Sons of Guilliman tactical Squad

My second tactical squad for my Sons of Guilliman is done now, giving me most of a 1k army. I'm still not sure whether to build two rhinos for them or make some other vehicle or even build a scout squad to add to this group. I think part of me is balking at building and painting to rhinos with the white blue quartered color scheme.



One thing I tried differently was the way in which I built the layers for my white on this squad. Normally, I just paint Astronomicon Grey and then two layers of Skull White. This time I added in a layer of P3 Frostbite as well. It is a lighter, yet slightly bluer grey. Above is a comparison shot, with the sergeant on the left being from the first tactical squad. Honestly, i can't see the difference, so maybe it is an unnecessary step.



Lastly, here are some close up shots of the sergeant from both sides. I know my freehand isn't amazing, but I can definitely see it getting better in some cases. I'm just glad Im not doing a chapter of these guys, because by the time I did finish, I would have to go back and redo all of the freehand to a higher standard.

Ultramarines Third Company

Today I have my Ultramarines Third Company to show off. Originally, this was the kernel of my Ultramarines army, but the painting style I had when I started out collecting and playing 40k has changed a lot. A couple of years ago I decided to update and redo this company when the current Space Marines codex was released. It is also the only company to have two of the venerable dreadnought models in it (the only two I have actually); as well as being the first instance where I free handed iconography throughout. I also like the faux script many of the models have on their armor, it was something that was inspired by white dwarf at the time as a way to emphasize the stature of each space marine as a hero in his own right.

1000 Sons Terminator Lord

Though he has sat upon my painting table for a couple of months, I finally finished my 1000 Sons Terminator lord. I followed the same color scheme that i used for my first squad of 1000 Sons, with one addition, I used a 60:30 mix of Regal Blue and Ultramarines blue as a highlight coat, and then an extreme highlight of Ultramarines Blue. I like the look of it, and will probably need to pick up an empty paint pot so I can mix up a batch using Vallejo game color.



One element I like on this model are the Horus style eyes I added to the staff, forehead symbol and knee pad. I used P3 Ember Orange for the eyeball, with chaos black for the eye slit.



Though the base is somewhat pedestrian right now, with it's brown layers and grey rock. I think I will need to find something to add just the right touch of otherwordlyness to it that I want my 1000 Sons to have.

Ultramarine Vindicators

I thought I would show off my vindicators this go around. There are nine of them, and they are pretty much a study in the evolution of the Vindicator kit, as much as in my painting style. I own three of each type of vindicator, so there are three old style rhino chassis vindicators, three forgeworld vindicators and three of the new plastic vindicators. For the original three, I only used the tank commander once, and pretty much went all out on using the upgrades that came with the kit. Unfortunately this resulted in the hunter killer missile and storm bolter breaking quite often. I learned my lesson with the later vindicators and didn't glue down the cupola with the storm bolter attached.

Aurora Marines Captain

In a departure from my normal habit of just showing off finished models, I thought I would share a project I have been working on for about the last two weeks. Essentially, it is a Captain on a bike, though I intend for it to be an Aurora Marines proxy for Kosarro Khan as well. The army concept is an armored column, with space marine bikes for screening elements, and scout bikes as, well, scouts. The center will be three predators, two razorbacks with techmarines (one might be an iron father depending on points) and two land raiders. This is based on the blurb in the Space Marine Codex about the Aurora Marines having more Land Raiders and Predators than any other chapter.



The basis for the model uses a standard marine bike kit. I then added the plastic captain's torso and the bionic arm wielding a chainsword. I clipped the chainsword off and replaced it with the power weapon from the Assault on Black Reach captain. An Aurora Marines shoulder pad was also used on the right shoulder pad, and the eagle shoulder pad and iron halo from the space marine captain's kit were used as well.



Finally, I took one of the iron halo bitz from the terminantor kit and filed the skull down so it was smooth. I then attached it to the top of the space marine bike banner pole. Following which, I sculpted an helix to recreate the Aurora Marines chapter symbol. Then I sculpted a cloak onto the bake of the captain, I did this by making a square of putty and trimming it so that it looked like a cloak laid flat. I then affixed it to his shoulders (cutting a rectangle for where the backpack raises out of the armor), and then bent the cloak around the banner pole so that it had a dynamic, wind blown effect. My only dilemma now is whether to sculpt a pennon for the banner pole, or just use one from the scout bike boxed set.

The New Manticore

I picked up the Manticore when it was first released. I don't know who is designing GW models these days, but they are doing aces. This was the easiest kit I've had to build in a while, light years above the old chimera chassis. The old chimera is really what turned me off to IG, and one of the reasons my IG army is predominantly Valkyrie transported. Well that and I am a fighter jock, rather than a tread head (so GW, make more flyers).



One can see that i opted to model the driver's hatch closed. Since the model is essentially unlimbered an in firing position, it makes more sense than some dramatic pose of a driver about to incinerate himself as his rockets fly off into the blue beyond. I may make the lead Manticore (for apocalypse formations) have a driver, but in all probability it will just have the apocalypse comm upgrade.



To me, the Manticore, as well as the Hydra, are more rear echelon vehicles, and in my Cadian 212th army, they are more of an anti-air, landing pad defense force than a front line artillery unit. This is one of the reasons the Manticore looks so clean, it's spent its life parked near an airstrip waiting for enemy aircraft to show up so it can blast them out of the sky.



I primed the model black, then gave it a coat of Fenris Grey (a first in using the color for me, and I quite like its look). Then a layer of Shadow Grey, followed by an extreme highlight of Codex Grey. The rockets have Chaos Black, P3 Coal Black and an extreme highlight of Codex Grey. The nose cones are base coated with Mechrite Red, then Scab Red, Red Gore and an extreme highlight of blood red.