The Blood Angels return...

Apologies for the hiatus, I've recently moved into a new house and I've had very little time for painting. The good news is that I now have much more room to paint, and my Blood Angels are back on the painting table, going at a much faster rate than before. Expect some updates and pictures in a few days.

..on a side note, how awesome are the Blood Angels terminators in Space Hulk?

- Gavin

Ultramarines (Pre-Heresy-ish!)

The Ultramarines aren't a chapter I've ever considered colecting, and I never thought I'd be posting any of them to this blog - but that's exactly what I'm about to do.

Before reading any further, may I direct you to this blog, where there are some excellent Pre-Heresy World Eaters. Ahem, now you've had a look, I'll continue.

One of the books I'm currently reading is Battle for the Abyss, a Horus Heresy novel by Ben Coulter which sees a small force of Space Wolves, Thousand Sons, World Eaters and Ultramarines chasing an immense Word Bearer battleship through the warp, in an attempt to save the Ultramarines chapter itself. The story itself is pretty good, although it's not up there with the Eissenhorn trilogy and Fulgrim, it's one of the better BL book's I've read in a while.

The image that struck me is the World Eaters, Ultramarines and Space Wolves working together to assault the Furious Abyss as it gathers supplies - I've always wanted to model a small pre-heresy army, and what would be more interesting to paint than a force that includes several different legions? Sure, they wouldn't look too cohesive on the table, but it's something I'd love to do.

Inspired by this, I took brush to pewter for the first time in a week, and started on a test Ultramarine. I'm using an old metal veteran sarge from the metal command squad who seems to be wearing Corvus armour - as this is what the Ultramarines are equiped with during the Heresy, it's a pre-heresy model with no conversion needed! This is certainly looking better than my last pre-heresy attempt, which should teach me a lesson about not cluttering up a model with useless ornament.

It's still very WiP, but the blue armour and the face are finished:

This is actually my first use of the new GW inks, and I must say that I'm extremely impressed by them. The armour is Mordian Blue, New Blue Ink, Ultramarines Blue, Highlight. The face uses Ogryn Flesh and also some Badab Black to give it the apperance of stubble. Certainly coming along much better than the last Ultramarine I attempted:

This is my painting "skills" from 7 years ago, after around 2 1/2 years of painting. Oh dear.

- Gavin

Update

First of all, if anyone hasn't noticed yet, the 25mm Warrior is running a caption contest to win some Death Korps. Check it out!

I've also read a great post at 40K Origins on "Why codexes should be free". It makes some great points and is worth thinking about.

I've been doing some painting over the last week, despite my lack of posts, but I just can't seem to finish even one model before I find myself starting the next. Here's whats on my painting table right now:

Click here for full size

After reading Battle for the Abyss, I've got an urge to put together a small pre-heresy army of World Eaters, Space Wolves and Ultramarines, so you may see them posted one day - the Ultramarine in the picture is the test model.

As soon as any of those models are finished, more posts will ensue! 

- Gavin

Dawn of War 2 - New Maps in next Patch!

I was meaning to post my Blood Angels captains this week, along with some Traitor Guard, but unfortunately my cameraphone broke last night - there'll be no posts for a few days, till I get a new one.

In the meantime, here's some exciting news for anyone who plays Dawn of War 2 online! Next week the newest patch will be released, which will include the new 2vs2 ranked game type, and two all-new maps for 2vs2.

Screenshots stolen from Relic

The maps are both desert maps, and look pretty damn good, I can't wait to get online on these maps. Maybe my Space Marine level will finally increase above 12.

When I get a working camera, there will be new painted models posted, including some Chaos Guardsmen and Marines I have in my bits box.

- Gavin

Dawn of War 2 - Update News

For fellow Dawn of War 2 fans, this link might be useful. It's constantly updated with the latest tit-bits of news that the Relic developers let slip, and I check it quite often.

Dawn of War 2 News

Coming early this month is a new patch which adds a ranked 2vs2 mode, with 2 new maps, and fixes for several bugs. I've been hoping for a 2vs2 mode for a while, and to hear it confirmed is great.

- Gavin

Blood Angels Chaplain Grimmauld - Finished!

 I've been doing some work on my Blood Angels recently, and I never seem to finish a model, always puttting one squad closer to being finished then moving to another squad because I get bored. Rather than keep on painting like that, I forced myself to finish my Chaplain, which is a model I field in every game I use my Blood Angels. I've been working on this model on and off for nearly 2 years, which was getting frankly ridiculous.

The picture to the left is the model a few days ago, with a few details yet to go, and the pictures below are of the model finished, but in poorer lighting conditions! I'm quite pleased with the paint-job I've pulled off, the only parts I'm disapointed with are the belt buckle, the base and the handle of his Crozius. I'll be going back to change those bits eventualy.

... and no quickshade involved at all, madness! 

With this fellow painted I'm one step closer towards a fully painted army - I don't think I'll get there soon though! At the moment I'm working on a second tactical squad, 2 Captains, a Librarian, a Whirlwind and a Dreadnought, I'll post those as I complete them.

- Gavin