Ultramarines!

So, a slightly longer than hoped for delay before this post.  I'm not complaining though!  Work over the past few weeks has been a little bit slower than I would prefer, and this week was busier again.  It's always nice to be able to pay the bills!  This is going to be another photo heavy post, with lots of photos of my most recent army, my Ultramarines.  The Smurfs seem to be a very polarizing army.  People seem to either love them, or hate them.  Me, I used to hate them, but that was due to their color scheme (shuddering at the thought of the second edition uber-bright paint jobs!)  Since their paint job was updated I'm pretty ambivalent toward them.  Why go to the time and effort to build an army I'm ambivalent toward?  I decided years ago that "some day" I would build an Ultramarines army so I would have a vanilla marine army that was obviously vanilla marines.  This past spring, while deciding what army to build and paint for the Alamo 40K GT I decided it was time.  I also built the army with primarily infantry models.  I get SO tired of all the mechanized forces on the tables!  Yes, Razorspam is a good, strong list, but be different!  Show some originality!  As I was building models, I also decided to clean out my bitz box some.  I built 1 full tactical squad from just bitz!  With the help of a friend (a backpack or 2 and a couple of arms if I remember correctly) I also fleshed out 1 devastator squad and built a second.  Toward the end, seriously scrounging through the box, I built a Vanguard Veteran squad too!

A few years ago, I bought a couple of cans of Ultramarines Blue spray paint from some friend's hobby store.  I'd nursed those cans along, shaking them up every couple of months to nurture them until I was ready to paint blue.  The big day came, and after 1 short burst, the first can clogged up!  Nothing I tried got it working again.  I tried the second can: same thing!  I knew I didn't have time to base coat all of those models by hand and still get them done in time for the Alamo in May (this was about mid February.)  Out came the previously unused airbrush.  I re-read all of the articles I had downloaded, and went to work familiarizing myself with this new tool.  After a couple of weeks practicing with ink on paper I figured it was time to bite the bullet and shoot some paint.  Long story short, I sprayed the base coat, and a couple of highlights on over 100 models in about 5 hours.  That time included cleaning the airbrush in between each color for practice doing it.  With all of the time I saved NOT base coating with a brush, I was able to spend more time on detail.  I've received many compliments on these models, and they helped take me to Games Day again this year. I still have 3 or 4 units to paint, but well over half of the army is done.  I'll probably try to finish them off, and be done painting Smurfs by the end of the year; see how it goes.  Here's the boys in blue:

At Games Day!  "Primus Inter Pares," "First Among Equals."  Ultramarines.  A received what I consider to be a HUGE compliment on this army while at Games Day.  I was speaking to Phil Kelly, Games Designer, and having him autograph my Space Wolves Codex.  I mentioned that in addition to Golden Demon, I had an army in Armies on Parade again this year.  He asked which one.  I told him, "The Ultramarines display with all of the columns."  His eyes got big, and he stood up saying he wanted to shake my hand.  He told me the display was , "Spot on. You totally nailed the Ultramarines with that display."  He asked what the Latin on the display meant.  I told him, and he got a grin on his face and said, "Nice!"  That brief exchange made my day!  Little did I know the day would get even better that afternoon! Thanks for the compliment Phil, you have no idea how much it means to me!

"Dirty Steve" formerly of White Dwarf photographing my display.  Youngsters tripping across this won't remember Dirty Steve, but us Old Timers do!  It was a pleasure to meet him in person and chat while he was taking these photos!

The army as it was when I made the trip to San Antonio for the Alamo 40K GT.  The vast majority of what is on the display was painted in a 3 week binge.  The Inquisitorial Drop Pod, and the black (Deathwatch) marines in the foreground are Sternguard Veterans.  I've always liked the Deathwatch, and when I saw the Sternguard rules in Codex Space Marines I KNEW that I would have a unit painted as Deathwatch.

Tactical marines.  Yep, there are 3 full squads of them and the rest look just like these! Well, different squad markings.

The 3 tactical squad sergeants; with banners color coded to their squads.....yeah, its a sickness.

A squad of Devastators ready to provide covering fire!

 
A couple terminators with their sergeant.  Forge World shoulder pads.

Assault Termies this time.  FW pads again.

The drop pod; Inquisition icons on all doors!

Opened up.  Object source lighting inside.  Forge World etched brass above each doorway, and on the floor in each doorway....did I mention its a sickness?

Some of the Deathwatch/Sternguard.  There are 10 total, 11 if you count their Librarian.  Of the 11, 6 of the chapter symbol shoulder pads are ones I sculpted myself.  The muzzle blast bits came from a friend of mine.  Yep, more brass etch on each of their backpacks.  I HAD to help designate them as Inquisition didn't I?  Well, DIDN'T I?

Some assault marines, including a captain with jump pack.

Another view of the captain.  You can get a pretty good look at the "cross hatch" style highlights I used extensively on these models.  Its an artistic technique I've seen in graphic novels and first saw used on models in a GW store that had been painted by the store manager.  Its fast, and looks pretty good on the table top I think.  I get quite a few comments on the style; all positive so far!

The cloak.  I was really pleased with how this turned out.

The 2 Librarians.  One Ultramarines, and one Exorcists Chapter, seconded to the Deathwatch.  I got lucky with this model because the Chapter symbol for the Exorcists is the same horned skull as the symbol for Librarians.  I changed the skull on his belt buckle to a horned skull so he has a Librarian symbol on him and I was set!  Green stuff is your friend!

Heavybolterbob!  In case you haven't noticed, most of the models are on assault legs to look like they are running forward to get into position.  The Devastators are all kneeling since they are holding position and steadying heavy weapons.  All of the models have free hand on them as well.  Litanies, squad markings, and a Roman numeral 13 on a knee pad for the 13th legion.

Another angle to show the kill markings on his Heavy Bolter!

This Land Raider isn't mine!  I traded the assembly and painting of it for some models.  I knocked it out (along with lots of other stuff) the week leading up to Games Day so I could include it on my AoP display board.  I think it turned out pretty well, and the owner is happy with it!  As an added bonus he can say it was displayed at Games Day!

These on the other hand, ARE mine.  Two of the very few vehicles that will be in this army.

 An old school pewter dreadnought that I was given in pieces!  He had 3 or 4 nasty-thick coats of paint on him and he was missing a foot!  I stripped the paint.  I converted him slightly using feet from a Imperial Guard Sentinel I had in my bitz box.  I pinned him all together and pinned him to the base.  I jazzed him up with some Forge World icons, and here he is.  I probably should have named him, Phoenix.

Last but not least, me with the AoP display, and Jawaballs Ultramarines banner.  This was Jawaballs' 4th straight winning entry in the banner contest at Games Day.  He was gracious enough to let me display my army along side it AND he took the photo.  Thanks Jawa!

Yes, that is a Silver Demon from the Golden Demon painting competition next to the army.  That's for another post!  This one is for the Ultramarines!  I learned an absolute TON while painting this army.  They won me my 2nd straight Best Painted at this year's Alamo 40K GT in May.  I also won 3rd Player's Choice at the Alamo.  They won best painted at a local tournament in Montana in June while I was visiting family and friends.  They won me a second Parade Day qualifier, which paid for my ticket to get into Games Day.  Models from this army have also been featured in the Photo of the Day on Bell of Lost Souls.  If that's how you feel about the Ultramarines, you can hate on them all you want, but I like my Smurfs!