Last Two Librarians

For the last two Librarians, I had already decided one would be a Blood Raven. The second took me a while to settle on, but in the end I went with an Executioner. In the end, it was because I like the Executioners so much as an army that i made that choice.



I continued to stick with the codex color scheme for the last two Librarians, painting their armor predominantly blue using my Ultramarines color scheme. The Blood Raven already had the chapter insignia sculpted onto the pad, so I just had to free hand a blood drop on it to finish the insignia. For the Executioner, I outlined it with a Micron Pen, and then filled it in the P3 paints as I have been doing for red.



I've kept the paint schemes pretty much the way I have been doing things, but I have been using new brushes. AC Moore had some on clearance a couple weeks ago, and I was able to get a fine point brush and a flat brush that's in between a tank brush and a base coat brush, but has a nice flat edge to it. For $1 each they've worked out quite well so far.

James Swallow's Red and Black

Today, while painting I listened to James Swallow's Red & Black. This is an audio drama about a Sister of Battle, Celestian Miriya, who is charged with deciding whether a world recently emerged from a warp storm is worthy of rejoining the Imperium. But it isn't just a question of Chaos infestation, for the world has replicai on it, vat grown clones created with human DNA to be powerful warriors, or something else? I enjoyed the story, it has a lot of moral dilemma elements which 40k novels typically don't and underlines the harshness of the 40k universe as a whole. If you are looking for an entertaining listen, give this a try, whether it be for a long drive, work commute or painting music, it is a good audio book.

Blood Ravens Vindicator

My second attempt at a Blood Ravens model is a vindicator tank. One thing that makes it a bit difficult to paint, is the lack of the dozer blade. Why, well now everything is open to be seen, and for some reason, the turret for the demolisher cannon isn't sitting right, or at least not how I imagined it should from memory.



I mainly used P3 colors for this model, painting a layer of Sanguine Base, then two layers of Sanguine highlight, and a extreme highlight of Khador base. This gave the tank a nice dark red color that I wanted. For the silver, I did layers of GW Boltgun Metal, Devlan Mud and Chainmail. For the bone, I did layers of P3 Hammerfell Khaki, GW Devlan Mud and P3 Menoth White Base.



Finally, I used a Micron Pen to draw the Blood Ravens insignia on the tank. While I usually do this to create a rough approximation on the model, I wasn't really happy with the initial efforts. I then used GW Chaos Black to paint the ravens, filling in any attempt at feathers as they looked to sloppy. I used the same red colors as above for the blood drop, bu the final main color was a coat of Khador Base, with a dot of Khador Highlight in the center. Overall, I'm happy with the model, though I am more seriously considering picking up the Blood Ravens transfers from Forge World. I'll have to wait and see, as I do have a tactical squad and a Scout Squad waiting to be built and painted.

Land Raider Achilles

I finally got my Land Raider Achilles in the mail the other day. All of the crazy hours I had to work during October paid off - literally - and allowed me to get the one model I've been jonesing for for over a year. There are only eight resin pieces for this model, and using them essentially seals the land raider so that any interior detail cannot be displayed. I'm still debating whether or not to bump some other models back in the queue so that I can build this and prime it. But I haven't made a firm decision yet. It looks like a great build, and I can't wait to get to it.

Blood Ravens Librarian

The first librarian I decided to work on was the Blood Raven Librarian with the storm shield. I wanted to see how the blood raven insignias that I sculpted came out. Plus I thought it fitting that the first Blood Raven I painted would be a librarian.



For the paint scheme, I stuck with Regal Blue, Ultramarine Blue, a 50:50 mix of Ultramarine Blue and Ice Blue, and then an extreme highlight of Ice Blue as the main colors. I also used this layering for the purity seal wax. For the red, I used P3 Sanguine Base, then Sanguine highlight, with an extreme highlight of Khador Base. I chose to make the eyes green, and used Snot Green, Goblin Green and a dot of Scorpion Green.



I chose to stick with a muddy basing scheme, using Scorched Brown, Bestial Brown and Snakebite Leather as the colors. This is painted over a mixture of varius coarseness of ballast.

The New Necron Codex

I've had the new Necron Codex since it was released last week. I was highly disappointed that the October was just a sneak peak and not the actual release, so I spent the next week just wondering if I should by the thing. After all, I still don;t own the Dark Eldar Codex. In the end I picked it up, the fluff changes that were teased on the web were enough for me to buy it. I was never a big adherent to the original fluff, and I feel like this new retcon/fluff advancement is a much better fit for the army. It fleshes out the changes that Fall of Damnos showed us, and makes the Necrons both a more powerful, but more flawed race as well. What I liked about the codex was the more egyptian theme coupled with the idea of levels of intellect throughout the Necron hierarchy. I also like the downgrading of the C'tan from all powerful beings, to fragmented beings who have unique perspectives, making themselves the only limits they have - well that and the fact that most of the shards are imprisoned by the Necrons. I also liked the addition of yet another flyer to the army, though I'm sure I will have to wait for the second wave to see a model. What i didn't like about the book's fluff is the unending parade of Necron victories, even the Space Marines dex has them losing in some of their battles - Damnos and the World Engine for one. Overall, it is a good codex - in terms of fluff - and worth picking up. I'm sure the army is good too, but having hardly ever played in the last year, I'll leave that for others to talk about.

Nick Khyme's Nocturne

Nick Khyme's Nocturne is the conclusion of the Fireborn trilogy. In this novel, the final fate of Da'kir and the Salamanders is decided in their showdown with Nihilin. Overall, this is a good end to the trilogy, though the ending is - not so much surprising - as different from what I expected. Salamander's fans will get another dose of Salamander fluff and fury to digest, and Space Marine fans will also get a healthy dose of power armoured mayhem. Overall, a good effort.

The Outcast Dead

It feels good to have Halloween behind me once again. I picked up The Outcast Dead by Graham McNiell, on Saturday and was able to finish it early on Sunday morning. Thank you Daylight Savings Time. There isn't much new in terms of plot movement in this novel. But it is an interesting look at astropaths during the Great Crusade and beyond. It has some interesting background about the Wars for Unification, and a little bit more about the Adeptus Custodes as well. In terms of plot, there is a broken astropath who survived the destruction of the Argo, and blames himself. During the course of his rehabilitation he learns a dire truth, and the novel is about the pursuit of that truth, both by the Imperium and Horus' proponents. Overall, it was a good addition to the series, though in the same category as Nemesis in my mind for relevance.