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Well, figured it would be fun to make a Painting & Modelling Blog to keep my motivation up. This is going to be for my two 40k armies, Tallarn and Blood Angels (edit. Blood Knights). It is going to be slow going, going to assemble everything for one army and than base and paint it. The real thing that's been slowing me down on this is trying to file and clean up every mould line on the models... and that I just finished buying my Battle Company of Blood Angels (edit. Blood Knights), they are all metal, and pretty much all need to be stripped and cleaned up.

Well, going to start with the Tallarn. Going to post up a picture of how they sit as of now, personally I am happy with the progress on building them (just started them in May). I have purchased all but 4 of the models i need (and if all goes well should have them real soon), and last 4 of my 20 Roughriders are on the way. Woo-hoo!

Still have quite a bit to assemble (and magnetize on the two Leman Russes).

I always wanted to see how a 40k army would look on round lipped bases, and was real happy to find a company made just what I needed. So now all the infantry will be 25mm lipped bases, the cavalry on 25x50mm lipped bases and the Dreadnoughts on 60mm lipped bases.

The Leman Russes are going to be built as Executioner variants, and I have had a lot of fun tracking down certain bits to make them "outdated" like ten rest of the Tallarn, found some old style Heavy Bolters for the hull, and metal Plasma Cannons for both sponsons. Hoping to track down some metal Executioner Plasma Cannons for the turrets, I think that will really make them feel like a cohesive force a little better. It was a bit of a pain to make the hull Heavy Bolter able to come out, since where it goes into curves in and the parts that go around it to keep it in place on the hull aren't big enough for it to fit through. So, had to open up where it goes on the hull, and open up where it fits through as well.

That's a lot of metal! Best of luck on the project, looks like you are going to be pretty busy

 Commander Cain wrote:
That's a lot of metal! Best of luck on the project, looks like you are going to be pretty busy

Oh heck yeah I am! I love it though, once I heard about 8th I decided it's time to come back to 40k. Can't wait to play a game with the Guard once they are ready, what blows my mind is all of the Tallarn is just barely 2,000 points... I had to stretch it to get there. Need to hurry up and get building.

Well, I might as well show you guys the sorry state that the Blood Angels are in as well. I got just about all of this from trades (and a little eBay action), so there is quite a that needs to be stripped before assembly. The last 24 standard Marines and my Chaplain are on the way, along with the bits to finish the second Dreadnought. Won an auction for an incomplete metal Dread for 99 cents that has all the parts I need to replace the miscast ones on the second one. Haven't bought the vehicles for them yet, but that's not a big deal since collecting all the metal Marines was the hard part.

Bought all the Bolter arms and backpacks I needed, and got some of the Horus Heresy plastic stuff to mix in, and some Blood Angels bits as well. Got a few models together to see how it will fit on the older stuff, I think it looks great. Now I just need to track down a lot more shoulderpads and all the special and heavy weapons haha.

I like the fluff of the Blood Angels, but really didn't like how gaudy they have gotten from 3rd edition when I last played them, so I wanted to go fairly light on the iconography and silly winged, grail covered, blood drop covered bits and spread them out with mostly vanilla marine pieces. What's funny is that I was going to go with an Ultramarine successor Chapter, but strangely enough it was easier to find metal Blood Angels versus standard marines. Only about a dozen of the Tactical and Devastator marines aren't Blood Angels, the rest are metal Death Company and Blood Angels tacticals.

Yay Tallarns! You'll find Tallarns are a joy to paint. I really enjoyed shading and highlighting my 120 or so Tallarn troopers.

They are also fun to use on the table top. You'll get lots of kudos from people who walk by your games and admire the classic sculpts.

Tallarns AND Blood Angels?! What a treat consider me subbed.

EDC

Aye, indeed. looks like a great mix. I'm wondering where this will go...

Decided to take a break from the Tallarn and get a few Blood Angels together. Found out it can be quite tricky to get a few of the older sculpts to work well with newer bits! Got about half of the Marines stripped, only 31 left to go! I was hoping to get more done, but started a new semester with the online college I am attending. Oh well, here is a few more that got assembled.

Oh, and ordered about 200 bits to really get going on the Blood Angels, still short a few heavy weapons, some shoulderpads and about a dozen backpacks. Got a bunch of models on bases waiting for weapons to show up Thankfully I won't be using the full 3rd Company any time soon, looks like the standard here is 1,500.

It warms my heart to see so many metal tallarn guys in one place! you've got a really fun project ahead of you, i think

The marines are looking good as well

Love old school imperial guard. I think I have never seen a full Tallarn army, so will certainly be following this.

What a load of Baals!

Looking good so far. Want to see some painted! I like how you've mixed the metals and plastics. I'm slowly coming around to rebuilding my BA as well, so interested to see how you do it. You know, the guys you don't have backpacks for...you could give them Jump Packs instead...

craggy wrote:
What a load of Baals!

Looking good so far. Want to see some painted! I like how you've mixed the metals and plastics. I'm slowly coming around to rebuilding my BA as well, so interested to see how you do it. You know, the guys you don't have backpacks for...you could give them Jump Packs instead...

Haha, I have twenty old metal Assault Marines with metal jump packs. Really trying to make a Codex Compliant Battle Company.

Hopefully I will start painting next week. Really pumped, haven't painted Space Marines in years.


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 amazingturtles wrote:
It warms my heart to see so many metal tallarn guys in one place! you've got a really fun project ahead of you, i think

The marines are looking good as well

Thank you!

I have always wanted to collect Tallarn since 3rd Edition, never got around to it until now. One of the biggest pains to collect, but such a joy at the same time.

Goodness, been a bit since my last post, but I haven't been idle! Got 1,500 points just about fully assembled (a few jump packs are being resistant to being stripped, and I need to do some putty work to get the captain's backpack to sit properly). Ended up changing my list so had to build a few more models.

But, I did decide that I actually wanted to do a successor chapter of the Blood Angels. Painting everything pure red would be a bit boring, and I have done multiple Khador armies for Warmachine. Spent some time perusing the successor chapters to find a scheme and back story I liked. Soooo... my Blood Angels will be Blood Knights! Quickly got this guy painted to test out the scheme... and I like it! Plenty of touch ups to do on this model, and tons of detail work, but it is a good start. I am blown away at how good these old models look with newer bits and a dash of paint! I will get together a picture of my 1,500 point list a little later, playing my third game with them tomorrow. Gotten smashed the first two games but here's to hoping tomorrow is better!

So much metal! Better start working out if you're going to lug that around!

Nice to see somebody going for a successor chapter. Interesting colour scheme.

Looks good, especially liking the downgrading of the Russes.

Speaking of, just as an FYI, there was never a metal Executioner Plasma Cannon. Both pre-plastic types were FW; solid resin weapons fit to a solid resin turret. Your best bet for a plastic version that would match the first FW version(seen below) would be getting your hands on the Plasma Annihilator from the original plastic Imperator. Not perfect, but close enough for the old skool look you're going for.

Woot! Glad to see your paining blog off to the races Gunsmith!

As a fellow player/owner of an all metal Vostroyan Firstborn army, along with my Blood Angels, I offer an enthusiastic E-high-five to you.

I'll be following along here. Take it easy and I'll talk to ya soon.

-Red__Thirst-

 Platuan4th wrote:
Looks good, especially liking the downgrading of the Russes.

Speaking of, just as an FYI, there was never a metal Executioner Plasma Cannon.

Oh really haha? Dang, I thought I saw one that said it was metal on eBay a while back and got excited... hmm, I might just track down some old metal Dreadnought Plasma Cannons and cut the weapon off for the turret.

Well, here is a picture of how the Blood Knights sit right now. A few more bits to get on a few models, and getting going on a few more squads. Whew! Can't wait to finally be done assembling!

On a side note, sadly, my boys didn't perform too hot on the tabletop again today. 0 Wins, 3 Losses so far. But, I have a new tactic to try next week! Have to get my other two Rhinos assembled, second Inferno Pistol & Power Axe Sergeant, and one more Meltagunner and I'm ready!

Looks great so far. Look forward to seeing how it progresses

That's a hell of alot of space infidels to paint.

Thanks for the words of encouragement everybody! Definitely helps with keeping me motivated.

Well, I have discovered the horrors of magnetizing larger metal pieces. Decided to take a break from the Blood Knights and try to get the sponsons for the Russes done (I have been avoiding starting them). Wanted to magnetize them like the rest of the vehicle... Oh boy was I in for a rough ride haha. Thankfully I have a great pin vise, and a couple drill indexes full of bits. Took a hacksaw to the top of the Plasma Cannon to trim it. Took a hair too much off, bit I'm not worried about it, it still looks good, and no way was I going to file the down to fit.

Well. It has been a while since I posted an update, figured it was about time to check back in.

I haven't been idle this whole time, and I hit the biggest milestone to date with the Blood Angels (formerly Knights of Blood, changed due to Codex punishing Successor Chapters). After 9 months of work, every Marine is finally stripped of their old paint! Woohoo.

I will try and snap a few pictures tomorrow. I have less than 20 models left to build for the army before I can base it all and finally start painting. I have held off with paint since I had to backtrack on a few units and rebuilt them with different options.