"Last Orktober, a massive greenskin horde descended upon the desert planet of Kitchen-Tablus II. The Blood Ravens fought valiantly in the opening days of the assault, but with each passing day, it became more apparent they were in dire need of reinforcements."
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The Battle
for Kitchen-Tablus II |
Welcome back to the dark gates of the Obsidian Tower!
Today, I thought I’d pull back the curtain on what I’ve been working on lately. Over the past few months, I’ve gone all-in on 3D printing, and I’m excited to show off some of the results.
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The power of
a forge world, in the palm of my hand... |
I’ve always wanted to build some magnetized Dreadnought arms to swap out weapon options and breathe new life into one of my favorite units. Back in 5th Edition, the "Rifleman Dreadnought"—with its dual autocannons—was a classic. But I never justified ordering the Forge World parts. At the time, Marines were my priority, and the poor Dreadnought arms were sidelined... for years.
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| I call this the Helldivers Loadout now lol |
My first attempt at printing went great, so I rushed to paint up the parts and finally gave my Blood Ravens their long-awaited fire support. Watching those autocannons click into place after all this time was incredibly satisfying.
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Ready to fight some Terminids |
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| Rifleman Dreadnought |
After the Dreadnought, I turned my attention to the Ultramarines. I’ve always wanted a Whirlwind—something about its chunky silhouette and indirect firepower really appeals to me. Naturally, the Marines were getting all the new toys (as usual), so I figured it was time to balance the scales...
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| Before |
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| After |
A friend brought over his old collection, and buried in the bits box I found a single Ork. I gave him a quick paint job and added him to the green tide.
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| "Right 'ere Boss!" |
But what really caught my eye were the Tyranids. A lot of them were missing pieces—but with the printer humming and resin flowing, that wasn’t a problem for long.
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| Resin a flowin', resin a flowin', resin a flowin'... |
I debated for a while on what paint scheme to use. I even polled my friends on Discord for ideas. After some back-and-forth, I landed on Hive Fleet Behemoth. It just felt right, especially since I already have a solid Ultramarine force. The thought of recreating Battle for Macragge-style missions was too tempting to pass up.
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| That's the last time I ask the audience... |
To cap it off, I even started designing a 3D model of the old fusion core terrain piece from the box set—hoping to bring that nostalgic battlefield to life.
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| 3D Model |
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| Varras with the Core! |
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| 500 points of old school Tyranids. |
This project also gave me my first serious go at the new Contrast paints. I enjoyed using them—they give rich, vivid coverage—but they’re no substitute for a good airbrush. Still, they’re a great tool for fast, dynamic shading. Once the ’nids were done, I circled back to a long-delayed goal: painting my Space Marine Heroes. I finally finished them. They might be my favorite Ultramarine squad now. They’ve got so much personality in their sculpts, and they look great on the table.
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| Heroes! |
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| Side arm action! |
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| Love these dynamic poses! |
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| Ha ha, he has a robot arm... |
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| Had to do some finger surgery to this guy... |
I also dusted off some Servitors that had been sitting in my paint queue since what feels like the Horus Heresy. Even I need a break from power armor once in a while!
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| Servitors |
To bring things fully up to date, I just wrapped up my custom take on Jonah Orion of the Blood Ravens.
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| Jonah squishing some bugs... |
He’s been a fun project. You won't believe what psycic power he's about to cast on these Tyranids though...
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| Uhh, stop the what now? |
All jokes aside, that’s a wrap on the last few months of hobbying. Until next time—grab a brush and get painting!
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| "Smells like victory" |
