Greetings and welcome to
DreadTober, that time of year when a group of Warhammer hobbyists rally around to paint up something dreadnought sized. This year I'm painting a Primaris Invictor Tactical Warsuit for the Blades of Vengeance, a successor chapter to the Dark Angels. I wanted to add a successor to my Dark Angels collection and decided all of the new Primaris vanguard models would fit perfectly into a small force that I could ally into my main collection of Dark Angels space marines.
Week one is about the build, priming and getting stuck in with the project. The Invictor Warsuit naturally builds in these sub assemblies, without effort. The Warsuit cockpit is designed to open in a manner similar to the other Primaris dreadnoughts. So I decided magnets would be the way to go here so I could remove the marine and not be concerned that he'd randomly fall out while handling the model.
A simple 2mm x 1.5mm cylinder magnet did the trick nicely. Sure it damages the suit connection point for display purposes, but I expect to keep my marine in the cockpit most of the time. I could have glued a larger powerful magnet inside behind the seat, perhaps, to hide it. But this approach provides a firm bond and was quick and easy to do.
The same size magnet fit in the cavity at the back of the marine's torso...maybe I drilled it out a little bit? I should have taken notes...anyway, it does nestle in nicely. I used extra five-minute epoxy to fill the whole space and ultimately secure the magnet in place.
Here the drive is seen securely seated in the cockpit. Other than this simple tweak, the remaining model was assembled stock with no further customization. I did look into the bits box for some bling, but I felt my choices were all too specifically Dark Angels, and I don't want the Blades of Vengeance models to look just like Dark Angels with a slightly different paint job. The Blades are an all Primaris chapter formed from Adept Cawls machinations (Praise be to the Omnissiah), and so they lack the ancient traditions and rituals of the Dark Angels. This leaves them a little...plain...I guess, in my imagination.
Speaking of plain, here are the parts after a coat of matte black primer. I went with a rattle can, because I have a spray booth vented to the outside; and why not. It let me down this time though, and I got some texture and fuzzing, or dusting, in places. This bummed me out, and I almost switched projects for DreadTober. But thinking it through, I didn't mind the texture for a war machine. After paint and weathering, I don't expect it to ruin anything. it may actually add to the rugged feel of the machine when all is said and done.
In the title pic at the top, you can see much of the main colors blocked in. I used an air brush to first lay down the dark silver, then the other colors carefully (sort of) over top. Then I went back with the brush and touched up the over spray; that is something I really haven't mastered with the air brush. But practice makes better? Anyway, as I head into week two the remaining details will be completed, transfers added, and I'll shade everything. Then I'm guessing I'll be highlighting and cleaning things up during week three. I may find time to build out the base too, so that I can paint it during week four to complete the project.
That's the rough plan anyway. Any we all know plans seldom survive contact with the enemy, in this case Life(tm); so we'll see how it goes. Thanks for stopping by, and do check out the link at the top for more DreadTober goodness.
Cheers and Happy Gaming!
