Dark Angels Techmarine TO-DONE!!!

 

Hi folks,

In between 2nd Edition projects I have been trying to keep up some momentum with my urban Dark Angels. I was wondering what my old Deathwatch RPG character would look like if he crossed the rubicon Primaris, so decided to have a go at kit-bashing him. I experimented with mounting the forge bolter and servo arm on a backpack, but decided modelling a separate servitor would look less "busy".

The body is from a Lieutenant model I got cheaply from a magazine. The plasma pistol was a spare I had left over from the Zakariahl model. The other arm I pieced together from the Deathwing champion's halberd, a random upper arm and a Deathwatch shoulder pad my son gleefully donated from his growing collection. The head is from the old Ravenwing upgrade sprue. The backpack is a Devastator sergeant's signum. I figured that would be good for designating targets for the servitor. I tried to paint some kind of lightning motif on the axe-blade, but, well... I have never been particularly good at lightning.

The servitor was made out of an older robed Dark Angels veteran, with the head swapped with a Sicarian Infiltrator, which I thought looked suitably servitor-like and gribbly. Both the heavy ("forge") bolter and servo arm are from old servitor models, with a trimmed down heavy bolter ammo pack to finish it off.

With this pair done I am only two models away from completing my target 1000 point army, with plans for another 500 points of Ravenwing support. Well worth a big stamp!

Now my sights are back on 2nd Edition, with an Armorcast Exocrine well on its way to completion before the 25th April deadline.

See you across the table,

Marc

2nd Edition Genestealers TO-DONE!!!

 

Hi folks,

This month I worked on some classic Genestealers for the 2nd Edition Army Challenge. They were very much a case of "trusting the process", as it was very hard to tell throughout the paint job whether they were going to look any good or not.

I really like it how these old Genestealers share the same design elements on their back as the old Screamer Killer Carnifex; painting the bright green ridges was so satisfying!

Their faces took an entire paint session to do; hours of painting individual tiny teeth. Thankfully, the rest was pretty easy; it's time to roll out the giant bloody stamp!

For April I am working on some fire support with two Biovores and a huge Armorcast Exocrine, all primed and ready to go.  I can't help but feel I am procrastinating, though. The Gargoyles I have to do seem like a much greater challenge than anything else I have left. Ahhh,  well, we'll see how it goes...

See you across the table,

Marc

Dark Angels Suppressors TO-DONE!!!

 

Hi folks,

Another quick post today, just to record the completion of these Suppressors. They were in pretty bad condition when I got them off eBay, to the extent that I figured stripping them all the way back to plastic would be a waste of time. Instead, I just painted straight over the top. I had to gloss varnish the shoulder pads to make them smooth enough for decals.

I have painted them in my standard 3rd Company scheme and given them 10th squad markings. I have no idea if that's a squad Suppressors can be drawn from, it will just have to do.

The basing of the original models was pretty awful, but I didn't think I could safely remove the flying stands to replace them with my usual urban bases. I made a compromise by painting the dirt like concrete and adding some rusted Imperial Knight parts. One base has some left over Venomthrope bits, just to spice things up a bit.

That's it for this army for now, I probably should shift gears and get my next 2nd Ed. Army Challenge unit painted.

See you across the table,

Marc

Old Stuff Day

 

Hi folks,

Old Stuff Day has to be my favourite event of the 40K hobby season. I have somehow managed to miss it a few times recently, mainly because "real life" has been biting so damn hard. One of the things that has kept me going the past 5 years is the 2nd Edition Army Challenge. Dr The Viking ran the challenge for the first 4 years, but recently stopped after facing some really tough times. The camaraderie between challengers was so strong though, that we couldn't fathom not continuing. As a result, the Wachtmeister has taken up the mantle of collating and publishing the results each month.

For old stuff this year, I wanted to provide some links to the previous season's final posts, so that people could take a look at some of the fantastic old school armies that have been born out of this challenge. 

2nd Ed. Army Challenge 1 (2020)

Finding myself deep in a hole of grief, when Dr The Viking put out the call for challengers, I was pretty quick to put my hand up. I didn't even have any idea at that stage if I had the models to build a 2nd Ed. Dark Angels army. As it turns out, I need not have worried; I had three seasons worth of old miniatures just waiting for love. I managed to paint 1500 points worth of Dark Angels in the first challenge.

2nd Ed. Army Challenge 2 (2021)

Knowing now that I had a bunch of Dark Angels left to paint, it was easy to sign up for the next season. Some absolutely incredible models were painted in this challenge, including an Eldar Exodite army with dinosaurs in it that is to die for. 

2nd Ed. Army Challenge 3 (2022)

For the 3rd Challenge I decided to go all the way back to my first 40K army: Legion of the Damned. To achieve this I had to purchase some extra odds and ends on eBay, which cost me a small fortune. Finally painting Sergeant Centurius, though, was a teenage dream for me. I love the army that I painted so much: 100% nostalgia.

2nd Ed. Army Challenge 4 (2023)

Picking through the rest of my bitz box, it was clear that I had enough Tyranids for at least one challenge. One of my mates heard that I was considering them for the challenge and gave me a box that roughly doubled my model count, and wifey bought me a couple of the old Armorcast epic-style figures. The hardest part was coming up with a paint scheme that did the 90's 40K era justice. I'll let you decide if I achieved that. In this challenge we also worked on and produced a 2nd Edition campaign, which paid homage to Jurassic Park in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. Playing some of the missions with my son is some of the best fun I have had with 40K in a long time. I helped out by designing the rules for special terrain; seeing people model those things and play with them was fantastic.

2nd Ed. Army Challenge 5 (2024) 

That brings us neatly around to the 5th Challenge being run by the Wachtmeister. We are just through our first month and I am again working on brightly coloured Tyranids, as I work at expanding Hive Fleet Proteus from the previous challenge. First on the paint table was a second Screamer Killer because, let's face it, why stop at just one! 

Even with all of the experience of 5 challenges under my belt, I am a bit worried that I am not going to make it though this one. I am not one to withdraw, however. I'll keep you posted with how I go!

See you across the table,

Marc