The Little Blue Puffer

He would have featured in this year's SwoffBoot, if only the postman had pulled his finger out, but now the Helbrute is finished, and ready to add some badly-needed artillery to the Thousand Sons!

Let's be a Really Useful Daemon Engine!

I've just painted up one Helbrute for the Black Legion, but they are a really easy and fun model to paint up. Dangerously so, in fact. I have to remind myself of my colossal leadpile to stop myself from going out and splurging on a couple more.

This unit comes with many weapon options, and I've magnetised every one of them. However, all the spare weapons have been left unpainted. Partly because I think this DakkaBrute configuration is the one the Thousand Sons needs the most to support it. Also because I'm on something of a hobby roll at the moment, and I'm moving onto the next unit before the momentum stops.

Thanks Tzeentch for big-ass decals.

Despite that, there was room for some creativity: seeing those huge funnels on his back inspired me to pinch from an online tutorial for smoke stacks. Essentially breaking apart a cotton-wool ear-bud and painting it. 

Being Thousand Sons, I went for more ethereal colours than just fire, but I like the way it's turned out. I may have to go back and add fiery ones to the Black Legion Helbrute (but not yet because, as I said, momentum).

The painting recipe is basically that of a Rubric Marine, only a hundred times easier:

• Gold trim: Retributor Armour base, Reikland Flashshade wash, Golden Griffon drybrush
• Blue armour: Thousand Sons base, Nuln Oil wash, Thousand Sons layer, Ahriman Blue layer
• Pipes, claws & gun barrels: Ironbreaker base, Waystone Green insides, Nuln Oil wash
• Skin: Rakarth Flesh base, Reikland Flesh wash, Druchii Violet wash, Pallid Wych Flesh layer
• Outside Flesh: Rakarth Flesh base, Reikland Flesh wash, thinned Typhus Corrosion wash
• Horns: Screamer Pink base, Carroburg Crimson wash, Pink Horror drybrush
• Missiles: Celstra Grey base, Ulthuan Grey layers, Wazdakka Red tips and/or Seraphim Sepia wash
• 'Eye of Horus': Mephiston Red base, Evil Sunz Scarlet layer, Carroburg Crimson wash, Troll Slayer Orange layer, Yriel Yellow layer, Carroburg Crimson wash (again).

I like the fluff behind the Thousand Sons Helbrutes too: lacking the raw materials of wounded astartes to stuff into the hellish sarcophagus, they instead have to trick other chaos marines into imprisoning themselves, by promising them arcane secrets before slamming the lid closed.

Nice to be finally packing something more than a boltgun into battle!