A Small Act Of Defiance

Life, for the last few days has denied me the ability to paint or do anything, primarily because I've been packing. But last night, I took a moment from packing to take care of a minor project and damn the torpedoes if the world was going to stop me!

I saw this:
And I did something about it. This old man has been with my army for almost 10 years and a few years ago, his arm came off and I said I would fix it but I never got around to it. Last night, I shook my fist at the world and pulled out some superglue...

And now this heavy bolter is ready to return to proud and storied ranks of the Red Legs, the honored 6th squad of the Second Company of the Astramalleus! Fight on!

Packing up and moving

So I've been a little less pursuant with my painting the last week or so because I've been packing for a move. On one level, it's disappointing because I had a large space in my soon-to-be old place for playing, painting, keeping terrain and all that. On the other hand, during the summer, it's too hot to use for just about anything, even with fans. All in all, a minor disappointment, but only minor.

I've packed up about half my terrain and, with luck, I'll pack up the rest tonight. It's not going in storage because my friend who started with IG has no terrain so it's perfect. He has a place to play and no terrain. I have terrain, but no place to play. Win-win, I'd say.

I've also forgotten how much stuff I really have. But fear not, loyal friends! I'm taking some things with me so I'll be painting again after the weekend. If I'm lucky, I may even get to start sooner. I've got a Veteran squad to finish and a Devastator Squad to start!

More Painted Veterans

Remember when I said that I didn't think I was going to get any painting done this weekend? Well, I guess I lied to you all because I managed to whip out these two just a little while ago. Combined with the three in the background, I have a new 5 man Veteran squad. Of course, I believe in the glory of the ten man squad so, when time permits, I'm going to continue painting.

Once again, I watered down some black to put on them before painting. I'm starting to see how that might make things come out a little better, but my highlighting still leaves a bit to be desired. No biggie, though, but I'm happy with them, crappy highlighting or not. I kinda wish I had given the Sergeant a power weapon. I don't have enough Sergeants with them, especially now they are once again a reasonable choice (in 4th Ed, why take a power weapon for 10 pts when you could take a power fist for 15?). But other wise, I'm pleased as punch.

Another Painted Veteran

One more painted veteran for the squad. For some reason I couldn't get a very good picture of him so I went with what I could get. I painted over him with chaos black like I said I would this time. I think he came out a bit better, but not much. I realize that what I need is to sit down with someone who paints everything in black and learn a few tips for highlighting it. I can highlight, but when I'm doing something as big as an entire model, it never comes out that good. But it is good enough for government work so I'm not too terribly upset. I just figure that I should try to take these opportunities to get better at this.

Not sure I'm going to get any painting done this weekend. It was already packed before and I may have to go into work for a while, too. Unless the Earth day changes to 28 or 32 hours by tomorrow, I don't think I'll be lifting a brush. But I might be able to find a few minutes here or there so hope springs eternal...

Two Painted Veterans

Well, here are two painted Sternguard Veterans for you guys. I'll tell you a secret and I hope you don't all hold this against me. I didn't paint them black. I merely spray painted them black and painted on top of that. I'm also beginning to think that's why my black Veterans never seem to look quite right. I think on the next Veteran I work on (hopefully tonight), I will give it a good coat of Chaos black before I continue on. Or I may paint details and then paint on black to clean it up. And if I like the results, I may go back to these guys and paint on black, too. I've already got a "Veteran" squad to repaint. Back in the day (until about a year ago, that is), HQs got command squads and they weren't Veterans. So now I still have a Veteran Squad that is in all blue instead of traditional Veteran black. I should (and eventually will) repaint them.

Why do Veterans wear black? Well, in the early tribal days of the indigenous peoples of Besradine, home world of the Astramalleus, warriors would smear black paint over their scars to show their enemies that they had been in a lot of fights and were nobody to be taken lightly. When these warriors became Marines, they continued the practice by painting their armor where they had received scars and wounds. At first it was allowed as a symbol of warrior spirit and pride but, since Marines can endure wounds that would kill most men and live far longer, over time each Marines armor eventually became a motley and messy set of black painted patches and stripes. It was eventually decided by the Chapter Master that the practice would be discontinued among the rank and file but Veterans would be allowed to paint their armor completely black to show the many battles they had participated in. All veterans have the choice to wear black and few refuse. Chaplains and Librarians, being officers, also wear black. Captains, as representatives of the Chapter and the Grand Satrap of Besradine, wear the Blue and Black like line Marines. The one place the issue is not defined in among Sergeants. Some wear black to serve as an inspiration and example to the squad they lead. Some wear blue and black to help emphasize squad unity and coherency. As the issue has remained a question of leadership style and personal preference, no word has been given on the subject and as long as it does not interfere with morale, the issue will more than likely remain one of personal taste.

Palm Trees

In the meantime, while I was waiting for the Veterans to dry from the spray painting, I took a few minutes to do something I've been wanting to do for a very long time; I made palm tree stands. Many moons ago, I found that rear taller palm tree at a party supply store. I kinda liked the tree but it was $3 on sale and there were no others. I bought it with the thought of getting more later, but I didn't want to spend that much on each tree. A few months ago, I was at a Tar-Djay and I found a safari play set with wild animals and palm trees in it for $10. Yesterday I whipped out the cutters, cut the playset palms into separate trees and glued them all to cds/bases. And wait until I paint the bases and maybe put a little sand on them. They should look pretty neat. We'll see about working more on the veterans tonight or tomorrow, I think.

Five More Veterans

Well, here's the rest of the squad. Five more veterans that I finished last night to make a full ten man Sternguard squad along with their brothers in the background.. I kinda cheated with one of them. I used one from the actual Veteran set I bought long ago that doesn't completely suck as much. That was partially because of the missing backs from the Tac squad. At the point of this writing, however, all ten of them have been put under the spray paint in preparation for what needs to be done. With luck, I'll start painting them tomorrow night.

Those extra fronts have me thinking about a possible objective marker or two. Maybe put a head and a chest plate and an arm stuck in sand to look like a dead body left on the battle field... I've got some playground sand that I could use to build up around it to look like sand drifts or something similar. Definite potential, if you ask me.

I'm also thinking about building a Vanguard squad. I may never use them, but it would be nice to have them. I'm thinking about arming them with different swords to make them stand out. An English company called Magister Militum sells 25mm weapons packs like broadswords and scimitars and the like and I'd like a couple packs of those for this but the only store around here that orders from them only does it once a month so I have no idea when they would arrive and I don't want to order direct because the shipping would easily be double the cost of the order in the first place. I'll figure something out, though. It's not like I rally have money to spend right now anyway...