(023) Hobby Progress: Project 004 – Heresy Era Imperial Fists.

FINISHED – Imperial Fists Legion Praetor & Tactical Support Squad No.1

 

I’m currently using up some holiday at work, which has given me some more time to work on getting the Unpainted Legion under control. I finished the Legion Praetor from the ‘Betrayal at Calth’ set. I’m really pleased with how he turned out.

 

 

 

I posted some pictures on the ‘Imperial Truth’ podcast Facebook page, and they were pretty well received. Although a lot of people, including my friend Andy, suggested painting the base rims black. I did give this some thought and I do think it would look good, but I have decided to stick with brown. I quite like the way it blends with the ‘Martian Ironearth’ on the bases.

 

I always name my army commanders after myself, and I am really keen on giving my Heresy Era Imperial Fists a strong narrative theme. So I have named my Legion Praetor Captain Paulus Novus.

 

You can see more pictures of my Legion Praetor on my Flickr account here:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/akasteveuk/albums/72157663312544503

 

 

I have also finished the first troops choice/infantry unit of my Heresy Era Imperial Fists army, a Tactical Support Squad. I bought two ‘Betrayal at Calth’ sets, and using both with just the duplicate Chaplain and Praetor left over I wrote a 2000 point army list. The ‘Betrayal at Calth’ set is such incredible value for the number of models it includes and also for the sheer number of bits and spare parts.

 

Two sets allows me to make three ten-man bolter-armed Tactical Squads, three six-man Tactical Support Squads, with six Plasma Guns, Melta Guns and Flamers in each respectively, and two six-man Heavy Support Squads, one with Heavy Bolters and one with Missile Launchers.

 

So here is, Sergeant Matthias, named after my friend Matty, and his Plasma Gun armed Tactical Support Squad.

 

 

 

I’m very pleased with how they turned out, they’re probably the best painted infantry unit I’ve finished so far. I did have some issues with the assembly though. I painted them in four sub-assemblies. Body, weapon, left arm and right arm. Gluing four pieces together with two hands was a bit tricky. But I have learned from my mistakes, for all subsequent infantry models I am now using three sub-assemblies, body, right arm with weapon attached, and left arm.

 

You can see more pictures of my Plasma Gun armed Tactical Support Squad on my Flickr account here:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/akasteveuk/albums/72157666437792685

 

 

Work in Progress – Imperial Fists Heavy Support Squad No.1

 

My Tactical Support Squad took me longer to paint that I expected it to, but still a lot less time than it usually takes me to finish infantry models. I’m going to try and leverage the momentum I’ve built up to paint as many infantry squads as I can before I burn out. So now I’m working on a six-man Heavy Support Squad armed with missile launchers.

 

 

I am going to try a few shortcuts to hopefully save myself painting time while still achieving a similar finish quality to the Tactical Support Squad I just completed. For instance once the weathering powders are applied to the legs it’s not obvious that the pipes and soles around the feet were painted and highlighted a different colour (metallic) than the armour itself. So I may skip this step entirely.

 

I paint the armour of my Imperial Fists by priming them with Citadel ‘Skull White’ spray, and then again with Army Painter ‘Daemonic Yellow’. I then apply two coats of Citadel ‘Averland Sunset’ by brush (it takes two coats to get a smooth, opaque finish). Then I drown the models in ‘Seraphim Sepia’ shade and once that’s dry, repaint the raised and flat areas of the armour with ‘Averland Sunset’. It was this last step that I found the most time consuming on the Tactical Support Squad. So I’m going to try just applying the shade to the recesses, hopefully making it unnecessary to repaint the raised and flat areas afterwards.

 

 

Organising the Backlog

 

A couple of months ago I bought some plastic tubs to keep unpainted units and all of their bits and pieces together safely and tidily. I’ve been going back to the local store I bought them from every now and then for months and they never have any more. They don’t seem to have restocked them since I bought the ones they had.

 

This kind of annoyed me a bit, I was desperate to buy more so I can tidy up my unpainted models and start to organise my collection. I asked the staff and they said they had to wait until they could make a big enough order. But it had already been three months and no one seemed to know when they would be placing their next order, and I am impatient.

 

So I looked around to see if I could get more of the same brand. I found a few places on eBay and Amazon that sold them, but only at three or more times the amount of money I paid in my local store, and that’s not including postage either.

 

So I contacted the manufacturers directly, but they refused to sell me any, saying that they don’t sell to the public, only direct to trade. But they did recommend a website that sells their products. The prices were ok, so I thought I’d place an order, and then I saw the shipping costs, so I didn’t place an order with them.

 

I was getting pretty frustrated by now, but then I had a flash of inspiration. I tried ‘The Range’ and bingo they had them in stock and their postage was pretty reasonable. So I ordered fifteen!

 

http://www.therange.co.uk/whitefurze-food-container-rectangular-1.5l//the-range/fcp-product/56614

 

They arrived the other day and I spent an afternoon organising my unfinished model kits. I could still use a few more tubs, but it’s a great start.

 

 

 

 

Display Cabinet

 

Having some time off of work has also allowed me to get other things done that I wouldn’t normally have time to do. I took all of the models out of my display cabinet and cleaned the glass. I also bought some blue paper from ‘The Range’ and taped the sheets to the back of the cabinet. The light blue colour is a lot brighter than the dark wood and makes it a lot easier to see my finished models.

 

 

 

Win a Titan!

 

Forge World are running a competition to win a Titan model at the moment. To enter you have to make a qualifying order of £100 or more by the 31^st of March and then e-mail Forge World with i) The name you would choose for your Titan and ii) A short story about how it earned its name in 400 words or less.

 

 

I wouldn’t have made such a large order just to enter this competition, but I was planning on buying a Legion Fellblade Tank at Salute next month anyway and that order would be enough to qualify. So I placed my order for a Fellblade and a few other bits and pieces and I have arranged to collect it Salute.

 

 

When the competition is closed I’ll post the full text of my entry, but for now here are the first few lines:

 

“I have had many names. In the beginning I was called #0004077H/E a short while later, when they lit my reactor they called me ‘Sentinel of Unity’. But none now live who remember those names. For ten thousand years I have walked below a thousand alien skies upon worlds uncounted or slumbered through the stars and void between.”

 

I have a secret ambition to be a fiction author and I really took my time over my entry, it’s even 400 words long exactly. The other day I got an e-mail from ‘Black Library’, Games Workshop’s publishing arm. They’re looking for submissions for short story ideas and you could even get published and become a Black Library author. I might have a go at submitting something.

 

 

 

My Birthday!

 

It was my birthday last Sunday and my parents surprised me with an unexpected present of some Games Workshop gift vouchers. I’m not sure what I want to spend them on yet. I’d like to buy and paint up an Aegis Defence Line for my Imperial Fists. But I’m also wanting to hold on until April 16^th when Games Workshop are apparently releasing a special miniature to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the Space Marine range. But then again, I also want one of the ‘Start Collecting!’ Skitarii boxes so I can start a Dark Mechanicus army to oppose my Imperial Fists!

 

 

I’m spoiled for choice!

 

 

 

Current Size of the Unpainted Legion: 300 models.

 

 

 

Currently Reading: (Non-Black Library) ‘Armada’ by Ernest Cline.

 

 

 

 

(022) Beachhead 2016 & Hobby Progress: Project 004 – Heresy Era Imperial Fists.

Beachhead 2016

 

I went to the Beachhead 2016 Wargames Show at the Bournemouth International Centre on Saturday 20^th February. I almost didn’t make it due to illness. I started feeling ill on Wednesday night that week. I had a headache and a nasty cough, my joints hurt, I couldn’t get warm and it felt like my whole body had been beaten all over by a gang armed with baseball bats. This lasted for a week but a feeling of confusion and disorientation lasted longer and I am only now starting to shift the cough.

 

All that was keeping me functional was a Beechams Max Strength Hot Lemon drink every four hours. Basically I was in no fit state to travel to Bournemouth on my own. Thankfully my parents decided to drive me to the event and spend the afternoon shopping in Bournemouth. I was very grateful, I probably wouldn’t have attended otherwise and I would have been very disappointed.

 

I spent a lot of time wandering around the show taking photos. Unfortunately when I got home that evening I discovered that about 75% of my pictures were completely out of focus and blurry, I was so ill that my hands were shaking while I was holding the camera. I must have looked like a bit of a crazy person, walking around taking photos with shaking hands while sweating absolutely profusely.

 

You can see a couple of the photos I took below, and the full album on my Flickr Account here:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/akasteveuk/albums/72157662566413243

 

 

 

 

I bought a couple of items. I bought a can of Army Painter ‘Daemonic Yellow’ coloured primer from the Warlord Games stall. I’m looking for a shortcut to painting my Heresy Era Imperial Fists army, which largely consists of seventy-two infantry models. I also bought another copy of Games Workshop’s ‘Betrayal at Calth’ set from the Lesley’s Bits Box stall. I think I paid £80 for it, which is cheaper than I’d seen it anywhere else, even on eBay. Just that morning I had read a rumour online that it’s being discontinued and I need two copies to make the Heresy Era army list I wrote.

 

I spent a long time walking around checking out the trader stalls. There were a lot more than there were at Fisticuffs 2015 last year and some bigger companies too like KR Multicase, Warlord Games and Battlefoam. It was generally a much bigger event but I personally longed for a ‘Bring and Buy’ stall, which Fisticuffs had but Beachhead did not.

 

As always I would like to have seen Games Workshop games being represented, demonstrated or played. But other than one table playing Mordheim, there weren’t any. I would also have liked to see a lot more participation demonstration games being played of some of the bigger brand tabletop wargames like X-Wing, Infinity, Malifaux and Bolt Action. I’m sure they were there, but they didn’t feel inviting for random passers-by to join in.

 

It was a surprisingly big event, and I really hope that they run it again next year and if they do I will definitely look forward to attending, hopefully I won’t be half-dead though!

 

 

Brush Rack

 

Until now I’ve been keeping my paint brushes in an old jam jar on my painting table, with my four “main” brushes (two Detail and two Standard) kept separate next to my lamp. I decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to organise my brushes. I spent a few days researching existing paintbrush racks, pen pots and even test tube racks, but everything I saw was unsuitable or excessively expensive. So I decided to make my own.

 

I wanted ten spaces, two each for; Fine Detail, Detail, Standard, Large and Dry Brushes. With one slot for each being for good condition brushes and one being for older, worn but still serviceable brushes.

 

I wanted my brush rack to be hardwearing so I decided not to make it out of cardboard. I ordered a 1m length of 40mm diameter PVC pipe from Amazon and sawed it into ten 10cm lengths. I then glued them together into two rows of five, and glued these onto an MDF base. The same MDF I use to base my terrain projects.

 

 

I wanted to make my brush rack look like a piece of terrain. So I blended the pipe sections into the base and filled the gaps between them with air-drying clay. I also capped the bottom of the pipes and filled the spaces between the pipes with plaster of Paris.

 

 

I then glued sand to the base and sprayed the whole assembly black. I bought some duct tape with yellow and black hazard chevrons on it to decorate it. With hindsight I would have skipped this step. Applying sticky duct tape to an irregular and curved surface was a waking nightmare. I then quickly painted the brush rack up and added static grass and name labels from a label maker.

 

I did the majority of the work in a single day during the peak of my illness, so I feel like I rushed it and made lots of mistakes. When it was finished I was so disappointed with it that I just wanted to throw it away. But I think that was the illness talking, it really messed with my head and prevented me from thinking straight for a week or more.

 

I’m still not super-happy with how it turned out, but I don’t hate it, and I’m using it and that’s probably good enough for a paint brush rack!

 

 

 

Project 004: Heresy Era Imperial Fists

 

I am still working on my Heresy Era Imperial Fists, only now the project has doubled in size with the addition of a second copy of ‘Betrayal at Calth’. I wasn’t able to paint for a couple of weeks as I had company, so I was desperate to get back into it. Unfortunately the next time I was able to sit down and paint, I was ill and things did not go well.

 

I was trying to paint my Legion Praetor in five sub-assemblies and I was frustrated with how long that was taking so I decided to completely assemble it and worry about painting it afterwards. I had trouble gluing it together. I tried to fit the top part of the terminator armour back to front. I spilled some glue on the desk and then dropped the model in it, which took off some of the paint. I applied Martian Ironearth to the base and accidentally got it all over the cape.

 

My illness was clouding my head and I was making more and more mistakes and getting more and more annoyed. I even snapped three paint brushes in frustration when they wouldn’t hold a point. I was in the wrong headspace for painting and I realised that, so I gave up and walked into town and bought some new Games Workshop brushes. I will write a full review at some point, but my initial impressions of the Army Painter brushes I bought are not very positive.

 

A week later and I was feeling much better, I sat down to neaten up the mistakes I had made on the Legion Praetor and it went well. He’s now quite close to completion and I am much happier with the state he’s in.

 

 

I have been assembling the contents of my second ‘Betrayal at Calth’ set in the evenings this week. Although the plastic Contemptor Dreadnought comes with two different weapon options, the pose of the legs and torso is very static. Having two identically posed Dreadnoughts would not look great. So I decided to do some conversion work on the second one. I sawed off his leg and torso and reattached the leg at a different, more extended angle, and reattached the torso turned to one side. Once they’re finished I think it will be quite effective at making them look distinct.

 

 

I opened my Forge World Imperial Fists MK IV Legion shoulder pads today and washed the resin. I had terrible trouble removing the Plague Marine shoulder pads from the excess resin and almost all of them ended up damaged. So I tried a new approach with the Imperial Fists shoulder pads, I snapped them off gently by hand without using any knives, cutters or tools. The results were much better, only about one in six was damaged and none of the damage was as severe as with the Plague Marine shoulder pads. I’m so pleased with them in fact that I ordered another 30 this evening, for the second set of ‘Betrayal at Calth’ power armoured infantry models.

 

I found a couple of spare Chaos Space Marines in my bits box and decided to use them as test models for the Army Painter Daemonic Yellow spray paint. The model on the left was sprayed with Citadel Skull White spray paint and then with Army Painter Daemonic Yellow. The model on the right was just sprayed with Army Painter Daemonic Yellow. One half of each model was then painted by hand with Citadel Averland Sunset and both models were washed with Citadel Seraphim Sepia.

 

 

If Games Workshop made an Averland Sunset spray can my life would be much easier. I have always found Army Painter spray paints very, very thick, so thick they often seem to fill in detail. Daemonic Yellow is no different. Like other Army Painter sprays that I’ve used it also seems to leave a very glossy, plastic-y finish that’s hard to paint over, particularly with washes and inks. It was also very bad at covering the bare plastic model.

 

Currently I am painting my Imperial Fists by priming them with White Spray paint and then applying two coats of Averland Sunset by hand, as one coat doesn’t give a solid enough finish. I think I will proceed by priming them with Citadel Skull White spray, and then base-coating them lightly with Army Painter Daemonic Yellow. As you can see on the model on the left, one coat of Averland Sunset applied by hand over Daemonic Yellow seems to work ok. That may not sound like a great advance but it halves the number of coats I have to apply by hand with a brush, and we’re talking about 72 infantry models!

 

 

 

Current Size of the Unpainted Legion: 307 models.

 

 

 

 

Currently Reading: ‘Only in Death’ by Dan Abnett.