Armies on Parade revisited
It's been quite some time since I talked about my Armies on Parade project - not because I've been neglecting it, far from it, but rather because we've had so much to talk about on the blog recently that I've barely had time to squeeze it in. Well, today I have made it my mission to show my progress so far.
Now, unless you've been trapped in a dungeon beneath the fortress of Zharr Naggrund for the last year or two then you've probably already heard of Armies on Parade. However, for those of you that haven't, Armies on Parade is your chance to plan, collect, model and paint a beautiful army, display it on a two foot by two foot board and show it off in all its glory in your local Hobby Centre.
Each Hobby Centre around the world will host a Parade Day where everyone gets to vote on their favourite entries. Some countries have already held their Parade Days (notably Spain and the US) but for guys like us in the UK we've still got several weeks to finish our entries. For more information about your store Parade Day, ask the staff in your Games Workshop to find out more.
Every store winner will then go on to proudly represent their community at Games Day, where all the winning boards from across the country will be on display and the ultimate Armies on Parade champion will be chosen. This is easily one of my favourite parts of the Games Day experience as not only do you have a chance to see all the magnificent boards, but you can also vote for your favourite, making the national winner the true hobbyist's champion.
The plan for my Armies on Parade board this year is to paint a force of Imperial Fists Terminators displayed on a derelict spaceship board. The idea of the display is to show them five minutes after they arrive, having fought and repelled an alien attack.
Currently I have three out of my 18 Terminators finished - a Sergeant, a Terminator with an assault cannon and the Company Chaplain. While this may not seem like a lot, the other fifteen are all halfway through the painting process, as you can see from the picture below of my rather chaotic, slightly messy desk.
Last time I mentioned my Armies on Parade project on the blog I had quite a few people ask me on Facebook how I painted the yellow armour. Well, now that I've painted my first full models, I'll tell you.
The whole model was undercoated with Skull White Spray followed by a basecoat of Averland Sunset. While the Averland Sunset will cover the undercoat in a single layer, I find that two thinner coats work better to avoid the coverage being too thick. The next stage was to wash the whole model with Seraphim Sepia and Reikland Fleshshade in a 4:1 mix. While the Sepia shade works well on its own, the hint of red in the mix really adds depth to the recesses of the model's armour.
The next stage was to apply a second layer of Averland Sunset to the armour while leaving the shade in the recesses. This is probably the most time-consuming part of the process. I then created a 2:1 mix of Averland Sunset and Screaming Skull and used it to highlight the armour panels. The last stage was to apply an edge highlight to the armour using pure Screaming Skull. At this point the models looked very pastel, but a glaze of Lamenters Yellow tied all the colours together and gave the Terminators a much more vibrant appearance - very fitting, I feel, for the sons of Dorn. You can also see the final colour scheme that I chose for my power swords. Thanks go out to everyone on Facebook who helped me choose it.
You'll also notice that I've inscribed names onto both of the squad Terminators, which is something I plan to do with every model in the force except the Chaplain and the Techmarine (the former prefers to remain anonymous in his duties and the latter prefers to concern himself with machinery rather than how shiny his name badge is). The names come from the very old, but nail-bitingly tense, computer game Vengeance of the Blood Angels, which hobbyists may remember from the mid-nineties. For those of you that never played it, the space bar on your keyboard will be forever grateful.
While the painting of the miniatures progresses with all the speed of a Terminator in difficult terrain, the display board is coming along at a ferocious pace. The last time I showed it the board was a flat bit of wood with some markings on it. Well, now it's 3D! Having built the frame for the board, which took considerable time and effort (and sandpaper), I then set about laying out the room within it. For the most part I used pieces from the Manufactorum for the walls, though I also used two doors from the Sanctum Imperialis, some old bulkheads from Necromunda and a few barrels from the Battlefield Accessories set. Very soon it will be time to paint it. I've got a big brush on standby.
Remember, if you're currently working on an Armies on Parade entry then feel free to send us a few pictures. We love to see what you're working on, especially when they're work in progress shots.
