Space Marine Paint Tests

So, the "stars" of the 40k universe are clearly the Space Marines. They're big, they're shouty, they have ridiculously big guns and even bigger shoulderpads, and from a painters point of view probaby get the lions share of "love" in terms of variety and fun figures. When I was restarting I forked out for the Assault on Black Reach set, because it comes with a load of (uncustomisable) figures that I could practice with. And indeed I did; some were OK, some i made a right hash of. More importantly they were all Ultramarines, who are terribly, terribly dull.

So if I want to paint up some more SM stuff, I need to settle on a chapter, or more importantly, settle on a colour scheme that it fun to work on and looks good, as it's not like these guys are going to see a lot of action, and even if they are, I play for fun, not min-maxing whatever rule is broken at the moment. So all the Ultras went in a big bath of paint stripper (Fairy Power Spray, to be precise) and came out clean and new, ready for me to repaint in some novelty colours.

I should emphasis that as paint tests, these are a little rough around the edges.

Forever with Electric Tau

I'm still a little unsure of the Tau's placement in the 40k fluff - clean, superadvanced Anime aliens don't quite gel into the Grand Gothic Insanity of 40k, although at least they aren't the Necrons. On the other hand, clean superadvanced Anime Aliens do make for some lovely models, and I couldn't resist some Fire Warriors. I was going to paint them with white armour but the Electric Blue seems to work a lot better.

This guy is supposed to be chucking some sort of Grenade, but it really, really looks like he's just playing Air Guitar on his Rifle...

  

No squad would be complete without a Shas'Ui, who at least makes the effort to fit in with the traditions of the 40k universe by refusing to wear a hat, so that you know he's harder than everyone else

And finally, this is the whole happy squad.

The Hammer of the Emperor!

Lore-wise my first love is the Imperial Guard. I mean, they're normal people in a universe populated by ravening monsters, fantatical supermen, twisted abomination and sent out to fight them with a Las Rifle and Flak Vest. What's not to love? For a whole host of reason, not least of which playing too much of the Dawn of War series, my mental image of the IG is the Cadians, although their khaki colour scheme is pretty dull, with the only redeeming feature being that it is probably really easy to paint. So my IG may be Cadians, but I decided to have a crack at an Urban Warfare Scheme. This chap is a good example of how they turned out.

Sadly none of my pictures of the rest of his squad are much cop, and he's not based here either, which I guess is an incentive to take some more. Still, it gives a good idea of the colour set.

And it wouldn't be the Imperial Guard without Armour, would it? This was my first shot at a vehicle since re-starting painting and I think it turned out pretty well. Because I am, if nothing else, a gigantic nerd, the markings were inspired by the Classic Lego Space flash colours from when i was a kid. Another reason I like IG is that scuffing up the vehicles is fun, and this Chimera has a nice "on campaign" look to him

Wow, a picture of something with a finished base. I am so proud of that Plasma Gun. Mostly I look at other hobby sites in awe when I see something I can't even imagine how they did it, but the Plasma effect here is a credit to the number of well written guides out there.

I've actually got a fair few more IG guys, most notably a Lord Commissar I finished recently. What I don't have is any decent pictures, but I'll get to that....

Here We Go Again...

As well as posting long winded geek ramblings, my main hobby at the moment that doesn't involve either the kids or a computer screen and gamepad, is painting "Tiny Mens", usually, although not exclusively, of the 40k variety. I've been a wargamer (and roleplayer, and computer gamer) pretty much as long as i can remember, and whilst my 40k playtime has been limited i've a huge affection for the "fluff" and the availabilty, design and variety of the minatures they've produced over the years. After a long hiatus from both painting and wargaming I picked up my brushes again late last year after our second child was born and I felt I needed a new hobby to keep my brain fresh when I was largely stuck in the house again. So naturally I picked an old one.

As you might expect I'm pretty rusty, and as someone who doesn't play - or stand much chance of playing - much in the way of tabletop games these days I tend to flit around between several forces. I'm also too much the roleplayer so I get a kick out of making my own force backgrounds and colour schemes up. But I've improved quite a bit this year, and as i tend to take a lot of photos for "work in progress" reference, as well as to show off, I thought I'd find a home for them all in one place.

Which is here.