I hit my stride with Judgment in early August, blowing through shading and into layers. That tipping point always feels good.
This WIP post compiles a couple weeks’ work.
With Judgment on the back nine, I got out Squad Adamo — already primed — so I could work in parallel.
I thought a bit about how to handle the ruined stone structures on 3/5 of this squad’s bases, because I wanted them to stand out from the brown/grey stones of Armageddon, and settled on brown. The only brown I have is Mournfang Brown, which looks like poop.
But once the wash is down, it starts to look a lot less like poop — and I had faith in my first layer, 2:1 Kislev Flesh:Mournfang Brown.
Assault Squad color guide
Bases are the usual except:
- Metal: Leadbelcher > Agrax Earthshade > Stormhost Silver drybrush > Ryza Rust drybrush
- Stone ruins: Mournfang Brown > Agrax Earthshade > 2:1 Kislev Flesh:Mournfang Brown drybrush > light Grey Seer drybrush (dust/weathering)
Ditto the models, except:
- Helmets: Averland Sunset > Agrax Earthshade > Yriel Yellow as a true layer, nearly full coverage > Flash Gitz Yellow
- Hazard stripes: alternating bands of Abaddon Black/Averland Sunset > no layers on the black, but on the yellow: Yriel Yellow > Flash Gitz Yellow
- Eviscerator channel: Leadbelcher > Nuln Oil pin wash
This was my first time drybrushing Ryza Rust rather than spot-painting with it, and I like this approach quite a bit. It’s easier to take a light, subtle touch and make the metal look old and rusty, rather than just rusty. Pure spot-painting seems to work well for something poorly made that’s had a few years to rust — like Ork scrap and vehicle parts — but doing it on these metal elements would be overkill.
Land Raider Crusader color guide
As general Blood Angels or Rhino, except:
- Wings: Celestra Grey > Drakenhof Nightshade > Ulthuan Grey > White Scar
- Commander’s helmet: Macragge Blue > Drakenhof Nightshade > Altdorf Guard Blue > Calgar Blue
- Multi-Melta screen: Moot Green > Agrax Earthshade > Moot Green > Caledor Sky symbols
Finishing order is probably also worth noting for Future Martin’s benefit:
- Front turret and sponson swivel guns, sensor pieces, and bottom attachments were fully painted while detached
- Main tank body was fully painted
- Sponson “wells” and front turret pit were varnished
- Detached bits were varnished
- Sponson guns slipped into place
- Sponsor sensor units glue onto gun swivels
- Bottom attachments glued into place
- Varnish touched up on all sponson elements
- Front turret glued into place
- Varnish touched up on front turret
- Rest of tank varnished and allowed to cure in two stages (bottom treads; everything else)
After Judgment, just 15 Space Marines separate me from my first full-fledged finished 40k army (say that five times fast!).