My armies as I prepare for 10th AKA my embarrassing backlog

[Otto van Gerrig]

This is my first proper thread since joining this forum. I am finally committed to playing 40k tabletop. So I spent the coin to buy models in preparation for 10th ED.

 

I'll run down my two prospective armies:

 

| Black Templars |

 

Ever since I first heard about 40k, the Black Templars have been one of my favorite chapters. I may have liked others more at one time or another. For example, before I settled on BT I intended on building a Raven Guard, Crimson Fists, or Iron Hands army. But I always felt myself drawn back to the Templars, so I decided on them (also my brother is building a Blood Angels army, who I was also considering building and I wanted something different).

 

Their aesthetic, their lore, the way they fight, everything about them screams a 40k that I adore. It represents something that other chapters don't provide me. Something distinctly older, something gothic, something unique. It helps my favorite Primarch is Rogal Dorn as well, the IF and their successors just appeal to me.

 

I've bought most of these boxes fairly recently, and it's the army I intend to be my first to play a game of 10th ED when it releases. I also have a Predator kit on the way. I debated on getting that or a Rhino, but opted for the tank because I love it so much.

 

Next

 

| Word Bearers |

 

This prospective army is much, much smaller right now. Just 5 CSM from a box of 10 I split with my brother and a box of Raptors. And this is probably where it will stay for now. 

 

I originally intended to build a Iron Warriors army, but settled on the WB after much thought. 

 

I am a loyalist first and foremost. But the Word Bearers have always been an interesting warband to me, and Lorgar an interesting character. Additionally, I really like their color scheme. This army will be painted, but priority is the BT.

 

///

 

I will update this thread as I make progress, but it will probably be very infrequent. All tips and criticism welcome, I am extremely novice tabletop player, builder, and painter. I want to get better. 

[Grotsmasha]

Looking forward to seeing these progress

[Otto van Gerrig]

5 hours ago, Grotsmasha said:

Looking forward to seeing these progress

Thank you. I'll probably build and paint the tactical squad first. Will try to do that sometime this week. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Good luck on the new army  

 

It's been a while since I built mine (20 years ), but I seem to remember that the Predator kit is the Rhino kit plus a sprue, so you might actually be able make it fulfil both roles if you were careful (if you don't glue the turret ring in, you can drop the top doors in place, the circular hatches can just drop in, and if you don't glue the sponsons in you can put the side doors in their place [although that would likely need magnets or Blu-Tac to hold them in place]).

[Otto van Gerrig]

6 hours ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

Good luck on the new army  

 

It's been a while since I built mine (20 years ), but I seem to remember that the Predator kit is the Rhino kit plus a sprue, so you might actually be able make it fulfil both roles if you were careful (if you don't glue the turret ring in, you can drop the top doors in place, the circular hatches can just drop in, and if you don't glue the sponsons in you can put the side doors in their place [although that would likely need magnets or Blu-Tac to hold them in place]).

I've heard about that. I've definitely considered it, but I think I'll just buy the Razorback/Rhino kit eventually so I'll probably keep the Predator as is. I will definitely magnetize it and all my vehicles so I can use the different loadouts and variants. 

[ZeroWolf]

Good luck painting! You've picked some fun choices 

[Otto van Gerrig]

The Predator arrived much earlier than I anticipated, which I like. But it's not a priority at the moment, so it'll be shelved for a later date when I have most of my existing models built and painted.

 

///

 

I've also been debating with myself on my Chaos Marines: Do I want to do Word Bearers or Iron Warriors?

 

I said I decided on Word Bearers after thinking about it, but I'm still unsure. I like the Word Bearers a lot, but I like the Iron Warriors just as much I'd say. Their lore and ethos just interests me, not to mention their style. And among the traitor Primarchs, Perturabo is by far my favorite.

 

Also my brother says he's doing Night Lords now, so I'm considering giving him my Raptors in exchange for the rest of his CSM. I don't know, I'll give it more thought. 

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by Otto van Gerrig

[Firedrake Cordova]

It's good that your Predator arrived early.  I remember mine being a bit of a pain to assemble the barrels cleanly without a visible seam. It might be worth investing in some Milliput or Vallejo Plastic Putty to help hide up any joins.

 

On 5/22/2023 at 3:35 AM, Otto van Gerrig said:

Do I want to do Word Bearers or Iron Warriors?

Oh, it's not an easy decision. Both of them look great, and have an interesting background.  Normally, it's a case of "do you prefer the background/playstyle of one to the other?", "do you prefer the colour scheme of one to the other?", and "is one easier to paint than the other?". From what you've said, it largely a tie on the first two questions, so it seems to me that the question of painting is the decider? Have you thought about painting a test model from each Legion, and letting that inform you? Red can be a pain to paint, as it's historically had coverage issues (GW's Base range is supposed to be good in this respect, as is the new-formula Vallejo Game Colour). I suppose if all else fails, can you do a mixed army?

Edited May 23, 2023 by Firedrake Cordova

[Grotsmasha]

10 hours ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

remember mine being a bit of a pain to assemble the barrels cleanly without a visible seam. It might be worth investing in some Milliput or Vallejo Plastic Putty to help hide up any joins

 

A trick I've learned for things like this (and the split on marine bikes etc) and the trick is to apply just a little excess glue and then kinda smudge the pieces a little bit causing the glue/plastic to goop out of the join. Once it's fully set, like the next day, you go alone and clean it like a moldline, leaving a clean join.

[MithrilForge]

What they said ... 

Also Iron warriors !! who doesn't love doing nice metals and Hazard stripes (side note ,you can make iron warriors look really good without a great deal of effort, or i should say you can make them look great quicker ) 

With the prevalence of nice metallic paints Ammo by Mig, Vallejo true metal etc really nice paintjobs are quickly achieved! 

 

Good Luck whatever you choose !! 

[Otto van Gerrig]

On 5/23/2023 at 7:55 AM, Firedrake Cordova said:

It's good that your Predator arrived early.  I remember mine being a bit of a pain to assemble the barrels cleanly without a visible seam. It might be worth investing in some Milliput or Vallejo Plastic Putty to help hide up any joins.

 

Oh, it's not an easy decision. Both of them look great, and have an interesting background.  Normally, it's a case of "do you prefer the background/playstyle of one to the other?", "do you prefer the colour scheme of one to the other?", and "is one easier to paint than the other?". From what you've said, it largely a tie on the first two questions, so it seems to me that the question of painting is the decider? Have you thought about painting a test model from each Legion, and letting that inform you? Red can be a pain to paint, as it's historically had coverage issues (GW's Base range is supposed to be good in this respect, as is the new-formula Vallejo Game Colour). I suppose if all else fails, can you do a mixed army?

As always, I appreciate the advice. When I'm ready to assemble the Predator I'll look into it.

 

As I've said, I'm very much a lore and aesthetic guy. I want to paint and play the factions I think are cool. The difficulty of certain schemes is something I think I can overcome in most instances if I'm sufficiently inspired. 

 

I've actually gone ahead and tried my hand at test models:

 

These three old CSM are from a box I bought for I think $15 from a local comic book store I think around 2014-15. They sat primed but unassembled and unpainted in a box for perhaps eight years.

 

Not long ago I watched a speedpaint tutorial on YT on painting Word Bearers and I was inspired to give it a try, but didn't want to use one of my newer Marines until I was sure what I wanted. So, I used these instead. 

 

The leftmost is my first ever mini I've painted, so it's understandably horrid. Perhaps the sloppiest WB ever, but I think getting paint on a mini really helped get over the mental hurdles I had about painting. Honestly, the nuln wash I put on it really made it look better, at least in my eye. 

 

The middle is the next one I did, but with more care and attention. I did it in the same way, but slower with as steady a hand as I could. It's not great either, but I find it much more appealing to look at. 

 

The last one as you can see is still unpainted. I was originally going to make him a WB also, but now you've got me wanting to try to make him a Iron Warrior and see about their color scheme.

[Firedrake Cordova]

Ah, you sound like you have a similar outlook to me, then - I'm very much here for the background and models  

 

If that's the first model you've ever painted, then I'd say you're off to a good start.  You're right in that washes definitely help add definition, and Games Workshop's models are definitely designed to take washes well.  Devlan Mud - an old and very discontinued forerunner to Agrax Earthshade - used to be referred to as "liquid talent". 

 

What I will say is that a good part of miniature painting is patience, knowing how to thin the paint correctly, control the brush, and practice. When I painted my fist miniature (one of the old metal skeleton archers for fantasy), I was young and foolish, and tried to paint them like they were in the books (basecoat, shade, and highlight). Rather obviously, the end result did not match what young me thought it would, and I wasn't overly happy. At some point I realised that a model that was neatly base-coated looked better than a model that was messily highlighted (or unpainted), and that by carefully base-coating a lot of models, I was getting better (making fewer mistakes), and I could then go back and do the highlighting and shading to a better quality. There's a lot of helpful videos on YouTube these days, which cover everything from how to thin your paint and control your brush, through to Golden Demon standard works of art, so I'm sure you'll be off to an easier start than us oldies.  Just remember that everyone makes mistakes (even the likes of Juan Hidalgo and Zumikito), and these are generally edited out, because no-one wants to watch someone make a mistake and correct it. Oh, and take care of your brushes  

 

One final thing to bear in mind is that you can quite easily remove acrylic paint from plastic models - isopropyl alcohol works well (generally, a dip and scrub with a toothbrush is all that's needed, although sometimes it might need a soak), as does BioStrip 20 - so if you do mess up "that expensive mini", it's quite easily recoverable. Having said that, if you're still nervous, you can always buy some cheap minis off of e-Bay, strip them, and use them as guinea pigs.  

[Grotsmasha]

Looking like your off to a great start

 

Now, this is one of those things that seems counter-intuitive BUT, whenever I paint Chaos models with all that trim, I've found it easier to paint the trim first and then fill in the panels second. Because of the trim lip, I've found it much easier to not overspill onto the trim vs painting the trim and not overspilling onto the panels.

[Otto van Gerrig]

While I'm here and painting right now, I might as well post my painting station and all of it's scuffed glory. 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by Otto van Gerrig

[Otto van Gerrig]

Hello brothers. It's been a while since I posted here, so I decided I should. I'd like to say my lack of activity has been from being hard at work on my Crusade.

 

The good news is I have over 2700 points worth of Templars, which is nice. Including several units from the Leviathan box that aren't in the photos.

 

Bad news, is I've been disgustingly lazy. Nothing was ready for 10th edition as I got distracted by other stuff. And the truth is I got kinda immobilized by the sheer amount of plastic I have to build and paint (which of course didn't stop me from buying more and more like a dumbass).

 

I resolved at New Years to get everything done before the Summer. And to help me I bought my first airbrush. A cheap one off Amazon admittedly, but really I'm just using it for priming and basecoating, especially on vehicles so we'll see how it goes.

[Firedrake Cordova]

That airbrush should help a lot with getting the models primed and base-coated  

 

Just remember to keep it clean - almost all problems are related either to paint dilution or cleaning.  

[Otto van Gerrig]

My first attempt at Zenithaling. I don't think I got the technique down 100% but I guess we'll see. 

Edited January 30 by Otto van Gerrig