My new army: D-99 Elysian Drop Troops

I recently got a pretty good deal on about 25 Forge World Elysian infantry models and 4 Tauros so I've decided to go all in with an elysian army. I played IG through most of 5th edition 40k and dabbled here and there in 6th edition, but mostly moved on to Grey Knights and Space Marines for 6th and 7th edition. I've had the itch to get back to IG/Astra Militarum for a while but I don't love horde style armies so I've had a little trouble picking how I'd want to play them.

With my recent Elysian windfall, I've got a great start to an elite fast IG force that plays in a way that will be exciting for me. I've got 2 Valkyries from my existing IG force that are painted to a pretty nice standard, and I think I'll pick up another 2. In addition I've recently placed and order for a Forge World Vulture armed with Punisher cannons and I'm in the process of converting 3 sentinels to look a little more Elysian in design. Overall I'll probably spend a fair bit of cash on the army but I'm excited to try out the D-99 rules and get an Inquisitorial IG force on the board.

Here's the spread I picked up on the cheap(ish)...

I did quite a bit of blog and forum scouring to find paint schemes I like that also match my Valkyries and here are my 3 test paints I came up with...

The model on the far right is just too dark for me, there's not enough contrast between the armor and the fatigues and it's not an interesting enough scheme to work. The model in the middle is the color I wanted to work (Vallejo Sand yellow or something like that), but it just looked way too yellow once I saw a model fully painted. The model on the left is my final decision, it's just enough contrast to look interesting to me but not to heavy handed with the yellow color. Now just the small matter of painting about 40 of these guys. I'll need to purchase about 25 more to have all the special weapons I need. I'm just gonna crank through this project at a fevered pace and try to get them done and really make an effort to not overdo the details on these models. I want to get an army done so I'll be airbrushing base colors and using washes for depth. Let's hope it comes together the way I have it organized in my head...who am I kidding it never does.