Custodes WIP Part 1

(or Who had the bright idea to start a new army?)

Custodian Guard about 90% complete

Okay, this should be no surprise to you - I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.  My two Space Marine armies are in disarray, my Imperial Knights are only halfway painted, and even some of my Rogue Trader era models still need a lot of work.  So why would someone in my position even start a new army?

Copper Basecoat

Base color with Red/Dark washes

Quick rundown of the basic scheme:
Base color - Copper craft paint with Red Tone and Dark Tone washes
Detail colors - AP Greedy Gold and/or AP Gunmetal
Gem Colors - AP Hydra Turquoise
Plume Colors - AP Pure Red with Strong Tone
Gloves/Tabard - AP Leather Brown
Eye Lenses - AP Electric Blue
Power Weapon - mix of Hydra Turquoise, Electric Blue and White




Obviously the first thing I noticed as I was painting the gold and gunmetal details on the model is  - "Holy crap that is a lot of detail for a plastic model!"  I guess this is a good thing - unless you are in the midst of painting details by hand.  What I do enjoy about the high level of detail is that it gives me options for how to draw attention away from the dark red basecoat.  Of course the way that details look in the concept art inside the Adeptus Custodes codex are a bit different than how they turn out on the models - requiring a bit of compromise when planning out your paint scheme.

Partial detail in progress

The model's base was another point of frustration for me.  The Tectonic Craft Studios base inserts that I picked up were best used as replacement bases - since I couldn't find any of the temple floor base toppers for 40mm in their on-hand stock at Adepticon.  I knew what I wanted the base to look like, but finding the right combination of colors and patterns that didn't detract from the Custodes proved to be a bit daunting.  I eventually chose to mix AP Pure Red and AP Daemonic Yellow to make a orange border tile color - and then drybrushed over the whole base with Electric Blue followed by AP Soft Tone.  In the end, I was happy with the overall product and the amount of time required to get there from unpainted MDF base insert.  (we'll see if I change my mind with the Dreadnought base version of this!)

90% completion

At this point I need to color the shoulders with the washes and pick out the detail, along with adding the unit color to the left shoulder.  But I'll get to that LATER this week - I'm just happy to have a model that is approaching completion in a scheme that doesn't look TOO amateurish!

Let me know what you think of the custom Adeptus Custodes paint scheme!  I'll have to see how it plays out on larger models like the Contemptor and the Jetbike - so there may be tweaks to the design in the future!