Aba - done!

I appear to be cruising through this year's Hobbypocalypse challenge in a fit of absent-mindedness.

Let's hear it for points-expensive character models!

I've had Abaddon for almost a year now, and like any model with a reputation, I've been too intimidated to attempt him. 

Luckily, I had the spur of the Hobbypocalypse, and the only way I was going to make my may deadline was by painting this single model - so I had to put on my big boy terminator pants and get to it!

As it turns out, he wasn't nearly so bad as I feared. Like his opposite number, Gulliman, from a few months ago, he's basically just a larger space marine, and all the usual rules apply:

• Paint the gold bits gold.
• Paint the black bits black.
• Make sure the dead marine underfoot has blue armour.

The model itself is superb, thought I did have a couple of gripes with it:

• The had is not a distinct piece (the face attaches to the back of the head), so you can't really leave that off to paint it separately (unlike Gulliman)
• The cloak, however, pretty much has to be painted as a subassembly (or else you can forget about any detail on the back of the armour), but it's a real pain to attach afterwards - my advice is to be patient, be persistent, and have the filler handy.

With Abaddon progressing so well, I pushed myself and tried to simulate that red glow inside his terminator armour. It was basically starting with a Mephiston Red base, and then layering up as normal - except that the light was coming from below, rather than above. Where I thought I'd gone too light, I added a light glaze of thinned-Carroburg Crimson.

I'm not sure I achieved much more than giving him a more ruddy complexion than his fellow heretics, but it was nice to try.

So embarrassing when you wear the same outfit.