Miniature Monday 2/27/17

It seems like I forget to write entries one week, remember the next week.  Here's some new stuff though.

I bought a Tau Ghostkeel a few weeks ago, finally finished assembling it last week.  The reason there was a delay is that I took the time to install magnets on the weapons.

Tau Ghostkeel Battlesuit

I mean, if you're going to spend money on large models, you might as well make the extra effort to make sure you can use it in multiple situations.  The idea doesn't work on all models though; I probably wouldn't shove magnets in a Stardrake, for example.

Because Tau battlesuit weapons and equipment tend to have a square peg that's 1/16th of an inch wide, drilling the holes for the magnets can be kind of gnarly.  While I only have round magnets in that size, I suspect I may be better served by finding square magnets that are 1/16" in size.  I shall do so for my sanity next time I order magnets.


It's a bit surprising how fast the work on a model goes when you're not particularly thinking about how many other models you have to work on. Case in point is the Broadside Shas'vre here.

Tau XV88-2 Broadside

When I started working on him on Sunday, he had already gotten his shade layer of Citadel Khorne Red almost everywhere it needed to be.  Only one of the small stripes on the rail guns had gotten its coat of Citadel Evil Sunz Scarlet.  Since my Tau models are going to be using a flat color scheme (that is, there will be no highlights or subtle shadows), it meant that everything that was Khorne Red needed to be repainted with Evil Sunz Scarlet.  The panel lines needed to be as untouched as possible by the scarlet, because the idea is to make the model look cel-shaded.

Before I knew it, the red parts were done, meaning I could move on to the next major color- the medium grays.  For the Farsight Enclaves, this is the 'sept' color, which simply means it is the dominant accent color for their color scheme.  Some fans of the Farsight Enclaves may note that I chose an extremely bright red instead of the darker 'dried blood' red that Games Workshop's studio colors use.  Basically I just wanted a nice bright red color instead.

A high standard indeed.

Amazingly I worked on my Ultramarines.  I decided it would be nice to have some Tartaros Terminators to run around with the Legion Praetor, so the Tartaros Terminators from the Burning of Prospero set were built into a Terminator Command Squad.  It presented an interesting modeling challenge, as one of the models had to carry a Legion Standard; there aren't any really obvious spots to mount a standard on the Tartaros Terminators and I did not have an arm with the pole to modify.  The solution involved cutting a length of brass rod and drilling a hole in the back of the Standard Bearer's armor.

The other sundry things I finished were the entire Locutarus Storm Squad, more Terminators, the limited edition Primus Medicae in Cataphractii Terminator Armor, some miscellaneous Space Marines, and an Apothecary.

I also decided that from now on I'm priming all the Ultramarines in Macragge Blue spray.  I have a few hundred of these things to paint and I have to find a way to make them saner to paint.  Sure, I'll take my time to make character models like the Primus Medicae look super nice.  However, for the same reasons I took the time to master and cast most of my bases, I need to simplify the overall paint scheme.  It's one thing to slowly accumulate models and finish painting them as they come; it is quite another to realize that you have hundreds sitting unfinished at one time.

Locutarus Storm Squad