Finished Black Templars Sternguard - photo extravaganza

Yes, they're the Sternguard, veteran space marines who specialize in using firepower to take down specific targets or reinforcing other positions (special ammo and combi-weapons for the win...)

Actually, though these aren't just any old sternguard, these are Black Templar sternguard, and naturally that makes them twice as hard as any other Space Marine Chapter. 

It took me 4 months to get these guys done (the journey began after scouring eBay and getting a ton of bitz in January)

You might think that being BT makes these guys easier to paint. After all, BT painting is usually about black and white (with a dash or red) but in fact, it took me ages to get my colour scheme together. It was the fluff that actually threw me a bit. Usually, Space Marine veterans are a colorful lot, with Sternguard particularly fashionable - lots of braid, gold and other bits and pieces to indicate their status. 
So what to do though with BT Sternguard? 
After all, BT are a pretty serious lot, and (to my mind) not as likely to go for all the bling that others might. They have a bit of a puritanical look after all (some seriously unfashionable hair cuts around). 

For that reason I decided to have the majority of these veterans stay with gunmetal/ silver ornaments, and kept the gold for the sergeants or other senior looking lads. Ornamental braid are in red or yellow (just for a change...)

And here are the results. Hope you like them!

Heavy flamers...Burn, baby, burn!

Cheers!

Brother Luthor - Black Templars Dreadnought.

"Brother Luthor...

...Brother Luthor...

...Brother, can you hear me?"

++

++Subsystem Re-activation Routine Delta Bravo Initiated++

++checking++

++checking++

++COMPLETE++

++I...HEAR...YOU...BROTHER CADWELL++

"The Chapter calls, Brother Luthor. We have need of you."

++I...STAND...READY++

------

Have you ever had one of those moments when you looked back at a model you thought you had finished, and somehow, you realized it wasn't complete? I don't mean that it wasn't finished in a technical sense, but that somehow, there was something else that needed to be there?

I had that this morning.

The Dreadnought I thought I had finished the other day? Something "wasn't there". It struck me that he was no Templar, but that with a couple of touches he could be.

A shield and three purity seals.

These 4 items brought to mind a name, and a backstory!

Today, Brother Luthor joins the Chapter!

:-)

Here are a couple of photos to compare the Dreadnought as was, with the Brother Luthor that is!

Before... plain left panel

After: Shield on left panel. Purity seal under right panel.

x2 purity seals under las-cannon.

Another view of left side.

Sometimes, it is the little things in life!

Cheers.

Black Templars Chaplain - Update

So I picked up a Black Templars Chaplain with jet pack a few months ago. He was already nicely painted, but I have had it on my mind to see if I couldn't do something additional for a while (when I pick up something already painted from eBay, I don't really feel it is mine until I have painted it - even if only a little bit.)

Tonight, I spent a while with some washes, colours and highlights. The changes are minimal, but he feels as though he is mine now!

Before...

...and after:

It is quite difficult to tell, but it involved:
a.) Grey/ blue edge highlights on the armour.
b.) Washes and highlighting on the cloth.
c.) Washes and Auric Gold highlights on ornaments and Crozius.
d.) Base. Sand, basecoat, wash and drybrushing.
e.) Metallic highlights/ wear on some edges.

Cheers!

Black Templar Dreadnought - Finished!

Here we go - my first finished Dreadnought!

I had a go at chips on the greaves, firstly using the "foam technique" I had used before, and then (for the first time) tried to paint on some chips and shadow. Sadly the latter didn't work at all. Still, have to start somewhere, right?

Here is the way I received the dreadnought, just for comparison:

Cheers!