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. 

Blood Angels: Sternguard Veteran Sergeant

So, from the slapdash methods of painting Plague Marines, to the rather more detailed and precise painting of Blood Angels. My first task is to get this flamer-based Sternguard squad painted up, starting with their Veteran Sergeant.

I used a lot of the guidance notes from the Blood Angels Painting Guide to help with this chap, and I was met with a mixture of successes and... not failures, as such... but things, perhaps, that didn't quite offer the end product I was looking for.

Most notably the gold. Previously, I had just slapped on Vallejo Bright Brass (a lovely colour), but I thought I would try out the Balthasar Gold / Gehenna's Gold / Silver highlight combo. It came out a bit too orangey for my liking, but I shall persevere.

As with all Power Fist-wielding models, this chap comes across a bit 2nd Edition-y, but I can live with that. There is enough detail in the model to hold my interest.