Crusade!

So whilst I was working on the Wolves I  was also getting a squad of Custodian Guard built and painted after picking up the Prospero box. now this was before the Custodes Codex was released, so was not exactly optimized going for squad of 5 all armed with Guardian Spears. It was really more of a painting challenge due to the amount of gold and the novelty of painting miniatures I had NEVER expected to get models, let alone a jam-packed plastic kit.

So as I mentioned in an earlier post these were primed with Army Painter Leather Brown as I wanted a warm base for the golds to build on.  I left the Guardian Spears for the time being and applied Retributer Armour on the armour, a mix of Rhinox Hide & Abbadon Black to any areas of leather and Mephiston Red on the plume & tassels.

Next, an all-over wash of Reikland Fleshshade. Its rudddy tone is reat a t keeping that lustous sheen you want in the sort of heroic golden warriors the Custodes are exemplifying.

Couple of things to note at this stage:

• The red inlay on the shoulder pads is Forge Worlds now discontinued Angron Red airbrush paint. A “candy” colour it’s been applied here using a regular paintbrush, using about 5 coats. Initially it didn’t look too impressive but for each subsequent coat that colour became deeper & more vibrant.
• The face plates were painted with Army Painter Plate Mail followed by a light wash of Nuln Oil.
• The armour seals at the joints were painted with another FW paint, Corvus Black, and again washed with Nuln Oil.
• The spears began to get some colour. The main thing here was the blades as I wanted something different but wasn;t sure how to get an energy effect I liked, so for the time being they were painted Sotek Green.

Spears done (barring the blades) and the bases have had a decent layer of Stirland Battlemire applied – this has become the unifying feature of my various Imperial forces, meaning I will need to rebase some 200 Guardsmen at some point O_o

And (for now) that’s this squad of Custodes done. The bases have had a drybrush of Skrag Brown, then the rims painted with XV-88, the eye lenses are picked out with Waystone Green whilst the gemstones on the armour are Soulstone Blue, and there the armour has had a light highlight of Auric Gold.

Overall I was very happy with how these turned out. In stature and the amount of detail Custodes really do stand out.

Next up – from a unit that screams “I am here!” in bright shining gold, to the sneaky covert hunters of Fenris……