Prologue Hello to all users of Dakka Dakka!
My name is Runic, I am a miniaturehobbyist from Finland, in North Europe. This is my first post to the forums ever, and I apologize beforehand if I have broken some forum rulings. I have previously only posted to Sotavasara, a miniatureforum in Finland. I thought it's about time I moved to international waters. I read the thread, but I might have missed something unintentionally, so sorry if this occurred. I have previously painted miniatures for private customers, and a finnish shop relating to all things roleplay and miniatures, Fantasiapelit. Now, into the topic.
Some hobbyists have the dream of winning a painting competition, some want to win a tournament. My dream, as a miniaturehobbyist, is a little different. I have painted, converted and played with miniatures actively for 1 year now. My dream is a project, in which I use a hilariously low amount of money on an army that has been used, is old, and scarred. Ruined might be a word too harsh to use, but I think you catch my drift. The objective is to turn this old, used and scarred army into a new, shining showcase army. The ultimate workshop project, I could say if i had the courage. Well, after one year of experience in miniatures, Im ready to take on the task, and I did.
Lets get going then! 
This is where we start from, the army.
The first objective of my mission was to find the army that I was to revive into a new army. It didn't take long after I found a perfect investment. It was an old Space Marine army, that was on sale at the largest miniatureportal of Finland, Sotavasara.net. I contacted the owner, who appeared to have been gaming Warhammer 40,000 in the time of the second and third edition, which is a long time ago. Perfect! I love the older miniatures, especially the tanks, so this was the army for me.
The army was painted in the Ultramarine colourscheme, and by only basecoat. No inks, highlight or anything. The paints were very thick, and the whole army had been coated with varnish. Im not gonna bash the owner of course, but lets say this was gonna be some hard work in the paintremoval part. The army is over 1000 points strong, and includes:
2nd Edition: Predator Destructor, Whirlwind, Space Marine Tactical Squad, Space Marine Master.
3rd Edition: 10 Assaultmarines, Landspeeder, Space Marine Tactical Squad, Marneus Calgar, Apotechary, Techmarine, Space Marine Bike Squardon, and an Attack Bike.
The cost for the whole army?
16,31 pounds. Cheap eh'?
Well, lets move on. The next thing for me to do was paintremoval. I used DOT4 Brakefluid, and a metalhaired brush to do the job. Here are some pictures:
Here is a picture for reference. This, is where I start from with every single miniature.
Some miniatures were better washed by the paintremoval progress...
... than others. These guys went to swim in the fluid once more to ensure complete paintremoval.
Some very classic miniatures arise from the infernal depths of the fluid, near good as new!
After the paintremoval, I reassemble, convert and basecoat each and every model. I also file and smoothen the surfaces and pick the paint out of the recesses. Approximately 2-3 hours of work per miniature, and i haven't even painted them yet! A real time-eater this one. I've managed to prepare a tactical squad, the tanks and the attack bike this far. Here's how they look after my procedure:
Pretty nice eh'? These alone would probably sell for more than the whole army did. But im not here to make profit, but to fulfill my dream ( Excuse me for the epic talk, I just couldn't find any way to say it more casually... )
The Chapter
I chose the chapter of my Space Marine army to be the Soul Drinkers, known from the novels of the Black Library. I like the story of the chapter. They were actually founded from Imperial Fists in the second founding, but all data erased as they were claimed excommunicate, and renegades, abandoned by the Imperium for destroying an Adeptus Mechanicus ship, that stole a sacred artefact of theirs. This will also explain why in my army there are classic weapons and tanks involved. The Chapter is short on supplies and as traitors, they won't be receiving any new equipment from the Imperium. They have also suffered mutations, which will give me some more fun conversion moments.
Well, I think this is about it for the first post. I will continue to uphold the blog as I progress, and i hope someone finds it interesting. I am also sorry, if my English offends someone by seeming ignorant, arrogant etc. I do not mean to write in such tones, it's just that it isn't my native language.
Here are some pictures of my older work, so you will get some reference on what to expect:
www.coolminiornot.com/154819 www.coolminiornot.com/150093 www.coolminiornot.com/152270 Cheers!
~Runic
