Tuesday, November 22, 2016

The Spear's Tip

The Horus Heresy Series has been one of the highlights of Modern-Hammer for me. Particularly the first three novels of the series, which focus heavily on the Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus in a way that makes many of the legionnaires relatable. Even as the legion falls from the Emperor during the course of the three novels, it is easy to empathize some of their choices. I've oft told myself that if I ever start a Horus Heresy army it would be the Sons of Horus or the Luna Wolves. The above reason is one, the other being that I feel if I'm going to paint Heresy era marines, I want to paint them in a scheme that doesn't exist by the 40th millennia, otherwise what's the point? I might as well just paint 40k marines. 

So when it came time to paint this Tartaros pattern Terminator, since I'd already painted a Luna Wolf, why not paint this as a Son of Horus?

The XVI legion is usually described as being one of the first in to battle and where the fighting is at its thickest. So I knew I wanted him to look battle-worn. I also knew I didn't feel like mixing all the complex mixes some other's have used on the Sons of Horus so I stuck with the Forgeworld paints as a base.

I began by airbrushing metallic primer, to which I applied several washes in spots to simulate dirt, rust, and heat. Then I applied some Ammo by Mig Heavy Chipping Medium, also with an airbrush. After that dried for about 5 minutes, I then applied the three Forgeworld paints with my airbrush, with each layer being applied more zenithally than the last. After that was done, then I scratched up the model with a variety of damp brushes to create the chips. I'm not terribly happy with the size of some of the chips, as they are too large and not spread enough over the model. After that, I painted the brass and the black chest emblem before returning to the armor. I reapplied Sons of Horus green around the edges, and then mixed in a 50:50 mix of Dawnstone Grey and Sotek Green for a few more highlights. I also applied the highlight below the larger scratches and Nocturne Green above them to emphasize the damage. After that, I knocked out the remaining stuff like the eyes and the stormbolter. I'm pretty happy with the results, I think he looks as if he's surveying the battle during a momentary lull to see where he should head next.



9 comments:

  1. Is he a newer version Andrew? His stance looks more upright than the original.

    These terminators were the best....no contest!

    He looks great man, top job :)

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  2. Lovely way of taking an old sculpt and paint a contemporary scheme onto it.

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  3. You've certainly done this fine new sculpt justice with your fine new painting :) thanks for describing your process, it was worth the effort you put in for sure :D

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    1. The nice thing about painting Space Marines mostly with an airbrush is very little effort is required!

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  4. I like the battle worn look you've achieved.

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  5. Just found your blog. A lot of great stuff here! /Hans

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    1. High praise indeed coming from a master such as yourself! Thanks!!!

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