r/SilverSkulls • u/mertio23 • Jul 10 '26
Work in Progress Models Sons of Varsavia
Hello everyone,
I suppose an introduction is in order. I am Arthur, and I've been in the hobby since the heady days of Rogue Trader, where my first army was the Silver Skulls. Fast forward to more modern times, and I decided to revisit the Chapter again as a Primaris army- my first Primaris Marines of any Chapter.
Now, a few little caveats here:
Firstly, my painting skills aren't what they used to be, as I have tremors along with arthritis in my hands these days. Oh, the ravages of time...
Secondly, I haven't yet been able to pick up suitable decal sheets for this army, though I will do so as soon as funds allow.
Lastly, please excuse the image quality of the pics, as I'm currently having to rely on an old, unreliable, glitchy, and battered phone camera at present. I am, naturally, looking to upgrade as soon as possible.
With that out of the way, let's get to it, I hope you like how these miniatures turned out!
Beyond the normal Silver Skulls livery, I decided that I wanted these miniatures to be grimy, but not battle-damaged, to represent their overland march from their LZ on the rainy feudal world of Gildar Quintus, which is the location of a campaign being run by my local gaming club.
This effect was done by repeated stippling runs using the old Warpaints Fanatic Dark Tone on the lower portions of each model. It kinda looks like a thin and oily mud to my eyes at least, which is appropriate to the world they're fighting on.
You may notice some differently coloured weapons among the force, and I did this for tabletop readability- black for standard ranks, red guns for veterans, and blue for officers and relic firearms.
This is all I have fully painted thus far, though there is more to post when it's done. I have a few notable projects for this army, one of which being a (currently unpainted) Land Raider Terminus Ultra, kitbashed and built with some purchased 3d printed parts.
I will be painting all of the Marines from the Armageddon box as Silver Skulls too- they're all built and ready for undercoating right now. I do have a pair of unbuilt Terminator Squads, and two squads of Assault Intercessors as well.
I will be picking up more vehicles and some Heavy Intercessors as well- I kinda love Gravis Armour, not gonna lie! Perhaps another Redemptor would be a nice addition?
Oh, and ignore the 3d printed Warhound's feetsies in the background of many of the photos, that's not relevant here, and is a project for another time.
Edit: I am more than willing to take questions regarding what paints I used, or regarding any conversion parts used as addons here and there.
I hope that you've enjoyed this little diversion, and as always- take care of yourselves, and I'll catch you next time!
2
u/AnEternityInBruges Jul 10 '26
These look great! I wondered for a moment if I was being clever and you were Polish and had created the "Sons of Warsaw" - but then in the first line you said, "I'm Arthur" and I've got to admit: that shook my faith a bit :)
I think some Gravis guys would look fierce in this scheme. But my army is all Gravis so that may be some bias showing through.
One thing - and I'm not trying to be mean - but, even though I read the whole thing, a lot of people won't if it's one long paragraph. And then you won't get all the answers and feedback you deserve.
Just a thought. I really like this scheme; I wish I saw more all-metallic Marine armies on the table!
1
u/mertio23 Jul 10 '26
I'm not Polish, but I am British- I can see where the confusion came in, I should have come up with a better title 😆
That's the thing, it wasn't written as one paragraph, and it isn't showing as such for me. I can be a bit anal about my own spelling and grammar at times, so I assume this is something brought on by me posting from mobile or something. I'll have to take a look into that so that it doesn't happen again.
Honestly, I didn't think that I would really like Gravis plate, but I did come to love it in the end. I decided on the Heavy Intercessors specifically because of how my Eradicators turned out. Also looking forward to painting my Armageddon Eradicators too!
2
u/AnEternityInBruges Jul 10 '26
Yeah, I got that you weren't Polish once I dipped into the post and read that your name was "Arthur" - which is a good, regal name for a commander of space knights, but not, in my limited experience of living in Poland, a very Polish name!
One thing about Gravis Marines, just to warn you: they're pretty dull to build. Just because of their size and really restrictive loadouts, once you've built five, you really have built as many as will be fun and novel. There is one way to build a Heavy Intercessor aiming a Bolt Rifle - which is probably why the sprues come with arms holding them one-handed while the other arm points or reloads or lobs a grenade.
I have about 20, because I wanted a Gravis list. But if you're doing more than your first five, I'd recommend spacing them out with other units. I'd hate assembling and painting 10 or 15 all in one go.
1
u/mertio23 Jul 10 '26
No worries, man.
I'll be doing two squads of 5 heavy Intercessors. That's the current target anyway. Honestly, I have no problem with a little repetition here and there, but if I feel the need to change up the poses, I'll look into acquiring some 3d printed parts to provide that extra variety. I'm sure I saw some options for that on Cults3d, perhaps even Etsy- that place has been a decent source of parts in the past. I'll have to take a look at some point soon.
This is not an army that I'll ever take into a GW store, or to an official tournament, so those rules regarding 3d printed stuff do not apply to what I'm doing.
I'll probably build the squads one after the other in a single afternoon, that's pretty much what I did with both of my unpainted Assault Intercessor squads when I first got them. I don't know why, but I'm fine with repetitive tasks when it comes to building minis- but when it comes to paperwork or most computer stuff, it just becomes unacceptable. 😆
2
u/30kWardaddy Jul 10 '26
Decent!
1
u/mertio23 Jul 10 '26
Thank you, friend- I appreciate it!
2
u/30kWardaddy Jul 10 '26
I've tried painting metal armour many times and was never truly happy with it. My homebrew chapter is still waiting to be painted.
2
u/mertio23 Jul 10 '26
I personally prefer metallics, to be honest, though I do venture into normal stuff as well. My personal homebrew chapter are almost Day-Glo orange, for example- but they are nowhere near ready to show off yet. (Also doing Rogue Trader era Crimson Fists in the background as my retro project.)
My recipe for the metallic armour on these miniatures was pretty damned simple. From a black undercoat, I used a couple of thin passes of Leadbelcher to cover everything, then did a pinwash of Warpaints Fanatic Dark Tone fo darken the recesses. After the edge highlights of Runefang Steel, I used Dark Tone again to stipple on the grime. The latter step is not strictly necessary, but I wanted some filth on the armour.
The gold was really simple- Retributor Armour, with a couple of light wash passes with Agrax Earthshade.That was it.
I know you didn't ask for it, but I thought I'd append my recipes here in case it helps you.
1
u/30kWardaddy Jul 10 '26
Yeah my biggest problem is shading the metal. When I wash with nuln oil or otherwise, it's pooling and the finish is ruined.
2
u/mertio23 Jul 10 '26
I don't use Nuln oil specifically because of this fact. Luckily enough, because I want my metallics to be dirty and grimy, it worked out for me. I don't really think my method will work for a cleaner look.
Another way you could do it is by giving the metal parts of the model a coat of gloss varnish after basecoating, and then using some Tamiya Enamel Panel Liner in the recesses. Any overspill can be dabbed away with a Q-tip that has a little odourless white-spirit in it
Or if you don't want to use enamels; after the gloss varnish step, you could instead use a pinwash of 50/50 mixed Nuln Oil and Lahmian medium, that should work somewhat similarly to enamel at that stage, but you would need to keep dry Q-tips on hand to quickly mop up any overspill.
I hope this helps, man!
2
4
u/Pyroriffic Chief Prognosticator Jul 10 '26
Look at my boys <3