I settled on building a Blood Angels army for 40k earlier this month, and now I’ve brought it up from 500-600 points to 800-900 (depending on how I build the models). I’ve got Commander Dante on the way, which should put me right on the money for a 1,000-point Vanguard Detachment, or over a thousand if I build it as a Battalion Detachment and add another squad of troops.
For Sanguinius!
Along with the Blood Angels Codex (paid link), which has been a blast to read, I snagged a box each of Death Company (paid link) and Sanguinary Guard (paid link) and some painting supplies. I’m still following the Rule of Cool: buying what I want to paint without worrying about whether it’s an optimal mechanical choice (while also doing it in the framework of building an army, to keep myself pointed at a goal).
Although the Dreadnought and Rhino are larger than anything I’ve painted in 30-plus years, this is still fewer miniatures than what’s in Space Hulk: 23 Genestealers, 12 Terminators, 3 misc. pieces vs. 1 leader/hero, 10 troops, 15 elites, 1 tank, 1 Dreadnought. That feels like a manageable 1,000-point army to paint.
And even with the new paints folded into my collection I’ve got room to spare in my WarpedMindGames paint racks (which I reviewed back in February, and still love)!
I’m planning a couple of changes to my painting regimen once I finish my Space Hulk Terminators and switch to 40k minis. I’ve done a bit of experimentation with edge highlighting some elements and drybrushing others, which I think I’ll step up for my army. I’ve also got some Citadel texture paint, the correct reds for my Angels, and a palette so I can stop dipping my brushes directly into my pots (a big no-no that I’m terrible about!).
And now . . . time to get back to painting!
Out now: The Unlucky Isles
The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is now on DriveThruRPG.
After a bit of airing-out time I got my paint racks from WarpedMindGames assembled. They’re everything I hoped they would be — absolutely fantastic, and for a solid price.
Imperial Paint Rack Linear
I ordered the one that’s set up with 34 mm holes for GW paint pots, of which it holds 45. Assembly took about 5 minutes and was entirely problem-free.
You can see the two brush slots towards the back. Note too the nicely staggered rows, like movie theater seats, which make the labels of partially obscured rows of paint easier to see.
Front view
This rack is full of decorative flourishes that give it character, like the gothic arches in the sides and the eagles on the cross-braces.
Side view, note the little cathedral windows
There are also purely decorative eagles in the back, and the cutouts from whence they emerged are in the largely invisible bottom of the rack.
Back view, with the decorative eagles (and the invisible cutout on the bottom you’ll rarely see — a cute touch)
Here she is fully assembled and stocked with paint and brushes. I’ve got base coats in the front, followed by layers, shades, and dry brush paints marching up towards the top.
Fully stocked and ready to rock
The shop said that these don’t need glue, and I agree. The only fitment that’s even vaguely loose is the very top rack (the skinny one), which has the fewest attachment points. But this entire rack, fully loaded, also isn’t designed to be moved around regularly. I don’t plan to glue any of it.
The paint holes are perfectly sized for my new-style GW pots. They also hold my smattering of Privateer P3 paints just as well. I’m basically out of brush space here, but that’s what the second rack, the Mini, is for; it will also hold some of my overflow paints (duplicates, dodgy ones that don’t have much life left in them) and my hobby knife, basing media, etc.
Imperial Paint Rack Mini
Like the larger one, the Imperial Paint Rack Mini went together beautifully in about 5 minutes. This one is compact and has more structure to it thanks to the large plates above and below the drawer; it’ll do great if I need to tote it around the house (and again, no glue).
My assembled mini
The drawer is quite deep, swallowing up my miscellaneous miniature-related stuff easily. The flat surface in front of the first paint row makes a handy spot for odd-sized bottles (primer, etc.) — and, I suspect, a good work shelf for paints that are on-deck for whatever I’m painting at the moment.
The double-eagle doubles as the drawer pull
Everything else I said about the big one applies here. It’s a thoughtful design, cleverly implemented as a flat-pack DIY solution, and it has character to boot.
It’s eagle time
I also had a great experience with WarpedMindGames as a shop. I messaged the owner, Brian, about a small problem (the fitment of my drawer), he messaged me back in five minutes, and after investigating found that his cutter’s driver was off; I had a new drawer on the way that same day, with some extra goodies in the package as an unexpected surprise.
Laser-cut objective tokens and, I think, an acrylic bottle opener
Here they are side by side on my desk. I have a few paints elsewhere at the moment (the colors I’m using), but taken together these two accommodate my entire collection with ease.
The mini and the linear side by side
Thumbs up all around on the WarpedMindGames, their service, and these two racks!
Update: I’ve been chatting about minis games with Brian of WMG, and he shared this tip: Don’t store brushes vertically, as it can cause them to splay out and/or get junk in the ferrules. Instead, store them horizontally — for me, that’ll be in the drawer of the Mini — and use the vertical slots for other tools (hobby knife, files, etc.).
Out now: The Unlucky Isles
The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is now on DriveThruRPG.
My previous storage solution for miniature paints, brushes, and supplies was a fishing tackle box. It was nice for transporting my stuff to a friend’s place to paint together, but that didn’t last long and my paint collection has since outgrown the box.
It was time for a new solution, so I did some homework and landed on two racks from WarpedMindGames on Etsy. I bought the Imperial Paint Rack Linear and the Imperial Paint Rack Mini, both with holes sized for GW pots since that accounts for 90% of my paints. From price point to design, with the WH40K-esque eagles and staggered paint slots, these looked fantastic to me.
They arrive unassembled and smelling like burnt wood — which makes sense, given that they’re laser-cut MDF. Oddly, they smell like Christmas to me; it’s not at all unpleasant.
WarpedMindGames MDF paint racks, fresh out of the box
The larger one holds 45 GW paint pots (they offer other sizes, too) and has some slots for brush storage. This will juuuust about hold all of my current paints. I think.
The large rack
The mini includes a storage drawer, and I figured I could probably use it as a “local travel” rack — basically to stock it and set it wherever the best light is at the moment, which isn’t always at my office desk. (I know I should have a proper lighting setup — or, fucking A, a light arch — but one step at a time.)
The mini rack
I’m going to air them out a bit before assembly, so I extracted them from their shipping bags (they were quite nicely packed, with bubble wrap and all of the more fragile bits shielded from harm) to improve air circulation. Sometime in the next day or two I’ll get them assembled and see if they work nicely — which I expect they will.
Out now: The Unlucky Isles
The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is now on DriveThruRPG.
Out now: The Unlucky Isles
