So, the Kill Team starter set happened. Let's gloss over the fact that I've already got several other projects running in parallel. What could possibly go wrong? Anyway ... a combination of factors, but I've embraced it and want to get my Genestealer Cultists running as quickly as possible.
From the rulebook and official GW force, I really liked the look of the Cult of the Rusted Claw.
Then I saw one actually painted up by a non-GW'er (https://twitter.com/Terminatortids/status/1031486816518582272) and thought they still looked great! I'm sold on the idea, so off we go ...
Much cutting, clipping, swearing and gluing later ... I have a force assembled.
You'll notice there's a Skitarii force in the background too. Let's ignore that, and it can come as a wonderful surprise when I actually paint them up.
After priming, I realised the basecoat needed to be significantly brighter, or my planned colour scheme wouldn't work. So over the black goes a 50/50 mix of khaki and white, then it's a case of starting to fill out the darker items of clothing - starting with the boots.
Heads will remain unattached until I'm happy that the inside of the hoods are finished.
It was at this point I realised there had been an error, and there's a slightly graininess to the primer on the models. That'll teach me for using a rattlecan on figures, instead of saving the cans for scenery.