It’s been quite a while since I’ve shown you an old model, but here goes.. This time it’s a slightly converted Space Marine Veteran Sergeant.
If you’ve been in the 40k hobby back in the 3rd edition times, you might notice that this (veteran) sarge resembles the one in an old metal Command Squad. I always liked that model, and once I found out that the ‘new’ SM kits had appropriate parts I decided to make myself a modern plastic version of the old guy. The parts are mostly from the Tactical Squad, but there’s also a hand (and an arm?) from the Devastators, a backpack from mkIV Marines and a bolter from 3rd ed. Tactical Squad, when they came with grips! The weapon sling is made from greenstuff, as is the soft armor on the right armpit.
One final note about the build is that this was probably the model that inspired me to spend quite a bit of time accessorising my models. Adding a bunch of pouches doesn’t seem to be high on the priority list for most hobbyists, but since I built this model I’ve added accessories to pretty much every 40k model I’ve done. Yeah, they’re very fiddly most of the time, but I think the end result makes up for that.
Some of you have of course already seen this model in a previous post about my SM Captain, also inspired by the same old Command Squad. As you might’ve guessed, I’d like to have a version of the Standard Bearer as well, and indeed I’ve been gathering up bits to build one. The head still eludes me though, so it might be a while before he gets built..
What?! New finished models already? Somehow I’ve managed to paint a trio of ork boyz in under two weeks! While not exactly lightning speed, and surely not optimal for “getting boyz on the table”, I felt like I was making good progress. Here they are:
As I’ve already said some words about the building, this post is about the painting. The general process was largely the same as with the last two. I think I spent a bit more time on the weathering and especially on the freehand this time around, but hopefully the rest of it went a tad quicker than the first time around as I was more aware of what I should be doing. I was again a bit intimidated about the orange before I started painting it, but in the end it turned out nicely and pretty quickly. I did have to be careful when working on the clothes and other bits so as not to accidentally get paint on the finished orange, but happily I managed without mishaps. And then of course I proceeded to paint on some freehand and chipping! The latter especially is good to fix any mistakes that might’ve happened.
Speaking of freehand, I tried to come up with some other designs besides the classic checkers to mix things up a bit. There’s some triangles, or “dags” I believe, on one of the shoulder pads, and a sort of racing stripe design on one of the helmets. But of course I’m the most proud of the little “evil sun” on the back of one of the shoulder pads! I was actually going to use a decal first, but noticed that the decal would be too big for the pad. I thought: “what the heck, these are orks, doesn’t matter if it’s a bit wonky”, and ended up practicing some more freehanding. Again, it was a bit scary as I wouldn’t be able to get the same orange back, but I knew that I could hide any mistakes with battle damage. Turned out all right I think! And why the Evil Sunz emblem, you might ask? Well, as I’m doing my own color scheme I get to pick and choose! The evil sun might be my favorite, but possible future models might have a bad moon or any other clan logo on them as well, as the designs are pretty cool. Also, being orange, my orks obviously feel the call of speed at least a bit (as well as dakka and bling!).
And that’s it for my boyz, for now! With these lads done, I’ve finished all of the ork boyz from my teenage years. Well, actually I’ve still got one half-finished conversion with which I might do something.. However, while painting these orks I’ve started to seriously consider getting a new box of boyz, or lootas/burnas, just to paint a couple every now and then. Also, some time ago I got myself another bucket list model, the AoBR Warboss, from eBay! So he’ll eventually get painted as well. Just got to build him first, and come up with an appropriate base as well.
Finally, I’m entering these guys to Ann’s April hobby challenge, splendidly titled “Paint the Crap You Already Own”. While I still have the opportunity to go to an FLGS and buy new models (stocks might be low though..), I very much agree with the idea that we should all try to make our backlogs of unpainted models as nonexistent as possible. Keeping that in mind, I’ll try to get a couple more (old) minis finished before April’s through!
mcmattilaminis 
