Auran 81st

[Dekana]

TO-DO (Updated 2018/5/25)

1. Paint jailbird infantry squads (50/100)
2. Paint and base company commander with bolter
3. Paint heavy weapon teams
4. Base jailbirds and HWTs
5. Paint and base tech-priest
6. Magnetize jailbird special weapons
7. Paint jailbird special weapons
8. Convert HWT lascannons with pipe sections
9. Repair valkyrie magnet that you butchered
10. Airbrush valkyries
11. Paint valkyries
12. Assemble crusaders (with female heads)
13. Paint and base crusaders
14. Paint and base priests
15. Paint officer of the fleet
16. Base officer of the fleet
17. Airbrush vehicles (chimeras, hellhounds, wyverns)
18. Paint vehicles (chimeras, hellhounds, wyverns)
19. Repair damaged stormtroopers (snapped swords, helmet spikes)
20. Paint stormtroopers
21. Paint stormtrooper scions
22. Base stormtroopers
23. Base stormtrooper scions
24. Assemble KST troops
25. Paint KST troops
26. Base KST troops
27. Magnetize KST troops special weapons
28. Paint KST troops special weapons
29. Paint and base jailbird snipers
30. Convert ratlings (remove the stuffed animals?)
31. Paint and base ratlings
32. Paint and base nurses
33. Paint and base primaris pyskers
34. Paint and base servitors (cyber-zombies)
35. Paint and base other characters
36. Paint aegis defense line
37. Get objective markers
38. Make movement trays

Today's ceremony was over quickly as the Commissar-General opted to give only a short speech. He congratulated me for my enthusiasm in my time as a cadet and especially for my actions on Tyche (which I feel were highly exaggerated by Commissar Barron). He presented me with my new armaments as a full Commisar, a well-maintained bolt pistol and sword. Finally, he handed me my first assignment.

It seems a new regiment of the guard is being raised on a planet called Aura, and I am to proceed there on the next transport. I've not heard of the planet, but I am told the Navy's cogitators will have data available for review. I must endeavor to learn the customs of the Aurans before I arrive! Perhaps the Aurans will be similar to the Jouran lads I'm leaving behind, but if they turn out to be cave-dwelling savages, then I will have to think of new ways to inspire them to valor (perhaps with simpler and louder words?)

-Commissar Anne Villers



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Commissar Villers (and her unnamed duplicate mini) gets the honor of being the first miniature in my Imperial Guard army, and the first miniature that I didn't buy pre-painted.

Assembly: The model is Viktoria Skivlana from a French company. It came in 4 parts: torso w/ 1 straight leg and 1/ arm with pistol; bent leg; arm with sword; and base with footlocker. Gluing everything together was straightforward, although it took me a little while to realize that a piece of sprue beneath one foot needed to be cut away (it looked very much like it belonged there). I trimmed the mold lines on the legs and arms, but I was very nervous about cutting too deep, so I'm not sure if I trimmed enough to make the lines invisible. Hopefully a few layers of paint will take care of them!

Priming: I don't have any sort of ventilation in my mansion, so I primed outside. Using a tip I saw on youtube, I used some putty to stick the base of the model onto the top of a PET bottle so I could hold the bottle and spray the model at the top. Unfortunately, it was quite windy outside when I did the priming, which I didn't even notice at the time (I was too excited I guess). I do think the priming came out okay, but I'll be more careful next time.

Painting: I'll get started tomorrow! The army's color scheme will probably be light blues, green, and brown, but I think I'll put the commissars in the traditional black cloak, red sash, and yellow details. The commissars stand outside the regiment's chain of command, so I want them to look very distinct from the squads they're attached to.

Also, I'm toying with the idea of naming all the soldiers in the army, noted on the model somewhere or written on the side of the base. In Commissar Viller's case, I'd probably write it on the side of the footlocker she's standing on.

[me_in_japan]

Good man! A bit o fluff makes painting all the sweeter

Putting her on a bottletop is a good idea, as it means you can maneuvre the model about while painting it without actually touching the mini. As for undercoat on a windy day, don't sweat it. It's just a layer for the main paint job to stick to.

And as for naming all the minis in the army? Hum. Maybe if you were doing an all terminator veteran deathwing army or something I could see it, but for IG? Might as well call em Redshirt 1 through 99. By all means work up some background for the regiment as a whole, and its commanding officers and whatnot, though. Incidentally, if you haven't already, check out the Gaunts Ghosts series of books. They're ace, and describe life in the guard very well indeed.

[Dekana]

Follow my example or I will make you one!




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First model done! I'm satisfied with everything except the face, which I had a lot of trouble with. I wasn't satisfied with the first layer, or the second, and by the time I was happy, the face was so loaded with paint that I could barely make out the nose. She kind of looks like a creature from Jacob's Ladder now. Still, from a few feet away she looks fine.

@me_in_japan: Yeah, I'm not sure about the names. Besides not being able to think of enough names for the redshirts, I'd end up having to write on the sides of the bases, and that might distract from the rest of the model.
The only 40k book I've read is a sisters of battle one (Faith and Fire), which was pretty good. I should definitely pick up an IG book too, but which first... Ciaphas Cain or Gaunt...

[Primarch]

Gaunt's Ghosts tends to be quite serious in tone and are definitely in the war-story genre.
Cain books are more tongue in cheek and more of an adventure story.
Both series are aces though, so I recommend them both. (the Cain books do get a bit same-y after a while though).

The model looks good. If I may suggest though, wash the metal parts of the bolt pistol and the sword with a black wash, and the red parts with a red wash and then highlight the raised areas with the original metal/red colour and it will make them look a lot better.

[Konrad]

Never seen that mini before. Nice find!
Good start and welcome to the world of dabbing paint on toys.
It does look like you put the primer on a bit thick. I think that's where you lost some of the detail . You don't have to evenly cover every millimeter of the miniature, and it's perfectly okay if you can even see the metal or resin through the primer coat. Primer is just to give the smooth plastic/metal/resin surface of the miniature a bit of "tooth" for the paint to stick to, not color it or encase it in a shell.
No worries. If you are putting a Guard army together, you'll have lots and lots and lots of little guys to practice on!
And "Auran 81st", that does have a nice ring to it.

[job]

If she is administering discipline, sign me right up! nice find with the model.

[Dekana]

If she is administering discipline, sign me right up!

Oh, it gets better: she has a sister! /nudge nudge wink wink say no more





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This commissar's face actually looks vaguely human, so I'm happy. I switched the color scheme around, tried some edge highlighting with the pistol (not too much), and some regular highlighting on the cape. I think I overdid the dark sections (the back of the cape looks like camouflage), but I like the effect anyway. No washes this time, except on the box.

Edit:
@Primarch: Oh yeah, and I tried the washes like you said. The sword came out about the same I reckon, but the pistol and the red cloth look markedly better. Thanks!

[Dekana]

DEPARTMENTO MUNITORUM
Barrier Forge World
Master of Inventory Chapman
ATTN: Commander, [AURAN 81ST] Imperial Guard; Commissariat attached to [AURAN 81ST] Imperial Guard

Having received instruction to furnish [AURAN 81ST REGIMENT] with [STANDARD TRACKED VEHICLES (SUB-SUPER HEAVY) WITH FULL ARTILLERY OPTION], the Adeptus Mechanicus on Barrier Forge World has duly constructed said equipment and arranged for its delivery to [PLANET AURA]. The Emperor protects.

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Finally, I've finished assembling all of the vehicles in my army. In hindsight, I would have liked I think one more chimera, one more hellhound, and one less valkyrie, but I can certainly put together plenty of lists with what I have now. I magnetized nearly everything that I could, which I'm particularly happy about.

Obviously, I still need to paint most of the vehicles. Before I move on to that, I have a few special character infantry models that I'd like to take a crack at painting, as a break from working on the vehicles for so long. I'm still waiting for all of the Raging Heroes stuff, but I have a few more commissar and astro-path type models from other companies.

[me_in_japan]

Sweet mother of gray plastic! You don't muck about, do you?

To be fair, that lot will look sweet as once they're done. And if I may be so bold as to offer some advice...?

For the love of god buy an airbrush. Seriously. It will make painting that lot a pleasure, not a chore. I'm not joking here, btw. For that many vehicles an airbrush will make a huuuuge difference. Given the amount of money you've clearly already spent on your army, it will be well worth spending a couple of man yen on an airbrush and compressor. There's a ton of cool tank-only tricks you can do with an airbrush, too. Good luck!

[Dekana]

I always appreciate advice!

I'm not opposed to getting an airbrush on principle, but I haven't so far because I don't think I have a good environment for it. The impression I got when looking into airbrushing before is that it leaves a thin layer of paint absolutely everywhere. I'm renting student housing, and I don't want to make a mess of the place. I know there are spray booths, but I have no idea how effective they are at keeping things clean...