Painting Points Update: February

Another 3 points this week, with the Assault Veteran Sergeant finally getting his jump pack, and two more Tactical marines shipping out to the completed box.

After two months (or rather 6 weeks as I started mid-January) the army is starting to take shape. Seeing the completed models together is great for the enthusiasm levels – I just need to finish off units before getting side-tracked onto the more funky stuff.

Talking of which, the Drop Pod has been undercoated and the task of applying red paint begun. I'm trying out the Mechanite Red foundation to see how it compares to my usual technique. I have to admit I'm not very impressed so far with the coverage quality, but I will persevere a little longer.

Also sneaking its way onto the "to be painted" list is a Blood Angel Rhino – with Forgeworld doors! I've built so many of these things in the past I did it in my sleep almost, without thinking. However, I'm so used to adorning my vehicles with spikes, skulls and chains that I'm not sure how I'll cope with something less ornate!

Whilst on the subject of ornate, I have made a conscious decision not to apply any battle damage or excessive markings to this new Blood Angel army. The reason is that they haven't been into battle yet!! My chaos armies have always looked battle hardened and....well, battered, so the idea is that these new marines are shiny, factory fresh. As I rack up games, and heroes start to emerge, I will add markings, battle damage and honours to armour, where appropriate. This will add more depth to the army so that each marking has a legitimate history, as it would in real life. It also means I can't cut corners when I paint the figures to begin with.

As we approach March (I will get no more painting time this month) my paint tray looks like this.

The last three Tactical marines sit patiently, as do the last three Terminators. I got myself into a rhythm this week so I'm hoping the Tacticals at least don't take very long. There is a potential easy 9 points there, and given my projected monthly average in 10 points per month, March could be another mid-teen finisher – especially as there will no doubt be new purchases at the beginning of April!!

The classic Captain I featured in a recent post has been undercoated, ready to go. I will wait a while to paint him as I want to retrieve a very old copy of White Dwarf from my Mom's house over the Easter weekend (yes, I'm nearly 40 and still have boxes of 'crap' stored at my Mom's house!). It has a photo of a BA Captain that I would like to study before I get cracking.

So there we go. I'm pretty pleased with how this last month went, and if the momentum continues I'll have a force to game with very soon. Thanks for the support and comments from the 40k blogging community – you guys continue to be a source of inspiration and positivity.