Iron on the inside Iron on the outside also

[WarriorFish]

They look good, I think it's worth doing at least some details as it helps a lot. You can always return to add a bit more later they're more than ready for the table top :)

[Arkaniss]

Last night went well and I have a lot of the base work done on the next 5:

I kept the originals nearby to ensure I changed up the paints used to keep them looking more distinct. The only question is if I can manage this across all 4 sets

[WarriorFish]

It works well, maybe you could experiment if you run out of ideas and add a bit of patterning or something? Cultists especially come together in number which is fitting :)

[Dr_Ruminahui]

One thing that I did with my last group of cultists (as I found my first few to be too uniform) is to chose 1 or 2 similar colours (in my case light and dark purple), 1 of which would be somewhere on the model (so that every model would have 1 of the 2 colours, helping tie them together).

 

I then set a number of pots of paint to the sides (4-6) for the cloth and another set for the leather.  I then randomly determined for each model (with a D6) which colour to use for their shirt, their pants, and then for all their belts and boots (I did all these leather parts in one colour on any given model).

 

Then again, I like rolling dice to determine things that I want to be random... I have done so previously for skin tones on my IG and daemonettes - so this may just be my own particular neurosis.  :)

[Arkaniss]

Heh! Adding dice rolling to painting is not something I've heard of before! It's like adding more hobbying to your hobby :tu:

 

Yes I think that's a sound idea, and one I'm leaning towards. I ended up using red on this current batch of Cultists despite initially planning on varying the colours. I think I'll keep red as a main theme and add other colours to spice things up

[Arkaniss]

Batch 2 is complete!

Current Cultists progress is 50% - the pose on the right looks similar but they are different colours on the body... will have to ensure I mix them up more in future to prevent them looking too close from a distance. Still, should get lost in the full squad of 20 and it's nice to see a squad starting to appear from my efforts

Time is starting to creep up on me so I will try and do the last 10 in one go... one final push then I can move onto something else which will be nice. Painting the same poses over and over is a little dull!

[WarriorFish]

It's always worth it in the end, they're coming together better with each model added then you'll be able to move on to something different and more exciting :tu:

[Arkaniss]

For all my grumbling about how boring it is to paint the same model over and over... it does seem like I've got into a productive routine

These 10 have flown by. I have a few more things to do but there is light at the end of the Cultist tunnel

[WarriorFish]

Once you get used to models it helps, I guess it helps that much more when they're exactly the same :P Plus the sooner you finish the sooner you can work on something else ;)

[Arkaniss]

Yes these 10 took about the same amount of time as the previous batches of 5 I think. Still, doesn't matter as they're all done now

There will be some snow touch ups to do as usual (annoying yellowing no matter what I try) but these are certainly ready to game with. Here is the final picture, I think I did a decent job of changing up their schemes so they all look a little different while keeping to a theme. There are a couple of wildcard blues in there where I painted myself into a corner and needed a new colour to keep the variation

Now onto something different!

[WarriorFish]

Nice, that was quick they come together well. In number especially the differences come out so they're not obviously the same without a closer look :) Are you back on to some Marines now?

[Arkaniss]

Not quite back to Marines I've started on my Contemptor! Internet was out so I couldn't work, so hobby it was

I've magnetised both arms and he's ready for spray painting. I'll glue him together and to the base once that is done.

[WarriorFish]

Looks like you're on a roll! Magnetised too, you should lose the Internet more often The Contemptors are great models with the details and options, good fun to paint too and while not cheap to deploy in a list they're worth the price. Plus they're Dreadnoughts so what's not to like?

 

If you're sticking to the Heresy theme normal Dreadnoughts work fine as Helbrutes. I've been using Venerables to fit my theme but the normal Dread or perhaps Ironclad should fit IW too They mostly have the weapon options you want too, depends what role you need (mine generally fill the AT gap my forces have, so it works nicely for my CSM).

[Arkaniss]

Yes I've pondered on the 'Hellbrute question' as I'm not going to get any of the official models. Ye olde boxnaughts sound like the best option!

The Contemptor is coming along. They really are lovely models (if a bit of a fiddle to assemble) so I'm definitely getting another one day. No rush though as I had my IW stuff for a long time before I started actually working on them Gonna try and get all of them done before I treat myself to any new models Anyway here it is so far, it is nice to work on a single model and I can see him being done soon if I keep this pace up.

[WarriorFish]

They have good weapon options too, so you could have them server as long ranged support with lascannons and missile launcher or take a DCCW for some punch :) Contemptor is coming along nicely and quickly too looks like you might be done soon :tu: It would be good to finish all your current models before getting new ones, but that's always easier said than done :lol:

[Arkaniss]

Contemptor is done Just noticed I have to do the second coat on the sides of the base but I'm not redoing the pictures now

I have some house stuff to do so a slight pause but I'll be back on my IW soon as I'm really enjoying them so far. Mostly how quick they are to do

[WarriorFish]

The wonders of the main colour being a primer colour? Now you've got into the scheme is does seem nice and quick which is great, the snow looks nice and thick. For larger bases it's worth thinking about some additions to help break them up, skulls and other battlefield debris could work. I've experimented with melted snow but I've found it is more of an "accent" to the snow.

 

What's next?

[Xenith]

Everything's looking great - I did similar to the Dr with my cultists - I picked 3-4 fixed colours to have on the models, then varied what parts were what colours. I gave them all blue trousers for some kind of uniformity, then I think I had yellow, bone/beige, leather and black as the variant colours, with a spot of red as a spot colour. They're a bit brighter than your usual cultists, they kind of came out like old school cawdor gangers, but they're supposed to have a Tzeentch influence, so all good. 

[Arkaniss]

Cheers! Yes I did think about needing something to add to the larger bases when doing the snow. First large base I've done and it just didn't occur to me beforehand about what I'm going to do to spice them up a bit. Will have to think about it.

 

Thanks Xenith, I popped over to peek at your thread and I like your cultists! Very bright and eclectic which as you say is fitting :tu: I was initially just gonna make it up as I went to churn out the cultists and try not to care about how they looked... but in the end I put more effort in and I'm happy I did. A little of planning goes a long way!

 

As for what's next, I do have a Dark Apostle ready for painting and a Techmarine/Warpsmith ready for spray painting. I will have a small break though as I've been hobbying pretty much every day for a while with these and I think I need a bit of R&R

[Arkaniss]

So I had a small break (a whole day ) but then couldn't resist getting back to my Iron Warriors. I've had a productive few days and got carried away...

Very pleased with my Dark Apostle and how he's turning out. Quite glad I decided not to mod him into a Chaos Lord now I think he looks great with his Crozius and a Bolt Pistol.

The Predator was something I started work on and then, well, just kept going Before I knew it I was making amazing progress and I thought I better take a photo to document it! My Warpsmith is also coming along since I took these photos so he'll probably be finished by the time I get round to uploading something I'm on track to being done in time which is awesome as I was concerned for a while I wasn't going to get everything done :tu:

[WarriorFish]

The Apostle should do well leading the Cultists and with his prayers too, this is excellent progress :) He's a great model too but I am biased towards MkIV :P Looks like your scheme goes well on to vehicles too, it'll be a great start to looking at some transfers too :tu:

[Arkaniss]

Hopefully, yeah. I've not used a Chaplain (or indeed played much) since the 'new' prayers were introduced so it will be fun to try them out. He's done now, as well as this being the first appearance of the Warpsmith I've been working on

I might be getting a different head for the Warpsmith, we'll see so it's held on with blu-tak. That said I painted up the head as a backup and it went very well and I kinda like it now

Bonus picture - not done the skull yet on the Warpsmith. Was thinking about the split white/black of the Mechanicum for 30k style but then that wouldn't work with 40k? Maybe I'll take the easy option and do it gold. Next is to finish the Predator then touch up all the snow - almost there!

[WarriorFish]

Nice work! The Techmarine/Warpsmith looks good, always like them and he'll be a fitting addition to Iron Warriors :) I think you have the scheme down now with the colours and hazard stripes, so I'm looking forward to seeing that translate to a tank :tu:

[Arkaniss]

Cheers! I have another Techmarine model which I aim to kitbash into a Warsmith/Lord at some point. Yes I think I'm fairly comfortable with my scheme and the hazard stripes now I didn't want to go overboard with the Predator but I can see now it could handle larger areas being hazard striped so I will do more with the next vehicle. This Predator is done though

When painting the Predator the question of what to paint the tracks was always in the back of my mind. Normally they're Leadbelcher and washed... however considering the rest of the vehicle is Leadbelcher that wasn't going to work. I really should have thought of using the mud earlier it's very obvious now

Army shot to come later once I've patched up all the snow

[WarriorFish]

It looks great, the stripes are well placed but with options for next time. I've not been brave enough to do too much mud effects but this works well and helps tie the tank in to the basing scheme. I think it'll be worth returning to weathering later, like on the sides of the tank to really make it pop, plus extra weathered IW is fitting :)