Heresy Era Mechanicum - Knight Warden painting continues!

Got a fair bit of brush time in over the weekend and Khenti-Amentiu is starting to come together! I knew up front that I didn't want to go with the crimson, gold and bone that I've been doing (to death) on the Thousand Sons and their Mechanicum allies, so decided that whatever happened, there would be no red on the Knight!

After much hemming and hawing I settled on trying my hand at doing a lapis lazuli effect on the armour plating, as that's often associated with Egyptian artistry. I spent a fair bit of time checking out images and did some practicing on a couple pieces of cardstock until I started feeling confident. While it's blown out a little in the pictures, there's actually three different blues and teals sponged on in stripes, then some gold was added as striations. I'm thinking it needs a little more pop, so will likely add in a little white streaking and another pass of a shinier gold here and there. Overall I'm fairly happy with the result but the pictures aren't really doing it justice. Perhaps once it's sealed it'll pop a little more.

As spot colors I decided to go with white and yellow - The blue/yellow combo is always nice and Tzeentch-y, and the white should allow any transfers laid onto it to really pop. Went with the 'sunray' theme on one shoulder pad and tried to go for a charcoal/onyx look on the faceplate. Still a lot of little cleanup and detailing to do - I do like to take a couple pictures towards the end of a project as it helps me really see the various things that remain to be done that oddly can be hard to see in-hand. Nevertheless, it's coming along nicely, and think it'll look pretty sharp once I get the initial sealant pass on and start adding transfers and weathering to it!

Heresy Era Mechanicum - Knight Warden painting begins!

Managed to get the knight warden built and primered over the last couple days and broke out the big brushes to start laying in the metallics on the endoskeleton. All the various parts are separate to facilitate the painting process but reassembled it as much as possible for some photos.

Fairly straightforward recipe - Started by blocking in everything with a very heavy drybrush of boltgun metal, then a medium drybrush of silver on the upper surfaces. Once that was done the whole thing was mopped down with Agrax Earthshade which gives it a nice oily greasy look. The next morning once the wash had thoroughly dried it got a light re-drybrushing of silver to brighten it back up and bring up the edges a bit.

Added in a few more armor plates and it's starting to look pretty cool. It's a little top-heavy without any of the leg plates on, but I'm liking how it's turning out. The next painting stages should start adding in some color - plenty of blues, yellows and golds!

Heresy Era Mechanicum - Khenti-Amentiu, Freeblade Knight build continues

Just a quick hit this morning - Managed to get a little more build time in on the Knight, and have been fiddling around with potential posing options. Also put a name to the beast, Khenti-Amentiu, Freeblade Knight and Guardian of the Tombs of Cynopolis on the Forge World of Zhao Arkkad.

Added magnets at the torso and neck, and have been twisting the various pieces this way and that to see what works. I think I'm leaning towards the pose shown above, gazing over the top of the blade in a taciturn guardian look. Still quite a ways to go on the build of course but rather digging the jackal head and khopesh blade add-ons!

40k Objective Markers Complete, and the start of something big!

Finished off the objective markers this past weekend, and got a nice little package from shapeways containing the next batch of bits for the next project. It's Christmas in July (but only just)!

Nothing too crazily different from the last shot, other than some cleanup, the addition of the number markers (the 5 is on the backside of the stasis tank) and some quick color on the bases. Nothing too fancy but they'll stand out nicely on the table during a game! Overall I really enjoyed this set, and am looking forward to giving 'em a whirl.

Next up however is a nice big centerpiece model for the Zhao Arkkad force - A Knight Warden! I came across these poseable knight legs on ebay a while back and rather liked the look of 'em, but they've been sitting in a box waiting for some inspiration. They went together rather well, and allow for a nice range of motion - I was going for a 'striding forward' pose, but the way it ended up the weight of the hips actually settles on the rear leg so it may end up in a braced firing position in the end. We'll see how the upper torso and arms come along I suppose!

Speaking of arms, I intend to give it a gatling cannon and a missile pod, but wanted to do something a little more Egyptian for the close combat weapon - Found a massive chain khopesh on Shapeways that fits the bill nicely! I also picked up a rather neat Anubis/Jackal head but am saving the pic of that until I get it mounted on the torso. Suffice it to say there'll be no doubt that it's a Knight aligned to the Zhao Arkkad Mechanicum and the Thousand Sons! From a color theory standpoint I'm planning on going blue and yellow as a contrast to all the red and white of the rest of the force as well as a nod to the color scheme of the modern era Thousand Sons. Looking forward to getting some more build time in on it!