Apothecary sergeant and Command Squad veteran

Last night i was happy to find my larger order of additonal bitz from Anvil Industries arrived, so here's an update on what i've been working on

4th Company, 3rd Tactical Squad's Apothecary Veteran Sergeant Darak:

 6th Company's Biker Command Squad Veteran with new Anvil Industry Bitz:

more marines for the chapter

so last night i decided to pre-order the new forge world terminators, as well as 2 more squads worth of chapter pads so squads 2 and 4 will be carrying the chapter's colors proudly.  I'm really excited about the new terminators since they incorporate designs that would fit them into the look and feel of the 4th's power armor.

bitz order update

So little update on new conversion parts i ordered for the battle company.  I ordered new bitz to suitably modify my 2 command squads (on-foot plasma squad & biker squad) to make them stand out more as veterans, additional rifles for all the tactical squads, my 4th tactical squad,  a pait of KP tracker dials, some blip tokens when playing Zone Mortalis games, a conversion kit to make my 3rd land raider (a prometheus in MK2B style) and the colored text are orders for others that wished to join my order placement.

March 18th:
Litko Games Order:
Casualty/Damage Token Dials (2) (Material: Translucent Red)
Reanimation Dials (2)
Scanner Blip Tokens (Color: Fluorescent Amber)
Ebay Order:
Forgeworld MK5 Heresy Armour (10 models)

March 20th:
Anvil Industry Order:
Pair of Medieval Pauldrons (4 Pairs)
Spartan Torso (3)
Praetorian Torso (1)
Fusion Backpack (medieval) (4)
Medieval Shield (1)
Spartan Shield (3)
Spartan Helmet with Crest attached (8)
Widow Maker Assault Rifle (18) 
Widow Maker Assault Rifle & Scope (5)
Widow Maker Assault Rifle & Grenade Launcher (5)
Widow Maker Assault Accessories: Drum Mag (6)
Battle Axes (5)

March 25th:
Chapterhouse Studios Order:
MK2B Conversion kit for Space Marine Land Raider
Conversion Beamer Weapon and Harness Kit

Battle Company: 3rd squad is born

so i got the conversion bits to make my 3rd tactical squad, and here's a few pictures of the models with their primer coats on them already:

Battle Company: Anvil Industry bitz arrived

So i got home early from work today and was doubly rewarded by finding that the bitz i ordered from Anvil Industries for Tactical Squad 3 had arrived today.

so let's take a look at the bitz!

The postage stamp was too shiny and cool not to share:

So these are the Assault Rifles, which i had purchased 2 sets of 5:

 Here's a size comparison to a Games Workshop bolter:

 Here's the set of 5 Renaissance torsos:

 and i ordered 2 sets of 5 Medieval storm lord legs:

The legs turned out very nicely, and i might invest in more in the future for when i decide to model a few squads exclusively for Boarding Action/Zone Mortalis games.  the photo's couldn't pick it out, but those tubes on the back of the legs are in fact ribbed power lines.

Overall, i'm very happy with the detail and quality of the pieces they mailed me, and i look forward to the next time i purchase from Anvil Industries again.  Check them out in my Link Picks section on the right of the page

Battle Company Update: Transports

Got a little more work done on the transports for my tactical squads. here's the results so far

The drop pod in the middle has ChapterHouse Studios "Heresy Doors" on it.  they're a set of plates you glue onto the existing doors on the drop pod.

Closeups of the rhinos:

The first two have been magnetized so that i can remove the searchlight and place a Hunter-Killer Missile there instead:

25th Anniversary Model

So i got lucky and managed to get my hands on the 25th anniversary model at the local store before they all sold out.  overall it's a really nice model, and I'm trying to take my time with it and put more techniques into the paint scheme than I normally bother with, such as drybrushing.  It's interesting doing a color scheme where you have the option of a drybrush; most of my models I do in metallics and play with clearcoats to get the depth I want, but the Crimson Fist livery is a matte color, so the drybrushing's really helped to pick out details. 

here's some photos so far:

 As you can see, the drybrushing's done a fair job on the blue.  I think they'd actually call it an overbrush-style of drybrushing, since I pulled some of the lighter blues down into the plates to get a light source effect from him standing in the open.

The first 3 photos are with the flash on, which really made the shades stand out, but the last 3 are in a light box without the flash, and the blue comes out looking darker and less shaded in those 3.

 I thought about making another drybrush with a lighter blue, but I'm worried any lighter shading will make him look more Ultramarine than Crimson Fist so I think I'll leave him as is.

My current problem is deciding on how to shade the reds, especially his power fist.  The only reds I own at this time is Mechrite Red, which its based in now, and Blood Red, which I used on his eye lenses.

 For a list of what I've used to paint him with so far, I started with a basecoat of Army Painter Uniform Grey.  Lately my preference for primer is grey since its easy enough to go light or dark colors on it and still get a nice effect. Probably going to use this from now on on all models unless they'll be predominately black or white.

The blue is a first coat of Necron Abyss, followed by an overbrush of Regal blue, followed by Mordian Blue.  Very simple, but gives a nice deep blue with depth. 

 If this was to be used in a darker-lit area, such as a gaming table, I'd probably add another drybrushing, focusing more on the edges, with a mix of Mordian Blue and Ultramarine Blue or Enchanted Blue.  But as this will be a display case model, where it'll be well lit, I won't worry about that.

The black armour bits are basecoated in Chaos Black, and then drybrushed with Boltgun Metal on the raised bits, to make them stand out more.

 The eye lenses were basecoated Mechrite Red, followed by Blood Red, with a dot of Skull White in the back corners, and then outlined with Chaos Black on the bottoms of the lenses.

4th Battle Company Project

So I've decided on making an entire 4th Battle Company for my Red Scorpions space marine chapter.

The company is going to consist of a mix of different MKs of armor to help sort out which squad is which, since the chapter isn't big on squad numbering.  That way, when i deploy them on the table, i know which squad each model belongs to if they cluster together.

My plan is to have:
 1st squad made of modified Mk4 Maximus armor,

2nd squad will be Mk7 Aquila armor,

3rd squad will be made from a mix of Anvil Industry's various Steam Lord bitz,

4th Squad will be Mk 5 Heresy armor,

5th squad will be Mk 3 Iron armor,

6th squad will be Mk6 Corvus armor,

7th squad will be Mk2 Crusade armor,

8th squad will be Mk 5 Heresy armor. 

Devastator squads 9 and 10 will be more common mixes of Mk 6 and 7.

So far, out of the 6 tactical, 2 assault, and 2 devastator squads the 4th fields, i have the 1st and 2nd tacticals and both devastator squads assembled, and i've ordered the bitz from Anvil Industries to make squad 3.

I'll also be investing in the resin chapter pads since i'm going through the trouble of getting all these nice kits to pull off the company.  I'm not sure yet if i'll invest in additional rhinos past the 3 i have, or if i'll buy a 3rd drop pod and run the option of fielding them in a half-half manner.  Guess i'll wait for 6th Edition to be released before i decide on that.