July Community Painting Project

After some new terrain there should definitely be new models to fight over it.

Here comes my July Community Painting Project (held at /r/ageofsigmar) submission, and this time the model selection for the project was quite broad: The First Year!

This means that any model released or repackaged during the first year of Age of Sigmar is a valid submission. Luckily I had just acquired my Starter Set Stormcast Eternals and signed up with a heavily converted Lord-Relictor + any other models from the army that I'd manage to paint up in time. Here are the results!

A heavily converted Lord-Relictor indeed. So heavily converted in fact that I'll actually consider playing him as a Knight-Vexillor instead! He has that humongous banner, after all. To accompany him in the Scarlet Sentinels chain of command I acquired a Lord-Castellant with a Gryph-hound.

Let's take a closer look at each one, shall we?

Knight-Vexillor of the Scarlet Sentinels, this hulking figure goes by the name of "Mance" among his fellow Stormcasts. He bears aloft the stormhost's revered banner, depicting white open shackles on a dark red field, symbolizing the freedom Scarlet Sentinels strive to bring to the Mortal Realms while drenching the ground in blood of the tyrants.

Bonus points for anyone who recognizes the banner!

As with my other Stormcasts, Mance too goes to battle bare-headed. Wielding his trusty axe with uncanny skill, there are precious few foes that have ever gotten close to the stormhost's banner.

No helmet, armed with an axe and brandishing pitch black hair, this model was painted the same way as my Liberators. He still looks a lot like a Lord-Relictor, but with the banner, weapon and head change I think he passes for a Knight-Vexillor just fine. For a moment I considered cutting off his gorgeous spikes, but they looked so badass I just couldn't do it!

One thing I love in Stormcast Eternals are the scrolls with mysterious inscriptions in them. They're just so immensely satisfying to paint, I can't really explain it. I was happy to notice that even the Liberators had small lengths of parchment hanging from their belts, how very thoughtful of GW! 

The base is still lacking but I've already done two test pieces on empty ones to try out some cobblestone patterns. The army get its bases when the time is right.

Next up is my Lord-Castellant whom I named "Davos", accompanied by his loyal Gryph-hound "Nymeria". I was torn between him, the Knight-Heraldor and the Lord-Celestant on foot, but in the end I settled on him for his intriguing fluff: 
He is the master of defensive warfare, the healing light of his Warding Lantern guiding his fellow Stormcasts to victory while his ever vigilant Gryph-hound watches for even the slightest hint of an ambush.

I'm awed by this guy, I can already imagine him giving calm, calculated advice to my hot-headed Lord-Celestant Boremund who leads the Scarlet Sentinels on their quest to destroy evil in the Realm of Ghur. A perfect bringer of balance to my otherwise savage-looking ferocious stormhost that would surely plunge straight into many ambushes and ruses were it not for the calming words of the Lord-Castellant and the soothing light of his warding lantern!

The model is so detailed and stunning that I couldn't bring myself to modify him in any way. He has that badass open myrmidon-helmet that partially shows his face and that's human-y enough for me.
I really liked the hourglass he's carrying on his belt, gave me an excuse to use a whole different colour to bring some detail on his otherwise steel/red/gold -look. And the amount of parchment on this guy's equipment almost made me jump up and down with joy!

With all the red on the shoulders and clothing, I thought a red cape would be a bit too much. Searching through my selection of paints, I finally settled on Screamer Pink to get kind of a royal look on this prestigious figure. 

A very nice model in all, with many different surfaces to use techniques on. I hope he also does well on the many battlefields I'm sending him to!

Let's give this noble beast here a description of his very own. The example pics I've seen of this model usually showed stripes on its back, which I kind of liked. I wanted to give him a bit harsher coloring to fit the theme of my army while still maintaining an air of nobility and intellect about him.

I settled on grey body with black stripes, perfect for cold and otherwise harsh environments my Scarlet Sentinels usually scour in the Realm of Beasts. A light brown blended with Screaming Skull was the palette for the head, giving it the royal look of a great eagle or something along those tracks. Bright blue eyes were the last finishing touch.

And here are my finished Scarlet Sentinels thus far. Just by calling the units on this pic to arms (by assembling and painting them) I've accumulated 5 Season of War points to the Grand Alliance of Order!

I've still got three Decimators, three Prosecutors and a Lord-Celestant to go before they're all painted and ready to retake the Realms. Then I'll most likely get some reinforcements for them to help them on their quest which once again brings me back to the painting table, but that's just how things work in this hobby, eh?