INQ28: Hear Me Roar!
More Deathwatch for today, as I have been plugging away at my Primaris based true scale killteam for another week. Allow me to share the results with you:
First up, there’s the Celestial Lions Astartes I have already shared with you in WIP form. Like I said, my main influence for choosing the chapter was the African influence (although the fact that the Lions are a chapter from a later founding also helped a bit). However, I also discovered that the chapter and the Inquisition have a bit of a troubled history, as outlined in my previous post — to the point where Inquisitorial operatives seem to be actively hunting for the chapter. Ouch! So would a Celestial Lion actually be part of an – Inquisition-sponsored – Deathwatch killteam?
Fortunately enough, I realised that I am in the clear on that front: The chapter’s trouble with the Inquisition only really starts in 948 M41, whereas my INQ28 narratives are set some 200 years before that, so everyone can still be BFFs in my headcanon π That being said, I did decide to include a shout out to the chapter’s eventual fate, as per Aramis K’s excellent suggestion of featuring the notorious “Ork Snipers” that wipe out a part of the Celestial Lions during the 3rd War for Armageddon, in some way.
But back to the actual model: This was the Celestial Lion in his first draft version:
As you can see, it’s a very straightforward conversion, mostly based on a Primaris Reiver. I liked the idea of including a stealthier Astartes wearing sleeker armour, and the “Easy To Build” Reiver bodies were really perfect for that. The most involved parts were to add a lion bit (from an old WFB Empire cannon) as a belt buckle and to kitbash another Deathwatch sensor array for the backpack (using a shoulder-mounted lamp from a Genestealer Hybrid and – once again – some auspex aerials).
Then fellow hobbyist euansmith helpfully suggested to maybe turn the model’s head a bit, in order to make it look more sneaky and agile. I complied with his idea, and – sure enough – it made a world of difference!
When it came to painting the model, I actually broke with my usual routine and decided to start with the one part I thought would make or break the model — the right shoulder pad. Because I realised with some nervousness that I would actually have to freehand the Celestial Lions chapter badge, as there are no readily available decals for it (and my idea of maybe using a similar decal as a base went nowhere either). Azrael’s quite excellent Primaris Celestial Lions here (that were also completed for a very personal reason, it must be said) use some very cool shapeways chapter badges, but I didn’t really go through the hassle of ordering bitz like that — so I decided this was the time to buckle up and force myself to do something I had shied away from in the past. Freehand designs.
So here’s the design I chose as my main reference material (inverted, of course, because it would go on the right pauldron):
And here’s what I came up with, using my smallest brush, a drop of Vallejo Airbrush Flow Improver, and reserves of patience I really didn’t know I had:
Of course I didn’t see the huge splodge of wash towards the lower rim of the pauldron until I was looking at it blown up by several hundred percent on a screen — the area has been cleaned up since. Oh, and ‘Aren’ is the name of the battle-brother in question, by the way.
Anyway, I was incredibly happy with the finished freehand — and I can safely say that this has to be one of the most extravagant pieces of detail work I have painted in the last couple of years. I realise that this must be fairly basic bread and butter stuff for talented painters, but to me, it certainly felt like a rather big adventure π
Anyway, after getting the freehand right, the rest of the paintjob almost seemed trivial. That being said, I also discovered a fairly nice and simple recipe for black skin: GW Doombull Brown makes for a very good base colour, and already looks very natural after a wash of Ogryn Flesh (or Reikland Fleshshade). I only followed it up with some very subtle highlights, and ended up with a skin tone I really liked, as you can see yourself on the finished model:
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Rudisha Aren
Brother of the Deathwatch
Celestial Lions Astartes Chapter
Here’s a closer look at the left shoulder pad, now finally in its intended place:
Seriously, though, did I mention how happy I am with that freehand…? π
As for the base, if you look closely, you can make out the barrel of a – suspiciously Imperial – sniper rifle, but there’s also part of an Ork jaw — Ork snipers, anyone? π
Granted, this is a bit of a tongue in cheek joke about the chapter’s eventual fate, but it still matches the overall basing theme without lookig too out of place. So that’s the next finished member of Killteam Ulrach for you:
Speaking of Ulrach, while I was working on Brother Aren, I decided to give the Iron Hand that last round of tweaks as well — and the full photo treatment, of course, playing cards, keys and all π
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Vorlik Ulrach
Brother of the Deathwatch
Iron Hands Astartes Chapter
You already know this guy from last week, of course, and most of the finishing touches are pretty subtle. But it’s nice to have all the models finished and photographed in the same style like that π
Oh, and since someone over at the Ammobunker asked how I had achieved the glowing blue effect on some of the members of the killteam, I thought it would make sense to feature my recipe over here as well — if, indeed, you can even call it a recipe, as it’s almost trivially easy. The one thing I would really recommend, however, is to get some Vallejo Magic Blue: While there may be a similar GW colour, I have yet to see another blue that pops quite as nicely as Magic Blue. So for this recipe, you’ll need the blue and any kind of white. And some water. Here’s what you do:
- Paint the center of the area you want to glow (the lens, the gem, the button — whatever it is) with pure Magic Blue
- Thin down your Magic Blue with water so it becomes semi-translucent. Then glaze the area around the part you have just painted with it, building up the actual glow — you can do this in several steps to get it right. With larger areas, the effect should grow more solid towards the center, obviously.
- Go back to the (undiluted) Magic Blue and keep adding more white to it, and create smaller and smaller highlights at the center of the effect. The last stage should basically be almost pure white. DONE!

The blue higlight on the axe head (as well as the soft glow around it) are a perfect example of the effect in question.
So here’s an updated look at Killteam Ulrach:
I think these guys really work rather well as a group — and you can almost guess at the different characters and combat roles just by looking at the models, wouldn’t you agree? In hindsight, maybe the models are almost a little too vibrant, in a style slightly reminiscent of 2nd edition 40k, but then it’s an almost perverse pleasure to find out how visually striking I can make a squad wearing predominantly black armour π
Now any future additions to the team will have to wait for a bit, as I have depleted my supplies of Deathwatch parts and Primaris Marines, respectively. That being said, fellow hobbyist Augustus b’Raass is awesome enough to send me another Primaris, and I have just picked up the Rodricus Grytt model on ebay. Combining both will allow me to build a stoic, fatalist brother of the Lamenters wielding a massive frag cannon — it’ll take a while before I can start the conversion, so take a look at aΒ – really primitive – mockup of my planned conversion:
Beyond what you see in the mockup, I will be going for a heavset look with some slightly archaic, Mk. III-ish touches here and there. It’ll be an interesting balance to maintain, as I don’t want the model to clash with the Deathwatch’s sleek Black Ops look, but I’, confident l’ll be able come up with something.
And as it happens, I also have a pretty cool idea for the Castigator — although I’ll need to get my hands on this particular Primaris Sergeant from Dark Imperium first, in order to make it work…
Until then, however, I am pretty happy with Killteam Ulrach as is — and as these guys are very much ready to rock, I hope Azrael will count them as another entry for this month’sΒ “June-Unit” community challenge!
So that’s it for today’s update. I would love to hear any feedback you might have, so please leave a comment! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!
June 18, 2018 at 14:43
Great work. The freehand looks incredible
June 20, 2018 at 20:41
Cheers, mate! I am really proud of that freehand — it almost seems like something painted by somebody else (and way more talented), to be perfectly honest π
June 20, 2018 at 23:42
Haha well thatβs good youβre pleased with it.
June 18, 2018 at 14:53
Looking sharp. I love that skin tone. I’ve always thought it was a bit of a weak move to make Salamanders literally black, so it’s cool to see a real-looking dark skinned marine.
June 20, 2018 at 20:42
Cheers, Ross! And I couldn’t agree more on the Salamanders: Not only does it seem weirdly tone deaf to turn one of the few instances of black skin in the 40k lore into something strangely demonic, it also arguably makes Salamanders less interesting (and rewarding) from a visual standpoint — strange call, really…
June 18, 2018 at 16:05
Whole team look very impressive but the skin tones on the first fella look great!
June 20, 2018 at 20:43
Thanks, Riot! Glad you like the Celestial Lion! π
June 18, 2018 at 23:59
Amazing work once again, from the subtle conversion through to the freehand that you’re deservedly proud of. That’s a pretty fantastic looking kill-team! (so far!)
June 20, 2018 at 20:43
Cheers, mate! A bit of a nod to your own Celestial Lions, this one π
June 19, 2018 at 00:29
Looking good! Iβm really loving watching your progress on this project – I canβt get over how well the mechanics parts work with the Primaris body, and that freehand is wonderful! Also got me thinking about how the Deathwatch would deal with a situation like the Celestial Lions…
I may have to try that glow technique at some point if I get the chance, too!
June 20, 2018 at 20:45
Thanks, mate! Yeah, I am really happy with the way the Kataphron parts blend into the Primaris body. As for the glow, it’s a really basic recipe, admittedly, but pretty effective, too.
June 19, 2018 at 08:54
He’s brilliant mate, superbly executed. You have absolutely no need to worry about that freehand work – it is spot on!
June 20, 2018 at 20:45
Thanks a lot, Alex! π
June 19, 2018 at 11:13
amazing freehand on the shoulder pad! Also love the different skin tones in the team, they make for a much more realistic view on the actual universe!
June 20, 2018 at 20:46
Thanks, raff! And 100% agreed on the variation in skin tone making for a more realistic universe — it’s only that I often got complacent and “defaulted” back to pale skin π
June 21, 2018 at 09:02
well, my guess is everyone has his “comfort zones”, but I think you are constantly doing an incredible job in leaving their boundaries. Looking forward to seeing the freehand on the Lamenter shoulder pad, then π
June 20, 2018 at 21:18
Great job and love the freehand. Doombull Brown is going on my checkout list. Looks like you found a really nice skin tone there! Congrats on Junit!
June 20, 2018 at 21:21
Gosh dang it Kraut, you’re making me feel incompetent again!
That said, I think I want to remake my Kill Team in True Scale, for purposes of playing Inq. 28 at some point. Just looking at the amazing amount of detail you can fit on these guys is amazing.
Now I just have to pray some spare cash comes my way and I can get some Primaris and Deathwatch bits…
June 23, 2018 at 20:30
These are a great collection of Deathwatch models! The Deathwatch are really open for creating models that are heavily equipped for war. Too often marines come off as looking under-prepared and lacking the gear needed to wage a prolonged skirmish. The few extra pouches and stuff on Rudisha Aren (and the Reivers in general) really help sell the model. You also did a great job of posing Rudisha. Those monopose Reavers can look a little off, but you completely removed that.
Keep up the great work!
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