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Thank you so much for spending time to reply to my post. You've helped me out more than you know. I've recently been prescribed medications for my anxiety and panic, but they say it will be weeks before I notice a real difference. I have a terrible time making decisions, so at some point after I've assembled these models and grabbed some Sisters, I'll come ask again for help trying to build a cohesive force.

Cloak and Swagger - nearly there!

First Squad 99% done, along with the Rhino. Mixed armour turned out pretty well. All builds are unique, all paintjobs are unique, even if at first glance they don't look it - which is of course, the trick. I'm just waiting for the Red Corsair upgrades and transfer sheets. The bases are cork, painted with some P3 Mouldy Ochre and washed over with Seraphim Sepia (the old pot of 24ml, which was nearly full - but went AoT, the first time ever that something like that happened - and now I reckon I've got about a 1/5th left. Very, very annoying. Brass is P3 Molten Bronze (a colour I've loved since I first got it), steel is P3 Pig Iron, leather is P3 Battlefield Brown, highlighted with P3 Bootstrap Leather. I've also been experimenting with some pigments I have, trying to dust the Champ's feet, but it didn't quite take, so I'll have to go and watch some more videos on that to try and get it right. I've done a lot of kitbashing, cutting, gluing, swearing, and all manner of invocation to try and get these to go together. First time working with the kits was a little daunting, but I discovered that even though a lot of the kits have the same pose, they do NOT want to play together at all, and about 40% of the parts are interchangeable - or 100% with a model saw.... The scratch-built bandoliers came out great. Better than I hoped. There's one chap in here with a Mk VI leg, a Mk II leg, Mk III arms, a Mk V torso, a Mk VII head, and a Mk IV backpack. It's a bit of a melting pot. With the CSM bits on as well, they just seem to work. I wouldn't say I had fun painting them - oh Lord, no, but I did enjoy some of it as I dusted off old, rusty and weatherworn skills again. I can see a few bits that I might change colour of, but I tried to favour the red more than black, and get the balance right. I think they look lovely, and I am really pleased with how some of the models came out, even with my doubts over them. My painting is still awful, and very rough. I'm what you might call a canvas painter, as in I daub the paint on, and as long as it's all on the right bits, it works for me. The CSM trim on some of the models was not hard when I allowed compromises. I didn't highlight in between all the trim and I don't care to. Black, steel, Nuln Oil, bam, done. It was very simple - although I get the complaints about it taking ages, there was a strange satisfaction to it. I did a lot of glazing more by experiment and dodgy thinning than by intent, but hey, fourteen thin coats, right? As you can see, I'm not a great photographer, and any value in these pics is solely down to the camera on my phone. And here's the ride fully painted now. Really happy with this. The distinctive blue/green workshop uses isn't in my arsenal, but I've got something just as punky - oh yeah: CDA Hawk Turquoise with Drakenhof Nightshade (yes the big old 24ml one - I had to catch 'em all!) with P3 Arcane blue as the final highlight. Then everything was hit with Colour Forge Varnish. I have to say, I like the TTC paints, they have good pigment and thin well enough. Their dropper lids are small and fairly tight, so squeezing out a lot of paint is not easy unless you've got Votann Mann Hannds. An array of files did the damage on the Rhino, and were good for carving up the cork surface on the dudes. Bought about six roofs worth of it about ten years back, so might as well get it used. Well, that's your lot so far. Three (ish) weeks? Not bad for ten little men. Just another 20+ to go!

I Sea what you did there..... Looks like you are off to a good start and it has a very nice harbour feel to it.

New (old!) Rhino. Once was Crimson Fists, for 5th Ed, now Red Corsairs for my pleasure. (WiP)

Sending you internet support tokens @Lathe Biosas, what a great idea for an army. I can't help on colour choices but @W.A.Rorie seems to have covered it! I hope you can enjoy the project and it isn't overtaken by your anxiety. Would it help to sketch out the colour schemes? I quite often attempt to sketch out a mini and then block in colours to get an impression of what it might look like and how adjoining panels interact. It can be useful if you aren't simply copying a Space Marine from a codex. I'm sure this will be a fantastic looking army, very impressive as a fully painted force - especially with a Knight!

1st- Mental health is no joke. I used to put others first, be everyone's savior/ caretaker or keep quite about issues i was having never realized what it was doing to my body. The impact of that is horrible for your overall health. My wife has been getting me to talk to her about things, which is a struggle in its own, but I am getting a little better. I truly hope it is getting better for you. 2nd- I am not a competitive player. I care more about having fun and hanging out with my friends. I hate playing people get mad cause a dice rolled bad for them but they are still winning by a lot. I rather do anything else then be playing that game. So I say build what you want they are your toy soldiers and have fun with them. As an example: Did I need a Captain Sargotta from the Masters of Maelstrom box? No. Do I play Chaos.? No. Is she going to make an awesome Strike Cruiser Captain for my Howling Griffon's? Yes. On of other Projects is switching out Thunder Hammers for Swords one on my Terminator Assault squad just to make them more unique. Rules wise they are just a Terminator Assault squad with Thunder Hammer and Storm Shields. So follow your dream of building YOUR Army. Ignore the naysayers. 3rd- Assassins, Sisters of Silence, and Ordo Xenos Inquisitor all would be a great fit. My suggestion as this is Webway Strike Force the Inquisitor would have to be Puritan because of the Custodes and Sisters of Silence, so no xenos tech. ( I have not read the Master of Mankind so I do not knwo if any of the Imperials used xenos tech). A But this is also YOUR army so if you want xenos tech go for it. A Knight- I think a Knight would be a great addition as it could bring heavy guns and draw fire as your going to be outnumbered constantly as it is. Sisters of Silence- Bolters or Flamers variants. small squads i would not go more than 3 squads Ordo Xenos Inquisitor another way to get some heavy weapons and bodies with some Imperial Agents Navigator just for the psyker ability. 4th- Colors- If I was doing the force Custodes- Gold Armor, red Cloth/ Plumes Sisters of Silence- Black Armor, Red Cloth/ Plumes Inquisition- Red Cloth, black and gold accents Knight- White, silver, purple

And the old meets the new (kinda, the claw is a mock up. The transfers are not yet in my possession).

Well, well, well... Looks like it's Raid O'Clock!

That’s an excellent sale to find! I don’t use Vallejo but know several people who have used those colors for Custodes so you should find them useful. Copper is the only one I’ve heard friends mention that wasn’t on your list…and they mostly mixed it with the other colors to tweak color tones.

That's a great deal! Looks quite suitable for Custodes with all the gold and bronze you've got. Vallejo's older metallics might be a bit thick, so you could consider thinning them with medium/testing them out to see if you like them, but they'll do the job.

I found the inspiration from a Youtube hobby channel. a.k.a. I stole it too.

Really enjoy your Combat Patrol reports, please keep them coming. I've got the Vardenghast CP to paint and I've nearly finished Mordekai's Judgement. I've got the old Ork (Deffkoptas and Dread) CP ready to go but at my work rate I'll be ready for my first game of 10th a month after 11th is released.

Skulls For the Throne of Khorne! Melee monster....Shooting is for the weak, Can't wait to see what you have in store!

Cloak and Swagger (WiP - RC Raider Meltagunner).

Thank you. I do have a few Emperor's Children models kicking around, including the mighty DOOMRIDER! I really should strip that down and paint it properly.

Very cool! I like the bronze/gold exhausts.

Decided that since my Steeljacks tend to kill the most things it would be funny to have their weapons be pink. Nothing funnier than having your unit get beat by a robot wielding a pink power sword.

The easiest way is to go free hand. This is a colour test so it could be as abstract as you like - a Custodes helmet is a triangle sitting on top of a circle for a face which is on top of a rectangle for the chest, etc Or you could do a loose sketch of an area where colours interact. Here are my Kroot test heads What I will do is create a template image - pencil overdrawn in black pen - that I can then trace on to paper multiple times. For a more complex reference image to use as a template you could try tracing. For example, find a reference image in the build instructions and put it against a window with your paper over the top. Hopefully there will be enough light for you to trace what you need. You can even trace off a screen but that brings risks so I don't recommend it. Unfortunately, my more complex examples are in my desk at work and I won't be back there for a week. I say just go for it and have a bit of fun! Oh, and there was a recent WarCom article with alternative colour schemes and there might be some in the Codex too. There might be scans of old Codex on the internet too. Edit: found more template examples

</waves old skool Land Raider Crusader parts about>

It fits. But it may not always fit, depending on missions and lay out proposals to be disclosed in the near future..,

Indeed, even on 2 templates side by side it looks tricky. Some ruins for sector administratum are challenging too: what about the cathedral for example?…

Very nice indeed! I think you've got the mix of red to black (to gold) just right in the squad pic, but obviously with their freeform scheme there is the opportunity to have full red, or mostly black (or I guess even a mostly gold for a particularly blinged out pirate? ) I'm looking forward to seeing them with their RC pads and icons, will finish them off a treat!

That looks really cool! Good idea to do one section at a time to avoid burn out. Shaping up to be great! Look forwards to see more.

So this little guy happened kinda all at once. The light is kinda washing him out a bit, like I said, David Bailey, I am not. I just thought sometimes, Red Corsairs should be red, no? He's much darker IRL.

WOW

Great Deal! @BadgersinHills is right they may be the older line so a thinner maybe in order. Great color options too.

Nice. 329 is such a beautiful tank!

This is incredible work! Looking forward to seeing more

What a pleasure to read. Thank you for sharing!

Looks great. Don't envy you the U removal. I never pictured the howling griffons looking so space wolvesy but who am I to tell you how your guys should look?

Neat! Yep that's definitely a lot of U to remove. Good luck! End result will be very cool.

Nice battle report!

Amazing board! Can not wait for the next installment!

Where is this head is from? Its a really cool head and I might want to steal it for a project

You put a lot of effort into the bases, do you have a custom piece of terrain to show them in display? Great paint job!

Very intense and lots of emotion.

Anytime!

Excellent stuff.

Photo Dump of substantially completed wolves.

Thank you. I am enjoying the rewrite. I think my writing has matured cosiderably since I started last year. I value your support, mate!.

Very Nice!

My thanks for taking the time! And why not, something to enjoy as a guilty pleasure, perhaps. I do appreciate your other comments as well, and hope that your creativity is stirred back from its slumber! As for the future of the old Astral Claws, I have a plan for a couple if the rhinos, maybe a splash of red with the black hand on a door or two.

An entertaining read. Thank you. :)

Much obliged! We're all a little roguish deep down...

I enjoyed your writing, looking forward to seeing more. I will say this is making me want to paint my firstborn collection as Astral Claws..

One of the 2 land raider kits I wanted so bad…the other was the Mk IIb which is in my Grey Knights Night world camo, but there has to be more than the doors Quartered….like a big crux terminatus on top…. The Excelsior will be the quartered scheme. Too ornate not too. The price for the kit was crazy. I was expecting it to be more and it was a little more than buying a land raider by itself. Luckily they were able to ship it to me in the states. And I forgot another Land Raider…Since I am playing an Ultramarine Successor….Terminus Ultra. Probably based on a spartan kit since it is now twin linked and Tri-Barrel

Excited to see more!

Another Reaver joins the ranks. Based on the GW guy throwing the smoke bomb. My take:

As AC-4B's bad luck continued in the melee against the mutants guarding the first generator, Ghanz managed to (finally!) close the gap and take out some of the mutant scum with his axe, which meant the fight turned decisively in our favor. So reactivating the first generator was merely a question of figuring out the technical stuff, which A-C4B proved surprisingly adept at. So on our left front things were looking up. But on the right, more and more mutants streamed into the big chamber and managed to both wound and pin down Stalker under heavy fire, while a mutant champion approached him with malicious intent. Calamity Joe still had a good firing spot and had managed to take down quite a few mutants, as well as sending his faithful Phelynx out to finish off some of the wounded, but both time and numbers were weighed against them, so they desperately needed for their team mate's to "pull their grokking finger out, already!" and join the main fight... At this point, we were very much at risk of getting bogged and/or taken down and so we naturally forgot to take pictures. Oh well. Luckily, we did win as we not only managed to reactivate both generators, but also racked up quite an impressive kill count. It was probably best not to stick around and wait for the real leader of the strange sect to show up, so we high-tailed it home and collected our well-earned rewards! As fate would have it A-C4B (or "Snake" as he generally introduces himself when entering the local establishments to look for clues) was captured by the self-same mutants (which was quite a coincidence, as it was totally random, but it did fit nicely into the emerging story), while gathering information in the local drinking holes, so the next mission was for the team to head to another set of tunnels and rescue him. This turned out rather well, even though the odds seemed unfavourable, as Stalker's webgun combined with a well-planned route through the tunnels meant that the team managed not to alert any sentries without also killing them off before the alarm could be raised. I'd not completely planned out the rules for the rescue scenario, so it was a bit of a surprise to roll the random event meaning we had to play it. But the scenario actually played quite smoothly, although halfway through the game I thought of a much simpler/better way to handle sentry patrolling on zone mortalis boards - but now we know that for next time "someone" gets in trouble because he can't hold his liquor *cough cough* a picture of yours truly moving aaaaallll the sentries, while his poor character is languishing in a cell (although with only a slight hangover and several interesting clues to share with the team, once they bloody get here...)