The Lex Never Rests

Merry Christmas, happy Hannukah, cheerful holidays and generally have a good day to all! And, for the particularly 40K-brained among you, lo Sanguinalia!

I have had a very pleasant morning and early afternoon, with presents, good company, and a nice walk, plus I managed to finish the Arbites. They've got quite a basic paintjob really, all things considered, but they're done and I like them and that's what matters. I ended up not bothering with transfers because not only could I not find my decal sheet for them, but it turns out that all the decals are white, which wouldn't look very good on the yellow pauldron anyway. 

But here they are:

Arbites with riot shotguns and grenade launcher, led by a Proctor, and including a cyber-mastiff and nuncio-Aquila to fly around broadcasting messages like REMAIN IN PLACE and THIS IS A SANCTIONED ACTION, that sort of thing

There may not be a Judge Dredd but there is a Proctor Bleak

Arbites riot control squad with suppression shields and shock mauls, led by an Under-Proctor

Again with the amusing names. Arbite Dire is good, but Arbite Crool was absolutely a stretch

They add a bit of serious aggression and fear to the House Helmawr Hive Primary Enforcers and can be attached to my 40K Inquisition forces in a pinch despite the decidedly non-sandy bases. I'm definitely going to get at least another box, to bulk up Under-Proctor Vex's squad to ten and add a squad of bolter-armed Arbites for when the riot really needs putting down. Eventually I'll probably 3d-print some Repressor parts and mount them all in Repressors.

Painting Points:
Today: 12
This Week: 12
2024: 211 (362)

Christmas Eve - So Close To Completion!

Well, I nearly managed to get the Arbites done today. I just have some decals, the bases, and the names to go:

I opted, in the end, to slap some dark blue highlights on their cloth uniforms and leave all the armour the flat black (except on the cyber mastiff, which got a coat of gloss). That provides enough of a distinction between the materials and is easier to paint, too.

The decals will be something from the Arbites decal sheet on their right shoulder pauldron, either a number or the Arbites emblem. Whatever I think is going to look coolest, honestly.

In other news, I got an early Christmas present today:

This boosts my Clan Jade Falcon force up to, essentially, a very small Cluster of two Binaries. Or it will do once I get hold of the Mercenaries Kickstarter (and the Alpha Strike box will add more Clan mechs too). Essentially I now have a Star each of light, medium, heavy and assault 'mechs. That said, I'm not entirely sure that Dire Wolf will be getting a Falcon Guards paint job, because...

On the left, the Iron Wind Metals Dire Wolf, on the right, the new Catalyst Game Labs version

 The game that got me into the Battletech universe was Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries, and in that I almost always ended up piloting a Daishi (Dire Wolf) with three clan LBX-AC-20s and an LRM system. As your call sign in that game is Spectre, I named the Dire Wolf Death and gave it a white paintjob. That mini on the left in the picture is the version I painted up when I was at university, probably some time around 2005-6. The dragonfly on the left leg is a copy of one of my then best friend's tattoos. So there's some temptation to create a new, modern version of Spectre's ride, Death. On the other hand, maybe I'll give in and paint it in the three-tone camouflage of the Falcon Guards, and put it into the Assault Star... who knows.

Tomorrow is Christmas, so I may or may not get time to do the finishing touches to the Arbites. Depends how much of a food coma Christmas dinner leaves me in, really!

Stomm, Drokk, And Other Such Words

Work continues on the Arbites. I've done their gold elements, based and washed the metals, finished the webbing, boots and gloves, and highlighted the red bits. There's still a fair few things to do, but the biggest task left is going to be painting over all the green, gold, red and metallic bits on the black areas! Then it'll be a case of applying some highlights, differentiating their black armoured sections from their black cloth sections, skin, and basing. So not too far to go. I might even be able to get them done tomorrow (maybe).

The robo-dog (ok, cyber-mastiff) in the bottom left is mostly done I think, I just need to work out how to paint the bits of dog that aren't cybernetic or armoured. I might just go for a sand and black colour like a German Shepherd, although it looks more like it's meant to be a Rottweiler. The floating megaphone-drone is also basically done - just a few details and then the ruined building part, which I'm probably going to paint in much the same way as the rest of the base I think.

Which means that (as they say): Grud! They're nearly ready to dispense JUSTICE!

We Are The Lex

I have done a bit of work on the Arbites, drybrushing the boots and gloves and painting the webbing, both in preparation for some washes - Biel-Tan Green on the boots and gloves, and Athonian Camoshade on the webbing. The different colours will give a reasonable facsimile of different material types, and, of course, are thoroughly based on...

 

 

...Judges from 2000AD, of course! After all, the Arbites are in and of themselves essentially just a straight steal of the Judge aesthetic in the first place, so why not?

No IP infringement here no sirree

I also did a bit of work on the giant rats, touching up the undercoat with a coat of black and then blocking in the tails, paws, ears and noses, all in preparation for painting them up like some of the pet rats my partner P and I have had in the past.

Tomorrow is the dreaded Christmas Food Shop, so if I survive that I'll unwind with some more painting and see how much I can get done on the Arbites - who knows, if I get the chance I might get them done before Christmas Day!

Flying The Flag

I have a spare Primaris Ancient that I have decided to paint up as a Raptor and add to the army (which is, incidentally, for sale: if you'd like to buy 2,000+ points of Space Marines for £500 - a nearly £200 discount from the RRP - leave a comment). And once she's done, I'm going to finish off the Arbites that I picked up earlier this year, I think.

I'm going to try to finish the Ancient tomorrow, but it might drag a bit. I've done half of the tedious bit of the camouflage to be fair!