Raising the Legion: Week 1

A summary of the week.

Day 1 results

I've had to start with the task of unburying boxes of bits and models to determine what I actually have.  I've also made some cuts after finding unassembled copies of two models that I completed in the past, largely because the Assault on Black Reach Captain and the Betrayal at Calth Praetor are so pretty I don't want to strip those models just to paint them in my current scheme for Ultramarines.  I also confirmed the existence of at least two old school Rhino chassis, meaning my rough estimate of five Rhinos is about right.  I think I still have at least one modern Rhino lying around somewhere, perhaps even a second.


In keeping with my self-imposed limitation of not buying new models unless it is to fill out a unit I have already built or can build, I've added a fourth Legion Tactical Squad because I found two unopened boxes of Mk III Space Marines while doing all this logistical stuff.  I could probably scrape together enough models to build a fifth and sixth squad, but I want to finish building out the other incomplete infantry units before doing so.  That way I can determine how many models are left before committing to 'new units'.

In other unplanned news, I uncovered a mess of Space Marine Scouts, which will get organized into Legion Recon Squads.  There's probably more Space Marine Scouts lying around somewhere as well, which is important since I have to fill out those squads.  Most of the ones I found at the moment are the metal ones.

Day 2 results

Ultimately I decided to finish building out the Legion Tactical Squads before painting them.  This is because I'd rather have a whole batch of models to primer rather than just a handful at a time.  The first day I spend nearly 5 hours assembling models; those resin Mk V Space Marines whooped me hard and I still have some parts I need to smooth over with green stuff.  Plus I need to add combat blades to them.  Usually I'm pretty picky about making sure all the wargear is modeled, but since I can no longer order holstered bolt pistols and grenades from Forge World I really can't keep the same level of attention to detail that I used to.  Going to have to save the bolt pistols for the models where it really matters; the characters.

Seriously, just buy
Secret Weapon's bases.

Another consideration is that I will need to purchase storage for these miniatures before I complete a unit.  While this is not an issue for the four Legion Tactical squads as I already have foam to store them in, this will absolutely be something I need to do in the future.

Since I need to kind of wait for decent weather to primer the new models, I'm painting the models that do have primer.  It starts with Armageddon Dunes for the base's texture, which is a bit of a pain to work with.  I'm going to switch to pre-mixed grout whenever the pot of Armageddon Dunes runs out and get the texture on the base before primer is laid down.  Speaking of primer, I'm going to be using Army Painter's Ultramarine Blue to expedite things.  Even though some of my bases are my homemade resin casts and are a pain in the butt to get a good basecoat on due to the bazillion bubbles the casts have.

Resin model what kicked my butt.

In case anyone is wondering what I do for the resin antennas on the nuncio-vox backpacks; I clip them off.  Resin that thin is just asking for trouble sometime down the road.  I replace the resin antenna with a straight piece of a paperclip after drilling out the antenna's mount point.

Overall week 1 was spent doing a lot of bookkeeping and determining what exactly needed to be done and where to start.  Twenty-three models were assembled and five models entered the painting process.  Not too bad, though I suspect I need more paint handles;  not using them results in my hands cramping if I try to hold models by the bases for too long.  I basically need five more since I want to paint the models in batches of ten where possible.

The Paintening has begun.