Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

@cormadepanda: I would have done that, but I'm afraid that if I try to get too fancy with the blending and stuff I'll end up making the model worse rather than better. Eventually I'll start trying those advanced techniques. Your suggestion is still appreciated!

@youwashock: Thanks! I like the way it looks too; I wasn't sure if magenta would look good with the green at first, but once I tried it I was very happy. And I'm definitely happy with the icon; makes the model look more Dark Angels-y (is that a word?), which is what I was aiming for.

I'm calling the Company Master in Gravis Armor done at this point, here are the final pics:


I'm satisfied with how he turned out, although as always I see places I probably could have improved. The only thing I'm really not very happy with is how the highlights on the back of the cloak came out; I need to learn to paint fine line highlights better. Maybe I should have just stuck with trying to drybrush it, but I wanted to experiment with actual edge highlighting. I clearly need practice.

Next up will be the Hellblaster squad. I've been looking forward to these, as I just absolutely love the look of plasma weapons. I hope I can make them look really awesome!

In other news, I picked up Mortarion and my Death Guard codex, and I've started assembling the big guy. Not much to show there yet, but soon I can show some assembly WIP shots. As I've said, he's gonna wait a little while for painting because I want to paint some regular Death Guard first to get the feel for how to make them look good. Then I'll be ready to tackle the Primarch. As expensive as that model was, I really want to be sure and get it right. When I get to work on it, you'll see it right here. In the meantime, stay classy DakkaDakka!

@youwashock: Thanks! I've been cranking these out faster than I usually paint, but it still isn't fast enough for my tastes. I really want to get these guys all done so I can move on to Death Guard!

@Yorkright: Thanks for the vote of confidence. I do want to learn to do more advanced effects at some point, but I'm always afraid that I'll take too big of a step and end up screwing up. I guess I need to man up and just do it and consider screwing up part of the learning process if it happens.

@shasolenzabi: Thanks, and welcome back to the blog!

I'm making some progress on the Hellblasters:

Most of the base colors are down, with the blue plasma glow and the black armor seals and details remaining to be painted, plus the sergeant's bald head. I've got a day off work tomorrow, so I hope to make some progress then.

I'm also working on assembling Mortarion:

I'm thinking I may go ahead and fully assemble him before painting, although it's against my better judgment. If it worked for my Bloodthirster last year, I'm sure it'll be okay for this guy. He's going to be interesting to paint no matter how I do it. I'm looking forward to the challenge.

More to come soon, I hope!

@Azazelx: Thanks! I look forward to seeing your Primaris marines. If they look as good as all those retro Dark Angels you've been doing recently, all your viewers are in for a treat!

Time for a little update. I'm making slow progress on my Hellblasters; there's just way too much happening to distract me lately. Here's where they are at right now:

I went ahead and shaded the guns, leather equipment pouches and metallics before cleaning them up because I'm going to have to repaint them anyway to brighten up the colors, so the little paint mistakes will be covered up and this will save me a step. I think I'm going to do one more drybrush on the plasma coils, with actual White Scar instead of just Ulthuan Gray. I feel they need to be just a little brighter.

In other news, one of the aforementioned distractions was the Start Collecting: Chaos Space Marines box I bought not too long ago. I already built the Terminator Lord from it, but over the last couple of days this happened as well:

Now I have a Helbrute with all the options instead of being stuck with just the Dark Vengeance ones. I magnetized it so that I can use every option except the hammer (which I'd likely never use anyway). All I had to magnetize were the shoulder joints; the right arm guns all stay in place well enough without even needing magnets, although you could easily put magnets in there if you wanted to. Personally I like the Scourge/Fist combo that I've seen referred to as a "Zangiefbrute". I'm not sure whether I'll paint this model to go with my Death Guard or my regular CSM.

I need to hurry up on these Hellblasters, I'm near the finish line on my DI Primaris guys; no letting up now!

@shasolenzabi: He sure does! I definitely want to try that weapon combo (Scourge/Fist) as it'll really smash stuff in CC.

Progress continues to be slow on the painting front. Just lack of motivation really. Anyhow, I have finally made a little bit of progress, mainly some cleanup and adding the transfers to the Hellblasters:

I still have to put gloss and then flat coat over the transfers to seal them in. I also have yet to finish the Sarge's skin (just a layer and highlight to do) and add some red glaze to the eye lenses on the other guys. Plus the bases. Then I can finally move on to the final Primaris model, the Ancient.

I have been busy assembling stuff still. Most recently, my order from Spellcrow arrived, so I was able to build some Noise Marines. I ordered their Mixed Sonic Guns packs (2 of them), so that I would have the 8 Sonic Blasters and 2 Blastmasters that I needed, and to my surprise and delight they even threw in two sets of their Pleasure Knight heads, very appropriate for devotees of Slaanesh, so I used those on my Noise Marines. Here are the assembled models:

I even got to try them out in a game earlier today, but unfortunately as happens often with brand new models, they got killed before they could really do anything. I played them wrong really, so next time I hope to give them a fair test.

Lastly, I recently bought a lot of older Space Marine models from an acquaintance who happens to be the assistant property manager of my apartment complex. She had played Warhammer 40k years ago with her brother and now no longer wanted her models, so I was able to acquire them cheaply from her. The reason I got them so cheap was due to the extremely poor condition of the models, especially the paint. I believe they are salvageable, but they will take some serious work, beginning with some stripping of the extremely thick paint. The models include a metal Captain, a Techmarine, an Apothecary, Standard Bearer, 2 10-man Tactical Squads, a 5-man Tactical Squad, a 5-man Terminator Squad (the old smaller ones), a Land Speeder, and a Land Raider. They are painted Ultramarines, but I'll be most likely stripping them and using them as a core for a Blood Ravens force. The Land Raider may end up serving my Dark Angels, though. I also got a rulebook that I believe is from 4th edition (meaning I now own every rulebook from 4th-8th edition!) and an older-model GW carrying case as part of the deal, so I'm happy with it! I'll post pics of the appalling condition of the models in my next update or two, but I don't know how quickly I'll get around to stripping and refurbishing them considering the amount of other projects in my queue right now.

I hope to have final pics of the Hellblasters soonish, so look forward to those!

@Azazelx: Thanks! I'm almost there with the DI Primaris guys; just one more to go! Definitely have a look at Spellcrow's site; they have lots of cool aftermarket bits and aren't too terribly expensive.

@youwashock: Indeed it is. Nice guys like you and others who occasionally chime in on my blog is part of what helps me stay at least somewhat on task. It is much appreciated!

Finally got the Hellblasters knocked out:


I'm very happy with how these came out. I finally have a method for doing plasma coils that I'm happy with. I did notice after I took the pics that one of the guys has some paint damage on the end of his gun; fortunately it'll be an easy fix with some Leadbelcher paint. Probably happened when I dropped that model onto my desk accidentally. Anyway, feel free to vote for these images in the Dakka Gallery!

As promised, here are some pics showing the sad state of those recently acquired Ultramarines models. I didn't photograph every single Marine, but enough of them that you will get the idea of what I'm up against with this lot. Here are the pics, may the Emperor have mercy:



As you can see, thick paint and random decals everywhere! I just hope Isopropyl Alcohol does the job okay; I really don't want to have to use a stronger solvent with nastier fumes. I guess I could get myself some Simple Green if necessary though. As I said before, I'm not likely to do much with these right away; in fact it may be next year before I'm ready to mess with them. Lots of other stuff in the queue first.

Next up will be the final model from the Dark Imperium Primaris Space Marines: the Ancient. I'm really looking forward to tackling that banner, so stay tuned for that!

@Josh: Thanks! I'm just happy the coils turned out well so that I have a decent method for doing more of them in the future. I love the look of plasma weapons! And those other models were indeed painted with GW acrylics, so it's good to know Isopropyl will work on them. I may strip a couple of them over the weekend just as kind of a proof of concept. Like I've said, not a rush item at the moment.

I'm making good progress on the Ancient. Pretty much all of the base colors are down at this point, so there'll be some cleanup and then it'll be on to shades. Here's a quick WIP shot:

I'm not real sure about how to handle the laurel branches on the banner. Right now I'm going with Castellan Green, but there's not enough contrast between them and the Caliban Green background on the banner. I considered going with gold on the leaves, or white, or a lighter green. I may yet switch to gold, as it will match well with a lot of the other decoration on the banner. I'll sleep on it and make a decision later. Here's hoping I can get this guy done fast, and yes, there will be at least one full group shot of the Primaris Marines.

@Nevelon: Great advice on the banner, and as you'll see in this post I chose to heed it and it works! And thanks for the compliment on the Hellblasters, I'm glad you like them! As for the Ultras, I'm looking forward to working with those models, although as I said they'll probably be Blood Ravens when all is said and done. That nice sticker banner will perhaps be given to a friend who plays Ultramarines, so that it can continue to be used to serve the Emperor. As for an homage to the origins of the gear, I'll have to think about that one...

@Theo: Thanks!

@York: I'm trying to stay busy, I just wish I didn't get distracted/tired all the time so I could knock more models out! Thanks for your support!

@youwashock: So you like plasma too, huh? Thanks for the compliment and confirming me and Nev's thoughts on the banner; gold does look better!

Little update, I've definitely made some progress:

He's actually very nearly finished at this point, just needs his decals and the red on his eye lenses, plus the base and perhaps a couple more edge highlights in certain areas. I put the word "Inclemens" on the banner, which in Latin roughly means "unmerciful" as that is the name of the Dark Angels Third Company.

Well, it's finally happened, the moment I've been waiting for and hoped to have happen a while ago, but better late than never as they say! The Primaris Ancient, and thus the whole Primaris Space Marine half of Dark Imperium, is finished! Here are the pics of the Ancient:





I really love this particular model, although I think I could have made the banner look a little better. I haven't really painted much text before, so I'm actually happy with what I put on the banner considering it's only my first real attempt at something like this.

I know everyone will be asking for this, so let me go ahead and do it. Here's a group shot of the entire Dark Imperium Primaris Space Marine army, painted as members of the Dark Angels Third Company, the Unmerciful:

It has been a fun painting journey getting these guys done. It's the first time I've really stuck with a larger project like this to completion. Seeing them all together really makes me feel proud, like I actually accomplished something. Maybe it's nothing to a lot of veteran painters out there, but for me this is an achievement!

In other news, I got myself a Plagueburst Crawler and assembled it over the past couple of days:

I think that of all the Death Guard models released by GW, this is my favorite, even over Mortarion. Such a cool-looking machine! I can't wait to paint it, although it's not a huge priority for painting at the moment.

Next up in my painting lineup will be 10 of the Dark Imperium Poxwalkers for the monthly painting challenge. Maybe I'll go ahead and do all of the Dark Imperium Death Guard models like I did with the Primaris Marines, then I can do a group shot of them, and then a really fancy shot of the two forces facing off against each other. I know the Death Guard models will be much more challenging to paint and will probably take longer, but I feel I'm up to the challenge!

@Josh: Thanks, and yes does feel great to actually finish something. I've finished squads and plenty of individual models before and that's something, but having a whole cohesive force like this done in a (for me) relatively short time is very nice.

@Azazelx: Thanks! I am considering Simple Green as a possible stripper since I can get it relatively easily. As for what's next, I'm working on putting a Repulsor together as well as a couple of Dark Talons.

@Nevelon: Thanks! For the banner, I used a very fine brush (Army Painter's "The Psycho" brush, to be exact).

@youwashock: Thanks!

Well, it's nice and all to finish those Primaris Marines, but now it's time to switch gears and start on my Death Guard. Here's a WIP shot of my first group of Poxwalkers:

All I've done is the skin, hence the mess on other parts of the models. They'll look better once I at least block in the other colors. The skin is completely done other than a few possible touchups. These make a nice change from all that power armor, let me tell you!

In other news, I'm working on a Dark Talon. So far just the cockpit is done, but I'm putting together other subassemblies currently. Here's the cockpit:

I'm ultimately wanting to run an Air Wing detachment, so I've gotta get this one assembled and painted and then do another one.

I've also recently acquired some more metal Plaguebearers of Nurgle, bringing my total of those up to 30. This includes a Command section with an icon, instrument, and champion. No pics as bare metal doesn't photograph well (I've learned), but that's my most recent acquisition.

Hopefully I'll make more progress on the Poxwalkers soon. They've been fun to paint so far!

@Yorkright: Thanks! I'm definitely looking forward to tackling that Plagueburst Crawler, but it's a ways down in my painting queue. I've really got to knock out the pile of shame at some point.

@ListenToMeWarriors: Welcome to the blog! Thanks for the compliment! As for Morty, he's all built now except for the smoke that goes on his back, which I'm leaving off until I paint him. Not too hard to build, except for attaching the hoses that connect to the tank above his head. The parts around there did not want to fit right.

Small WIP update on the Poxwalkers:

Most of the base colors are down now, and I'm actually kicking myself on how I painted the skin. I should have added a lighter layer before shading, as now all my highlights are WAY too stark. I think I can use shades to darken them back down, but it's too late to fix entirely unless I want to strip the models and start all over (hint: I don't). I used two layers of Rakarth Flesh as the basecoat and then shaded over that first with Reikland Fleshshade with some other localized shades, and then highlighted with Pallid Wych Flesh. I should have put down an all-over layer of Pallid Wych Flesh over the Rakarth Flesh to begin with and then shaded over that. Lesson learned for the next batch, I guess. Technically they recommend priming these guys in white, but I've never had much luck with white primers, hence the black.

Hopefully I can get more done on these guys soon. Just a couple of base colors left, then I can shade the clothing and horns and start highlighting them, followed by doing all the nasty little maggots crawling over the clothing. Lots of little details like that on these models, and that's awesome!

@York: Thanks, I'm glad you think they look okay. The more I look at them the more I'm okay with their appearance as well, but I am still going to go lighter with the next batch when I eventually do them. If nothing else, it'll be easier to tell them apart whenever I run them as separate small units.

@Josh: Thanks, and I don't know anything about Sedition Wars, so that must be someone else. By the sounds of a unit called "infected", these guys would probably be a good fit with them assuming the scale was right.

Okay, way too long since my last update, but that's because I've been feeling some burnout (again...it's pathetic really, isn't it?). I've finally gotten every last base color down on the Poxies, so here's where they are at (not a lot of difference compared to my last WIP, but still some progress):

Next up will be to shade the non-skin parts all over with Agrax Earthshade, then do a few edge highlights, then do the bases, which I'm actually going to do with Astrogranite since that will contrast better with the lighter-colored miniatures (will be more noticeable when I do my light-green Plague Marines, next in my Death Guard lineup).

In other news, I've got a Dark Talon mostly assembled, and primed, ready for some paint, and I've also gotten my Repulsor fully ready for paint (primed with a few parts left off for ease of painting). I plan to do both of those models by the end of the year. The reason for that is that they may or may not be going with me when I go to Adepticon next year. That's right, yours truly is planning to attend a GT for the first time! My local play group is probably going to send a contingent of like a dozen guys including myself. So I want to be running Dark Angels again by January, and that means getting some of them painted. Either way, as far as the painting goes you'll see it all right here, so stay tuned!

Finally finished the first unit of Poxwalkers, so here are some pics of those:
First, a pic of the whole group of them:

Next, a bunch of pics of the A group, the ones that are my entry in the October painting challenge:



These ones turned out reasonably well, but there is a noticeable drop off in quality I feel in the next bunch, what I call the B group:


Basically I did them all at once, but because I rushed near the end I was kind of sloppy on some of them. I picked out the best ones to be my entry in the painting challenge, but overall they are all tabletop standard so I'm calling them done. I hope to do better on the others and take what I learned doing these to heart.

Next up, I'll get to work on the Ravenwing Dark Talon and/or the Repulsor, and I'll be doing the Dark Imperium Plague Marines as my November painting challenge entry. I think I'll have an easier time with them compared to the Poxies.

One last thought: with those Poxwalkers done, that puts me over my goal of 51 models for the year (exceeding last year's tally!). I'm stoked about that for sure. I wonder how high I can set the bar for next year, as I'm hoping to knock out even more stuff (and hopefully diminish the pile of shame some). I'll really have to beaver away at my Dark Angels to get ready for Adepticon next year.

@Azazelx: Thanks, and I think you are right about how they will look when they are all together. That's the nice thing about hordes; each individual model doesn't have to be amazing. I will be looking to beat this year's total completed models next year.

While I'm intending to paint the Dark Imperium Plague Marines, I've gotten a bit sidetracked. Over the last three days or so (with a little bit of work each day) this has happened:

Still a few more base colors to block in, but definitely making progress. I'm painting the stasis bomb separately before I attach it to the fighter.

I hope to get started on the Death Guard guys soon, as I want to finish them by the end of the month. Hopefully I can knock out the flyer by then as well. Wish me luck!

Sadly, nothing much happening on the painting front lately. It's been a stressful couple of weeks. I may give up on doing the Plague Marines right now, as I'm just not feeling much inspiration to get them done. They are certainly cool models and I do intend to get them painted eventually, but since I'm putting my whole Death Guard army on hold for now, I think I'll probably shelve them until I come back to the army. Which means that Morty will also be moving down the queue. While I haven't been doing any painting since my last post, hence my lack of posting, I have gotten quite a few games in with my Chaos Space Marines. I had a tournament yesterday which thanks to some incredibly stupid play on my part didn't go terribly well. I don't know why I keep making such dumb mistakes in tournaments; when I play casual I do alright, and I definitely feel that in this latest tournament I had a pretty strong list, but it's like I leave my brain outside the door when I play tournament games. I'll get it figured out one of these days...

In other news, while I haven't been painting, I have been acquiring some new swag since I've had some extra money lately.

First, here are a couple of box sets I found relatively cheap on eBay:

I've been wanting both of these sets for a while now, but after seeing Celestine in action in a game against my friend I pulled the trigger on getting the Triumvirate (since I also want Greyfax). I also wanted to have at least one of each Assassin, so I went ahead and got Execution Force. I've got some board game loving friends who, while they aren't interested in playing 40k, might be interested in playing Execution Force. The other thing that influenced me to buy it was the fact that I really need more Chaos Cultists. I now have 57 of them, but I really still need more...

Also on eBay, I found these Chaos Marines, most of whom have special weapons (good for making Havocs or Chosen squads):

I love that whoever assembled these put one of the plasma guys in the "Oh god I hope it doesn't blow up" pose. The bare metal model on the far right is an old metal Sorcerer with a force sword. I did a little research and found that that sculpt is at least 20 years old, so that was a nice find. I needed at least one sorcerer that wasn't on a bike, so now I have one.

Finally, my FLGS was having a 20% off sale on their used model bins, so I dug around and found this:

The photo is garbage, but the model is a World Eaters Dreadnought from Forge World. I don't care for the weapon loadout, but since I scored it really cheap and I don't play World Eaters except in casual games I was happy to find it. I also bought a couple of squads of used Obliterators, but I didn't take a picture of them. I'm wanting to get a couple more units of those for my next tournament list. Also not pictured is my recently acquired Maulerfiend, which I got by splitting the kit with a friend who just wanted the Forgefiend guns for a kitbash.

In other other news, I actually assembled all of the Assassinorum: Execution Force models over the last three days (needed the cultists for the tournament). Here is a pic of them:

I may paint the assassins sooner rather than later, as one or more of them may make it into my Adepticon list. I might also need to build and paint Celestine for the same reason.

I hope to have some painting progress of some kind to report soon. Things have somewhat calmed down now, so I can get back to work on the Dark Talon if nothing else. Whatever I end up painting, you'll see it here!

Well, I lied, I am indeed pushing on with the Plague Marines as I can't think of anything else I want to paint right now. It's looking like I may indeed be bringing Chaos of some flavor to AdeptiCon next year (that's what my fellow team members are bringing), so I need to be mostly painting Chaos stuff anyway, although these guys will be unlikely to make my list other than perhaps for the Friendly tournament. Here's my latest WIP shot:

All I've done so far is the green armor and the metallics. I'll add a couple more base colors and then give the models a thorough shade of Agrax Earthshade to make them look grimy. Then I will start coloring in the details like tentacles and stuff. There are a lot of little details, so picking them all out will be a challenge. I think I can do it though!

Meanwhile, I've also assembled Inquisitor Katerinya Greyfax from the Triumvirate of the Imperium set:

She'll be fun to paint, although she's pretty low in the queue (especially with Adepticon just 4 months away). I've also begun assembling Saint Celestine, but I'll most likely paint her in pieces before doing the final assembly since it looks like the model will be fairly delicate when fully built.

That's all for now, hope to have more progress on the Plague Marines soon!

@Azazelx: Thanks! Now that I've gotten started, progress has been much easier. Sometimes you just have to take that first step.

@Nevelon: Thanks! I'll have to take the risk on my immortal soul since those models you mentioned are low priority (was going to probably take Celestine to Adepticon, but since I'm going Chaos for that event...).

@York: Thanks, and I plan to!

More progress on the servants of Grandfather Nurgle:

I've gotten the main shade down all over them and also highlighted all of the main colors. The all-over shade really worked well to make the models look dirty and grimy. Next up will be the task of picking out all of the little tentacles and tongues, and these models have quite a few of those scattered everywhere.

In other news, a friend of mine recently gave me a pair of Chaos Rhino kits, minus a few of the bits that he needed for another project (very generous indeed). I've already assembled one of them:

This one, and the other one that I have yet to assemble, will be for my Alpha Legion and will ultimately be painted as such. I'm still trying to decide exactly how I'll achieve the Alpha Legion look for my guys. I'll probably do what I've seen a lot of people do and just paint them blue with green edge highlights. That will be easier to paint quickly with Adepticon coming up. I know I have like 4 months to prepare, but deadlines have a nasty habit of sneaking up and this isn't something I can cram for like a college exam.

For my last purchase of this pay period, I picked up a set of Blightlord Terminators for my Death Guard, and one of the new Citadel Painting Handles. So far I like the handle, but I don't really think it's all that practical for a batch of models. It'll come in handy for painting character models for sure, though.

Anyway, hope to have more progress to show soon! Thanks to everyone for chiming in with encouragement and advice, it really helps me stay motivated!

This will probably be my last WIP shot for the Dark Imperium Plague Marines before I finish them:

Only major detail left to do is the bone stuff (skulls, horns, etc.). Otherwise it's just a few highlights and the bases, plus a couple of random touchups where I goofed a little with the paint. For December, I may be painting something a bit...bigger.

@Nevelon: Thanks! As for December, I know I'm taking a risk on attempting a big model, but since I might need it playable soonish, I figure it can't hurt to try even if I don't finish before the end of the month.

Well, after a lot of work with my fine detail brush and a few frustrated moments at different times as I found another detail here and there that I missed, I'm ready to call the Plague Marines finished. Here are the final pics:



I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. These models are full of disgusting detail and were very fun and challenging to paint. I recommend that anyone with any interest in 40k Nurgle stuff get the Death Guard half of Dark Imperium; the models are just amazing. Some people say that the models are too busy; I simply marvel at how much detail can be put on a plastic model compared to how much could be done in years past. I see the extra detail as a positive thing, so I hope GW keeps it up! Next up from Dark Imperium will probably be the two lesser Death Guard characters (the Noxious Blightbringer and Malignant Plaguecaster), but they will probably wait until after the new year as I've got other priorities for paint.

My very next thing may be a few Chaos Cultists that I will paint in Alpha Legion colors. It'll give me something relatively easy to do until December starts, when I'll commence on my entry for that month's painting challenge.

As for what I'm going to do, I was going to wait and announce it at the beginning of December, but what the hey, most of you have probably guessed it anyway. I'll be tackling Mortarion, Primarch of the Death Guard. With that model, I'm hoping to finish the year off with a big painting finale. I'm already well over my model count from last year, so I don't really need to pad out my numbers, and I might be bringing Morty to Adepticon, hence my main reason for wanting to get him ready for battle. While I paint the big guy, I might knock out a few small projects as I wait for layers to dry on him. Cultists and that sort of small stuff that I can bash out quickly and don't care if they look really good. Wish me luck, I'll need it if I want to get Morty done during the busy Christmas season.

@York: Thanks very much! I hope my work on Mortarion won't disappoint. He's gonna be tough to get right.

As the Chinese say, "Even the longest journey begins with a single step", so I've gotten started with Mortarion. Not much to see yet, but here's a WIP shot anyways:

All I've done is put a couple of coats of Rakarth Flesh on the wings, and a couple of coats of Death Guard Green on the armor. Next up will be the various metallics. There are a lot of those details scattered across the model, so that will be a big step.

Today I actually visited both of my FLGS. I picked up my copy of Chapter Approved, as well as this guy:

I've been wanting to pick up Abaddon for some time, so now I have him. The FLGS had recently gotten a shipment of a bunch of clampack characters, so when I saw this guy I pounced.

At the other FLGS, I saw they had a sale table with a bunch of cool stuff on it. Hiding at the back of that table, marked 50% off, was this:

I had originally gone to that FLGS because I heard that they got some new Battlefoam stuff in, but when I saw this I couldn't pass it up. I can pick up more foam anytime, after all. I just couldn't say no to $75 for this amazing box. Now I've got a bunch of Mk. III marines, some Tartaros termies (which rumor has it Dark Angels will get access to), some Null Maidens, and some Custodes, plus the cool Wolf Lord and Ahriman models. I've got some Legion Autocannons that a friend gave me; they will go on some of these guys to make Havocs for my Alpha Legion. Indeed, most of the Marines will become Chaos Marines, although I may turn one squad into Space Wolves Grey Hunters.

More to come on Mortarion soon I hope. I hope to also get a few smaller models done at the same time, like some cultists. I ended up not doing any at the end of last month, choosing to actually start my proper bits box instead. Nice to be able to finally discard a few kit boxes that were taking up space. I've got a looooong way to go on that project.

@Nevelon: Yeah, it was an amazing find, hence why I could not pass on it. Rest assured there is plenty more Nurgle stuff coming, at least while I'm doing the big boy.

@York: Thanks! And yes, BoP has some really great stuff in it. At first I didn't care for the look of the Mk. III Marines, but now that I have them in hand they are growing on me.

@Josh: I'm following Duncan Rhodes' method for painting Morty, at least in which parts to paint in which order. I'll use a few different colors here and there, though. I figure tackling it will be like how you would eat an elephant: one bite at a time. I'm not going to rush it though, as I want to get my money's worth and I really want the model to look awesome when I bring it to tournaments and stuff.

Time for an update now that I've gotten the metallics basecoated:

I'm going to go over the armor and touch up any areas where I messed up the green, then it'll be time to shade the areas I've painted so far. Thus far it's been relatively easy to pick out the areas of color; as I get closer to done it'll get harder since I'll really have to be careful to avoid messing up finished parts.

Meanwhile, I've also been assembling some of the contents of Burning of Prospero. I assembled the two characters (Ahriman and Geigor the Fell-handed) as well as these guys:

These are going to be used as Havocs in my Alpha Legion army. I used the Legion Autocannons, but with a modification; the ammo hoppers that normally go on the backpacks are mounted directly on the guns. I was having trouble getting the belts to fit between the backpack and guns, and apparently that is a common problem with the autocannon set, so I stole an idea I found via Google and built the weapons as seen. They look awkward, but this is 40k, so practicality is out the window!

More to come soon, both on the BoP assembly and Morty!

@Nev: I'm glad you like the Autocannons. I'm pretty pleased with them myself. I would have liked to be able to use them as intended with the ammo belts and all, but...eh. I think you're right about the brutality of them, but I've seen lots of people loading these models with Autocannons and other long-ranged weapons, so I imagine they'll work either way. I'm really looking forward to turning one of these squads into Grey Hunters for my Wolves.

Another update on Mortarion, and a WIP pic:

I've finished shading and highlighting all of the green armor and metallics, and I've gotten basecoats down on two of the fabric colors. I'll shade and highlight this fabric before I move on to the third fabric color, which will be pale off-white and blend into the smoke around the bottom. Getting that blend to look okay will be a real trick, but Saint Duncan Rhodes showed how to do it in his tutorial for painting the big guy, so I should be able to make it work even though I won't be duplicating the colors exactly.

In addition to getting more work done on Morty, I've gotten a couple more squads assembled from the Burning of Prospero set. First, here is another Havoc squad, with 3 Heavy Bolters:

I went ahead and gave the Champion the helmet head crest, which will work okay for Alpha Legion. I perhaps should have sourced bits online for another one of these Heavy Bolters to make a full unit of them, but honestly I won't be running these models often as Heavy Bolters are just not that great in-game IMO.

The other assembled unit is the Tartaros Terminators from the box set, which will be used in my Dark Angels Deathwing:

They'll look pretty cool in the bone white livery of the Dark Angels 1st Company, I think. I went with the Plasma Blaster on the sarge because I love plasma and the option was there. I also opted for the Reaper Autocannon because it is a better choice than a Heavy Flamer in most situations, especially for a deep strike unit like this.

I hope to be able to continue to get work done on Morty, and have more updates soon. It's been fun painting the model so far.

@Josh: Thanks! I wasn't sure about it at first either, as Duncan used a dark purple, but I like how mine turned out.

@York: Thanks! It's going to be close, but I'm still hopeful that I can get it done.

I'm making slow but steady progress. I've finished up the purple hood and red loincloth, and I've gotten basecoats on the white robe and the smoke/mist:

This is probably the hardest part, as I need to get the mist at the bottom to blend with the white fabric. I'll mostly be following Duncan's guide, but I won't run the mist colors as high on the model as he did (I think he overdid it personally). Reaching in to pick up the inner areas under the model has been a real pain in the butt, but I wanted to be able to use the model. Morty's going to his first tournament tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I'm continuing to assemble the Burning of Prospero models, although after these I'm stopping and I may start a secondary painting project (cultists or perhaps an Alpha Legion character or two) between coats on the big guy. Here are my assembled Adeptus Custodes:

I went with sword and board on these guys, as the extra durability will help protect the expensive models in games.

Here are the assembled Sisters of Silence:

These are the Witchseeker variant, with the flamers. They'll hopefully do some good work when I return to playing Imperial armies, probably after Adepticon. I will be picking up the new Dark Angels stuff tomorrow when I'm at the FLGS for the tournament. I've got the codex, a set of the dice, the robed Primaris Lieutenant, and a box of the Hellblasters on preorder there.

More to come on Morty (and more!).

@Justaerin: Thanks! I think given the choice you made the right decision. DI is a better place to start if you're building Space Marines or Death Guard. You can always pick up Morty later. It's good to do some smaller DG models first and then try to tackle something really big and complicated like this. As for the Alpha Legion, mine won't be teal, but rather just blue with green details and highlights. I'm figuring on doing some kind of scale motifs on at least some parts.

Yet another update on the big guy, this time with not one but TWO photos:

I wanted to show the progress I'm making on both his body and robes as well as the wings. The wings just have a couple of steps left to call them done, although they've turned out a bit messier than I had hoped, and the rest of him is not far behind. I think I'm going to finish this month, even with Christmas coming up.

In other news, I picked up my Dark Angels codex, dice, Hellblasters, and the new Lieutenant model on Saturday while I was at the FLGS for a tournament. I went ahead and put the Lieutenant together, so here he is assembled:

He's going to be fun to paint. I've enjoyed doing all the Primaris models so far, but this one will be even more enjoyable for me because I love the Dark Angels robed power armor aesthetic.

I'm still trying to decide which Alpha Legion stuff I'm going to do as a secondary project, if any. I've got so much that needs done, I'm having trouble deciding where to start. I'll probably do something for next month's painting challenge, but I want to get started on something else now. I need to get cracking if I want to have a fully painted army in time for Adepticon.

Just a small update here in the very wee hours of Christmas morning (just past midnight local time). Work on Mortarion continues, with all but one of the major details at least basecoated:

Just got to basecoat and highlight the black cables and pipes, plus the flies in the smoke that goes on his back. Then I have to detail the base, which has a lot more detail than I thought (doh!). It's like Mortarion actually makes the very rocks and ground sick just by being there. Some slime, maggots and stuff to pick out, shouldn't be terribly hard, but I have no idea how it's all supposed to look. I guess I'll have to be creative. Fortunately, the vast majority of the model is indeed finished, and I'm happy with what I've done so far, with the possible exception of the wings. They've turned out somewhat blotchy, probably due to going way overboard with the shades. The only real way to fix it would be to just basecoat the wings again and start all over, and I'm absolutely not going to do that. To be honest they still look passable.

Still nothing doing on the Alpha Legion front, but I'm getting more stuff assembled. This time, it's a bunch of Nurglings that I got cheap on eBay recently:

These guys are actually going to be part of my next Chaos tournament list attempt, along with the Changeling, who I will have to pick up later. I'm hoping when the Daemon codex drops the trick I'm planning still works (Changeling protecting Tzeentch Obliterators). The Nurglings will be there to fill out a Battalion detachment and to hog the board (preventing deep strikes).

Still in the mail is the old metal Bjorn the Fell-handed model for my Space Wolves army. Got him cheap, so he'll be a late Christmas present for me to put together. I've never put together a metal Dreadnought before, so this will be interesting.

To all my friends here on DakkaDakka, I wish you a very Merry Christmas! Hopefully you all find lots of great hobby stuff under your trees and in your stockings.

Good news, everyone! I've finished work on Mortarion! He's now ready to lead the Death Guard into battle to spread Grandfather Nurgle's blessings to all the Imperium. Here are the final photos (I just had to do 7 of them because Nurgle):
First, a shot of the whole model:

Here are two shots of the front, one of the whole body and one focused on the face:

The face one is somewhat whitewashed despite me turning down the brightness on my camera. Not sure what gives on these close-up shots.
Next, shots of the sides of the model, featuring The Lantern and Silence:

Here is a shot featuring the smoke on his back, as well as the wings:

Finally, here's the base:

I'm actually very pleased with how this guy turned out. He was a lot of fun to paint, and in the games I've played with him he's been pretty fun to use. I feel like this model is a great way for me to cap off the year, as far as painting. I keep saying I'm going to do some other small models, but I keep being too busy. I've got a few days left in the year, and I really need to get to work on stuff for Adepticon, and now Morty's done, so no more excuses. Time to knock out some Alpha Legion stuff. Anyhow, feel free to vote for the pics of Morty in the Dakka Gallery, I'd really appreciate it.

Coming soon, I'll do a year end review of everything I painted in 2017.

@Nev: Thank you very much for the kind words! He was a ton of fun to paint and pretty awesome to run in games.

@York: Thanks! He's been beastly on the table in most of the games I've played him in, although he did not fare very well against a Tau Commander spam list that went first against me.

@Josh: Thanks! I was a little worried that the more magenta color I chose for the hood would be too garish for this model, but it worked better than I thought. Now he matches my other Death Guard stuff better than if I had chosen a darker color.

Okay, it's time to take a little trip down memory lane and look back at what I did this year, hobbywise. I painted 65 models in all, which for me is amazing although there are plenty of people who do 200+ in a year. I'll get there eventually, I hope. I'd like to paint more than I buy for starters, though, as I bought a hell of a lot more than 65 models. That's what happens when I'm working on like 4 armies at once (Dark Angels, Tau, Chaos, and Space Wolves). More if you count small ally forces and sub-armies in Chaos (like Daemons and Death Guard). Anyway, here's a pic of everything I painted in 2017:

I actually didn't paint much big stuff this year, with only one vehicle and one monster (2 if you count Bobby G). But, I did not one but TWO Primarchs! In last year's review, I had painted more Tau than anything, but this year I only did one Tau model, and more Dark Angels than anything. Here's a breakdown of what I painted:
IMPERIUM OF MANKIND
Ultramarines
Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines
Dark Angels
DI Primaris Master in Gravis Armor
DI Primaris Lieutenant with Master-crafted Auto Bolt Rifle
DI Primaris Lieutenant with Power Sword
DI Primaris Ancient
2x DI Intercessor Squads (5 models each)
DI Hellblaster Squad (5 models)
DI Inceptor Squad (3 models)
Devastator Squad (5 models)
30th Anniversary Imperial Space Marine
FORCES OF CHAOS
Death Guard
Mortarion, Daemon Primarch of the Death Guard
DI Plague Marines (7 models)
DI Poxwalkers (10 models)
Chaos Space Marines
Sorcerer on Bike with Stave
Sorcerer on Bike with Axe
Khorne Berzerkers (10 AoS Bloodreaver models)
Chaos Space Marines (5 models)
T'AU EMPIRE
Longstrike's Hammerhead Gunship
So now that I've gone over what I got done this year, let's look at my goals from last year and how well I did accomplishing those:
1) Paint more models than I did in 2016. That means 51 or more models. I got that one done, yay me!
2) Finish my partially painted models. This includes, but is not limited to, 3 more Dreadball convicts, a Nephilim Jetfighter, 5 Dark Angels Devastators, 3 Ravenwing Command Squad bikes, some Chaos Raptors, a Land Raider (may not happen as I've screwed it up badly by not thinning paints), and others. I did the Devastators, but didn't touch any of the other stuff. I'm being very generous when I say I'll call this one partially done.
3) Paint the right combination of models to take a completely painted army to a tournament. I'm tired of missing out on painting points! This one didn't happen at all. It's almost guaranteed for 2018 since I'm going to Adepticon.
4) Win a 40k tournament. May not happen due to some pretty stiff competition around my area, but I've come close in the past! This goal is not very important to me, as I have a good time playing no matter how I finish. I won a tiny little 4-man event, so maybe that counts?
5) Specific model goal: complete all of my Dark Angels flyers to run the Ravenwing Silence Squadron. Nope.
6) Specific model goal: paint my loyalist Imperial Knight. The Chaos one is mostly done, but I haven't even started building the other one. Also nope.
7) Improve my freehand painting, and learn to paint neater in general. This is one area in which I really struggle badly. I've got to learn how to keep my hands more steady. I'll give myself a partial here, as I'm better that I was, but I still have plenty of room for improvement.
8) Improve my photography skills. Perhaps I should invest in materials for building a lightbox to help with this. Didn't do a lightbox, and my photos are still kinda crap. Fail!
9) Buy fewer minis. I've been spending way too much money on more models; I've got plenty of models now, so I need to knock out some of what I have before I pick up yet more. There are a few specific things I want (like a couple more boxes of Black Knights), but other than that I need to keep my wallet on a tight leash. We won't even talk about this one. Nothing to see here. Move along...
10) Set up some bits boxes. I'm getting very tired of having to search through many many kit boxes and sprues to find specific parts. I meant to do this in 2016, but I never got around to it. I started it toward the end of the year, but I'm not even close to done. Partial credit.
11) Update this blog more frequently. It's no wonder I don't get a lot of replies or feedback; most people probably think I've dropped off the planet! Updating once every two weeks is not going to cut it. Gonna call this one a win since my blog got through 8 pages in one year compared to 6 in the previous 2 years.
Okay, so new, hopefully more realistic and clear-cut goals for 2018, in no particular order:
1) Paint more models than 2017, meaning 66 or more.
2) FINISH THE PARTIALLY PAINTED MODELS, DAMMIT!
3) Take a fully-painted army to a tournament in 2018, besides Adepticon, which I have to bring fully painted models to.
4) Finish the Dark Imperium set's models. Still have a Lord of Contagion, Noxious Blightbringer, Malignant Plaguecaster, Foetid Bloat-drone, and 10 more Poxwalkers to do.
5) Get a lightbox and take better photos.
6) Stop buying every shiny thing that comes across my path. That may mean staying away from eBay unless there's something specific I really need. Specific goal for this is to paint more than I buy and therefore reduce the pile of shame.
7) Finish working on the bits boxes.
8) Bonus Goal: Finish an army. As in fully painted and based. Not likely, which is why I'm considering it a bonus rather than an actual goal as it's unlikely to happen in 2018.
I think I can handle most if not all of those.

Finally, here are my 5 best paintjobs of the year (in my opinion, feel free to disagree!):
#5: Longstrike's Hammerhead

#4: Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines:

#3: Dark Angels Hellblasters

#2: Khorne Berzerkers

#1: Mortarion, Daemon Primarch of Nurgle


Happy New Year, and see you all in 2018!

@Nevelon: Thanks, and you're right about the goals. I like to give myself something to push for without it being too easy (if it was easy I'd get complacent).

@youwashock: Thanks! I agree about Morty, in fact I might actually say I equalled or surpassed the Bloodthirster from the previous year on him. I think Morty had a higher degree of difficulty at least.

Okay, 2018 is off to a flying start with me preparing for Adepticon by getting some rank and file stuff done. Here are some Chaos Cultists with all of the cloth colors blocked in, awaiting some shades:

I know these guys will make my Champs list and most likely my Team and Friendly lists as well, so I may as well get them done since I know I'll need them for the big show. They are also my entry in Paradigm's monthly painting challenge (well, five of them will be). I tried to use varying placements of the same three colors, those colors being Macragge Blue, Stegadon Scale Green, and Mechanicus Standard Grey. Duncan Rhodes mentioned using this technique for cultists to make them look like they belong together but are not an organized military force (with uniform colors). I did this once before using different colors when I did the melee cultist unit for my Khorne Daemonkin army last edition. The main thing I deviated from this pattern with was the stubber wielder's apron, using Celestra Grey to make it lighter. The models don't look like much now, but once I do the shades and highlights on the cloth I think they'll pop nicely.

I also blocked in some of the basic colors on my metal Sorcerer:

I am going to go for a kind of red lightning theme on the sword, hence the red blade. Kind of a less elaborate version of how I did Bobby G's sword last year. I'm hoping the sword ends up looking like it's brimming with infernal energies. For the armor and cloth, I used some of the same colors as on the Cultists. This will make them a more cohesive force when I get more stuff done for my Alpha Legion. I'm going to edge highlight (or drybrush) the armor with green to make it look like Alpha Legion, and I may add some freehand scale pattern as well.

More to come soon, I hope. I return to work tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have some energy left for hobbying.

So, the flying start kind of fizzled for a little bit there, but I'm still working. I'm calling the fabric parts done and have moved on to basecoating the leather and silver metallic details on the cultists:

I need to get a move on, as I've got lots more cultists to do after these guys. I'm gonna be sick of the damn things by time Adepticon rolls around.

No more work on the Sorcerer as of now, but I have assembled some Hellblasters for my Dark Angels:

These are from the Dark Angels Hellblasters kit, so they have the nice chapter upgrades like sculpted shoulder pads and some accessories. I needed some built for a team tournament in a couple of weeks.

One thing I thought I might do this year is compile a wishlist of models I do wish to buy as of right now. Obviously I might get more stuff as new things are released, but this is a core list of models I either need or really want for my lists. In no particular order:
Daemon Prince with Talons: I need one of these for Adepticon potentially, as at least one of my list ideas for the GT there involves a Slaanesh DP with talons and both of mine have weapons (one sword and one axe).
SM Scouts: I need more of these guys for my Dark Angels, as they are perhaps the best troops for them (although Intercessors aren't bad). I actually have some metal ones on their way to me right now thanks to eBay.
RW Black Knights: Again, I need more of these as I only have 3.
Inceptors with Plasma Exterminators: With the plasma stratagem for Dark Angels, I really should pick up 6 of these guys (two boxes).
Great Unclean One: Although not a rush item due to the price point, I do want one of these for my Nurgle forces. The new model is totally awesome!
Various other Nurgle Daemons: I need more Plaguebearers, as well as some Drones, plus perhaps the new characters.
Bloodletters: I need a couple more boxes of these guys, as I'm actually considering running them once the new Daemons book drops.
Magnus the Red: Now that it's been confirmed that the Daemon Primarchs can use the Daemons Deep Strike stratagem, I need to pick up the other Bash Brother. Not a rush item though.
And now the much less likely to acquire Forge World section:
Chaos Decimator Engine: The model is cool and I've heard it's very competitive.
Fire Raptor Gunship: It's a cool model and probably the best flyer in the game. I'm definitely gonna see about getting one for my Alpha Legion or my Dark Angels.
Sicaran Battle Tank: Mostly for the cool model, but it isn't half bad in games either.

I'm definitely getting there on the squad of cultists. Most of the colors are all done, and I've just added the first basecoat to the skin. Here's the latest WIP shot:

I'll shade and highlight the skin, with a special highlight to show off the scars on some of the guys' arms, then it'll be on to a few small details like some straps that are on the skin (waiting until I finish the skin to pick them out) and the leader's hair. Cultists aren't very difficult to paint, but most Chaos armies need loads of them, so it's very much like Ork players having to paint huge numbers of Boyz or Tyranid players doing hordes of gaunts, which presents special challenges for painting (mainly the patience of the painter).

I've also made a tiny bit of progress on the Sorcerer:

I've added a brighter color to the sword blade, and I've shaded and edge highlighted the armor (with green). It'll start looking better once I get on with the next step, which is all the gold and silver parts. The Citadel painting handle is coming in handy for this guy.

I'm hoping to have the Cultists completely done by this weekend. The Sorcerer will most likely take longer, but I might already be started on another batch of cultists by time he's finished, or else I'll get started on my Noise Marines.

@Josh: Thanks! And yes, having a limited palette is very helpful for painting horde armies. I'll have plenty more of these cultists to do, and I intend to use the same colors for all of them.

I've finally finished the cultist squad, which has been in my model collection since near the very beginning (Dark Vengeance was one of the first 40k purchases I made). Here are the pics, starting with the 6 that will be my entry in the monthly painting challenge:



I chose the champion and heavy gunner to enter in the challenge since they are unique, and the three grunts I chose I think turned out the best out of all of them. Here is a pic of the other 5 guys from the unit:

And finally, here is a pic of the whole squad, ready to prepare the population of a hive city for the coming of the Alpha Legion:

Overall I enjoyed painting these guys, although I didn't put near as much effort into them as I did with models like Mortarion and it shows. That's because they are just grunts and I also have lots of them to paint. It's more important that I get them painted quickly than that I produce amazing quality since I am working against a deadline. I really need to go faster. 2 weeks to finish a 10-man squad is quick for me, but if I want to have a whole 2000-point army ready for Adepticon, I really need to work a little faster or I'll find myself having to pull some all-nighters when it gets close to time. Still, I'm now officially on the board for getting models painted in 2018.

In other news, work continues on the metal Sorcerer, with the gold details now painted:

This guy may not even make the cut for my championship list, so I'm not pushing too hard on him. He's mainly been a diversion while I paint other stuff. I've got a jump pack Sorcerer that will almost certainly be in my list, but he's my entry in next month's painting challenge, so I'm holding off on him.

Next up for paint will be either another squad of Cultists or perhaps my Noise Marines, along with more work on the metal Sorcerer.