Dark Angels Predator Annihilator TO-DONE!

Hi folks,

My "Armour in April" offering this year is a Predator Annihilator for my Dark Angels army. I have loved Predator tanks since the very beginning of my 40K journey. In fact, a 2nd Edition Predator Annihilator was one of my first purchases, using money that my sister gave me for my 15th Birthday (many moons ago). I loved them back in those days because they were good for killing Eldar Avatars.

A while after that, I fell in love with them again for killing Nob bikers! My old Predator was profoundly broken during a moving house incident, so has been languishing in a bitz-box, waiting to be turned into a terrain piece. A while ago, Craig R. decided to stop collecting 40K and offered some of my gaming buddies parts of his collection. I gratefully snaffled this Predator, in Black Templars livery, and vowed to relieve the glory days of lascannon sniping hard-to-kill nuisances.

This was my first serious go at using an airbrush to apply an undercoat, shading and weathering. Overall, I am very happy with how the new techniques turned out, though I still feel like there is so much left to learn. I added all of the finer details by hand, which was surprisingly quick.

This model is the last nail in my retro 2nd Edition 40K Dark Angels list. I am just re-basing some sniper scouts, then I will be able to post the complete army. Unfortunately, I am off to supervise a school camp for the rest of the week, so the project finale will have to wait until the weekend. On the up-side, the camp is at Cockatoo Island on Sydney Harbour, so I can't complain too bitterly...

See you across the table,

Marc

Callidus Assassin TO-DONE!

Hi folks,

I have been on holidays, so the blog has been a little quiet of late. I have had plenty to do, but have been focusing on spending time with my family and recharging after what turned out to be a very hectic first Term at work. Just before I headed to the beach for a getaway, I managed to speed-paint this Callidus Assassin.

Back in the 90's I had the original sculpt of this figure, which I obtained by swapping a fairly well-painted Grey Knight Captain. I was experimenting with assassin allies a lot in my Dark Angels lists at the time, so I was very excited to get one. I painted it as best I could, trying techniques I had not done before, such as wet blending and highlighting on the blade to provide it with a glow effect. I remember using it in a game with all of my mates one afternoon, then heading out with my Dad to pick up pizza, and, when I got home, it was gone. My suspicion is that the guy I swapped it off took it back. I was very cut, but remained diplomatic on the night. Some of my other mates were not so diplomatic about it; they knew it had been stolen (straight off the gaming board) and that the thief was literally in the room with them.

Anyway, a while ago Sgt Waz, having heard this story, donated this model to my collection. It is testament to how cut I still felt (after over 20 years!) that it has taken me this long to paint it. I couldn't bring myself to paint it the same way, so have changed the hair and neural shredder colour. I am really happy with how it has turned out, and it feels like some kind of justice has been done. With this figure done, I have one left to go in my 2nd Edition 2000 pt Dark Angels army. But it is a big one...

See you across the table,

Marc