u/MuscleDolphin

Figured my Sons of Macragge needed some heavy armor, so I painted up a Gladiator.
This thing has a lot of soul stones lenses and gems, definitely more than I expected.
Interior took some time, everything else was more or less straight forward.

I added some marble on the front just because. I think i am slowly getting the hang of this.

Overall fun model. I think I prefer painting troops or characters though. All these panels and edges get old at some point.

Another progress step from my current project.

Primed with Vallejo Ultramarine Blue (can).
Sponge Volumetric Highlights with Warpaints Fanatic Crystal Blue followed by Two Thin Coats Celestial Blue.
Afterwards block in metal, black, white and red. I also did red with some sponge volumetric highlights, colors were Citadel Khorn and Mephiston Red followed by a little bit of Vallejo Hot Orange.
I sub assembled the antigrav chutes, glued them after painting.

I just sprayed the whole thing with Vallejo Satin Varnish (can), tomorrow I will give it an oil wash. A bit nervous about this as I usually screw up at some point with the oils but oh well you live and learn.

What do you think? Correct order of working steps? Any suggestions?

Comparison is the thief of joy, yesyes.

Huge kudos to u/CallumPaints. Looking at his work only made me realize how much further there is to climb.

Another nice side effect of painting the stupid interior: Nothing fits anymore. Spend 30min squeezing the painted part back in. Now I have some ugly gaps in the front, nice!

In the words of Marie Kondo: This one does not spark joy.

Yes, yes, I know. We probably see these guys posted here three times a day.
But I spent 43 hours painting these handsome boys, so now I have to parade them around a bit.

I think this is the most “March for Macragge” unit in the entire Ultramarines roster. I absolutely love the sculpts and hopefully I did them justice.

What do you think about pure white helmets on Victrix Guard?

These models felt more like painting three characters than a regular squad. I love the sculpts, so I probably went a bit overboard on the amount of detail and cleanup.

I changed the box art scheme slightly with white helmets and an additional banner for the champion. The banner was a pain to paint, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

One thing still bothers me though: I keep getting a slightly chalky texture on larger bright surfaces, especially white. I’m using Pro Acryl Neutral White and Titanium White in multiple thin passes, but the texture still shows up.

Any advice on getting smoother whites?