Cadia Stands! (Part 1)

 

Finished and basecoated. 

Recently I tried to arrange a game with Da Masta Cheef which sadly didn't happen. We had set the point limit for just 500pts and with that low a model count I started to look at my armies that I rarely play. I decided to make a list for an army that I have never played (at least not within the decade that this blog has existed): Imperial Guard.  I have two Imperial Guard armies, Valhalla and Cadia, very little which of either are painted.  When it comes to painting them, I have always been intimated by the sheer number of these guys I have for both armies.  And I have been having fun with projects already in the queue so the urgency to get to them has simply never been there. But, 500 pts....hmm. I was able to cobble together a decent list for that with half of the models painted. Since the game was canceled faster than we could plan it, I found myself with the free time to really look at these guys. I love the original metal Cadians. I like the plastic ones just fine too, but the metals had a character and charm the plastics lack. I assembled a squad of totally unpainted minis and decided, "screw it, it's just one squad of infantry, let's do it!"

Cadia stands...in the Neverness paint queue.

The first thing I did was clean up the flash and mold lines. A chore I don't miss when it comes to metals. Then I added grit and skulls to their bases. Then it was prime time. 

Prime time.

I chose a white primer this time. The last time I painted this color scheme on Guardsmen I used a black primer and was a bit unimpressed with the outcome.  They're fine I guess, but compared to the first test model I had done a few years earlier,  I found them lacking. I intend to not let that happen to these guys. 

So I revisted the first test model I did way back around the turn of this century ('99? 2k?). I have shown this model on this blog before but those pics were not the best so here it is again and from more than one angle. 

Original test model

Test model from behind.

I struggle to recall the exact formula I used on this guy originally, but my pallette was very much limited back then compared to what I have now so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. 

I started by using Gulliman Flesh Contrast Paint on the skin. This is the dream color for anyone who wants to get their Caucasian skinned miniatures battle-ready as soon as possible. Two layers of tha paint and it's passable in my book. Ultimately I will work on it more but for now, it's alright.

Basecoats (front).

The Grey uniform was basecoated using Craftmade Graphite. The black areas were basecoated using Abaddon Black. I used Mournfang Brown on all the brown areas. The pouches and bedroll was painted using Tamiya Color Olive Drab. The aquillas are going to be down in metallic golds. I like how these came out on the test model but that yellow is a pain to paint and they look a bit too...'90s.

Basecoat (rear)

These basecoats came out well, and I think it's good enough to be battle-ready honestly.  I took advange of the moment and repeated this process on the rest of the unit. 

The whole unit. 

I plan to to paint these guys up to the level of the test model. But for now I am happy to have, what I consider to be, a battle-ready unit for when the chance to have that game with Cheef ever arises. Oh, wait, it did happen! Expect a battle report soon! 

Sarge says: "Come back for some xenos slaughter!"