40k-Speedpainting-Challenge: A Battalion of Kasrkin in one Weekend ***COMPLETED***

So, I have these Kasrkin models flying around for years now. Unpainted, of course. They are the 3rd edition metal models (with the good old slit bases) from Games Workshop and are currently out of production. They make their way back every few years via that “Made to Order” thingy, but these are the old ones.

I had a choice to make. Sell them for horrendous amount of money on ebay (like 10 bucks per mini) or finally get around painting them. As I am told they are quite good in the current 8th edition of 40k I challenged myself: Can I paint them in a single weekend?

So I borrowed the Imperial G… sorry the Astra Militarum Codex and organized them into an eligible force. I have about 25 models, but as they can have two special weapons – and not only one – per 5 man squad now a few Hellgunners will not make the cut. Here is the list:

1 Tempestor Prime with Powerfist and Command Rod (using and old Commissar Model)

1 Primaris Psyker

3 Tempestus Scions Squads, each with 5 men, 2 special weapons (two squads with Plasma Guns and one with Meltas) and a Sarge with Power Sword and Plasma Pistol

Totalling up to 17 models and 14 Power or 353 Points. I was a bit surprised, but it’s actually a legal Battalion for 40k. I was only missing a single Plasma Gunner. So I bought him for an unbelievable amount on Ebay. The list is ready… what about the minis? And how will I do it?

The list is ready and I nearly had the 17 minis I want to paint. Only one was still in the mail, but I needed a plan and had to prepare the minis.

Preparing the Minis:

Back in the day one didn’t care about slit bases. Just paint them Goblin Green and there we go. Nowadays this is a no go for me. So I filled up the bases with Putty.

Also I didn’t care about mold lines back then. So I cleaned the models. The Sargeants couldn’t have Plasma Pistols I think until this edition, so the models had Hell Pistols. I replaced them with Plasma Pistols.

Lastly I glued the minis on nails. I always do this as it is a great handle when painting and very useful when dipping.

The minis are ready to be primed. Onto

The Plan:

• Uniforms will be grey
• Armour plating will be green
• Guns and backpacks will also be grey with a few details
• The eye lenses will be blue
• Cabeling will be red
• Some glowing on the weapons
• A few decals on the shoulders
• Martian Ironcrust for the bases

So the first step will be a black primer from the rattle can. I have to make sure to get into every single corner of the minis. But with the nail handle this is no problem as you can hold the mini up while priming and spray them from below too.

Second step will be zenithing with uniform grey, also from the rattle can. This should take care of the underlying uniforms and mostly of the backpacks and guns.

Then I will start working on the armour plating and see where I am going next from there.

So the list is ready. So are the minis and the plan. I’ll start tomorrow 1200h and will be posting updates through out the weekend regularly. That’s 1100h on BST. 

I only have one concern. I would love to dip them with the solvent based dip from army painter. But this stuff takes 24h to dry. So if I am not making it to this stage by Friday night I’ll probably have to use the water based dip. We’ll see.

Until tomorrow…

The starting signal was given and as always I jumped the gun. At least a bit. The black primer is already down. Next up will be the uniform grey zenith. I post a pic once the step is done.

The two step priming (complete with black and zenith with uniform grey) is done. Now the real work begins. Onto the green.

10 models down with the green, 7 to go. But I’m hungry now. Time for some sustenance 😀

One question rises in my mind. The guns won’t stay gray. It’s just to similar to the uniform. Shall I make them green (same as he armor plating) or black?

After having a great meal I finished the green. I used Model Color Brown Violet (70.887) on the helmets, all the armour plating, the rebreathers and the grenades.

As the Psyker and Prime have none of these parts I used the opportunity to give them a heavy white drybrush. They will stay mostly in grey cloth so a bit more depth wouldn’t hurt.

Next up will be black. I also decided to go with black on the gun casings, as green would make them look to much like “normal” guards men.

Wow. This took ages. But I finally finished with black. I used it on the base of the antenna (backpack), rebreather valves, gun casings, straps and belts, knife sheaths and the soles of the boots. The Prime got some nice black boots, black sword and the rim of his cap in black.

I also used the opportunity that I had white (from the previous brushing) and black already on the palette. So I painted the Aquilas and Skulls white and blackened the bases.

I definately need a break now after over 8h of painting (not counting the 20 mins of eating in between) as my vision starts to blur. I hope to get back to painting in 1 or 2 hours, depending how tired I am.

Unfortunately it took me far longer to get here than anticipated. I hoped to be near dipping now or have at least the base colors down. But I still have red for the cables, blue for the visors and metal for gunparts and the antenna to go. Not mentioning reds, blues and greens for all the gunsights, laserpointers, buttons and displays. And then highlighting…

So I guess I have to rearrange my goals for the weekend. I guess I can be happy when I finish with dipping on Sunday. This is nearly the same thing as being finished, as I only do a coat of matt varnish, glow effects and the bases after dipping. But it removes the 24h dry period, as I won’t be painting on monday and it would be perfect for the dip to dry. Then I could do the finishing touches (matt coating, glow effects and bases) on Tuesday. We’ll see. I’m off eating now… and listening to some Metallica… BLACKENED!

Because it’s 40k 😀

Last update for the day. I fixed some details and finished the Power Cables on the weapons, backpacks and radios. Also the Prime got some nice red epaulettes and sash. I used GW Red Gore. It’s quite an old pot. Maybe the color has another name now.

I managed to get nearly 10h of pure painting in today (9h 51m to be precise). I’ll continue tomorrow. Good night.