Iron Snakes: Ancient Nestor - TO DONE!

Hi folks,

This morning I finished off my Iron Snakes Contemptor "Ancient Nestor" after some tricky decal work on the Dark Angels shields. The last couple of painting sessions have all focused on completing the back of the miniature, in particular the power-plant. The project has been very challenging, particularly as I have tried a couple of new techniques on the weapons and base.

Ancient Nestor is named after a venerable character in Homer's Odyssey. Nestor’s portrayal in the Odyssey is contradictory. Homer describes him as a wise man; Nestor repeatedly offers advice to the Achaeans, such as arranging the armies by tribes and clans and how to effectively use chariots in battle. At the same time, Nestor's advice is frequently ineffective, such as instructing the Achaeans to use spear techniques that in actuality would be disastrous, and giving advice to Patroclus that ultimately leads to his death. Nestor is never questioned, however, as the consequences of heeding his advice are attributed to the fickle hearts of the Gods. I am hoping to incorporate this duality of character into his special rules...

Front view: Maintaining a limited pallet was hard due to the level of detail.

Right view: A plasma cannon may not be the best dreadnought weapon, but... MOAR plasma!

Arm detail: A spartan shield from Scibor miniatures

Back: here you can see the second Iron Snakes symbol a little more clearly.

Plasma blaster detail: What a nifty place to hide a gun.

I have to thank the Warhammer 40K Google+ community for helping me with the base. I was really torn with how to arrange it and the support I found online was greatly appreciated. Originally this Dreadnought was going to be a Dark Angels Contemptor, with its foot crushing a Fallen Angel, so the pose was designed to exactly fit the body of a marine between the left foot and the base. Finding a piece of Spartan ruins that fit that exact height was amazing.

Leg detail: That Dark Angels symbol was a mongrel to get on for some reason; one last challenge :-)

So... my Iron Snakes detachment finally has some support and I can tick another project off my 2014/15 To-Do list. I still have a Master of the Forge to paint for this detachment, though I think I will knock over a few quick Tyranid and Dark Angels jobs first. I think a quick break from painting verdigris and blue plasma glow will do me some good! For now, I can give myself a big red stamp and enjoy the fact that this three year old project is finally finished:

See you across the table,

M4cr0