New Major Project: Decal Squad Markings

Thanks to Josh Muma of Bedlam Creations, I am about to do something that I’ve always wanted to do.

I’m completely re-doing the shoulder pad squad markings for the entire Azure Flames army.

Bedlam creations helped me to set up a very large decal sheet with roman numerals 1-20 in all of the colors of the companies except orange and purple (they wouldn’t fit).

Due to the complete coincidence of Bedlam Creations being so close to me, they shipped incredibly fast. I got them today and took them for a spin on the new Indominus models I’ve already painted.

Only the green is shown so far because all of my Primaris marines are going to belong to the 4th company. Soon, though, I will intersperse labeling the other squads in my box. Once done with my current Firstborn Sergeants, I will now work on alternating between Indominus and already painted squads to replace shoulder pads.

On a more practical note, even in a good case, paint jobs and models suffer wear and tear. I haven’t done a full-case maintenance job for half a decade and it’s long overdue. This is the perfect opportunity.

If other things go well, Firstborn marines may even get a base size upgrade, if that seems like a good idea. It doesn’t now, but it may in the future.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HOW DOES MY PLATE ALWAYS STAY SO FULL? Too much ambition!

Next: Firstborn Sergeants and then a special Indominus surprise! Some old friends are coming back!

Indominus Primaris Chaplain

One more of the Indominus box set done.

This chaplain proved to be a bit of a challenge. First, when clipping the backpack from the sprue, the back of the skull at the top snapped off! It was not able to be bent back or repaired, so I had to completely remove the pole that held the crowned skull and replace it with plastic rod. Mine will be a bit taller than a normal Indominus Chaplain as a result.

During painting, my sub-assemblies were:

• Base
• Legs, head, and Crozius
• Front torso and bolt pistol
• Backpack

Next: Firstborn Sergeants for Tactical Squads. After that, if I get a shipment from my LGS, I’ll do Bladeguard Veterans. If not, probably the Lieutenant with the Volkite Pistol. Stay tuned!

Multiple Meltas

…and with that, I have four of every heavy weapon for Devastators painted! It’s been a while, almost 21 years.

My initial Devastator project had me buy four sets of the old Devastator box. Most of my Devs are those old half pewter minis. I never did Multi-Meltas because until now they were kind of awful.

Now these gentlemen are going to pile into a drop pod or outflank, and rain hell on some poor Knight or tank column.

Next: Indominus Primaris Chaplain! I already have complaints, and he’s barely off the sprue!

Firstborn Devastator Grav Cannons with Grav Amps

I am painting these side by side with some Multi-Meltas. Those are almost done. Then, I’ll go back to Indominus. Probably try out a character. My next Indominus project used to be the Bladeguard, but I have a special conversion in mind for them which requires some time.

Primaris Outriders: a critique of the sculpt compared to the old Space Marine Bike

Primaris Outriders are finished!

These models were quite annoying to assemble and paint. Due to the overlapping armor plates, I did a sub-assembly procedure as follows:

• Central bike body plus wheels
• Left Bike Armor, leg, and exhaust
• Right Bike Armor, leg, and exhaust
• Torso, head, and arms
• Backpack
• Chainsword (one model only)

My initial gripe was that the pins that make this model a snap-together break exceedingly easily, especially the thin pins that slot into the larger pins for the side armor. However, I consider this to be a blessing rather than a mistake. If you are building these models, BREAK THESE PINS OFF. You don’t need them.

My sub-assembly procedure was also not a good idea for this snap together in terms of pieces fitting. Before priming, the model dry-fit together snugly. With the added layer of primer, these became too tight to fit without a pin vise gently scraping the inside of the holes. Even then it was so tight that excessive force was needed.

Excessive as it was, it was not enough for the front armor plating. All three models had to have a gap in this plating filled with green stuff and filed smooth.

I also had trouble with the incredibly thin join between the foot/pedal and the side armor. This bent a bit too often. If I had to do over, I might have used a modeling knife to completely separate these two parts. It would have made painting and assembly easier.

As a final note, I’d like to compare these to the original Space Marine Bikes. Here is a stock photo below:

The old bikes were 90’s sculpts, and it shows. What doesn’t show is that these bikes had a similar problem to the new Primaris ones. The halves of the main body met in the middle, sometimes leaving a gap that needed putty. Not shown in this stock photo is the join of the riveted armor moulding where it comes together on the back of the bike. This was almost always mis-cast. The moulding itself was annoying to paint (I like the lack of it on the Primaris models).

All in all, the new Primaris are a huge step up from old bikes. However, they still have significant flaws. Use caution and think ahead when assembling and painting yours.

Next: I like the idea of alternating between Primaris and Firstborn. I’m going to finish up my Devastators with Multi-Meltas and Grav-cannons. With Multi-Meltas having 2 shots at D6+2 damage, I can revive my old failed Melta drop strategy to assassinate a knight (or two!) Plus with two wounds on all firstborn, I’ll need those Grav Cannons in working order.

Intercessor Interruption

So, recently I finished my Eradicators and wanted to find a place for them in my case.

When I opened it, a squad of half-painted Intercessors glared at me, accusingly.

Fair enough. I started painting these when I planned to use them on a vacation to visit Lexington of Red Wunz Go Fasta (and soon the owner of a new Space Marine Chapter: The Ashen Swords). However, COVID happened and then a lot of other stuff too, which made me less inclined to paint.

However, I’m back in the saddle and pleased to present the squad, finished!

The Sergeant’s hammer and brassiere are from the Salamanders Primaris upgrade sprue, and the flame is painted with the new Talassar Blue Contrast paint over white, with a bit of drybrushing at the edges.

From a modeling standpoint, I’ve painted three Primaris units, and I noticed a significant difference from the design philosophy of the older Space Marines.

Firstborn Marines are, of course, multi-part which allows greater posing and customization. You can choose to add grenades, pouches, or holstered pistols at your discretion.

Primaris Marines are mono-pose. They’re going to look a bit same-y in larger armies (which should be combated with extensive conversion IMHO). Also, they have pouches, pistols, etc, sculpted directly onto their belts. While this takes away your choice, I have to say these pouches look more real to me. The older glue-on pouches never perfectly matched the curve of the waist, and always left a bit of a gap at the front or back. These look like they’re really on the belt, which is a bonus.

Next, more Indominus marines! I may even get off my ass and do an old-fashioned On My Plate post!

Indominus Part 1 – Eradicators

Got the Indominus box and decided to go with my love of Gravis armor first. Here are the Eradicators!

Oh, no. Wait. That’s THE Eradicator, the menace of squash courts everywhere.

Here are MY Eradicators.

These are much nicer than the Aggressors. There’s not too much detail and they don’t have random relics hanging in front of their junk. But they are detailed enough to be interesting visually.

Next: Outrider Bikers!

Painting Competition entry: The Star Cyclones

A while ago at AFK Games, when contrast paints came out, they passed out some easy-build Intercessors, and had a painting contest.

I was called away before finishing, but came back to finish the next day. I wanted to challenge myself…

…with orange.

Not a lot of chapters are orange! So, I did it. Here is an Intercessor of the Star Cyclones chapter.

Next: Indominus Marines!

Bio-Plasma Beauties and Tyranid Paint Scheme

I converted up some Drone ships with Bio-plasma, and dropped more than $45 on contrast paints! Time to get going!

Below, see my first three test subjects.

To the left, my first attempt. This is a base spray of Wraithbone with straight Shyish Purple for armor, Gulliman Flesh for the body, and Mephiston Red for details. However, the colors were too dark for my taste. I tried a simple highlight of edges with a vallejo brand magenta but it didn’t do anything for me.

To the right is my second attempt. After picking up some Contrast Medium from AFK Games in Holt (door service, I maintained social distancing) I mixed 50/50 Medium with the purple and flesh. This was too light. Mephiston Red was not dilluted.

Finally in the middle, is a mix of 2 parts purple or flesh to 1 part medium. Like Goldilocks, it is just right, but without the home invasion or devouring children.

Next, I strip the non-standard minis above, re-prime them, and finish the squadron, then on to the rest of the fleet!

Tyranid BFG – More ships and Design Philosophy

In my last post, I showed off the members of my Tyranid fleet that I could make with just spare bits. However, I did not have the materials to make something as big as a Hive Ship and I quickly ran out of flying bases.

To badly paraphrase Tolkien, “the fleet grew with the building.”

It’s sort of out of control because I’ve been ordering lots of bitz from ebay to shore up where I was deficient.

Now, here are the latest additions:

First, some Krakens with torpedoes.

Next, Krakens with Feeder Tentacles

I added on to one of the previous cruisers to model its torpedoes and add some antennae.

Now, for the chonky bois: Hive Ships! My first has 8 Launch bays and 8 Torpedoes. It is a bit hard to see with the grey, but the underbelly is studded with Genestealer armor plates that represent orifices from which lifeforms can launch and/or be born.

Next, this Hive Ship has nothing but Pyro Acid to make sure that I don’t immediately lose against Eldar.

There’s more to come, but before I share them, I wanted to touch on the design philosophy I am adhering to during this project:

1. All ships will be made with plastic bitz from the Games Workshop Tyranid line. No finecast (too bendy) and no pewter (too heavy). Epoxy putty sculpting is acceptable only to fix flaws in the conversion process (this is a kitbashing project, NOT a sculpting project).
2. Ships with different armaments will look noticeably different to aid in play (i.e. no using generic looking craft and using “counts as” to explain their weapon loadout)
3. Hive drones will use the Termagant or Hormagaunt bodies as a base, but all other ships will lack uniformity from class to class or type to type. This makes the fleet more visually diverse.
4. Ships must be converted in ways that do not look easy or cheap. (i.e., no pinning a Fleshborer to a flying base and calling it an escort)
5. Ships must look like they can navigate in the void. (i.e. they must have some sort of thruster looking area and ways to turn. They must look like they belong in the void.)
6. No wings. Only Eldar can sail the solar winds. Nids are nowhere near that graceful.

Using these guidelines, I hope to have a final fleet of:

• 2 Hive Ships
• 4 Cruisers
• 24 Hive Drones
• 7 Vanguard
• 16 Krakens

Note that as I acquire more bitz from low-cost auctions and/or get more flying bases that these numbers can be adjusted upwards.

Next: the last of the Tyranid fleet for now and the beginning of painting them, plus painting Primaris and updates on other projects!