A Long Absence...

Crikey! It has been several years since I have touched this blog at all. The demise of Google+ and the rise of easier-to-access and easier-to-be-noticed social media platforms has somewhat put the kibosh upon this particular blog. Until now, I suppose. I'm hoping that perhaps I will just chronicle my ongoing painting ventures here, for posterity, and if anybody sees and/or enjoys it, then well bully for them!

So, what have I been up to since I finished that Razorback? Hmmmm... Well, I re-re-did my Blood Angels, I suppose! Insomuch as I re-based a fair amount of them to 32mm bases. I also added a load of characters to their ranks and even, latterly (because, of course, the previous post PRE-DATES Dark Imperium!) some Primaris Marines! GASP! So let's start with those guys in red...

Dreadnoughts, Troops, Elites, Characters and Vehicles all received some love as a part of my big push to get these guys finished off. My big aim was to get the army generally finished, so that I could pick up units here and there to play with as mini-projects. And I achieved that, I think.

I had a lot of fun with the Blood Angels as a whole. Previously, I had avoided models with overwhelming amounts of detail on them (which is hard with a Blood Angel army), but when I got stuck in it was lots of fun! This, however, was the beginning of my journey into the realms of taking-too-long-with-models land.

I am pretty envious of painters and hobbyists who are able to say "Right! I'm just gonna paint these dudes to a tabletop standard and just razz through them all." My backlog of models is such that I would dearly love to be able to be able to do this - even just to get them to basecoat stage.

I did end up selling off a large portion of the old army that I had. I came to the conclusion that I would never field the army in full, and thus I would never feel the benefit of them. In turn, I used these monies to fund new projects (more on them in posts to come!) and I relieved myself of the burden of an ENORMOUS to-do list.

I ticked off a number of boxes in terms of characters - Librarians, Chaplains, Apothecaries and Captains - so hopefully that will give me a whole range of different options whenever I decide to dust them off and get them onto the tabletop.

Vehicles, as well: my Land Raider, here; some Rhinos/Razorbacks and even my Stormraven and  Drop Pods got shiny new paintjobs! Hurray!

By the end of it, I was able to assemble a whole range of different detachments. A regular Battalion Detachment using the whole Troops and HQ combo, but also a couple of Vanguard Detachments - one to represent my Sternguard and Vanguard Veterans, and another to shine the spotlight on my Death Company.

Speaking of which, I then had the opportunity to paint up this Land Raider Achilles - an item I acquired in a Facebook trade many years ago, and which previously had been painted up as a Thousand Sons tank. Still haven't used it, mind, and this was a couple of years ago, now....

But great fun was had. Conversions were made, experiments were partaken of with painting techniques, new backgrounds were established... It was lots of fun. And this army is probably my finest 40K achievement to date.

For now, though, it lies dormant within the confines of a generously-sized KR Case. All 5000pts of it. Just waiting to be woken from stasis to fight on in the name of the Emperor.

THE EMPEROR PROTECTS!

Blood Angels: Rhino/Razorback & Squad

Hurray! I have not only finished my 5-man Tactical Squad, but I have also built and painted their lovely car Dedicated Transport - a Razorback! This one has been kitted out with a twin-linked Lascannon for a bit of extra 'oomph'.

I have tried to use the correct markings where possible, showing company designation and vehicle numbering.

I opted for blue for the lenses on the Lascannon turret as a contrasting spot colour. I think it stands out quite well.

Whilst the basis for the Chapter iconography is the traditional black winged blood drop, I have added a little splash of colour to the drop itself to tie it in with the detailing on the Marines.

Etc etc.

For a bit of added flexibility, I built the Razorback so that it could be retro-fitted to turn it into a Rhino. Whilst a Razorback is currently ideal, my ultimate aim is to build (if not run) ten-man squads, so they need some bigger wheels.

Here they all are, showing off their new ride.

Blood Angels: Tactical Marines #2

Here are some more Blood Angels Tactical Marines for you, pilfered from the Betrayal At Calth box. As with their predecessors, these chaps are well-weathered and battle-damaged.

The glazed blood drop is the recurring motif for my army, and will be the motif of my Successor Chapter, the Scions Of Sanguinius.

For the Plasma Gun, I used a different technique to usual, and used layers of grey with a Biel-Tan Green wash over them for the power coil. it works pretty well, I think, and complements the lenses on the helmet.

Ditto below with the blood drop motif...

I have taken the time whilst doing up my Tactical Squad to revisit my kitbashed Captain that I did a while ago. I repainted his angel wings black, and made the gold colours bolder and less brassy. Once again, I think it works pretty well, and it ties him in with the grunts.

Previously, the blood drops were purple, as well, so revisiting him allowed me to bring that in line with everything else, as well.

Blood Angels: Tactical Marines

Bonjour! Long time, no see! It has been a long time since I posted anything here, which has been down to a number of different factors - a mini-Primarch, a trip to Japan and Christmas have been the major ones - but I am finally trying to get back into my hobby groove by revamping my Scions Of Sanguinius Second Company.

Whilst the Veterans of the First Company (or some of them, at least) featured last year, and are crisp and shiny, these guys will be a lot more rough around the edges, and will all be encased in venerable MkIV Power Armour (courtesy of the BaC box set and some Blood Angel Upgrade Packs).

I have continued using the Vallejo Fire Red as a base colour, with Citadel Jokaero Orange for highlights. This time, though, I have decided to water down my Agrax Earthshade so that it doesn't overpower the miniature.

I really like the BaC Tactical Marine set. The details are crisp and clear, and the reinforcements on some of the greaves and shoulder pads is reminiscent of the Rogue Trader era stuff. I approve.

For my Second Company, I am going to work on two basic five-man Tactical Squads to start off with, along with their dedicated transports (interchangeable Rhino/Razorbacks), and then pad that out with an Assault Squad and a Devastator Squad to form the spine of a Blooded Demi-Company.

I find that the Blood Angel Upgrade Packs have a LOT of treats in them for the price that they are pitched at. GW are onto a winner with those smaller packs (sub-£10) that allow you to add character to your force. I'd like to see the Space Wolf one.

Because I am integrating these guys into an existing force, I opted to mount them on 25mm bases, rather than 32mm bases. My opinion on the 32mm bases changes from week to week, but I find that 25mm bases are perfectly good enough for Tactical Marines.

I'm using Biel-Tan Green as a spot colour for the lenses on the Marines, which hopefully contrasts nicely with the Fire Red.

Ah! The nostalgia of old, MkIV power packs! These are eerily reminiscent of the power packs that the old plastic Plague Marines used to have.

Here my first two Marines are, in all their MkIV finery.

Blood Angels: Sanguinary Priest

Rounding off my month of Blood Angels (even though it snuck into September), here's my Sanguinary Priest. This guy was a bit of a radical departure for me, insofar as I followed (most of) the Citadel Painting Guide in the Sons Of Sanguinius book, rather than just drawing inspiration or taking onboard advice or tips.

Obviously, I did a headswap, which made some things a little different, but otherwise I tried to remain faithful to the instructions. This was pretty hard for me, as throughout the whole process - which was done very much in a step-by-step and piece-by-piece manner - I was resisting the urge to just COVER EVERYTHING IN AGRAX EARTHSHADE! That would have made life so much simpler... But probably wouldn't have been so good for the whites.

I will say this much... I will never... EVER... start a White Scar army. Painting this guy's white power armour, with all of the different stages and layers was pretty painstaking. Not for me, thanks!

The Sanguinary Priest model is rich in detail, and whilst it's an expensive model (as all of the clampack characters are these days), it's a lot of fun to paint if you enjoy bringing out the hidden gems within the sculpt. The chains, vials and blood-drop gems provide lots of points of interest.

And of course, there is always the fact that these guys are none-too-shabby on the battlefield! I don't think I'll be painting another one of these anytime soon, but it was fun whilst I focused upon him.

Blood Angels: Sternguard Flamer Squad

FINALLY! The Sternguard squad is now finished, replete with a healthy mixture of Heavy Flamers and Combi-Flamers. The fact that Heavy Flamers aren't actually heavy weapons means that these guys are a good, mobile anti-infantry unit - particularly if you shoot them into the heart of the action in a Drop Pod!

Here was the final piece of the jigsaw - my second Heavy Flamer Veteran. As I've worked my way through this squad, I feel I have picked up a few new skills, and so this guy was perhaps the most pleasing.

Once again, I enjoyed the depth of detail in the Blood Angel kits - both the Death Company and Tactical Squad - as well as some of the treats from the Sternguard kit.

Here are the other chaps to show the rest of the squad in all of their finery...

Blood Angels: Combi-Flamer Sternguard #2

And so this mini-project draws closer and closer to its conclusion. Four of the five Sternguard are now complete, and I'm not ashamed to say that I'm looking forward to the next project already.

I love all of the detailing on the various Blood Angel kits, but sometimes you just want to bash some models out fairly sharpish. I'll be pleased to see this squad completed, though.

Once again, I've enjoyed the smaller details on things such as the blood-drop gems and vials on this model.

And here is the collected group of them to date. What's the collective noun for a group of Blood Angels? A drench? A glut? Answers on a postcard, please...