+CONTACT+

Contact in Gondwana 132Ma (2742AD)

A fireteam of Chrono Marine Riflemen with 4th Battalion, 2nd Chrono Marine Regiment engage anomalous reptilian lifeforms while conducting time loop breaching exercises last month. Their Battalion Commander was relieved of command after his battalion experienced heavy losses against what attached press called "primitive cold-blooded mongrels armed with flint and sea shells". Estimated forces lost to temporal desynchronization reached three-hundred and forty-seven.

--------

    It's always great to cleanse your palette when you find yourself painting the same sort of thing for too long. I intended to only paint the three Fimir from the original Hero Quest this week but as I was working on them I found these Pig Iron Productions heavy troopers. I purchased these alongside plenty of head swaps when I wanted to make an elite Renegades and Heretics force to attach to my Iron Warriors Chaos Space Marines back when I played 40k in the tail end of 8th edition. I ended up only using a few of the head swaps on some Space Marine scouts and then painting a single one of these heavy troopers before real world obligations piled up and I forgot about the project altogether. These are some super simple and really cool looking models that I'm happy to have rediscovered!

    The little bit of fluff above sees these guys as "Chrono Marines". In their future, scientists discovered the secret to time travel prompting a whole slew of conflicts across time. Chrono Marines are frequently deployed to hostile timelines deemed by world governments as able to destabilize the primary timeline. Although the scientists of the world call the shots in these wars: the past, present, and future are more often than not secured by a well placed burst by a Chrono Marine and their pulse carbine.

    The "anomalous reptilian lifeforms" are none other than three Fimir from the original Hero Quest game! These models are awesome, despite their many mold lines and the frustrating (probably unnecessary) process of removing them from their square bases. I decided to really mix up my approach to painting with these guys and decided to pin the models to their bases before I primed them...and then I proceeded to realize exactly why I paint the bases separate from the model. After that I did a lot of searching for inspiration on how to paint these guys. Warhammer lore says their skin is typically pale orange but I wasn't feeling a cool desaturated tone. I decided to go with blue and the ways I achieved that blue differed greatly on each model.

    On the center model I was probably the most daring starting with a purple contrast coat and then bringing it up to blue on the raised parts of the model's skin.

    On the left model I stuck with blue the whole way through. Basing in contrast Terradon Turquoise and then working my way up the blues.

    On the right model I also stuck with blue but then finished with a coat of Agrax Earthshade and some basic highlights.

    The center model is by far my favorite: I love how stark the color contrast is and the depth provided by the purple undercoat I gave him. Too often I get stuck into the process of basecoat, shade, and then some highlights if I'm feeling like it. With these guys I really got stuck into the highlighting process and realized that it can be a lot of fun and very rewarding when it all comes together in the end. I think the key for me watching it all come together in the end was having my second to last step with the skin being an all over glaze with Guilliman Blue. It really helped out with the transitions and I'm glad I remembered that I owned that paint! 

    The Chrono Marines were not part of my model count but the Fimir were. So at the end of this week of painting I'm at 72 models remaining. Coming up I want to get more zombies done from Zombicide: Black Plague and maybe one of the survivors.

    Until next time!