Ultramarines Balistus Dreadnought (Part 5)

 And now the conclusion: 

Done, totally done!

One of the things I had to do was the company  badge. I did this by using a yellow circle decal which I glossed over and painted red. I decided to leave a little sliiver of yellow exposed to give the illusion of a highlight. Next I glossed over that and applied the roman numeral three icon. And presto, it was finished.

The yellow circle.

The backside has the Adeptus Mechanicus icon which I like to make red. This turned out well on the Redemptor Dreadnought I did and I felt justified in repeating it here. 

 Backside with Admech sponsorship.

The campain badge on the right leg was also a repeat of the Redemptor Dreadnought, but I mo e it back a little bit so that it wouldn't cover the separation in the armor. That kind of annoyed me with the Redemptor Dreadnought and I didn't want to repeat that here.

Campaign badge.

Once done some foliage was added to the base. I tried to keep the choice of tufts consistent with the Redemptor Dreadnought since they are truly  battle brothers.

Profile view of the lascannon.

This next view shows the skull I put on the pelvic plate. I like the idea of a fallen foe looking up to see this icon as this mechanical death machine looms over them.

Groin of death.

And here they are, a pair of Dreadnought battle Brothers! 

"I have this flank covered Brother!"
"And I have this one Brother!"
"Brother!"
"Brother!"

Another Dreadtober concludes, see you all again next year! 

Ultramarines Balistus Dreadnought (Part 4)

 This is it, my 2026 Dreadtober Ballistus Dreadnought has had all of it's painting completed! 

Done with paint! 

To get to this point I had to finish the old Ultramarines Blue stage that I only had half done last week. Then I edge highlighted all these blue areas using Fenrisian Grey. The gold areas, mostly the emblems and the trim around the sarcophagus, was base coated with Retributor Gold. The red areas on the weapons were basecoated using Khorne Red, then a thinned Mephiston Red was applied over that.

Those weapons then got a highlight of Wazdakka Red. The gold areas were finished using a wash of Reikland Fleshwash and then highlighted with Stormhost Silver. Stormhost Silver was then used to highlight all of the bults and metal parts and also used to apply a few scratches and scrape effects on a few spots on this model.

The missile warheads were painted with straight Whitescar. Then I painted all the lights and did touch-ups where I thought I needed to. 

And that's the painting essentially done. I will save the decals for next week, which should also give me time to find them.... and finally I will flock up the base. 

Ultramarines Balistus Dreadnought (Part 3)

 Here we are on the third week of this year's challenge. I was ill for all of the previous week so sadly that means little progress was made on this thing. But progress was made regardless! 

I was able to get Leadbelcher all over the non-blue metal areas. And so far that actually looks alright. Then I started on adding the classic '90s Ultramarines Blue (still the best Ultramarines blue Citadel ever produced) on the blue areas. But I only made it half way before being forced to stop (sometimes domestic life trumps hobby life).  So that's the current state of the thing. Hopefully I can get further along with it next week. 

Ultramarines Balistus Dreadnought (Part 2)

 Continuing on from Part 1, it was time to get started on throwing some paint on this metal behemoth. First off, I primed it using Chaos Black.

Primed in Chaos Black. 

Then I basecoated all the armor plates using  Space Marine Blue, a classic color from the first painted I ever got way back around Xmas of '89. It is still the best. 

The front canopy is removable, which I just dig.

Khorne Red was used to basecoat the weapons. 

Red guns make 'em bleed!

And the base was basecoated using Applebarrel Territorial  Beige and Mechanicus Standard Grey for the rocks. 

Waiting for the next layers.

Pretty straightforward week. Next week I should get some more layers done before tackling the details. 

Ultramarines Balistus Dreadnought (Part 1)

 

Dreadtober has arrived again! And this year I am pledging to finish a Balistus Dreadnought. This one is from Leviathan, the Warhammer 40,000 10th edition starter box.  It should be a lot easier to build than his brother that I built and painted in 2024, so hopefully that part of this project will go a lot faster. 

Still on sprue.

Assembly was way easier than his counterpart, the Redemptor Dreadnought, whom I painted for the 2024 Dreadtober challenge. And I'm quite thankful for that. After adding some more rubble and grit, the assembly was done. 

Now I am waiting for the window of opportunity to open for me so I can prime the model and dive into painting. Check back next week to see how far I get.

Celestial Lions Boxnaught (Part 5)

 Alright, this guy is now done! He is glued together and his iconography is completed. The only thing I haven't done is a sealer to protect the model from chipping, but the weather is too icky right now to attempt it. 

Done and ready to kill.

He might seem a tad bit plain, but I didn't want to go crazy with decals and icons, so I went with a "less is more" mindset, and just stuck a skull in a triangle on his leg. I suppose it's a campaign badge? 

Check out that sexy badge. 

I was unable to locate the Lion decals I bought ages ago, so I just went with a  crude hand drawn badge. This matches the rest of my Celestial Lions force who have similar iconography. My head-canon for this is that these are hand painted by the individual Trooper, and artists they are not. 

Honor thy chapter.

And that's it, another Dreadtober is wrapped up and done.  I am already thinking about next year,  and I have a lot of options to mull over. But as a final parting shot, here is Shiney compared to my pledge from last year, who is double the size of this relic from the '90s. 

"Stand back squirt, I've got this!"

Celestial Lions Boxnaught (Part 3)

 This week I have made a bit more progress from were we left things last week. 

I used Leadbelcher over all the components that are painted black. Then I used classic Shining Gold as an edge highlight. 

After that, I paint the left should blue. This is where the chapter icons will go.  I used Stormhost Silver to highlight all the rivets and bolts. I so used is as a subtle edge highlight. 

I used Stormhost Silver to highlight the skulls and a acquilla icons that are scattered across the model. 

I am not too sure I like that result, so I might try some ideas to see if I can't visually punch some of those icons out. 

Celestial Lions Boxnaught (Part 2)

 Welcome to the second part of this year's Dreadtober challenge. In Part 1 I spelled out the plan, and now I'm plowing ahead with it.  To start, I shook up a can of Krylon 18kt Gold Plate spray paint and took it and this hunk of metal outside and blasted away. Afterwards I used classic Chestnut ink (I am so glad I still have some of this!) and used it to darken all the joints and recesses. 

A 41st Millennium solid gold dancer. 

And then I used Abaddon Black to basecoat the areas that are going to end up a silvery metal as opposed to gold. 

Black basecoats. 

That's all the progress I made on the miniature itself, but I did almost finish his base. Just a few minor things to finish on it (the skull and bullet casings specifically) and it's done. 

The base. 

We'll see how much further I get with this next week, but so far this is rolling along well. 

Celestial Lions Boxnaught (Part 1)

 Ah, Dreadtober! My favorite reoccurring project of the year returns! 

"I'm pretty sure I'm a Blood Angel."

For this year's dreadnought I have decided to repaint this old classic. This is a 30 year old boxnaught. He may be small compared to the toys you kids have today, but this thing has the weight and heft to truly harm someone if employed in a violent manner. To be clear, this came to me second-hand and I was not the original painter of this thing. After-all, I don't play Blood Angels and I don't think I have painted one since around 1993 (for Space Crusade). And back then, they were a bit more orange.  Anyway, this guy is going to get stripped all the way down to the bare metal.... 

"...well, I was anyway."

...well, mostly. 

Next week, painting! 

Ultramarines Redemptor Dreadnought (Part 4)

 With mere hours of the year's Dreadtober challenge left, I managed to get my project completed. 

I used 'Ard Coat to apply the decals on this model. This was particularly necessary for the III icon on top the red circle. These two overlaying decals were from a decades old sheet and the red circle almost disintegrated when trying to apply it  I had to repaint it using Mephiston Red before applying the 'Ard Coat layer to get it ready for the roman numeral three.  

I didn't talk about it in the last post, but toward the end of the construction process I decided to use some of the left over bits from the Venerable Dreadnought kit (my Dreadtober project from 2021) to give this thing a bit more flare. The most prominent one being the shield with the terminator honors and skull jewelry  

On his back he has the round Adeptus Mechanicus shield on display. On the examples of painted versions of this model, I don't think I can recall ever seeing anyone paint in the palte that Ad Mech icon on in Ad Mech red. I decided to give it a shot and I think I like the way it turned out. 

The left side of the model doesn't have any decals. it just sort of happened that way!

One of the joys of this model is that the main guns can be swapped out. I see myself using the plasma gun mostly but the assault cannon one is just too cool to leave on the sprue. 

The plants on the base are an assort of grass tufts and Dumb Cane, a new thing I picked up from my local Hobbytown store by a brand called Gamers Grass 

This turned out to be a project that I was very satisfied with in the end, and I look forward to next year! 

Ultramarines Redemptor Dreadnought (Part 3)

 

WIP continues.

Progress on this metal hulk continues. Well, he's a plastic model of a metal hulk anyway. Regardless of all that, he is now blue! With the Dreadtober deadline for my stated project fast approaching I set about trying to achieve my month-end goal.  

The basecoats.

The basecoats were easy and quick. This is primarily because there were really just two colors, Space Marine Blue and Delta Ceramcoat Metallic Pewter (I prefer this over Leadbelcher, but that would suffice if I had to resort to it). 

First stage mid-coats.

Macrage Blue was the next layer added to the blue followed by Ultramarines Blue and edge highlighted with Fenrisian Grey. 

"Guve me details or give me death!"

Getting down to the wire as the days of the month dwindle down to hours. It's mostly the minor details and the big guns that I need to knock out before the final stage of decal application. But can I make that deadline?  With the real-life obstacles before me, my spare time is going to be (and for too much of this month it's already been) sparse and fleeting, but we'll see what I can do! 

Ultramarines Redemptor Dreadnought (Part 2)

 And finally, a progress update:

Forgive my tardiness on this update. I found the construction of this Remdemptor Dreadnought to be a tedious affair. And, much to my chagrin and annoyance, I made multiple mishaps along the way that set me back a bit as well. 

    

The biggest one, and the one I can't figure out how to overcome, is that somehow the bottom door cover doesn't go far enough up so that the top door will set into the groove on the lower door. I haven't been able to figure how I screwed this up, so I moved on. I feel that it gives the semblance of an underbite on this thing which amuses me. 

And yes,, I am keeping this in sub-assemblies for easier painting. 

I love that the guns are interchangeable. A concept I hope the GW design team allows on more kits. 

The left arm was the biggest challenge. I kept making mistakes in assembly and had to tear it apart a few time to get it right. It's not correct as the joint that connects into the should is upside down. I couldn't fix that with damaging the model so I used a piece of sprue to make a stud for the armor plate to attach to.  Desperate necessity for the win I suppose...

I didn't want to spend too much time on the base but I didn't want into be plain either. I cut up a few pieces of sprue to use as rubble chunks and tossed on a few skulls before gluing down some grit. It's subtle but it works. 

And finally, I primed this brute. He is far from done but I celebrated getting to this stage! 

And now, let's get painting!