Spartan APC for 30k Thousand Sons

A Spartan carrier for the XV Legion Astartes.

Well, it's been more than a little bit since my painting flurry of the recent Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge concluded. My brushes have been busy, but other distractions have come up and dented my hobby time, so I have been delinquent in terms of getting stuff finished, and even more delinquent in terms of getting some posts up on the blog even when I have managed to complete something. Let's make a dent in that today...here we have a serious armored reinforcement for the Space Marines of the XV Legion Astartes - this is a Spartan, the big scary troop carrying tank of the Horus Heresy setting. This is a multi-part resin model from GW's Forge World studio.

A giant slab of armour, and tons of guns...just full-on 30k silliness!

Yes, you read that right...even though GW has had a multi-part plastic version of this model available for YEARS now, here I am, in the year 2026, still finishing off painting one of the old resin Forge World version of this kit. Needless to say, this thing has been in the "pending pile" for a LONG time - and sure, I have a nice assortment of excuses: moving several times sure didn't help, and the usual distractions of other periods, settings, scales and figures have all taken their right and proper place...but still, even for me, this is a monument to hobby delay/procrastination... 

A close-up of the beast! I added some extra light rocket launchers on the cupola, because why not?

I was going to "paint it during the Painting Challenge" (the justification for many a project!). I even got started on it January, painting the quad-lascannon sponson weapons (the part of this model I found the hardest to paint, because oddball hobby reasons). But I just couldn't get around to finishing the rest of this beast in time to include in my Painting Challenge production. 

One of the quad lascannon batteries on the sponsons. For whatever reason, I just can't stand painting those things...

In fact, I was more-than-half-tempted to even "leave it for the next Challenge", but that was a bridge too far, so I just buckled down and finally finished it in April. 

Why so slow? Well, I think we all have subjects or specific models that turn into a real drag, for whatever reason, and this was no exception. I have also found that I just have trouble finding the motivation to paint big 28mm-sized vehicles in recent times. Finally, I have to admit that the 3rd edition of the Horus Heresy rules have just not landed well with me. To put it simply, playing HH 3.0 just feels like work. I still love the story, the setting and the figures (or, nearly all of them), but these days I am just not motivated to play the game and this has materially slowed my motivation to paint more 28mm sized 30k figures. 

Lovely decals from the Forge World decal sheet help provide the necessary "crazy ancient Egypt" vibe for the tank.

But for all that, this beast is at last over the line! And I'm sure the Sons of Magnus will be pleased! I've been adding a number of units to my XV Legion collection in recent years, but when it comes to vehicles, well, they've been stiffed! Their motor pool to date consists of a single Rhino APC - useful, sure, but not exactly a sign of armored might! Well, that all changes now...

Ready to roll!

The Spartan is a bonkers AFV, just absolute peak Horus Heresy. It is armed to the teeth. It has the heaviest possible armour ratings you can have on a vehicle in the game. And it carries more than 20 marines on board - enough for a great big tactical squad, or a big terminator squad, AND some flunkies. Even Space Wizards like to ride in style, after all!

Final Painting Challenge Submission for AHPC XVI - Some Space Marines!

Siege Breaker Consul and assault marines from the Sons of Horus. Resin figures from GW/Forge World.

The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge wrap-up concludes at last. I wanted to conclude my run in the XVIth edition of the AHPC with something fitting, and I figured some Space Marines from the XVIth Legion Astartes would do the trick. Here we have a Siege Breaker Consul and three assault marines in the fine colours of The Warmaster's own, the Sons of Horus.

Siege Breaker Consul

"So...anyone have anything that needs breaking?"

What does a "Siege Breaker Consul" do? Sounds like a bit of a made-up job...one has the impression he conducts sieges...but job title implies he "breaks" sieges so maybe his job is instead to bust up sieges attempted by opponents. Who knows? But he clearly is out to break things. I mean, look at that hammer. Like they say, when you walk around with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Woe betide the foes of The Warmaster when this chap shows up. 

In addition to the giant hammer, he obviously has a really amazing wireless plan, with unlimited 5G data, great roaming options and no hidden fees!

Love that 5G intergalactic roaming in the year 30k...

I like the little portable data terminal attached to his power armour, with a little projected 3d map, presumably of some target he is about to annihilate via an orbital strike or some other manner of Age of Darkness doom. 

Bright yellow "safety grenades" on the rear of the power pack. This chap has all sorts of grenades.

This is a resin figure from GW's "Age of Darkness" range. I'm not the biggest fan of GW's resin, but thankfully things were not too bendy. Besides, he is wearing the Mark VI "beakie" power armour and, well, I'm a sucker any models wearing that kit! 

Assault Marines

Ready to jump into the action...

These are old, old resin figures - the marines are wearing Mark IV armour. They are resin models from Forge World, circa 2012. I have re-painted them to ensure their green armour matches that of the other Sons of Horus in my collection, part of my ongoing long-term program to placate the OCD hobby monkey in brain. 

Will re-painted figures suffer the same fate as newly-painted figures?

The officer has a comb on his helmet (hilarious) and an extra-large chainsword, for those jobs that need serious two-handed chopping. The other marines are kitted out in the more traditional bolt-pistol-and-chainsword combo common to the Astartes assault troops. With these three finished, I have completed the necessary repainting to put my old squad of 15 of these fellows back into the battle line - with a tone of green armour that will match that of their colleagues and thereby sooth the rampaging OCD hobby monkey in my head.

Love the double-handed chainsword. A silly weapon made even sillier. Brilliant.

And that was it for this most recent edition of the Painting Challenge! One never does get as much stuff painted as hoped-for - much less "planned for" - but some useful progress on various projects and areas of interest was achieved, and that is all one should truly hope for in the end. Sundry ongoing painting shall resume - watch this space! And that's all for now - thanks for reading!

Painting Challenge Submission #12 - Saturnine Terminator Squad

It's Saturnine time!

As AHPC XVI reached its conclusion, the time came to cram a few more submissions over the line in a desperate rush for points! The best place to start was with some things I had told myself that I would "definitely finish some time during the Painting Challenge", but had been procrastinating about for one reason or another. It is in this spirit that I painted this Saturnine Terminator squad. These are "28mm" multi-part plastic figures from GW's "Age of Darkness" setting (a.k.a. the Horus Heresy) painted in the fine colours of the XV Legion Astartes, the Thousand Sons. Because space wizards want to wreck sh*t too. 

"Let's blast something! Or smash it! I'm good either way!"

"Saturnine" kit is the "new big thing" for the 3.0 edition of GW's Age of Darkness rules. There is surely some lore for this armour variant and...well, I would share but for the fact that I haven't bothered to give it even a cursory scan, as it amounts to a farcically clumsy ret-con into the Horus Heresy story and I sort of don't care about the story. Suffice to say these are really, really big suits of powered armour, with impressive battlefield capabilities, big guns etc. etc. 

Note the blaster mounted on the power fist - so he can either punch someone OR shoot them even more!

These specific models are equipped with...I think that is some manner of "disintegrator" weapon on the one arm, while the oversized fist also sports a shorter-ranged blaster or flame-weapon of some kind. I would get the names, but that would involve encountering the Age of Darkness 3.0 rulebooks and...I can't be bothered. Rest assured the kit is all suitably super-duper-kill-things oriented.

I did not pose the legs very well on this one...looks like he is trying to step quietly or something, which is pretty silly, but whatever, he'll still fight on the table!

These models have a lot of components, and the instructions are not exactly clear in terms of the best ways to assemble them. To the credit of the designers, they want to offers hobbyists different options in terms of posing the feet and hands/weapons...but this goodwill is undone by the sheer "chonk factor" of these brutes. They crowd their bases, so there is not all that much to do with the legs, and the huge oversized, turtle-style upper shoulder sections crowd out any effort to meaningfully pose the arms. 

Close up on the ranged weapon. Cool looking gun - I'm sure it is super safe to use and poses no risks at all to its own side...

I recall GW came out very quickly with a "hey, here are a few tips from the studio" type article for assembling these models not very long after they hit the shelves. Naturally enough the studio guys offered an approach quite different from the one in the instructions....sigh...

Sub-assemblies - the "collars".

More sub-assemblies - the helmets. Took the opportunity to stick transfers on them too, before sticking them in the model.

A mid-point WIP photo. 

In terms of assembly and painting, these models are best thought of as small dreadnoughts, and there are so many overlapping sections that I recommend painting them in sub-assemblies. The "turtle shell" tops do not assemble easily, and you should probably put them on last AFTER you have painted the rest of the model, because they are so dominant that they make significant parts of the figure unreachable with a paintbrush - and yet they do not cover the ENTIRE top area, and so will leave any unreachable sections visible if they are not painted...that is the sort of combo that makes the OCD hobby monkey in my brain MENTAL.  

Close up on one of the helmets.

The head is a real challenge too - once more, a sort of "collar" goes over the head, but small parts of the internal area around the helmet will be visible even though the fit it very tight...so once more, sub-assemblies were called for. 

Maybe this is why these things sat around my painting table for so long. I had primed all of the bits prior to the start of AHPC XVI, convinced I would get them finished as part of my Challenge plan. But as my enthusiasm for Age of Darkness 3.0 really faded, I found other fun stuff to paint, telling myself that I would "do those Saturnine guys at the end." Well, here we are, so better get them done, right??? 

"Let's hit the town fellas!"

Good to have them over the line. If I ever do get them into a game, I'm sure they will cause a fair bit of havoc - even given the doom all newly-painted models seem to face, the rules for these Saturnine guys are pretty silly so they'll have a fun old time. I think you can even give them a psychic power? Which seems...bonkers...but then, to be sure, I would need to crack open the rule book and...I'll just figure it out some other time. 

That's all for this post - just a couple more wrap-up from AHPC XVI. 

Painting Challenge Submission #10 - Raven Guard Assault Optae

"Assault Optae" - Raven Guard Space Marine officer - multi-part plastic kit from GW with slight conversions.

This submission to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge was just a single figure - but it is one I have been looking forward to posting as it is connected to Curt and Sarah's recent visit to my place in Toronto! As Curt mentioned in his post earlier in the challenge, he and Sarah would be stopping for a short visit here in Toronto on their way back to Regina, and we will be looking to squeeze in as much gaming as possible amid good food and wine. As part of the hospitality, I have painted this figure up as a gift to Curt, so he can join the ranks of his new Horus Heresy "Kill Team" Project. 

It's just one figure. But even a single figure can still throw up a larger word count...so...buckle up...

The Basics

This is Space Marine Centurion in Mark II power armour, a slight conversion of a multi-part plastic kit from GW's latest "Age of Darkness" starter box. The figure is meant to be wearing a massive, billowing cloak (as one does) while sporting an insane vexilla on the top of a slightly fancy version of the power pack commonly seen on Space Marine power armour. I have done away with the cloak and some of those other bibs and bobs to give him the jump pack of an assault marine instead. This was done for a few reasons.

Legion numeral on the shoulder plate - and a nice view of the insane jump pack. 

The first reason is the most important: I wanted him to fit in! Curt's initial "Shattered Legions" Raven Guard force for "Kill Team" looks to be built mostly around Raven Guard assault marines - the crazy(er) ones who wear "jump packs" and to get to grips with their enemies at close range. So if this fellow is going to participate in Curt's squad, he should be wearing the appropriate gear. In their recent wave of releases GW has issued a new set of plastic kit assault marines in Mk II armour (they are awesome - just haven't got around to panting any of em' yet), and the whacky jump pack from those kits fits perfectly on this fellow's armour. 

I added a custom shoulder plate with the embossed Raven Guard legion symbol to complete effect. I also tried my best to match the dark colours and dark look Curt achieved on his guys. Critically, I was able to find a washer-type base, so hopefully he'll fit in without too much trouble. 

Another view of the crazy jump pack - and we can see the "power maul" is large enough to be wielded with both hands, should the occasion call for it.

The MkII armour has lots to recommend it to fans of the Horus Heresy setting. Lots of segments and plates, a less-efficient-yet-more menacing overall appearance. This centurion model retains all of those elements, but adds heaps the "bling" associated with Space Marine Legion officers. The effect is tremendous in my opinion. You can't see his face, but he still "looks" annoyed. It's a great miniature, and really neat that GW has taken the time issue plastic kits for the Mk II marines.

And yet...up above, I say, "the first reason". That implies more than one reason I did not build this kit as GW intended...read on...

Adventures In Modern Plastic Modeling

I mentioned above that this figure, as originally designed, is wearing a big cape (as one does), vexilla etc. He even has a friendly servo-skull (probably an old friend that he wanted to, er, "keep around").  The "intended" finished figure is indeed a fine-looking 30k specimen, sporting all of the very best, whacky 30k Space Marine silliness that Horus Heresy fans enjoy. I did manage to complete a version of this original figure. Here is how he turned out, painted in the colours of the VI Legion Astartes, the Space Wolves.

Space Wolf Centurion wearing Mk II armour, accompanied by his buddy, a floating skull because 30k. Painted last summer/fall. 

He turned out OK. But it was a hell of an adventure to get here - and required a replacement of the left shoulder plate (of course, I am the sort of dork who would have plenty of those handy, but still). You see, the original figure, as conceived by GW, looks beautiful in theory but is almost impossible to assemble as-is in practice. There is no way in which one can assemble the cape, the power pack and the shoulder plates in a fashion even remotely/distantly resembling the method laid out instructions. 

There is no physical way to get this...

...when trying to follow this....

Trying to follow those instructions lead to desperate repair attempts. The cloak needs to, at once, go under AND over the vents of the power pack. THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE once the power pack itself is already fastened to the back of the model. Even proceeding cautiously ended in desperate repair attempts as it became clear I had made a major mistake by following the published instructions..such repair attempts don't always go well, as we see here... 

For f*ck sakes!! This is what happens when you need to make repairs...

This is why you often see alternate versions of this figure posted online, as I have done here - because the cape, power pack and shoulder plates defy assembly in any reasonable fashion, or even an unreasonable one for that matter. This is what happens when the people who design things with computers are not the ones who have to build and paint them, IMO. Oh well. 

The Final Bit - A Back Story

OK. Enough about the modeling - let's get back to this specific miniature! I know Curt loves the story aspect of gaming, and so this fellow would need a back story too. While I have not named him, I have that story ready...

I see him as an "Assault Optae", a veteran of The Emperor's Great Crusade, hailing from Terra! He has served in the XIX Legion for centuries of fighting! This sort of provenance would be ideal in a warrior, one would think, but...well, in the Horus Heresy story, this would actually breed division within the Legions. 

The Great Crusade lasted centuries. The Space Marines Legions all started with Terran "recruits", but as the Crusade expanded across the galaxy, the sources of recruits expanded too, and ultimately shifted to whichever homeworld their Primarchs were discovered on. As Primarchs took over their legions, they tended to distrust those Terra-born officers who had been serving with the Legion prior to their arrival - they looked rather to the fellow Marines raised on the Legion's new homeworld.  

Now, those "Terrans" were still loyal - and desperate to prove it - but these were among the issues that led to divisions building slowly within the Legions over the decades, ones the Horus and his dark allies would ultimately exploit. The "Terran core" of each legion was gradually sidelined.

Handy Raven Guard symbol embossed on the shoulder plate.

Different Legions handled this generational distrust in different ways. In some, these Terran veteran officers were merely sidelined, while in others they were sent toward certain death in battle. Some were sent off on pointless missions to the other side of the galaxy. Some were just quietly fragged and re-processed. 

Corax, Primarch of the Raven Guard, took the "I'll just let attrition handle some and sideline the others" approach. I see this fellow as a survivor of that process. So he was still around when word of Horus' betrayal broke, and the Raven Guard were mustered to attack the Traitor Legions on Istvaan V. 

As Corax mobilized the Legion, this fellow was among the few thousand Marines left behind as part of the garrison to keep an eye on the Raven Guard homeworld. Nothing personal, of course, no official reason - someone has to keep watch, after all - but he would know why, everyone would know why. 

Crazy gun? Check. Crazy "power maul"? Check. Let's get some revenge...

Betrayed at Istvaan V, the shattered survivors of the Raven Guard would have been rescued by guys like this officer! So he is at the forefront now...he'll still never be fully trusted by Corax, but there really are not many officers left...not many Raven Guard left in general! This guy is now at the forefront of the vengeful battle to bleed and harry the forces of The Warmaster as they march across the galaxy toward Terra and destiny. 

He is gutted that he was not there to face the dire fate of the Raven Guard on Istvaan V. Even though he helped rescue the survivors, this twisted survivor guilt drives him. Maybe he will never prove himself to his Primarch - not fully - but he will work to ease his guilt by opening the skulls of as many traitor Marines as he can manage...the fan-made version of "Kill Team" is perfect for games/scenarios with these sort of dynamics at play. I hope Curt enjoys him!

Thanks for reading - watch for more AHPC catch up soon!

Painting Challenge Submission #7 - Thousand Sons Detachment for Epic 30k

A detachment of Thousand Sons Space Marines ready to deploy to an Epic30k gaming table

This submission to the AHPC contains - surprise! - more Space Marines. Once again they are from the XV Legion Astartes - but we leave 28nm behind - these are little 6mm chaps! All of these are plastic figures from Games Workshop's "Legions Imperialis" game range. The assorted elements portrayed here include a high-command stand, two units of tactical marines, a small group of tactical support marines, and Rhino APCs to haul the lot of them. They are supported by a group of "Tarantula"-type automated weapon turrets and some assorted dreadnoughts. 

High-command base with a hero, flunkies - and their own Rhino to ride around in.

Sylvain, our Wednesday Minion, is quite the master of 6mm painting and basing, and each Painting Challenge I enjoy seeing the material expansions to his massive historical 6mm collections. Inspired by Sylvain's tremendous small-scale work I thought it would be good to continue with efforts to expand my own 6mm Horus Heresy collection during this edition of the AHPC. 

A tactical squad - 20 little marines and a pair of APCs to transport them.

These miniatures are for "Legions Imperialis", a specialist-type game released by GW a couple of year ago. It is meant to be a re-boot of the old-time "Epic" game, a truly classic and fun set of rules from GWs older 1990s/early 2000s era. Indeed, the GW studio has often demonstrated an ability to release some really outstanding rules over the years. The state of the 40k rules has ranged from "difficult" to today's "unplayable", but games like Epic/Space Marine, Battlefleet Gothic, Warmaster, Space Hulk and others were creative, fun, engaging and fantastic. The more recent re-boot of "Adeptus Titanicus" had a few issues, but was, in general, outstanding! I had high hope for this game when it was (at last) re-released...

Tactical squad number two...looking a lot like the other one because...well...they have the same kit and same ride :)

Sadly, "Legions Imperialis" did not live up to the legacy of the 90s/2000s specialist games studio. The rollout of the game was a complete fiasco. The "Legions Imperialis" rules themselves are deeply disappointing and highly excremental. They are poorly written and generally very bad even once you "understand" them. One run through the game will be more than enough for most folks.  

Tactical support Marines sporting plasma guns - and, naturally, their own APC!

Yet, even while the rules are trash, the miniatures for the game are just excellent! Small, of course, and with a number of fiddly bits that will easily disappear into ANY carpet...but they are just great! Wonderful little tributes to the Horus Heresy, each of them! These things are just great IMO. 

Was it a bit of a process to get there with the models? Yes. At first, I was concerned that there had been a "re-scaling"...but the effect, especially for the infantry, has been slight-to-nothing. There are also some tricky models...some of the infantry bits are two-piece kits, and all of the vehicles have very small components. I struggle with this...but odds are, you won't. I am not a very good model-builder - have always been "average" at best. My frustration with that aspect is an outlier...I might suck with these, but you'll do fine.

"Tarantula" automated turrets - these can be left to cover objectives etc. while the Marines themselves head to deal with matters requiring personal attention...

Sane hobbyists would just speed paint these things, I suppose. I find I cannot...rather, I paint these little guys in batches of two and three infantry or vehicles at a time, in no particular rush. I amazed at the level of details the sculptors managed to place on them all, and I like to make an effort to catch it (even if that effort often comes up short). The results in a tremendously slow/plodding pace to my accumulation of completed units with which to expand my collection, but that doesn't worry me too much.  

"Contemptor" type dreadnoughts - mix of fire-support and close action help for the Marines.

"Deredeo" type dreadnoughts - lots and lots of firepower here.

So if the rules are hot garbage, why bother with the figures? Well, the good news is that great rules ALREADY existed with which to use these models - namely "Epic: Armageddon" and its fan-made 30k mods. I also understand there is a sci-fi mini-scale game from Mantic that also has excellent rules, and frameworks exist to adapt this to 30k, so that is something I will be looking to try as well. Trust me, if you like the Horus Heresy, you will love "Epic 30k" and you will love these little figures. 

Close up of the supreme command guy with all of this troops...

One last aerial shot of the whole group!

Stay tuned for more AHPC catch-up posts...the dash to the finish is nearly upon us, as spring is allegedly around the corner...but that's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Painting Challenge Submission #6 - Contemptor-Osiron Pattern Dreadnought for 30k-era Thousand Sons

"That museum exhibit has armed itself! Run for your life!" - A Thousand Sons Contemptor-Osiron pattern dreadnought.

My sixth submission to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge features some more kit for my growing collection of XV Legion Astartes, the Thousand Sons, in GW's Horus Heresy setting. This is a "Contemptor-Osiron pattern" dreadnought, a 28mm multi-part resin kit (with plastic weapons) from Games Workshop's "Age of Darkness" figure range. This was originally a Forge World model, now available from GW at-large.

Autocannons, ready for action!

The dreadnoughts of the 30k setting are functionally heavy combat armour suits used by the Space Marines for various battlefield support purposes. There is a "pilot" in there, so to speak, but there is a catch (because of course there is!). This "pilot" is actually near-dead Space Marine, rescued from battlefield wounds that were somehow not quite terrible enough to kill him but still terrible enough to put him near-death. What happens to these fellows? Why they just get plugged into a dreadnought, and, voila! Your existence of endless warfare in The Emperor's name can continue! Lucky you! 

"I'm FINE. Yes. Really.STOP ASKING."

In the case of the Thousand Sons, there is an extra wrinkle. Sometimes this nearly-dead-but-not-totally-dead XV Legion Space Marine is also a capable psyker. What to do then? Why, plug his bits into one of these special "Osiron" dreadnoughts, of course! That way he can wander around the battlefield shooting things, punching things AND leveraging his mastery of mysterious warp powers! It's the best of all worlds! Unless you are the one trapped in this thing...but hey...I think everyone can relax. I mean, it's not like having psychic abilities and visions while trapped inside an armoured sarcophagus for near-eternity would cause any sort of extra mental stress or trauma. Right? I'm sure it's all fine...and we all know everything turned out great for the Thousand Sons in the end.

Also equipped for...close combat? Harvesting grain? Maybe both?

All of the Space Marine Legion collections in the Horus Heresy have custom bits designed for them, capturing the look that makes them "unique". In the case of the Thousand Sons, that "unique" look is generally an answer to the question "what would happen if the local ancient Egyptian history exhibit somehow came alive and armed itself with futuristic science-fiction weapons"? It is more than a little silly, but I love it and I'm here all day for it! 

The Forge World sculptors went to town on this crazy thing. We get a lot of whacky pseudo-ancient-Egypt accents - which are great - on various parts of the armour (mysterious etching, scarabs galore). We get a pile of extra cables and extra connectors near the "helmet", speaking to the extra bits in the armour helping to manage the psychic capabilities of the "pilot". Finally, to make things extra nuts, there is the end-of-days-sized khopesh-style blade affixed to the end of the power fist. 

Like...how does that even work? Do you impale enemies on the blade, and then...punch them...somehow? Or is that not even for combat, but some kind of agriculture-related side gig the dreadnought handles between missions? 

No matter - the "pilot" will have a near-eternity to figure it out, after all. Hopefully he can still use that Thousand-Sons-mind-relaxation technique he learned in his pre-dreadnought career...

Gotta love the vestments on this crazy thing!

And topping it all off, he has VESTMENTS. Because obviously! What kind of near-dead-psychic combat master goes to battle entombed in a battlesuit WITHOUT a prayer cloth? That would be crazy!

Woohoo! Magnets without a total catastrophe!!

Modelling-wise, I was chuffed that I managed to figure out how to install magnets on the ranged-weapon mount of the right arm! Most normal hobbyists are able to make use of magnets with no problem, but I am, at best, a very "average" model-builder, and tend to be a total f*cking disaster with magnets, no matter how careful I am. This time it worked out! I'll paint up some more ranged weapon options for this fellow at a later point - for now, the paired auto-cannons will do. 

Pseudo-Egyptian glyphs etched into the armour.

I hoped to get a bit of an interesting effect with the markings etched into the legs and shoulder. It was a chance to try and make use of the Contrast Paint/Speed Paints at last! I have always found these to be a hobby product that is a solution-looking-for-a-problem sort of tool. The results were...mostly just OK, but in aggregate I still like how the effect came out.

Now THAT is a can-opener...

I also wanted to make the whacky khopesh look a little more dramatic, so I added decals along the blade, and tried to have a little fun with them. Once more, Contrast Paints were applied in the hopes of achieving something of an "effect. Again the result is...OK...I should try and catch a tutorial on how to do cool blade effects sometime...but for now this will do, as the overall model is just so whacky.

Size comparison with "The Axehole", painted earlier. Things will get dramatic when these two hit the town!

This was painted a few weeks ago now, but has yet to see service on the table. As a newly-painted model, I'm confident this fellow will have no problems at all when he makes his battlefield debut! Right?