Khalil and Piers – Azure Flames Primaris Captain project complete!
In 2024 I set out to replace all of my older and almost never used Space Marine Captains with Primaris versions of themselves (which also probably would rarely be used).
2025 sent that for a curveball with all of my painting competitions. There were only two left and they sat on the backburner.
In truth, they were 99% done until today. I was waiting for a custom waterslide transfer order. Now, they are finished.
I’ll start with Khalil. He uses the new (but not the newest!) Space Marine Captain with Jump Pack model. Because the newest model allows for Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield, I used Vanguard Veteran bits for the arms. Additionally, older players will recognise that head from the 3rd edition Tactical Squad box; the same head I used for Khalil in his two previous models.
Standard paint job, but I’ve added a glow effect that I practiced on my Inceptor models last year for the jump pack. I also gave special attention to the script on the shield and pauldron.
Khalil was recruited from an ailing Hive world past its prime; where being able to climb the rotting superstructure of the domes meant the difference between life and death. He broke the record for shortest time in the aspirant trials, and was, after serving in the reserve companies, to a Land Speeder squadron. His squadron was destroyed by the forces of Victor Kalan during his dark campaign with The Alliance, but Khalil managed to crawl from the wreckage with what remained of then Lieutenant and soon-to-be-Captain Edgard. Khalil continued to serve and was promoted to Captain during the opposition campaign against Grimgull the Red. Khalil himself had the distinction of ending the Red Ork, but not before Matthius, Prophet of the Four had reclaimed the daemonsword Ba’arzunipal.
After the Chasma Spica war, Khalil struck out with a portion of the fleet after the fleeing Chaos Warlord Esharradon of the Sicarii. The relentless campaign of vengeance earned him the nickname “Fury of Iperin” as he was a living embodiment of the wrath of the Azure Flames’ new homeworld.
Before the Omega War, Khalil almost lost his Battle Barge, His Anvil (additionally most of the 7th company and his own life). However, due to the brave actions of Zeraf Antonius, His Anvil was salvaged and refurbished. Now, Khalil lives every day trying to live up to the name Fury of Iperin, slaughtering the foes of the Imperium with speed and precision.
Piers was named by my friend Joe during our writing of Big Game V. I chose his first name after Virgil from the 90’s television adventure cartoon Might Max. Piers’ voice is Virgil’s haughty British one on the occasion that I hear him speak in my head. He uses the new Space Marine Gravis Captain model, modified with a bit of green stuff at the shoulder to cover one of the WORST MODELING GAPS I HAVE SEEN in a modern GW model. Additionally, the helmeted head had the neck clipped and was attached to the hip, and the head replaced with the pewter head that Piers’ previous model had (the Captain with the Thunder Hammer from the old pewter Master of the Chapter box set).
Piers has a small OSL effect on his wrist, and the VII on his leg is a custom decal that I ended up painting over. The “purple” from the printer was a bit more like dark purple and red pixels, probably due to printing limitations, and the top had an unsightly white stripe. I covered it gently with the same purple as the cloak.
The Azure Flames have a policy; if they answer your distress call and fail, they save whoever they can as Chapter Serfs. If the succeed, they ask for a percentage of age-appropriate boys to take the tests to join the Chapter. This policy has been in place since the Azure Flames were the Sons of the Salamander. One year after their Founding, the flagship His Hammer responded to a daemonic incursion on a small space station. Few survived, but Chapter Master Logain himself led the counter-incursion and banished the last of the daemons back to the Warp. With a successful mission, the station owed a portion of its youth to the Chapter, and that was Virgil Piers, the only surviving child on the station.
Born in the void, trained to operate high tech void weapons for the majority of his life, and possessing a once-in-a-generation genius, Piers showed tactical acumen that made him a Sergeant faster than anyone else in the Chapter (only later surpassed by Zeraf Antonius). Ambushes, sieges, counter-sieges, line duty, covert actions, and any other scenario was understood, enhanced, and executed superbly under his leadership. His experience in Void Combat let him eventually be appointed Master of the Fleet by Atrus himself. Piers rarely leaves the Command Throne of His Hammer II. Now that the Chapter has a homeworld, he tends to lead expeditions on behalf of the Chapter. Only recently during the relief of the 4th company on Altea has he commanded the fleet in its entirety.
And that wraps up the Primaris Captain project! Now all ten captains plus the Chapter Master have new models and backstory.
Next: Legion Imperialis Astartes Infantry!
Ork Warbosses!
Just in time for the new Warboss model to come out and add a machine gun Grot to the Warboss’ unit, I have completed two older Warbosses to lead Lads and Nobs alike!
The distinguished gentleman on the left is Finecast, with a plastic Nob power klaw and a Squig added. Note that the cloth on his bosspole is unique; the Finecast pole snapped and there was no way to pin it, so I sculpted cloth to compensate. The wonderful customer on the right is the Assault on Black Reach boss, with a custom resin base he had from his former owner. Once again a squig was added.
Next: Two Space Marine Captains are almost done, and I’m going to finish my fourth box of LI Astartes Infantry to finally be able to field maximum units of specialty troops!
Ork Kommando Addendum – Weapon Options
When I made my Kommandos in 5th edition, there were no official models, and much fewer options. In January I planned to add two custom shootas, a breaching ram, and a rokkit launcha, but my basement was too cold to paint in. Then, in February, I was on vacation and had a major surgery. But I’m back, and the new Kommandos are finally done!
The custom shootas are big shootas with other things bolted on. The breaching ram is the official model, bitz ordered.
Next, I continue the project I started in 2024, the Primaris Captain project with Khalil with Jump Pack and Piers in Gravis! Stay tuned!
Finish It Complete! All Painting competitions finished!
It is done! All painting competitions are one hundred percent complete!
This has been a long time coming. So many things to paint. There were a lot of difficulties, like the tiny details on all the Legion minis, the colors on the Necromunda girls, and the sheer volume of the Orks. But I worked hard and budgeted time, and it paid off.
Without further ado, here’s the final project: The Nicassar Dhows!
These Dhows are painted in the same color scheme as the “official” scheme shown back long ago when GW sold these, but elevated with Turbo Dork paints. They don’t photograph well, but let me assure you they are SHIMMERY.
Of course, these Dhows are magnetized to their bases to allow them to do… this!
Adding the Dhows to the Orbital I painted previously lets me field a Caravan if I wish. Basically a much worse version of the Blackstone Fortress, but also cheaper.
With this, the Finish It competition is complete!
Here is the whole Finish It challenge.
Wait a minute… that’s not my normal work table. That looks like…
WHOA! That’s a lot of minis! In fact, it’s ALL OF THE MINIS I PAINTED THIS YEAR!
Oh, yes, this is pretty far away. Zoom and Enhance! (or just take more pics)
Here’s Q1. The Space Marines are: Chapter Master Perseus (painted BEFORE the competitions but during January), Captain Valerien, a unit of six Intercessors, and a Redemptor Dreadnought. Above them, a Warboss in Mega Armour, five Meganobs, Ten Ork Boys, and a unit of Squighogs plus a Trukk that should have been in Q3 but looks better here.
Q2 starts in the middle with the Necrimunda Escher gangers and friends, then above with the Orks, a Beastboss, ten Beast snaggas, eight Lootas with two Spannas, a Deffkilla Wartrike, three Warbikers, and a Trukk. Below, from Q2 orks, a Shokkjump Dragsta, 10 Nobs, a Big Mek with a Shokk Attack gun, 20 Gretchin with two Runtherds, and a Trukk.
This is Q3 with the first 1/2 year competition. Above, 10 Flash Gitz, two units of 5 Stormboys, and 10 Kommandos. In the middle, the All the Same competition Minotaur, the Color Competition Lieutenant from the Star Cyclones, and the Carthaginian Elephants. Below that, the 1/2 year competition Legiones Astartes Sons of Horus, consisting of two sprues each of: Infantry, Support, Fast Attack, Rhinos, and Kratos tanks.
Finally, here’s Q4 and the 2nd 1/2 year competition. The orks were seen better above. The Finish It competition is eight Tau Wardens, two Tau Messengers, eight Tau Transports, a general purpose Orbital, an Air Caste city, an Orbital with four Gravitic Hooks which can be combined with four Nicassar Dhows to make a Nicassar Caravan, and of course the Dhows and their magnetic bases. Below that, the 2nd 1/2 year Solar Auxilia, which consists of two sprues each of: Infantry, Support, Dracosans, Leman Russ, and Leman Russ Exterminators.
There you have it! That’s a year of painting! Slightly more if you count Perseus. Am I done?
HAHAHAHAHAHA NOPE!
There’s a super secret project I’m working on! (don’t get hyped, it’s small, but it is secret!) Additionally, I am planning out next year; this won’t be at AFK, as my pile of gray doesn’t line up with the competitions anymore.
Speaking of AFK, here are the minis due by the end of the year in the cases, ready for judging:
You’ll notice that the Orks are so numerous they don’t fit on one shelf!
Next, the Super Secret Project, and a timeline for 2026, in which we will celebrate the 15th anniversary of Fourstrandshobby.com!
Color Study – Turbo Dork Absinthe and Pearly Gates
For the final project of my Finish It painting competition, I decided to paint my Nicassar Dhows in the “official” scheme from the GW website back when they were sold, but a little elevated. The scheme is bone and teal. To make this a bit more fancy, I turned to the Turbo Dork line of shimmery iridescent paint. Specifically, Absinthe and Pearly Gates.
Having never used these paints, I decided to do a color study. I undercoated several Space Marines with Wraithbone, Grey Seer, and Black. The two non-black colors had shading, and the black had highlights as seen below:
From left to right, Wraithbone, Wraithbone with Nuln Oil wash, Grey Seer, Grey Seer with Nuln Oil wash, Black with Slapchop highlight, Black with stark white highlight, and Black.
I painted these seven models one side Absinthe and one side Pearly Gates. The density of the paint was extremely low so each model got 2-3 coats until it was smooth. Here are the results:
Undercoating matters quite a bit. I found that shading is significantly reduced. The thin paint works better as a top coat for an existing color. Not shown is a study on the Absinthe over Sybarite Green which works well.
Next: I finish the Finish It!
2nd 6 Month Challenge Complete – Legion Imperialis Solar Auxilia Leman Russ
These little guys have taken a back seat as I attempted to get ahead on other projects, but they finally got onto the front burner. The final entry for the 2nd 6 Month challenge – eight Leman Russ Battle Tanks!
…and here’s the whole 6 moth challenge!
Next: twenty Gretchin and two Runtherds, then four Nicassar Dhows and that will complete all challenges! Plus, a surprise addition!
Finish It – Tau Orbital City and Defences
Long ago I won an ebay auction for some leftover bits from a Tau Orbital box. From them, I cobbled together two stations; one to be a Nicassar Caravan, magnetized to hold four Nicassar Dhows, and another with the leftover bits.
Additionally, I managed to snag a Forge World Tau Kor Caste Orbital City. All three of these were one “project” for the Tau fleet “finish it” competition.
The Orbital City is important enough to have a real T’au name like a capitol ship. Kor’shutto Y’eldi’retha directly translates to “Air Caste Orbital City Winged Ones University/Temple,” but more accurately tranlsates to “Air Caste Elite Pilot Academy.”
Basically,
…but for Tau.
The Orbitals were cobbled together from pewter bits and pieces of Tau Drones, as well as Tau Battlesuit Drone Controllers.
Next: I finish the 6 month 1/2 Army challenge with eight Leman Russ Battle Tanks for my Legion Imperialis Solar Auxilia! After that, four Nicassar Dhows to finish the “finish it” challenge and twenty Grots with two Runtherds and I am done with all of my painting challenges!
Year Long Painting Challenge – 3rd Ork Trukk
Only 20 Grots and 2 Runtherds to go!
Next: Tau Defences including an Orbital City!
Double Update: Year Long – Ork Nobs and Finish It – Tau Transports
It’s been a bit busy, so I’ve had this project done for a bit. 10 Ork Nobs with Power Klaws and two Ammo Runts:
Those have been done for a week. These, however, have just been finished. The Finish It challenge continues with my Tau Transports:
Sadly, of the ten transports I originally primed, two were so laden with bubbles from the resin casting process that I abandoned them. Because I acquired these secondhand through eBay, I have no recourse. Oh well.
Next: an Ork Trukk to get it off my countertop, and then some Tau Orbitals and an Air Caste City!
Q4 Finish It! – Tau Wardens and Messenger Escorts
For the Q4 challenge, the purpose is to finish an unfinished project. Long (LONG LONG LONG) time fans may remember when I first began painting my Tau Kor’or’vesh fleet. It all began with a forum post made by an unknown user named Tyberius:
As you can see above, this wonderful person made this (and many other) sheets for Battlefleet Gothic Ordnance. There is another version with blue instead of red but I liked this one better.
This led me to my color scheme for the Tau: Maroon/red, gray, and bone.
Sadly, my ambition got the better of me. My scheme was incredibly complicated, requiring black pin washes and edge highlighting over the entire model. Plus, I got it in my head to label each ship with a unique name in both T’au AND Engilsh! Hand lettered! The detail was exhausting. I gave up after completing the capitol ships and the Castellans. The Wardens, Messengers, and all other support models fell by the wayside.
Until now. Behold! The first installment of the Q4 Finish It challenge!
This concludes the portion of the fleet with this color scheme. The transports and orbitals will be painted the standard Tau Ochre with a brown pin wash and a simple highlight. Additionally, there will be four Nicassar Dhows, whose paint scheme I have not decided on yet. I am considering the fine line of paints from Turbo Dork, whose glittery sheen is stunning!
Next: Orktober begins with Ork Nobs! Following that, I’ll pick up on the Tau with ten Emissary class transports!