Fast Attack
Remember that I started painting WH40K figs long ago. As such, my troops designations are not standard. A modern WH40K army would be better balanced. What I lack in diversity, I make up for in sheer numbers.
Assault Squads
I made these assault troops back in 2nd edition. When I met an opponent in 3rd edition, I had a reason to pull these guys out again. What I found is that though I had spent lots of time and energy scratch building the swords, I had neglected to base them. The models were a symbol of the exact moment I lost interest way back when.
Hope springs eternal and these guys were resurrected and based. To make them even better, I invested in jump packs from Games Workshop’s bits racket and installed them on two full squads, leaving one squad to walk. I cut off a couple of arms and put on some plasma pistols, again thinking of game play. I then made them uniform my painting over the leg art I had originally done.
Space Marine Attack Bikes
My marine army continues to grow. I have two other complete kick-ass armies, but here I am adding to already vast Marine force.
I did a little research and found that many marine players liked Attack Bikes. Since I needed more fast attack, I picked up a couple for Christmas and then a third to round out the squad.
Being cheap I immediately looked for ways to make these models more flexible. I used Rare Earth Magnets to make the gunners’ weapons interchangable; multi-melta or heavy bolter. Then using a bit of styrene I fabricated a slot under the bike to hold the sidecar in place without permanently attaching it. Thus the attack bikes could be regular bikes if I so desire.
To make painting easier I painted the assembled bikes and riders separately and attached them later.
Painting was a challenge. I knew what the marine would look like – I have hundreds. I wanted the bikes to carry on the purple, but not have it be the same purple. Using some techniques I’ve employed with my other vehicles like my predator and vindicator, I began by airbrushing the bikes with a light lavander purple. Using thinned down oil paints over the acrylic I applied a heavy black wash, almost a glaze. I then carefully airbrushed a darker purple to blend it all together. It’s a nice effect. The purple is close to, but not the same purple of the marine driver.
I picked out the machinery with various metals and added Centurion bronze and gold highlights where appropriate to bring the bikes into perfect conformity with the rest of the army.
I made bases and carefully adjusted them so the sidecars would fit properly while giving the bike enough base to be independent. After an application of the usual “Planet of Dandelions” texture I made the banners. I went rainbow tie-dye a bit for some color. Each bike banner has a number and a motto, in English this time: “Sudden Death,” “Speed Kills” and “Counter Move.”
Land Speeder
I got this model from Ted in a trade. I think it was the winged assault troops I made for him. He got it in a boxed set and being a Chaos player hadn’t a use for it. I took it but didn’t know if I needed it. I assembled it and it sat on my bench for the better part of the year.
In my usual vein of cheapness, I didn’t like the idea of committing the 
model to a single weapon choice. I struggled for a long time on how to change out the heavy bolter with a melta-gun. The gunner position was well designed with a sliding sponson mount. I hated to lose it, but I couldn’t make it work.
Eventually I mounted a magnet underneath the craft. The gunner now looks into a scratch-built targeting computer screen. It’s an effective modification. The only downside is that the Land Speeder Typhoon uses a front under-mounting for a secondary weapon and I’ll probably be getting one of those one day and consistency will be a issue – a minor issue, but an issue.
I painted it as I have all Centurion Vehicles of late: primer, light lavender, dark wash (nearly glaze) for shadows and then over-sprays of darker purple to bring it all together. I touched up the highlights and shadows with my Sotar 20/20.
I’m still surprised at how this technique eventually matches the Centurion purple so closely. None of the colors match on their own. I picked out the details. I painted the pilots separately and then glued them in place.
I lost the base Ted gave me and so built one of my own. Naturally, I found the base half way through the project, but kept on with mine. Word on the net was that the GW base broke all the time. My base is heavier and the wire support is flexible and strong. It’s a very sturdy model for a flyer.
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