Looking at this model objectively, it’s a bit dark on the game table. The Gaffer always suggests I choose lighter colors for my models, but it’s too late to change my color scheme with the army half-complete. And, I like it as is. It’s a machine that shows its age..

TheGM: I don’t write a lot about painting. The original purpose of this website was to record our tabletop adventures—to create a narrative of our battles and provide a backdrop, a foundation, a narrative reason, for the battles yet to come.

But lately I’ve been painting up a storm. And it occurred to me: Why haven’t I been writing up my painting projects? Isn’t painting–and terrain building—just as much a part of the adventure as our tabletop battles? Indeed, I paint a lot more hours than I play.

Well, one reason I haven’t focused on painting is that I’m a paint-by-numbers guy. My most sophisticated painting techniques are dry-brushing and washes.

I started this army years ago, and I really didn’t give any thought to the color scheme. The colors on the box looked cool to me. Now that I’ve more experience, I’m looking for a novel color scheme for my next army—probably Death Krieg.

Another reason is that my cell phone takes mediocre photos. I recently pulled out my old Nikon camera, and it still works. Alas, it’ll take me weeks to figure out how to use it again.

But today I’m going to start recording what I’m doing at my paint station. I want these memories written down for review years from now.

So, let’s talk about my latest effort: a boost to my Adeptus Mechanicus army. I recently painted my third squad of Vanguard Skitarri, five Infiltrators, five Ruststalkers, an Onager Dunecrawler, and a Skitarii Marshal.

My Skitarri Marshal. Haven’t finished the base, but generally I’m pretty happy with him.

Woof.

I don’t have a lot to say about the painting process itself. I just opted for the paint scheme on the Games Workshop boxes. I dry-brushed all my infantry figures with Citadel’s Leadbelcher, painted the outer side of the cape in Mephiston Red, and the inside of the cape with Tallarn Sand.

Then I added some highlights, such as a light blue on the arc rifle’s power coil and some red or green on the cables.

All I can say is that I paint neatly and, at three feet away, my models look nice on the table.

The Onager wasn’t much different. Same colors. The legs are Leadbelcher; the body of the tank mostly Mephiston Red with some Tallarn Sand highlights. I also used black, green, and Leadbelcher on some of the shielding and detail bitz.

Everything got a bit of rust, grime, and a wash of Nuln Oil.

To me, what’s more important to document is why I painted these units in the first place. My Mechanicus army is a bit small, so painting these units will greatly strengthen this force on the tabletop.

I already had two Vanguard and two Ranger squads, but as the “fluff” says the Vanguard are the main fighting force of a Mechanicus army, I thought my next unit should reflect this reality. So now three units—60 percent of my Skitarri regulars—are Vanguard.

Twenty more infantry for my growing Mechanicus army, now led by a Skitarri Marshal. Oh, I can’t wait to get these guys on the game table.

I bought two boxes of elite Sicarian Infiltrators/Ruststalkers. But, as I had five Infiltrators already painted, I decided to bolster that force with another five Infiltrators and use the second box to start a Rustalkers squad. (I’ll get another five Ruststalkers in the future.)

This brings my total infantry force to three Vanguard, two Ranger, and one Sicarian Infiltrator squad—and a five-man fire team of Ruststalkers. That’s seven distinct units—plenty for any game I’ll play this year.

The Onager is an important addition, too. Right now, the Mechanicus’ main opponents in our campaign—Necrons on the planet of Myopolis and mutants on the world of Morkai—vastly outgun my Tech Priests in terms of tank firepower. This’ll be my third Onager—a nice boost of strength.

But enough, now. It’s time to move on to another long-overlooked army.

What will it be?

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Postscript: I have new batteries, new lights, and a new cable for my Nikon. Still reading how to use the camera (it’s been a decade since I last used it), but apparently I need to update the camera’s software. It may be a month before I can start taking better photos. Bummer.

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The Corvus Cluster is a Warhammer 40K blog documenting my gaming hobby adventures in the fantastical sci-fi universe of Games Workshop.