40K Greater Possessed

The Greater Possessed are Chaos Space Marines who have made a pact with a daemon to possess them, in exchange for unholy power. That will certainly not backfire in any way. They are unnaturally large and daemonically mutated, their armour and backpacks fusing with their flesh and sprouting ectopic teeth, eyes and horns.

These were a fantastic pain to paint, with little details everywhere. It was difficult to parse what is bone, horn, teeth, flesh, etc. They look just right now they're done. They're big chaps, on 40mm bases.

The Master of Possession is a shamanistic sorcerer who helps facilitate these unholy bondings.

He's supposed to be floating but looks like he's skipping along. I thought about doing some green flames, but stuck with what I knew. I did try to make his leather coat look textured and interesting.

I got these a few years ago for Blackstone Fortress, and they languished in the 'too intimidating to paint' pile until now. 

Skull-o-meter™: 18

40K Lamenters: Intercessors

I finished off those assault marines from last time, as well as another five basic marines. They were so quick to paint compared to their Sternguard Veteran brethren from last month.

Assault Intercessors with heavy bolt pistols and chainswords.

Assault Intercessor Sergeant with plasma pistol.
 I used a transfer on his tilting plate- it looks a little flat.

His helmet is on his belt, and his bionic arm suggests an earlier plasma mishap.

Intercessors with bolt rifles.

Underslung grenade launcher.

Bolt rifle.

Auto bolt rifle.

Bolt rifle.

Auto bolt rifle.

I miss the days of the tactical squad with a heavy weapon and a special weapon. And the backbanner.

Skull-o-meter™: 21

How I paint Lamenter icons

 The Lamenters have a famously challenging chapter badge. Here's why I find it challenging:

• straight, parallel lines
• right angles
• symmetry
• perfect circle
• perfect squares
• painted on a curved surface

Each of these is its own challenge, and your brain will subconsciously identify irregularities and imperfections quite easily.

From @brushandboltgun

There are alternatives to freehand painting- transfers and 3D prints exist, but are not usable for every model. So here's how I approach mine. I use a #1 brush for every part of this process.

Key points:

• Perfection is the enemy of good enough
• Thin paints, careful strokes
• The en masse effect of several models will override any individual flaws.

I do this somewhere in the middle of the painting process- after the yellow but before the final details. I start with two thin coats of white.

I then use a pencil to plan the checks. I've tried a few different approaches- this is my current preferred approach. I've demonstrated this with a diagram, the actual pictures follow.

Here's how it actually looks at this stage:

Now you've pencilled in the pattern, carefully fill it with black. I use Army Painter SpeedPaint 2.0 Grim Black. Work hard at getting right angles and parallel lines.

Here's an actual model:

You'll tidy this up later. Now it's time for the heart. This is challenging due to the symmetry and the need to replicate a familar symbol dozens of times. I use Army Painter SpeedPaint 2.0 Slaughter Red, then Vallejo Vermilion.

Here are actual process pictures of the heart stage.

After this, I tidy up with white and black to get rid of irregularities and pencil lines. Done! I usually do about five of these at a time. The group effect at arm's length is quite satisfying and buries a lot of little flaws.

Practice makes perfect!

Next time: can I get these finished?

Halo Jones

The Ballad of Halo Jones was a 2000AD comic strip from 1984 to 1986 by Alan Moore, with art by Ian Gibson. Described as a "groundbreaking feminist heroine" by The Guardian, Halo is a futuristic everywoman who decides to leave her life behind to find herself in the galaxy. The epic ballad covers her trials and tribulations over decades of her life as she travels, fights, loves, and ultimately becomes a galactic hero and transcends time and space- or would have if Alan Moore hadn't characteristically had a falling out with his publishers.

The girl who got out.

Halo Jones has no characteristic uniform or look beyond her short blonde hair. I made this figure from the wonderful North Star ranges.

This post was originally for the Analogue Hobbies XIV 'Manga and Graphic Novels' Challenge.

40K Lamenters: Sternguard Veterans

These are veteran First Company Lamenters, marked by their white helms and kneepads, loincloths, and a decent amount of individual personalised equipment. Sternguard have access to combiweapons.

Sternguard Veterans

The sergeant has a black stripe on his helmet to denote his rank. The tilting plate/ ecranche has a decal from Impatient Tabletop.

Sternguard Veteran Sergeant with combi-melta.

Sternguard Veteran with combi-plasma.

Sternguard Veteran with bolt rifle.

Sternguard Veteran with heavy bolter.

Sternguard Veteran with bolt rifle.

I'm getting much better at freehanding the chequers and chapter icon!