WIP: Heresy Era Dark Angels Legion Champion - TO DONE

"What did you call me?"

This knight settles all scores for the Legion where slights to their honor are concerned. he began life humbly as a largely stock model from Forge World. And now he is DONE.

The large two-handed sword was already a great representation for the Terranic Great Swords used by the First Legion. He'll cleave through much with it, I hope.

A Dark Angels mk.IV shoulder pad signals his allegiance.

Great pose, and the custom base when melded with my usual ground cover will provide some visual interest and height when he is set among his brothers on the table or in the display case. While priming the model, I realized that...something...was...off. This champion of the First needed something else to help him stand out. How about a new lid??

Ah...now THAT'S the ticket.  Perfect.  Ok, I admit this has become a cliche' mod for Dark Angels models in both 30k and 40k armies.  It is still iconic, and I HAD to have it.  Where better than a Legion Champion then?  To be honest, I built the helm for the Praetor, but the swept wings run afoul of the high collars on all the command models I have. The champion is basically made for it, however! S I primed that too and got on with the paint work.

Yes, better.  I followed my paint recipe (see tabs above) for the model and made great progress in a single session.  This was my first model painted using the GW handle.  Very secure hold and worked well for me. Still something to get used to, but it did not hold me back at all during the first session with it.

GW Agrax Earthshade was still drying on the base in these pics, the last step before I called it quits for the session.  The broken masonry is painted in relatively light colors to help the champion stand out.  I wrestled a bit with how to paint the wings.  I originally was going to paint them as entirely whit, then felt I'd get a better armored look if the steel trim continued from where they meet the brow and sides of the helm.

Another veteran of the Unification Wars, this warrior was honored in service to the Emperor of Mankind and bears the eagle head backpack to prove it.

During the final painting session, I completed the highlights and worked on the base and power sword. The base was highlighted, the shaded with additional coats of GW Athonian Camoshade and GW Biel-Tan Green.  These were painted in the cracks and over areas I wanted to appear as moss\lichen\etc..

The power sword was a bit of an experiment. I didn't want this to appear as the same blades as my Custodes.  I wanted more of a true sword look with perhaps a bit of a powered halo.  So I took to highlighting the blade with GW Baharroth Blue and shading it with layers of GW Drakenhof Nightshade, being careful to pull away any shade puddles that threatened to darken things too much in any one area.  A final edge highlight of Baharroth Blue insured that there was still a light glow at the edges and tip of the blade. 

I don't love the power sword, but I don't hate it either.  I got most of the way to where I wanted to be.  The shading is perhaps a bit to splotchy on the blade.  Probably should have tried thinner coats and used more patience. The main thing I achieved was to prevent the blade for sticking out too much on the model.  With the brilliant gold Custodes, this is not as much an issue.  On this dark model, I was concerned the blue power effects of the Custodes blade would over whelm things and stick out too much.

The winged helm is right where I want it though, cliche' as it may be.  So there is is.  Another (small) project in the DONE column and a completion of the 1000 points of HH Dark Angels I set out to paint in January.

I'll close with a few gallery shots of the model in the light box.  From here, I'll move away form the First Legion and return to the Legio Tempestus while I complete the four Warhound Titans waiting in the wings.

Cheers and Happy Gaming!