With March finally here, and Adepticon only a few short weeks away, I’ve had to pick up the hobby pace and put the finishing touches on my Horus Heresy army that I am bringing to Saturday’s Grand Team event. Over the course of February I’ve managed to finish painting a Rhino for my Death Guard and a Sicaran Venator for my Emperor’s Children. They’ll take the field together as part of my Shattered Legions force themed around the Loyalists at Istvaan III.
Deimos-Pattern Rhino
This was my third Rhino that I’ve built and painted so far. Just like the previous two, this one built really quickly with all of the pieces fitting nicely together. This is another example of the great plastic kits that Games Workshop is putting out for Horus Heresy. Unlike the other two Rhinos, I painted this one in the dirty off-white and pale green of the Death Guard. I generally followed the simple recipe I used for my infantry from Sonic Sledgehammer’s paint tutorial, and dialed the weathering up all the way. I did plenty of chipping with Citadel Leadbelcher and Vallejo Dark Rust to simulate scratches and general wear and tear. Then I found my bottle of Dirty Down Rust and applied that to the metallic parts of the vehicle like the treads, dozer blade, and the steps under the hatches. I like to mix this with water so the rust effect pools and has a more natural discolored look to it. It’s been awhile since I’ve used this but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. After letting the rust effect dry, I took a big brush and slathered AK Streaking Grime all over the metallic parts, then let it sit for a few minutes before sponging it off. A good coating of Vallejo Desert Dust pigment and this Rhino was ready. Overall I’m pretty happy with how this turned out, and it was fun to apply some of the larger Death Guard decals to it.
Sicaran Venator
The Sicaran Venator was the final Horus Heresy model in my list that I needed to finish before Adepticon. I picked this one up awhile back from Grognard Games, as I had a good amount of store credit to use. I originally intended to use the credit to pick up a Vindicator, however they were out of the 30k kit and I really like the look (and the stats) of this bigger, dedicated tank hunter. This one was a little tougher to build, with some of the pieces not fitting together as flush as I would like. Despite that, this tank has been a lot of fun to use over the course of various Martian Civil War campaign matches and random games testing out the new missions in the Skitarii Journal Tactica. I went for the standard Emperor’s Children scheme I’ve used before on my Predator and Rhinos, adapted from a Midwinter Minis painting tutorial. I used Pro-Acryl Warm Heavy White on the recessed panels to give them a nice, almost marble-like look that I think suits this group of Emperor’s Children who fashion themselves as true Terrans and thus Loyal to the Emperor of Mankind. The gold metallic parts were done with Vallejo’s Old Gold which again lends itself nicely to the regal look that the 3rd Legion is known for. On this vehicle I also had a lot of fun weathering and chipping the hell out of it. It’s supposed to look beat up and battle-worn, and I think the Streaking Grime and Pigment Dust helped sell this. I’m really stoked with how this turned out, and glad that I finally was able to finish it. It was a few weeks of work, but this guy has been knocking our Land Raiders and Spartans left and right so he deserved it.
Other Random Bits
I managed to get in a 2 v 1 match recently with some buddies who I will be playing with at Adepticon for the Grand Team Tournament. Danny’s White Scars and Jeff’s Imperial Fists looked AWESOME on the table. 6,000 points of Heresy models lined up and fighting it out is a sight to see.
I also put together the new-ish Tarantula kit for Horus Heresy. This one was a quick build and all the weapon options can be friction fit together for easy swapping between games.
Looking ahead…
With those models done, and with only one more match left in the Martian Civil War Campaign, I am now in full painting mode for my Bolt Action Adepticon Army. I have about 35 French Foreign Legion models to paint in the next 3 or so weeks. Another army of dudes wearing khaki, this time with a different funny hat! Wish me luck!
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