Avenging Sons Sergeant Castines DONE

Well, I've finally done the first official power armored model for my Avenging Sons project, Sergeant Castines of 1st Tactical Squad. Big thanks to 'Dynath' for the design of custom Avenging Sons shoulder pads, which you can see in these pics. I love the tiny detail of the roman numerals on the bottom left and bottom right of the right shoulder pads especially. He did this work a long time ago (over a year!), and I'm only just getting around to using them... Thanks dude!

I'm using some Black Templar bits to help evoke the 'medieval knight' vibe I'm trying to channel for this army. I'm keeping the color palette very tight with most things blue, silver, or black. I'm pleased with this model and plan to go full speed ahead. Better pics and a play by play paint scheme are both forthcoming- this is just a few quick shots to show him off :)

Comments and criticisms most welcome- thanks for taking the time to pop by and check it out!

Valhallan Ice Warrior Test Model

Just got my very first test model done for a Valhallan army I've been wanting to do for a LONG time. I've slowly collected these old school metal models way back since I worked for GW, and now I'm at the point where I've got enough to do the army I want to do.

I also recently came into possession of a sample set of Army Painter paints, thanks to Bo at the Army Painter. This model was 100% painted with this range, and I have to say I think they're great. Here's my step by step- if you're interested be sure to check out Army Painter's web store or for local availability try Wolf Game Shop:

1. Prime model Black and allow to fully dry overnight
2. Airbrush basecoat of Ash Grey on greatcoat
3. Airbrush Matt White highlights on greatcoat
4. Cut small geometric shapes in masking tape, and apply to roughly 50% of the model
5. Airbrush Angel Green on the greatcoat
6. Airbrush highlights of Greenskin on the greatcoat
7. After a few minutes, carefully remove mask pieces
8. Paint Matt Black on the inside of the greatcoat, rolled up sleeve ends, coat edges, and all remaining parts
9. Trousers, helmets, rolled sleeve ends, inside coat, and scarves paint Angel Green. Since it's over a black undercoat, you'll get a darker tone
10. Highlight trousers, helmets, sleeve ends, coat inside, and scarves with Greenskin
11. All flesh, service caps, bedrolls, and satchels basecoat with Oak Brown
12. Highlight service caps, bedrolls, and satchels with Fur Brown
13. Highlight flesh with Tanned Flesh
14. Highlight flesh again with 50/50 Tanned Flesh/Barbarian Flesh, and then one more time with pure Barbarian Flesh
15. Matt Black cleanup painting. Black should remain on all boots, ammo webbing/pouches, coat trim, belt, fur caps, and weapons
16. Drybrush fur with Uniform Grey. Drybrush again with Ash Grey
17. Edge highlight remaining black areas with Uniform Grey
18. Paint all aquilas/eagles, buttons, weapon metal areas with Shining Silver. Follow with a wash of pure Dark Tone. Skull icons on standard troopers (lower enlisted) get the same.
19. For officers and sergeants, paint skill icons with Greedy Gold, followed by a wash of pure Strong Tone

For basing, it's the following steps:

1. Use PVA to glue a couple shale rock pieces down, with the remaining area fine play sand.
2. Prime in black
3. Drybrush with Fur Brown
4. Drybrush again with Skeleton Bone
5. Paint rocks Uniform Grey
6. Apply wash of pure Dark Tone
7. Once dry, drybrush rocks with Ash Grey
8. Stipple on areas of Matt White onto roughly half the base in patches- whatever looks good to you.
9. Apply a thin layer of thick paste to these areas made from a mix of Snow Flock, PVA glue, and water.
10. While the patches of 'snow paste' are still wet, sprinkle a little Snow Flock on top for extra brilliance.

It might read like a long list, but this is actually pretty easy. No particularly awesome painting skills are needed, and you'll get a nice wargaming standard that I believe pays homage to a classic paint scheme for these guys. Thanks for checking it out- comments, criticisms, and suggestions are most welcome, though please bear in mind I have to paint a little over 120+ of these guys for the list I have in mind!

Avenging Sons Chaplain DONE

Good news is that I've finished rebasing and touching up this Chaplain in Terminator Armor for my budding Avenging Sons project. He's been rebased and had his chapter icon changed from White Consuls to this:

Bad news is that I'm burnt out (for the time being, of course) on painting Sons of Horus. That project is going to wait until we get a few more people (including myself) sparked up again about Heresy Era goodness.

So, in the meantime I'll be working on these guys, as well as painting up a test model for my upcoming Valhallan Ice Warriors project. For that, I'm going to give a shot at using Army Painter paints for the entire project. Bo at Army Painter was nice enough to hook me up with some sample paints, and I plan to put them through the paces and see what they're all about. I've got them all laid out in my hobby rack, and I must say they are begging for a project! More on that later...

Avenging Sons Scout Squad Done

Foolishly, I've entered myself into not one but TWO army painting challenges. However, I'm looking at this as a positive, since I'll get two done (assuming I don't blow it), and it keeps things fresh without grinding on one paint job too much. I had a lot of fun painting these guys- some airbrush work for the fatigues and armor, along with some brush work over Hobby Night last night. I'm really loving the Vallejo Liquid Metal range of metallic colors. If you haven't tried them I highly recommend you do!

Sons of Horus Jetbike DONE

Well, the first one's all done. I'm pretty happy with it, and it shouldn't be too agonizing to get another four done in time for this Friday's Fast Attack Throwdown at Legio Malaysia. The model went together without too much trouble, though the pilot took a little maneuvering to get him in place.

Like the rest of the army, I kept the markings pretty sparse with a 'XVI' Legion number on the back left and an Eye of Horus on the front right. Decals went on without much trouble. I carefully ground off the Imperial Eagle normally on the prow- can't have those pro-Imperial images now can we...?

Having had some bad experiences in the past with the usual GW flying stand breaking too easily I made my own bases for these. I cut MDF circles matching the diameter of the flying base, and used brass tubing for the stand itself to ensure durability. Like everything else with a base, I used cork, Sculpey, and play sand.

Here's a few more pics I took- thanks for checking it out!