My armor still functions - A Flesh Tearers' hobby log

[hushrong]

Fantastic! Love the flesh tearers you've assembled and painted! If you stripped away their symbols it would not be hard to tell who they are.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the Gaius Point veterans. I like the details, especially the muddy boots, the barbed wire and the skulls lying on the bases, etc., which make the Flesh Tearers look like they're actually on a battlefield.

[Lords of Preyspire]

Looks great mate. Love the painting and the chapter.

[The Yak]

Flesh Tearers done right! Excellent.

[terminatorAM]

Painting progress has been a bit slow lately, mostly because I've been spending time breathing new life into this old model I must have build and base coated 10 years.

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/921/qReqyR.jpg

 

I thought it needed more dakka, and a lot more brass 

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/922/PbfKN2.jpg

[brother tycho]

Great mods dude.  iiiiim not sure power armour be much help proof against those assault cannons.  Much effort / time to put them together?

[sockwithaticket]

Holy crap that's awesome/

[Bro Castiel]

Those cannons are amazing. Love your work and although I use the edge highlighting methods, the weathering you have done is fascinating and very effective.

 

Nice work.

[Sgt. Blank]

Big improvement - it should look awesome when it's painted!

[NightHunters]

Lovely work!

1/35 scale gatlings?

Also interesting to see some old scale miniature skills on the painting side, never thought to use then on infantry but a solid result!

[Kronus Stormbringer]

Love these mate, im currently painting up a test model for flesh tearers and i like the recipie

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Holy crap that's awesome/

I second that. Does the Baal Predator still bear assault cannons, or does it bear a Gatling bolter or other exotic weapon?

[terminatorAM]

Glad everyone liked the assault cannons, they were quite a task to finish. I scratch build them meaning I had to first find different brass rod sizes that fit together well, then individually cut 24 pieces, bent the etched brass, then super glued it all together (along with most of my fingers). I'm really happy with how it turned out because I don't think I want to do all that work again.

 

@Bjorn Firewalker: You're right that it does look more like the Gatling bolter with 5 barrels than an assault cannons. I wish I could have fit a 6th in there, but it would have changed the look I was going for in my head. It's not exactly standard design, so don't tell the tech priests ;)

[terminatorAM]

I'm experimenting with an airbrushing technique that's pretty new to me. "Color modulation" features exaggerated highlights that serve to create strong contrast between panels and shapes. I've seen a lot of great examples of this technique used on 40k models, but many of them have appeared almost cartoonish so I've been hesitant to try it myself...Until now. I stumbled across a few articles about scale model tanks being painted with this technique and then weathered using some of the methods I've tried. The results looked amazing, so I figured I need to give it a try myself.

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/921/nD11eD.jpg

 

I feel a bit like a hypocrite painting these extreme highlights after talking about how much I hate edge-highlighting. I'm hoping the weathering techniques will dull this neon-looking tank down a bit. Even if they don't produce the look I have in my head, it was a fun technique to try with my airbrush and as they say, 'Don't knock something until you've tried it.'

 

Time to get this thing dirty!

Edited March 22, 2017 by terminatorAM

[Race Bannon]

Whaaaat?!

 

That's awesome :tu:

[terminatorAM]

I'm almost done with the predator, but before I post final pictures, I wanted to share some progress shots to show how much the color modulation paint job changes with a bit of wheathering.

 

Oil dot filter

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/922/NFqoRC.jpg

 

Paint chipping

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/924/6avpeY.jpg

 

Pin wash, rust streaks, metallics, and other details

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/923/PnhPhF.jpg

 

Dust from weathering powders and a few small oil spills

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/923/P7Bnzk.jpg

 

 

Now I just need to apply some fresh mud splatter and some details on the tank commander and it will be all done. I'll post picture from different angles to show off all the details soon. In the meantime, I hope you like seeing the progression of the weathering effects as much as I enjoyed painting them.

[deathspectersgt7]

    Awesome !!!!!

[jeremy1391]

These are amazing!

[Biohazard]

Stunning work. The predator looks awesome

[Noctus Cornix]

That tank is gorgeous! Great weathering and chipping. Love that dark red too.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the Predator. I especially like the turret bustle storage racks- a detail that makes the tank look like a real world vehicle, as that's something real world militaries need and use on their tanks.

[terminatorAM]

The Eaters of the Dead

 

+++Accessing chapter logs+++

 

From the personal log of Armory Sergeant Bulst; commander of the chapter's 3rd vehicle; renamed "The Eater"; assigned to V Company during the Fire Waste Offensive, Third War for Armageddon

 

+++

 

"I never thought I'd look back at Armageddon as a pleasant experience. Let alone ever think about it as an optimal war zone. But now, aboard the Victus en-rout to the Cryptus System, I almost wish we back on those blasted planes. Our casualties accounted for twenty percent of the chapter's total strength, and while those losses are felt deeply, the war we are heading to will likely claim many more.

 

"Armageddon was one of the Imperium's greatest strategic assets, but to the sons of Sanguinius, it will be remembered as nothing more than a waste. A forgotten war where nothing was gained and nearly all was lost. The Inquisition has seen fit to prosecute the Flesh Tearers for our misconduct during the heat of battle. They claim that the collateral damage dealt by the chapter outweighs our victories against the ork invaders. Their hypocrisy is laughable given the uncounted billions that died upon that world just so the forges of the imperial war machine didn't cease production. The Imperium is crumbling and likely won't last into the next millennium. Yet still we must show humility and seek redemption for our actions.

 

"So it is in the name of redemption that Chapter Master Seth answers Dante's call for aid in the Crytus System. The Blood Angels care not what shame we have brought to our shared bloodline. So desperate is the situation around the shield of Baal, that our brothers will overlook any transgression in favor of gaining more meat to throw into the grinder. That is the lot of a soldier in these times after all. We all but flee the lash of Inquisitorial censure on Armageddon only to run headfirst into the jaws of death which have been opened by Hive Fleet Leviathan. 

 

"It's ironic that we volunteer for a suicide mission to redeem ourselves for the massacre at Gaius Point. Ironic that this massacre alone will be recorded in the chapter's history. Gaius Point may be a notorious example of astartes blood lust to the Inquisition, but that is only because there were no witnesses to the other three massacres that happened on our way there."

 

+++End chapter logs+++

 

+++Accessing Inquisitorial reports for the incident of Gaius Point+++ 

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/922/cCVbiD.jpg

 

Upon arriving in the Armageddon system, the Flesh Tearers were assigned enemy targets located within the Fire Wastes. The war had been raging for years upon the planet with no sign of stopping. New ork forces arrived daily and in response imperial forces were dispatched to prevent the threat level to the forge world from rising even further. 

 

The Flesh Tearers were to break the siege that Warlord Rukglum's forces had brought to the rural settlements of the region. The orks had blocked a network of roads connecting the towns to the nearest hive cities and the absence of the workers living there had significantly decreased the output of the hive's factories. 

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/922/XhPX3D.jpg

 

Gabriel Seth ordered the majority of the chapter's armory to deploy behind ork lines supported by the chapter's V Company under command of Captain Creighton. The armored column was to create a breach in the siege lines which would then be reinforced by units deployed from orbit. 

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/923/clRklm.jpg

 

After making planet-fall, Captain Creighton received a transmission from the Victus ​reporting that orbital superiority was compromised by the new arrival of a space hulk. The V Company was cutoff from reinforcements and the main attack on Rukglum's position postponed until further notice. The fuel and ammunition supplies which the company landed with were not sufficient for an extended period of combat. So the armored company deployed in search of fresh supplies and a location to dig-in while awaiting orbital support.

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/923/XyuLZU.jpg

 

After nearly a month without contact from the chapter fleet, the company's rations were depleted. Astartes are capable of operating for extended periods without food, but even their enhanced physiology has its limitations. Raiding parties were sent out into the Fire Wastes to locate supplies and food. One such group encountered an ork foraging party likely on a similar mission. The Flesh Tearers reported the ork foraging parties as destroyed, yet Inquisitorial investigators could find no bodies as evidence of the engagement. 

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/924/dDdHvY.jpg

 

Early battle reports from the Sisters belonging to the Order of the Argent Shroud indicated that ork forces had actually retreated from the Flesh Tearers' advance. This behavior was previously unheard of and baffled inquisitors of the Ordo Xenos. Orks captured after the attack were 'questioned' as prisoners of war. Several talked about "The eaters of the dead" when referring to imperial space marine forces. It would appear that the moniker was adopted by the Flesh Tearers based on pict-captures from the battle. It is still unclear what actions caused the orks to behave in such a fearful way. On an unrelated note, the ork casualty numbers documents after the battle seem to be under represented given the carnage that was reported. It's as if someone cleaned up the battlefield prior to the Inquisition's arrive. 

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/923/DwbYXR.jpg

 

+++End Inquisitorial report+++ 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the Baal Predator's weathering effects. I also like the backstory you wrote.

[Blindhamster]

Ooh I love the paint style and all the subtle conversions! Great stuff! That predator is absolutely awesome

[Tyrannicide]

This is one of my new favorite logs. So many cool techniques on display, I'd love to try something similar to the filters you've achieved on the armor. There's a very real and gritty dimension to the tank. The additional supplies and equipment go a long way. And you might've singlehandedly convinced me to break out my predators again. What have you got planned next?