Heresy Era World Eaters - The Angriest of Rons

I managed to survive Adepticon and had an absolute blast! Tons of work piled up while I was away however and I haven't had time to upload all the thoughts and pictures from the event. That doesn't mean I haven't gotten any hobby time in though! One of the things I'd picked up in the dealer room while out in Chicago was the primarch of the World Eaters, Angron! I couldn't wait to get stuck in with him, and I had a blast painting him up!

 

 

 In looking at the pictures one always finds things to improve. At this blown-up scale the freehand work is pretty ropy, I'm thinking I need to go back over them with some weathering to cover some of the more egregious sloppy bits and give them a bit more hammered and beaten look, but overall I'm quite pleased with how this mentalist turned out!

Hoping to get a post-adepticon pic dump up soon, turns out I took over 200 pictures so it's taking a bit to go through 'em!

Heresy Era Sons of Horus - Horus nearing completion!

Ended up getting a fair bit of brush time in on Sunday afternoon and after work today, and got to what I'm thinking will be the penultimate session. One more good push and I should be able to carry him to the finish line!

Added some subtle oranges and reds to the undersides of Horus's face, and gave the interior of the armor the same treatment. Then came the nerve-wracking installation of the head. Decided on the 'looking out over his forces' facing rather than down the haft of worldbreaker, as the OSL looked a little better in this facing.

I like to take a picture near the end like this (though I don't always post them) as it helps me step back from the model and really take stock of what remains to be done before sealing. I need to give all the metals and the cloak a further wash and highlight, as well as do a little cleanup here and there, paint the base rims, etc.

Overall I'm really happy with how he's coming along, the model has been an absolute joy to paint and I'm looking forward to getting a family photo with him surrounded by the rest of the Sons of Horus!

Heresy Era Iron Hands - Ferrus Manus painted!

On holiday break(ish) at the moment which means I have a fair bit of hobby time. After building the bug hunt corridors, I was itching to paint some more Iron Hands but didn't fancy diving into another huge unit. Ferrus Manus it is, then!

  

I went with the same color palette as the rest of the Iron Hands, though he got a fair bit more gold trim as befitting his status. He comes on a big diorama base, and I enjoyed the opportunity to paint a couple dead Emperor's Children!

I am quite pleased with how his face turned out. As befitting his eventual fate, Ferrus' head was magnetized, which allowed me to paint it separately from the rest of the model. I think his metallic hands/forearms turned out fairly well also - several layers of boltgun metal, silver, and thinned blue washes did the trick!

  

The model comes out of the diorama base and is mounted on a 40mm base for gaming, and he definitely is a beast compared with a basic marine. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed painting this model, it was hands down the most beautiful sculpt I've ever laid hands on. I was terrified by the prospect of mucking it up, but while it's not a competition paint scheme, I think I did manage to do it justice.

Next up, some overall army shots of the boys in black!

Heresy Era Iron Hands - The rest of the infantry built!

It was a jam packed and fun holiday weekend, and I hope all the Yanks had a great thanksgiving! Finally had some free time to put together all the remaining infantry for the army - There was a surprising amount of it as well, photo barrage inbound!

First up is the unit I was most looking forward to building, the Cataphractii Terminator squad. Fairly straightforward to build, though I would say that attaching the shoulder guard to the arm before attaching the arm to the body does make things easier.

  

I went heavy on the plasma for the unit, it amuses me to think that the dangers of wielding the plasma weaponry just means the opportunity for more bionics. "Lost another arm, sir..." Two plasma blastguns and four combi-plasmas should be good for winnowing down enemy heavy infantry.

Next up is the Veteran squad, composed primarily of the new Iron Hands Legionaries kit. These models are positively dripping with cog-teeth and detail, and should contrast nicely to the 'vanilla' tac marines. This squad is armed with a pair of melta guns, a combi-melta and a thunder hammer. The Tank Hunters veteran skill is the obvious choice, then!

 

Next up are some odds and bobs to make up the command models for the various tac squads. The sergeants were built from the Legionaries kit as well, so they match up as veteran sergeants. The Voxcaster and Vexilla were then attached to some regular marines, which gives them a little extra Iron Handedness.

Then it was time to build something big! The Caestus was a breeze to assemble, though there was a fair bit of hot-water-bending required on the assault booms. One they were straightened out however, there's only about ten pieces to the whole model. The wings are attached via a pin-and-magnet arrangement to allow for easier transport - important, as this thing is quite a bit bigger than I'd anticipated!

 

Of course, if I'm doing the iron hands this was a foregone conclusion...

 

It was challenging to build, but not the nightmare that I'd feared. This is probably the most beautifully and intricately sculpted model I've ever worked on, I have to admit I'm worried about doing it justice.

 

The diorama base is a multi-piece affair to which I've attached a few magnets. The pieces lock together surprisingly well, but this definitely makes it secure. On the gaming base, he's definitely a domineering presence!

Now you know I can't leave you without a pic of the batch painting madness! At this point the basic black and iron has been applied to all of the models above (with the exception of the Caestus), which is the heavy lifting pretty much done. Can't let up on the pace though - there's just a little bit more than month left to go before the event!