a glow to the weapons without getting into a full on OSL effect. This helps the weapons stand out as plasma on the table without forcing me to get into light theory and what surfaces reflect what and where, etc.  OSL looks very cool when done well, but it's simply not something I want to devote time to at this stage in my painting hobby.

The coils are starting to glow! I used GW Temple Guard Blue as a lightly brushed on highlight across the top and partway down the sides of the coils. Then GW Baharroth Blue was applied similarly, only to a smaller area than the Temple guard Blue focusing on the center of the coils in a long oval pattern down the length of the coils. A 60:40 mix of GW Drakenhof Nightshade to Lahmian Medium was applied as a shade with any excess carefully wicked away.  I made sure to concentrate the shade to the frame of the weapon around the coils and didn't allow it to darken the coils too much, just enough to add some definition to the ribs. Regrettably, there was a lot of model slippage on the weapon arms that was going to be very hard to fully eradicate without completely screwing up the coils themselves. I'd likely have had to remodel them in green stuff or something.  This isn't a crystal brush entry, so I did the best I could with what I had. It's important to keep these types of things in perspective to avoid bogging one's hobby down and killing the overall fun, in my opinion.

After looking this over, I felt the muzzles too plain and decided to try out putting some of the plasma blue into the vents and muzzle of the weapons.  I used GW Temple Guard Blue for this so the plasma color would be clear, but not to bright/light in the vents.  I imagine this glow leaking down the muzzle of the barrels as they charge up to fire. I'll use some shades later to infer some heat damage as well, but haven't gotten to that yet.

Along the way, the head was glued in.  And I began painting the missiles in the launcher, but didn't get a picture.  I only have half the rack painted in any event.  I'm going with white missiles and thinking about whether or not to use red or black tips on them.  Hard to get that even across so many missiles so I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull of the look I envision. Check back next week to see what I decide.

For now there is the Fist Legion Deredeo getting ready to provide fire support to squads of it's brothers.

Cheers and Happy Gaming!

WIP: Heresy Era Dark Angels Deredeo Pattern Dreadnought

Greetings.

Today I return to the Horus Heresy era with an update on the First Legion Deredeo Pattern Dreadnought.  I had left the Dreadnought primed (mostly) and ready for painting.  I somehow missed the head, but that was easy enough to remedy.  I'm hoping this dreadnought will prove to be a solid support choice for the small 30K Dark Angels I've been kicking along.  I love the plasma weapons for the army, of course, and look forward to fielding this machine along side the plasma tactical support squad I recently painted.

The model will be mounted on a typical custom cork base to lend some presence on the battle field.  To match the rest of the force, the same mix of railroad ballast is used as blasted rocky ground cover.  After applying a coat of Vallejo Surface Primer Black, Vallejo Black Lava was spread over the top to mask the cork texture, and some small spots of additional ballast spread with it to tie everything together.

Then painting began on the Deredeo starting with the metals.  My goal was to get all the messy dry brushing and shading done before I set into the flat black panels and other details. After priming, the air brush was used again to lay down a coat of Scale 75 Black Metal to all metal surfaces.

Vallejo Oily Steel was then liberally dry brushed over all the same metal surfaces. The large plasma weapons are so iconic, they deserve some special attention.  Here I am using GW Tin Bitz (OOP) dry brushed lightly with Vallejo Brass. Any suitable Copper or dark copper color would work as well under a nice rich gold for the highlights.  I'm not going for gold here, but rather a bright brassy look.

A heavy coat of GW Nuln Oil Gloss was applied over all the metal surfaces, including the copper/brass portions of the weapons. This was left to dry overnight.  The weapons stand ready for final highlighting and their blue plasma effects. Then it'll be time to address the body panels with GW Abaddon black to restore the 1st legion livery. I'm thinking about applying some black/white checkers somewhere, probably a leg panel.

Check back later in the week to see how the project advances. Best of luck for your own projects.

Cheers and Happy Gaming!

WIP: Blades of Vengeance Intercessors

Greetings! 

In a fit of modelling productivity, I chose to spend this week building the remainder of my Primaris models.  The results are 21 Intercessors and another lieutenant (for a total of three I think...or maybe four :) ).  While building the Intercessors, I realized that I had forgotten that their bolter type matters, and the bits in the kit aren't just a stylistic choice. This led me to remodel a few and reorganize my squads.

First up is a squad of six Intercessors with Stalker bolt rifles (one with grenade launcher).

Then there are three squads of five Intercessors with standard bolt rifles (with a couple grenade launchers).  Keen readers will note that the third squad has three models with auto bolt rifles. I'm leaving them for now.  I'll use them as "counts as bolt rifles" or I'll run the squad with all auto bolt rifles to try 'em out if necessary.  I expect I'll add a couple more intercessor models at some point to fix the situation since I'd like to have two squads of ten when necessary. As it is, I've set things up to be three squads of five or a squad of ten and a squad of five. If I add five more with the right mix of weapons, I can end up with a squad of five auto rifles and two squads of ten bolt rifles.  We'll see...

Last up I built the clam-pack Dark Angels Lieutenant, minus the Dark Angels shoulder pad.  That was replaced with a standard Intercessor shoulder pad instead so I can lay down the Blades of Vengeance chapter badge instead.  Otherwise the the rest of the character trappings will fit the successor chapter motif just fine. I built my original Dark Angels sergeant for a Kill team and changed his weapon arm...so now I have two, one with bolt rifle and one with plasma pistol.

So that's it so far this week.  I have based everyone to match my existing Dark Angels, and primed many of the models.  Another priming session this week will see the whole force ready for a base coat of Caliban Green with P3 Menoth White Base for the shoulder pads. That will all be done with the airbrush across all the completed models. Then I'll break the project back down into squads for the rest of the painting.  I hope to use the airbrush to get the force looking basically like the Blades of Vengeance, minus the details.

Then I'll be taking a break to get back to my Legio Tempestus project.  I have based the two Warhound titans I recently built and once I get them primed, I'll start on all four of the Warhounds together as a single project.  Ambitious maybe, but it'll motivate me to get it all done.  Then I can focus on the House Taranis Knights, and at some point build that final Warlord, still waiting patiently in its box.

Also, I'm talking with a gaming buddy about a 30K campaign, so I'll need to get back to the First Legion as well.  We may do a re-imagined Prospero campaign where the 1st Legion were sent to bring Magnus to heel instead of the Wolves of Russ.  So I need to get my squad of five Sisters of Silence built and painted up to joins some Custodes in the fun. Lots of good projects ahead.

That's all for now. Check back in to see a good variety of WIPs over the next couple months.

Cheers and Happy Gaming!

WIP: Blades of Vengeance

Greetings!

This week I am stalling on putting the final touches on my AT Warlord to build out a small force of the Ultima Founding's Blades of Vengeance.  The Dark Angels have been my primary 40K army for two decades, but I wanted the new primaris marines to have some identity of their own, particularly as their rules and such begin to depart from traditional first and second founding space marine chapters. I think it will be important to have a stand alone force as a result, instead of relying on being able to mix them in with my first founding Dark Angels.

After building a couple squads early in the week, I dug through my bits and bobs to see what I could put together. Since I was initially building my primaris marines as Dark Angels, many had the embossed legion icon on their left pauldrons.  That had to go.  While a few pads easily popped off with some judicious application of leverage, others would not budge.  So a little knife work was required to carefully scrape off the parent chapter's symbol. I recalled a few legionaries from their kill team as well. So after completing a few more intercessors and Reivers, I now have a decent starting force to begin painting.

Here's a close up of the characters.  Missing are the various Captains/Masters who are in various stages of disassembly after getting some attention a few months back with the airbrush.  I have been collecting as many individuals as possible...cause it's what I do. :)

We're pretty much hip-deep in Lieutenants at this point, too.  No shortage of leadership for the Primaris line. But the requisite characters are present here (Masters aside).

Not sure about the Reivers in the game, but I enjoy the poses and look forward to painting them up. I had picked up a box of five so I could use one or two for a kill team. For now they have been recalled to make this squad for the Blades of Vengeance.

I'm using my traditional Dark Angels basing method for consistency when I field the Unforgiven as a single force.  Here, the Hellblasters I showcased earlier in my workbench post have been based.

I have a random mess of Intercessors right now, but as they get painted up, they'll from coherent squads, sharing squad numbers and what not.  A couple marines with grenade launchers were recalled from their kill team.  I had to remove the Dark Angel's icon from their pauldrons as well.

I'm left with a couple odd marines below.  But I have a few more intercessors left over from building the Deathwatch marines, so I'll be able to fill out a third squad of five for sure, and probably bring it to ten.  Not sure I will field three squads of ten, but I'd like at least 20 intercessors to divide up as necessary for games. Not sure about the green marine below...was he a Lieutenant? Not sure why I based a single Dark Angels intercessor. He may end of a Sergeant, who knows.

Also in the painting queue, but not shown here (yet) are a squad of three Interceptors with the bolt weapons from the Dark Imperium box.  I'd prefer the plasma...so I expect I'll pick up another box at some point.  All in all, quite a fist full of marines to get started with.  If I make decent progress over the next couple months, I'll reward the effort with a Redemptor dreadnought (probably painted for DreadTober 2019)...and we'll see what else gets released for the Primaris line in that time as well.  Oh...and let's not forget the Shadowspear  force waiting on sprue either.  Plenty of bodies for this new Chapter in my collection. Note that I'm fielding this force as a painting project and not a tournament army.  I hope they see a game or two for fun, though!

Also, this won't be a full time project, but something I'll intersperse with my other work to keep things interesting.  I want to make progress on my 30K Dark Angels, complete my Titanicus project and get more done on My Legio Custodes force...and make progress on the Deathwatch of course...oh, and I really must get the Blackstone Fortress minis painted up...and the Rogue Trader kill team...

Plenty to do...

Cheers, and Happy Gaming!

On the Workbench [April] - AT Warhounds and Primaris Marines

Greetings, and welcome to the workbench.  With #MonsterMarch3 drawn to a close, it was time to look ahead at new projects.  I like to take a break from painting here and there to rest the eyes and keep the hobby fresh.  This week I decided to complete some Adeptus Titanicus builds and then look at a way to use my Primaris marines from both the original 40k Dark Imperium boxed set, and the new shadowspear box.

I started by putting together my remaining two Warhound titans for Adeptus Titanicus. These last two Warhounds are armed to be a bit more multi-function than the two specialists I build previously. Hopefully they will be able to move about with more ease and deliver the Emperor's justice to all enemies of the Imperium of Man.  We'll see.  I also assembled and magnetized the new weapons from the Reaver weapon sprue I picked up recently.  These will give my Reavers some more personality and capability once they get painted up.

With these Warhounds complete, I have one remaining Warlord Battle Titan to build before completing my current Adeptus Titanicus maniple plans.  It's going to feel great once I have the whole maniple painted in Legio Tempestus livery.  It will also be my first fully painted army in all the 25 or so years that I've been involved in the hobby!  Something cool to shoot for.  I have painted many units and individual models, but never completed a whole force for any of the many GW games I have models for...

Which brings me to the Primaris marines I've been slowly collecting. I knew they would be new additions to the Unforgiven, and I even painted up a full squad of 10 hellblasters for the Dark Angels 5th Company. However, it's becoming clear in the fluff that Dark Angels like to keep their Primaris brothers more at arms length, creating new chapters for them rather than folding them into existing battle companies en masse.

So I'm going to put together a force for the new Primaris successor chapter Blades of Vengeance. I can pull units from this force to mix with my Dark Angels on the table, or field them as separate  detachments. And my desire to stay true to the fluff will be satisfied.  Here are a couple units I assembled this week from the original 40K Dark Imperium box.

Some Hellblasters will fit in very nicely with the Unforgiven's love of all things plasma.

An who doesn't love a squad of Intercessors? These new sculpts look great, even if they are all pre-posed. They were certainly a dream to assemble!  Once I get through the Dark Imperium Primaris models, I'll work on the Shadowspear models I picked up from eBay. Between the two, I'll have plenty of Primaris marines to field.  Then I'll look to some support vehicles, and maybe one of the new dreadnoughts. They are very cool!

For now, that's all from the workbench in April.

Cheers and Happy Gaming!