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...

Blood Angels: Combi-Flamer Sternguard

Yet another Veteran joins the ranks of Sternguard Squad Pyrrhus! This time, it is a young turk (NB - not literally a Turkish guy for you Americanfolk) wielding a Combi-Flamer.

I'm very much enjoying painting my blood-drop gems wherever I can. I'm a true convert to the benefits of gloss varnish!

This guy is slightly less detailed than my previous Veteran, but the Blood Angel, Sternguard and Command Squad kits offer enough interesting bits to make each of the models in this squad have something interesting about their person.

And here's the squad thus far! 60% done, and just two more guys to go. SPOILERS: it's another Heavy Flamer dude and another Combi-Flamer dude.

Blood Angels: Heavy Flamer Sternguard

The next little fella on my Blood Angel conveyor belt is this Heavy Flamer-wielding guy - another member of Veteran Squad Pyrrhus (so-called because I always seem to do damage but never actually win).

This is my first attempt at painting white in quite some time, and I was relatively pleased with how it came out. I ended up using a Vallejo light grey and just doing some white highlights. I also used a Biel-Tan Green wash for the lenses, which is another first.

I thought some hazard stripes and green cabling may add a bit of contrast to an otherwise red-heavy model.

And here he is from an elevated position. I tried to include as many of the details as possible on this model, so I made sure I used a bit of gloss varnish on things like the vials.

Meanwhile, I added a couple of final details to my Veteran Sergeant, such as some inkwork using a Micron pen on his scrolls and purity seals...

...as well as a memento of his Chapter's home system - Milou - devised as part of an ongoing narrative background with my gaming buddies.