Ahzek Ahriman - Contrast Paint Edition

"Prepare for your doom!" Ahzek Ahriman is here to help...

Some more fun/experimenting using GW's Contrast Paint range for the XV Legion Astrates, the Thousand Sons. This is Ahzek Ahriman - he is a major character and senior figure within the XV Legion, a powerful fighter and gifted psyker. GW included a multi-part plastic figure version of Ahriman to lead the Thousand Sons in the their "Burning of Propsero" boxed game. I had already painted up an Ahriman figure for the game, but as I had purchased a couple of boxes of that game (hey, it was a great way to get plastic Mark III marines), I had a few spares of the Ahriman figure, so I thought I would try to see if this newer Contrast Paint method I used on a Mark IV armoured squad would work on a XV Legion character figure.

He is bracing himself against a fallen VI Legion marine...it is a cool pose...

Azhek Ahriman is a very powerful special character in the 30k game. I have only used the figure in games of "The Burning of Prospero" - and he is a handful for the loyalist side to deal with - but in "regular" 30k games he is a beast. Recall that, officially, the 30k rules are still pretty much the 7th edition 40k rules, where psykers could have quite an impact - so the 30k version of Ahriman would be a potent command hero for a XV Legion force. 

A mysterious breeze whips up as he prepares to unleash some manner of forbidden warp power...

I do love this rendition of Ahriman - GW's sculptors did a great job on the figure. Even through his elaborate armour, you can feel him preparing to summon doom upon his foe, his cape and vestments stirring amid a strange breeze as he braces himself (upon a fallen marine, no less) to unleash his powers. Of course, in the story Ahriman ends up doomed along with his tedious Primarch and the rest of his Legion...but that is a 40k issue...for 30k purposes, Ahriman is good fun!

The staff was...meh...OK, not that great....but still fun to experiment.

So much cool detail on this figure - a great piece of kit from GW.

In terms of the use of the Contrast Paints, I think it looks OK - I do like the effect on the armour, although the armour plating is not so much the point of focus on this figure. I was less keen on the effects on the blade of his staff, and the beaded chains hanging from it...in this area, the Contrast Paints were not so effective - or I just didn't make proper use of them. I also struggled to get much a cool effect on the blade of his staff...I think the previous paint job from 2017 turned out better in those areas. So, overall, still more areas where practice is called for!

Great War 28mm Highlander Command

Back at it again after a time away from the brushes... these wee lads had unfortunately languished half-completed for far too long. They are, of course, the 1914 Scottish Command pack (B104) from Great War Miniatures.

I have a load of mono-posed early-war Highlanders from Foundry, but since they never made command figures in Highland rig I had to cast about for some from another manufacturer. This is unfortunately a "tall order" (heh) nowadays, for the Foundry Great War range (advertised in their catalog at the time as "26mm models") are unfashionably undersized by 2021 standards.

So, I decided to take the figures I could find nearest in size and style, and do what I could to shrink them, which is to say, not much. I filed down their metal bases to paper-thinness and based 'em the same as their Foundry comrades, but they're still noticeably bigger. Oh well.

They do look cool though. In the pack you get two rifle-toting sergeants, one officer with a cane, and two with revolvers. The officers wear a mix of kilts and trews with puttees, with Glengarries all round. I painted the kilts and trews in a quasi-Black Watch sett so hopefully the lads will go easy on me if they're ever fielded as a unit that sported a different sett.

Of course their other gear is pretty much standard Imperial/Commonwealth kit so they can fit in most anywhere.

Here they are with the rest of the platoon. I would say this command pack was fun to paint, and they were, but I'm so glad I upgraded my brushes before attempting the tartan. The superfine Kolinsky sables worked a treat.

Well that's it for now, hope everyone's staying safe and getting vaccinated.  

Here Come The Summer Sons - 30k Thousand Sons Marines

Reinforcement for the XV Legion Astrates, the "Thousand Sons"

More 30k? Why, of course - more 30k. Now that I have gone and opened up the 30k box from the move, and pulled out the many treasures inside, I am tempted to finish off the many previously-primed-but-not-yet-painted bits found therein. Here we have a veteran tactical squad for the XV Legion Astrates, the "Thousand Sons", wearing Mark IV power armour. With a single exception in the unit, they are painted in a different fashion from my previous units for this Legion - I have started to experiment more and more with GW's "Contrast" paint range, and these figures represent some early results.

Thousand Sons Armour: New Painting Approach

On the left, the painting approach from 2017. On the right, the new approach, using GW "Contrast" paints.

I first painted some XV Legion units back in 2017, for the GW boxed game "The Burning of Prospero" (which turned out, in fact, to be an excellent game, especially for quarantine times). The Thousand Sons' forces in that box game are not large in terms of overall model count - two 10-marine veteran tactical squads, a five-marine squad of terminator marines in Tartaros pattern armour, and a hero - Azhek Ahriman, to lead them. This small force will allow you to play the campaign included in "The Burning of Prospero" box set, and when you consider that all of these Space Marines would be psykers, and that Ahriman is a pretty powerful character, it gives you a nice little starting force to play Horus Heresy games in general.

Another comparison shot - 2017 on the left, and 2021 on the right.

I recall at the time seeing the Thousand Sons figures painted by the GW studio artists (as well as many others online), and one thing that stood out was the armour - a really, really cool metallic red. At the time in 2017, achieving something like that would have required an airbrush and use of glazes and other tricks, and that is beyond my skills. There was, however, a great GW tutorial suggesting how to paint the models using a nice mix of red paints - it did not get you that metallic finish, but it still looked really nice. I used that method to paint Ahriman and his colleagues, and I was pleased with the results. 

Some of the tactical marines in Mark IV armour.

Since 2017, I have built up my VI Legion forces a fair bit, and in that time it has been in my hobby mind to bolster the Thousand Sons as well (and yes, in general, I can never have enough Space Marines *shrug*). In or around the spring of 2019, I built and primed a squad of plastic Mark IV armoured marines as a step in this direction, and painted a single test model using the same techniques and colours as I has in 2017...but then my squirrel-hobby-brain went to some other interest, and this squad was placed in storage, waiting for a return of my 30k interests...

Another view of the tactical marines.

Special weapon troops...plasma gun and heavy bolter.

In the interim, GW released its new "Contrast" paints. You can find better evaluations from better painters elsewhere online, but while the breathless marketing exaggeration you see from some folks about these paints makes me laugh, they ARE a neat tool to add to your painting kit. I have been looking at different tutorials featuring these paints, and I came across this one from GW...a chance to get a metallic red without an airbrush? THAT is worth a shot! I pulled out this assembled-and-primed squad of Mark IV marines, and designated them for experimentation...

The Sergeant at mid-stage in the painting process...just covered mostly in "Retributor Armour", the figure feels like it is ruined, but...

No need to go over the specifics of the method in this post (the GW video provides a better explanation that I could regardless), but in general it involves use of the Contrast "Blood Angels Red" applied over a base of "Retributor Armour" (a very bright gold). I can say that at the half-way point in this painting process I was SURE I had ruined the figures - a just a Space Marine covered in gold paint...but in the end, it comes together nicely, and I really enjoy the results. 

Completed Sergeant with one of his troopers.

 

Rear view, showing the power packs and combat blades/swords.

So, what to do with the test model from 2019, the one painted using the previous non-Contrast approach? I considered re-painting the figure, but that seemed like bad luck or something...so I just left him as-is...he pretty-much-mostly blends in...besides, the ways of the Thousand Sons are mysterious, so perhaps this lone guy will contribute to some kind of numerology-omen or something...

Let the defence of Prospero begin!

There are still some kinks to work out - for example, I find the paint-on gloss to be too thick - if I want the armour to shine, I'm going to need to find a thinner gloss finish that the GW "Hardcoat". But overall, I am enjoying this new look, so watch this space for some more XV Legion characters and units to arrive over the coming summer. 

Thanks for visiting!

Primaris Lieutenant for Raven Guard

The (relatively) new(ish) Primaris Lieutenant from GW.

Here is a "Primaris Lieutenant" from GW's new range of Space Marines for Warhammer 40k. This is a "28mm" plastic figure from GW, sporting a shoulder icon from Pop Goes The Monkey. This figure comes from the "Indomitus" box set, released last year to go along with (yet another - the 9th, I think) version of the Warhammer 40k rules. It was an interesting effort, released in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I picked up a box from the FLGS here in Sault Ste Marie last summer.

Skulls on the shield? But of course! You can also see the nice shoulder emblem from Pop Goes The Monkey.

The Indomitus box includes quite a haul of plastic multi-part goodies - you get a number of new "Primaris" Space Marines, and quite an assortment of Necron bad guys as well. While my own personal painting interests tend toward 30k more than 40k when it comes to GW, my curiousity was piqued at the time - and I painted up a small assortment of Primaris Marines last summer and fall.

The Indomitus box takes the evolution/replacement of GW's Space Marine lineup further along, with new officers, a new brand of basic troop type, some new elite-types, bike-riding Marines and some other characters. Overall, the Marine figures are pretty interesting, with the possible exception of the "Judiciar", who looks like a LARP-reject who has been kicked out of his parents' basement. 

"Sure, I'm carrying a power sword that is like half-a-metre long, but still, take THAT!"

In particular, the Marine elites/officers in this box have a bit of a pseudo-medieval touch to them...there are tabards, swords, relic bits and big shields. And skulls and skeletons of course :) This Lieutenant figure is an example of all of these aspects...he has a tabard, a huge sword, a fancy shield and lots of trinkets and purity seals etc. For all that, it should be noted that he still has a nice gun too...a "neo-volkite pistol" - nice to see the 30k volkite weapons getting a shout-out in the new edition of 40k.

Lots of character on this character figure. Fun to paint.

Most Indomitus fans have already painted all of their Indomitus box set miniatures. Me? Well, having had the Indomitus box for a year, I thought it was time to finally paint at least ONE of the miniatures inside, so I put him together a couple weeks ago. I have to say, he was fun to paint! I also have to vouch for the stuff from "Pop Goes The Monkey" - there a lot of great accessories available there, with many that will work perfectly with the new "Primaris" marines. It was great to be able to slap a Raven Guard icon on the shoulder guard of this figure - looks so much better than a decal, especially considering all of the other schwag/flare this fellow is carrying around. 

One thing I learned is that I need some new white paints...you can see the finish on the helmet and shield looks pretty streaky/chalky...something to sort out over the summer, as I slowly assemble more figures from the Indomitus box and get them ready for painting. I haven't even decided if I will paint the others as Raven Guard figures, or something else...who knows? Something for my hobby brain to worry away about.

Thanks for visiting - hope you are somewhere the COVID restrictions are able to be relaxed!

Minotaurs Dreadnoughts

 More progress on the Minotaurs despite the Provinces best attempts to abolish public education! This offering is two more space marine dreadnoughts. These aren’t the fancy new primaris redemptor dreadnoughts or the relic Contemptor. Just plain old classic walking coffins. Back in the time of 4th and 5th addition these guys served me well. The twin lascannon and missile launcher combo was particularly effective. Subsequent additions were less generous. 9th edition has juiced up dreadnoughts considerably and should provide some solid support for the tactical squads. Unfortunately, their shiny new paint job probably means they have to get that first game out of the way! Whenever that’ll be.

The multi-melta and plasma cannon are both from Pop goes the Monkey as are the Minotaur icons. All the weapons are magnetized and all the polarities match so the weapon arms can be swapped between dreads!

The one on the left was painted a few months ago

Thanks for visiting.

XVI Legion Veteran Tactical Squad

A Veteran Tactical Squad for the Sons of Horus. 28mm figures from Forge World

Some more reinforcement for the XVI Legion Astrates - a Veteran Tactical Squad, wearing Mark II power armour, carrying later model bolt guns. The squad includes a meltagunner and a heavy bolter, and the Marines themselves enhanced with a number of small accent bits from different packs of GW and Forge World bits.

Trooper carrying a meltagun, flanked by Marines carrying fancy bolt guns.

Lots of intricacies on the power packs - you also can see the handy chainswords carried by the veteran troopers.

I have painted a fair bit of Horus Heresy stuff over the years, but this is the first squad I have painted wearing the Mark II armour. I do like the look of the armour design, but I have to say, from a subjective point of view, the Mark III variant armour is probably still more appealing. Like the Mark III variant, The Mark II power armour has a very segmented look, with lots of seams and rivets, but it does not look as heavy as the Mark III. One other feature I find a bit defining for the Mark II plate is the "monobrow" look to the helmet visor, which has just a single vision slit. On the whole, it is a very sort of proto-medieval sci-fi kind of look - well done by the sculptors.

Vox operator on the left, Vexillary on the right.

More detail on the backpacks - I quite like the bizarre little details on the communications pack.

The squad sergeant's ominous "power claws" and plasma pistol point, while in the background you see the trooper with the heavy bolter, a support weapon.

A lot of rivets and segments in the Mark II power armour...a bit of a challenge to paint, and I was pretty rusty in terms of painting these guys, but they still came out OK.

These marine may be wearing "early" pattern armour, but carrying "later" patterns of bolt guns, with box magainzes. The chainswords they are carrying are spares from the plastic Mark III marine figure set, as are the special weapons seen on the officer. The heavy bolter is a plastic accessory from the plastic Mark IV marine figure set. So a lot of different component packs came together here, which was great. Besides, I figure veterans would be the sort to keep the older armour, but ensure they got their choice of the nicest/newest weapons :)

Horus for hope!

You may see that the transfers are still quite glossy in these photos - it has not been "safe" to spray the final coat of matte spray on these figures - it has somehow managed to be at once too cool and too humid outside to safely spray on the Krylon, so that may wait for some time - it is something I will get to at a later date.

The embossed shoulder armour plates are great - not the cheapest thing to decide to like, but I do love them. Once you put them on one squad, however, you find yourself making excuses that you need them for every squad...oh well :)

Like the Moritat I posted earlier, these figures had been sitting primed for a while before finally getting under the paintbrush. It is always good to get these "pending" projects finished with! And now that I've opened up the 30k supply box, I find I am suddenly working on a bunch of new 30k projects for this summer, as we continue to stagger through this interminable pandemic.

Thanks for reading, I hope everyone is doing well out there. 

XVI Legion Moritat for Horus Heresy

"Moritat" in the colours of the XVI Legion Astrates - the Sons of Horus.

Having gone through some Adeptus Titanicus projects in recent weeks, my hobby attentions have turned to related areas of hobby interest - namely, the Horus Heresy in 28mm. This is a 28mm Space Marine "Moritat", painted in the colours of the XVIth Legion Astrates, the "Sons of Horus", the Warmaster's very own Legion.

Guns drawn, ready to fire...and the helmet of a previous victim lying on the base...

So what is a "Moritat"? Well, the "Horus Heresy" was a giant civil war which tore the Imperium apart. Space Marine Legions fought against Space Marine Legions, and the fighting caused the odd Space Marine here and there to crack up a bit, the nature of the conflict being such that it wrecked the careful mental/psychological conditioning/programming that was part of their creation. While still physically fit, such mentally damaged Marines could no longer be fully relied upon to fight effectively as part of their units, and so were pulled from the battle line. The Legions would never "waste" an asset, however - a Space Marine is still a Space Marine...and so such mentally fractured Marines are made in "Moritats", and sent to battle as one-man armies. Not suicide missions per se...just loners at the fringe of the battle plan. If they survive, great. If not...well, they will still have cause serious issues for the enemies of the Legion.

The cabling is a pain the @ss...some crude "green stuff" repairs were needed - I've got no skill using "green stuff", but you have to start somewhere? Practice is practice.

The Moritat seen here wears Mark IV power armour, with extra plating. He is equipped with a jump pack to get close to the enemy as fast as he can and start shooting. He is equipped with volkite weapons that are pretty deadly at short range, and has a variety of extra targeting kit to help his shots land more accurately.

Putting a Space Marine together is usually pretty straightforward, but there was a particular challenge with this figure - the cables running from the weapons to the backpack of the armour. Powered weapons with cables connected to some manner of backpack on the power armour are a feature of a number of the special weapon/heavy weapon figures in Forge World's Horus Heresy range. Resin features like this are not easy to assemble, and even with careful use of hot water etc. the cables can break because one carefully tries to bend/turn them into position before gluing them into place. I am envious of how Mike, Dallas, Byron and others manage to work well on these sorts of tricky figures. With this figure, one cable worked out fine, but the other broke in two places, and "green stuff" was needed...I'm not very confident using that either, but I managed to bodge it together.

For the Warmaster!

It has been a while since I last painted some 30k figures (last November, it seems), so it was fun to dig into the packing crate and pull out some figures like this one. This figure has been waiting for paint for just over a year - first assembled it during a previous burst of 30k output in the spring last year. When I pulled this figure out, there were a few other 30k items in the tray as well, so I'm hoping to share those soon.

Thanks for reading everyone - hope you are well! My thoughts in particular are with my friends back in Manitoba as the COVID pandemic continues to wreak particular havoc there.