Strike Squads are GO! (...ish)

In preparation for upcoming events I'm trying to get the majority of my infantry squared away. Among those tasks one of the largest was the force weapon treatments for the Strike Squads. I have 15 of these guys in my 2000 point list, and 20 in some of my smaller point value lists so I really just want to get them done so I have a pool of finished marines to draw on for whatever point level I decide to play.

I had originally intended on doing a yellow to red color scheme for the force weapons but I was a little worried about not being 100% pleased with the results so I went the safe route and tried to rip off the GW colors.

I started with a trick I learned in a painting masterclass taught by miniature painter Mathieu Fontaine. I took a small sheet of kitchen plastic wrap and pushed the blade of the sword through and wrapped the mini in the remainder and secured it with masking tape. This is by far the easiest way to keep any part of the model from getting hit by overspray from the airbrush. It also means you can wrap the model up without fear of damaging any already complete paint work with tape or blue tack.


I painted the blades white with the airbrush, then taped off one edge of the blade as well as it's inverse on the opposite facing of the blade. Then I airbrushed GW Enchanted Blue from the hilt of the sword up 2/3 of the length of the blade. After that I airbrushed black from the hilt up to about 1/3 of the length of the blade. After that it's the same process except you mask the unpainted edges of the blade and paint from the tip of the sword down towards the hilt. As a side note I have issues with the Tamiya masking tape taking off some of my airbrush paint so I tend to do lots of redundant clear coats, almost always with Testors Dullcote, so I don't risk pulling my paint job up once I try to remove the masking tape.



Here's how the look before they were unwrapped. I was a little bit nervous that I'd have missed a spot during the masking process and they'd have some bitchin' blue graffiti on their armor, but they were fully protected during the whole process.

Here are the final results...



I'm pretty pleased with how they came out, I do think I went a little too heavy with the black but I may bring back some of the blue with a brush as I finish them up.

The whole process is a little time consuming but I think the finished product is worth it, especially if you only have a handfull of power weapons in your army and you really want them to stand out. For me, I liked the way GW's team painted the force weapons from the beginning so it was a pretty easy choice for me. Now I'm looking forward to getting into some the details on these guys and really getting them table top ready.