2nd edition Blood Angel
Nostalgia is a seductive liar.
George Ball.
I managed to get my greasy mits on one of the new MKVI marines. I ran a giveaway for this miniature on my social media feeds – the winner being a Blood Angel enthusiast. Well, what dumb luck! Two of my buddies are starting new Blood Angel armies for the new edition, both inspired by the classic 2nd ed orange scheme. How familiar?
I couldn’t resist cracking out the PDF and taking a look at my original recipe. It’s based on the original scheme presented WAAYYY back in Rogue Trader with modern paints. Again, nostalgia had its hooks in me, dragging me toward breaking open the classic paint set I have and painting this new model in a classic style.
But we hit a problem. The nature of nostalgia. Bright orange marines were cool for the time. I poured over images for hours, trying to memorize every contour of the miniature. But using that recipe today? Something was off.
The Nostalgia Trap.
I don’t want to criticize this style. There are some amazing artists who do bright, clean work. But I’m not one of them. I’ve grown along a different path. I had to stop my usual inclination to weather the miniature, adding grit and realism to the armour. I was also quite keen to keep this scheme has simple as possible. While not an Art of Compro-Myles video, this miniature was created as part of an army painting tutorial, meant to thrash out armies in a decent time. This miniature took around 40 minutes to paint and will be available via the Patreon Painting Courses and pays homage to the orignal orange marines without being swamped by it.
Contrast this paint scheme against the updated Blood Angel scheme for Heresy 2.0.
Tonally, Zephon is a lot darker. The red leans toward a carmine, with orange accents rather than it being the dominant mid-tone. The highlight is also bleached out rather than hovering around the orange/pale pink scale. This gives a more grounded, realistic look to the mini. What we gain in realism, we lose in visual punch.
This article is more of a cautionary note to myself: be inspired by nostalgia. It’s a big reason why I’m still in this hobby. Painting these miniatures or looking back over my old collection triggers the same receptors in my brain that were fired when I saw it the first time as a child.
But I’m a different person now, with a wider skillset and stronger opinions on how I should paint my toy soldiers. Creatively reinterpret the past; be inspired by nostalgia, not bound by it.
