Not long ago I asked what people thought my next project would be. Keeping in step with the unsubtle nature of the Iron Warriors, I have decided to announce my return to the IV Legion with the posting of their gene-father, the Lord of Iron, Perturabo. The model I chose is the Pro-Turbo model from Hi-Tech Miniatures, which as you can imagine, is a great fit for Perturabo. In fact, with further research into the Heresy series, this model is nearly dead accurate. In any case, I really enjoyed painting the model that will form the centerpiece of the Heresy-Era Iron Warriors and their cohort. Let take a look at the model and where I drew inspiration from.
Ever since I first read Storm of Iron, the Iron Warriors were the Chaos Marines of choice for me. I always entertained the idea of making them, but the projects always fell flat. To make matters worse, the Horus Heresy book came out with great heresy-era inspiration in their pages, making all of the featured legions seem appealing ... except, there was little to nothing offered about the Iron Warriors. Later, a short story cropped up in Tales of Heresy that snatched my attention! Loyalist Iron Warriors who had battled the Hrud ... this lead to a short, but sweet Pre-Heresy Iron Warriors kick, which fleshed out my Chaos collection a little and even saw me build a Dreadclaw Drop Pod. So what has changed? I am reading Angel Exterminatus and the IW finally get the attention they deserve. There are detailed descriptions of many of the characters, culture, organization, cohorts and weapons they employed during the time and boy has that got the old inspiration flowing!
 |
| "Nothing lives in the past. Everyone is dead there." Perturabo |
Perturabo is based black, followed by another basecoat of Leadbelcher, which I washed in Nuln Oil, followed by a layer of Iron Breaker and a highlight of Runesteel. After the entire model was painted, I went back through and darkened a couple areas with Nuln Oil again.
The cape was based in Dark Flesh, then layered with Khorne Red, Mephiston Red, Blood Red and Wazdakka Red (or whatever it is called) highlights. Each color from Dark Flesh to Blood red also has a 50/50 layer applied with the color before and the color after it in sequential order.
The yellows were created using a base of Tau Sept Ochre (washed with Seraphim Sepia), followed by a generous highlight of Iyanden Darksun and a minor highlight of Flash Gitz Yellow.
All of the Brass is Snakebite Leather based, followed by a layer of Brass Scorpion, washed Agrax Earthshade, then highlighted with a touch of Runelord brass.
 |
| Ex ferrum adveho vires. Ex vires adveho mos. Ex mos adveho fides. Ex fides adveho veneratio. Ex veneratio adveho Ferrum |
Forgebreaker is the massive hammer of Perturabo, gifted to him by Horus Luprecal after agreeing to serve the Warmaster in his rebellion against the Emperor. Forgebreaker is supposed to have a black and blue marbled head, so I worked with layers of black, regal blue, Shadow Grey and Ice Blue until I got the result you see here. They all blended with each other 50/50 between colors, so there are about 8 layers here.
The skulls and other bone on the model were based in Graveyard Earth, then layered with Karnak Stone and highlighted with Bleached bone.
I added the Imperial Fist helmet to the base as a nice little reminder of the rivalry between Dorn and Perturabo.
 |
| "From iron cometh strength. From strength cometh will. From will cometh faith. From faith cometh honor. From honor cometh Iron and may it forever be so." The Unbreakable Litany |
Perturabo is also armed with a stormbolter he built using ancient designs, which is painted using methods already described. The mail that hangs between his legs in the other photos can also be seen here between his leg and cape. I painted it Runedsteel and really used a lot of paint to make sure it went into the crenelations. I then went over and carefully painted the grid pattern over it with Brass Scorpion and highlighted it with Runelord Brass. I really like how it turned out and found the unique texture very interesting to paint as it isn't common to find mail like this.
Here is a top-down shot of the Lord of Iron. I took every opportunity I could to add some color appropriately to the model, forever minding the balance of cold and warm colors - from the black to the steel to the chevrons to the green, red and blue highlights across the model - even including the base.
The base was painted using layers of Graveyard Earth, Karnak Stone, Seraphim Sepia wash, more Karnak and finally Bleached Bone. I then painted the trim using Brass Scorpion, Runelord Brass and a little touch of Iron Breaker. When it was completley painted, I then added some Oxide Weathering Powder. The rest of the base was painted using Adeptus Battlegrey and drybrushed layers of Fortress Grey and Bleached Bone with the addition of Dead Grass Flock from Gale Force 9 and some Oxide powders.
I wanted to get a good, close look at the face and though it isn't the greatest pic in the world, it lets you see the effort that went into the face. I took this right after finishing the face itself but before painting the red wires and highlighting the brass on the model. I started the flesh with Tallarn Flesh (may your pots never run dry if you own this miracle color still), then highlighted with Dwarf Flesh, Elf Flesh and a very light highlight of Bleached bone.
I actually left the (human) eye Runesteel from the initial basing colors. I then gave it a little dot of regal blue with a tiny bristle-tip of Ice Blue. I used the Runesteel instead of white because I wanted to draw attention to the eye without painting it huge as we see some artists do. This gives him a little "twinkle" that can be seen from afar but is impossible to tell is metallic unless I told you. Long story short - I want people to see that I painted the eye!
Overall, this was a ton of fun to paint and I can truly say that I am excited to get some heresy era Iron Warriors together. The book Angel Exterminatus has left me with a ton of inspiration and knowledge to not only make the Iron Warriors, but also their human regiment (the Selucid Thorakites), the Legio Mortis Cohort, The Pnumachina (an organization of dissonent Mechanicum) and their robust Legio Cybernetica Cohort (including the Iron Circle, Perturabo's AI bodyguards). The time period and the modelling potential will allow me to field just about anything I want and really let my imagination go wild with the Heresy era as a guide.
That is it for now, but be on the look out for more from the Iron Warriors and my other projects and as always, let me know what you think of Perturabo. Iron Within, Iron Without!