Heresy & Heroes

I’ve finally finished my Blood Angels Praetor from the Betrayal at Calth box and I am very happy to show him off to you here today. I actually feel like I did this guy quite quickly for me too, which is novel. Usually something like this would take weeks but I’ve really been enjoying painting the big lug – it really does make a difference when you’re almost skipping home after work to get your paint brush out.

His colours and iconography are based very much on those of the Warhammer 40,000 2nd Edition box cover art by John Blanche, and while it’s obviously a different model, that overall feel has translated well across the miniature. Well, I think it has anyway. Including the yellow gun. I was very hesitant about actually painting the gun yellow as I didn’t want it to look too cartoony, but it actually works! Chuffed with pulling that one off.

The one thing about this post that I don’t like is the photography – I ended up having to do it with an iPhone and while it looks ok, I’m annoyed with myself that despite playing with my proper camera for ages (two sessions over two days), I just couldn’t get it right this time. But enough about that – more on the model.

I think the stance of the mini works really well on the slanted base. He’s such a beast he’s probably going to be pointing his gun downwards most of the time anyway (except when he’s trying to kill a titan or a small moon), and it definitely gives him a slightly more dynamic feel. It compliments without obscuring – a great thing for a base to do.

Well, I couldn’t not show it off again, could I? The more I look at this cloak, the more I like it and I think it’s one of the best bits of freehand I’ve done. Painting those pturges over the top of it was proper stressful but my paintbrush did not slip and all was well. It’s only annoying that it’s at the back of the model really.

Regarding the pturges (and thank you to WestRider for telling me that that’s what those dangly bits of leather are called), I’m really happy that I went with yellow. They really stand out against the red and I actually really enjoy working with yellow, which I know is weird because it’s quite a tricky colour to get right. I dare say if I were doing an Imperial Fists army, I might not be so chipper about it, but I’m not so I am.

The other fun bits of freehand are the black flames that crop up on the legs and the left fist. They are a lot trickier to paint than you’d think but they do look really nice against the red armour. I also got a bit better at doing the classic iconography from the original which you can see with a little more clarity from this angle:

The hazard stripes on the chainfist were a bit of a pain to get right, but as I discovered previously, weathering and distressing is your friend with these. Rough them up enough and they look fine – hopefully no-one will be counting the millimetres between the stripes.

That little skull on the belt was a real pain to get right. Despite my years of practice with the Mortifactors, I’m a little rusty these days and the smaller they are, the fiddlier they are to get right. But it’s on the 2nd Ed box guy, so it’s on this guy too. It’s not just an excuse for me to paint skulls – if I needed an excuse, I’d just go and finish off the Mortifactors! I’ll add a picture of the box art below for your reference.

The model itself is a little tricky to paint all in one piece and I’m really glad that I did a few bits before assembly. Overlapping plates, wires and cloaks getting in the way… there’s plenty of stuff to keep your brush at a strange angle. There are also mould-lines aplenty so be sure to go over the whole mini before undercoating and painting. Other than that though, it’s a joy. Great pose, lots of places to add freehand work, loads of different textures to work on. Top stuff.

And that’s about that then. Really happy with this guy and looking forward to whatever I’m doing next (as yet undecided but certainly Blood Angels related). Need to crack on with improving the photography skills (AGAIN!) and work out what went wrong this time. But despite that one minor downside, I’m tickled pink (or blood red in this case). Onwards!