The Triumph of Saint Katherine WIP and Custodes Vertus Praetors

This week I finished the last of the Custodes Vertus Praetors. Not much to say about it really. It is painted in the same way as the other two, in white and gold metal with some brown leather and crimson robes. I like this models a lot. If I was making an army I would have liked to have a bunch of them as they are really cool.

Then I started a new project, The Triumph of Saint Katherine. When I first saw the model I just know that I would need to get one and paint it. I think this is probably one of the coolest character models that GW has produced. It is crazy detailed and some very nice poses on the sisters. The only thing I don't see how I will pull of is the writings on the parchments... but we will see how that turns out. The first model to get painted is Saint Katherine her self. This is by far the coolest of the sisters around the bier. It is sad that there is no regular sisters with shield and sword. Might have to convert some sisters as crusaders to get that. As for painting this it will be a challenge as it is mostly black, and black is notoriously hard to paint, especially when there is so much of it. So I will try to put some color nuances into it to break it up a bit. So Katherine's armor was painted a dark metallic and then washed in a thinned down green to make it contrast a bit against the robes. The inside of the robes got a more crimson color than what is depicted on the box. I also kept the out side black instead of read to tine in white the rest of the saints that are all covered in robes. This is a WIP so I am not really done whit here yet, as I saw from the photos. But it is a good start. Also the base is just started and need some additional dry brushing to smooth it out.

A new light rig

As some of you might have noticed I have had some problems with the lighting of my models as I takes photos for this blog. This is some parts due to the facts that a large part of the year there is no natural light in the evenings (after work) when I do most of my hobbying. So for some time I have though about getting a light box or something that will illuminate the models a bit better. I have not be quite sure how to go about it though, one thought that occurred quite early was to use multiple light sources in the form of diode spotlights from shelf lighting to get light from all angles. IKEA has a number of these for affordable prices and I when for two of the "Ledberg" sets that contains four sources each. Once I had eight lamps I just needed to figure out how to hold them in place. I thought about making some stands out of wood, but that limited my ability to position the lights for different models. In the end I stumbled over a soldering frame that is used to hold the cables etc when soldering. I removed the looking glass that came with the set and mounted the light disks in the pincers. Then I pulled out some random models from the cabinet and tried some shoots with my mobile. I think the lighting is better than on the original posts of the models but I still need to learn how to best point the lights to get good pictures (and get the focus right). So it is better but there is still room for improvements, both to the positioning and to the light rig itself, but it is a start at least.

Fenrir head WIP

I have not done much this week as I have been traveling with work again, and since it is so warm I have also done some garden work instead of working on my titans. I have only managed to add the bone to the snout and started on the edges were the armor is pealing back. All in all I am happy with how it is coming along. Once these base layers are done I will re-sculpt the armor trim and details before adding the normal chaosifications. Then I think I am going to paint the head as soon as it is done, before doing anything else to the rest of the body , just to see that the concept works.

As if I did not have enough projects going, Fenrir... initial concept

Over the last couple of weeks I have bathed and started cleaning up my new Reaver titan. This will together with Varangian and my Warbringer make up the second titan maniple of the Northern Ghosts (it will actually be the first maniple as it contains Varangian). To keep with the Norse theme of the Northern Ghosts I named the Reaver Fenrir and the Warbringer Surtr (if I ever get another battle titan it will be named Jormungandr, but that is for another time).

The basic idea with Fenrir is a zombie wolf where the armor is falling of in stripes reveling bone etc beneath. First I will be to try changing the head into a wolfs head and then zombiefy it a bit as well as adding my usual chaos growths. The main back carapace will  have ribs breaking through the sides as well as the back. On the reactor cowlings I will make some hipbones sticking out as wings around the voild shield projectors. It will look a bit like an overgrown chaos Warhound as the structure of the body actually is quite similar. So far I have not gotten the far but at least it is a start.

More sisters...

It is strange, this thing with vacation. Before you go on vacation, you have all these plans of what to do with all that free time. But then the holidays are over and it is time to go back to work and you have not even done more than you would have done any other day. So were does all the time go?

My plans for Christmas were to get a bunch of sisters painted at the same time that I finished of the GS work on my Knight baron as well as wrapped up the last Dominus knight. That and get going on my next Titan, Fenrir. But as the dust settles and things are coming to an end I only have a few models to show of and not much else... and I have no idea of what I did with all that time.

But at least I got somethings done. First of is one of the Archoflagelants from the sisters box as well as a sister repentia. The flagelant is a nice model, inline with the dark and bizarre imperium, the essence of 40k. a bit tricky to paint if done in one assembly but probably doable (I did it in parts, leaving the arms separate). I went for a mid range skin tone with slightly bruised colors around the implants and ports. The little clothing he has was painted to look like brown leather. Not a super advanced job so it did not take to long. This is a mono pose and the first of the doublet in the set so I will see if I try to do something else whit the other one.

Then we have the repentia... and I do not get this model. I sort of understand why it looks like it does but I still do not get it. The old models were a bit on the skimpy side (mostly at the top) and I suppose GW had to tone it down but it could have been done in a better way. Just adding the top and keeping the skirts would have been enough and would have been in line with the rest of the sisters.
The new models look like some female Catachans with a large sword. The tank-top and hot-pants are a break in the aesthetics of the army. There are also some fluff reasons that I think should have been better represented in the model. The whole point of the repentia is that they seek absolution through battle, where they seek to put themselves in a situation were the emperor needs to intervene for them to survive. In this spirit the choice of clothing or paraphernalia should be a hindrance to their capabilities rather then just going into battle without your armor. Because if your point is just to fight until you die you can as well keep the armor on, like the Blood Angels death company, and kill as many enemies as possible before you bite it.
Apart from the design choices the model is ok. I am not sure why they have input ports on their arms and legs as they do not have a black carapace to interface with their power armor, but it looks good and makes for an opportunity to get some break from the skin tones. For the repentia I choose a similar color scheme as for the the flagelant as the repentia is more or less a voluntary flagelant.

Lastly we have two Seraphim. The models look good and are in line with the normal sisters so I can not say much about that. The colors are similar to what I did for the standard sisters. I made the thrusters/wings of the jump pack in the same blue white colors that I use for the weapons but otherwise it is silver and purple robes (though that is hard to see with this lighting). I do like the new jump stands and that they are attached to the jump pack and not the model. There have been some catastrophic designs whit the stand attaching at in appropriate places but this is fine.

Next up are some Custodes...  and perhaps some WIPs of the knights and titan.

Plastic Sisters

Finally it happened, the plastic sisters are here. After two decades they are here. Well almost, the starter army set is, or should I say was here. It sold out very quickly and now we are waiting for the proper release in 2020.

I must say I have not been a sisters player, nor collector to any degree. I actually only own one squad of five sister were two are painted, the red sister is painted by me just after the initial release in 97. My wife does however own a substantial amount of metal sisters, bought and painted some ten years after my initial purchase (silver metal sister). As some of you might remember she got Celestine for here birthday some time ago which I painted in the colors of her custom order. She is no longer an active player or collector/painter but she has still been interested in the sisters range. So I have followed the development and the last years sneak peaks to see if I could entice her to get back in the game. But to no avail.

Well, I must say that the level of detail on the new plastic versions are astounding and the rank and file look pretty darn good. So I thought that if the wife does not get them then perhaps I will get at least some to have as a nice side project. So I thought the starter box would be a nice limited project, but as I heard that it had sold out so I sort of gave up on the thought.

But then I needed some more Agrax earth shade and headed to the local hobby hole. Well there I asked about the sisters box and they said it had come and gone quickly,...   but they had managed to order some online and they would be inbound with in the week, so I asked if it was possible to reserve one, and it was. So now I have a box of plastic sisters.

But enough about that, over to the models. The models are incredibly detailed and even the easy to build monopose models in this box comes in several parts that can be quite fiddly to assemble. This is not an army I would recommend as a starter for anyone not used to model building. The size creep is very noticeable and these ladies are not that much shorter than Primaris Marines. I had hoped that they would be more human to better emphasize the size of space marines in relation to normal humans. But I guess that this had to be to get all the details in. They are also more anatomically proportioned than the old metals. As for colors I decided to paint them in a similar way that I did Celestine and have the same color scheme as the wifey's army. The base is a polished white metal and purple robes with white casing on the bolter. The corset, gloves and bags are painted as brown leather with the metal studs picked out. Grenades etc are painted a military olive green. For charters and officers I am thinking of using different palettes to set them apart, a little bit as the sisters of silence are described in some of the novels.

All in all I do not think I will do a  full army, but some of the character models might find their way onto my to do shelf.

Lady Oxidia in Entropy

Finished my night Preceptor, the Lady Oxidia in Entropy. Last post had her mostly done but now I finished up some of the details as well as the Lady herself and her abode. I am really happy with how she turned out and I am looking forward to finishing up the Armigers to complete the super heavy detachment.

Lore-wise she is kind of an oddball among the Northern Knights. She is not a native of their home world but a former free blade. She grew up on the planet of Randoryn Alpha as the third daughter to a minor noble, distantly related to the ruling house Cerberan. As a youth she was sent of to train as an Armiger pilot under her uncle who was acting Preceptor. However, this uncles was not a very noble man and he abused his charges, especially the females. One night he was heavily into his Amasec and tried to take advantage of Oxidia. She would not have it and promptly slit his throat. Realizing that it would not go well for her if she was found she quickly hid the body and stole his battle gear. Rallying the rest of the pilots in training who bore no love for the old drunkard she managed to steal his Knight and set of for some friend she know in the vicinity. Once safe away from the train grounds and hidden in her friends barn she set about stripping the paint of the knight to make it less recognizable. Then she got on the first barge of world and set out among the stars as a free blade. During her long career she made her self a reputation as a strong willed knight that did not take orders well. After a series of incidents she ended up in a position where she could no longer find anyone willing to hire her. So she washed up on the home world of the Northern Knights were she managed to get a job training new armiger pilots. She still has problems with orders and she prefers to train female pilots as she never really got over her childhood experiences. Her knight suit, Entropy, was never repainted after she first stole it and it has acquired a patina of rust over the years. She has only painted her right shoulder and left grave in the forest green of the Northern Knights to show her allegiance but in all else has left the metal to bear witness to her life. When the Northern Knights fell  she followed them into damnation without a second thought. Her bitterness over how the empire and it nobles had treated her making her easy pray for the dark whispers in the halls beneath the keep.