Brother Zeal

I'm no pro, but I shall humbly offer up the old dog biscuit that my advice equates to! If you don't already do so, I'd recommended using a painting handle. A comfortable, relaxed grip on something with an ergonomic shape will ease the tension in your hand and wrist, granting you greater dexterity and control over objects in your hand. Aside from professionally designed handles by GW and other hobby manufacturers, there's all sorts of ways you can create your own handle at home. No doubt some of our cunning brethren here can share some wisdom involving blu tack or adhesive tape. In a similar vein, the shape and thickness of your brush handle is also something to consider - brushes with handles that are excessively thick or drastically thin will put a lot of strain on your fingers while you paint. It's always worth trying brushes from different manufacturers when you get the chance, as you might find the slightest difference in design that translates to greater comfort and control. And finally, a skill that has taken me years to develop - don't overthink! Sometimes when you're so deep in the zone and full to the brim with determination and intent, the intensity of your focus can cause the very errors you are trying so hard to avoid. Calm breathing, a relaxed posture and a good point on your brush = victory!

I jumped aboard the Heresy Train well after the dust settled on Isstvan (about '08 or '09, I think) and I've read quite a few of the books, but nowhere near all of them. By supplementing those I have read with nuggets of lore gathered from wandering the Warhammer warrens of the YouTube rabbit hole, my knowledge about the events of the Heresy is thus functional but far from encyclopedic. If you're interested in following the "main" path of the Heresy, I'd suggest the following reading order: First Heretic Horus Rising False Gods Galaxy in Flames Flight of the Eisenstein Vengeful Spirit Wolfsbane Master of Mankind Solar War and the other Siege novels I'm sure our more lore/BL savvy brethren here on the B&C can supplement the list with any relevant novels I've overlooked, as well as the various short stories that tie in to the suggested storyline. I know there's a couple that are basically mini prologues/sequels to the books above. I place First Heretic at the beginning of the reading order because... well, the title isn't subtle. Horus Rising is an excellent and subversive introduction to the setting of the 31st Millennium, but Horus himself wasn't the first domino to fall. Neither Horus nor the XVI Legion feature much in Master of Mankind, but I'd highly recommended reading it before properly starting the Siege books as it really sets the tone for what's to come, both in terms of the books and for the setting in general. After all that, you can dip in and out wherever you feel inclined or interested. Want to know how Jaghatai, Shiban and the other White Scars found their place among Terra's defenders? Check out Scars and Path of Heaven. Surely the valiant and unyielding Ultramarines will foil Horus' plans? Nope - Know No Fear, Betrayer, Unremembered Empire and Pharos cover the disasters that kept them on the sidelines for most of the decade-long war. Did Magnus really do anything wrong? Look at the situation from both sides in A Thousand Sons and Prospero Burns, and decide the truth for yourself... Hope this helps! As I said, I'm sure our fellows can provide additional guidance to get you from A-Z without breaking the bank.

It’s been well over a year since I last updated this wee log - I wish I could say I’d made significant progress with this project, but that would be a lie. I planned to post an update once I’d completed everything from the Sisters starter box, but that would mean a few more months of radio silence. Practical - smaller updates, more regularly, improve motivation! After targeting every conceivable detail, the first squad of Battle Sisters is finally complete: I decided to go with bare heads in the end, partially to give the army a more human theme than my fully-helmed Space Marine forces, but also to challenge myself to improve my ability to paint faces. Next up is a quartet of characters who will be accompanying the completed army: As a testament to my remarkable observation skills, I’ve only just now realised that skull on Cherubael’s base hasn’t been painted. That’ll be getting a lick of paint tonight! One of the many additions to this army is a kitbashed Imagifier, who is still very much a WIP. I added some of the new Tesseract Glow to my witch’s brew of a DIY contrast paint, and I can’t decide if I like the result or not. It certainly made the green armour more vibrant, but at the cost of removing the metallic sheen all of her Sisters have: On the subject of experimentation, I tried an alternative colour scheme for a small squad/kill team that may end up becoming a separate project: The scheme is much darker than the main Sisters force, so it was an interesting study in using a more muted palette. As much as I like the result it was very time-consuming, but we could just chalk that up to my inexperience in painting purple. This Sister will eventually get her own wee squad for use in either Kill Team or as a retinue dedicated to following one of my many Inquisitors around. And last but not least, Brother Kool Aid now looks much more zealous: He’s not cosplaying as Abaddon, his arms are just being painted separately! He’ll be joined soon by some other Black Templars as I continue kitbashing. As always, I’d appreciate any advice or feedback on how to improve my work, and hopefully I’ll have more stuff to post over the next few weeks.

It certainly seems like you have a clear vision of what you hope to achieve, which is always the best way to start a project. Here’s hoping you end up exceeding your expectations! GW has quite a few silver paints on the go, so there should be enough variation to get the sort of effect you’re looking for. As AlexAbroad suggested, Leadbelcher with a wash of Nuln Oil is a quick way of getting a dull and worn metal look on a model. Iron Hands Steel washed with Basilicanum Grey produces a similar effect, and has become my preferred method of basecoating bolters and other simple metal objects. A dry brush of Leadbelcher or IH Steel over Warplock Bronze is another simple way to get that sort of old battered metal effect, and is a good method if you’re not keen on washes or weathering. If the Sister’s rank is denoted by the sheen of her armour, using the highlight of a lower level as the base colour for the next tier might help tie the varied degrees of silver together. I’d personally try something like: First Tier Sister = Leadbelcher base, Ironbreaker highlight Second Tier Sister = Ironbreaker base, Runefang Steel highlight Top Tier Sister = Runefang Steel base, Stormhost Silver highlight Epic Tier Sister = Grey Knights Steel base, Stormhost Silver highlight Others may have greater experience with non-Citadel paints that might do the trick, and I’m no expert at painting so I’m sure there’s better ways to achieve the effect you want. When you do decide to put paint to plastic, let us see how you get on!

Flew through this one in about 18 hours, it was a great read. The big reveal at the end was definitely a surprise, especially given that “he” was actually one of the people my mates and I had joked “hey, wouldn’t it be funny if it was [REDACTED]”. Welp, we’re not laughing now! Now we’re scratching our heads wondering exactly what “his” endgame is. Stuff I liked: Stuff I didn’t quite enjoy: Just got Pariah from Audible, so I’m looking forward to going through that again. My main question now is... Pandaemonium when??

Cheers Bjorn! To be honest, I'm undecided on that front. I reckon there's just enough space in front of the Emperor's left foot for me to add some debris/shell casings/other battlefield debris, and the foam bricks of the wall will be dead easy to carve some damage into. On the other hand, I quite like the neutrality of the clean base as it gives the Emperor context without drawing the eye away from him. If you were in my place, which option would you lean towards? I wonder then if it might be worth trying to paint the banister a dull bronze colour like the partial aquila wing below it, if you feel that such low-key hues don't clash or overshadow the brighter gold behind them. IRL the banister definitely looks more like wood (which it technically is, beneath the paint) so unless I can find a more convincing sandstone recipe this afternoon, I'll change it to a more neutral brass effect.

After two solid months of procrastination, rampant Hobby Butterfly Syndrome, loss of hobby mojo, recovery of said mojo, followed by some more procrastination... I return! Cheers, brothers! With super glue, a straightened paper clip, and enough grumbled curses to make even a Dwarf Trollslayer raise an eyebrow! To avoid making a mess of the intended surface or ruining any of the etched brass detail, it's best to put a tiny wee bit of glue onto something with a fine point (paper clip, tooth pick, hell I've even used Imperial Guard bayonets on occasion!) and applying it carefully to the back of the brass before pressing it into place. Perhaps not the best way to go about it, but for me it worked... eventually. So, here's the Big E's base two months later: Many thanks to Noigrim for inspiring me to attempt some green marble detailing on the steps. The areas that are now green marble were previously the same dusty off-white as the floor tiles and honestly looked boring as hell. After I'd painted the marble, I decided to give those panels a little bit more visual interest and added the brass etch aquilas. As I've found while working on my Sororitas army, jade and gold go quite well together. My main issue now is the banister(?) sections of the wall. I tried to go for a sandstone effect to contrast with the white stone but it looks more like wood, which I'm not sure is entirely fitting. I had considered painting them brass or gold, but given the Emperor's position I felt that metallic colours would overlap and distract from the model itself... Any advice as to how I can improve this part of the base would be very welcome!

From the depths of the warp, I RETURN! I started this project over a year ago now, and in all that time it's lurked on the corner of my desk, glaring indignantly up at me every time I sat down, palpably seething each time I picked up a different model. Time to honour our Emperor by completing this undertaking! I wasn't entirely happy with the little wall running along the steps, so I snapped it off and (literally) built another: I've avoided putting on any additional details beyond the little bowl of candles, so as not to distract the eye from the Emperor himself. Less is more, as they say. What are your thoughts? Should I continue with this base, or has anyone got any suggestions that might look better? Funny you should say that - when I first started basing my Custodes army on steps, I tried to paint the bases as though they were made of green marble. Turns out my painting skills just weren't up to the task, and what should have been a dignified jade marble instead came out like a hastily-sprayed camo pattern. It might have been acceptable on the hull of a Catachan tank, but not on the floor of the Imperial Palace! Aye, whenever I field the Mk1 Emperor, it's as a counts-as-Guilliman. Until that far-off day when FW release an Emperor model and some rules to go with it, of course... I really liked this idea, but couldn't find a way to fit a traitor beneath the Emperor's boot now that the angle of his leg has been altered. That is until I re-discovered the partially painted base of a long-forgotten Primach project: But I couldn't possibly rob good ol' Vulkan of his smash victims, could I?

Happy new year all! Just a quick update today. Finished the body of Celestine: For some reason her eyes haven't photographed well; there's more contrast between the white pupils and the blue glow around them. I'll need to add a bit more Ceramite White to them when I highlight the base. Next steps: drybrush the base, hit it with contrast paint, highlight, then onto the wings!

Thank you! It looks a bit naff when it's the only colour on the model (see sister centre-right below) but as soon as another colour is added it pops and looks much better (see sister centre). Aye, it's from one of Anvil Industry's clever wee upgrade kits for their Regiments range. I had to clip and cut the original shoulder joint to make it fit, but fortunately the sister's pauldron hides the joint itself so it doesn't look like a botch job. Now for an update! My brothers were very considerate this Christmas: So between working away on the Battle Sisters squads and tinkering with the base of my ongoing Emperor MkII, I started work on the Saint. Aside from magnetizing the wings, the only alteration I've made to the body of this model is the sword: I'll likely be running both Celestine and the Emperor (counts as Guilliman) in the same army when facing certain opponents, so I figure two blades of divine heretic-frying flames are better than one! The biggest change to the model is the base itself. I wasn't a fan of the excessively long purity seals keeping the Saint aloft, so I made a custom base for her: I deliberately angled the model to make it look as though she is swooping down towards an enemy, rather than have her angled as though she is gliding or rising upwards as the original pose suggests. Now, quick update on the Black Templar front. I had planned to make a Vanguard detachment of three Terminator squads to accompany the sisters, but I found an unassembled Venerable Dreadnought in one of my drawers and decided that he will join the crusade. I know that the Bolter & Chainsword hosts a number of admirably zealous BT players, so any suggestions you lads can offer as to making this dude suitably crusade-worthy would be much appreciated!

Cheers! Even in the grim darkness of the far future, one must be sufficiently armed to deal with vicious beasts, regardless of size or supposed innocence. The book and the staff were originally reserved for a scratch-built Confessor model, but it turns out I have no sculpting skills whatsoever, so said bits have languished unused in the bits drawer for quite some time. Even if I don't use them for the Canoness, I'm sure they'll find a place somewhere in this army! Thank you! I had considered signing up for the Facing the Unknown II event, but with my hobby butterfly syndrome being as rampant as it is at the moment I doubt I'd fulfill my oath. If I'm ever starting a new army, I always like to take it slow, working out what method of assembling/painting/gaming suits me best. I prefer to run my armies in small squads, so the 10 Battle Sisters that came in the box are being divided into two squads of five: Not a huge update, but I think it's a decent start to the army. I'll do a wee bit more work on the second Sister Superior to make her seem more commanding, currently she just looks a bit... meh. Any suggestions?

Evening all, Over the last few months I've been planning to build an army consisting primarily of Adepta Sororitas with an allied detatchment of Black Templars, and at the weekend I was lucky enough to get hold of one of the new Sisters of Battle box sets, so said plan is now very much on the table. Or hobby desk, to be more accurate. I initially painted up this model as a character for my homebrew INQ28 project, however I really enjoyed painting it and plan to paint up the rest of the girls in the same scheme. I had intended for this model to be the Canoness for my Sisters force, however after finally holding the sprues in my own hands and spending a lot of time going through the new Codex, I've decided that this lass will instead serve as the Sister Superior for the squad of Celestians that I'll inevitably pick up when their kit is released. Now I'm not a fan of the Canoness model in the box set, so I left her on her sprue and turned my attention instead to the Repentia Superior model: I quite like how this turned out, however I've experimented with a few alternative loadouts and would appreciate any suggestions as to which would be most fitting look for a Canoness: No Black Templars in this debut post, but I'm working away on an Emperor's Champion model that will set the standard for the rest of his detatchment. I'll have pics up once I figure out which style of black armour would suit him best... As always, I welcome any feedback for improvement!