Five more dudes! Five more dudes! (I have purchases on the way) Five more dudes!
I took a break from painting militia to paint some Iron Hands:
I needed a little kickstart on my Baneblade turret because I hate painting metallics; so I painted these Iron Hands tactical marines which are almost entirely metallics and that made the comparatively very little metal in my Baneblade turret a breeze.
Baneblade update:
I got the turret done reasonably quickly, then it took like three sessions to get the Iron Hands done because I had to wait for at least five coats of diluted black contrast paint to dry.
My Iron Hands are noticeably heavier than my other space marine models because of all the coats of contrast on them. They look like they would have exquisite mouthfeel.
I’m going to try something different for the next five, but for now - five models off the pile.
BATG Score: -14 
4 Likes
I have an update that’s been pending for a few days, I’ve been crazy busy with work for a little while. Fortunately, there’s some payoff.
In the post, I received two Necromunda Ambots and five Tempestus Scions:
These are destined for my Horus Heresy Militia army. The Scions will be more grenadiers (getting me up to twenty out of a planned forty) and the Ambots will be converted into artillery pieces. I have a few Field Ordnance Batteries already, with nothing special done to them, so I wanted the FOBs for my Militia to be special. Because I am a mad person.
I had the chance to build this crazy contraption today and here’s how they look:
I used the rocket pods from the Malleus rocket launcher - which I had leftover from previous FOBs - with a little snipping, the mounts for the pods fit perfectly on the Ambot shoulder joints. They’re looking good and with a little extra gubbins on the base it shouldn’t feel like I’m modelling for advantage.
Seven on the pile. It doesn’t take me over zero, so I’m safe, but I’m going to focus on building & painting for a little bit.
BATG Score: -7
5 Likes
Another purchase arrived in the post:
Can’t tell what it is? It’s Captain Sargotta from the Huron Blackheart and the Masters of the Maelstrom box set.
I found an eBay listing just for her. She’s going to be another option to lead my Imperial Militia. Maybe a mounted Force Commander, we’ll see.
One on the pile.
BATG: -6
5 Likes
Oopsies, I got a little ahead of myself. I had to go into the city for work, and to reward myself for being a big, brave boy (and to check out a new train station) I stopped off at the game store and bought myself some goodies.
Among them were these fabulous fellows:
Ten Goliath gangers, who will end up as either cyber-gladiators or Discipline Masters for my Heresy Militia. I have some parts coming in the mail to help convert them - I’ll be seeing if I can fit Genestealer Cult Acolyte Hybrid torsos on them. If that works, they’ll be proto-commissars. Otherwise, it’s the pit for them!
Ten onto the pile, which sadly brings me back to net positives. Fortunately I have some almost-finished models on the painting table, which I should be able to take off the pile before the month ends.
BATG Score: +4 
3 Likes
Okay, I’ve managed to just squeeze these guys in to get me below 0 before April:
5 Iron Hands tactical marines, including a sergeant with a bonky-stick.
That completes the second tactical squad for this little project:
I tried something a little different with these last 5, using Army Painter Rough Iron as the base colour and then limiting myself to two diluted coats of Grim Black Speedpaint over the top. It’s subtle enough that it doesn’t really show up on camera, but in person it’s quite nice.
They still look like they’d be great to chew on, which is the important thing.
That brings me back into the negatives, with 5 off the pile.
BATG Score: -1
3 Likes
I’ve taken some time off work to combat ye olde burnout (because that’s fun), and I’ve gotten a little bit of painting done.
Arriving on the done pile today is this unit of Iron Hands Veteran Breachers to accompany a Centurion on boarding actions:
It’s just five dudes, but they should pack a punch and they look cool.
I’m increasingly happy with my formula for Iron Hands armour - which is now revised to a coat of Army Painter Rough Iron followed by a single coat of diluted Grim Black Speedpaint, and a final wash of Marine Juice after all the non-bright bits are done.
It’s a shame I really hate painting metallics, because these guys look great when finished. I’d love to see a full 3000+ point army of them but doing more than the 1500 I have in mind might polish off what’s left of my sanity.
I also took some time over Easter to finally get some spraypaint over my Zone Mortalis tiles and terrain:
This took most of a can of black, and most of a can of brown spray paint. Even with my very simplified colour scheme, this is going to take aaaaages to finish. I decided to paint the tops grey to bring them in line with the concrete bits in the walls and floors, and only then realised that my grey primer is very different from my concrete grey. So that’s going to be fun.
I’ll probably run out of my brown highlight and concrete grey colours, so I’ll order a couple pots of each of those before I venture out into finishing this lot. Looking at them all laid out like this makes it actually look like a smaller project, so maybe that will motivate me to get this lot finished this year - these walls and tiles counted as 60 onto the pile when I added them (before assembly) so will make a big dint in the pile if I can get them done.
That’s down the line, though. It’s only five off the pile for this update.
BATG Score: -6
3 Likes
It’s been a while, but it’s finally time to break out Gimli:
After a few months of intermittent paint sessions, and the last two days straight of painting metals and pin washing, I have finished painting my Baneblade:
This magnificent beast is quite possibly the biggest model I’ve ever painted, with only Kragnos and some older Warmachine/Hordes models coming close (I should photograph and post them, someday). It’s really an order of magnitude more effort to get one of these big models done than it is to paint even quite large units of infantry. It’s just a completely different kind of project that I’ve never really given myself practice at - thus the theme for this year, I suppose.
After the last two marathon painting sessions, my eyes feel like something took a dump in them. Not great. I’m really feeling my age these days.
Still, I regret nothing. I don’t have time for regrets, I have a Shadowsword to start on. At this rate, I’ll finish three more centrepiece models before the year is out!
One off the pile, and some bonus points for meeting a goal.
BATG Score: -7
3 Likes
I went out to the local game store yesterday and got a few games of 40k in; my second through fourth games of 40k 10th edition.
These were small 500 point matches using Play On Tabletop’s Coliseum format.
I got trounced, but I had fun. I learned that Starship Troopers is a documentary.
While I was there, I figured I should give myself a little treat, and picked up a Vindicare Assassin tha I can run in 40k or Heresy.
One little treat on the pile.
BATG Score: -6
2 Likes
