Well, it's been a while...

Remember when I said I wouldn't paint anymore for a few years? Yyyyeah. Turns out a few months after that, I decided to get a whole new army. But I wouldn't go for the shiny, exotic ones like Harlequins. I would go for the VERY shiny, exotic ones.

The Golden Condoms. The Badass Bananas. The Bling Brigade. The Adeptus (what) Motherfucking (what) Custodes.

They are the personal bodyguard of His Majesty the Emperor of All Mankind itself. Each one of them costs a small fortune, and they are insanely hard to kill. Each of them is gayer than the Theban Sacred Band, and buff as hell. And less than 40 minis will put you well above 2000 points. They are also, visually, amazingly cool, being more golden than a XVIIIth century Hapsburg toilet.

Good thing I wanted to paint metallics.

I was lucky enough to pick up two of the Talons of the Emperor boxes while they were still available and before the codex was announced. Since then I just bought a set of Allarus Custodes terminators and Trajan Valloris, the big cheese. I WILL get the jetbikes once they're out, because if playing Eldar taught me one thing, it's that jetbikes rule.

Anyway, here are a few pictures. The base coat is Citadel Retributor Armour Spray (NOT the same color as the paint-pot Retributor Armour, as I discovered to my displeasure). Then I applied a full body wash of Game Color Flesh Wash (Lavado Carne), except for the dreadnoughts which I haven't done yet and have included for comparison.

Next step: drybrush highlights. So many drybrush highlights.

From Golden Light they come to kick your ass.

Pictured Right: Vexillus Praetor, minus the Storm Shield.  Pictured Left: an average Custodian Guard, still harder than basically any of your guys.

Contrast between washed (left) and unwashed (right)

He just wants to shake you by the hand.