"The Origins Of The Dark Angels Remain Shrouded In Mystery."

"Few Imperial records of the Chapter's beginnings still exist."

This 15mm scale Orange Adder Combat Lifter is sold by “Alternative Armies” and can be purchased as Pack Code IAF036D from the company’s "The Ion Age" range. Supplied as a multi-piece metal and resin vehicle, it carries a Hermit Grenade Launcher, and is approximately 60mm long, 30mm wide and 25mm tall.

The model was super-glued on to a large-sized plastic "Flames Of War" stand by “Battlefront Miniatures”, and was primed in "Vallejo" Dark Green in order to be the start of a new (not) Dark Angels army. "Used for a variety of purposes and in many variants", the automobile was then enthusiastically drowned in “Citadel” Nuln Oil, before receiving a heavy dry-brush of (more) "Vallejo" Dark Green using a soft-bristled make-up brush.

"Nor are there many mentions of the part it played in the Emperor's Great Crusade."

I next applied some "Citadel" Abaddon Black to the Combat Lifter's flexible skirt, side panel/window, rear vents, front headlamp frames and big gun. Some of these areas were subsequently 'picked out' using a combination of "Vallejo" Gunmetal and "Citadel" Nuln Oil. In addition, I used a dollop of "Two Thin Coats" White Star and a wash of "Vallejo" Pale Grey on the hover-tank's trio of lights, and lastly applied some old(ish) "Games Workshop" Dark Angels decals to mark the vehicle out as belonging to the First Legion.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I also took this opportunity to simultaneously pigment another Black Adder Combat Lifter too. Available from “Alternative Armies” as Pack Code IAF036C, this hover tank comes "armed with a Fretan Rail Gun in a turret mount", and was painted in exactly the same manner as the other vehicle, predominantly using "Vallejo" Dark Green and "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

"Forged In Battle" WIPs - The lower hull is slowly being camouflaged

With my latest entries for the Fourteenth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (AHPC) completed, I have stuck with the theme of 15mm armoured automobiles by pushing on with the fiddly camouflage pattern I have been piloting on my hefty resin Maus by "Forged In Battle". This three-colour 'camo' technique is precisely the same as the one I've always used on my "Flames Of War" D-Day Beach Defence German infantry. However, I've never attempted it on such a large-sized miniature before.

Indeed I specifically purchased this tank from "Westwind Productions" at last year's "Warfare" wargaming show, after a previous attempt to apply camouflage to a plastic Panzer IV went horribly wrong, and resulted in my stripping the model back down to its bare-bones. This time round I'm trying to maintain my 'less is more' approach to Maus - albeit I have gone a little made with the pattern in a couple of places...