Anniversary Marine Project (Part 3)

And here we are: not-quite-am-Iron Warrior marine is done!

Finished!

Here are the last stages of his progress:

Assembling the arms was a tad tricky as the original left arm I selected wasn't going to work. So I found an alternate and it seems to work a lot better.

Painting the coils on the Plasma Gun took quite a few steps. Essentially I began with a Scab Red base, with Mephiston Red, which I mixed with an old Blood Angels Orange, with a highlight of Sunburst Yellow. I washed over this with a red ink glaze.

Shoulder pads!

The shoulder pads were finished after I put the Iron Warrior's decal on. I hope Adam doesn't mind that, i think they have one of few icons that could be used pre and post Heresy, but I could be wrong. Anyway, it was bitch to get it on and I had to apply many layers of Micro Set to make it work. But once I did, it was time to glue the whole thing together. And here he is completed:

Completed!

Completed from the rear.

Back in anniversary-marine-project-part-1 I shared Adam's thoughts on how he would like the base done up. I think I did a pretty good job with getting all good and swampy with the colors, but I had left a few areas of the base exposed, which I colored, and these applied lots of gloss varnish to make it appear like a small pool or a puddle. I then added some grass tufts for a bit more a marshy feel. After I sealed the model outside with matte varnish, I decided a photo in natural light would be a neat idea. I positioned him on some dried mud (is a "dry creek" that runs next to my house) and I thought he looked right in this environment. 

Defender of the mucky-muck!

So that's a wrap! Thanks everyone for participating and celebrating our birthday over this past month, Also thanks again to our winner Adam for participating and choosing a new challenge for me to paint. I will be sending him to you as soon as I find an appropriate, and secure, box to send him in.

Anniversary Marine Project (Part 2)

And the work progresses....

Adam, winner of our birthday giveaway, stated how he would like the model's base completed in the first part of this series and I wanted to make sure I was making a good effort at it. I started with a darker brown, Folk Art Raw Umber, to give the ground some darker shadows.

Folk Art Raw Umber basecoat on the base.

Then I added the Stirland Mud. First I had to run down to the local hobby store to get it though as I didn't have it yet. It is a texture paint, and it looks like chunky mud or fudge from the Chocolate Fetish that somebody put into a Citadel paint pot, but rest assured, it definitely is a paint. It's a good product and great for basing models and I wish I had it for when I was working on my Bolt Action British infantry.

Midcoat of Stirland Mud texture paint.

Scab Red base on eyes and gem.

After that I dry brushed on the Pallid Wyche Flesh like he said he did, but I though it looked too 'frosted' for my tastes so I washed over it with Sepia Ink. Sepia is weird blend of brown and green and it's just perfect for the swampy look I think Adam was asking for.

Pallid Wyche Flesh drybrused on ground.

Sepia ink wash over ground.

Next I painted the armor using a lot of Nuln Oil over Leadbelcher and Delta Ceramcoat Metallic Pewter. I am pleased with the result.

Armor painted.

Armor washed.

Gold highlights on brass.

During the course of the last few pics, in addition to working on the armor, other details were also painted. The power coils on the plasma gun were painted with Scab Red and then Evil Suns Scarlet; Still some work to be done on those bitz. The brass bitz were finished off with Shinning Gold as was the plasma gun itself.

Anniversary Marine Project (Part 1)

The winner of the Neverness Hobby Chronicle birthday-6th year anniversary giveaway, Adam, reached out to accept the reward and inform me on how he would like to have the model completed:

"When I first got into the hobby back in 2010, I bought a box of Black Reach, my friend took the orcs and I took the marines. I picked a black/bronze scheme for them, and slopped some paint on. I was never happy with the results (black is hard to paint!) so I quickly moved onto imperial guard, but I've since picked up some 30k stuff and have been wanting to return to my...preheresy Iron Warrior loyalists? A similar paint scheme done by someone much more talented than myself could be a fantastic reference piece and inspiration."

Adam's original paint scheme from 2010.

So this miniature is going to be inspirational piece? That is pretty cool, but also it ups the game a bit as now I really got to do the best job I can do on this marine, especially if it's going to be the inspirational piece for a whole army!

After some additional correspondence he decided to take a Plasma Gun option with the heating coils painted red. That should be fun, since I have never painted them in any color other than blue.

I immediately started the night I first heard from Adam by picking a base and cutting a slot for the slotta tab.

Slot.

And presto, he was based!

Astartes Erectus.

Adam also gave me some direction on the look he wants for the base:

"I've tried to base my marines with a swamp inspired theme. I've attached an image of a contemptor base I was working on as well as one of my old Black Reach Marines. I found that Stirland Mud with a bit of Pallid Wych Flesh drybrushed onto it gave it the color I liked for the ground."

Sounds easy enougb to me, and the effect does look sufficiently swampy.

Tread'n on swampy ground.

After thinking about it over the course of a week, I figured out how I am going to paint this scheme, which will reveal that in future posts as I progress on the model. In our correspondence Adam requested that I lay off the 'hazard symbols' that seem so common with this Legion, and should be an easy request to fullfill as those things can be time consuming.

Iron Warriors Heresy-era scheme

So having said all that I was able to get started on the model. Gathering and selecting the bits, and assembling the plasma gun arm took me longer than expected, but I'll blame the resident toddler for distracting me. Here I have started the base and primed the model black:

Primed.

 Next I have begun the drilling and pinning for the arms. Neccessary if one hopes to not be reglueing them back on all the time.

Drilling the holes.

Test fitting.

And there you go, the project has offically started!