Heresy Era - Space Wolves - Stormwolf - Paint #3

Well my time off of work proved to be productive and fruitful, just not with any miniature painting. Most of my time was spent decorating a large chunk of my house (a surprise for the other half that went down rather well thankfully). I did manage to build the Deathwatch game contents and start work on Archaon for my AoS army so it wasn't a total hobby whitewash.

I did however get in a small game of 40k down at my local Warhammer store and, although I was soundly thrashed (Grav in small armies is nasty) the Stormwolf did get a run out and proved to be quite the star for me.

It also meant that I could take some semi-decent pictures to show of it at the current stage of build/painting.

I've still got some jags to add to the yellow area but aside from then adding battle damage, transfers and other more detailed painting I think this will do nicely as a gaming piece for the time being.

Heresy Era - Space Wolves - Grey Hunter Pack 2 - Paint #1

So work and real life have been kicking my arse this last month or so, leaving me rather short on hobby time in general. Thankfully things have eased off and I'm now a week or so away from having a week off work with which I can hopefully get up to speed again with my painting.

I've managed to get the Stormwolf nearly completed, and I'm just lacking a backdrop large enough to photograph it against now. Once I remember to sort one I'll be updating the blog with the finished kit.

In the meantime I've managed to get a second Grey Hunter Pack knocked out to the same basic gaming standard as the first pack. I've mixed in a few bits from the Space Wolf kits as well as the standard 40k marine kit for the Pack Leader.

Nothing fancy I know, but it adds a bit more to the army and brings me up to a 750pt force (including the Stormwolf).

Heresy Era - Space Wolves - Stormwolf - Paint #2

The big downside to this type of project is that you often end up leaving mini's half done before moving onto the next thing. For me it's nice to take a moment and actually detail a part of a miniature up with full highlights and shading.

I did a bit of research into Norse Gods/Goddesses and that and I ended up picking a name for my Stormwolf that I believe was for the Norse Goddess of the sea, or sailing. Something like that anyway (well as far as wikipedia can be trusted to BE accurate.

The name also sounds or looks a lot like Nora, which in my mind evokes the bombers of World War 2, which in of itself seemed appropriate to a flying gunship.

'Nora'

Apologies again for the crap photos, that's the downside of doing photos on the fly...

The Stormwolf itself is in sub assemblies for painting. The Gold needs a wash of Agrax to give it some depth and I'd like to paint up the jags on the yellow areas to tie in with the existing army so far.

Instead of mounting the Helfrost cannons on the back I am actually going to use the ForgeWorld Assault Cannon Razorback Turret. It feels more appropriate for the look I am trying to achieve, and in game terms it will count as the Helfrost turret.

Sub Assemblies

Heresy Era - Space Wolves - Stormwolf - Paint #1

First off apologies for the not so good photos, these were taken with my phone on the fly...

This is pretty much a stock build, so no build progress blog posts for this one. The only significant changes to the kit are the replacement of the Techmarine pilot with a MK IV legionnaire and the shaving off of some of the detailing on the kit itself.

Now I'm not 100% happy with the cockpit, but as I am working to a relative schedule I've just had to suck it up and stop tinkering. The marine has been fully highlighted up by adding a highlight of Administratum Grey and some dots of white scar on the highest points.

I've added some battle damage (a bit too much so I might pare it back a bit) using the spongue technique and some line painting as well. I've not done too much of the latter before so I figured that a model that wouldn't be seen too much was a good place to start practicing. (The canopy obscures a lot of what you see in the cockpit).

The cockpit itself was painted black along the back with metal details added using Leadbelcher, Ironbreaker and Runefang Steel. The control panels on either side where painted with Leadbelcher, shaded with Nuln Oil and highlighted with Ironbreaker and Runefang steel.

Cockpit WIP

Because I don't have a dedicated area to assemble my airbrush I cheated and purchased a couple of cans of the Mechanicus Standard Grey spray paint. I've assembled the Stormwolf into sub-builds and sprayed each area independantly. Each plate was then drybrushed with Dawnstone and Administratum Grey.

I removed the gems and celtic details from the stormwolf as they didn't quite sit right with me, a bit too bling for my more basic approach.

Stormwolf Top Plate

Remainder of Hull plates.

Heresy Era - Space Wolves - Dreadnought - Paint #2

Back onto the Dreadnought this week and whilst he is still very much a work in progress this is probably where I'll leave him for now as time constraints mean I need to move onto the next part of the army.

Obviously I've added the arms onto the torso. The fit is tight enough that I can use the model without having glued the arms on yet (which is great as I can continue to play over the months and remove the arms for further painting.)

The sarcophagus plate has been added on and highlighted up to draw attention to area but also so I can check that the overall look is what I wanted.

A lot of effort has gone into the axe so far as it is a large part of the character of the model. The gems have been painted up and now only need a bit of gloss and a dot of white to give them a gem like finish. Unfortunately all my photos of the axe didn't come out so well so below is a side on view which is the best one that came out.

Wolf Guard pack markings were added to the leg to break up the grey.

There is still a lot to do and since these photos I've already picked him up a couple of times to tinker with. But I have to move onto the next 350pts for now. Expect me to revisit him (and the other Space Wolf models so far) over the coming months.

Venerable Dread - WIP Front View

Venerable Dreadnought - Axe Close Up

Heresy Era - Grey Hunter Pack #1 - Paint #2

The Grey Hunters are now at a good gaming standard and will probably be left as is for the time being. I will almost certainly revisit them later on down the line though to give them a bit more detail and decals.

The Wolf Guard has been given his jags and all models have had their weapons attached and painted to a basic standard. The Brown has had some highlights, though I feel that the colour lacks some depth so I may well brighten the brown slightly to allow for some contrast between the main colour and the shadows.

The bases have been edged with a mix of Abbadon Black and Eshin Grey. As with the models themselves I will be revisiting the bases and adding some snow/grass effects.

For now though this will be this pack done. Just the Dreadnought now to get to a good gaming standard and I'll have the first 400pts finished.

Wolf Guard Pack Leader

Grey Hunters #1

Grey Hunters #2

Grey Hunter Rear

Heresy Era - Space Wolves - Ulrik the Slayer - Paint #2

Here's some more work on Ulrik, and he's nearing initial completion at this point with just a few details to fill in. At some point in the future I'll aim to revisit and add some details to the cloak at least (and a legion decal once they are released.)

The gems were painted with Khorne Red, with highlights of Mephiston red, Evil Sunz Scarlet and Fire Dragon Bright. Shade was carefully applied into the top of each face to give it that gem like effect.

The cloak was painted using the above colours (sans the Fire Dragon Bright) - I mixed these on the palette and carefully wet blended the various shades onto the cloak to try and give it a smooth transition. The detail still needs to be carefully shaded in but otherwise I am happy with where it is at. At some point I'd like to add some runes to the back of the cape to make him look suitably heroic.

On the to do list is the Plasma effect, pelt on the cloak and general tidying up.

Ulrik Front View

Ulrik Rear View

Heresy Era - Space Wolves - Dreadnought - Paint #1

I've not got too much to show this week. Although I have done further work on both Ulrik and the Grey Hunters, I needed to crack on with the Dreadnought as well. So this post is basically just a quick paint in progress shot to show where he is at.

At this stage I have blocked in the colours (with a few areas still to do) and shaded and highlighted the Marine torso prior to attaching the housing around him. The torso was painted in the same way as the Grey Hunters but with an additional highlight of Administratum Grey. White scar was also dotted onto the corners to add a bit of sharpness to some of the hard edges.

Heresy Era - Grey Hunter Pack #1 - Paint #1

Painting quickly is not really my thing. That being said I am moving on quite quickly with the Grey Hunters whilst still working on Ulrik as well. I'm also determined to get these all fully shaded and highlighted, rather than the quicker basecoat / shade approach I have taken with the AoS Khorne stuff.

That being said due to time constraints my plan is to get the Grey Hunters painted with a basecoat / shade / single highlight first and as and when time allows start adding the remaining highlights, grime and battle damage.

This time out the armour is a simple Mechanicus Standard Grey base, with Agrax Earthshade painted into the recesses and an edge highlight of Dawnstone (layer version).

The yellow on the Wolf Guards shoulder pad will have some black jags painted on it as a for of pack marking and to make him stand out more from the surrounding squad. I haven't yet decided whether I'll add pack markings to the legionaries; most likely I'll see what their official scheme looks like when Forgeworld release more Heresy Era details.

Wolf Guard Pack Leader

Grey Hunter WIP

Heresy Era - Space Wolves - Ulrik the Slayer - Paint #1

Despite having to paint to a timescale I have tried to put some extra effort into painting Ulrik who, as the leader of the army, I suppose warrants some extra attention.

I'm sticking with a classic Wolf Priest scheme for the most part. As this is for a Heresy Era force the legion symbol shoulder pad has been painted with a dirty grey (Mechanicus Standard Grey glazed with some Agrax Earthshade) rather than the lighter blue grey of modern wolves.

The black and grey has been highlighted using Eshin Grey (for the black armour) then Dawnstone, Administratum Grey and with dots of White Scar in the sharpest points.

The wolf pelts have been washed with Seraphim Sepia and Agrax Earthshade over a basecoat of Rakarth Flesh.

I spent a bit of extra time glazing and blending on the helmet to get a nice smooth bone colour working from a base of Zandrii Dust up through Ushabti Bone with a final highlight of Screaming Skull. Agrax Earthshade was used for shades and glazes.

The Gold is Retributor Gold shaded again with Agrax Earthshade then highlighted with Auric Armour and Runefang Steel.

Ulrik Front View

Ulrik Rear View

Heresy Era - Space Wolves - Venerable Dreadnought

Rounding out the first 400pts of this force is my yet to be named Venerable Dreadnought. This was a pretty straightforward build, with just a small bit of kit mixing being done.

To retain the Heresy feel I used the Space Marine Venerable Dreadnought as a base as it more closely represents the MK IV Heresy versions that Forgeworld do, adding the Space Wolf Dreadnought arms and a MK IV head from the Betrayal at Calth marines. A little bit of brass etch on the shield arm and that really is pretty much job done.

Both weapon hands have been magnetised in case I want to swap them out with wolf claws and both arms are not glued, the fit is snug enough that I will probably leave them that way allowing me to change out the weapon arms in future should I want to turn him into a ranged variant.

Venerable Dreadnought

Heresy Era - Space Wolves - Grey Hunters Pack #1

My Grey Hunter/Wolf Guard pack leader is a combination of Catphractii parts from both GW and FW, mixed in with a Space Wolf Terminator Torso. The ideal is to make them clearly Cataphractii in style but to add a bit of variation and, naturally, wolf things up a bit.

I also wanted to add some pelt to the model, what with it being a bit of a Space Wolf theme. In this instance I chose to use the pelt off of a set of standard Space Wolf terminator legs. Now this set has had a green stuff test done on them in the past (and one I didn't like) so the legs were already in my discard pile, it's not quite on a par with carving up Ulrik, which is good for the wallet for sure.

Pack Leader Test Fit

I'm still not too experienced with Green stuff but all things considered the final result is not too bad.

Wolf Guard Pack Leader with Combi-Melta & Storm Shield

The remainder of the pack are pretty basic. I've mixed in a few Space Wolf heads, and made some basic alterations with Green Stuff.

Grey Hunters - Green Stuff hair added.

Grey Hunters - Green Stuff added to armour to give it a MK IV appearance.

Heresy Era - Space Wolves - 'Ulrik the Slayer' - Build #3

Aside from a little sanding and general tidying up, Ulrik is now complete and ready for painting.

There are a few areas that I am not completely happy with but as the model is primarily for gaming with I'm going to move on. Having a deadline to work to also helps me as otherwise I'd probably keep tinkering and ultimately ruining what I do like.

The Crozius arm and backpack will be kept separate for painting, and he is currently attached to the base with a pin - I'll be painting the base separately so that I can get into the underside of the cloak with ease.

Ulrik the Slayer Front

Ulrik the Slayer Rear

Crozius & Shoulder Details

Heresy Era - Space Wolves - 'Ulrik the Slayer' - Build #2

It's always fun buying a £12 model and then taking a pair of cutters to it. Really... No nerves at all. Honest...

It's not like one inopportune slip as I was cutting and a lot of money wasted (arguably, more so than it was already wasted by buying the model solely for his head and weapon). Still a couple of hours later and thankfully I didn't slip and I had a cleanly removed head and Crozius.

The finecast shavings from the carving job actually made for good filler for the body cavity saving me on a bit of green stuff in the process (again your mileage out of the term 'saving' might vary).

At this point the waist pelt has been glued in place and the green stuff work started to help blend it in.

The Crozius arm is still only tacked in place. I might add a magnet here in the eventuality that Wolf Priests don't turn up in Heresy Era lists for any reason. Being able to sub the model in as something else in any list makes sense after the amount of work that has gone into him.

'Ulrik the Slayer' - Conversion WIP #2

Left to do at this stage:

• Neaten up the existing green stuff
• Add some GS to the rear of the helmet to smooth out the hack marks.
• GS work to the pelt on the rear of the cloak (I've added in the second paw that normally drapes over the Krom torso shoulder)
• Chest details.

In the background you can see work starting on the Wolf Guard Pack leader for my first Grey Hunter squad.

Heresy Era - Space Wolves - 'Ulrik the Slayer' - Build #1

So technically Ulrik the Slayer is not a Heresy Era character. However, I want to build a Space Wolf army. I want this army to be something I can use in both 30k and 40k. I want some cool looking character models as well...

I've made several abortive efforts to paint a Space Wolf force over the years and I have no idea if this time will be any different. This time out though, my local GW is running a Tale of Gamers event, which of course means monthly contributions are required. Hopefully this will provide me with the impetus and motivation to finally finish an army, and clear out the mountain of Space Wolf related sprues that are cluttering my hobby room.

The first model in my 40k list is Ulrik the Slayer. As the model is twenty years old at this point and because of my own prerequisite to have the models be of the Heresy era, I decided to have a stab at my own version.

As you can see below the model is based on the Chaplain from Betrayal at Calth. Rather than just do a head swap I decided I'd go whole hog and see if I could create something just a bit more wolfy as would befit the character.

I've used the cloak and belt from the Krom Dragongaze model in addition to the Chaplain. The plan is to add Ulriks head and Crozius top to round out the conversion. The green stuff work is there to remove some of the more ornate elements whilst tying the finished model back to the original sculpt.

'Ulrik the Slayer' Conversion WIP

For the remainder of the 400pts I plan to do a small pack of Grey Hunters and a Venerable Dreadnought. All of which will be shown in forthcoming posts. If I get that far of course...

Horus Heresy - Shattered Legion - Paint In Progress #5

With a nice little two week break under my belt (thanks to a brief holiday and other real life commitments) I've managed to return to the Shattered Legion and started to put the finishing touches to the Tactical Squad.

For the most part this has meant tidying up the final details, such as adding on the bolters, and finishing up pouches, drake skins and the like.

The Drake skin has been highlighted with Rakarth Flesh, followed by a second highlight with white mixed in. It was given a light wash with Agrax Earthshade to tie it all together.

The bolter casing have been based with a black/grey mix, followed by edge highlights of Dawnstone and Astronomican Grey. The metal areas were done as per the original guide. Once I had highlighted both the black and the metal I washed liberally in Nuln Oil.

Any leather areas were highlighted with Steel Legion Drab. A second highlight was painted with white added to the drab. Again these areas were washed with Agrax Earthshade post highlights.

Legionnaire #1

Legionnaire #2

The legion symbol was kept reasonably crude (the reasoning being to show battle damaged nature of the armour). I did edge the symbol in Ceramite White to make it stand out.

Salamander Legion Symbol

Finally the armour has been getting an edge highlight touch up. I've also used the old GW Rotting Flesh paint to add a final highlight to the most obviously raised edges in an attempt to bring out the detail further.

Salamander Legionnaires

At the same time I have continued to work on the Contemptor, highlighting up segments of the armour to the same level.

Salamanders Contemptor