For the Warmaster!

Righto, so I got the first squad of test dummies painted up as Sons of Horus. While the paint is 'quick and dirty', I'm pleased with how the green turned out, as well as how the freehand Eye of Horus looks. I went with the symbol from the HH artbooks rather than the Egyptian style eye-- I just like it better, and it provides a bit more contrast and interest. There are a few boo-boos here and there that will need cleaning up, but all in all I'm pleased with the scheme as a whole.

Sergeant and cronies

Eye of Horus detail

Combat squad leader and specialists

As usual, let me know what you think! Next up are more beakies and a couple of assault squads/berzerkers.

Sons of Horus: found a color!

So with the help of our trusty readers in the comments from my last post, I went back and tried a few more color mixes to hopefully come up with something better. Instead of Astronomican Grey I switched to Codex, and stayed with Orkhide Shade for the green base. After a bit of mixing I came up with something pretty decent, closer to the 'sea green' of the fluff but more muted and military than my original tests. In fact, it looked like a WWII color to me... so a bit of online browsing and a quick trip to my local HobbyTown USA resulted in a pot of Model Master Acryl "Panzer Olivgrun 1943". It was almost EXACTLY the color I had mixed, but ready to go. Can't beat that. I've used the Model Master (made by Testors) acrylics in the past, but only here and there in favor of GW and Vallejo. Testors' model paints are best known for their enamels, but the acrylics are pretty good. They go on thin, and are easy to thin further for airbrushing but still get good results. They also have a LOT of colors to pick from.

To the right is my new version of the paint, using this new color. I'm very pleased with how it turned out-- it definitely looks 'sea green' to a casual observer but will still look good on the tabletop.The basecoat is highlighted with "Pale Green" from the same company and shaded with Vallejo Model Color "Black Grey".

I'm still deciding on the best way to do the bases-- I've never tried the black border before, although L0rdM0nki does his that way and they look great. I also love the 'rolled shoulder' style bases that Privateer uses and how it frames the model. I think I need a bit more contrast here to help it pop.

As I mentioned earlier The Model Master paints work well through an airbrush, so I already have this guy's squad basecoated. Stay tuned for some results, and thanks for reading!

--Boltergeist

Sons of Horus test models

Heresy-era Son of Horus from Index Astartes

While working on my old-school beakies it occurred to me it could be possible to do them as heresy-era Sons of Horus instead of Black Legion. I definitely want to play them as chaos, but having the good old multi-codex option would be nice as well. I figured setting them circa the Seige of Terra would work out -- there would likely be a mix of normal marines, mutated freaks, and demons as they march on the Imperial Palace. In that train of thought I decided to try a few test models to see what would stick. Problem is the color scheme-- pale green. The older Index Astartes article graphic shown here has them done in that way, and I'm skeptical. Not only would it be a pain to paint, I just don't think it would end up looking good on the table. Horus Heresy: Collected Visions however shows them with a darker green. It looks much more militaristic and 'real' to me than a bunch of guys in pastel armor. The HH novels aren't much help either; each author describes the colors of the legion differently. Some say 'palest sea green' and others 'the color of an ocean storm'. With that in mind, I decided to try both and see.

Bear in mind these obviously aren't finished-- this was simply an exercise in getting an acceptable color. On the RT beaky I basecoated with Orkhide Shade and then wet blended in Astronomican Grey. On the berzerker I mixed a light shade of the same colors and then went in separately with each color to shade or highlight. I really wasn't pleased with how these turned out-- I find it hard to believe the Warmaster of the Imperium would dress his guys in easter egg green, lol.

On the second set I began with a basecoat of Knarloc Green followed by shading with Catachan Green and highlights with Camo Green. I think the green came out richer and looks better overall, despite stretching the limits of 'sea green'. I also think the berzerker's leg trim looks fine the way it is, without being picked out in a different color.

These pics also show the height comparison between the beakies and the current models-- the slightly bulked up bases did the trick.

The jury is still out on which way to go with these guys, but I'm leaning towards the Sons over 'normal' Black Legion. I think they will look better when they are done, plus the counts-as options really appeal to my sense of efficiency, lol. Drop me a line with your opinion on the color mixes, or paint ideas that might represent 'sea green' but still look good en masse.

-- Boltergeist