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Hi All,

Picking up the paint brush again after a 6-year break from the hobby.
Thought I would share on DakkaDakka to help keep the motivation flowing.

First project complete was a small Legions of Nagash Army for AoS which is here:
Legions of Nagash

Currently the Blog will focus on my Black Tempars 2nd Crusade army as it progresses.

Cheers,
VossyVo

They look great! I love the Red and White

Thanks Stevefamine!

So I've been listening to the Helsreach audio book while travelling for work, which means the Death Guard army I was originally planning has turned to Black Templars.

Had the time to do up a test mini tonight.

The marine I've painted here is from a First Strike set which only had Ultramarine transfers, so it's missing the decal transfers on the shoulders and crusade marking transfers for the hip guard and backpack.
Unsure if the Black Templar transfers come in the standard marine kits these days - if anyone knows it would be great?

Also experimenting with MIG pigments to add some weathering on the legs. Starting very light since hard to tone back if I go heavy with it.

Front

Back

Side

Lots of painting over the weekend. Really enjoying it.

Frantically pushing ahead with the Black Templars to get a force ready for the table.
Also purchased the space marine codex to work on a list, and continued to listen to Helsreach on audible (nothing like stories of slaying the heretic while painting BT’s).

Finished:
- 3 Primaris Marines (First Strike push minis)
- 3 Reivers (First Strike push minis)
- 5 Vanguard Veteran (Finecast Resin **, First try at wet blending using a retarder medium on the power swords, plasma guns, and rear thrusters)
- 1 Terrain Barricade, using this as an opportunity to practice weathering and working with MIG Pigments. Still hesitant to weather the actual miniatures further until I’ve got better control over the powder and fixer.

** Note: The Vanguard Veterans were a box of Finecast I found sitting in a drawer with some airbrushed red primer on them (going to be Blood Angel veterans at some point many years ago). They are from the initial release of Finecast, full of holes and puck marks from issues with the casting process. I had to cut my losses at one point at just flat out remove the resin power weapons and replace them with plastic ones. I couldn’t get them to straighten out even after applying heat and working them straight then cooling, it would still eventually move back to a bent/flopped posture. Trying to work out a good way to transition those casting dents and holes into weathering/battle damage to hide them. The further I worked on the miniatures they more they stood out to me like a sore thumb.


Hope you like the pictures.

Next up will be a Primaris Redemptor Dreadnought.










Group Shot:

So finished up the Primaris Redemptor Dreadnought during the week.
Played around with some black/grey MIG pigments on the end of the Gatling Cannon to try give it a scorched look, also some weathering around the legs/feet.

Also got my first HQ done today, Primairs Captain in Gravis Armour.
Practiced more blending on the captains power sword, cape and gauntlet. Got the technique from a Sam Lenz YouTube tutorial, he does some great technique videos.

Had a blast painting both these minis, real step up from the finecast minis I was working with last week.
Next up will be a Hellblaster Squad, keen to try more blending on the plasma weapons.

That dread is great, love the shoulderpad work on him

Great paintwork on both the LoN and the Black Templars. I always like seeing nicely painted BTs, and your's certainly fit the bill.

@Theophony
Thanks for that, I would have like a larger black decal for the dread's shoulders. Still working on either purchasing or printing some to give more options for the BT's.

@mcmattila
Thanks!


Public holiday in Australia so I painted up the Hellblaster squad today.
Not 100% happy with the level of contrast the blue plasma weapons but I'm still picking up the wet blending technique (which is harder on a smaller area). At least if its understated its easier to revist at a later date.

During the evenings this week ill be starting 3 man Primaris Inceptor Squad.

So my hobby area is limited to half a desk at the moment and I don't see that space growing anytime soon.

I was previously pulling paints out of tub on the desk which needed to change since it was tiresome trying to find the paint i needed each time.
So I splashed out on some paint racks.
Pretty happy with them, have actually made the area decently presentable.

The 3 primaris inceptors are still underway, should be done over the next 48 hours.

Big BT fan. Loving the work on the swords and in general loving the work!!

Keep it up brother from another army!

@Argive
Thanks, I'm looking forward to doing an Emperors Champion, will really try make his sword a focal point of the army. Just a bit worried if I get a bad resin cast and the sword is bent or miscast (had this issue with my Vanguard vets)


I finished up the Inceptor squad this morning.

The clear hardened plastic stands are bit frustrating to get right . Painted them while secured to a spare bit of sprue - then transferred them to the stands at the end. Trying to get them to stay put while the glue dried was more time consuming than the painting process (end up using bluetac to hold them while i superglued the joint, then came back in with a few thin layers of PVA glue around the joint for extra strength).

Next up will be either be fleshing out the intercessor squad to bring it up to a full strength, or maybe a trip to the store to pick up a vehicle (I'd like to do a Rhino for paintings sake to try get my vehicle scheme worked out, but don't have anything that it can actually transport on the table top yet , maybe a Predator would be good).

Hi All,

Fleshed out the Intercessor squad to a full 10 man unit.

Also got a Lieutenant painted up for the army.
Didn't want to go too garish with the Lieutenant, so he only got some gold trim on the shoulders and a red knee cap with an extra decal or two.
He is a pretty humble character mini anyway, with only the bolter and rifle for equipment.

Ordered in a gaming mat so will hopefully get to field the army in an actual battle within the next week or two. Will grab some shots.

Next up on my painting table is a Rhino that I've tried to "Black Templar" up as much as possible.
Should be done in the next day or two.

Hey All,

Finished the Rhino up today.

This was the most fun mini to paint in the army so far.
Bit sad that i have not painted anything it can actually transport as yet.
Looking to fix that soon

Mig pigments used on the tracks and lower panels.
Went heavy with the transfers as well, would have like a large single decal for the roof of the Rhino, but don't know where to get those as yet. Seems I may need to custom print if I want them.

The Rhino looks awesome! And you even got a classic sword guy sticking out of the hatch

As to the big roof decal, you could instead make a stencil with masking tape, as the maltese cross should be pretty easy for that. Much more cost effective than decals, but of course, if you can print your own easily, go for it.

Excellent work sir! The army is coming along nicely! What colour are you using for the base rims btw?

Going back to your earlier comment. Bent finecast isint the end of the world, use a hair drier to warm it up and its very maluable(no idea if i spelt that right )

@mcmattila
Thank you! The hatch guy is holding the 2nd Storm Bolter haha
Had a few bits of an old Black Templar Chapter Upgrade kit around, made use of them to try get the crew member looking more like a Templar.
I have a small row of resin knight heads too - bought them years ago but no longer know the vendor (have 4 more that I can use later on to bring some more character to non primaris marines).

Let me give the masking tape a go, my free hand isn't up to scratch, but masking tape would work (didn't think of it). Will test on the underside of this Rhino and see if I can get it looking OK.


@Argive
Thanks!
The base rims are Beasty Brown (Vallejo Game Colour). My paint set is about 8 years old though, hopefully it is still the same name & shade these days.

Also I did try the hair dryer thing on the finecast swords. On my Vanguard Vets it got them straighted out, but only for a few hours. I found that they would eventually go back to their original settings by the time I woke up the next morning.
In all honesty I only tried a couple of times, then just cut them off and replaced with plastic (I also preferred the asthetic of the plastic replacements).
The Emperors Champion sword is not really replaceable, so I'll work harder on getting that one straight (maybe hair dryer to cold water bath to harden in place?)

Finished up the 2nd Primaris Lieutenant tonight.
Tried a green power sword, came out OK, but I still prefer the blue one (might give a red to yellow variation a try next time).

Also a shot of the three characters together.

One more character on the painting bench at the moment. The High Marshal himself.
I didn't buy Helbrecht new, dug him up from the bottom of an old miniature box under the house. Sword was gone, and his candle/skull mantle as well. I still think I can salvage him though.
Stripped him back and I've replaced with a new sword and a banner mantle. Started laying down base coats now, going to see how he comes out.
Decided I didn't want to Bronze his armour like I've seen in lots of pictures. Going to push ahead with Black armour.

My gaming mat is due in this week, so not long until I can get the army on the table

Your making quick work of this army. Nicely done stuff as well. Very effective scheme carried throughout.

Thanks! @Theophony.
Really keen to get the army on the table, so moving pretty quick

I got Helbrecht finished up tonight.
Not entirely happy with him, the paint job isn't as clean as I would like.
I'd like to blame the condition of the mini which was pretty poor and took some fixing, but I think I'm just struggling to paint ontop of the resin compared to plastics. I noticed this while blending the red cape in particular; the plastic Gravis Captain's red cape was a breeze, but this resin mini had my paint tearing and catching in places all over it.
Possible I will buy a new one and re-attempt this mini once the rest of the army is complete. I can do better.

Went with the red/orange power sword transition, and also mounted him atop a small mound to try and get him level/scaling OK with my Primaris size marines in the army. I didn't like that he was smaller without this.
Took a shot of him next to one to show scale

Next up will a Primaris Ancient with Banner.

I ended up delaying my Primaris Ancient to work on a unit, thinking I will avoid doing characters back to back.

So instead I did up some Sternguard Veterans.
Since they are Black Templar veterans I guess they are technically Sword Brethren (without swords haha) ??

Not sure how well they will go on the table, but at least I have something that can go in my Rhino now.
The miniatures are the old Finecast box set from several years ago.
Kinda like the way they have them posed, the main one with the power fist in particular.
Also mounted this squad on elevated resin bases to attempt to bring them upto Primaris scale so they don't look too out of place.
I then attempted to base them similar to the rest of the army, to tie them back in with the rest of the force.

Along with the Primaris Ancient I'm now looking at how to build a Crusader squad.
Starting to run out of minis from the starter sets and my old spare collection. So the Crusader squad I can built from scratch.
Really want this unit to bring lots of flavour to the army. Currently looking at an MK III space marine kit, with BT Chapter Upgrade parts, and various Grey Knight shoulder shields.
Initaties only, with a real variation of weapons (mix of bolters/CC weapons etc...), no real in game focus/role.
Later on I will paint a set of 10 Neophytes with a similar mix of weapons, then i'll have the option to mix and match between the 20 of them to form more specalist squads.

Here are the Sternguard (Sword Brethren)

I don't do many shots of unfinished work that is still on the painting table, but thought I might share the journey of my Primaris Apothecary since I'm taking extra time with him.

Painting him in parts to make sure I can get to everything. First mini I've painted in parts for this army.
All the parts are glued to a cork piece with a nail, I use cheap super glue that goes brittle and can be lifted off easy later on.



I Blu Tack the joints before undercoat spraying, so I can later remove to expose the plastic underneath, allows me to use plastic glue to put the mini together. This avoids me getting that haze of white that super glue can sometimes cause (particularly bad on a Black mini).



I finished the base this afternoon. Got myself some blood effects paints.
Theme of the minature will be this poor tactical marine receving The Emperors Peace
Working on the body and backpack at the moment.

That's a great base! Love the sword especially, gives some nice height.

@Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll
Thanks! Had some fun with it.

Here is the finished Primaris Apothecary.

Brilliant work, the base really helps bring this model to life.

Fantastic work. A really impressive force.

Thanks youwashock & LavuranGuard

Was on Holidays for a while, but got back during the week.

Something a little different....

I actually set myself a painting challenge this weekend.
I had a heap of Deathguard from the various starter set boxes sitting around.
Really wanted it painted so I could offer it to friends for games against my Templars.

Enter contrast paints...
Went to the store yesterday and picked up a range of pots, and a Grey Seer undercoat spray.
Undercoat with the Grey Seer last night, and after roughly 6 hours of painting, and a six pack of beer later, I ended up with the below army. Nearly 1,000 points.
The only non contrast paints used are the brown, and poision green you can see on the cracks in the basing.
I was generally impressed with the paints, and how well they look as units for the time that went into them, I might actually get some more Deathguard since it is such a different painting style to by Black Templars - its a really good break from base painting, wash, layer, layer, highlights.
Also really liked a few of the contrast paints (others not so much), some good options to bring into my main paint range.







And...
It would be heresy to update my BT blog without some actual Black templars.
I made an addition to by Primaris Apothercary.
Thought there was something missing between the sword and body of the primaris so I added in a standard sitting atop crossed chainswords.
I've entered this guy into my local stores painting competition. Good way to get into the store and say hello.



Also started work on a crusader squad, it is a mix between lots of kits. MK3 Marine box, BT upgrade Kit, Space Wolf heads, some tactial marine parts, and some Grey Knight bits.
You might notice the squad isn't exactly legal at the moment, but it is meant to be like this so I can mix and match to make MSU in the actual game. Otherwise... rule of cool prevails
Hopefully will have this squad finished by the next update.
During building this squad I also noticed that all standard marines have moved to 32mm bases... so I need to re-base some of my older vet squads and characters.



And also a unit of Centurions.
Bases look at bit strange at this point, but I have plans



After these units I really need to look at more vehicles.

Got through a second batch of Deathguard that I got from Ebay, now have a full 1750 point army.
No more photos required, its really more of the same.

But now that its complete, I can put some more foucs back on the the BT's
So my first small unit of Crusader Squad Initiates are complete for the most part.
Still deciding if they need shoulder decals, and I might put some blood stains on them. Look a bit too neat an tidy at the moment.
I have another 9 to go, so plenty of time to think about it.
They are made up primarly of the MK3 Marine box, BT upgrade kit, a mix Space Wolf/MK3/BT heads, some tactial marine bits, and some Grey Knight bits.

Primaris Ancient finished up today.
Also the last three intercessors I had left to paint, they are forming an honour guard for the Black Templar 2nd Crusade Banner.
Really happy with how it came out.

Took some different pictures of the army today, with a game mat I got from TOAR, and some scenery from Plaster Craft.
There is an entire army shot at the end. Slowly getting toward a playable force

Added more Crusader Squad Initiates.
Brings the squad up to 10 men.