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Building & Painting Pre-Heresy Sons of Horus

Hey guys, Rage of Khorne here from The Order of Chaos gaming club, looking to walk you through one of my first Sons of Horus models for my upcoming pre-heresy campaign (more on that in future articles).

The tools I used were fairly simple and included:
-Files
-Plastic Glue
-Super Glue
-Green Putty
-Assorted Bitz
-Sculpting Tools
-Brushes
Paints (Mephiston Red, Orkhide Shade, Tallarn Flesh, Chainmail, Mithril Silver, White Scar, Rakarth Flesh, Yriel Yellow, Seraphim Sepia, Brown Ink, Abbadon Black, Mechanicum Standard Grey, Fortress Grey).
I started off by collecting the bits of armour and weapons I wanted for the over all affect of pre heresy armour so the pieces I used were as follows:
-Mark V Chest Piece from the Tactical Marine Boxed Set
-Blood Angels Augmented Eye Head from the Death Company Boxed Set
-One FW Iron Armour Shoulder Pad
-Tactical Marine Shoulder Pad
I assembled the legs and torso first so I would have something to add on to while I worked. This made handling the individual pieces much easier and avoided ruining the small green putty work I did. 

I blue tacked the head, arms, and backpack before deciding their final position so I could figure out the most dynamic pose while not having to go back and pull parts off the model. I glued everything together and sculpted some ribbing in the arm gap to try and hide the slight angle change I made.
I then did some scenic basing and sprayed the model white. The first step in basing the model was giving two spray coats with my air brush to get a nice smooth finish to the armour. The first coat was a 1:1:1 mix of Water, Orkhide Shade and White Scar. 

This was then spray highlighted (although thoroughly) with a 1:1:3 mix of Water, Orkhide Shade, and White Scar.
There were two levels of highlights done on the armour, one of which was a mix of 1:1:5 of Water, Orkhide Shade, and White Scar and then another with a 1:1:7 of Water, Orkhide Shade, and White Scar. Some light shipping was done by first going over small areas with blotching and lines of White Scar which would be finished later as scratch and chip marks. This brought the basic armour to a colour I was happy with and was light enough to contrast nicely with the black trim on the shoulder pads which was just Abbadon Black, and then a highlight of Mechanicum Standard Grey and then another of Fortress Grey.

Base coats of Chainmail were done on all the metals, Rakarth Flesh was painted onto the skull, and Mephiston Red was painted onto the cords and eyes on the damaged helmet. Tallarn Flesh was painted onto the face and the checkers were hand painted onto the chain sword. A wash of 1:1:2 of Water, Brown Ink, and Seraphim Sepia was given to all the metals, skin, skull, and cords to dirty them up a bit and bring out the depth of detail. 

The metals were then highlighted with Mithril silver and some Mithril Silver was criss crossed over the checkers and the bolt pistol to show wear and tear on the most actionable parts of war gear. I finished up by highlighting the skin with successful highlights of Tallarn Flesh mixed with white in increasing amounts until I got a gaunt, light coloured skin tone.

The cords were highlighted with a 1:1 of Mephiston Red and Yriel Yellow and then again with pure Yriel Yellow. The chipping and cuts on the armour were finished off with light dabs of Abbadon Black applied to the upper portion of the light dabs of paint added earlier. This gives the visual effect of a hole or crater and the light reflecting off its edge. The basing was finished and I was ready to start building the other members of this assault squad.

Depending on whether you are a loyalist or traitor, the colours of this assault marine could vary significantly, for example, if you were fielding a first company army with Abbadon, this unit could be painted in blacks to represent Catillan Reaver squad.

About the Author: Rob Baer

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Rob Baer

Job Title: Managing Editor

Founded Spikey Bits in 2009

Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X

About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.

Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls. 

Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at the Las Vegas Open, each of which attracts thousands of players from around the world.

 

Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the 2011 Adepticon 40k Team Tournament. He was even featured for his painting in issue #304 of Games Workshop’s White Dwarf Magazine.

With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.

While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.