151 Down Memory Lane (2nd Edition 40k!)

I posted these on Facebook just a couple of days ago and was pleasantly surprised by the response.

These were my first taster of Warhammer 40k back in 1993..... I was 14. (please dont do the math!)

Before then I had mostly played the various "gateway" board games, Space Crusade, Heroquest and the like. I remember distinctly starting to use the models in those games to play on open tabletops and realising that boards were too limited.

The joys of using an old subbuteo pitch draped across stacks of books to form hills!

Then as now I spent more time reading and digesting the amazing fluff and imagining life in the setting than actually playing but hey I was that kind of kid.

I had been reading WhiteDwarf for a few years by then so when 2nd Edition came out and all the confusing Rogue Trader rules came together in one package I jumped at it.

The plastic Orks and Gretchin in their static mono pose and the statuesque Marines where a real challenge for my teenage self and rest assured that no evidence of my 14 year old painting survives!

I guess as a combination of my age and the newness of the game but 2nd Edition was something of a golden age for me. I dont recall getting as much satisfaction from any of the following editions as I did from 2nd. It was prior to the codexes, although they were quick to follow and you still had a lot of flexibility.

What are your memories of those heady days in the '90s?

150 For the Khan! (White Scar)

I was worried about this guy, oh my goodness was I worried! A bike covered with loads of details...!

But once I broke him down a bit and looked at it one piece at a time I was able to put something together that I am quite proud of. He was an experience but a good one I think

I tried to make his shield look old and bronzed but I think I will need to work on this. I wanted to have something similar for my skeleton warriors but I worry that this look wont work for them. We will see I guess.

Bases are sorted in this basic set up now, totally confident and at ease with them so its time to start with some more adventurous ideas.

149 The Flesh Is Weak! (Iron Hands)

Only a very short update today, managed to finish off the Iron hands guy. He is to be honest a pretty uninspiring model, pretty static and the shape closes him off for me.

Has some cool features though, loving the bionic leg and its nice to see a reloader just not feeling the model as a whole.

I should have maybe done some more colour to break him up a bit as he is very, black, grey, silver...

Oh well, not many left now!

148 Papa Smurf (Ultramarines)

Sorry i couldn't resist. I don't actually have too much prejudiced against Ultramarines to be honest, I think its just a shame they have been put on a pedestal somewhat with the writing and have become kind of "main stream" which always pushes me away from something. I would always rather have something different.

Both are great models I must admit, going along with the trend of all the new Deathwatch models to be honest. I really cant fault them.

Quite pleased with my basing now, I think I have got these quite simple styled ones down and can reproduce them quite easily. Armageddon Dust with a wash of Agrax Earthshade and then a dry brush of something like Ushabti Bone or similar to pick up some texture. Steel Legion Drab on the edges and bingo!

I think the next bases will have to be a bit more adventurous!

147 Fire In The Belly (Salamander)

Painting fire! Oh my! This was a difficult one to get to state I was happy with. My teenage self clearly thought fire goes from dark to light from the middle to the outside.... it doesnt! who knew!?

So after a few... how can I put it? experiments? I got to something I can live with... I think i will need to work on this more.

Other than that its another nice model, went together really well and I am really liking how all the seams get covered up by the overlapping bits.

The Salamander has some great contrast between modern tech and the techno barbarian styling.