Assault Squad Andrael

Finally completed my 10-man Blood Angels Assault Squad.  This one is without jump packs to take advantage of Rhino, Land Raider, or Stormraven-y goodness.

Flesh shaded with 'Eavy Metal matte medium and Dark Flesh paint.

Head on the left is from the Assault Boarding Squad sergeant.  

Tried to go for a dynamic swinging-fist pose for the sergeant on the left.

1500 Point List

Competing in a hobby shop vs. hobby shop match tomorrow where each person brings a 1500 point Space Marine list.  I wanted to try out my new Contemptor Dreadnought so came up with a Blood Angels list based around it.

HQ: Librarian
Gear:  Jump Pack, Infernus Pistol.
Psyker powers:  The Sanguine Sword, Unleash Rage

Elite:
Blood Angels Pattern Contemptor Dreadnought
Gear:  Blood Talons, Storm Bolter, Meltagun

Sanguinary Priests x2
Gear: Jump Pack

Troops:
Assault Marines x 10
Gear:  Meltagun x2, Power Fist, Infernus Pistol


Assault Marines x 10
Gear:  Meltagun x2, Power Fist, Infernus Pistol


Assault Marines x 5
Gear:  Meltagun, Power Fist, Infernus Pistol

Heavy Support:
Stormraven
Gear:  Twin-linked Multi-melta, Twin-linked Lascannon

Vindicator:
Gear: Storm bolter, Dozer blade

The idea is the 5-man squad and the Librarian fly in with the Dreadnought loaded in the Stormraven.
The Vindicator is there for heavy artillery
The two 10-man squads fly in each with a priest to attack as the vanguard.

Citadel basing goodies.

One of the things I've always been missing with my basing is adequate vegetation.  In fact my bases are downright boring.  While I could easily just go to a model/hobby shop and get some, I dislike having to travel to various shops just to look for one thing.  I don't mind paying a higher premium just for the convenience of being able to get my stuff in one stop.  So I'm glad GW came out with some tufts of vegetation.  They're $13.95 a box though and I'm sure that'll turn some people off but this stuff is pretty handy.  I just wish it were taller.

Fun with blending

Attempting to create a lacquered look on the shoulder.

After picking up the 'Eavy Metal brush set I immediately set to trying the matte medium. One of the things with mixing medium is getting the right consistency and viscosity which I'm horrible at. I've tried the Reaper medium, the Vallejo varnish and mediums as well. The GW medium is just right.

I've always wanted to paint shoulder armor to look lacquered and this stuff lets me for the first time.

Still a WIP, but trying to make the armor look more antiquated

New toys

I'm a sucker for limited edition items. Luckily I didn't need to shell out the $50 pricetag for this one as it was a gift. Games Workshop released a brush set commemorating the elite 'Eavy Metal painting team. The set comes with a brushed aluminum case that can hold up to six brushes, two kolinsky sable brushes with the 'Eavy Metal logo, and two pots of matte mixing medium.

Being ignorant in all things art related, I looked up kolinsky sable brushes and found them to be made from the tail hairs of the kolinsky (a species of weasel) rather than from actual sable. Apparently some of the finest brushes are made from kolinsky. Good kolinsky brushes can be upwards of $300. The GW brushes are definitely better than their normal rank-and-file brushes but probably nowhere near the $50 price they're asking for the entire kit.

The pot of gold is definitely in the two pots of mixing medium that comes with the set. They make for good glazes and seem to be really great for use as a blending medium. I really hope they eventually release this product for regular sale.

How does the product stack up? Well, after just dipping the kolinsky brush into the pot I found I could instantly paint NMM like Darren Latham and Joe Tomaszewski, flesh like Anja Wettergren, and vibrant colors like Neil Green all just by using the matte medium. This stuff is pure magic.

Shifting focus

It's been quite a long while since I've posted anything on this blog. Half a decade to be exact. I've been looking for a central repository to post my miniature paintings so I thought I'd shift focus and re-purpose this blog for my minis.

I'm in a painting league at my local hobby shop. The end goal by early next year is to have a complete 2000 point army painted. Yesterday our first 500 points were due. Here is my 500-point army:

HQ: Librarian with Jump Pack (Converted from a Forge World Sevrin Loth model)

Elite: Sanguinary Priest (Blood Angels Brother Corbulo)

Troops:
5x Tactical Squad in a Rhino (Sergeant with Power Weapon and Plasma Pistol)
5x Assault Squad (Sergeant with Power Fist + Plasma Pistol)

I'm still getting used to laying out images in this format so forgive me as I go through a learning curve with this blog.