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!

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!

Avenging Sons Dreadnought COMPLETE

   Well, after trying a few Tau schemes and not finding one I liked AND could be painted fairly fast, I've decided to make part of my overall Avenging Sons project my choice for the upcoming Iron Painter. Here's the list I'm currently thinking of:

Chaplain in Terminator Armor

8x Assault Terminators

2 squads of 10x Tactical Marines

Stormtalon Gunship

That's 30 models on the nose (the minimum for Iron Painter) and is itself a legal list, again as Iron Painter stipulates. In the meantime, I'm going to paint the remainder of the army so that when Iron Painter is done, I'll have a 1750 point army fully painted and ready for the table.

As always thanks for checking it out- coming up next will either be a small Scout squad or a Land Raider Redeemer...

My First Experience With "3D Printing"

Bummer.

That's the first thing that came across my mind after getting the miniature painted up to this point. Sadly, it's a disappointing conclusion to my first experience with 3d printing that was in every other way phenomenal. Let me tell you all about it.

I've heard for a while now about outfits that use 3d printing / rapid prototyping technology. I've seen pics before that looked pretty good, so I thought I'd jump into the fray. In my first test model for this army, I used a mask to generate the Avenging Sons chapter icon. The results are fine, but ideally I want raised icons on the shoulder pads. They look damn sexy and add interest- I think most Space Marine hobbyists would agree on this point. I felt out a friend for some sculpting help, but he's pretty slammed and hasn't been able to help me thus far. My putty skills are improving, but I was a little leery trying it out myself. So, while checking out the 3d printing thing I stumbled across a blog post that referred to an outfit called "Shapeways".

They're basically a "Cafepress" type business- you upload your design, and they manufacture on demand. After checking out a bunch of 40k goodies on the site I came across the virtual store front of user "Dynath", called Dynath40K. He's got a bunch of great looking stuff there, and in his blurb he suggests folks send him a PM if they have a particular design in mind. So, I dropped him a line and explained all about my Avenging Sons project and what I wanted done, along with a quote request for how much the design would cost me.

He promptly replied in less than a day, saying he'd be happy to do it at no cost, and proceeded to put up exactly what I asked for- a plain Avenging Sons pad, one with laurels, and one with laurels and a cool "Duty, Honor, Vengeance" pauldron extension thingamabob. The designs are SWEET. I was thrilled, and ordered a full set of everything along with some of his existing shoulder pads for Tactical, Assault, and Devastator squads. Shipping was a but pricey, so rather than order in bits and pieces I did the whole thing at once (cue the foreboding music of a bad decision's looming consequences).

When you order your bits, you have to choose a printing material/resolution. The default one is called "White Strong and Flexible". Ten pads made of this material is priced at 3.81 euros, which is about RM 1.52 or USD 0.48 per pad. The highest resolution listed as "Frosted Ultra Detail" comes out to 8.75 euros per 10, which is about USD 1.11 or RM 3.50 per pad. Not thinking it would make a huge difference, I ordered the default "White Strong and Flexible", with the sandy/gritty results pictured in these two pics. These are not usable shoulder pads.

I blame myself for this- I should've asked around more, and made a small test order first to see the resolution. Dynath was a CHAMP, getting those designs done so fast, just like I wanted them in record time. I highly recommend his customer service to anyone looking for that special doohickey for their 40K army. In the meantime, maybe I can use these for a Taros PDF Imperial Guard or Tau force to decorate bases, and let the texture represent corrosion or dust. They will definitely not work for my finished army.

So, what to do next? I think I'll try out one pack of "Frosted Ultra Detail" and see how that works out. If it is reasonably smooth, I'd be fine ordering another set and calling the first one a learning experience. If they don't I've got to go back to begging for sculpting help, or spending some serious time taking a whack at doing it myself. More to come on that front.

Other than that, I'm ready to kick this project off with some serious assembly work. After reading "Brothers of the Snake", I really liked something the Iron Snakes squads do with the "shoulder banners". Rather than having the squad sergeant bearing it like they did back in the day, for the Iron Snakes one member of the squad is a standard bearer and bears it instead. I'm taking that concept and using it for my Avenging Sons. You don't see those banners get used much anymore, and it would be cool to try out some free hand icon painting with laurels, scrolls, and the like. This test next model will have that very thing...

Avenging Sons Rhino COMPLETE

I figured I'd do a vehicle "test model" for the next thing, and I'm even happier with this than I am with the veteran I painted earlier. I think the bright scheme really pops, especially with the weathering. The Avenging Sons chapter symbol was done with green stuff. I cut a template from thick card stock, and then used heat activated mold material that Cool Mini Or Not sells to make a press mold. I did one for a vehicle sized one like this, as well as one that would work for a shoulder pad or small icon. The first attempt here could be crisper, but overall I'm really pleased with it and plan to continue.

The black sections of the Rhino mark it as 5th company, 1st Tactical Squad. Here's a few more pics- thanks for checking it out!

Avenging Sons Veteran COMPLETE

Well, with these pics I think this project is official! I love the paint scheme, it's something new, and it works will with the dark muted city rubble base. Up next, I'm going to paint a Land Speeder Storm that's been on my shelf since I bought it the week it came out. It needs a paint job, and it may as well be Avenging Sons!

Thanks for checking it out- C&C most welcome folks...

More Avenging Sons Progress (WIP)

After writing the script for the Turn 5 update of the Ghemehaal: Annilation series of videos, I went back to my test model for the Avenging Sons. Last night after my blog post I sprayed a gloss varnish on the model (Future floor polish through my airbrush), then applied cobalt blue oil washes along all the detail areas.

Today I did the cleanup of those washes with a brush and some mineral spirits, and then highlighted the blue with a 50/50 mix of VGC Electric Blue and White. I think I'll highlight one more time, very lightly, with pure white. It should pop nicely with that. For the first time I tried a bit of weathering with some scattered "chips" of VMC German Grey, highlighted underneath with the same 50/50 blue mix.

I painted the eyes, completed assembly, blacked out areas that will be black or metallic, and then sprayed VMA Matte Varnish on the model. I attached him to the base and called a night. I love the contrast between the base and the model- they really pop, and it will even more when I do the final white highlights and finish the remaining detail. I think this project is starting to get legs...

Avenging Sons Test Model WIP

Now, before you say something along the lines of, "What about your Krieg, videos, etc...?". I know. I know! I just can't help myself, and I've had this idea in the back of my hobby brain since the Forge World Taros Campaign book came out. I can't help but think that light blue marines on cityfight rubble bases would look SWEET! Tonight I used a mask I cut for myself for the cross crosslet chapter icon, and airbrushed a basecoat of VGC Electric Blue (with a little Vallejo Thinner chucked in there for flow). I love it! I'm going to finish this test model, and make the call whether I'm going to go off the deep end and start painting Marines again.

What do you guys think? Potential, or no....?