Another Plastic Deimos Pattern Rhino

The Rhino is the most widely used armoured personnel carrier in the Imperium. Based on ancient STC technology, the fundamental design is robust, reliable, and easy to maintain, with an adaptive power plant that can run off a wide variety of fuels, making it perfect for the wide-ranging armies of the Great Crusade – and the wars of the Horus Heresy. As such, the Rhino chassis serves as a basis for many other war machines, and these transports are produced in their thousands – several distinct patterns are in common use throughout the galaxy, with the heavily-armed Deimos being the most widespread amongst the Space Marine Legions.

I was pleased to see one of the new Horus Heresy releases announced at Warhammer Fest was the Plastic Deimos Pattern Rhino. So when it was available for pre-order I clicked through and ordered the kit from my local FLGS. You can see the workbench for that Rhino here.

I was lucky enough to get a second Rhino for a Christmas present.

I am aiming to paint this Rhino in the same way as I painted my first one.

Looking at the sprues (on the GW site) there are a lot of parts, a lot more parts than when the original plastic Rhino kit came out in the 1980s.

The model has many more parts and is a more detailed kit than the original plastic Rhino kit that came out in the 1980s.

Drybrushing the Dreadnought

This Space Marine Dreadnought was one of the models included the Assault on Black Reach boxed set. The Warhammer 40,000 Assault on Black Reach was 5th edition’s “boxed game” or “starter set”. Having constructed the model I then put it away for a while… I got the model out of storage and decided I would paint this up as an Imperial Fists Dreadnought to accompany my new Deimos-pattern Rhino. I gave it a white undercoatusing White Scar spray. The next stage was the base coat and I did consider to either use a yellow spray, or to use the new Imperial Fist contrast paint. In the end I went with the new Imperial Fist contrast paint and I was quite pleased with the end result. I knew that though this looked quite good, it wasn’t quite the effect I wanted, so I shaded most of the model with Reikland Fleshshade Shade. I painted the weaponry and the exhausts on the Dreadnought with Leadbelcher.

For the next stage I used some Citadel Layer Yriel Yellow. I took a large brush and gave the model, what I would call, a heavy drybrush. I put paint on the brush, and then used some kitchen towel to remove most of the paint, and then using a stippling process added paint to the model.

I think I still need to do something about the right leg shield.

See the workbench feature on the Space Marine Dreadnought.

Plastic Typhon Heavy Siege Tank on the horizon

Games Workshop have announced that there will be a plastic Heavy Siege Tank for The Horus Heresy.

Named for the ‘Great Beast’ of Ancient Terran myth, the immense Typhon Heavy Siege Tank was developed by the Mechanicum alongside the Spartan, with which it shares a basic chassis design. The Typhon’s primary armament is the massive Dreadhammer cannon, and was created in response to a request from the Primarch Peturabo, master of the Iron Warriors. He demanded a Legiones Astartes war engine that could rival the great batteries of the Imperial Crusade Army in firepower, but manoeuvre and deploy at the speed of a Space Marine force.

I’ve always liked the Forge World model and I took a photograph of this Imperial Fists painted model at Warhammer World on a visit a few years ago.

Typhon Heavy Siege Tank
Imperial Fists Typhon Heavy Siege Tank at Warhammer World

There are some great Horus Heresy models available now and the question I have is, which one do I get next after I finish painting my Land Raiders.

Tracking the Land Raider

I have on my workbench a standard Land Raider.

The standard Land Raider, also known as the Land Raider Phobos, is an Imperial main battle tank and troop transport which serves as the “armoured fist of the Space Marines.” The Land Raider’s heritage predates even the founding of the Imperium of Man, yet it remains the single most destructive weapon in the Adeptus Astartes’ arsenal.

For the basecoat I used Tausept Ochre. I lost interest in the model, so, it got put into storage. However having liked the paint scheme I was using on my Deimos-pattern Rhino, I decided that I would find the model and paint this Land Raider in the same scheme. The first thing I did was spray the underneath of the model with Citadel Zandri Dust. I gave the model a couple of light sprays of Army Painter Daemonic Yellow. I painted the weapon sub-assemblies. added detailing and painted the iconography. Then using various Citadel shades I washed and shaded the model. For the next stage I used some Citadel Layer Yriel Yellow. I took a large brush and gave the model, what I would call, a heavy drybrush.  The tracks for the Land Raider were painted, and the iconography was completed with washes and highlights.

The finished tracks were then glued to the Land Raider with superglue.

Really now looking the part.

See the workbench feature on the Land Raider.

Detailing the MkIIb Land Raider

The Land Raider is an Imperial main battle tank and troop transport which serves as the “armoured fist of the Space Marines.” The Mark IIb Land Raider Phobos is one of the earliest marks of the standard pattern of Land Raider, and it still bears similarities to both the Land Raider Proteus and the Spartan Assault Tank that served as the models for the design. The Mark IIb Land Raider Phobos is the only pattern of the standard Land Raider Phobos that uses the older armoured sponsons, as they do not allow the weapons they hold to fully rotate.

When I got a Forge World MkIIB Land Raider and was originally painting it up, the plan was to this as a Grey Knights Land Raider in desert camouflage. I wrote up some more reflections recently on my MkIIB Land Raider, on the current state of the painting and what I needed to do next.

After giving the model a spray of White Scar over the original base coat of Tausept Ochre I gave the model a new basecoat of Daemonic Yellow spray from Army Painter.

The next stage was painting the details on the model. This included the bolters and lascannons.

I also painted the rear exhausts and starting on the iconography.

I do like the exhausts on this model which differ from those included with the plastic kit as seen on my other Land Raider. They are single chunkier exhausts.

The next stage will be finishing painting the exhausts, weapons and iconography. The iconography actually matches that on my Repressor.

See the full Mark IIb Land Raider workbench.

Tracking the Razorback

One model I got many years ago, well in 2006, was a Forgeworld Razorback the one with the much bigger turret, which I much prefer over the plastic kit version that you could get in the shops back then. I recently retrieved it from storage and decided that I would try and finish painting it. I was using Tausept Ochre as the base coat, however having liked the paint scheme I was using on my Deimos-pattern Rhino, I decided that I would paint the Razorback in the same scheme. Having sprayed the underneath of the model with Citadel Zandri Dust. I gave the model a basecoat of Army Painter Daemonic Yellow. This was followed with Leadbelcher for painting the exhausts and weaponry. The next step was painting the iconography and purity seals. I then slightly messed up the shading on the model, but think I managed to get the effect I was looking for. For the next stage I used some Citadel Layer Yriel Yellow. I took a large brush and gave the model, what I would call, a heavy drybrush. The next step was to paint and highlight the iconography.

I then glued the tracks to the Razorback using superglue.

I also drybrushed the front panel iconography with various shades of grey. I also took the time to brighten up the purity seals and other iconography after it was dulled down by the shades and washes. I also highlighted the purity seals with some White Scar paint.

There is still some work to do with this model, but I am pleased I have made progress and nearly finished it.

See the workbench feature on the Razorback.

Painting the MkIIb Land Raider

The Land Raider is an Imperial main battle tank and troop transport which serves as the “armoured fist of the Space Marines.” The Mark IIb Land Raider Phobos is one of the earliest marks of the standard pattern of Land Raider, and it still bears similarities to both the Land Raider Proteus and the Spartan Assault Tank that served as the models for the design.

I got a Forge World MkIIB Land Raider and was originally painting it up as a Grey Knights Land Raider in desert camouflage. Eventually it would have looked like the Repressor.

I wrote up some more reflections recently on my MkIIB Land Raider, on the current state of the painting and what I needed to do next.

After giving the model a spray of White Scar over the original base coat of Tausept Ochre I gave the model a new basecoat of Daemonic Yellow spray from Army Painter.

The next stage will be painting the exhausts, weapons and iconography. Having painted the Deimos-pattern Rhino, my other Land Raider, and the Repressor I feel confident in painting the details on this model.

See the full Mark IIb Land Raider workbench.

Reflecting once more on the MkIIb Land Raider

The Land Raider is an Imperial main battle tank and troop transport which serves as the “armoured fist of the Space Marines.” It is one of the most resilient and iconic armoured vehicles in the galaxy. The Land Raider’s heritage predates even the founding of the Imperium of Man, yet it remains the single most destructive weapon in the Adeptus Astartes’ arsenal.

The Mark IIb Land Raider Phobos is one of the earliest marks of the standard pattern of Land Raider, and it still bears similarities to both the Land Raider Proteus and the Spartan Assault Tank that served as the models for the design.

The Mark IIb Land Raider Phobos is the only pattern of the standard Land Raider Phobos that uses the older armoured sponsons, as they do not allow the weapons they hold to fully rotate. This pattern of Land Raider is mostly extinct within Space Marine Armouries, having been replaced with newer marks and patterns of the standard Land Raider Phobos. However, some Chapters may still possess one or two as treasured relics of their ancient past.

When I got a Forge World MkIIB Land Raider and was originally painting it up, the plan was to this as a Grey Knights Land Raider in desert camouflage.

The planned painting process I was using, eventually it would have turned out and looked like the Inquisitorial Stormtroopers Repressor Transport.

Though I am pleased with my Repressor, and it works with the painted Inquisitorial Stormtroopers I painted a few years back.

I wasn’t sure if this was the best way forward for the Mark IIb Land Raider. I wrote up some reflections recently on my MkIIB Land Raider, on the current state of the painting and what I needed to do next.

However having liked the paint scheme I was using on my Deimos-pattern Rhino, I decided that I would find the model and paint this Land Raider in the same scheme.

However I first decided that I would try out the paint scheme on my other Land Raider first before doing anything drastic. With that Land Raider I followed the process I had used on the Rhino with a yellow spray various shades, dry brushing and detailing.

I was really pleased with the progress on that Land Raider so as it neared completion, I decided I would use a similar process on the Mark IIb Land Raider with one minor change. Whereas with the other Land Raider I left the base coat Tausept Ochre before applying the yellow. This time I sprayed the Mark IIb Land Raider with a spray of White Scar paint.

I left the underside Zandri Dust to add some shadow to the future yellow basecoat.

The next step will be a spray of yellow paint. Games Workshop don’t do a yellow spray and I don’t have an airbrush. I did use a paint comparison site to find a close alternative to Yriel Yellow. The Daemonic Yellow spray from Army Painter seemed like a good choice, and I had one which I bought for the Deimos-pattern Rhino.

I also started on the tracks for the Land Raider, which were given a spray of Mechanicus Standard Grey.

I then did a heavy drybrush of Gorthor Brown. The tracks, once dry, I then gave them a wash of Agrax Earthshade Shade. After painting and shading them, I drybrushed them lightly, first with Leadbelcher. I then did a very light drybrush with Terminatus Stone.

See the full Mark IIb Land Raider workbench.

Painting the weapons on the Space Marine Dreadnought

This Space Marine Dreadnought was one of the models included the Assault on Black Reach boxed set. The Warhammer 40,000 Assault on Black Reach was 5th edition’s “boxed game” or “starter set”. Having constructed the model I then put it away for a while… I got the model out of storage and decided I would paint this up as an Imperial Fists Dreadnought to accompany my new Deimos-pattern Rhino. I gave it a white undercoat using White Scar spray. The next stage was the base coat and I did consider to either use a yellow spray, or to use the new Imperial Fist contrast paint. In the end I went with the new Imperial Fist contrast paint and I was quite pleased with the end result. I knew that though this looked quite good, it wasn’t quite the effect I wanted, so I shaded most of the model with Reikland Fleshshade Shade.

I painted the weaponry and the exhausts on the Dreadnought with Leadbelcher.

See the workbench feature on the Space Marine Dreadnought.

Land Raider Doors Stone Iconography

Grey Knights can use Land Raiders, when I first started putting this force together I knew that if I was going to get a Land Raider it would have to be the Forge World MkIIB Land Raider.

However I was also lucky enough to receive a second Land Raider as a present. It was the Terminus model, I decided though to build it as a standard Land Raider. Having made the hull I kept the weapons as separate assemblies, I would also be adding the tracks later too.

Now I made a mistake when I ordered my Mark IIb Land Raider, you get a set of doors and I (foolishly) asked them to replace the supplied eagle doors with Grey Knights Land Raider doors.

Now what I didn’t realise was that the side doors on the sponson are not the same size as the Land Raider doors, but are in fact the same size as Rhino side doors. So the Grey Knight doors are too big! However this meant I could use them on this new Land Raider.

The Land Raider has been through a journey of black undercoat, Tausept Ochre, some airbrushing and eventually a final coat of Daemonic Yellow spray from Army Painter.

When I was originally looking at the iconography on the doors of my Land Raider I did think about how I should paint it.

Initially I did consider painting it up with the colours of red, gold, black and white skulls. However when I looked at examples online they looked very busy. One thing I always liked about the Terminators from Space Hulk and at Warhammer World were the stone icons on their shoulder pads, like these Dark Angles Death Wing Terminators from Warhammer World.

Dark Angels Death Wing
Dark Angels Death Wing

So in the end I decided that I would paint the icongraphy on the doors as stone. I painted the door iconography with Mechanicus Standard Grey. I however did paint the skulls with Ushabti Bone.

Then I washed the model with various Citadel Shades. I also did some dry brushing with various shades of yellow.

Once the model was shaded I then painted the doors with Stormvermin Fur. This was followed by a drybrush of Dawnstone Layer and then a lighter dry brush of Administratum Grey. The Dry paint grey was too dark, so I did a final really light dry brush of Terminatus Stone Dry paint.

I was really quite pleased with the effect that I got in the end.

See the full workbench feature on this Land Raider.