…and here we are with Part 2 of the kits we have enjoyed painting the most. This really spiraled out of control in the Goonhammer-writers chat; people really eager and happy to talk about what they enjoy, who would have guessed? So we’re back with more of the kits that our writers have enjoyed painting the most over the years.
McWhat
Despite not playing a GW game in years, I’m here to advocate for what is possibly the most 40k of models: the Space Marine Dreadnought.
They’re absolutely fun to paint, with opportunities that can appeal to those who like painting large vehicles and those who prefer painting just a lil infantry guy. Like to airbrush? Dreadnoughts love it. Enjoy weathering or battle damage effects? These guys are ancient and always in the thick of things- go nuts. Dreadnoughts love to sport a cool banner, scrolls, purity seals, etc. You’ve got soot and scorching effects, multiple spots for OSL, lenses and gems, and of course freehand opportunities abound here.
Dreadnoughts are also just fun to think about. Their lore is peak 40k- equal parts ridiculous and disturbing. They’re the most respected warriors from armies of fascist super soldiers who fight for centuries in a losing war against a universe filled with unimaginable horror. Their ‘reward’ after succumbing to mortal injuries is to be placed in a big stompy robot definitely not inspired by Robocop, where they sleep for centuries until awoken to fight in only the most dire circumstances.
Okay, I guess that doesn’t sound fun to think about, but also may I add: big stompy robot what has cool weapon arms and spews fire?
Here I’ve provided as evidence the one dreadnought (of nine painted- they’re fun!) that I kept when I sold off my armies.
All dreadnoughts rule, of course. But this particular dreadnought is Bray’arth Ashmantle, a long OOP Salamanders Venerable Dreadnought from the Forgeworld days. Just look at that thing and its gothic insanity. That model was wild and I had to have it.
Finally, pardon the digression, I finished that model at about 3:00 a.m. on Monday April 16, 2012. I can remember that date because at 7:41 a.m. my son was born, joined at 7:42 a.m. by his twin sister. It was a scheduled C-section, and my anticipation meant I couldn’t sleep. Instead, I stayed up and finished my fancy lil robot before life changed. In too many ways to get into here, that model represents the beginning of a new phase in my life, not just as a hobbyist but as a person. And that’s fun to think about too.
But also, big-ass stompy robot what goes pew pew and punches tanks and stuff.
VH Eric
The Adeptus Titanicus Warhound Titan kit is what I describe as my “hobby happy place”. I love them. I don’t magnetize them, and my explanation for that is “If I want another load out, I get to paint more Warhounds.
The joy for me begins at assembly. With the number of poses you can pull off, and with the very forward head position, there’s a lot of different feelings you can get from the same kit. A slightly turned to the side, cocked head has this just wonderful aura of malice for a fairly subtle bit of positioning. Running, stalking, standing firm as members of a Regia maniple – all are pretty viable poses for the Warhound. It’s easy at this scale to make them feel like the predators they are supposed to be.
Then you get to paint them.
Adeptus Titanicus generally is a lot of fun from a hobby perspective, because being both a skirmish game and featuring god machines, you get to go absolutely ham on a small number of figures. For me, Warhounds let me enjoy things like armor trim, large carapace sections for transfer work, and basing vignettes, without overdosing on them so they get tedious. They take all the same techniques as the larger titans, and benefit from as much attention as you want to give them, but they come in just this perfect hobby portion.
NotThatHenryC
There’s quite a lot of epic-scale stuff here already and to be honest I’d have gone for the Warlord Titan too, if Bair hadn’t already. But I find the models for Legions Imperialis really fun to paint, so I’m happy to go with these as my pick.
LI models are a different challenge to titans, despite being the same scale. You’re painting up companies worth of infantry and tanks, rather than half a dozen god engines, so speed becomes more of a factor. You’re usually not going to be doing too much posing or converting and there’s a lot less space for freehand patterns and the like. Fortunately these models take contrast especially well thanks to being covered in tiny detail, meaning you can basecoat them very fast.
I’ve done a lot of kits and some are nicer to work with than others. The Legion support set’s Leviathans and Deredeos are maybe a bit too fiddly to be called “fun”, for example. My favourite of the lot is the Legion Fast Attack box. The detail on these models, with their tiny crew, weapons, engines and so on, is amazing. I painted mine as White Scars for my siege defenders army, mostly just with apothecary white, a white drybrush and some blood angels red patterns. I’m looking forward to doing a couple more sprues of these, plus the outriders from my first set… when I find the time.
Loxi
Mine goes to a recent kit, but was something I’d had my eyes set on since it released – even before I played Flesh Eater Courts as an army: Ushoran, the Mortarch of Delusion. This model is just, pun intended, insane. The sculpting team went too hard on this kit, and it rightfully won AOS model of the year when it came out. What made Big Ush take my spot for favorite kit, though?
Let’s start with the bad, because it’s pretty a short list. The assembly of the kit was just fine, it mostly worked ok, it had a few big seams (which I regrettably missed in my process) and a few parts that needed a bit of shaving down to fit perfectly. The biggest caveat is that this kit does not take super well to sub assembly, especially if you plan to keep him on his original basing area (which is quite a tricky thing to try and modify, I’d wager). This honestly isn’t a huge deal, but his hunched-over pose means there will be a chunk of the torso and underbelly that are a bit hard to reach with a brush later on. Because of this, I’d highly suggest working from a dark initial coat/primer or a zenithal, which is what I did here. I never found anything impossible to get to, so this really wasn’t that big of a problem.
Onto the good; literally everything else. First and foremost, this kit has the #1 thing that I think is essential in big, complicated models when it comes to painting: material variety. Ush has literally every type of material you commonly see in fantasy ranges. Between flesh, bone, cloth, leather, stone, clean metals, rough metals, hair, fur, and opportunities for gore and various self expression across the entire model, you will never get bored moving from section to section. It makes the large task of painting such a big model feel much more involved and manageable, and I don’t think at any point I was at the point where I just wanted to “get it over with” which I’ve definitely felt on other, larger projects.
Second, Ush takes really well to a variety of unique and fun color palettes that let you both blend him in with your regular army scheme, but also use him as a way to try out some other colors that you don’t have on other things. The Burgundy cloak isn’t a color I use really anywhere else in the roster, but it was a great chance to really sell the regal status of the Mortarch.
Lastly, as I mentioned above, there are plenty of ways you can just do your own thing with him. There are a lot of options for small personal touches and it’s always a blast to have your own unique take on the model. From the gore soaked “kiss the ring” finger, to the spectral faces in the cloak, to the gory hooks, you’re pretty hard pressed to find Ushoran paintjobs that look exactly the same. I even opted to go for some real bone on his scepter, just because it looks cool. Overall, this model takes the cake for my favorite and I’d highly suggest giving it a go if you ever have the opportunity.
Crabstuffed Mushrooms (Joey K)
I’m surprised no one mentioned this already, but my favorite GW kits by far are their terrain! Terrain doesn’t require as much focus as a large unit or army. It’s meant to be in the background so you can get away with drybrushing many of the details. My recent favorites are from Kill Team. Some of these got an oil wash, but the majority received a generous drybrush after basecoats and sponge weathering (with a little detail work to distract the viewer):
Cronch
Honestly, this took me a while to think about. There are some great suggestions already (shout out to Space Marine Intercessors) but a problem I have is that I generally don’t really enjoy building all that much. Painting, great, can do it for hours on end, but building tends to leave me whelmed at best.
Enter the Gloomspite Gitz Sunsteala Wheelas. This is the first time in a long while where I’ve actually thought to myself whilst building, “this is a great kit, I’m enjoying this”. Sure, some sub-assemblies are required, but the chariots themselves slot together really beautifully, and each grot is characterful and complete.
They’re a joy to paint too, with a great variety of textures and surfaces. I don’t think I’ve ever painted wicker before, and that in particular was a great time. the wolves are drybrush and wash heaven, the grots reward careful painting and time investment on the characterful faces, and the Glareface Frazzlegit icons are great focal points for some glazing and sharp highlights. The whole Gitmob range is fun, but these are the standouts!
“Contemptor” Kevin Stillman
I had to think for a moment as to what my favorite GW model to *paint* is. In such a range, there are models that are absolutely gorgeous to behold, models that are dreams to assemble, and models that are just cool. And not for nothing, I came very close to selecting the Land Raider Proteus because I find the model to be an easy-to-assemble, flexible, and awesome looking it. But it is not the GW model that I find most fun to paint.
No, my favorite GW model to paint is Settra the Imperishable, a February 2003 Warhammer Fantasy Battles 6th Edition pewter model. I’ve only built and painted Settra himself. I have an assembled and primed Chariot (using horses from the Wargames Atlantic range), but I’m less interested in that than I am in Settra himself.
For a 20+ year old metal miniature, this model holds up surprisingly well. It’s filled with detail, but those details don’t feel as forced as modern GW kits with the ludicrous amount of gubbins. He has a variety of textures to paint – from his bones, to his mummified flesh, to his ornaments and his cloaks. The miniature is also in a wide-open pose, so sub-assemblies are not required in order to paint every detail on the miniature.
Additionally, the model can be assembled going into his Chariot, or on a base all by himself, or upon other models in other ranges.
DYLON
This may come as not surprise, but after some thought, my favorite minis to paint are the plethora of Necromunda weirdos that have been released.
The variety or sculpts, textures and character and how well they play with Contrast paint, makes them a great palette cleanser and a joy to work on. Am I going to use half of them in games? Probably not, but that’s not the point. It’s just fun to quickly get a menagerie of flunkies painted up.
Get Out Your Brushes!
Just do it! Grab those models, get those paints out, get a brush in your hand and just go. And have fun! Tell us what your favourite models to paint have been, that’s what comment sections are for (when they’re not being used for complaints).
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