So you like bolters do you, traitors? Well GOOD NEWS!
Brother Pitman, Assault Specialist
It’s back to the Flesh Eaters project this week with Brother Pitman, an Assault Intercessor equipped with duel heavy bolt pistols and a chainsword. Brother Pitman will be joining my second Assault Intercessor squad as the third member of the unit.
Modelling & Painting
This miniature is a redux of Crimson Fists Sergeant Bast. I was always pleased with his guns akimbo pose, and wanted to bring it into my Flesh Eaters project. There are a couple of other effects I want to port over from my Crimson Fists army, but those are projects for another day.
The LED effects on Brother Pitman were assembled using the techniques described in my LED Muzzle Flare Tutorial, with the slight change that there are two LED muzzle flares instead of one. To achieve this, I simply repeated Steps 2 – 7 of the tutorial. The second yellow chip LED was connected in parallel with the first yellow chip LED and the green helmet LED.
A tip I remember picking up from a fellow miniature painter – possibly Apologist – is that if you have a model with duel weapons, it can enchance the pose if the miniature’s head is looking in the same direction as one of the guns it is firing. This is a principle I’ve tried to follow here. If you have the two guns firing in opposite directions and the miniature’s head facing halfway between the two, then it can make the model seem ‘disengaged’ from the act of firing the weapons.
The conclave known as the ‘Diet of Fools’ ensured the Flesh Eaters and the other chapters of the Pentarchy of Blood were incredibly well equipped for the task ahead. This glut of equipment, supplied by order of the High Lords of Terra, wasn’t just reserved for officers but also filtered down to the line units. In these holo-picts we can see a very well provisioned Brother Pitman. His chainsword will carry the word of Terra – quite literally – to his Partisan foes!
EXTRACT FROM ‘A TREATISE ON THE WAR OF THE FALSE PRIMARCH’ BY SCRIBE HOWTOPHER BUXCRAFT
As I’ve described previously for other Flesh Eaters miniatures, the base model is a Primaris Assault Intercessor (from the Indomitus box) that I have modified to wear MkVI armour, in keeping with the War of the False Primarch theme for my Flesh Eaters army. The heavy bolt pistols are made from Umbra pattern bolt guns with the magazine cut down to give them a smaller profile.
For those that are interested, my painting recipe for the red Flesh Eaters armour can be found in this earlier post. I’ve added a little more battle damage to this Intercessor squad than the previous one. The ‘paint chips’ on their armour were applied using the sponge method and Rhinox Hide, which I then highlighted along the lower edge with Evil Sunz Scarlet and Wild Rider Red to give a sense of depth. Below you can see a picture of Squad Byrne so far – three down, two to go!
That’s all for today, I hope you’ve enjoyed this addition to the Flesh Eaters project. I’ll be back with more LED miniatures soon. Thanks very much for reading, and please remember you can also find me sharing my work on Instagram, Threads, Twitter/X, Bluesky and Mastodon.
I recently shared pictures of my ‘Armies on Parade’ 2023 project, “Interregnum at Interlude Quay”. As I mentioned in the original post, I was up against the submission deadline for the online contest, and only just had time to take the photos. But now the dust has settled, I’ve gone back and taken a few videos to showcase elements of the display board that don’t come across well in the still images, such as flickering flames and the flashing teleport homer. You can see the video on Instagram below, with an appropriate soundtrack of course!
Only a brief update today to share this video. Thanks very much for reading, and please remember that as well as Instagram, you can also find me on Threads, Twitter/X, Bluesky or Mastodon.
This week I’m taking a closer look at the Brother Minos, Hellfire Dreadnought. If you’ve been following my recent Armies on Parade project, then you may have spotted Brother Minos providing fire support at the back of the display board. I finished him in parallel with the board, and in my rush to meet the Armies on Parade submission deadline, I didn’t have a chance to give him his article at the time.
“Brother Minos was a former captain of the Flesh Eaters 3rd company. Laid low in combat against vile greenskins, his injuries were severe enough to require interment in a dreadnought. Methodical and with little patience for fools in life, in near-death he was more than willing to answer the Chapter’s call to battle against the False Primarch and his misguided followers.”
EXTRACT FROM ‘A TREATISE ON THE WAR OF THE FALSE PRIMARCH’ BY SCRIBE HOWTOPHER BUXCRAFT
Modelling & Painting
Brother Minos is based on the Dreadnought from the Warhammer 40,000 ‘Leviathan’ boxed set. Technically this is a Ballistus pattern, but I’ll always think of a Dreadnought with two different ranged weapons by the old ‘Hellfire’ pattern name.
The primary LED effect on this model are the missiles in mid-launch. I did also consider lascannon effects, but I’m already planning lascannon effects on another vehicle, so I decided to just focus on the missiles. I used Yellow/Amber 0805 Chip LED (3V) from the website Small Scale Lights, as detailed in my LED Rocket Launcher tutorial. All six LEDs are connected in parallel to a single battery in the base. I only made two slight deviations from this tutorial. Firstly, I used two LEDs (back-to-back) per rocket to make the effect brighter, since this is a centrepiece model. Secondly, I added a quick spray of Chaos Black to the stuffing used as missile smoke. This gives some texture and contrast to the stuffing, otherwise it’s just a large monotone cloud of white. It’s worth noting that the stuffing was sprayed before it was added to the model!
Purely as a matter of personal taste, I chose not to illuminate the sarcophagus vision slit. I made this choice because the vision slit is rarely illuminated in art, and personally I think it detracts from the concept of a sarcophagus and the near-death state of the marine inside. The rest of the machine is alive, active, and illuminated, but the sarcophagus itself is a cold and silent tomb. That’s not to say lighting the vision slit is wrong – and I know plenty have – it’s just not for me.
The design philosophy for my Flesh Eaters army has always been that of a Rogue Trader era (i.e. 1st edition 40K) aesthetic. This tends to mean no excessive decorations – space marines were a lot plainer back then and chapter identity tended to be expressed via paint scheme, rather than trinkets on the armour. However, for this Dreadnought I was very influenced by the picture below, which can be found in the Rogue Trader rulebook (pg. 22). Please excuse the poor-quality picture, the image was right on the gutter. If you’re newer to the hobby and having trouble working out exactly what you’re looking at in the picture, then this is what the original Space Marine Dreadnought looked like.
The image above shows a Blood Angels Dreadnought wearing a necklace of skulls and bones. Pretty badass! I decided to replicate this, although initial mock-ups with the necklace across the aquila made the front of the Dreadnought look very visually cluttered. So, I decided to turn the necklace into a belt. It also made more sense for the trophies to be at eye-level with the opponents they are intended to intimidate. The necklace chains are made from a Chaos vehicle accessory sprue, and the various skills and heads are from my ‘bits box’ and the Citadel Skull set (this is the kit that keeps on giving!). I added extra purity seals to the lower front of the torso, just to emphasise this isn’t heretical, but “sanctioned” trophy taking.
I took some other visual cues from this image, such as the ‘Nil Desperandum’, i.e. ‘Never Despair’, banner, and the laurel wreath banner top. I didn’t try to copy it exactly, as the Dreadnought’s banner had to fit in with the style of other banners in my army. But hopefully I’ve captured the ‘feel’ correctly. You may have also spotted the ‘Ferrum Et Ignis’, i.e. ‘Iron and Fire’, graffiti from the image reproduced on the lascannon arm. I’m not sure who was brave enough to graffiti a Dreadnought? Maybe it was Brother Talon, he does have a death wish after all!
You may have also noticed the black symbol on the Dreadnought’s body above the Crux Terminatus. It might be slightly hard to make out in the photographs, but this is the ‘Rose of the Pentarchy‘, an Orthodox campaign badge from the War of the False Primarch.
I don’t much new to say about the painting recipes used on this model. I followed the same paint scheme as for the rest of my Flesh Eaters, which you can find detailed in this post. I followed my rules for Terminator iconography and freehand checks patterns to visually link Brother Minos to the Terminator squad and help suggest that he is a storied veteran.
That’s all for today, I hope you enjoyed this detailed look at Brother Minos. Thanks very much for reading today’s post, and please remember if you’re on Instagram, Threads, Twitter/X, Bluesky or Mastodon you can also find me posting my work there.
From the dark void, salvation came in the guise of argent stars.
Jarnail Solarion of the Inheritors chapter
The Silver Stars chapter are a creation of my good friend and regular opponent, Apologist. They are the instigators of the War of the False Primarch and the leaders of the Partisan faction, in opposition to my Flesh Eaters and the other Orthodox chapters sent to eradicate this threat to the High Lords of Terra. When I was building my Armies on Parade 2023 entry, “Interregnum at Interlude Quay”, I knew that I wanted some antagonists on the board for the Flesh Eaters to be fighting. So what better choice than the Silver Stars?
Modelling
Before anything else, it’s worth making the point that the Silver Stars are (out-of-universe) intentionally slightly unclear, and this has been intentionally built into their marking scheme. They are, after all, supposedly the returned Legion of a lost or forgotten Primarch; or possibly a renegade Chapter masquerading as such behind an abomination; or perhaps the time- or dimensionally-displaced results of some Other event.
Apologist on the Silver Stars
The Silver Stars are intended to look like they’ve stepped straight out of the 31st Millennium (the War of the False Primarch being set in the 34th Millennium), so I wanted to create a MkII or MkIII look for their armour. I also needed to ensure they measured-up to the Flesh Eaters, which are based on Primaris Marines converted to look like they are wearing MkVI armour.
There were a number of ways I could have gone about this, including using third party 3D printable ’embiggened’ MkII legs and torso, or using Cataphractii Terminator legs. But in the end I decided to use what was already in my ‘bits box’, which was a lot of Primaris spares and some sprues of the old plastic MkIII armour.
These Silver Stars are built around Primaris legs and bodies, plus the older plastic MkIII arms, pauldrons, backpacks, bolters and heads. To give the legs a more “antiquated” look, I added Mixed Micro Glass Balls from Green Stuff World as armour studs. I’d be the first to admit this isn’t perfect, and if I hadn’t been up against the Armies on Parade submission deadline, I may have spent a bit more time converting the legs. Still, I don’t think it looks too bad, and as Apologist says in the quote above, the provenance of their armour is supposed to be intentionally unclear.
The basics of the scheme are armour as white as bone, as green as the ocean, as rose as coral; and with gold accents.
Apologist on the Silver Stars
Apologist has published a couple of guides to painting the Silver Stars on his website, including an article on their paint scheme and another on insignia and heraldry. Apologist and I have slightly different painting styles, so I used his guides as a starting point for my own, slightly tweaked interpretation which I have shared below.
All paints listed are from the Citadel range, unless stated otherwise. The miniatures were primed with Halfords Primer Grey, which is a good quality and cost effective undercoat spray for those based in the UK.
White Armour
Ulthuan Grey basecoat (two thin coats)
Apothecary White Contrast shade
Ulthuan Grey layer (one thin coat, but I didn’t worry about getting a super smooth finish, as it added to the battle worn look)
Corax White highlight
Skull White fine highlight
Blue Armour
Sotek Green
Talassar Blue Contrast shade
50:50 Sotek Green:Corax White hightlight
Gold Trim
Retributor Armour
Reikland Fleshshade shade
Druchii Violet shade (applied to deepest recesses while previous shade is still wet)
Silver Stars bear what appear to be Legion symbols both on their left pauldron (as typical for Space Marines), and on the centre of their torso. The marking is a white, four-pointed star made up of four small, unconnected right-angled triangles. They typically appears to be rotating anti-clockwise on the pauldron and clockwise on the torso (both suggesting forward movement); but occasionally run in the opposite direction, which indicates a form of intra-Legion specialism or honorific termed Manawa.
Whatever the direction of travel, and wherever it appears, the Silver Star symbol is near-universally rendered in white (that is, heraldic silver).
Apologist on the Silver Stars
The chapter insignia and squad markings were painted freehand with a slightly thinned down Corax White. Once you’ve practised it a few times, it’s a fairly easy chapter symbol to freehand compared to many others. If this article has inspired you to have a go at painting your own Silver Stars, then I would definitely recommend reading Apologist’s article on insignia and heraldry.
So, there we have it, the mysterious Silver Stars! Are they saviours of mankind or an existential threat to the Imperium? That’s a question I will leave to the reader. In any case, these miniatures were great fun to make and paint, a real palate cleanser from the Flesh Eaters. In fact, now their job on the display board is done, I thought it might be fun to expand these three into a six-man Intercessor squad for games of Kill Team. Otherwise it seems a shame for them to languish in a box somewhere not getting used. So keep an eye out for a few more Silver Stars over the coming months – reporting all sightings to the proper authorities in you sector, of course! And if this has piqued your interest in this enigmatic chapter, then I encourage you to check out Apologist’s excellent blog on the War of the False Primarch project.
Thanks very much for reading today’s post, and please remember if you’re on Instagram, Threads, Twitter/X, Bluesky or Mastodon you can also find me posting my work there.
“The War of the False Primarch was a dark and bloody episode of the Imperium’s history, now largely lost to myth and purged from all records, that plunged the Segmentum Pacificus into anarchy from 780.M33 to 860.M33. The conflict was finally ended when the High Lords of Terra convened the Pentarchy of Blood and tasked five loyal Chapters to destroy eleven others that had been declared Traitoris Perdita for their actions during the war.”
IMPERIAL ARMOUR VOLUME TWO – SECOND EDITION PG. 17
Concept
The Flesh Eaters space marine chapter, a key member of the Pentarchy of Blood, bring the will of the High Lords to the Partisan naval base of Interlude Quay deep within Segmentum Pacificus. Following the trail of intelligence gained from civilians captured during the Pacification of Logan’s World, Brother-Chaplain Uriah Grimm sets the world of Interlude Quay aflame, disrupting Partisan supply lines. Amidst the chaos, elements of the Flesh Eaters first and third companies launch a strike against hidden bases belonging to the Silver Stars chapter. The hunt continues for the Abomination known as the “False Primarch”.
This year’s board is continuing the story from last year’s Armies on Parade contest entry, the Pacification of Logan’s World. The army has grown over the past year, so a larger board would be required. I quickly arrived at the concept of an attack on a hidden base or bunker complex. This idea would allow me to showcase detailed close-up action and also a sweeping battlefield.
Designing & Building the Board
The board was built from a large picture frame, giving it a pre-made border. The middle of the frame was filled with layers of foam board, which are cut into the shape of the hill at the rear, and the earthworks disguising the hidden bunker at the front. The foam boards were then textured with a mix of sand and Vallejo model texture paste.
The various structures on the board are mostly made from Games Workshop kits. The ruins at the rear of the board are made from the Sector Imperialis Ruins kit. The tank traps are from a very old Games Workshop battlefield scenery kit. The partially ruined defence line in the middle of the board is made from part of the discontinued Wall of Martyrs kit and layers of cork board.
The fires burning in the ruins are made from flickering LED tealights covered in soft toy stuffing. The stuffing was given a spray of Chaos Black to make the smoke darker. The burning ruins were intended to both hide the transition to the background image and sell the idea of the burning city. I wanted to give the impression that the Flesh Eaters were pouring out of the city to overwhelm the hidden base of their enemies.
The background image of the burning city skyline was a royalty-free image taken from Freepik.com, printed out A3 size, and then glued to a sheet of foam board. Unfortunately, now that I’ve looked more closely, I’ve realised this was an AI generated artwork, which I don’t support on principle. Next year I think I’ll investigate painting the background myself.
The Silver Stars & The Hidden Base
I knew from early in the planning that I wanted some antagonist miniatures on the board for the Flesh Eaters to fight against. It gives a sense of life to the battle scene and helps give context to the muzzle flares and bullet impact effects.
The Silver Stars chapter are a creation of my good friend and regular opponent, Apologist. They are the instigators of the War of the False Primarch and the leaders of the Partisan faction. I have quite a lot to say about modelling and painting the Silver Stars, so I’m going to devote an entire separate article to them soon.
Going back to the board and the hidden bunker, he internal walls were made from the Zone Mortalis Columns and Walls kit. The lighting is simply two red LEDs connected to resistors, a switch and a battery pack underneath the bunker floor. I bulked-up the shape of the LEDs with acrylic gel and then painted a silver frame around them to give a utilitarian look. The propaganda posters were designed digitally and printed on paper, which I then stuck to the walls using Pritt stick.
Conclusion
There we have it, another ‘Armies on Parade’ project concluded! If you were following this project via any of my social media accounts, then you may have seen that it all came together very hurriedly in the end. In fact, I only finished painting it on the evening of the deadline, and only finished photography and sent the submission email with ten minutes to spare! Despite all this, I’m pleased with the outcome, especially the hidden bunker elements. I’ll start earlier next year, although I always say that…
Given a bit more time, would I have done anything differently? In hindsight, the bunker foreground could have been lower, and the rear of the battlefield could have been higher. This would have allowed a better lower angle for photography to capture a sweeping panorama without the bunker walls blocking the miniatures behind them. I would also have liked to have had some Partisan Imperial Guard fighting alongside the Silver Stars, if I’d had the time.
What’s Next?
What’s next for the Flesh Eaters? This certainly isn’t the end of the project. You may have noticed a Dreadnought in the pictures which I haven’t shown elsewhere yet, so he will be getting his own photography session and blog article soon. I also have more Assault Intercessors to finish, plus a Terminator Librarian, Terminator Captain and a rather large tank! I’m already thinking about what next year’s Armies on Parade board theme will be, but I think it’s safe to say it will be a continuation of Brother-Chaplain Uriah Grimm’s adventures in the War of The False Primarch.
That’s all for today, I hope you’ve enjoyed this year’s Armies on Parade project. Thanks very much for reading today’s post, and please remember if you’re on Instagram, Threads, Twitter/X, Bluesky or Mastodon you can also find me posting my work there.
Chris Buxey Paints 