The Omega Company (WIP), The Errant's Alpha Legion Army

[The Errant]

A little backstory first, I suppose. This warband is called the Omega Company; it's what's left of the Alpha Legion's 24th company, plus a few sympathizers who left with them from the other companies. They've been roaming the galaxy since shortly after Eskrador, searching for Omegon and/or the Cabal, having distanced themselves from the rest of the legion due to the growing influence of Chaos on many of their battle-brothers. I'm also running a game of Dark Heresy, in which members of the warband will feature and get involved with the Illuminati.

Anyway, so recently I've gotten back into 40k; last time I had anything to do with tabletop was 3rd edition. I'm a bit older and a bit wiser this time around, and this time I'm taking the time to do things right from start to finish. Back in 3rd edition I was still a kid, and a complete noob at painting, so this time I'm starting from scratch, as close to the 'prescribed' method as possible. Which means that at least at first, I'll be drinking the GW koolaid and using Citadel paints and brushes. I also bought their 'How to Paint Citadel Miniatures' guide, and found it immensely helpful. Hopefully after I've got some experience under my belt I can branch out into different sources for supplies, but we have to crawl before we walk.

So far I've bought two CSM squads, one terminator squad, a lord and a sorceror. I've also bought a squad of berzerkers and a squad of Imperial marines for bits and for test models to get down my color scheme and painting techniques before I start on the actual CSM models. I've also ordered a lot of bits from The War Store (yes, I'm American but don't be fooled, I'm actually a decent fellow ), including the Mk IV jump packs that the Sanguinary Guard use. With some of the extra bits I've built a squad of five Chosen, and with others I've built three Imperial marines for paint testing. Finally finished my first model today, and after painting it over two or three times on various sections I think I have my color scheme just about nailed down:



This model is a hodge-podge of various paint combinations and techniques, but the head, torso, arms and bolter represent what I'll probably be sticking with. For posterity's sake though, I'll list the different combos that comprise the rest of the model.

Head/Torso/Arms: Chaos Black undercoat --> Stegadon Scale Green basecoat --> Drakenhof Nightshade wash --> Dark Reaper Highlights

Eyes: Stegadon Scale Green basecoat --> Warboss Green layer --> Coelia Greenshade wash --> Warboss Green layer

Targeter Lens (Head): Mephiston Red basecoat --> Nuln Oil wash --> Evil Sunz Scarlet layer

Bolter: Chaos Black undercoat --> Abaddon Black basecoat --> (Eshin Grey highlight--haven't done this because I don't have Eshin Grey yet)

Right Leg: Chaos Black undercoat --> The Fang basecoat --> Drakenhof Nightshade wash --> Dark Reaper highlight --> Thunderhawk Blue highlight --> 1:1 Guilliman Blue/Waywatcher Green glaze

Left Leg: Chaos Black undercoat --> Stegadon Scale Green basecoat --> Drakenhof Nightshade wash --> Dark Reaper highlight --> Thunderhawk Blue highlight --> 1:1 Guilliman Blue/Waywatcher Green glaze

Backpack: Chaos Black undercoat --> Stegadon Scale Green basecoat --> Coelia Greenshade wash --> Dark Reaper highlight

Metal: Chaos Black undercoat --> Leadbelcher basecoat --> Nuln Oil wash --> Ironbreaker highlight

And to top it off, I'm going to spray on a coat of varnish once I paint the purity seal. I was very surprised to see the legs come out so close to each other in hue after all was said and done; apparently once you wash and glaze something you can make even two very different basecoats look almost identical as finished products!

Current plan is to use the other two models to assess what a completed product looks like with a uniform scheme and to experiment a little further with two-layer highlighting. Once I have that down I think I'll be ready to start assembling/painting my Legionnaires!

[bird94]

Looks like a great start, and I think I'll steal some of your paint ideas for the details on my marines. I've got my basic scheme down, but hadn't worked out how to paint eyes, target lenses, etc. yet.

Glad to see another one of us going down the "semi-loyalist" route.

[The Errant]

Thanks bird94!

Finished basecoating the second of my three Imperial test models today:









Still gotta do washes and highlights but I'm feeling really good about it so far! Anybody have any advice on painting text onto purity seals?

[WarpWhisperer]

Looking good

As for purity seals; make sure your black paint is thin; mix it so that it almost looks too thin, then put two coats on each line (after drying) if needed.