Finished - Deathwatch: Overkill Marines And More

At long last, the Marines of Deathwatch: Overkill are finished. Not only are they done, but I also finished three Vanguard Marines to round out the Assault Squad. Not only that, but three of the Marines are magnetized to have Jump Packs. 

I am super pleased with how they all came out. Each Marine gave me an opportunity to try different techniques in the small scale. I did not have to replicate anythign but the black armor and metal left arm on every mini. This freedom to experiment let me really run wild. 

I feel like I have talked these minis to death on each of their posts.I like how the minis each turned out with their own personalty and yet they look like a unit when they are together. I don't think there there is much that I don't like about the minis as a whole. There are some small mistakes that I feel like I made but in general I am pleased. 

The Deathwatch: Overkill box retails for $160 not including shipping. The Deathwatch half goes on eBay for $60-$100 and each Marine goes for $5-$12 also not including shipping. The bases cost me between $1 and $4 each for a total cost of $20. The three metal Vanguard Marines go for $5 and $15 each based on completed eBay listing for a value $30. There are also smaller costs for the magnets and jump packs that are about $20 to replace them. I value the painting at over $100 given the time and detail involved for a total replacement cost of $250. I would not sell or trade them for less and probably not at all. I love these minis, the Overkill game and my new Deathwatch Codex.

It took me almost 5 weeks to paint 14 Marines. No telling how long it is going to take me to paint the Genestealer Cult half. MY heart is not in it to paint them and there are so many of them. I am going to wait to start on more Deathwatch minis until after the Codex drops so I can have a better understanding of the rules. I don't want to repeat the mistakes with my Space Wolf Terminators where I made beautiful minis that are technically not field-able with the rules even before they changed. 

Finished - Deathwatch Terminator and Bike

These Deathwatch minis are following a similar path to the previous ones in that the work up front seems to take forever. then, at the end, they fly together. I think I am spending a lot of time trying to get the black just right. Once the tone is correct, it really only requires very little hard edge highlighting with grey and it is done. The rest of the details kind of float on that black background which is just what I am going for. 

I think that I have talked about most of the details on these minis. I don't know that I have every talked about the interference paint that I used on Vulkan, the Salamander pelt and the Horrors. I find that a little bit goes a long way. It is supposed to mimic the iridescent look of a beetle shell. I painted it on the Salamander hide on a whim to give it a different look. I did it on the Vulkan mini to just try something different and loved how it made the hide look so I kept using it.

On The Table - Deathwatch Terminator And Fire

I am very disappointing with how the fire came out. It is fine for table top but I have done better in the past. I don't understand what I am doing wrong so it makes it hard to fix it. I drybrushed on the black parts and I think that may be part of the problem. I also painted on the black and perhaps the hard lines are ruining the effect.

To the right is my Vulkan. I think that the flames were more successful there because I only dry brushed on the black and there is less of it. 

On The Table - Deathwatch Terminator and Bike

I thought that I had made a post about these two but was mistaken. At this point, they are coming along great. There is just so much area and detail to paint. 

I am struggling with how to paint the white on the White Scar biker. I am trying to avoid painting white as much as possible. The painted models on the GW site have white on the front wheel cowling but I think that is too garish. I replaced that with silver. So far white is just on the shoulder pad. 

I am using resin bases like I am for all my Deathwatch Marines. 

Finished - Deathwatch Imperial Fist And Jump Packs

I finished the last of the normal Deathwatch Marines and the Jump Packs.

I am very pleased with how they came out. I tried to give each of the jump packs some character to the Marine who will be using it rather than making them generic and interchangeable. Each has a color that is part of the Chapter the Marine came from (Blood Ravens, Dark Angels and Ultramarines respectively). This is also necessary as I was not paying attention and some of the polarity in the magnets are reversed from what I normally do.

The Devastator Marine turned out well too. I had to shoot from the hip on how to do the yellow as that is not a color that I am very experienced with. I was concerned that I may have made the yellow too bright. Seeing the Imperial Fists next to the more muted tones of the Space Wolf makes me think that my concerns are valid. That yellow is bright! I ended up trying to mute it a little with some Gryphonne Sepia wash. I am not very happy with the result but it did mute the color. II am going to try and limit the amount of yellow that I use in Deathwatch Marines in the future.

We are closing on a house right now or at least in the process. There is a 11 day waiting period that kicks in as soon as everyone presses the go button and we are still waiting for that to start. Since I could finish quite a few minis in 11 days, I am going to start on the Deathwatch Bike and Terminator. I won't have time to finish the other 2 Bikes and 4 Terminators to complete the squads though. This might be a good thing as I may want to wait for the Deathwatch Codex to come out to make any choices for wargear. 

Finished - Deathwatch Cassius

I am super pleased with how Cassius came out. I think that mostly because I did not expect this mini to be better than the old metal Cassius but it is.

I don't understand why GW chose to include Cassius as a Chaplain as it is a little confusing given his cannon. There is no indication that he was ever part of Deathwatch in the current time in 40k which is 997 M41 (40,997 in out normal dating system). as far as I can tell. Cassius was supposed to have distinguished himself in the First Tyrannic Wars which was in 745 M41 (40,745) which was over 250 years ago. Even though Cassius was to have devoted himself solely to the Tyranid threat around that time, he does not have any accessories on the Deathwatch mini that might reflect this.

I find a lot of this confusing. It just seems strange to shoehorn Deathwatch service into Cassius' past when they could establish a new character. I get that they want to tie the board game into 40k and that there are few names Chaplains that would fit into Deathwatch better than Cassius. It just all seems forces and hamfisted.


The current era Cassius does seem like he would be a good fit for Deathwatch. He is one of very few characters that carries a Combi-weapon. His Preferred Enemy: Tyranids makes him and the unit he is attached to devastating against bugs by rerolling all 1s in shooting and close combat.

He has also clearly seem some serious action. He is very old even for an Astartes and his body is beaten up. The flayed flesh on his skull is just the tip of the iceberg. The fluff says he has extensive cybernetics and the rules give him T 6 and Feel No Pain because of that. He is beastly.

On The Table - Deathwatch Imperial Fist And Cassius

I did a lot of work on these two and most of it was details. I brightened the colors of the Chapter shoulder guards. Right now, I just have to do some minor details and they will be finished. 

I also just learned that there will be a Deathwatch Codex coming out soon from The Grimdark Podcast. I am very excited as I have a great starter army from the Overkill box and my previous projects.