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Damn that sword looks beautiful up close and that's before you work your Baal Blood Magic.

Seriously though I can't wait to see the finished article.

Thank you both as always!

I'll be starting on the painting shortly, about to eat dinner now that I'm home from my part-time job. In theory, I should be able to get this bit knocked out and attached to the Company Champion. The shoulder pad is already painted, just need to paint the arm, and sword, then attach it. Photos will be forthcoming later tonight or tomorrow.

Take it easy for now.

-Red__Thirst-


Automatically Appended Next Post:
It took a few weeks of waiting, but I've finally finished off the Company Champion!

Please do tell me what you guys think. It took a couple of tries to get the power sword where I was happy with it, but I'm content with how this looks.













He fits in very nicely with the other two completed command squad members now. Will work on getting a group shot soon. Further progress will be made over the rest of the weekend on the next Veteran I do hope.

Take it easy for now and thanks so much for looking.

-Red__Thirst-

Looks great! Your minis are so clean and well painted. Love the pose, too. One minor gripe - the red blood drop on the sword hand seems to get lost in all that red.

The champion looks amazing. Well done

Thank you both! Yea, I'm going to come in and paint the drop on the back of the hand gold, to match the 4 drops sculpted onto the shoulder pad. That'll tie everything together nicely I think. Thanks for the suggestion Zambro!

More to come soon. Take it easy for now.

-Red__Thirst-

The finished article looks fantastic, my only gripe and its not a gripe really is the blue power effect on the sword looks a little dark to me and isn't quite as noticeable due to the dark silver blade.

I wanted to try something new with the power sword. I'm actually pretty happy with it, but it is kinda dark, I do agree. I'll work on making the next one a little brighter, but will let this one ride for the time being. Looking at how I plan to field the list, there may not be many more power weapons like this, though. I expect I may have a power axe or possibly a lightning claw or two and that's pretty much it from what I can see. Maybe down the road, I'll have something extra to work with, but beyond the Company Champ, and Aedus, those may be the only true power swords in the army. Of course, that's not 100% at this point in the game. Who knows what changes I'll make as the army grows.

As for the thread here, forward progress has been made. I finished off the second veteran's base, and his legs. They took a little more work to get looking right as they are a re-purposed set of of assault marine legs. The paint was not being friendly tonight, which may be slightly evident in some of these photos, but I powered through and am pleased with the result. Next up will be the torso, then arms and shoulder pads, and lastly (as usual) the jump pack. Sub assembly will occur as I finish bits off and further updates will show progress.

here's where we sit:









Good progress tonight. I estimate the mini is at a solid 40% complete, factoring in the already finished helmet (Not show, as yet, future updates will have it attached once I finish off the torso).

Thanks for looking, and take it easy for now.

-Red__Thirst-

Ooh I come back from a long road trip to find more blood angel goodness? Sweet emperor yes

Thanks for that War Kitten

I've got a long stretch of days off coming up starting tomorrow, so I'll be knocking out this Veteran as quickly as I can (Within reason) and starting the fifth and final member of the Command Squad up as soon as I finish off this mini. In theory, I may be able to finish off both by this weekend if I can really buckle down and paint a lot over the next three to five days.

After the command squad is completed, I will move on to the second HQ choice for my army: A jump pack equipped Librarian. The bits and parts I need for this project are currently en-route to me, and hopefully will be here by the middle of next week. Once I have them all in-hand I will take a photo of the un-assembled bits together before work begins. Look forward to that by next weekend hopefully.

After the Librarian is painted, I will move on to the first Tactical Squad for the army, likely batch painting them two to three minis at a time to help speed up the process.

Further updates incoming soon. Take it easy for now everyone.

-Red__Thirst-

Update time! I've been steady at this second veteran, and have gotten more sub-assembly finished up. I have the torso, and head both attached after completing the torso. Here's where the veteran sits:







I'm currently working on the right arm, which is holding a chainsword, and right shoulder pad. After that's finished, the left arm and storm shield will be painted up, and then the jump pack will be finished, completing the mini.

in other news, I got a few bits in the mail today! Namely, the upcoming Librarian's force staff, as well as the third storm shield I need for the third and final Command Squad veteran.

Further progress will be posted up soon. Sorry these pictures aren't the best, I was kind of in a hurry to snap them. Next update with pictures will have better photos.

Take it easy for now.

-Red__Thirst-

The veteran is coming along quite nicely. That reminds me, need to go finish up my tactical marine sergeant

Looks awesome so far. Did you mention a Librarian?

I did! In fact, I got the last few bits in the mail earlier today and just snapped a bits picture a little earlier.

BEHOLD!



Not pictured is the Jump Pack I'll be using, which I haven't decided on yet. I may use a generic one with some extra decoration, or one of the Blood Angels specific ones such as the ones used on the Company Champion and Sanguinary Novitiate. Will make that choice later once painting commences.

Still have to finish up the second Veteran and try to knock the third one out, though I may go ahead and start work on the Librarian first.

The only point I'm working on is how I want to paint the torso. Leaning toward painting the chest and abdominal area dark red, or possibly gold. I'll be trying a few things, but I'm not sure what I want to do with it as yet.

More to come soon. Take it easy for now.

-Red__Thirst-

Ooh that librarian will look great when done. Are you going to paint him blue or go with mostly red? I've seen it done both ways

I'm currently leaning toward blue, though I am sorely tempted to do him red as he obviously has 'artificer' armor on. Sadly I can't actually give him artificer armor. :(

I want his armor to be kind of Mephiston style, which is what I was going with. Blood Angels are Codex Compliant (mostly.. their squad/company markings are not, nor are their squad types since they use color to denote tactical, devastator, assault, and veteran) so the armor *should* be painted blue, but I'm leaning toward this guy being a 'senior' Librarian, perhaps the second Librarian under Mephiston himself, which is why his armor is more baroque than the standard power armor worn by the lower ranked Librarians. I see him as being given the duty or task of unraveling the mystery of Gallian's Staff.

As I said, I'm leaning heavily toward going with Blue armor, as I want this guy to obviously be a librarian. How I paint the torso armor is giving me some pause, but I think I may have an idea on how to paint it up and make it look good using gold on his chest and abdomen, with white on the small blood angels icon in the center of his chest. It will pair nicely with the golds I plan to use on the right shoulder pad rim, and other decorations on his legs and bolt pistol, etc.

I'll be wanting this character to look 'at home' in this command squad, and along side Captain Aedus. He'll certainly stand out being blue in a sea of red, but I like that differentiation personally.

Still have to finish off this Veteran, updated pictures will be coming soon. I'm about to get started on painting the shoulder pad and jump pack which will finish off the model once completed and attached.

Take it easy for now.

-Red__Thirst-


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And nearing the finish line with this Veteran!

here's the completed mini, sans jump pack, which I'm about to undertake and try to paint up completely tonight to finish off the mini. Take a look:









Apologies for the picture quality being a little blurry, was in a hurry when I took these pictures. Finished model update photos will be less hurried.

The conundrum I face now is, do I go ahead and knock out the third veteran and complete the Honor Guard, or do I go ahead and begin work on the Librarian? I'm sorely tempted to begin the Libby, but I think I need to stick to my guns, buckle down, and finish off the Command Squad first, before moving on to the Librarian.

We'll see. More updates to come once I finish up this jump pack and get it attached.

Take it easy.

-Red__Thirst-

Where did you get that Blood Drop Staff and Torso?

 Adamski Alders wrote:
Where did you get that Blood Drop Staff and Torso?

Hey Adamski. The staff is actually a converted Warding Staff from the Grey Knight Terminators box I bits ordered. I clipped the skull that is normally in that space out, and took a back banner decorative bit from the Blood Angels Tactical Squad box, trimmed the spikes around the exterior of the ring down, and fit it inside of the empty circle where the skull once was. Was a bit pain-staking, and I'm not 100% sure it doesn't still need some very fine file work to make it look correct, but I may just lay some paint on it and let it ride. We'll see.

The torso is two parts from different places. The back is, obviously, a power armored Grey Knight torso bit with the Psychic Hood attached. The front of the torso is from the Blood Angels Upgrades Pack that I am so very in love with. Aedus's torso front is also from this same pack too. Really getting a lot of mileage out of that particular bits pack. All of my Honor Guard have shoulder pads from it, as well as Aedus and this up-coming Librarian as well. I like the sculpted torso done in the same style as Mephiston and Astorath.

Hopefully that answered your questions.

Take it easy for now.

-Red__Thirst-



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Final update for the night!

Veteran number 2 is finally finished! This mini took a lot more effort than I thought it would to complete, but I'm very happy with the final result and pose. Here's the final pictures:











And last but not least, a group shot of all four completed Honor Guard members:



Not the best photography sessions tonight, but hopefully despite some of the less than stellar pictures, the minis still look ok.

I'll have the final Veteran started in short order. I've just spraypainted the black basecoat over the base and will begin by getting it ready for the mini. After that, I'll get the helmet painted up, then torso and legs (already sub-assembled, re-using an old assault marine set of legs and torso), then the chainsword and storm shield arms, shoulder pads, and jump pack to finish it off. I'm going to be trying to add something extra to the shield on this one to help separate it from the other two veterans (all three have the same shield bit, so I'm doing my best ot make it less obvious they're all identical shields with posing and decals).

Thanks so much for looking, and better pictures will come in the near future I hope. Just having an off night with the camera it seems.

Take it easy for now everyone.

-Red__Thirst-

You paint great gems

Thank you! That is probably one of the most tedious parts about painting the Captain and this command squad is the gems. I'm glad you like them.

I'm trying my best to leave no detail unpainted, within reason anyway, which is why I'm painting them in pieces/stages then assembling after the part/bit is painted. I've noticed a sharp increase in the quality of the models in their final form compared to previous marines I've painted in the more traditional full-assemble-then-paint method.

I appreciate the kudos there Tyronus.

Take it easy.

-Red__Thirst-

The latest Veteran/Honour Guard member looks awesome. The look is spot on.

The group shot is excellent though it seems to be missing the head honcho and leader of the gang - Aedus.

That Staff is phenomenal, I love it. It looked like a real part to me not a conversion even though I suspected it might be. You've got skills Red.

Started work on the last member of the command squad this afternoon.. Or more specifically, his base. Here's the finished product. The bare unpainted white spot will be where the foot will glue to the base.

Not as exciting as the mini, but I was rather happy with how this base turned out, especially showcasing the new Typhus Corrosion and Ryza Rust technical paints. They really do produce a wonderful rust effect. I also have the Verdigris paint (Nihilakh Oxide) and have used it in my basing on my deathwatch minis. I have been very pleased with it as well, and also used a very small amount of this particular paint on the exposed pipe beneath the left foot of my Company Champion's base.

With that all being said, here's the progress for the day. What do folks think?







Once this mini is finished up, I'll take a group shot of all five together, as well as all five with Aedus as well.

More to come later. Take it easy.

-Red__Thirst-


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Final update for the night. All bits prepped for base coating. No pictures as yet, but I've just got finished sourcing all the parts from my bits box, scraping mold lines, attaching the shield to the shield arm, cleaning flash/sprue attachment points, and gluing a spare purity seal to the storm shield to make it look a little different from the others in the squad.

I'm not sure what I want to do to this shield to make it look unique from the rest of the shields in the squad. I'm tempted to put a black skull, or a black number 5 on the shield since it's the 5th Battle Company's Command Squad, and would tie in nicely to the other Veteran I just finished up that has the black tear drop shape on a red field, which represents the 5th Battle Company. Would tie in nicely I think. I'll check my decal sheets to see what I can find in short order. I've got an idea that I think will work.

First thing is first, I'll be working on the helmet and getting it finished first, then moving on to the torso and legs, then arms and shoulder pads before finishing up with the Jump Pack as usual.

After this squad is finished up, I plan to start work on the Librarian pictured above. We'll see how quickly I can get this figure wrapped up. Wish me luck and more updates will come in short order.

Take it easy everyone and thanks for reading.

-Red__Thirst-

I actually love those bases. I may steal them for my guard

Quick update. Managed to finish off the helmet for the final member of the Honor Guard. Here's the progress:







It's currently raining here, which is very good, since we've been in drought conditions for a while now. However. it's making getting base coats laid down quite difficult moving forward. Hopefully in the near future I'll be able to get outside and get some spray paint out without the dreaded fuzzing effect that humidity can sometimes cause.

In the mean time, more work will continue. Hopefully I'll be able to make more headway later this afternoon and get some more solid progress on this final Honor Guard member. Fingers crossed, anyway.

Take it easy for now.

-Red__Thirst-

Helmet came out quite nicely.

Agree with War Kitten, that helmet looks spot on.

Update! Work has begun in earnest on this last Veteran. If all goes as I hope it will, I will have the torso and legs finished by tonight, the head attached, and the left arm and shield finished, along with the left shoulder pad I do hope. I'm going to get *as much* as I can finished up tonight and in theory, finish up the miniature tomorrow night. I'm going to be curtailed somewhat in that process by the fact that I have to go to my quarterly qualification with my side arm at work tomorrow evening, after doing our yearly shotgun qualification, so I'm going to be rather busy till at least 8:45 to 9 and doubt I'll be home much before then. The good news is once I get home I'll be getting cleaned up, and then sitting right down to paint some I do hope.

All that being said, here's where the mini sits as I pause to type this post out.





I've just finished laying down the metallic paint ont he legs, and torso, and am about to begin the process of putting Nuln oil on the metal areas. Once that dries I'll touch up the red, then do the chest eagle wings gold to match the rest of the squad. Then I'll dry fit the arms in place to get the head direction correct and glue the head into place, and move on to painting the left shield arm and shield itself, then the shoulder pad. If I can get all of that done before too late, I'll begin work on the chainsword arm and right shoulder pad to finish up the lion's share of the model. After that, It's paint the jump pack and the Command Squad will be finished.

More to come soon, I'll post another update here later tonight once I get to a stopping point. Take it easy for now everyone.

-Red__Thirst-

Vet is coming along quite nicely. I'm also happy to say that watching you paint your vets got me off my lazy butt and painting my own guard vets. Just finished the first squad.

Nice War Kitten!

Any pictures of the finished products? I'd love to see some Guard veterans, as all I run typically is Veteran Squads in my Vostroyan Firstborn Guard army.

Looking forward to seeing them if you'd care to share.

Keep up the good work! I find the trick to getting models painted is to keep the momentum up and don't 'pause' too long between painting sessions. It's easier to keep up than catch up, as the old saying goes.

Take it easy for now.

-Red__Thirst-

I might be able to get them up here eventually. Just gotta figure out how to do it. They're not that exciting. Just some Cadian Guardsmen that I'm using as vets. But for my first non-marine models I'm happy with em.

Excellent War Kitten, I look forward to seeing your veterans if you decide to try and get them up here. The gallery is super easy to use. I typically upload the photos directly from my phone while I'm sitting at my painting desk. Takes all of five minutes or less.

Quick update on the Veteran. The torso and legs are finished. I've just attached the head, and am about to begin work on the arms. I'm going to go ahead and get the decal work finished on the shield, and right shoulder pad first. Then move on to more detail work.

Here's the progress thus far tonight:







Will keep working for another hour or so, try and get as much headway as I can tonight while I've got the steam to do it.

Talk to you guys more shortly. Take it easy for now and look for one last update on progress shortly.

-Red__Thirst-