It’s almost time for the Mechanicum to rise up in earnest as the new plastic Battle Group goes up for pre-order this Saturday, followed soon after by the epic The Martian Civil War narrative expansion. The impending arrival of these plastic automata has us excitedly whispering canticles and oiling joints here at the heart of Warhammer, and staff from across the Warhammer: The Horus Heresy team have been painting their own augmented auxiliaries.
Ben: I chose to paint my Castellax and Thallax automata in a very simple metallic black scheme, indicating they would be fighting on the side of Horus and I added extra detail and contrast-colour interest through the use of rust and weathering washes. I've not yet decided exactly which masters these individual automata will serve, so I kept things suitably ambiguous to allow plenty of opportunity to apply additional decals
Dan: For the Techmarine I kitbashed together the resin Traitor Champion Consul and the plastic Techpriest Enginseer, and I feel like this gave a pretty unique result. As for the metallic blue I stuck with my usual 50/50 mix of Aethermatic Blue and Akhelian Green with Contrast Medium over a metallic base.
Les: I decided to paint my Mechanicum in the classic black and brass of the Dark Mechanicum. I see them all marching to war alongside my late-Heresy Sons of Horus force, so with that in mind I based them in the same way and used the same cold black I use on my Justaerin to tie them together.
James: Since the majority of my Iron Hands force is set up for close-range action, I wanted to equip my Castellax with longer-ranged Darkfire Cannons. I've painted them in a similar colour scheme to the rest of the Legion, using dark metals and black, but used red lenses rather than the blue my legionaries use to hint at their Mechanicum provenance.
My Thallax are inspired by a piece of artwork from Book Six of the original Horus Heresy series, Retribution. I really enjoy the story of Anacharis Scoria, so I painted the armour plating in the brass colours of his personal Taghmata, using Balthasar Gold to achieve the rich tones needed to contrast with a mixture of lighter and darker base metals on the mechanical parts beneath.
Quinn: I decided to add some of the new Mechanicum models to my existing Solar Auxilia army, unlocked by taking a Legate Marshal with the Iron Cohort Doctrine. To tie them into the rest of the force, the Thallax and Castellax share the same dark turquoise and grey plates as the Solar Auxilia, but I replaced the auxiliaries' pastel yellow spot colour with a desaturated orange – achieved by glazing Jokaero Orange with Seraphim Sepia.
Jesse: These Thallax support my Iron Warriors, for when militia bodies are in short supply. I have based them upon the art in The Horus Heresy Book 2: Massacre, giving them a heavy dusting of Tyrant Skull to fit in with the rest of my forces. The Praevian uses parts from the MkIII and MkIV Techmarines, and I decided to limit their hazard stripes – figuring the IVth Legion would view the Thallax as disposable assets, and not worthy of individualisation – but with their feelings aside, I really enjoyed painting them!
Rich: My Mechanicum allies are from the Forge World of Ulan Huda, who have a (dark) history of working with the VIII Legion during the Thramas Crusade. They have reverted to their generic production colouring with the addition of one shoulder coloured and marked in the way of the sons of Nostromo.
The scheme for the Night Lords elements is a metallic underpainting of Iron Hands, with panel lining in Nuln Oil and edge highlights in Stormhost Silver, then a couple of coats of Calth Blue/Eidolon Purple Clear (80/20) through an airbrush. With the advent of these kits in plastic, I could leave the pads off and paint them separately.
Andy: My Ultramarines are drawn from the 12th Chapter of the XIIIth Legion, the so-called 'Desert Lions', an idea that came from a very old piece of Warhammer 40,000 art from the late '80s. That piece of art depicted what we would today call a Praevian posing with a maniple of various types of automata behind him, so this photo is very much a homage to it.
In terms of technique, I started out with a Chaos Black undercoat. followed by a Leadbelcher spray basecoat, then a wash of Nuln Oil and a drybrush of Necron Compound. The blue on the Praevian and the shoulders of the Castellax is Asurmen Blue Contrast applied with an airbrush. The oil effect on the automata is several applications of Seraphim Sepia, giving a suitably mechanical look to the Castellax.
Harley: For my Iron Hands, I like to keep subtle colour in the armour, so I glaze Plaguebearer Flesh towards the tops of panels, which are basecoated with Leadbelcher, before applying multiple thin washes with Ratling Grime to give the Iron Hands' black steel colour at the time of the Horus Heresy.
Then in the recesses, I wash Rhinox Hide then Bloodreaver Flesh, going heavier with the second step around
the feet. This creates a finish that reads as oily black, but on closer inspection should provide a subtle colour contrast.
Mark: My Castellax are formed from the Shattered Legions led by an Iron Hands Praevian, and so have been heavily weathered to give the feel that they have been pulled from the rubble of Isstvan V and hastily put back into service. Likewise, my Sons of Horus Thallax are also controlled by a Praevian, but are much cleaner, and the orangy-red glow emanating from their heads and jetpacks is a big point of contrast against the Sons of Horus green.
Rob: I wanted my automata to be from the Dark Mechanicum, so I painted them predominantly black. Despite falling on the darker side of the schism, they are still proud of their heritage as scions of Mars, which led me to use plenty of red as a secondary colour.
My Mechnicum will be used alongside my Solar Auxilia, so I painted them in a very utilitarian paint scheme suitable for military equipment. Regarding what I armed them with, I see them as a very close-ranged support unit that will lend the power of their meltas to the regular Solar Auxilia, perhaps fighting alongside the elite Veletaris cohorts.
Believe it or not, that’s only half of what the Warhammer: The Horus Heresy studio put together, so come back tomorrow to see the rest – plus a few extras from our own Warhammer Community staff.