Necromundan 8th Regiment "The Spiders"

As part of my project I want to model a small contingent of Guard and my inspiration goes way back. Like Rogue Trader way back.

This is the original Imperial Guard box from the Rogue Trader days. It came with 36 Guardsmen to a box. It was one of the first multi-part plastic kits. Why is this kit relevant to my project?

This is an action shot of the F Company of the Necromundan 9th Regiment. In the foreground is the Command Squad (you can tell by the yellow helmet stripe) of the commander in the gold breast plate on the far left. In the middle ground are Support Squads (blue helmet stripe) of the 2nd Platoon, represented by the bi-split banner.

This is the uniform Necromundan Imperial Guard, and according to the picture the Arcadian Imperial Guard. The 5 on the chest badge denotes the 5th Regiment, the bi-split colors signify 2nd Platoon and the A on his shoulder pad represents being a part of A company. The red helmet stripe shows that he is a member of a tactical squad. This states that Arcadia is a Hive World and references the Cult of the Spider, coincidentally the Necromundan 8th  Regiment, commonly known as "The Spiders," wears the exact same uniform and and spider tattoos. The 8th Regiment recruit exclusively from the Spider Clan of Hive Palantine on Necromunda and are the acting Planetary Defense Force (PDF).

This a beautiful representation of the metal models that accompanied the plastic box set. Like in the art above, the gold breast plates represent officers and their command squads. The guardsmen in the bottom left represent Penal Legion. And yes, the guardsman in the middle is a suicide bomber, I don't think that made it into 2nd edition.

My Guard will be Echo Company 2nd Platoon of Necromundan 8th Regiment. I plan to do a full Veteran Tactical Squad, and then a few representatives of Echo Company Command Squad, 2nd Platoon Command Squad and an Infantry Tactical Squad.

I have a started collecting the bits for this project and will alternate between this and my Genestealer Cult. Coming soon there will be posts about; testing more painting techniques (when I receive my paints in the post) for my GSC, painting the Sector Mechanicus molded bases from GW (also in the post) and fluff for my GSC. I will leave you with the full art for the magazine spread above.

Are those Titans ...

crossbonesx11 learns to paint ...

I did a lot of research and consumed a lot of content in my preparation for my journey into painting. A few of my current inspirations are Uncle Atom over @ https://www.youtube.com/user/tabletopminions *pachow* and James Wappel @ https://wappellious.blogspot.com/. Also quick shout out to my long long time inspiration, the mad scientist himself KrautScientist over @ https://eternalhunt.wordpress.com/.

I have decided on a yellow and gray scheme for my GSC. I think the yellow will be a good contrast with the pinks/purples/blues of the GSC flesh and chitin. I will get more into the fluff of the cult in another post, but they are from a mining colony outside of Hive Primus on Necromunda. I want to really invoke a miner/construction worker vibe, so I am going to attempt a neon yellow suit and a sort of reflective gray for their armor. I am hoping to achieve this affect by mixing Vallejo's Fluorescent Yellow with Reaper's MSP Clear Yellow for their jumpsuits and a mixture of Reaper's MSP Pearl White and various GW grays for their armor. Thanks James for the advice!

I dug out a few old MKVII Space Marines and partially assembled them so I can ruin them trying to get the techniques mildly in control before I start painting the GSC. I primed them with Army Painter's White spray and then brushed on a thin coat of GW's Ceramite White. As it dried I started clipping, cleaning and sub-assembling the GSC. Next I mixed the fluorescent yellow and clear yellow at 2:1 and applied the first coat.

I am happy with the color, even though it is under some harsh harsh light in these photos (will look into proper lighting and photography techniques as I go). It is much more fluorescent and less warm in person. As that dried I continued prepping GSC and sprayed a few more old marines. Then I applied a second coat, mindfully thinning my paints with water even though you can still see pooling in certain areas (this will be an ongoing struggle).

I essentially achieved the look I wanted, even though it doesn't come through in the pics under the yellow light. Hopefully I will be able to get better pics going forward. I also had few paints from a failed attempt to get back into the hobby in 2016, so I decided to goof off a little with them in hopes to gain a little xp. I applied GW base paints Abaddon Black and Mephiston Red to a couple places, and after they dried, I brushed GW wash Nuln Oil over one side of the model just to experiment. The black wash on yellow looked predictably bad (unless you want a soot covered armor look) but it was the only wash I had at the time.

While packing up my work station, I realized I had a pot of GW's Lahmian Medium which I would have mixed with the Nuln Oil at 2:1 or 3:1 before applying to the one side of the model. My application of the minor colors was awful. Struggled with getting the right viscosity of the paints by thinning with water (I really hope this gets easier as I go). I think trying to paint over the fluorescent/clear mixture was also part of it as they are both high pigment high translucence paints and meant to be a top layer, not a base layer. Here are a final couple pics under a little bit better lighting.

You can see the yellow affect a little bit better. I have some more paints incoming, one of which is GW's Casandora Yellow wash that I will play around with. I am planning to buy Secret Weapon's Parchment Wash to experiment with as well. I am not sure how the fluorescent/clear mixture will react with the typical layer-wash-layer method, but we will see. Also incoming are GW's Sector Mechanicus bases, so be on the lookout for more yellow test marines and my start in molded base painting.

I used a wet palette I constructed on the sage advice of Uncle Atom. Your videos helped push me back into the deep end of the hobby!

An introduction ...

I have been into table top war-gaming since late 2nd ed of Warhammer 40000. I have been in and out several times, usually selling my collection to fund whatever my new obsession is. This time around I am back with the addition of Kill Team from Games Workshop. My favorite game of all time is Mordheim and this is the closest thing to 40k Mordheim as we have ever got (I know there is Necromunda but historically that has been very self contained, and Kill Team is closest to proper 40k skirmish).

I have been a huge collector and my preference in he hobby is kit-bashing. I find it aesthetically pleasing to take the puzzle pieces that GW gives us and come up with something inspired and original. Because of that I am not keen on sculpting or green stuff, I prefer to use what is given. I am a huge bits hoarder, in the past (pre-dependent life) I would buy entire kits for a single bit. This time around I am going to attempt to be more conservative.

I recently sold off a portion of my signed Magic: the Gathering collection to fund my foray back into the grimdark. This is the beginning of what I bought:

I played quite a bit of 3rd ed 40k, might have played a single game of 4th ed and haven't played a game since. However I collected and modeled all the way through 5th edition where my last long break started. As you can tell I am not much of a player, I am a modeler and collector (note I did not say painter, more on that later). With the release of KT, I was spurned to start looking at what GW has been producing in my absence and their recent support for supplemental games, specialist games and their renewal of old properties has sucked me in completely.

This journey will be one of nostalgia, starting with the Genestealer Cults. I am in love with these models, they are a strict counter to what GW was pushing when I left the hobby and they are also so nostalgic for me. In addition to that I was also really drawn to the current Necromunda releases, the Van Saar in particular. Following that up I wanted to play around a little with the new Primaris marines.

So as I was deciding where start I took a deep dive into the fluff and I kept ending up on the planet Necromunda. I have decided my journey will be a narrative one and will take place entirely on Necromunda. I have plans for GSC, Van Saar, Imperial Fists (which are stationed on and recruit from Necromunda (who knew?)), Adeptus Arbites and a detachment of the Necromundan 8th Regiment (The Spiders). Hazard stripes, lots and lots of hazard stripes.

I have talked about my past, my plans, nostalgia and my love for modeling, with almost no mention of painting. Historically I have hated painting. I have had several armies worth thousands of points that never had a drop of paint. This time around I am going to change that, for better or for worse. Which leads me into my next post ...