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In my last post I think I called these guys finished.  Obviously I was not correct as their bases were still unattached…

I don’t spend much time on bases as a rule. I find them more of an after thought in most instances.  I only tend to match bases it they are for an army (like the red earth bases for my Steam Wars Martians).  Otherwise they are often quite random affairs.

These guys have such large bases that they are almost as obvious as the model itself.  I have looked at some more artistic bases online and decided I was not up for that, so these were based similarly to my Marine 40K army (a self mixed sand, stone chip and black flock).  To tie in a couple of models as a ‘Unit’ or ‘Lance’ I added in a couple of matching additions.

In this case the additions were a couple of bits of plaster, that had been moulded from some cobblestones, a trial greenstuff mould taken from a pavement drain and some hatches from a set of MDF balcony (fire escape) sets.

There is something quite pleasant about painting individual cobblestones in a random mix of colours.  With the blobs of brown and silver applied it was time for the flock.

Not an exciting set of bases but they will be fine for a set of table top quality Knights.

As they are similar in design to my Marines, if I chose to at a later date, I can play the Knight as a detachment supported by my Space Marine infantry.

I will need to get the last of these painted and then set them up for a proper army photo shoot.

An army of Seven miniatures…

After what seems like a week of going into the shed, sighing, then leaving without getting anything done. I have managed to move a couple of the bigger jobs along.

In my more muddled state of mind, I got everything wrong with these guys.  I prepped the wash I planned to use in a pallet before starting to paint the brass sections. In the 40 degree heat of the shed that would have meant that it would be dried out long before I got to use it.  When I realised my mistake, I did what all good modellers do, and just pushed on…  Sod it, the brass on these would be less than visible under all the armour anyhow.

The slightly uneven surface to the silver paint, caused by the can running out, means that it has held on to more of the dark tone wash. This has provided a darker colour to these chaps than the last lot.  Not horrible but more notable than before.

The larger Knight was done without adding any dark tone wash as I calculated it would be almost a whole bottle to cover this chaps chassis.  Not worth the expense and, as I cannot go out at the moment, it would mean that I had none left in the shed for the next week or so.

As before I relied on the decals to bring back some of the colour variation that a three colour paint jobs lacks.  I will likely go back over the lens and a couple of silver or brass sections but these are about as done as it gets for my Knights.

I matched the placements of the decals to the last set of Armigers, so that they were at least similar (promoting more of an army theme).  If I have one grumble to bring up with these kits, it would be that the gun shield, small as it is, is a poor fit.  It has no real retaining ring, or tab, so getting it to lay straight on the gun is a bit more fiddly than it should be. This is more notable because the remainder of the kit is so well designed. Every other part is an almost perfect fit so why these are such a pain I do not know.

With the larger Knight also decaled up, the trio looks quite good in their matching livery.

So, that only leaves me to start on the final build of my ‘Freeblade’ Knight to complete the force.  I plan to be a bit more organised with this one and learn from my mistakes on the last three…

So far I am quite pleased with the overall look of these guys.  ‘Tabletop ready’ might be the best way to describe them, but they are ready none the less.

Another batch of basic jobs completed. At least its warm and sunny outside while I am at home.  Perfect for undercoating and primary colour application.

The shed is usually well stocked with rattle cans in a range of basic colours, but after so many sessions base coating these new Knights, I have gotten through an awful lot of silver paint.

So much so that on the last turn of these Helverins (sadly the turn that pointed their faces towards me) the damn can ran out and spat a few larger blobs of paint all over what may be the most obvious side of them (mental note: paint faces first and under carriage and arses last in future).  I believe its the same rule with bars of soap and towels too…

The basic livery colours are also done.  I am undecided as to whether I will keep this layout, or try alternating the leg plate colours, on these guys as yet.  I will likely put them aside until their larger Lord is done first and follow his lead by matching whatever I decide to do with the armour plates on him.

Only a small update today.  I have not been in the right health or frame of mind for painting lately and I have not managed to get out to the shed in the last few days.  The posts you see may seem relatively normal, but have been cunningly timed to look like I am consistently working away at a good rate.  I have had some time off work due to illness and any free time, however unexpected or unwanted, should be used well if you can. Sadly I have been feeling quite poorly (please feel free to give sympathy and encouragement – none will make me feel better but it does wonders for the person giving it I am told) so I have not been able to use the time as well as I might have wanted…

When I am able to I try to pop out the shed.  It breaks up the monotony of being at home, alone while the good lady is at work, and stops me being tempted to watch what passes for entertainment on daytime television. I have been able to get lots of basic jobs completed but not any of the even mildly detailed work…

Clipping and trimming are easy enough, and don’t require much focus.  If I get too carried away with it all I can sometimes manage to stick stuff together too…  The last of the basic jobs in the shed, and the last of the waiting Imperial Knights kits that I have, are these Armiger Helverins which will eventually be liveried in the same colours as my other ‘shooty’ Knight, the Crusader.

A little more progress has been made on the Imperial Knights army.  My second chassis, from the Renegade box, has been built.  I am not able to get out in the shed for long periods but, here and there, I get a moment to clip, trim and glue where I can…

I have had some pleasing comments lately in regard to these chaps. A nice stroke to the ego, I do however need to point out that the models themselves are pretty idiot proof and that even a simple paint job brings out their inner beauty.  I don’t often praise Games Workshop but these models are an exception to the norm.

I left the ‘armpit gun’ off this chap with the hopes that I could switch out the weapon once it has been finished but I suspect a magnet will be required as the clip they fit into is positioned too far back to easily fit the guns without breaking it one day.

Dry fitting some of the armour plates to get a sense of the overall scheme leaves me happy with the effect so far.

I just need to find the time and motivation to get back out to the shed so that I can call them finished in the next week or so

A project for the future (actually a project that stalled well over a year ago…) My Glottkin was always going to be a Nurgle Renegade Knight. He now has some upgrades that may prove useful in the form of leftovers from this project.  I still need to find a Carapace, and/or some armour plates, for him that will tie him into the general Knight look.  I don’t fancy buying a full knight kit just to use the plates but I do wonder what else I could get to do the job…

More time has been spent in the shed and the Imperial Knights have progressed slightly since last seen.  All of the arms for my two Knights have been built, along with their carapace weapons, and I have decided on the load out for each.  I have decided not to magnetise the arms as I suspect that the weapon options I have are the only ones I will use in this, my second and likely to be less played, 40K army.

As I have a good ‘all rounder’ in the form of my original Knight Paladin, I have decided to go with one ‘shooter’ and one ‘close combat’ option for the two new Knights.

In my excitement, I painted the first armour plates that I had prepared, in the colours that I had decided upon for my close assault Knight. The drawback was that I only had the chassis for the shooter built so far…

Not too much of an issue though as the plates are the same for all Knights of this class and are easily interchangeable.

I quickly dug the plates out from the second Knight and cleaned them up so that they were ready for the knight as I had planned it to be.

Even without their armour to bulk them out, these are imposing models…

So, my close combat ‘Freeblade’ Knight in a Green and White livery.  (The green I used for this chap is Death Guard Green, as the new FAQ clarifies that these Knights can now be used by the Chaos powers as well as the Imperium of man).

The livery of the shooter has kept some of the blue of the original Knights, but I have added in some white plates to give a little more variation in look than I used with the original Knights scheme.  Once these panels are fitted, and the decals are added, I suspect they will have a nice colour variation but match enough to each other to get the army theme I want on the table.

Despite my real life being slightly unsettled since the return from holiday…  I have managed to get some stuff done on the odd day when things were quieter.  Plenty of time has been had to read and surf the internet.  What should I find when surfing on the day I wrote my last blog post but an FAQ by Games Workshop for their new Knights Codex.

If you remember the last post well, you will recall that I had just taken delivery of a duo of new Knights.  The new FAQ changes all the rules that prompted me to purchase these figures and my army list has had to change accordingly.  Those annoying changes aside, I am still enjoying building and planning these new and imposing figures.

Work has started on the chassis of the first of the new knights.

This has again been made with armour plates left off so they can be painted separately.

I have been finding lots of detail that I forgot was on the model from last time.

Details that will be lost or obscured when the armour plates are in place.

This will get a silver spray base coat and then a few details picked out in brass before a dark tone wash is applied.

My plan is to play this as a Knight Crusader with a battle cannon and huge assault cannon.  There is nothing better than rolling up to 24 dice each turn (especially when its all coming from one figure).

One difference to the first Knight I painted, is that I have left off the gun shields this time.  I have done this so that I can paint them separately on this model, like the other armour plates.

It should add in a splash of colour on what would otherwise be a set of plain silver arms.

I am yet to decide if the armour plates are going to be done in the same plain blue of the original 3 Knights or if I will try an alternate scheme.  The lazy painter in me says ‘keep it simple…’

Stage 2 in the progress on the Armiger Warglaives is fitting the armour plating.  Simple all blue primer is all they are getting so that they match their Lords colour scheme.  I am nothing if not consistently lazy.

I may go back at some point and put some silver on a couple of rivets etc if I get time but that would be after the army is completed methinks…

Effective enough for a game ready miniature that is unlikely to get used too often (Space Marines will remain, as always, my main army in 40K).

I had time, when the wash was drying, to make the bases slightly more than a flat circle for these guys.  With a few off cuts of plastic rod and some items from the bits box they become so much less basic.  Again, nothing too fancy to be seen here.

With the decals applied, the colour level jumps back to normal and those flat blue plates become a little less boring.

These guys add up to about 41 power in 40K terms.  As we normally play about 75 – 100 power in a game I am about half way there in this army.

As it happens my local postie popped in with this fine box as I was writing this blog entry…

A quirk in the rules of the Codex is that you need at least 3 full sized Knights to gain any detachment Command points for the army (did I say ‘quirk’ I meant to say sales ploy…)

Luckily this boxed game gets you 2 Knight figures, and a nice bit of industrial scenery (always useful), for a retail price of £120.  I picked it up on eBay for about the same price as a single new Knight kit (£99).

It will add another 45 Power to my army, this means I can now field a full Knight force in our 75 power level games. In 100 power level games it leaves me a few points spare to spend on the allies that will be required to hold objectives, which is where knights seem to be lacking in this edition of the game…

With the release of the new Imperial Knights Codex for Warhammer 40,000, I have been motivated to return at last, to my painting desk. I have been away for a few weeks, and on my return the painting urge was far from present.  A good rulebook, or army list in this case, always manages to prod me back towards the desk. So here I am again, in happy painting land…

I retrieved the 2 Armiger Warglaives, that I had picked up back in April this year, from their drawer.  Both were undercoated on the day they were built so both were ready for a quick and simple paintjob, just like my bigger Knight.

No fancy paintjobs this week.  A bit of brass here and a bit of dark tone wash there…

I plan to let the contrast of armour plates and decals add the impression of colour again to what is basically a silver chassis.

Some variation in face plate and stance makes these a bit more individual and should be useful when trying to play them as a pair on the table.

The plan is to get them to match the original colour scheme of their bigger Lord.

More to follow…