Armies on Parade is fast approaching, and now is the time to start planning your entries. If you’re looking for ideas, or just want to check out some awesome looking models, we’re on hand to help, digging through the White Dwarf archives to show off some of our favourite armies from last year’s contest. Last week, we looked at Owen’s awesome Slaves to Darkness, while today we’re checking out Chris’ cunningly converted Adeptus Mechanicus army:
When the Skitarii and Cult Mechanicus models came out, Chris Bilewicz was really keen to paint an army of them. But he also wanted to paint an Astra Militarum army. You can see his dilemma…
“I love the Metalica colour scheme for the Adeptus Mechanicus, but I also really like the Ryza one,” says Chris. “So I combined them together! As I worked on the army I realised that you get loads of spare parts – guns, heads, arms and the like. I thought it would be great fun to use these parts on Astra Militarum models, showing that they were allied to the Adeptus Mechanicus – an indentured militia, perhaps.
The arms from the Skitarii Vanguard fit perfectly on Cadian Guardsmen and the heads only need a little bit of work to get them to fit, too. You end up with some great-looking, unique models. As for the board, I wanted the models to stand out on it so I painted the muddy areas quite drab and the buildings a faded blue so they’d contrast with the white armour on the vehicles and the orange robes of the Skitarii and Electro-Priests.”
An Onager Dunecrawler leads Chris’ army into battle.
Chris’ converted Guardsmen were made using Cadian Shock Troops combined with spare arms and heads from the Skitarii Vanguard kit (which Chris had spare after building his Rangers).
Chris used different colours to represent the different guns on his Kataphron Destroyers – blue for the plasma culverin, green for the heavy grav-cannon.
A Taurox painted in the colours of Ryza’s indentured militia. The turret gunner has a spare head from the Skitarii Vanguard.
Chris used orange and bone interchangeably on his models, some wearing orange robes, others cream – he did the same with their armour and war machines.
Chris’ Fulgurite Electro-Priests wear the traditional orange robes of Ryza Forge World, their electro-nodes a bright, electric blue.
The cracked earth
Chris’ models all have cracked earth on their bases. To achieve this look, Chris applied heavy patches of Stirland Mud to his bases, but didn’t cover them completely. Once they were dry, he washed them with Nuln Oil, then drybrushed them Steel Legion Drab. Then, between the patches, he painted Agrellan Earth, which dries to leave a cracked texture. Chris then drybrushed the whole base with Tyrant Skull to make it look dusty and sun-parched.
Painting the Ryzan army
The colours Chris used for his army were plucked from the Legions of the Omnissiah and the Crusaders of the Machine God painting guides that came out at the same time as the Skitarii a couple of years ago.
This article was first published in the October 2016 issue of White Dwarf Magazine.
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