Annihilator in red!

 

  I have been 'flitting' between games and armies in 40k lately, being too busy and stressed to focus on any one thing.  But I still needed to justify my insane investments, so something had to get some paint.  My brother was excited to build a couple of units to add to his Combat Patrol, and I decided I would do the same.  Plus, my Combat Patrol disappoints me and NEEDS some additions, and a tank is always a good choice in my mind.  

  This particular model has been in my collection for a long time.  I acquired it from someone years and years ago and it was painted so poorly that it sat in a bitz-box, nearly forgotten.  Then, many editions ago, I dug it (and a ton of Destructor bits to build- the sequel to this one, planned for some point in the future) out and realized (again) that it needed severe attention.  With the addition of skulls, spikes, and stars, I emptied a can of Mephiston Red spraypaint (or airbrushed it- I really don't remember after all this time) and turned it into a usable unit for my Chaos Marines.  I must've played this model (despite being annoyed by the unmoving lascannons and ungainly weight distribution of metal with thin plastic) a hundred times by now, but never got around to just painting it.  Now it is time...

Basecoat all metal bits with Iron Warrior- my favorite silver base colour right now.

Basecoat all 'weird' areas black- remember that this is a rogue-trader era model!

Wash all of the areas with Nuln Oil, of course.

Some bone on the skulls, some yellow in the headlights, and it's playable!

I taught my bro how to 'gem' on these easier, flat surfaces.  He got it!

Line in all the panel-breaks and inside corners with Khorne Red and black mix to add more detail

Ah, line highlighting black...

So many options, and I eventually just chose the basic 'black' for the casing and cowlings.

Time for the blue lascannon glow- start with Corax White basecoat,

wash heavily with a blue wash,

and then just highlight the coils.  Not great, but done!

Always gotta remember to highlight the skulls!

  Here's where things got fun- I spent a couple of hours (spread over all day) painting all the red, silver, and black details but now I needed to add markings to really make it stand out!  I was more excited about the addition of decals than I was painting, so the quality of my paintwork isn't the best (nor rarely is, to be fair).  I'll have another post about how I worked on those decals...

DONE!

  After a couple of decades (at least), this model is finally finished and useable like I'd prefer.  This is a 'Deimos' pattern Predator, reflecting the ancient stockpile of the renegades.  The veterans of the long war would not have new equipment kicking about, so they'll be extra dependent on the old stuff.  My son described it as 'tiny' and a 'block of red'- success!  It is smaller than the current scale (not by enough to affect gameplay) and is certainly very red.  

Happy Hobbying!