Mustering for Vigilus: James' Adeptus Custodes, End of Month 1

Hi guys,

February is here and that means one thing - It's time for pledge updates! 

This month my goal was to paint a squad of 3 Custodian Guard and top it off with the mighty Trajann Valoris, Captain General of Legio Custodes. As you can see from the above picture I managed to complete my first pledge and I'm very happy with the final result. 

I've always loved the classic gold and red paint scheme for the Custodes, the colours were one of the things that really drew me to the faction in the first place (as well as fantastic background and having a stunning miniature range). However initially I wanted to try and add some small adjustments to make the scheme more my own. My initial idea for this was to paint the greaves black just to break up the large amounts of gold on the model, however after 2 test models I found that it just didn't look quite right. Having already used up a few days and not made substantial progress I decided to abandon the idea in favour of the standard scheme with minor alterations to the gems and other accent colours. 

I started out with the 3 Custodian Guard, the 'basic' Custodes unit. These guys have a lovely kit with a stunning amount of detail, something I really didn't appreciate until I've actually begun painting them. There were a few things I wanted to practice with this army, the primary ones being my edge highlighting and power weapon effects. I'm happy with how the edge highlighting has gone on the models but I think I'll look to re do the power weapons at some point once I've gotten more confidence with my painting. 

Trajann was an utter joy to paint. Games Workshop did a phenomenal job on his sculpt and as a result he just oozes character. I'm really happy with the red cloak in particular. It's a colour I've always struggled to get looking just right but I think the final result looks pretty darn good on Trajann. I must be honest though, he's not entirely finished, with his armours gems still not being painted in yet.

The major issue I had with my army was the bases and I spent almost the entire month trying to work out how to do them. I wanted to set the army in Mortwald as I liked the idea of the classic Imperial iconography and building style covered in natural greens in a complete contrast to the ferrocrete jungle they traditionally are. That ultimately led to me using the Sector Imperialis bases and customising them with a few small bits of the Imperialis Ruins kit and some texture paints. 

I'm happy with the start I've made to the army so far, but as we're in February that means I need another pledge. 

I'm not going to be doing anything crazy this month as I want to focus on getting my Necromunda gang painted as our campaign is about to start, so with that in mind I'll be looking to paint another Custodian Guard squad. They may not be the flashiest, at least by Custodes standard, but it's a good addition to the army that'll give me a solid base to build on. With the recently released Custodes Beta rules from Forgeworld I've had my unit choices doubled and have gotten so many more toys to play with (the Venetari and Telemon have really grabbed my attention) so I'll definitely be looking to add some to my army soon. 

Well that's all from me for Month 1, it's been a great start and I can't wait to get stuck in to more models. With a trip off to Warhammer World this weekend I imagine I'll be coming home with quite a few new additions to the army. I'm looking forward to getting these guys painted and onto the tabletop.

Until next time,

James