INQ28: Kill Team Ulrach, Move Out!

Having completed two more members for my Deathwatch kill team last week, I was only one model away from finishing the project: Last in line was this gentleman here, a Watch-Brother from the Carcharodons Astra I converted earlier this year:

When it came to painting the model, my first port of call was to take another close look at Malcharion’s brilliant Space Sharks with their very prominent tribal trappings (incidentally, I offered Malchy the opportunity to name my Carcharodon, and he kindly provided the character with a name):

Caracharodon Reiver by Malcharion

I wanted to include some of those tribal swirls and decorations, but to a slightly lesser degree. I am not half the painter Malchy is, for one, and I also wanted to keep at least a bit of the rather austere look created by the mostly black armour. I also liked the rather blunt Space Shark painted by Tarvick:

Carcharodon by Tarvick

 

Tarvick’s model also provided me with the perfect approach for painting the model’s skin tone, because I actually spent quite some time thinking about the kind of colour I wanted to achieve. In the lore, Carcharadons are described as having greyish skin, but I decided against simply using grey, mostly because it’s such an uninteresting approach, really — you lose all the small ways of creating a pale, yet still alive, kind of look. So I went for a very pale skin tone (which shows really well when comparing the model to the rest of the kill team, which I’ll be getting to in a minute), with livid scars as a visual contrast.

Here’s a look at a mostly painted model at the end of my first big painting session:

As you can see, I did try to include some of those tribal symbols on the model. Both Malchy’s models and the Carcharodon artwork produced by Forgeworld served as inspiration for this element:

And I also had to freehand the chapter badge, once again. I worked from the most recent incarnation of the Carcharodons’ symbol, as provided, once again, by Forgeworld:

Here’s what I came up with:

When this last photo was taken, the model was already mostly finished. So with the last paintjob for the kill team all but out of the way, all that was left to do was to build and paint some bases for the last three models. I did this all in one go.

I used the design approach established with the previous members of the kill team: For each Marine, there is also a Xenos skull on their base. The Castigator received a T’au skull (as a tongue-in-cheek shout-out to Commissar Molotov’s semi-insistance on keeping T’au characters out of his Dalthus Sector adventurescape). Brother Mikahel Zephon’s base was decorated with a Vespid head, both because I wanted a bit of variety across the squand and because it was a pretty nice bit. And Brother Komoharai Tetangi’s base saw the addition of a massive jawbone, to hint at the incredible kind of xenos horrors he might have fought in the outer dark beyond the known galaxy.

I also used the opportunity to add the last tweaks and cleanup work to the models’ respective paintjobs. And then the last three members of the kill team were finished at last. So here are some proper detail pictures of the three models. First up, meet Brother Trythus Anteas of the Castigators:

Commissar Molotov ended up providing me with the inspiration for the character’s name, by the way — just as intended 😉

Next up, Brother Mikahel Zephon of the Lamenters:

In this case, the model’s name is a shout out to my fellow hobbyist and good buddy Augustus b’Raass, who donated the Primaris Marine used for the conversion. Cheers again, buddy! 🙂

And finally, Brother Komoharai Tetangi of the Carcharodons Astra:

Since Brother Tetangi’s armour is almost completely different from the kind of armour worn by the rest of the kill team (and intentionally so, I might add: I wanted him to reflect the chapter’s reliance on the ancient wargear that originated from the time before their “exile”), I had to experiment a bit to fit in all the features I had used on the rest of the kill team — such as the red right knee and =][= symbol. I am really rather happy with the outcome, though! I also had to base Brother Tetangi a bit higher, seeing how he is noticeably shorter than his watch-brothers. Fortunately enough, the difference in height is quite a bit less noticeable now!

And with that, Kill Team Ulrach was finally finished! So without further ado, let’s meet the team!

 

=][=

Kill Team Ulrach

Not bad for a problem that actually began as wanting to paint a single, quintessentially loyalist Astartes back in spring, wouldn’t you agree? I think I may have gotten any itch I might have had to paint loyal Space Marines out of my system forever… 😉

That being said, at the same time I do like the idea of maybe returning to this project at a later date, adding a comms specialist or a medic: Because even though the project was begun before the new kill team rules were even a thing (and even then, mostly as a modeling and painting endeavour), some of the models would fit the Kill Team specialist roles rather nicely, I believe: Brother Anteas could be a Zealot, Brother Diomedes would make for a pretty good Sniper. Zephon is definitely a Heavy, whereas Brother Aren looks every part the Scout. And there are Brother Tetangi as a Comat-specialist and Brother Ulrach as a Leader, obviously.

By the same token, there are also one or two chapters that I might like to explore. Maybe. At a later point…

For now, however, I am calling this kill team finished! So in order to celebrate the occasion, let’s meet each of the members of Kill Team Ulrach in turn. Here we go:

 

Watch-Sergeant Vorlik Ulrach
of the Iron Hands

A grizzled veteran of the Iron Hands, Vorlik Ulrach has been the commander of Kill Team Ulrach for quite some time now. His coldly logical approach to problem solving and ability to remain clinically calm even under extreme duress has seen the kill team succeed against overwhelming odds more than once.

Brother Trythus Anteas
of the Castigators

Second in command of the killteam, Brother Anteas could not be more different in nature from the watch-sergeant: Zealous and aggressive where Ulrach is coldly logical, Anteas is a grimly menacing presence, even to his oath-brothers.

 

Brother Arcturus Diomedes
of the Ultramarines
“Stalwart Diomedes”

One of the younger members of Kill Team Ulrach, Brother Diomedes is nonetheless an exemplar of all the quintessential Astartes traits — as should be expected of an Ultramarine. He is also the kill team’s most talented marksman.

 

Brother Vargo Diaz
of the Crimson Fists
“The Orkslayer”

Having fought against the barbaric greenskins numerous times, Brother Diaz has become a specialist at fighting at close quarters, the better to counter the fighting style of those brutal Xenos: The Orks have learned to fear the mighty swings of his artificer powerfist.

 

Brother Rudisha Aren
of the Celestial Lions

A master tracker and proud warrior. Dressed in a suit of slimmed down tactical insertion armour, Brother Aren is the kill team’s infiltration specialist.

 

Brother Komoharai Tetangi
of the Carcharodons Astra
“The Quiet”

A mysterious, deathly pale Astartes clad in a suit of ancient mongrel plate. Taciturn, save for the curtest replies, uttered in an ancient dialect of High-Gothic, Brother Tetangi transforms into a whirlwind of destruction once the battle is joined.

 

Brother Mikahel Zephon
of the Lamenters
“The Doomsayer”

Brother Zephon is given to the kind of dark brooding that is so often observed in those of his bloodline. In him, this trait manifests as a grim resignedness to what he considers an inescapable fate, turning him into a relentless warrior with little regard for personal safety.

 

So yeah, that’s Kill Team Ulrach — I am actually pretty proud of the finished project, if I do say so myself! A few last observations, if I may:

Fellow hobbyist euansmith pointed out over at the Ammobunker that the squad actually looks pretty colourful for seven guys wearing black armour — and in hindsight, I realise he is correct, of course: They really are rather colourful in that slightly retro-ish, 2nd edition 40k way. Not much of a surprise, really, when the model that kicked off the whole project (the Ultramarine) was very much inspired by the original 54mm Brother Artemis and his classic paintjob:

Speaking of colourful, though, another objective for this project was to explore the kill team members’ respective chapters and backgrounds, and that extended both to typical weapons and decorations as well as different ethnicities. Not only does this make sense from a lore standpoint, but I also really wanted to force myself to step away from just using the same pale caucasian skin tone on every 40k model. So I used this project to experiment with a couple of different skin tones, which was fun and also arguably adds an extra layer of visual complexity to the squad:

Another way to differentiate between the models was the inclusion of their respective chapter heraldries, and I am proud to say that I didn’t skimp on this particular element, trying my best to reproduce the various chapter badges as well as I could:

Two of the shoulder pads simply use a decal. One has sculpted detail. Three designs have been freehanded. And finally, Brother Zephon’s shoulder pad uses a combination of all three approaches 😉

In closing, I also want to give a shout out to fellow hobbyists Commissar Molotov, PDH and Jeff Vader: The Deathwatch has been one of Commissar Molotov’s big long running hobby addictions, it seems, and it has been very educational to watch him use it as a vehicle to explore loyalist Space Marines in their full breadth. PDH and Jeff Vader, meanwhile, have been working on their own respective Deathwatch kill teams this year, and being inspired by their fantastic work – and nicking a bit of inspiration every now and then – has been instrumental in getting Kill Team Ulrach off the ground. So cheers, gentlemen!

So that’s it for today — it goes without saying that I would love to hear any feedback you may have! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!