I never really stuck with a side as a little kid, barely understanding the rules and mostly making them up as I went along, hopping from one bunch of unpainted plastic to another playing on a bedroom floor. I enjoyed reading the background and poring over the artwork even more than rolling dice. Eventually I got a grab bag of Eldar 2nd hand to try out Epic 40,000, but again, that was moth balled.
Eventually it was Warmaster which caught on in my local club when I floated it, in terms of an obsolete, unsupported Games Workshop game, and that is where my painting and modelling energies went for a few years.
A few years ago I bought a mix of Space Marines, Grey Knights and Eldar but never got a head of steam to really paint them up properly. A couple of people in the new clubs I've visited have suggested an interest in Epic and it would be great to get people to dig out their own old abandoned projects and revive them.
So, I've dug up the models and I can see the really obvious mistakes I made painting them first time around, and how I've improved painting in the years between. In addition, a couple of Games Workshop colours I used no longer exist so I've had to figure out a new paint scheme. I've tried repainting some of the old tanks, using these Whirlwinds as a test formation and I think they're coming along really nicely.
Instead of slathering wash / shade all over the models like I did in the past, I'm pin-washing; carefully applying shade into recesses. Also, I'm mixing orange and bright brown into a rusty looking glaze to suggest wear and tear and accumulated grime.
This is my first test stand for infantry, starting with Skyclaws, who are in essence, assault marines for Space Wolves. I'm going for quite bright colours, more red and yellow than I would perhaps do on 28mm models because I really want things to stand out and be readable from a distance. I figure their Great Company shoulder markings might as well be Ragnar Blackmane, simply so that I get an excuse to do a flash of yellow on what might end up being very grey looking models, overall.
I'm really happy with these, so far. They're going more slowly than I would like but it's more progress in a fortnight I've made at all over the past few months or so.
