So now we're onto in-progress and upcoming projects. It's far less exciting at this stage now we've caught up on everything I've painted over the past year or so but it's going to get quicker in the coming months. Promise. Maybe ...
With the previews on new Horus Heresy box and terminator armour, I was immediately smitten. Smit in full. Smited to 100%. The smooting was complete. Saturnine Terminator armour is a joyful throwback and I can't wait to paint up a few, it's a sculpt that definitely encourages opinion but that's fine - you enjoy your hobby, I'll enjoy mine.
It's nice to get excited about new models being released, as it doesn't happen too often. However! There is a small matter of a) waiting for the box to arrive and b) deciding what legion to paint and c) building bloody everything.
It has to be one of the original legions though, not a successor chapter. I already have a lot of Space Wolves, so they're out. I paint a lot of yellow for my Orks, so no Imperial Fists. Dark Angels irk me, so they're out. Alpha Legion & Thousand Sons are pearlescent so that can fuck off. Iron Warriors & Iron Hands are metallic and of no interest, Blood Angels & Word Bearers are red and I have too much red. Sons of Horus are right nobheads, so they can do one. No to predominantly white armour, cheerio White Scars and World Eaters. I want a bit of grit and weathering, so that rules out Emperor's Children. I want to do a 40k Death Guard force, so they're out. Raven Guard would drive me mad from edge highlighting to show off the black. Night Lords kick cats, so they're out. I've got a LOT of green on the horizon for an Orc & Goblin army, so Salamanders are out too.
Hello, Ultramarines.
I'm as surprised as you.
I've always had them down as the full-fat wankers of Space Marines, but working my way through all the Horus Heresy books and currently on Know No Fear, and they're great. It doesn't hurt that Dan Abnett's no slouch at writing, and this novel appears to have avoided the curse of him picking a phrase to use and beating it to death through the book ("how's your choler, brother?"). It also helps that at the halfway point of the book, they're having the snot beaten out of them and I do love an underdog.
While the GW studio paintjobs, and a lot of the online community ones are a touch too clean cut for my liking, that can be solved with a more interesting paint job. I've been looking for schemes that have visual interest, a little character for each model, and shift in hues to make it more fun to paint. I came across this piece by Paul Dainton, I think, and in the shadow areas there's a touch of purple or magenta and boooooy I'm a sucker for magenta. The high-shine on the metallics works well too. The armour itself is still quite tidy though.
But then I came across this old post on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/p/C0jtaTNs10M/) and it captures the look I wanted from a Horus Heresy force, and for an army I was hoping to find reason to paint. The colours aren't quite there for me, but I think we can address that with the colours above, and it's a great starting point. I like the individuality of the markings, and a few of the embellishments, in particular the crests and flag. It says "we're a small, elite force, and we look fucking AWESOME" to me.
I'm not wild about the blue here, but it's the overall aesthetic he's achieved with this scheme that appeals. I'll have a think about adding richness (see: magenta) into this scheme for depth to complement the warm golds. With only a couple of days until the box arrives, the next step will be to dig out a test model and try the scheme to see what works and what needs adjustment.
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