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So, the GW Seattle Battle Bunker (and other GW shops in the greater Puget Sound area) are putting on a hobby challenge. The purpose is to sell product and so far a lot of people are going for it. I'll let you guys figure out which one is me.



The rules are simple. 1000 points with min force org to build a main force and an ally force. Buy the product, build it, paint it, then throw down. September 23 is the deadline for a fully painted army. There are checkpoints along the way as well.

I went with a list that I was toying around with that had main Space Marine force and an ally force of Dark Eldar. After seeing how quite useless Razorbacks were, I wound up making the following list:

Angels Vindictus Recon Team Three (704 points)

• Space Marine Librarian (Jump Pack, Storm Bolter)
• Tactical Squad (Bolters x7, Flamer, Missile Launcher), Sgt (Bolter)
• Scout Squad x5 (Camo Cloaks, Sniper Rifles)
• Assault Squad (Bolt Pistol x6), Sgt (Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon)
• Devestator Squad (Missile Launcher x4), Sgt (Bolter)

Cult of the Lying Heart Headhunters (295 Points)

• Lelith Hesperax
• Wyches x5 (Razorflails), Raider (Dark Lance)

It certainly isn't the best possible list in the entire world but it should be good enough for me to learn 6th Edition with. Regardless, this is what it looks like when it's all assembled:



Missing from the photo is a Tactical Marine with a missile launcher. I had the launcher bits but for some reason forgot to pull the legs, torso, head, and base from my bits organizer. His lack of participation has since been... remedied.

I'm using the color scheme I developed about a year ago:



This is what they're supposed to look like, provided I don't screw it all up. The first part of the painting involves Averland Sunset as seen here:



Ignore the blue. These specific models were born in 1996 and the blue was an old scheme I'm painting over. I've replaced the left shoulderpad on them (that's why it's white) and rebased them. I hit the bases with white primer and some of it "spilled" onto the blue minis but I wasn't actually trying to prime them. I'm just painting right over the existing blue. Averland coats pretty well, eh?

I'll keep this thread updated as this army gets painted. If any other Dakka members are participating in this challenge (even if not at the Bunker itself), please feel free to post your own work and progress. I think it will be a great thing for people to see this stuff being worked on over the summer.

Wow. I just realized I haven't nailed down a specific paint plan for the scouts. Hmmmm.... any suggestions?

Nice! Good luck with the challenge!

I've avoided the new GW colors thus far but that Averland Sunset may pull me in.

Okay, here is the first update. The Tactical Squad and Assault Squads are fully coated in Averland Sunset.





Sorry about the picture quality there. I'm not exactly sure how that happened. I'll try to get you guys better looking shots in the future.

Anyway, today I'm moving on to the Devestator Squad. Depending on how much I get done, I may start on the Librarian.

On a slight side note, I've also been working on my chapter's contribution to the Deathwatch. There's a little RPG game on Sunday and this is the model for it. My plan is to eventually incorporate the guy into the basic Assault Squad (or maybe a second squad) when I move to 1500 and 2000 point lists.



So, regarding my Deathwatch Marine, should I paint the trophy head the way Nard does?

The Devestator Squad has been coated properly (more or less) in Averland Sunset, as has the Librarian. Instead of the arm, I'll be painting the Libararian's tabard blue. Once that is done, the Space Marine component of my army will be ready to have the black sections colored in. I'll be using Testor's Flat Black (acrylic) to do this. Once I have the black and yellow base coats done and cleanly applied, I'll layer up the yellow so it looks like the Deathwatch Marine's shoulderpad. The colors should be really vivid then.

Oh, yea. Pictures.





Okay, since nobody piped up with suggestions, I've decided to color the chest & shoulders of my scouts in chapter colors and do the cloth parts in some sort of urban camo scheme. That'll be one of the lasts units I do, allowing me time to research some schemes and get the one I like best.

I've also begun to basecoat the black areas of the Assault Marines. Once I get everything cleaned up (correcting mistakes and overlooked items) I will be able to begin brightening up the yellow and lining/edging highlighting the black. I'm unhappy with the yellow safety belts that they're wearing. It obliviates the aquila. I don't want them black, either. I think I'll likely hit them with Boltgun and a black wash before highlighting with silver.

I've got a new position at work which has dramatically shifted my hours. This means I won't be able to get in as much painting as I'd like. Still, I managed to get the Tactical Squad (mostly) done as far as basecoating goes. Remember the blue guys above? This is how they look now.



As with everything else, I've got to go and do cleanup work before I can move on to putting brighter yellows onto the models and then do highlighting and stuff. After all that, I can move on to the metallics.

Just discovered this! I'm liking what I'm seeing thus far, and as a lamenters player, I love the yellow! Keep it up!

Text update - no pics. With only weekends available for painting, my work has slowed considerably. This weekend was spent cleaning up my basecoating. I didn't take pics because they really wouldn't look much different from the last batch.

Once I've got the black and yellow done, I'll move on to the rest of the base colors, followed by cleanup. I'll then layer up and highlight everything except the yellow because if there's a mistake that impacts the yellow, it's super easy to fix with the base coat. You really don't want to be fixing errors when you're at the Flash Gitz Yellow stage.

Okay. So, I've been remiss about updating this thread. To rectify that, I'll be posting stuff for what was supposed to be my August update as well as the September update after that.

So, for August...

I've mostly got the base coating done. Black and Averland Sunset everywhere. I went ahead and painted the bases because I didn't want to have to go back and retouch my legs/boots after doing all the detail work. As it turns out (see comments in September update) it wasn't really necessary to do it this way. Oh, well.

First up is a shot of how a typical Tactical Marine is shaping up.



Here is what I've gotten done as far as the basecoating step.



And this last one includes my Scouts which have had a bit of black and yellow put on them.



So, things are starting to shape up. The problem is, I'm running out of time and have less time during the day to paint. To explain, the challenge is to have all 1000 points painted up by Sep 23rd. I started a new contract at Microsoft about a month back and my hours got shifted so I really have no time to paint. I've said elsewhere, I just don't paint at home. I pretty much need to be sitting and doing this socially (at the Seattle Battle Bunker typically) or it doesn't get done. This mean that I usually have only a few hours in the week to paint. And yes, I'm still really really slow even when I do have enough time. :/

Anyway, on to today's update.

With only two weeks left in the challenge, I spend the weekend busting my rear to get the Space Marine portion of my army done. That meant detatail work on the Marines and doing the Scouts... at all, really. I've decided that I don't have enough time to move the yellow up to Flash Gits so these guys are all staying with Averland Sunset. I also wanted to put an urban camo patter on my Scouts but again, time constraints are preventing me from doing that. Still, by the time I left today, all the Marines were... well, let's call it done and be satisfyied.

Leading the charge will be my Assault Squad accompanying my Librarian into the thick of it.



Closer shot of the Librarian.


Followed by a shot of my Assault Marine Sergeant.



And finally a shot of a typical Assault Marine with his brother Marines in the background.



Next up is the Devestator Squad. Taking the typical four missile launchers but not the cheezy Space Wolf rules, they are proving my main anti-armor power.

Shot of the squad.



My Devestator Sergeant scoping out the unit's next victim.



A typical Devestator in my unit.



And the anchor of my force, the Tactical Squad.



The Tactical Squad is lead, obviously, by the Sergeant.



Typical Tactical Marine running toward the enemy.



And, my favorite, the Special Weapon guy.



And, coming in from the flank, the Scouts.



So, I'm pretty much done with the Marine portion. There are a few touch-ups I could do, but those are going to have to wait until after the Dark Eldar are finished. Damn. I just realized I didn't take a shot of my overall army progress. :(

Let me know what you guys think.

Mid-week update.

I have another (very neglected) blog following my Dark Eldar army, Kabal of the Bloody Rose. Since I haven't really worked on any of them in over a year, that blog has languished in obscurity and will continue to do so for some time yet. :/

Still, it relates to the topic in this thread because I'm using Dark Eldar as allies to my Space Marine force. Now that I've "finished" my Space Marine figures, I'm starting to basecoat the Dark Eldar. I've got two picts showing the original batch of wyches and their current state.

Primed & based:



Beginning base coating



As I stated in the original DE blog, my force is based on the Nebari from Farscape. Grey-white skin, black hair for men and white hair (with black roots) for women. Dark charcoal grey clothes (allows for black shading and lighter grey highlighting). Possibly blueish tatooing. Red accents. Metal bits in silver.



The raider will be done in red, dark at the bottom and graduated to bright red at the top railing. Inside deck will be black with brass-colored grating. I'd like to try to make the mast look sort of cedar or cherry wood colored with brass fittings if possible but we'll see what I can do in the time I have. Sail will be white with (hopefully) some sort of design on both sides.

I hope to have the Wyches done by the end of Saturday. Wish me luck.

Best wishes and luck mate! Tough I dislike SM with DE I like the color scheme of your marines!
Can wait to see an update!

Okay, as promised here are the relatively few pics. The first is the Wych squad and Lylith all painted up as Nebari.



Next are some shots of my Raider that they'll be riding in. Note the contrast as the Raider is full of color while the DE/Nebari are mostly black & white.









The sail is mostly done. A few more coats of thinned down white to eliminate brush strokes and then some touch ups on the mast where I made some... errors and that part will be done. The woodgrain effect doesn't stand up to macro function scrutiny but it looks really nice on the table top.

The Raider is not going to have as much black showing is currently visible. The grillwork will be covered in brass while the engines get soaked in boltgun metal. Both will be washed with badab after. There are one or two items that will be done in the same faux wood as the mast but not too much. The Pilot's steering arm will be brass, too. I'm thinking that the prow will be tin bitz so that the flower icon will stand out when I paint it up. The key item is, can I get a good icon on the sail without screwing it all up? Depends on how much time I have before the 23rd.

Excellent work so far. But I must say, I find it odd your mating something from Deathwatch in a team with some Xenos

The DW guy isn't actually part of the hobby challenge. I included him because I wanted to show what the yellow was supposed to look like (Flash Gitz, not Averland) when the models were finished.

Sorry for the very late update. The Hobby Challenge is over. I did manage to get my force finished, including an Ageis Defence Line as my terrain requirement.

Seattle Battle Bunker Facebook Link

The Facebook gallery has pictures of the other entries as well.

The big prize was initially supposed to be a "mega paint set" based on the current paint range. This was contingent on 25 people submitting entries, however. Only five of us did. :(

The prize that was handed out was a glass display case (heavy as hell) to take home, assemble, and put your army in. Another case was handed out for the Battalion Box challenge which is basically to buy, build, and paint the contents of a single 40k or Fantasy Battalion box. The guy who bought the Ravenwing box beat the guy who bought the Orks. Although it is a little cheezy to buy Ravenwing for something like this, he did a really nice job and deserved to win. The Ork player took a risk with red orks (some people just don't like anything other than green orks) and got a decent tabletop quality on a greater number of figures. Many people appreciated the greater effort that took and the voting was actually really close.

So, I'll endeavor to get some better shots over the weekend and post them here. I do intend to "finish" my SM by layering up the yellow to Flash Gitz but it is by no means a priority for me. I need to get back to my Skaven and get them finished. Man, do I need to get back to them and get them finished. :(

So, I think this blog is winding down. I'll necro it one day when I have time to layer and highlight my Marines but I don't know when that will be, exactly. So, take a look through the GW Bunker's Facebook gallery and post your thoughts below. I'm really interested in your opinions.

Okay. I don't know why I take so long to post pics that have been sitting in my smartphone's memory for three weeks but I guess that's just how I am. :/

Anyway, here is a quick shot of my 1000 point force sitting in the display case at the Seattle Battle Bunker waiting to be judged.



Once the votes were all tallied, I won the challenge and the prize of a glass display case. The case given out isn't as tall as the ones in the bunker (and isn't assembled either) but it is still a really nice case.



And here is a quick shot of the red paint station I won as a sort of raffle they had. I wound up with the Deff Koptas from the AoBR set as well. Always nice to get more Koptas.



Anyway, this is going to be the last update for a fairly long time. Last Saturday was spent building Necron stuff and this Saturday will be spent making a banner bearer for my Stormvermin unit. I'll probably build either a Screaming Bell/Plague Furnace or another Necron flier as well. We'll see.

Just goes to show, any army painted well in yellow, will win