Monster March - Adeptus Custodes Contemptor Achillus Dreadnought - Week 1

With Squaduary just finished it's time to dive headfirst into Monster March! If you're unaware, Monster March is an annual painting challenge hosted by Swordmaster over at Path of an Outcast. The purpose being for participants to build and paint a suitably large model in the month of March.

I've participated in Monster March since 2017 and it's probably my favourite of the blogger painting challenges. It really gives me the incentive to turn out a big impressive model for one of my armies. You can read my previous posts here.

This year I'll be continuing the theme of Squaduary by growing my Adeptus Custodes army still further with the addition of a Contemptor Achillus Dreadnought.

The Forgeworld example. Isn't it pretty?

The Achillus isn't as large as some models I've attempted in previous years but it's still an imposing and gorgeous centrepiece for the army. If I somehow manage to make excellent progress and finish early, then perhaps I'll attempt a second model within the month.

I've made a rough start building the model.

I started building the model last night and have managed to get the legs and body together so far. The rear requires a tiny bit of green stuff where a couple of the panels don't align perfectly, but otherwise the model is delightful. I'm really looking forward to having a go at posing the arms as they appear to be superbly articulated.

I've also exchanged the standard 60mm base out for a scenic base from Scibor miniatures. Hopefully it will remain in keeping with the rest of my Custodes whilst being suitably grandiose as befits such an amazing model.

Check back next week to see if painting has commenced!

Squaduary 2020 - Adeptus Custodes Vertus Praetors - Complete

So the end of the month looms large and with it, the end of Squaduary 2020. I'm happy to report that I finished my squadron of three Vertus Praetors for my Adeptus Custodes force.

The squad, in all their shiny glory.

It's very cool to have a squad of these guys painted up and it really feels like my little Custodes army is off to a flying (pun intended) start.

Those big lances make them kind of hard to photograph.

Unfortunately my work rate slowed in the last week of the month. I was feeling a bit burnt out and had a cold which meant painting was starting to feel like a chore. Nevertheless, I managed to push through and get the squad finished within the month.

The guy in the middle was the most arduous to paint.

As I've said before, I'm thrilled with the way these have turned out. The colours are working well together and I've been able to complete them in a timely fashion. I can't wait to get stuck into my next challenge for Monster March which should be posted up on the blog shortly. Keep your eyes peeled for that one!

Now to see how they fare on the battlefield!

All that remains is to say thanks to Rory at Stepping Between Games for running Squaduary again this year. I hope you all enjoyed my contributions, if you'd like to read my previous posts you can find them here and here.

Squaduary 2020 - Adeptus Custodes Vertus Praetors - Week 2

Apologies for the delayed post, last week turned out to be busier than I thought so I've not got around to posting my Squaduary update until now. Still, I think it's worth the wait.

This is getting out of hand! Now there are two of them!

As you can see, I've added another completed jetbike to my squad of Vertus Praetors. Now I only have one model left to complete for the full squad! I'm really pleased that I've been able to match the quality of the two models so closely and it gives me a lot of hope for expanding the army going forwards.

The newest member of the squad.

Once again, I used the wet palette for the feathering technique on the lance blade and it certainly seems to help by keeping the paint workable. I don't think I would bother with it for anything that isn't serious blending or feathering though.

Detail of the rider.

For some reason, the zoomed in photo had trouble picking up the true colours of the miniature. Still these are gorgeously detailed miniatures, so I thought it was important to show some of it.

Get ready for the hurricane, heretics!

Anyway, I'm delighted with the way Squaduary is going so far. We're over half way there and I only have one (large) model to go. Certainly feels like I might have a finished squad by the end of the month! But as always, the hobby is a fickle mistress, tune in next week to find out if it has all gone horribly wrong.

If you'd like to see my previous updates you can read them here and here.

Squaduary 2020 - Adeptus Custodes Vertus Praetors - Week 1

The first week of Squaduary is finished and I'm off to a flying start! (pun intended)

Jetbikes are so damn cool.

That's right, your eyes do not deceive you, I've managed to finish painting the first of my Vertus Praetors for the three model squad. I used the colour scheme shown in my previous post, but I modified the purple slightly as I wasn't 100% happy with the original. Other than that, the scheme has stayed the same and I'm really delighted with how this one has turned out.

I nearly poked my eye out on that spear several times.

As for the other two jetbikes, I've managed to build one of them and about half of the other. Hopefully I can get them primed this weekend and then crack on with the painting. It's too early yet to say how the month will pan out, but I certainly hope to keep up the pace and work through the squad.

You can see the base better here.

I'm particularly happy with the result I got on the blade of the lance. I used the same feathering technique I had tried previously on the swords of my Sicarian Infiltrators but refined it slightly. This time around I even tried out using a wet palette and I was a little nonplussed. It certainly elongated the drying time of the paint on the palette, but I feel as though I could achieve a similar result with a conventional palette. Perhaps further use will divulge the supposed brilliance of the wet palette.

Squaduary, by the way, is an annual painting initiative run by Rory over at Stepping Between Games. It encourages participants to paint up a squad of miniatures during the month of February. Having got off to a good start myself, I'm looking forward to seeing what my fellow Squaddies have got up to. If you're interested, check Stepping Between Games every week during February to see the community results.

As for me, tune in next week to see if I've managed to knock another one of these bad boys out of the pile of shame!