Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Javelin Attack Speeders and Hyskos Sky Chariots complete!

Managed to get quite a bit of work done over the long weekend and polished off another couple units for the Thousand Sons - Gotten acclimated to the summer morning painting schedule and have managed to get a good hour or so in before work, and had a couple good sessions over the weekend as well. Feels good to be back in the zone!

The Javelins were very nearly complete as of last post, just the additional golds, bone and the ubiquitous blue! Once that was done, they got a hit of spray sealant, then the waterslide transfers go on. With the help of some Micro-Set and Micro-Sol, of course!

I had some cool cartouche transfers from Fallout Hobbies that work well on the smaller of the two black panels. Gives 'em a bit of flair, I think.

While I was about it, I also polished of the Hyskos Sky Chariots, which will act as a counts-as Jetbike squadron. Pretty bare-bones, just the heavy bolters...

...And a mess of melta bombs! I am definitely worried about anti-tank with the force, as the Javelins are quite fragile, so I'm trying to spread around the melta love across a few units as well as a backup plan!

Next up, the Castellax-Achea for the Mechanicum side of the force!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Javelin Attack Speeder Squadron Ka-Tet begins!

Another trio of models were set in front of the painting servitor, ignoring its plaintive blurt of binaric. It's Javelin Attack Speeders this go-around, one of my favorite models in the Heresy range, with an upgrade to armour, and several impressive weapon options over their more pedestrian Land Speeder cousins. As an orbital assault force, the Khamasiin is somewhat lacking in ranged anti-tank weaponry so squadron Ka-Tet is armed with twin-linked lascannons and multi-meltas. That's the ticket!

I'd left the crew separate to facilitate painting, so started off by laying in the basic colors on them, and worked up the shading on the speeders a bit.

Once the crew were ready to go, the black and bone panels were laid in on the speeders and then the gold trim - Coming together nicely!

Far too hot today to paint after work (nearly 100F), so other than a furtive burst of installing the crew and starting the steel on the first model I was driven from the loft, but not before snapping a couple quick pictures.

So far so good!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Volkite and Plasma and Melta, oh my!

Another hectic week I'm afraid, but did manage to sneak in a little hobby time here and there. I had quite a bit in a half assembled state as I'd run out of heads and was eagerly awaiting a box of joy to arrive from FW, bearing the newest book Inferno as well as a number of upgrades and add-ons for the burgeoning Thousand Sons. The box was waiting on my doorstep earlier this afternoon and after some frantic soak and scrub I managed to finish off a couple more squad builds for the force!

First up is Tactical Support Squad Tolbek, armed with Volkite Calivers. I've always loved the good ol' Martian heat beam, but this is the first time I've actually done a unit of them. I enjoy making ridiculous sound effects in-game, so I'm looking forward to saying "CHOOM!" in upcoming games (being the official volkite noise).

Next is Heavy Support Squad Khalid, bearing plasma cannons, and wearing the heavier Mk.III armour which I thought suitable for them. The Thousand Sons also gain the option to upgrade any plasma cannons to Aether-fire ammunition, which grants them Soul Blaze. "FOOM! Crackle, sizzle, pop..."

 

The final bit of the building frenzy is the first of three Javelin Attack Speeders. They're kitted out for tank hunting, swapping out the default heavy bolters for Multimeltas (leftover from the pintle mounted weapon sets I'd picked up for the earlier Imperial Fists, fortuitously), and rocking a twin-linked lascannon. This one vehicle throws out both the "HISSSSS!", and the all-important "FREEEEM!".

Updated the painting chart, and realized I'd forgotten to en-capitate the Sky Chariot riders, but was pleased to note that with 3 exceptions the bulk of the army is in hand and well on the way to viability for some test gaming and painting (once we get a break in the chilly weather to primer, that is).

Speaking of gaming, I'm actually getting a game in over the upcoming weekend (GASP!) trying out some Zone Mortalis for the first time, on some kickstarter terrain that I'd built ages ago but never actually used. Should be fun, I'm playing a force drawn from the Imperial Fists for Adepticon, and will be facing off against some heretic Word Bearers. Pics to follow!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Javelin Landspeeder Squadron Qaa painting continues

Not a lot of hobby time recently but I did spend a little time working on the 'magic script' for the Thousand Sons:

Pretty happy with it - essentially it's Daedric, upside down. No real sneaky messages in there however, it's essentially gibberish. Might have to come up with some snarky ciphered sentences on the rear ramps on the Predators or wings of the Lightning, "If you can read this, you have too much time on your hands". Hah!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Javelin Landspeeder Squadron Qaa painted

While I was working on the Lightning I quasi-batch painted the Javelins at the same time. They're essentially at the same spot - ready for transfers, freehand and (eventually) weathering):

Went with the standard color scheme, there were plenty of panels to paint in bone, but I didn't want to over-do it. I think it strikes the right balance overall, though!

I started the freehand work on 'em, the usual "XV" went on one side, and I'm planning on doing some runic script on the other side. Possibly do the nova on either side of the engine housing in the back, as well. Started pulling everything back out of the foam trays to do a family shot - there's a surprising amount done at this point!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Characters ahoy!

I'm finding I'm not enjoying painting the Javelins as much as I might have expected, so I set them aside for a bit to work on a couple characters instead. I'd laid the foundational red, boltgun metal and gold on these three models when I was working on the blocks on infantry, so it was mostly a matter of working on the details! First up is the initial sorcerer for the army, Ankhu Anen:

 

FW recently FAQ'ed the horus heresy army lists, downgrading the maximum mastery level to 2, which makes running a Thousand Sons army a little tough using the vanilla legion rules. No matter, I'm sure that they're get a boost when the book is released. ...In two years. [sad trombone]

 

Next up is Siege Breaker Megiddo, who will be joining the missile launcher-toting heavy weapons team. Granting Tank Hunters to the unit as well as the opportunity to fire on any units who happen to deep strike nearby? Yes please!

 

Lastly is Apothecary Thothmes, who will be joining the 20-man tactical blob squad, providing them with a much needed feel no pain save. No real surprises there, pretty much every heresy army I've ever seen includes at least one 20-man tac squad with an apothecary, it's just the done thing.

I'd mentioned not enjoying painting the Javelins, but that's mostly due to not finding a great way to hold them while painting - they're a little too heavy to try and pin onto a painting handle, and a little too irregular to delicately hold in hand comfortably without risking putting a finger or palm into a previously painted area that hasn't dried thoroughly. Nevertheless I've managed to get the gold on and start blocking in the areas which will be leather and bone. Not too far to go now!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Javelin squadron Qaa begins

Got some hobby time in over the weekend and got a start on the trio of Javelin land speeders planned for the army. I'd picked up these initially early on in the Iron Hands frenzy but decided they didn't fit the aesthetic I was going for. I'd built one to completion and primed it just to give the kit a try (had never built one before) but it turned out to be such an easy kit that I went back and finished the other two while the primer was drying on the first!

First thing of course is to lay down the base reds and metals. One exceedingly messy couple hours later, they're all up to snuff. I took a recommendation to keep the crew separate for painting, and they may even fit when it comes time for final assembly. We'll see!

Rummaging around for some bases to stick them to, I ran into a couple cavalry bases. I haven't played fantasy since ~1993, which means these bases have been lurking in the Closet of Doom for over twenty years. ...Yikes!

Heresy Era World Eaters - Tactical squad in progress

I realized while updating the painting chart that I haven't actually painted up any Troops choices, which are essential to the current FOC and I assume will be in the upcoming edition as well. Sticking with my "build one/paint one" plan, I pulled out the box of World Eater bits and built out the first of two ten-man Tactical squads. Gave them a pass with the grey and white zenithal primering method, then settled in to start painting!

I started off by giving the models a wash of Vallejo Pale Grey, concentrating on the recesses. After that I went back with some white to pick out some of the upper edges that would catch the light. Anything that is going to be metal or rubber was then blocked in with black, followed by a drybrush of Boltgun Metal and dark grey, respectively. The shoulder pads and backpacks were given several coats of Imperial Blue, and will be highlighted with ultramarine blue (though that hasn't been done as yet. They are coming along nicely though!

 

I've also been working on an old-style Land Speeder. Ron over at From The Warp recently did an article about making your own waterslide transfers, and was nice enough to send me a sheet of World Eaters symbols for me to try out (potentially saving me a lot of trouble hand-painting umpteen zillion of 'em), so I gave them a try on the speeder. The sheet that Ron made for me (thanks again Ron!) used the 'transparent' paper which works a treat over light colored panels, but requires a bit of finesse when used over darker colors.

 

In the case of the shoulder pads, I ended up painting a white circle then centering the transfer over the top of it. The intention is then to go back in and clean up the white with the original shoulder pad color, though I do sort of like the look with the white circle as well...