Cult on Deck

I have just finished painting all 97 figures in my Genestealer Cult Army. That was fun. I did a few things I haven't really done before. It is my first painted army that has no helmets! I had avoided painting skin because I was terrible at it. It's true. All my Dark Angels have their helmets on, mostly because you should really keep your lid on when people are shooting at you, and because I didn't want to screw up their faces. World Eaters? All helmets. Tau? Helmets. Tyranids? Doesn't count. My large Guard Army? Steel Legion! Helmets AND gas masks!

I did finally break this no-face streak and painted some Space Marine Scouts, and the Command squad for my Stormtrooper army are unmasked. One gent even has a fine mustache.

It was my desire to paint the figs for Star Wars Imperial Assault that really made me improve my painting skills. (Now almost average!) But it was still with great trepidation I embarked on the helmet-less Cult. At least they are all bald...

One fun thing was that since there were so many troops I decided to use a wide range of skin tones on the Neophytes. The thing that made the biggest difference was embracing a liberal use of ink washes. Yes, this is old news for real painters, but I took the plunge and I like the results.

Second new thing was textured paint for the bases. I used Citadel Astrogranite (both regular and extra chunky) on the bases. They look nice. I'm still figuring out a highlight and/or wash to put on top of the texture, but so far so good.

This week will see the Eight Cult vehicles get finished, just in time for one or two last games under 7th edition.  
Next time: Templates. Probably.