40k Genestealer Cult - Rockgrinders complete!

Alternately, "Thank the Emperor, he'll finally stop banging on about the Rockgrinders!" Broke out the sponges and the washes and got the weathering in on the trucks, meaning the second formation of the force is now complete. Victory!

Sponged on Vallejo Charred Brown on various corners here and there, followed by a lighter sponging of Oily Steel. Once that dried the extreme sharp edges got a line highlight of silver and they're good to go! The headlamps got another pass in white to make them a bit brighter and halogen-esque, and the weapons got a bit of copper/gold detailing here and there so the gunmetal wasn't so stark.

The junk in the trunk is actually horribly be-clawed monstrosities ready to hurl dynamite into the ranks of their foes! All in all I really enjoyed painting these up, and I look forward to careening them around the tabletop soon!

Once I got them safely ensconced in their battlefoam trays for storage I figured I'd update the ol' painting chart! A fair few models done so far, but there's still a tidal wave of infantry to work through. Before I start in on The Doting Throng, I am going to take a brief jump back over to the Heresy side and finish up Ahriman and Fellhand though!

40k Genestealer Cult - Goliath Rockgrinder crew painted!

Now that the Rockgrinders are completed up to the pre-weathering stage, I wanted to knock out the crewmen. The Rockgrinders were a touch bi-chromatic but that was on purpose so the gunners would pop a bit...

I was concerned that as they'll be sharing the yellow color on their fatigues that they'd end up getting lost in the general yellowness of the vehicles, so didn't include much in the way of white on the trucks themselves. Keeping the crew separate for painting proved to be a good idea, there's all sorts of challenging angles that I wouldn't have been able to get to with a brush had they been assembled in situ (I'm usually guilty of getting overexcited and building the models completely in one go without thinking of the consequences in later painting stages).

Moment of truth time came with their installation on the trucks. Well pleased with how they turned out! All that remains to do is pick out a few more details on them here and there that have become apparent, then a touch of the ol' sponge weathering over the next few evenings!

While I was about it I snapped a quick pic of my painting 'cheat sheet' for the force. I tend to put one of these together for any big project that is going to span a few months. It allows me to go back and re-create the scheme on models later on in the project and be sure they'll match up. Also allows me the ability to delve back into earlier projects and recall particular color results that I liked and re-use them - The yellow recipe is the one that I'd used on the Imperial Fists a while back and rather enjoyed. Plans are afoot to revisit that project again over the next few months...

40k Genestealer Cult - Goliath Rockgrinders nearly complete, and some Heresy!

Got some brush time in today and have the Rockgrinders more or less up to the "Fresh off the factory floor" stage, where I'll generally give the models an initial sealant pass in preparation for waterslide transfers and weathering.

After all the re-blacking was complete most of it was immediately given the oily metal treatment. It definitely helped give the vehicles a sense of depth as well. I couldn't do my usual yellow headlamps scheme what with the vehicles themselves being yellow, so went for an ice blue lenses look instead. Not 100% sold on it, but it works from a strict color theory perspective...

I did up the tarpaulins on the rear in a blue to match the chitin of the 'stealers, rather happy with how it turned out, and it is a sufficiently different color from the lamps and power cables. Next up is finding some good industrial-style transfers and give 'em some sponge weathering and they'll be good to go!

In other news, I naturally got my hands on a couple of the Prospero box sets, and started laying in the first few colors on Ahriman and Geigor Fellhand. Gotta keep one foot in the Heresy after all!

40k Genestealer Cult - Demolition Claw Acolytes and Aberrants complete(ish)!

Working on the Rockgrinders gave me a little breather from the Infantry, but figured I'd take advantage of the warm afternoon after work to finish them off and get them sealed!

Rather pleased with how they've turned out, though I think I need to go back in and do all the pipes on the bases in a far brighter yellow and add hazard stripes. As they stand they're a bit too samey with the scabrous yellow on the trousers. What worked well on the Purestrain bases works slightly less so here...

The Aberrants got the same treatment, and need the same follow-on base treatment, but still I'm quite happy with 'em and am looking forward to getting the force painted enough to warrant a game with 'em!

Spent a little time going over the Rockgrinders and re-blacking in all of the bits intended to be metallic or rubber. Doing so is a bit tedious, but does help the models snap into focus! Really digging how they're coming along, and has me giving more and more thought towards using the plastic Mk.III marines from the recently-released Battle for Prospero box set to make some Imperial Fists to accompany the Custodes and Sisters of Silence. After the fun with this yellow I think it's a foregone conclusion that's what's going to happen!

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40k Genestealer Cult - Demolition Claw Rockgrinders painting begins!

Tonka tough! I knew from the outset that I wanted to paint up the rockgrinders in the ubiquitous construction vehicle yellow suitable to their industrial/miner background. So that meant busting out the tank brushes and going to town with the yellow! I kept these models in a fair few pieces to facilitate painting, I'm going to focus on the vehicles themselves for now, then attack the crew separately.

My current yellow recipe starts off with a basecoat of Vallejo Scrofulous Brown which is a similar shade to Tausept Ochre - a nice yellow-brown that lays over black reasonably well. Still takes a couple coats but I left it a little patchy here and there to give them some depth as the further colors get laid in.

They were next given a heavy drybrush of Vallejo Golden Yellow, and then a light drybrush of GW Flash Gitz yellow - the bright overhead lights tend to wash that out a little in the pictures, however.

The last step of the evening was to give 'em all a nice wash with Seraphim Sepia which blends the highlights in a bit and gives the color a bit more depth in the nooks and crannies. These will be left to dry overnight (they're still a bit wet in the picture), then I'll give them some spot pin-washes to accentuate a few areas, and perhaps another light drybrush with the Flash Gitz yellow to help the edges pop a bit more. Once that's done the next step is the tedious re-blacking of all the areas I slopped yellow on to in the drybrushing stages! In the end they're going to get some nice sponge weathering/chipping, and I have a feeling it's going to really look neat against the brighter yellow. So far so good!