Dust Warfare: Silent Death

These Steel Guards models have always been some of my favorites. Mutilated veterans given a chance to fight again for the glory of their Motherland. Encased in the heaviest of armor and given the most powerful "infantry" weapons they would go and avenge themselves.  Some people like these models others don't.  I think they are awesome.  This is the Steel Guards sniper team and they are armed with man portable semi-automatic cannons.

Target sighted and annihilated.

Hope you enjoyed.  I did have a bit of trouble with the white balance on the last image, but I think it turned out okay.

The Baneblade ZEAL

The Baneblade, the pinnacle of armored warfare in the 41st millennium.  The stories tell of their might, a single squadron can hold off entire companies of enemy armor.  They are a rare beast these days, their loss is keenly felt and difficult to replace.  An entire war was waged to recover Commissar Yarrick's Baneblade The Fortress of Arrogance.

I got my Baneblade kit soon after they were released and painted it not much after that.  Over the last few years it was really showing its age, and I decided last year to repaint it.  I posted then that I was stripping it of its old paint and earlier this year I finally got around to slapping on a new paint job.  Zeal  is again ready to go to war for the Imperium and now I don't even have to only use it in Apocalypse.  Though the best part is seeing it with all the techniques I have learned since the last time I painted the tank.

Here it is now.

More after the break.

Leman Russ: Judgement

Just finished painting the lead tank for my Armor Company and Armor Squadron 1.  The tank is called Judgement and it is commanded by Commissar Constantin Braun.  As this is a command tank it has some upgraded sensors and equipment, since it's the company leader I also gave it the GW command upgrade auspex/comms package.  Went about painting this tank in much the same way as my last Leman Russ Tough Bastard and every piece of armor since then.  A simple grey base followed by scratching, damage, and weathering.  It has the commander stripe with the roman numeral I for the squadron number.  Since it's commanded by a commissar it's also got the red and black stripe design on the side.

Here's a front view of the tank, there is a small medallion on the lower left and the name is below the turret on the flat of the hull.

The commander is the Forge World model and is a very nice sculpt.  He took some time to paint as there are a fair number of details to him.  In this picture you can see that I made the heavy stubber as a coaxial weapon as seen on many of the FW turrets.  I made that with a few small brass tubes.

I put about how much stowage as I usually do and of course my ridiculous whip antennas.  There are also purity seals and the like denoting the honors of the vehicle and strength of its machine spirit.  I did not add any mottos to this tank as it's got a commissar as a commander.  So, the only writing I have done is the name and the kill tally on the barrel.  It's a pretty high tally as this guy is supposed to be a company commander and should be pretty good at his job.  I will perhaps use him as Knight Commander Pask from time to time.

I generally apply much more pigment to the bottom of the hull than to to upper portion.  I will have it so that it rests on the edges of the track axel mounts and then lightly brush it up from there to slightly powder the top of the hull as well.  The top of the tank and turret get a little more in spots and streaks.  Where there are bullet marks and hit damage I add some black pigment.  I also add powder residue to the muzzle break because it looks cooler that way even though it's not all to realistic.  I use mig productions pigments, but you can use any brand you like.  I still have the same jars I bought in 2009 and will have them for several more years before they are gone.  They are ground extremely fine and cover and stay adhered very well, even with wargaming use.  I cannot speak for other brands as I have never used them, but Mig get my support.

Finally, a shot of 1st and 2nd squadron lead tanks together. Can't wait to have all 3 squadrons painted up.  3rd squadron will feature the Destroyer Tank Hunter as leader with 2 FW turret Vanquishers to form a tank hunting squadron.  1st and 2nd Squadrons are a mix of the new and old Battle Tank and Demolisher Kits a few of which have several main gun options modeled.  I can field at least 1 of any variant.

That's it for now, not sure what I am going to be working on next, I am currently waiting on some horses to use to make Rough Riders.  I may begin that project next week.  Comments and critique are appreciated, thanks for stopping by.