XX. The Emperor Protects

What's better than one guard? Two guards!

I had a few weeks where my job took all the energy and concentration I had, but summer is here and I'm back at my hobby desk.

The second guard was originally going to have a visible face, just like the first one. I even made a head for him but scrapped it after I decided it wasn't up to scratch. Then I hit on the idea that the heads from the Sicarian Ruststalkers would made good Mechanicum issue gas masks.

Other than the different head, he was made in the same way as the first Household Guard; a Solar Auxilia lasrifleman as a base, backpack from a Forge World Chaos Renegade and lots of greenstuff.

As always apologies for the terrible photography, thanks for looking and your comments are massively appreciated.

XIX. Guards, guards!

I seem to have a problem actually finishing miniatures at the moment. Very good at starting new ones, but not very good at finishing ones I've started.

This mini was something of a test. He's one of the foot soldiers of my Knight Household. Converted from a Solar Auxilia rifleman, I wanted to create a fusion of the deiselpunk style of the Solar Auxilia and the Gothic design of Imperial Knights. I'm very happy with the way he's worked out so I'll be making some more to create a small squad.

The foot soldiers of the Household are equipped with armour supplied by their Mechanicum allies and made from salvaged Solar Auxilia suits. Each man goes into battle with the 'Litany of Striving' fastened to their armour, a invocation of the power of the Omnissiah. This man wears a 'virtutis' on his right shoulder, a large medallion awarded for bravery in battle.

XI. The Solar Auxilia

I freely admit that I have a problem when it comes to sticking at a task. I'm just too easily distracted. So, I broke off from working on my art scale Astartes to finish painting my first Solar Auxilia.

I bought these chaps on a whim because I loved the sculpts so much, I'm not trying to build an army here, so it may take me a very long time to get round to painting all twenty of them. However, they may also turn out to be a nice change of pace whenever I want to take a short break from converting. It could be good to just have a few miniatures which I build straight out of the box, as it were.

So, this one is a colour test, using the same restricted palette as I intend to use throughout the crew of the Euripides. Hopefully I can keep a unified look without it all merging into one murky mess.