Some WIP on my Space Marines

I've been hard at work lately on the painting front, between getting my Iron Warriors up from 1500 points to 2000 points for some upcoming events, painting terrain for Aetherstorm Games down the corner from me, and painting my as of yet unnamed Space Marine Army.

I have recently found the Space Marines to be a much needed distraction from the terrain project and the Iron Warriors.  Especially the Iron Warriors, don't get me wrong, I love them.  Fun to play, fun to paint, and while I certainly don't think it's my best painted project ever, I'm not unhappy with how they have turned out.  I just went a little to hard on them trying to get them ready for Mechanicon, and am suffering from a little burn out.  I do have to get back to them though, as I have the Colonial coming up in January, and the St. Valentine's day Massacre in Feb.  Both at 2k points.

I do have my next Land Raider for them assembled, and hit with their metallic base coat.  So that's a nice start.

Next up I have some quick pictures of my new Space Marines, some of you may remember the test models I threw up here a little while ago, some progress has been made since.

"And then there were 3" with the completion of the Sergeant, I now have a whole three marines completed!
With the list I have in mind that means I only have like sixty or so more marines to paint...

I have been using a wide variety of bits putting these marines together, using pieces from Dark Angel, Blood Angel, Black Templar, and normal Marine sprues.  The only pieces I have been staying away from are Space Wolf, as they just don't fit in with the Knightly theme I am going for. (though I usually find a way to sneak in a Wolf Pelt)

Above you can see some WIP, these guys are very time consuming.  I have been using Wolf Grey as a base coat, which seems to be working fairly well, allowing for a rich red color while allowing me to work up the white without too much hassle.  I have changed my recipe for painting the white, and while I don't think I have it down quite yet, I am much happier with the more recent results.

After receiving some comments on the red and black hazard stripes on one of the other marines, someone suggested I try a checkered pattern on some Chainswords.  Above you can see my first attempt at that.

I am still very early in this project, and am nowhere near deciding on a list, but I do think it is going to be very infantry heavy led by a Biker Captain, with a Biker unit (or two) as troop choices.

I also know I am going to be doing several Tactical squads, all with Flamer and Missile Launcher.  Other than that? I am just not sure.

Finishing up the Iron Warriors over the next couple months, I am adding the following; a 2nd Land Raider, a unit of 5 Terminators, and a Helbrute with Plasma Cannon.
While I certainly don't think they are the most powerful choices I could make, I think it will stick with my Heavy Armor theme.
That gives me 2 Land Raiders, a Rhino, Defiler, Vindicator, Helbrute, and Forge Fiend all squeezed into 2k points.  Not to mention the ten terminators.  Should be a blast!

I'll post more details on that when I have that list finalized.