Hello and welcome back to the weekly mini painting, productivity and accountability blog formerly, and currently, known as Hammer the Backlog. My name is Mick, and like any man born in western europe from about 1970 onwards, I spent most of my teen years, and every year since, buying but not painting Warhammer minis.
Three years ago, almost to the day, I decided to put a stop to that and not buy anymore Warhammer until everything that I already had was fully painted. While I haven’t been able to stick to that promise completely, I have painted more models in the last two and three quarter years than I had in the twenty five years before that.
The power of accountability!
Let’s take a look at the weekly scorecard, progress on the quarterly rocks and this week’s models.
SCORECARD
Another full week in the green, and another week of the genestealer cults models not being quite as intimidating and difficult to paint as I always thought they would be. What a relief. I think there are only 8 4th generation hybrids and 6 3rd generation hybrids in the box, so that is pretty much the end of the models that can more or less pass as normal men. All freaks from here on out.
Nothing much else to report this week. It wasn’t a huge struggle to get them painted, and with a scheme and plan hashed out, it should even be a little fast next week.
One thing that is looming is that the end of year videos are rapidly approaching, and I don’t have a lot of assembled models left in the pile. It’s mostly sprues now. So if, as it seems highly likely, Assault on Black Reach ends up on next year’s baking trays, I’m going to have to find the time to find and assemble the Ork side of that boxed set.
The same goes for the huge collections of Chaos Space Marines, Empire of Man and High Elves! It never ends.
THIS WEEK’S MODELS
This week’s models are broadly similar to last week’s models, to nobody’s surprise. Three more 4th generation hybrids and the first two 3rd generation hybrids. The 3rd generation are distinguished by the more bulbous head, clawed hands, chitinous forearms and slightly more hunched posture overall. Easily passing for a common or garden mutant. The chitin was the only new colour scheme that was added from last week’s models.
I painted these in the exact same way as last week’s models. I know the space suits and colour schemes were heavily inspired by the 80s and 90s genestealer cults, but they really do feel like they were designed to look good with modern paints, especially contrast.
They are full of the textures that contrast paints work best over, like armour that has deep recesses and not too many flat panels, ragged and torn clothes and deep, scraggly flesh. But most of all, the ribbed rubber undersuits, knee and elbow pads and shin guards are a contrast painters wet dream. A single coat of any contrast paint over these would look great, I reckon.
Having said that, I did do a coat of black templar, a highlight of dawnstone and dot highlight of Administratum Grey. But it was very (VERY!) quick and easy to do over the contrast basecoat.
Similarly, I think Thunderhawk Blue and Fenresian Grey might be the unsung heroes of recent GW paints. They go on so nicely, and contrast very well with reds and metallics, as well as being nice highlights for cool blacks. They might be my most used paints.
So much so, in fact, that it was only after the fact I realised this was the exact colour scheme from the Scions release a few years ago that inspired me to buy a Taurox!
I’m pretty pleased with how these are turning out so far. No where near the box art, obviously, but much closer than my rushed job on space Hulk a few years ago. I’m not even entertaining the idea of repainting Space Hulk, don’t @ me.
Next week, when I’ve really nailed it down, I’ll write out the entire 107 step painting guide for these guys!
Until then, best eggs!
Hammer the Backlog 
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