Kill Team - Sanctifiers

At last, we come to the primary reason that I picked up the Blood and Zeal box, for the band of religious crazies. After I converted some Age of Sigmar Flagellants to Frateris Militia I had the idea of putting together a small Adeptus Ministorum crusade. And what better way to expand on this than with the aforementioned religious crazies.

The kit would also give me a chance to test something that I had only recently become aware of but nonetheless was keen to try: Sonic Sledgehammer’s Marine Juice. For those not aware it is a wash that is thin enough not to cause pooling on Space Marine armour yet packs enough punch to visibly shade the recesses whilst also, yes also, providing some warm tones to the model. Sounds almost too good to be true right? As I said I was keen to give it go, so I bought a bottle each of the new formulation of Army Painter Dark Tone (18ml), the new formulation of Citadel Reikland Fleshshade (18ml) and Lahmian Medium (24ml); which I then dumped into a 60ml dropper bottle.

But I was getting ahead of myself. Before I could give this Marine Juice a whirl, I first needed to build the team! With that in mind I set about putting them together. The first lot of models in the set don’t have any loadout options, aside from a few head options. And even then, it’s only the Confessor and Death Cult Assassin that have the option for head swaps. For the Confessor I chose the tall mitre-esque looking hat and for the Death Cult Assassin I chose the hooded head with tubes running into the mouth. I figure the tubes deliver a cocktail of combat stims. The Cherub, Miraculist and Salvationist were assembled as per the instructions.

The back half of the kit, the Missionaries and Preachers, is where the fun begins. Or rather, it’s where you can make some choices. Missionaries can be equipped with a flamer, meltagun or plasma gun for their main weapon and then a relic or brazier as a secondary piece of equipment. Obviously, I gave one of the Missionaries a flamer and a brazier, because the more fire to purge heretics the better. I then gave the other the plasma gun and holy relic, which unfortunately, is not a valid loadout. But I don’t care, I assemble my teams for fluff and vibes. And the chances of them facing off against another human opponent is pretty much nil. For the Preachers, I assembled them all as specialists, taking the Conflagrator, Drill Abbot, Persecutor and Reliquant. I did however have a bit of fun with the heads; for the Drill Abbot I used a Sisters of Battle head from the old Combat Patrol. I also used a head from the Cawdor Gang for one of the Missionaries, the leather mask giving him some measure of protection from the heavier weapons they wield.

With the assembly done I set to priming, the Confessor, Cherub and Death Cult Assassin I primed with Colour Forge Matt Black, and the rest of the team were primed with Colour Forge Standard Grey. For the ones I primed grey, I also picked out any exposed skin with Two Thin Coats Dwarven Skin and then gave them a zenithal highlight with Liquitex Titanium White acrylic ink. The skin was then given a wash of Reikland Fleshshade.

Confessor

I started the Confessor by base coating his robes with Archive-X Reefer White, it’s a slightly off white that I have used as a base coat for both my X-Wing and Y-Wing. Unlike something Ulthuan Grey, which is my usual go-to for an off-white, Reefer White leans ever so slightly into the warmer tones. Whereas Ulthuan Grey has a lot of cold blue tones to it. Fortunately, as this guy is about ninety percent robes, I could quickly lay down a base coat using the airbrush.

From there I picked out the skin of the face and hands with Two Thin Coats Dwarven Skin and to add a bit of variety to all the white I painted the two stoles (the two long things draping from the shoulders) with Two Thin Coats Amethyst Rayne. Whilst a nice deep purple it turned out a bit blotchy over the white basecoat. Instead, I used some Two Thin Coats Sorcerer’s Cloak, the next step up in the purple triad, in the centre of each stole. I painted the cover of the book he is holding with Two Thin Coats Royal Cloak and the handle on his maces with Two Thin Coats Sword Hilt Burgundy. Next, I painted the pages of said book with Army Painter Skeleton Bone and his shoes with Two Thin Coats Cuirass Leather. For the metallic details, I painted his shoulder armour and any trim with Scale75 Dwarven Gold, any bionics or pipes I painted with Scale75 Thrash Metal.

Next, I gave the oversized fur mantle a coat of Garaghak’s Sewer. In the areas that I can over sprayed Reefer White it looks good but over the grey primer it lost a lot of its vibrancy. To spice things up a bit I gave the fair a drybrush of Army Painter Urban Buff, which honestly didn’t improve things much. Thankfully Gore Grunta Fur came to the rescue and the result looked much better.

With the various basecoats done, the next step was some washes. To start with I gave the mace handle and any silver details I coat of Army Painter Dark Tone. Next, I used this, so called, Marine Juice over the robes and skin.  Admittedly, my application of the wash wasn’t the best so there was some pooling around the base of the robes but overall, I am really pleased with how it looks. To make things stand out a little more however I did a few layers and highlights on the robes with Reefer White. The gold details meanwhile, I washed with Reikland Fleshshade to give them a rosy gold appearance.

Cherub

Next up was the horrifying winged baby. With a cattle prod. I started by base coating the skin with Amy Painter Nomad Flesh, using the airbrush to speed the process up. I then gave the wings a couple coats of Archive-X Reefer White. For the tabard I decided to use it as a test for Pro Acryl Ivory. I’ve not used Pro Acryl before, so I was keen to see how it performed. And I have to say, I rather like it.  With the basecoats done the Cherub then got a head-to-toe coat of Marine Juice. I got a much better application than I did on the Confessor and the wash nicely shaded the model without tinting the model too much.

For the weapon, I started with a basecoat of Scale75 Thrash Metal. I picked out the prongs with Scale75 Dwarven Gold and the handle with Scale75 Old Copper. I then gave it a wash of Army Painter Dark Tone to give it a dark and grimy appearance.

To finish things off I painted the lens of the bionic eye with Archive-X Caboose Red and the eye with Pro Acryl Ivory, carefully picking out the pupil with Army Painter Matt Black.

Miraculist

Like the Confessor I started the Miraculist by using the airbrush to give them a coat of Archive-X Reefer White. As the Miraculist is a living conduit of divine power I wanted to give the impression that channelling such power has taken a toll on the poor soul’s body. As such I then painted their skin with a few thin coats of Scale75 Pale Skin. The various strips of parchment I picked out with Army Painter Skeleton Bone and the halo I painted with Scale75 Dwarven Gold. Lastly for the basecoats I picked out any leather straps with Two Thin Coats Cuirass Leather. Much like the Cherub, I then gave the Miraculist a coat of Marine Juice. I wanted a bit more contrast on the shift and skin, so I then used Reefer White and Pale Skin respectively to layer and highlight both.

For the final details, I used Cygor Brown to paint thin wavy lines on the parchment to imitate words and scripture. I also picked out the nails in the hands with Scale75 Thrash Metal and the eyes with Pro Acryl Ivory. For the divine light pouring out of her, I added a small amount of Pylar Glacier contrast paint around her eyes. And lastly, I added some Blood for the Blood God technical paint around the nails and dripping down onto the parchment.

Death Cult Assassin

In contrast to the light and white colours of the first three the assassin is, unsurprisingly, dominated by darker colours. To start with, he was given an all-over base coat of Army Painter Raven Black, and like the others I used an airbrush to speed the process up. With that done I painted his face with Two Thin Coats Dwarven Skin and gave him a zenithal highlight with white ink much like I had done with the others. Lastly, I gave the skin a wash of Reikland Fleshshade.

From there I gave the bodysuit a coat of Black Templar contrast paint and any leather details, like straps and the boots a coat of Garaghak’s Sewer. The idea being to stick to those darker colours, as befitting an assassin. I did however, paint the hood with Flesh Tearer’s Red and the sword handles with Vallejo Scarlet Red.

For the metallic details, I painted the sword blades with Army Painter Speedpaint Broadsword Silver, this is a darker colour than my usual silver Scale75 Thrash Metal so it felt appropriate. I did however use Thrash Metal to pick out the tubes on the face and any buckles on the leather straps. The sword pommel and guard I painted with Scale75 Dwarven Gold, assassin or not he needs to look the part. To bring out some of the texture, the swords were then washed with a coat of Army Painter Dark Tone.

Salvationist

Next up was the Salvationist, a medic of sorts. I started by painting the robes with Flesh Tearer’s Red, to make them stand out a little from the other members of the team. The shroud on their head and shoulders meanwhile, I painted with Black Templar. The face mask and small chest with Pro Acryl Ivory and any parchment I painted with Army Painter Skeleton Bone. The small chest on their back was small enough to paint with a coat of Wyldwood. The larger box of vials however I painted with Two Thin Coats Scorched Earth. Likewise, the smaller leather straps I painted with Two Thin Coats Dry Rust Brown whilst the more substantial straps I painted with Gore Grunta Fur.  

As a fairly important member of the team, it was therefore important that the Salvationist was covered in as much gold as possible. To this end I painted the icon on the staff, his armoured cuirass and the trim on the chest he’s carrying with Scale75 Dwarven Gold. The rest of the staff and any pipes I painted with Scale75 Thrash Metal.

A fair few of models in this team have various vials or flasks about their persons, and the Salvationist dispensing elixirs and potions, certainly has more than most.It took me a little while to work how I wanted to paint them. I had an idea to paint them blue or yellow so that they were vials of holy water or oil, but thus far my colour scheme had been fairly Blanche-esque. I wouldn’t explicitly call it Blanchitsu but it certainly leaned that way with the emphasis on blacks, reds and ivory colours. With that in mind I picked out the vials and flasks with Vallejo Terracotta, which matched the rest of the tones on the model and liked to think that the Ecclesiarchy would dispense handmade little bottles of holy water in their millions.

To bring out the details I gave anything that wasn’t painted with contrast paints a coat of Marine Juice. And just to be sure, I highlighted the mask with some Pro Acryl Ivory just to make the details stand out a little more. 

Missionaries and Preachers

Preacher with Ministorum Flamer and Holy Brazier

The remaining models are some flavours of robed zealot so it was fairly easy to get them painted all at the same time.

For the two Missionaries, I started by painting their overcoats with Black Templar and the undersuit with Flesh Tearer’s Red. And while I had it out, I used Black Templar for any hair on the models. Any leather clothing I painted with Garaghak’s Sewer but the pouches and straps I painted with Gore Grunta Fur. To differentiate the Preachers from the Missionaries I painted their robes with Garaghak’s Sewer.As the wooden boxes have some of the wood grain sculpted onto them, I painted them with Wyldwood. Any rope details, such as thw sling for the plasma gun and the wraps on the Drill Abbott’s wrists I painted them with Snakebite Leather. For the promethium tanks I painted them with Blood Angels Red and lastly for the contrast paints, I used Ratling Grime for any of the weapons and hoses to the fuel tanks.

Preacher with Plasmagun and Holy Relic

Sticking with the weapons for the moment, I stippled some Vallejo Scarlet Red onto the housing of the plasma gun using an old ratty brush. I also picked out the flame guard on the end of the flamer with Scale75 Old Copper. I then dryrbushed the weapons with Necron Compound to give them a metallic, yet grimy, appearance.

Like the Confessor I painted the pages of their books, and any other parchment for that matter, with Army Painter Skeleton Bone and the book covers with Two Thin Coats Royal Purple. From there I picked out the bedrolls with Vallejo English Uniform and the thinner lengths of leather with Two Thin Coats Dry Rust Brown, as they’re too thin to paint effectively with contrast paints. For the larger wooden details such as the box carried by the Drill Abbott or the icon housing held aloft by the Reliquant, which have a lot of flat details I painted them with Two Thin Coats Scorched Earth, as said flat areas would be unsuited for the high flow contrast paints. As with the other models I painted any of the vials with Vallejo Terracotta. 

Drill Abbott

Moving onto the metallic details I started by painting anything that had to be silver, such as strap buckles or pipes, with Scale75 Thrash Metal. I then picked out any gold details, like jewellery, embellishments or trim with a couple thin coats of Scale75 Dwarven Gold. To bring out the texture of these areas, and the bits I had painted earlier like the parchment, I gave them a coat of Marine Juice. And like everyone else, I squiggled on some thin lines of Cygor Brown onto the parchment.

Persecutor

The last thing I needed to do was the flames and the plasma coils. These are mainly on the Missionaries but a couple of the Preachers also have some lit candles about their person. As I wanted the effects to be quite bright, and to tidy up any spillages, I started by base coating these areas with Army Painter Matt White. For the flames I then gave them a coat of Imperial Fist, a nice bright yellow, and then for the larger flames such as on the brazier, I then drybrushed them with Troll Slayer Orange. The plasma coils on the other hand I painted with a coat of Talassar Blue. As I had mostly stuck to blacks and reds, the bright blue stands out nicely.

Bases

Reliquant

As with all my Imperial forces I gave them a tundra basing scheme. It’s a holdover from my days collecting Space Wolves and quite frankly I refuse to change it. To get things started I spread Vallejo Dark Earth texture paste over the whole base. Once that was dry I gave it a wash of Army Painter Strong Tone and then a drybrush of Tyrant Skull to bring out said texture. Next, I applied some PVA glue in patches then sprinkled on some Geek  Gaming Scenics Base Ready Patchy Plains. I sealed this down with some Geek Gaming Scenics Matt Sealant. I then mixed some Army Painter Basing Snow with PVA glue into a paste and then smeared this in patches on the bases. Lastly, I painted the rims of the base with Steel Legion Drab.

Conclusion

Conflagrator

And just like that, my war band of religious whackos was complete. They took a little longer to complete than I had anticipated, but they were a bit of an experiment. I really liked Sonic Sledgehammer’s Marine Juice, it’s a great one-pot solution. Punchy yet thin enough I don’t really need to do any layering, perfect for speedpainting.