Saturday 30 August 2014

Iron Snakes: Sternguard Test Mini

 

Hi folks,

I have finally knocked together a test miniature for my Iron Snakes Sternguard, and he looks a little bit like this:



He is a little rough; I didn't bother stripping him back when I made mistakes. In fact, there are two paint schemes underneath the final one! I am happy to consider this guy as "the first pancake", anyone who likes making pancakes will know what I am talking about.

The bulk of the miniature is from the Forgeworld Mk III armour and boarding shield kits, whilst the helmet, shoulder pad and combi-weapon are from Chapterhouse.

Paint scheme-wise, I started off with a black spray undercoat on the torso and a white spray undercoat on the shield. The armour was painted Leadbelchers (the old Boltgun Metal) with Runefang Steel highlights (Mithril Silver) and a black wash. The weapon and various trim components were painted Tin Bitz with Kabalite Green highlights. Enchanted Blue was used to paint the eyes, Iron Snake symbol, plasma coil and octopus.


I have another nine of these guys to paint, with four more free-hand shields to do of varying difficulty. One of them is a sergeant who will look a little bit different, but I'll save that surprise for later. Let's just say the inspiration for him was Odysseus' conversation with Achilles in the underworld (Homer's Odyssey). Overall, I am happy with the scheme and look forward to seeing a block of these guys dumping out of a Rhino, Land Raider or drop pod and unleashing spears of plasma at the foe.


See you across the table,

M4cr0



4 comments:

  1. I love making pancakes! Great piece; can't wait to see the non-test models

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  2. At last: someone who understands my pancake metaphors ! :-)

    Thanks mate, I have been busy priming and undercoating the past couple of nights. I should have a progress post up soon.

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  3. Really sharp looking figure. The shield in particular, with the kraken blue imagery, really makes the model pop. Also really like the green hints around the model. (patina?)

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    1. Thanks Greg, the blue symbol was a bit of a challenge, as I don't do very much free-hand apart from the odd Dark Angels banner. It will be interesting to see how the other designs turn out.

      The green highlights are verdigris, a form of patina found on copper or copper alloys: in this case bronze. More specifically, I was aiming for copper trihydroxyl chloride, which forms after prolonged exposure to sea water. These guys are meant to be legendary hunters of the sea monsters of Ithaka, so I thought it would be appropriate! Cheers :-)

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