Obliteration is at hand

  I've continued hard on the crusade to paint these armies, and the Chaos Space Marines are seeing progress for it.  In this case, I've returned to my Obliterators, because they're really good and probably the only reason my army ever wins.  

  It's funny too, because I used to be a hater of these guys.  Not only were they too powerful when they first came out, but I dealt with scores of opponents from all over the country bringing these things to destroy me.  I even got a unit of three and then promptly gave them away without regret.  It was sad.  But after losing so many games and finding myself with some extra money, I finally bit the bullet and bought another full unit (at much higher cost than they used to be, of course). 

  I actually also like these old metal ones better than the new plastic ones that GW released in the Shadowspear box.  I think this old version captures the 'daemonic' nature of the Obliterators so much more.  Unfortunately, being old and metal meant that there was much more work to do on these models than I anticipated.  If you look closely at the pics, you can see flashing in various places that I didn't notice.  The models just have so much detail!  And that's why I like them...

  To start with, I'm going to show off some of the progress bits, then I'm going to finish with the actual pics of the models.  To begin the 'hobby' part, I basecoated these models with Khorne Red and Leadbelcher and basecoated all the flesh with Bugman's Glow and the wires with black.  I then liberally washed the models with Agrax Earthshade...

  You'll notice that I also painted the weapons with Flayed One Flesh for that creamy bone color.  This was to start that 'ghostly' effect that I wanted to achieve on their guns.  See, Obliterators create weapons from imagination and blast the enemy with them- materializing whatever guns they need from warp power.  I wanted to represent that with a greenish glow.  

  After the cream color dried, I washed the weapons with Biel-tan Green wash.  It's important to see that I tried to wash over the fleshy areas that produced the weapons as well, but it didn't turn out as strong as I'd hoped.   

  So I took some watered-down Moot Green and 'washed' it over those transition points.  You can see that it faded into the flesh color and the green-washed bone color quite nicely!

  You'll see later how I drybrushed the weapons with white and BOOM!  It easily achieved the affect I was looking for.  The other technique I wanted to show off and test out was how I was going to paint the flesh parts of the model.  When I get to painting Possessed, it might be necessary...

  As noted above, I started by basecoating the flesh in Bugman's Glow.  I then gave all the flesh a liberal wash of Carroburg Crimson and let that dry.  

  Once I had the time, I layered the flesh with Cadian Fleshtone and then a shorter layer of Kislev Flesh.  The important part with the final color is not highlighting from one end of the flesh to the other- paint just the middle.  This lighter 'middle' gives the flesh that organic, 'stretched' feel.  

Obliterators

  This is easily one of the top units in the Chaos Space Marine codex.  With four wounds at Toughness 5 and a 2+ armor save plus a 5+ daemonic save, they are VERY hard to take out.  Worse, they have guns that fire six shots that can either mow away infantry or demolish Imperial (or Chaos) Knights!  And in case you think that close combat is safe, they don't hit very lightly either.  

  Obliterators have a major advantage that keeps them safe- the ability to deep strike onto the battlefield!  This keeps the enemy from being able to engage them until they've had a chance to slag something.  Add the Mark of Slaanesh so they have the ability to fire those powerful weapons twice in the same phase and the devastation they put out can make even Rogal Dorn jealous.  

  The only drawback to this unit is their cost.  They will set you back almost 350 points for three of the buggers.  But they are worth every point...

  I even had that extra motivation and decided to add a tiny bit of blue-glow effect.  I imagine that this could represent their teleportation hardware or something.  More importantly, it adds even more colors to the unit, making the Obliterators the most colorful unit in my army!  

  There's the next unit done, more to come.  Let me know what you've been working on in the comments below.  And, as always, Happy Hobbying!