[Archives] First Wolf - Space Wolves Wolf Guard

For a long time I have been collecting only fantasy miniatures. Four years ago, I met some people that played 40k. They got me interested in trying out the game and recommended me to try out the Space Wolves. This would be my first metal and 40k miniature that I painted. I have affectionately nicknamed him as "First Wolf."

Notes: Original binder notes for my work on this miniature is on page 33. It is my experience with this metal miniature that I decided to switch from acrylic black paint to gesso as my primary undercoat. I feel that regular acrylic black paint was more difficult to get a good undercoat coverage on metal miniatures compared to plastic miniatures. In addition, the undercoat seems to be more easily rubbed off compared to undercoating plastic miniatures. Another lesson I learned from working on this miniature is to not assemble the model completely. In hindsight, it might have been better to glue the backpack at the very end or had a plan at the beginning on what I wanted the shoulder pads to look like. The glued backpack makes painting the shoulder pads fairly inconvenient.

Decals on the left shoulder pad (left) and right shoulder pad (center, right)

This is also the first time I worked with decals. It took destroying two decals and a scraped shoulder pad, before I got used to it. The decals came out much better than I expected and blended into the painted miniature very well. I was not expecting to use decals for the right shoulder pad with the straight arm. That was mainly due to me gluing the backpack on too early. Since I did, I used the "1" decal (right image) and the "wolf with blade in mouth" decal (center image). The two decals on the right shoulder pad represents "First Wolf."

Overall I am very happy with the outcome. Things I would like to improve on: 1) painting "inside the barrels" of guns better; 2) Better job of cleaning the small flashes; 3) backpack looks very "dirty" in the picture. I did not noticed it, until I took the pictures.

Basic Information

Model: Space Wolves Wolf Guard from Games Workshop
Quantity and Material: 1 metal model
Usage: Warhammer 40,000
Started work on the Models: February 26, 2011
Completed Models: March 22, 2011

Undercoat: Black

Base: Brown Trim, Standard Scheme

Paint Scheme

• Power Armor - Fenris Grey, Shadow Grey, Devlan Mud wash at joints, Shadow Grey: Space Wolf Grey mix, Space Wolf Grey dry brush highlight mostly around edges of armor 
• Boltgun, Metal Portion - Boltgun Metal, Badab Black wash, Chainmail highlight
• Casing - Chaos Black, lining with Codex Grey
• Bolt Pistol, Metal Portion - Boltgun Metal, Badab Black wash, Chainmail highlight
• Casing - Chaos Black, lining with Codex Grey
• Joints - Boltgun Metal dry brush
• Wolf Tails (3), fur - Adeptus Battlegrey, Badab Black wash, Codex Grey dry brush, Fortress Grey dry brush, Bleach Bone dry brush
• Attachment portion - Dwarf Bronze, Badab Black wash
• Chest Plate Symbol, Wings portion - Dwarf Bronze, Shining Gold, Burnished Gold
• Bone Portion - Dheneb Stone, Badab Black wash, Bleach Bone dry brush
• Belt - Dwarf Bronze, Badab Black wash
• Wolf Symbol - Boltgun Metal, Badab Black wash
• Grenade - Boltgun Metal dry brush
• Gun Case for Bolt Pistol and Small Pouches - Khemri Brown, Badab Black wash, Desert Yellow highlight lightly
• Emblem - Bleach Bone, Badab Black wash
• Backpack, Power Armor scheme - Fenris Grey, Shadow Grey, Devlan Mud wash at joints, Shadow Grey: Space Wolf Grey mix, Space Wolf Grey dry brush highlight mostly around edges of armor 
• Skull Design - Space Wolves Grey, Skull White, Devlan Mud wash, Badab Black wash
• Black Portion of the Backpack - Boltgun Metal dry brush lightly
• Eye Lenses - Mechrite Red, Blood Red highlight, Blazing Orange line