Finished (Mostly) - Deathwatch Terminators

While not 100% complete, these are as finished as they are going to get until i get some bits that come through. I have quite a deep bits box but only for armies that I play and while I pay quite a few armies, I do not play all Chapters of Space Marines. Shocking, I know. What I do have is money to buy bits and friends that play other armies. They hooked me up with some Dark Angel Lightning Claws and Black Templar Terminator pauldrons. That will complete these bad boys.

It is good to have friends. At some point I am going to have to get them back.

This leaves the DW Terminator squad at one Power Fist/Melta/Heavy Flamer, two Power Fist/Storm Bolter, and one bad ass Power Weapon (sword)/Storm Bolter. That is pretty solid. 

On The Table Now - Deathwatch Terminators, Bases

The Deathwatch army is the only army that I am using entirely custom bases. I started doing this because Deathwatch was never supposed to be more than 10 models. It started as the old White Dwarf formation from a thousand years ago. The army expanded a little when Deathwatch RPG picks up and I get excited and want to make another mini. With the release of the Deathwatch Codex and the Overkill box, this handfull of minis is going to expand to a full army. As it expands, I decided to carry forth the custom bases that look like deck plating or alien stuff. 

I think the bases in the picture are from Secret Weapon Minis from the Tau Ceti range and from and Steel Invasion. 

I made the choice to continue using 25 mm bases rather than the new 30 mm bases for consistency sake. I am old school and the new larger bases just look silly to me. 

On The Table - 4 Deathwatch Terminators

Oh what a difference a day makes. I spent a few hours figuring out what Deathwatch Terminators I want to make from the bits that I have on hand. I had some left over Space Hulk Blood Angel Terminators that were never going to get used for anything else. May as well induct them into Deathwatch. I also needed to use up the BA Termie arms that are covered with BA iconography. 

The Deathwatch rules don't really allow for much variation in Terminator load outs. You are restricted to Powerfist/Storm Bolter, Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield, dual Lightning Claws or a heavy weapon. The meat and potatoes of Terminator squads are going to be the PF/SB so I don't mind having some redundancies. It is not like these minis are ever going to be used for anything else. 

Thanks to the Overkill box, I already have an awesome Salamander with a Heavy Flamer and the sexy new PF/Meltagun. I know that I want a Dark Angel because I have some awesome bits that are laying around. I am going to try and use up the shoulder guards by magnetizing the model. I threw some magnets in the tops of random models for later adding some Missile Launchers but I don't have those bits spare. 

I digressed a little there. 

The last mini is a Black Templar. I had some Forge World Cataphractii Terminators that are now obsolete by the plastic ones. I wanted something that looked more knightly than the other bits that I had available. I used a Grey Knight head and legs and paired them with a Grey Knight sword and a Dark Angel Storm Bolter. I think the mini is going to come out really well. 

Deathwatch Codex

I just got the Deathwatch Codex and it was worth the decade-long wait. Certain websites that shall remain nameless have had this Codex on their "next 8-12 months" for almost that entire decade. Rumors are such garbage. 

It took GW more than a few tried to get Daemonhunters/Grey Knights/Ordo Malleus right and some could say that they still are not a well-rounded army. They have never done justice to Sisters of Battle with numerous chances and it almost seems misogynistically intentional at this point. While I can't say that this is a "home run on the first try" situation that we have here but is a darn good for a first try. 

Deathwatch is going to suffer from what every Astartes army suffers from and that is being out numbered, except Deathwatch (like Grey Knights) runs the risk of being out numbered by Astartes. All of these armies lack a cheep troops choice. There were several things that I was shocked to see didn't make it into this book that were part of 40k cannon, but I was really shocked to see Scouts missing. GW seems to have a problem moving that dated box set. They would not even have to release anything new to include them though a Deathwatch Scout arm like the one I made would be pretty awesome. 

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.