I've started a new project, pre-heresy Emperor's Children Legion. I've been wanting to do a pre-heresy army using Forge World stuffs but couldn't get around to do it plus I've been re-reading all the early Horus Heresy novels which spur further my interest. The army that fascinated me the most would be the sons of Fulgrim. The Emperor's Children before their downfall was a strong, unified and loyal army of the Emperor, strive for perfection in every aspect of their military tactics. It's just sad what happened to them in the end. I wanted to capture that moment in time when the EC were loyal thus selected them for my project.
I'm going for pure pre-heresy for this project hence the Astartes' armaments such as armor and weapons should reflect that era accordingly. The legionnaire below is using the MK II Early Crusade pattern and armed with a Phobos pattern bolter. I've started painting a test model as per the pics below in which I used painting methods from Forge World.
For the purple armor, I started off with a black basecoat and then proceeded with a basecoat of Xereus purple. Next a heavy wash of Druchii Violet. The next step is a bit tricky where I used a 50/50 mix of Xereus purple and Genestealer purple for layering. You can use a syringe to get the right mixing portion. After layering, a 25/75 mix of Xereus purple and Genestealer purple for highlighting. For the gold, a basecoat of Gehenna gold, wash of Reikland Fleshade and a highlight of Gehenna gold to bring out the gold color.
Completed purple armor |
I loved how the purple color turned out and for me it really depicts the EC legion with its martial perfection. I'm not too sure about shoulder pads however, still contemplating to add a bright color such as white to contrast with the purple and include the Legion's III symbol over it. I'll experiment with that later.