Almost Finished - Deathwatch Assault Marines

Three More Marines join the ranks of my third Space Marine army (the first being Blood Angels and the second Space Wolves). These three Marines round out my Assault Squad. From left to right, they are Ultra Marines, Salamanders and Flesh Tearers. I am very happy with how they turned out. I used a lot of tricks to get them to turn out so well from my way of painting black to layering washes to trying to get each color right. There are so many colors on these minis. Usually, I just keep out the paints that I need to work on a single project. Even with that in mind, there are dozens of pots of paint on the painting station right now just for these minis. 

Up next are a Space Wolf and Ultramarine Tactical Marines likely followed by 2-3 other Tactical Marines. I have 5 other dedicated Tactical Marines from a previous project. With the Iron Hands Marine that is already finished, this will give me a solid 10 block of Tactical Marines to draw from. 

The Last Thing You Buy

I want to take a moment to talk about the coolest kid I know, Jesusgold7. This brilliant bastard makes the ultimate Warhammer 40k collectors items. Usually, it irks me when people use the work "ultimate" to mean anything other than the literal meaning of "the last." In this case it really is the last thing that you buy after models, glue, paint, basing material, cases, foam, shelves, dremel and a Titan. Once you get to the point where you are buying real life Purity Seals and Warrants of Trade, you will know that you have reached the end of the road of nerdom. Well, maybe the end are the people that drop a couple of grand on real life power armor.

I was able to get this Warrant of Trade with my name on it (blanked out in this image) for less than $10. Then, I went and spent over $100 getting it professionally framed and I can't be happier that I did. It takes this already awesome piece and takes it to the limit. I am going to attach the Purity Seal that I also bought to the frame and hang it in my Den.

Freehand

I just banged this little beauty out free hand. It made me think of the days before custom transfers when, if someone wanted to play a Chapter that was not on the transfer sheet, they would have to free hand each of the Chapter badges. It was such a nightmare. These days you can get transfers printed any way you want. You can even print them at home. 

On The Table Now - Genestealer Aberrants

I am refining my techniques on painting Genestealer Cultist skin and trying to speed up the process. My first experimental mini took way too long but I learned a lot. Now, I am basing the mini Mournfang Brown, drybrushing Tallarn Flesh and then drybrushing Cadian Fleshtone before calling the base colors finished. Then the skin areas get a flesh wash and a touch up. To make them look mutated I wash on some purple and touch it up with flesh color. 

Finished - Deathwatch Assault Marines

These minis turned out great!

They took forever because they were so detailed and involve so many different colors. From an armlength, they just look like overly black minis with a smattering of blue and red, but up close I used at least 6 different color techniques on each mini. I tried to keep it simple, but I could not resist adding details. Fir instance, the Tyranid skull on the Raven guard base is washed with a purple wash to tie it into the purple that I am using on the Genestealer Cultists. 

I am sticking to the 25 mm bases on these minis rather than using the new 30 mm bases because the Deathwatch minis I already have are on the 25 mm bases and I think the change is dumb. Though, it would have been useful for stability on these minis with a high and heavy center of gravity. 

The plan is to paint up three metal Vanguard Veterans as Deathwatch Marines. I am never going to use all the Vanguard Vets that I currently have and they make great Deathwatch Marines. They make it difficult to select wargear and all of them have at least one arm in a static position. For Chapters, I have selected Ultramarines, Salamanders and a Blood Angel of sorts. I can't decide if I want to try and free hand a Flesh Tearers symbol on a Marine or wuss out and use a BA decal. 

Finished - Tau Baracuda Base

I have had the base of the Tau Barracuda staring at me for about two months. I knew I wanted to do a more scenic base than just sand, but eventually phoned it in a bit. Two small walls, some razor wire and a land mine/hatch. I will add some patches of grass to it and many of my other minis in the future. 

The goal was to make a base with a soldier looking up at the flyer. I can always add that later, but for now it is done. 

On The Table Now - Deathwatch Assault Marknes

I am loving how these minis are turning out. The detail on them is great. Probably the only thing that I don't like is that they are multi-piece but mono-pose. 

I am swapping out the bases with metallic-painted techno bases from a variety of sources to match the rest of the Deathwatch Marines.

They are almost done too. Just a little detail and the face on the Blood Angel and we are finished.