Yesterday we got a good look at some of the new Mechanicum models coming to Warhammer: The Horus Heresy, through the lens of some immaculate paint jobs from the Design Studio. We’re back today with the second half of this glorious showcase, and we may even have snuck a few of our own in at the end. Sssh, don’t tell Horus…
Cal: I wanted to build and paint my Thallax to support my main Emperor's Children force. I gave one some battle damage to show the skull under its faceplate, and Warhammer 40,000 veterans will definitely spot the legendary green rod from the old Necron Warriors kit lurking in one of their guns.
To tie the Thallax together with my Techmarine, I used a spot colour of Tesseract Glow over a base coat of Corax White to replicate the heretek energies from aeons ago, and a Phoenician Purple shoulder plate with a Genestealer Purple edge highlight to make them unmistakably from the II Legion.
Chris: The simplicity of a bolt cannon-armed Castellax really reflects the utilitarian nature that the Iron Warriors bring to warfare. I painted them using the same techniques as the rest of my army – undercoating with Leadbelcher, followed by a wash of Basillicanum Grey, and finished with a drybrush of Runefang Steel. Just a few hazard stripes at the end and these cats are ready to mow down a legion of Loyalist dogs!
Luke: I wanted to paint my Mechanium to fit in with my Traitor forces, so I chose black as their predominant colour. I based these in Corvus Black to give a dark but not fully black base, and then used oil paints to shade and weather some scratchy damage for highlights.
This matte black base contrasts nicely with the lighter tones of the metal decorative trim, rusty corrosion and the gloss Ardcoat which I applied to the face masks.
Jason: When given the opportunity to paint these Mechanicum miniatures, I really wanted to paint them for a Legion I felt they would really fit into. I have been juggling with the idea of doing a small Iron Hands force for quite some time as I also collect Raven Guard and Salamanders, so this is the perfect opportunity to be able to field an Isstvan V 'Shattered Legions' force in the future.
I feel they compliment the Iron Hands extremely well with their propensity towards the mechanical. I wanted to paint them a very dark metallic black scheme, looking to keep it as pared back and simple as possible.
Jack: I've painted my automata to match my Salamanders Legion, wanting a coherent scheme across all my Legionaries and Mechanicum (and when I finally get round to it I'll do the same on my Solar Auxilia too). I started with Leadbelcher primer and used all-over washes and drybrushing to do all the metals quickly – I've always found metals boring, so I'll always try and find the quickest way of getting these out the way!
Then it was just basing all the greens first, glazing them down by hand with browns and blacks, and giving everything at least two edge highlights to really make the colours pop. Chipping on the armour is always done alongside the edge highlight to keep things speedy and finish off the chips with Rhinox Hide dots in the centre of them.
Dom: My Mechanicum models represent Loyalist units originating from the Forge World of Metalica. I was inspired by the striking Adeptus Mechanicus colour scheme associated with that world, so I decided to try and create an Age of Darkness-era variant of that heraldry, a possible precursor to the later colours seen in the 41st Millennium. I used Celestra Grey as a base colour and a combination of Khorne Red and Mephiston Red on the weapons and markings.
Owen: I wanted to paint the miniatures to align with a Dark Mechcanicum force, and I had a lot of fun coming up with a new colour scheme for them. I stuck to black as the main colour—common across many Dark Mechcanicum Taghmatas—and created a verdigris copper look on several other panels. This gave the units a distressed, aged look that makes them feel positively ancient.
Charlie: The Triaros is a massive vehicle with a wonderful design. It's beautifully chunky – easy to assemble and fun to paint, with loads of details. The smooth surfaces broken up by seams are a great excuse to mix up your colours, apply some weathering, and use its many transfers (which I will be applying as soon as I can pick up some Ardcoat). I went with the mustard yellow and bone-and-black of Taghmata Xerxes, from the forge world of Accatran, and I can't wait to get some accompanying Tech-thralls dressed up in nice yellow jumpsuits.
My one piece of advice is to paint the Triaros in sub-assemblies. You'll have a much easier time if you build and paint – or at least basecoat and wash – the following sections separately:
The main hull, before glueing on the gears, tread pods, and armoured spoiler
The rear gears, before glueing on the tread pods
The inner tread pod mechanisms, before glueing on the outer armour and tracks
Rob: My Loyalist Iron Warriors were ruined when rebelling against the Decimation of Olympia and were forced to enlist the aid of allies to continue their revenge against Perturabo, so the new plastic Mechanicum kits were a fantastic opportunity to add a new element to this patchwork army. Both units were painted in largely the same way as the rest of my Iron Warriors – Leadbelcher spray washed in Agrax Earthshade, before being heavily drybrushed in Leadbelcher and a little Runefang Steel from the top-down to create grimy streaks under the metallic basecoat.
The hazard stripes are fairly simple, as there is no more iconic Iron Warriors duo than Averland Sunset and Abaddon Black. The occasional bronze elements were painted with either a Brass Scorpion and Agrax Earthshade combo or the regular metal base washed with Skeleton Horde Contrast. The key—as with all Iron Warriors—was to make them look like they’ve been through hell before breakfast, so no amount of weathering was too much.
James: Tech Thralls are the boltgun fodder of the Mechanicum forces – so that means that there should be lots of them on the battlefield. I tasked myself with painting them with a time limit, 30 to 45 minutes a miniature, with a limited set of paints, and I created five different colour schemes that could either be Loyalist or Traitor Mechanicum. The metals were done by drybrushing a darker metal and a lighter metal over a black basecoat, followed by a shade of Nuln Oil or Agrax Earthshade. One of the Bronze Thralls had an additional glaze of watered-down Sotek Green to make it look more aged and deteriorated.
Ben: I already have a large force of Xana-aligned Dark Mechanicum, so while I couldn't resist painting one thrall up in the cream bone associated with them, I decided to try a few different schemes for the other four. I'm a Traitor through and through so an inverted version of the colours of Holy Mars had to feature, with dark red fatigues and black armour trimmed with bronze. I think my favourite though is the dilapidated bronze, the yellow lens on the helmet makes me think of old deep sea diving suits.
That’s certainly a lot of robotic warriors to pick through! If you’re feeling fully inspired after all of that – and we know we are – then head back to the Warhammer webstore tomorrow to pre-order your own copy of the Mechanicum Battle Group.