Well after having a busy Christmas and New Years, I've kind of left this a little to the wayside. However I'm back to it and with more images and random musings to share.
It goes without saying that Space Marines are one of the most popular factions of the 41st Millennium and I'd guess that everyone that paints Games Workshop miniatures has owned one these iconic warriors at some point or another. For me my first Space Marines were a pair of metal Blood Angels and since then I've been building and painting numerous Space Marines in whatever scheme took my fancy.
A Blood Raven Force that I painted when the original DOW games were out
Being the hobbyist that can't help but start a new project half way through a pre-exisiting one, I've been unable to restrict myself to painting just one chapter in order to build a playable force (although there was the above Blood Ravens as well as a mild stint at Black Consuls that managed to last a whole two years before I decided to repaint them as Novamarines). However with the advent of my DeathWatch project, I've found something that has managed to temper my rampant chapter-change and have been inspired to take on making a force of Novamarines.
My Initial Kill Team models for an RPG project, and the below Techmarine mini which sparked into my Novamarines project that has stuck with me since then.
Initially I was going to paint my Novamarines in the traditional Bone and Blue scheme, however after having painted the Captain model as a test piece (not enjoying the prospect of building from a Black undercoat to Brown base and then Bone for the whole force) and seeing Apologist's take on them, I decided to use a Grey/White and Blue colour scheme instead.
A demi-squad of Novas awaiting paint
While this is my long-term project, I have found myself wandering into my current project that is Heresy Era minis. This I blame on browsing too many Heresy Era plogs as well as GW's recent Betrayal at Calth release.
Heresy Era minis on the left along some mid painting DeathWatch minis
Progress on these guys has been slow but I've been enjoying building and painting them, to bring out the character of each of the Legions has been fun in itself. Also being able to switch their heads out with magnets has really allowed me to go to town on each of them as well as get rid of alot of spare heads that have been lying around in my bits box.
Recently I made a vow to the +Walls Fail, Fists do not+ challenge on Bolter and Chainsword, where I need to build a single infantry sized model representing my favourite Chapter, the Imperial Fists. The deadline is 17th January (a few days from now). I decided that it would be a good boost for me, to see if I can build and paint something in less than a month (unlike another project that I tried to do but will elaborate more on later).
Parts for the conversion: Dark Vengeance Tactical Marine, FW Mk IV Backpack, Imperial Fist & Death Watch shoulder pads, pouches, knife and meltabomb.
After alot of careful cutting and filing, I have the model without his shouler pads.
I still have some gaps to fill with Greenstuff and paint to apply but I'm keen to get this guy done. The end goal of all of this is to get all these projects done at some point in the near future and is part of my new years resolution for this year.
