Dark Angels Whirlwind

I took most of the week off painting after attending Warpstorm IX, and have eased back into it by painting up a whirlwind for my 3rd Company Dark Angels force.

I know they aren't exactly 'top shelf' when it comes to competitive play, but it fills a void in my army building tool box and is bound to see play at some point.

To build it I've taken a second hand lascannon razorback, cut the turret off (it had been glued in place) and put the Missile Turret Mk II from Puppetswar in its place. I also swapped out the crew member from the turret for a Dark Angel space marine.

With the turret itself being removable, I can sub in a lascannon or heavy bolter turret and run it as a razorback or forego any sort of turret and use it as an extra rhino.

Dark Angels Tactical Squads

Recently finished a few more Greenwing marines for my Dark Angels 3rd Company force. This means I can field 3 Tactical Squads shown below, opening up the option of using both a Demi-company formation and a Lion's Blade detachment.

2nd Tactical Squad, 3rd Company

3rd Tactical Squad, 3rd Company

Of course now I need to paint a couple more Rhinos for them to roll around the battlefield in, and I still need to finish my Eldar killteam, and a unit of Ravenwing Knights for Warpstorm..

Dark Angels Command Squad/Melta Squad

Meltagun toting squad of 3rd Company Veterans ready to burst out of my recently painted drop pod and hopefully lay waste to the enemy's biggest and baddest.

I'll have to field them as a Command Squad in order to get this many meltaguns in the lineup, so have included a back-banner in case I ever want to give them a standard.

Overall, I'm pleased with how they've turned out. I tried going for a rougher, hessian-like look on their robes and added as many little trinkets and icons as I felt I could get away with to represent their veteran status (I feel like a couple of them have so many pretty bits on their gear that they should be applying for a transfer to the Blood Angels).

Lascannon Devastator Squad

Finished 9th Devastator Squad for my 3rd Company force.

The sergeant has painted up really nicely and looks suitably "techy" for a Devastator squad sergeant with his backpack mounted signum and robotic arm.

I think the squad as a whole is my best effort so far, in terms of painting green marines. The photos don't show it but the green on the armour plating has much smoother colour transitions between layers and the edge highlighting is nice and crisp.

Underslung Missile Launchers

Finally got around to painting the two underslung missile launchers I have built for my 10th Devastator Squad. Now I need to access some more spare parts so that I can build two more to finish the squad.

Dark Angels Drop Pod

Painted up a drop pod for my 3rd Company "Monster Hunter" squad. These veterans all carry meltaguns (I will field them as a command squad) and will be dropping in to put the hurt on key targets.

Given the status of the squad within the 3rd company I decided to go a bit overboard with the paintjob. Each door panel has been painted with a variation of the typical "Dark Angel" image and the fins of the pod have been painted to look like feathered wings.

 Given my somewhat limited artistic ability, I've gone for very stylised depictions of the angels and wings.
The whole model has also been weathered heavily (with chipped paintjob, rusting and scorched base) to reflect its harsh existence.

I'm happy with the finished product, but painting it has nearly driven me insane. Any other drop pods that I paint will definitely be a lot less ornate (maybe just green with the 3rd co. red slash?).

I guess now it's time to start painting the veterans themselves...

Underslung missile launchers WIP

Having removed the grav-cannons and multimeltas from my Devastators (I've abandoned my plans for a "counts as vanilla marines" Skyhammer formation), I've decided to arm them with rocket launchers. The only problem with this new plan is that I hate the shoulder mounted launcher models. 

After a few failed prototypes, and feedback from various quarters, I've settled on the following replacement design...

It's built out of the heavy bolter and missile launcher kits from the devastator box and based on the forgeworld missile launchers but with a squarer 40k look. I'm happy enough with the design and am now just hoping it looks good when it's painted up.

3rd Company Officers

 Chapter master (still needed basing at this point). I'm happy with the paint job but this model must be  cursed, as in game I never seem to roll higher than 2's for it.

Apothecary built using parts from the Ravenwing Command Squad.

Librarian from Dark Vengeance.

Skyhammer (in progress)

Painting up some assault and devastator squads so I can run a Skyhammer (will have them 'count as" vanilla marines) in an attempt to get my 3rd Company force hitting a little harder. Just one more box of devastators and some drop-pods to go...

First Effort

Tactical Squad for my Dark Angels 3rd Company force. This was my first unit painted after deciding to join Glen and the others in 40k. At this point they still needed basing and company markings on their knees.

Rhino

Rhino Transport for my Dark Angels 3rd Company force. I used spare marine torsos and heads to make a crew for the tank (visible through the front windows). This was also my first attempt at weathering, with dirt and dust added to the front and sides.