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This isn't my first attempt at Iron Warriors. Indeed, its closer to my 4th. After the completion of the 122nd (there's photo's out there folks) 1500pt force some time last year i grew wiery of the style and lists i had built. Simply put; i couldn't build the army i wanted to play.

That, however, has changed. Between 6th edition and my now closing wishlist of projects (The Adeptus mechanicus is on hold until the mailman brings me much needed re-enforcements. Mid feburary is looking likely at best) and some recent trade actions i've been able to get around to building the army i've wanted to for a long time. A true pre-heresy Iron Warriors army.

Now, before i break into the fluff i'm going to give a little bit of theoretical as to my force. I want the ability to play a small force of well armed marines, preferably with fortifications when i use them in a 40k codex context, or with lots of armour in a 30k context. Essentially because 40k's reached the point where i'm growing wiery of building increasingly cheesy forces i've more or less given up playing to win. We'll see what kind of fun fluffy lists i can build over the next two or three years (yes, i'm committing to my first long term project that isn't Orks)

So it's time for fluff.





The 175th Iron Warriors are a fine example of the Iron Warriors role as garrison troops. On the world known most commonly The Base they, along with elements of the XIII, helped maintain and defense an imperial re-supply position. It was not uncommon for large volumes of Legionary arsenals to be either constructed or delivered to the world. Indeed, it's defence systems, star forts and bastions where among some of the highest quality constructions for a base of its kind. The 175th had originally been a full Grand Company, however it's original Warsmith along with a fully a third of the company where killed during a breaching effort some years earlier. To this day it is unknown if pity or punishment was intended when the company was given the role. What is true is that they conducted themselves to the very best of their abilities.

Over the course of the twenty years they were stationed in the sector The Base came under attack several times from Greenskins looking to expand their feral empires. Through combat efficiency and the untold crafts of the siege the utterly slaughtered each attack with almost no causalities in return. Their efforts and efficient management won them praise, though often backhanded, from several Legions who had used The Base as a point to re-supply and re-arm.

In years to come the remaining members of the well armed and well trained 175th would face a great many difficulties. Least of which would come when a squad from the VI legion brought news of their fathers betrayal of The Emperor.




It's not especially in depth yet, but i wanted to give, and get, a feeling for the task at hand. Before I committed to a full scale attempt, beyond purchasing Betrayal, I found several of my old tanks and have begun to work on the scheme. I've tried some new things including spraying washes to get dark metal. It's bloody effective.







At least i think so.... still, there's work to be done and adjustments to be made. I am, however, happy with the metal colouring.

-skrall

Ok guys, I found myself unsure with what do with myself. So i sat down at my modelling desk and reached for the next miniature. Two hours later i have a near finished rhino sitting next to the near finished Predator from earlier (i've got some plans for decals to work out, as well as what i want to do with the tracks).

I think i'm getting the hang of this chevron business.




Sorry the photo's are a little shoddy, but it's just a quick photo to give you an idea of how it's going. Feedbacks welcome,

-skrall

p.s as an owner of Tallarn; Executioner i will say i was a touch disappointed it was such a loyalist riddled affair..

Great models mate! Really like the effect here... those Chevrons and the weathering is spot on IMHO!

Dude. Epic stuff.

The chevrons are so good. Make a step by step tutorial, maybe possibly?! I'd like to learn how to do it that well.

Is that an LED or a paint effect on the lights of the Predator either way it's great.

 MagosBiff90 wrote:
Great models mate! Really like the effect here... those Chevrons and the weathering is spot on IMHO!

thanks mate! Glad you approve!

 SRSFACE wrote:
Dude. Epic stuff.

The chevrons are so good. Make a step by step tutorial, maybe possibly?! I'd like to learn how to do it that well.

Yeah i may well do a tut once i get my next tank.

 Llamahead wrote:
Is that an LED or a paint effect on the lights of the Predator either way it's great.

It's an LED built in. It's an old conversion (hence the light leek round the side) but it's still a fun thing to have in reserve.



Ok ladies and gents, it's time to take a pew. Today saw the a point of no return for this project.



It joins my small collection of Horus Heresy materials (i've got a few more on the way)



And of course, the promised hour is here. I've taken dodgy photo's partly out of excitment, and partly because he's not yet up to full quality photo's.

May i present the WIP Lord of Iron;




C&C welcome. However yes, i think it's fair to say the Storm of Iron begins.

IRON WITHIN!

-skrall

Hey mate.... stiupid question.... but is that an actual metalic paint you have used on the tanks? has a lovely shine to it.. and against the matt effect of the weathering adds some real texture! whatever it is... i need some in my life!!

The big boss is looking great also...... A take on Perturabo? or your own Lord of Iron? great scale to him also.....

gak son! That's incredible! He's the don!

 MagosBiff90 wrote:
Hey mate.... stiupid question.... but is that an actual metalic paint you have used on the tanks? has a lovely shine to it.. and against the matt effect of the weathering adds some real texture! whatever it is... i need some in my life!!

The big boss is looking great also...... A take on Perturabo? or your own Lord of Iron? great scale to him also.....

I'll be giving a full tutorial (including paint names) in a few weeks. But it's one of vallejo air's light silvers. As for Pertuarbo, yeah he's my version. I wanted a crusade era primarch, not the hammer wielding tank he becomes during the heresy. I wanted to show a more precise fighter, one who uses overwhelming force in precise points rather than pure overwhelming brutality that becomes more common later on.

@torealis; thanks mate! still got work to be doing, but its shaping up well.

So, before i pop off to work i thought i'd show off my early WIP's for my next set of models. The photo isn't ideal, but it should give you the impression of the models. The two are a mixture of the Deathguard dread (tastefully remade into IV legion) and a standard contemptor. I've mounted the assault/fist dread on a rocky base, giving him a striking pose. The Mortis, by comparison, is on a flatter base with a more static (as per expectation) post. The limbs are magnetised, so other options will be appearing.



The paint job's the basic coats, enough to give you an idea of the stages before i do a full tutorial when the scorpius arrives.

-skrall

Nice, dark and gritty paintjob! Excellent skills on the chevrons. I am subbed, looks excellent!

Great Stuff.... I have to admit i prefer the ideas of the Pre-Heresy Primarchs....

Looking forward to the Tut.. and those Dreads are allready looking good!

This is unreal!

An awesome start to the project. Really want to do this whole heresy thing now... dammit!

Looking forward to that tutorial and seeing how those dreads turn out.

 Low_K wrote:
Nice, dark and gritty paintjob! Excellent skills on the chevrons. I am subbed, looks excellent!

Thanks mate! hopefully the quality below will keep that confidence.

 MagosBiff90 wrote:
Great Stuff.... I have to admit i prefer the ideas of the Pre-Heresy Primarchs....

Looking forward to the Tut.. and those Dreads are allready looking good!

thanks mate. I just dislike the over the top approach to the lord of iron, it's always irked me a little that he's always this massive tank. I believe even horus chose power armour some times.

 Medium of Death wrote:
This is unreal!

An awesome start to the project. Really want to do this whole heresy thing now... dammit!

Looking forward to that tutorial and seeing how those dreads turn out.

Haha, Heresy era work is like that. It's got something about it, something wickedly captivating. As for the dreads, check below.


It's time for today's WIP, possibly the last for this weekend. I've been tinkering away, and i've finally got some half descent photo's of the work. They've all got a uniform 'light dust' weathering. My favourite so far however is the contemptor WIP on the one with arms. I've actually developed some idea's for him, and a back story.

So may i present Thane the wounded and his friends;








C&C welcomed,

-skrall

So i'm taking a day off from the hobby (or at least trying to not paint), but i did recieve interesting news last night. Apparently someones seen my work and has decided to hire me to paint several Imperial Fist tanks (which i'm happy to do) for there legon force. He did ask for to mirror the base work i've done in my army as it's how he imagined his Defenders of Terra being themed.



That should give you the rough idea, though i do need to do a little more work on the metal and lip before i call it done. It's quite an interesting oppertunity, since i've never done Imperial Fists on any real scale (one or two test mini's). I can't wait for the project, i love painting tanks. I could probably do it ever day for the next two years and lead a life of bliss.

-skrall

Sounds awesome mate! Looking forward to seeing your take on the Defenders of Terra...... Really cool idea!

Got me eyes on this one! Good stuff!

Congratulations on that well deserved commission. I love how you've done your basing. But not as much as I love how you've made such effective use of weathering to break up the shiny metal of your tanks and dreads. Really gorgeous work.

P.S If I could, I'd have deleted the banner from this post but I haven't found a way to temporarily disable it without removing it altogether. I always feel like a bit of a swine when I post comments on another commission painters work and this banner turns up. Let me know if it's an issue for you and I'll delete the post and simply lurk without posting for the rest of this project }

@magos; Yeah mate, it's going to be kick buttocks. I've been doing my theoreticals on techniques and styles. The guy himself has seen the way i do 'desperate and damaged' as a style piece and its sold on the concepts i've put down. I'm going to love this project.

 LeadLegion wrote:
Congratulations on that well deserved commission. I love how you've done your basing. But not as much as I love how you've made such effective use of weathering to break up the shiny metal of your tanks and dreads. Really gorgeous work.

P.S If I could, I'd have deleted the banner from this post but I haven't found a way to temporarily disable it without removing it altogether. I always feel like a bit of a swine when I post comments on another commission painters work and this banner turns up. Let me know if it's an issue for you and I'll delete the post and simply lurk without posting for the rest of this project }

Don't worry mate, I only do a handful of carefully chosen commissions a year. Most people simply chose me for my artistic style, which is one of those things Unique to each painter.
I'm not expensive, but as a result of charging a fairly low amount I only do projects that give me a chance to flourish. I'm a specialist in tank painting, which this being 6th edition means i don't get a huge influx of work to begin with.

I won't lie though, between IV and VII i'm hoping to get a lot more Horus heresy work. I've even ordered a Sons of Horus command just to build up a portfolio, so that's something to look forwards to for the casual viewer. Seriously, i could do horus heresy work for the next ten years and love every single second of it.

Oh and if your interested the base works pretty easy. I actually build most of them out of stones, sand and polyfiller. It's a universal medium, i've used it to do mud, stone and busted masonry before. I'd advise check it out if it isn't in your arsenal of tools already.

-skrall

Well, theres been a desire to see infantry for this army. Sadly i'm still two weeks away from being able to order any, however i do have a PIP to show. This is my librarian conversion, though i need to get my hands on a MKII axe yet, as well as refine the warpcraft work around the eyes and cable.



-skrall

Unusually i have decided to open up my commission project with a photo of paints, but no models.



As the colour pallet might suggest, it's the VII legion. For those interested i am using;

Vallejo air;
Golden yellow
Dark yellow
Chrome
Steel
Gold
Black
White
Army painter; strong tone and daemonic yellow. I can't say i'll use these last two much, but they offer a different texture and layer when i'm painting.


And during the hour or so since i've cleaned up the studio i've had time to get my eye in with the mix ratios with the new paints. So, here's the basic paint work for my first drop pod.



-skrall

Everything looks great, the only thing that I might change is the hazard stripes seam to be going different directions and angles on the pods. It might just be that they are just opposite sides of the pods though so it doesn't matter .

Thanks Skrall. Really hope you get that extra work your looking for. Your vehicles really are something special.

I've used polyfiller before to create a chem-wastes look before, but I've never managed to build up a base to look properly muddy/trench-warfare like. I love the look, and I'll be getting the polyfilla out for a few practice runs.

 Theophony wrote:
Everything looks great, the only thing that I might change is the hazard stripes seam to be going different directions and angles on the pods. It might just be that they are just opposite sides of the pods though so it doesn't matter .

They all go from the right bottom to the left top, which leads to some oddities where you see left side and right corner in the same photo. IV legion wouldn't make such mistakes.

I would.

They wouldn't though...

 LeadLegion wrote:
Thanks Skrall. Really hope you get that extra work your looking for. Your vehicles really are something special.

I've used polyfiller before to create a chem-wastes look before, but I've never managed to build up a base to look properly muddy/trench-warfare like. I love the look, and I'll be getting the polyfilla out for a few practice runs.

Part of the work in the painting, you need to make sure you've got the texture to build off. Pollyfilla is just an excellent medium to base up off.


Right folks.

So it's time... the VII legion is underway. The clients happy with what i've done far, baring a few minor touch ups and group weathering work to get the tracks uniform I think it's done. The first model is a spartan, the weapons are current being worked on but have been magnetised for easy of transport.







I've actually been booked to do the vlka fenryka by the same guy, which has even more tanks than this does. Looks like this logs going to have my VI legion joined by the VI and VII.

-skrall

Awesome job so far, looking great all around.

Will be waiting for the next update!

Gorgeous.

 Littletower wrote:
Awesome job so far, looking great all around.

Will be waiting for the next update!

You don't be waiting long.... see below.

 LeadLegion wrote:
Gorgeous.

haha thanks mate!

VII legion return tonight. This time we've got two predators; The client asked for a slightly muted colour scheme with the plasma as it's going to be swapped between the VI/VII legions, and thus can't stand out from either too much.







Hopefully this will prove to be eye candy for some of you

-skrall

Great work. I rally like the weathering technique. Do you use hairspray or just a mad amount of stipling?

EPIC mate!! that Spartan is truelt a thing of weathered beauty! .... I would love to know your secrets!!

Untill then..... i will just look on in wonder! lol

Eye candy indeed!

Nice scheme, and great weathering, keep going!

 sennacherib wrote:
Great work. I rally like the weathering technique. Do you use hairspray or just a mad amount of stipling?

Sponge work, lots and lots of sponge work.

 MagosBiff90 wrote:
EPIC mate!! that Spartan is truelt a thing of weathered beauty! .... I would love to know your secrets!!

Untill then..... i will just look on in wonder! lol

The tutorial will be coming.... sooner or later.

 Littletower wrote:
Eye candy indeed!

Nice scheme, and great weathering, keep going!

Thanks mate!

No update today, painting is happening but only in small stints until i get a more solid block of time.

-skrall

All these tanks are very exciting, I love the way you do your weathering.

Keep up the excellent work, consider me subscribed.