@Nev: Thanks! I had already seen how well contrast paints work for Nids thanks to your blog and contest entries, but actually doing it myself has been very satisfying. And yes, I did end up getting the Deathwing Assault box, read below!
@YWS: Don't worry, there'll be some Marines along presently to stem the tide of bugs.
Not much painting going on lately, but I have done some assembly. Thankfully my
FLGS came through for me and I did get my hands on the Deathwing Assault box, so that's what I've been mostly working on here lately. I've put together Belial, the Deathwing Knights, and half of the Terminator Squad so far, and I gotta say I love these new models. Anyway, I guess I better show some pics!
First, new Belial:
This model is a great improvement over the old FineCrap Belial, and looks properly menacing in the new scale of modern Terminators. He's still got plenty of bling, but he should, seeing as he's the Master of the Deathwing, after all, amirite?
Next, the Deathwing Knights:
It's a pity these guys have been nerfed in the rules, as the new models are absolutely fantastic! Lots of head options, of which I chose the knight-looking heads as they are unique to this unit, and a lot less random bling on these models than the old ones, which is nice. Sometimes less is more when it comes to details, and the details that are present on these models will be pretty fun to paint. I went with the swords because I've already got a bunch of the old
DW Knights with the maces.
Finally, the new Deathwing Terminators:
These are just the standard new Space Marine Terminators with some bits from the new Dark Angels Accessories sprue, which is an absolute gold mine for
DA-specific parts. Lots of heads and shoulder pads, plus other little details to really customize various Primaris units. I went with the Plasma Cannon option as I already have several
CML-armed guys and want to give myself more options, plus the Plasma is unique to Deathwing. I also went ahead and gave the sarge a power sword since in the codex he has to take it (unlike the vanilla Terminators who can take a fist on their sergeant). Plus the sword is a special
DA-specific one from the accessory sprue so this gave me an excuse to use it. Two of the guys also got Chainfists instead of Power Fists, because you never know when you might need to cut up a vehicle of some kind.
For the painting challenge, I'm actually going to switch and paint old and new Belial. It'll give me a reason to paint the old model, plus it might fit the theme better. I can always do the Termagants really quick if I run out of time, and I'll want to do them this month regardless. Hopefully I have more to show related to all that soon.