One extremely resin-y Saturday later..

First up: Veletarii!

And secondly: a Venator!

Now I just have to make four more Cataphractii and source a bunch of Missile Launchers! Oh, and paint everything...

Magnetising the Mortis Contemptor

Here's a (very) quick guide to magnetising the BaC Contemptor's shoulder joint:

Step 1: Separate the shoulder from the arm joint:

Make the cut just below the raised circle above the 'elbow'.

Step 2: Insert 5mm x 1mm magnets into the cavity of the plastic shoulder, and make a cavity in the resin arm big enough for another:

I drilled into the resin arm and then used the knife shown above to widen the cavity enough for the magnet to sit in.

Step 3: Glue the shoulder to your Contemptor!

I was really expecting this to be a lot more involved than it was but, like reposing the waist and legs, all you really need is a sharp knife!

Praetor!

So a big box of resin finally arrived today!

First up, my Praetor:

I bits ordered an Invictarii head and a Suzerain backpack and shoulderpad. I think they look pretty good!

More to come!

Fifteen of twenty!

Just three guys, two sergeants and 19 bolters to go!

Apparently it was too cold last night for priming, so I've had to attack a Cataphractii with isopropanol and bin one of my sergeant's arms. I've magnetised a second one, though, and will prime with the airbrush from here on out..

Forgeworld order still 'Pending', frustratingly, but at least that means no distractions while I finish off the boring marines!

Contemptor repose and painting progress

Reposing the BaC contemptor was a lot easier than I expected - it just took a sharp knife and some wiggling.

I didn't go for anything overly dramatic, just a slow advance. I still have to take off the power claw arm at the shoulder for magnetising, but that can wait until my second Kheres arm arrives!

I've also made some progress on my tactical marines:

Not many left to paint!

Reinforcements!

Fulmentarus

This is the first of my ridiculously points-expensive 5-man Cyclone Missile Launcher squad:

These guys spit out 10 missiles a turn from a Terminator armour platform, but cost close to a mighty 400 points for a squad of 5.

I used Spellcrow's "Blizzard Missile Launchers" for their Cyclones, which were the only ones that I found which weren't ridiculously big - sadly, Forgeworld don't do their own weapon pack for them yet. I'm quite happy with how they look.. but not so happy with how they came:

How on earth you are supposed to separate the launchers without snapping the brittle resin in half I have no idea. I certainly didn't manage it on the two that I've taken off the sprue so far - both snapped, thankfully not too badly. I managed to glue them back together and file off the gigantic mess of flash leftover:

..but I think it's pretty obvious why they don't show the backs of the launchers on their website!

- Izzinatah

The Betrayal at Calth, and onwards..

This has been a long time coming. I'm the last one of our group to dive into 30k, and I'm starting with the Betrayal at Calth set (where else?). If twelve year old me knew that many years later he'd be playing Ultramarines, he'd be pretty confused - but the Horus Heresy Ultramarines books have completely changed my opinion of the XIII Legion. I'll be working towards the following list:

++ Legiones Astartes: Crusade Army List (Age of Darkness) ++

HQ

Legion Centurion [Power Armour, Refractor Field]

··Consul [Master of Signal]

Legion Praetor [Digital Lasers, Iron Halo, Melta Bombs, Paragon Blade]

··Artificer Armour [Mantle of Ultramar]

··Invictarus Suzerain Squad [5x Invictarus Suzerains]

····Land Raider Phobos [Armoured Ceramite]

Troops

Legion Tactical Squad [Rhino, 9x Legion Tactical Space Marines, Legion Vexilla]

··Legion Tactical Sergeant [Artificer Armour, Melta Bombs, Power Fist]

Legion Tactical Squad [Rhino, 9x Legion Tactical Space Marines, Legion Vexilla]

··Legion Tactical Sergeant [Artificer Armour, Melta Bombs, Power Fist]

Elites

Contemptor Dreadnought Talon

··Legion Contemptor Dreadnought [Kheres Pattern Assault Cannon x2]

Heavy Support

Fulmentarus Terminator Squad [Cyclone Missile Launcher, 4x Fulmentarus Terminator, 4x Power Fist]

Legion Heavy Support Squad [Flak Missiles, 6x Legion Space Marines, Missile Launchers]

··Legion Sergeant [Augury Scanner]

Sicaran Venator Tank Destroyer

++ Solar Auxilia (Allied Detachment) ++

HQ

Auxilia Tank Commander

Troops

Auxilia Infantry Tercio

··Dracosan Armoured Transport [Demolisher Cannon, Extra Armour, Flare Shield]

··Veletaris Storm Section

····Prime [Melta Bombs, Power Fist]

Fast Attack

Auxilia Leman Russ Strike Squadron [Auxilia Leman Russ Battle Tank x2]

So far, I'm only five tactical marines in. However, airbrushing the blue makes for very quick power armour, the monotony of which has always been my downfall with Space Marines. Here's the first few:

A bit bland, but they are tactical marines! I'm happy with the speed at which I can churn these out and the uniformity of the unit. Most of all, I'm impressed with the Vallejo White Pumice I used for the basing.

Next up I have an order to do, more Marines to paint and an eBay purchase to decide on a scheme for: