Dark Angels Master Astoran "The Unmerciful" TO-DONE!!!

 

Hi folks,

Last night I added the finishing touches to Astoran's Heavenfall blade, after watching some YouTube tutorials on how to paint energy effects. I have never been particularly successful at this skill, but I am happy with how this version turned out!

It took me an hour or so of really fine detail painting, which (as is often the case) you only really see properly if you get your head down to tabletop level and he whacks you with it! Ah well, that's the hobby for you. 

I had a craic at painting Astoran's name on the shoulderpad as well, but found just couldn't get the whole name in there. I was having getting the turn-back of the "s" shape done in the space provided with enough resolution between lines that you can actually read it. I'll keep trying with this script work, but I think I need a better brush and a magnifying glass setup to do any better. As it is, I have given him a shorter version of his name "Astor". 

I'm very pleased with how the mousy brown and grey of the Mantle of the Seneschal goes with the plum colour of the robes and tassels that I mixed. I was tossing up between plum/purple robes and red robes, but I really thought that red would not go as well with the mantle. Tying all of the pieces together on such a busy model is really important, or it really does look too busy, so I am glad I took the risk with those two choices. Of course, he can't actually be equipped with the Mantle until he earns it in a crusade, but a boy can dream, right?!

The Mantle of the Seneschal was made from Lukas the Trickster's cloak, with some Dark Angels-themed modifications and the addition of an Iron Halo. Goodness knows which beast of Caliban the Lion killed and skinned, that matches the colour scheme I used. It looks very ROUS to me (if you don't get the reference, watch The Princess Bride!).

The base matches my other 9th Edition Dark Angel urban bases, which are great fun to paint on their own, with all the weathering and hazard stripes involved. The yellow of the stripes is a nice contrast to the blue lightning of the sword (I hope).

In between working on the sub-assemblies of this beast of a project, I have also been working on some of the other parts of my 50 PL crusade army. More on that soon! Until then:

See you across the table,

Marc