050 - Word Bearers Display Board

This is my display base for my Word Bearers army that I have been doing for the Independent Characters Hobby Progress Challenge 2016. The Independent Characters website is here.
I haven't done anything like this before and I am defiantly going to be more ambitious with the next one I do. However I thought it was good for a first attempt.
Here it is without models (apart from the Predator which is basically scenery itself):

And here it is full of mighty Word Bearers!

I could have done a backboard for it and possibly added more details as it is a little plain at the moment. However this means that when you look at the display it's more about the models than the display board. I can also reuse this board to display other armies in my collection without having to pull off bits of debris. 

I'm quite happy with the finished board and really chuffed that I have got enough points for a gold award on the HPC 2016!

049 - Istvann Five Salamanders Tank

I really love the Salamanders Legion. They exemplify everything that is good about the Space Marines and are true heroes in the grimdark that is 30k and 40k.
Vulkan is a fantastic Primarch in the fluff and the Forge World model in my opinion is one of the best Primarch models they have done.
I have wanted to do a Salamanders army for a while but can't really fit it in with my other projects. I also had some old Rogue Trader models floating about which need refurbishment that I also didn't have time to do.
I have been doing a Word Bearers army for the Independent Characters Hobby Progress Challenge 2016. The Independent Characters website is here.  I started the army in February and had to do a commitment a month until I have 10 completed commitments. As an extra achievement you can create a themed display board for your army. I wanted to do a Istvann V board to match my bases.
I wanted black sand dunes but I didn't want the board to be featureless. So I took  a battered old Predator tank and started painting it in Salamanders colours. After a hefty amount of weathering I had a suitably battered opponent for my Word Bearers.

The completed model came out quite well. I am just finishing off my display board and hopefully it will all come together. Glory to the Word Bearers!

043 - Objective Markers

For the Independent Characters Hobby Progress Challenge 2016 one of the extra "achievements" is to create some themed objective markers for your army.
Here they are:

I went for some kind of sacrificial stones with either a skull from the Ungors set, a marine helmet or a Vexella. The numbers are in dried blood which fitted in quite nicely!

The helmets were going to be Ultramarines but the paint scheme didn't quite match so ended up being Alpha Legion!
The Hobby Progress Challenge has been great fun this year. Check out the Independent Characters here.  They have a great community and a great podcast.

041 - Smugface

I now officially have a smugface due to getting my last commitment into the Independent Characters Hobby Progress Challenge2016. The Independent Characters website is here.  I started the army in February and had to do a commitment a month until I have 10 completed commitments. As you can see I have got done quite early. This is mainly because I have made quite manageable commitments because I knew if I fell behind at all I wouldn't get the project done. But I did complete it and here is the army in all it's glory:

I chose 30k Word Bearers on a bit of a whim due to the fact they are in the Betrayal at Calth. I really got into the army while I was painting it up. 

I was really happy with the colour scheme and the red that I managed to get on the models. The shoulder pads are red rather than black but I just wanted my models to stand out a little.

The  army is a little light on infantry but I find painting big blocks of small models quite a chore and that the quality really starts to suffer after a while so I tried to mix it up with different unit types.

I am super chuffed with the army. It was a sprint finish at the end but it's completed to a decent tabletop standard which is what I was aiming for. I am going to do some objective markers and possibly a display board soon but I'm proper chuffed to have got the models done. I may add new units in the future but right now I think I need to paint something that isn't red!
I'm not a very good nor fast painter so it is a bit of a chore to me, so doing the HPC was a revelation. I was so motivated and really hope to do it next year but maybe be a little more ambitious with my commitments. Big loves to all the commentors with the advice and really friendly comments and finally a big thanks to Loopy on the forums for setting this up. You are awesome man! I can't wait for next year!

040 - Rhino Rush (Well not quite)

I am currently finishing off my Word Bearers force for the IC's Hobby Progress Challenge. I haven't used the newer Rhino kit which is a bit sad as it came out about fifteen years ago! Here is a work in progress shot:

They were really good models to put together and relatively easy. I could see these being a mainstay of any future Marine armies I do.
However the basic Rhino costs 35pts and the real life cost from Games Workshop is £22.50 it make it one of the poorest pounds to points models in the entire range. Not quite as bad as Mechanicum Thralls but getting there!
I fancy doing a few more of these in the future and possibly even some of the variants suh as Razorbacks and Vindicators.
I only have a couple of more
units to go before my Hobby Progress Challenge is completed so I better get cracking!

039 - HPC Halfway

So in January I decided to get a little more structured with what I was going to paint. I started recording my painting progress with a Kaban board and keeping a better record of what I have done. I have also joined the Independent Characters 2016 Hobby Progress Challenge. The Independent Characters is an amazing podcast that is back after a year long hiatus. The website for the podcast is here and the forums for the Hobby Progress Challenge can be found here. The rules are simple, you just commit to painting a unit (or units) each month and post a  photo of the unpainted miniatures on the forums. You have a month to paint them and when they are done you post a photo up of them completed. 

So lets have a look at my first five commitments:

January was a Betrayal at Calth Contemptor Dreadnought. I really like the model and feel like people were a little down on it compared to the rest of the boxed set but it ticks all the boxes for me. I did quite a few layers of Khorne Red to get the smooth surface on the model.

My second model in the challenge was a Land Speeder that I had leftover from another project and I used mk4 armour to model the crew. I like the fact a "Chaos" army can use a Land Speeder and was quite happy to put the Octed symbol right on the front of the model. I am going to go back and add a havoc launcher to it so it has a little extra firepower than a single heavy bolter.

I converted this Mortis Comtemptor from the Betrayl at Calth Dreadnought by just swapping over the close combat weapon with a spare assault cannon. I also popped a radar dish on the top to represent the Helicial Targeting Array.

This is my first tactical squad.I kept them quite simple to paint with minimal equipment modelled on them. I wanted them to look like foot sloggers rather than the super elite of the legion. 

This the second tactical squad. I have painted them shoulder pads red rather than black as i wanted them to look slightly different to other Word Bearers armies. I like the fact there are hundreds of thousands of marines in a legion so there can be some variation with the colour schemes.

Doing this challenge has been a great shot in the arm and I will have a decent looking army by the end of the year if all goes to plan which for a slow painter like me is very exciting. I would recommend this kind of scheme for projects. Next up are some characters to lead the force. Maybe even some tanks as well!

037 - 2016 Half Century

So it's 2016 and I said at the start of the year I would document my painting progress. Having a quick look at my makeshift Kanban Board I realised that I was on my 50th model for the year. Luckily it was a nice character model. So say hello to my 50th model, my 30k Word Bearers Chaplain.

I was quite happy with the paint job and it all seemed to work out so go me!

However I have to try and paint 100 models or more for the entire year. Boo pressure!

031 - Hobby Progress Challenge

I did a post in January about my hobby New Year's Resolutions (which is here) and one of them was to join a hobby progress group or concoct my own system. Luckily the Independent Characters Podcast has restarted and continued with it's Hobby Progress Challenge for 2016 which I have joined. Having a couple of Betrayal At Calth boxes helping when picking my army so I went for 30k Word Bearers.
Here is my progress as of April but I am adding to it every month.

The Hobby Progress Challenge consists of ten monthly commitments of at least one in game unit per month. You post a photo of your models at the start of the month and then when you have finished them post a photo of your completed work. This also helps me stay focused as when I have a few different projects as I feel I have to prioritise this slightly due to the monthly deadlines.
I defiantly want to get a nice crisp finish on these models have have them at least tabletop ready. The character models are a months commitment so I can spend a bit more time on them.
It's great to have a goal each month and I am a little ahead on my commitments. This is due to not committing too much and trying to keep the amount manageable. I don't want to make the Word Bearers my only painting activity as that would get boring really quick but I am slowly but surely rattling through the commitments.
It's a fantastic idea and Loopy on the IC forums is doing a great job running the challenge. I already have big plans for next year!