SHOWCASE: Alpha Legion veteran tactical squad

Horus Heresy: Alpha Legion veteran tactical squad

The first models I painted this year were five veteran tactical marines for my Alpha Legion. I should probably be a bit embarrassed, therefore, that I've only just finished the squad! I tend to have a habit of starting projects, but not finishing them—hence the name of this blog. There's always something that will distract me and, before you know it, my desk is full. Well, I'm determined to make August a month for finishing things.

WIP: Alpha Legion veteran tactical squad (update #1)

Alpha Legion veteran tactical marine
with missle launcher

Another quick update today. This time it's another addition to my Alpha Legion veteran tactical squad. This guy carries the squad's heavy weapon: a Proteus pattern missile launcher. If I remember rightly from my (brief) foray into gaming in the early to mid-90s, missile launchers can be great for blowing up both tanks and infantry, depending on the type of missiles they fire. I like to think this one would be more than adequate at such a role.

In other news, my updates are weekly at the moment for good reason. While I'm still very active on the painting front, a lot of my energies are going into a very specific project. Details will be revealed next week!

SHOWCASE: Alpha Legion contemptor dreadnought

Horus Heresy: Alpha Legion contemptor dreadnought

Today we have a new addition to my (very slowly) growning Alpha Legion collection: a contemptor dreadnought. This is the Forge World model, complete with sculpted Alpha Legion details. I've armed it with a power fist and a volkite culverin. I have no idea if these are any good in game, but they look cool and that's all that matters to me as a painter. This model features lots of airbrush work, mainly on the blue armour, but also on some source lighting on the main weapon.

SHOWCASE: Alpha Legion standard bearer

Horus Heresy: Alpha Legion standard bearer

This is the first of just three models I managed to finish in February. I've worked on several others that will hopefully show themselves in the coming months, but for now I'm focusing on those that are done. This one—a standard bearer for what will be the command squad in my Alpha Legion collection—was a relatively quick job, following the pattern I'm already familiar with from my veteran tactical squad. The most difficult part with this was applying the transfer (from Forge World's Alpha Legion transfer sheet) to the banner. It took lots of patience and decal medium, but it's done now and ready to join the others.

WIP: Alpha Legion veteran tactical squad

Horus Heresy: Alpha Legion veteran tactical squad (first half)

It's been a while since I posted. I did hardly any painting in December while I focused on other projects, not least my writing, which has been very beneficial. The downside has been that what was already, for me, a disappointing year on the hobby front ended with barely a whimper. I have, however, not been entirely idle. In the last few weeks I have returned to painting with a renewed motivation and some renewed goals. Among them are these offerings from a new army: the Alpha Legion.

SHOWCASE: Armillus Dynat, Harrowmaster of the Alpha Legion

Horus Heresy: Armillus Dynat, Harrowmaster of the Alpha Legion

Today I present the finished Armillus Dynat model. After taking a break to work on a variety of other projects, not to mention a variety of non-painting-related distractions, I've finally made time to get this model done. The main things I had outstanding were the head, white details on his armour and his base. I've actually had him finished for about a month now, but I wasn't happy with the photographs I took at the time. Now, at last, I can say that's he done.

WIP: Armillus Dynat #3

Progress so far

After spraying this a while ago, I've at last been able to spend the best part of a day on my Armillus Dynat model. This is an unusual project for me for a couple of reasons: firstly I've never painted anything for the Alpha Legion before; and secondly I've never used the core techniques I'm using on it before either.

WIP: Armillus Dynat #2

Main body prior to undercoating

Following on from my last post, I'm now in a position to start looking at this model again. Having cleaned and assembled the bulk of the model, it's ready for paint. I'm painting this model in a number of sub-assemblies. The main body is shown above. Separate pieces include the hammer he holds in his right hand, his head and not one but two sculpted bases. The reason for the sub-assemblies is to make it easier to paint. I want to be able to get to the model from all angles and both the base and the hammer would make this complicated. I'm leaving the head separate because it has an exposed face and it's easier to paint on its own rather than risking getting the armour colours all over it.

WIP: Armillus Dynat #1

Armillus Dynat... in pieces

This week I'm starting another new project. I know I have a few on the go, but for various reasons, I thought I'd kick this one off all the same. You'll probably have noticed that my posts haven't been very frequent lately. Unfortunately I've had some personal issues to take care of that have meant that hobby time has been a long way down the list. There's still more to do over the next couple of weeks, but I'd welcome the distraction of a shiny new model to work on when I can. This project will hopefully represent a return to form, though it may be a slow starter so I'll ask you to bear with me.