Sons of Macragge

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It has been a while, quite a while actually since I last did an update which does make me feel a bit guilty. Strangely enough this wasn't down so much to hobby malaise, quite the opposite as I have been beavering away on various Lord of the Rings models for some time. Now that I have a reasonable number of Dwarves more or less completed, and have given myself enough evil minions and Nazgul to select from, I felt is was time for a bit of a change.
I have neglected 40K for most of the year but the sudden slew of new releases for the Dark Eldar has got my Imperial juices flowing again. Although stunning models in their own right, I simply have no wish to start a Dark Eldar force. What has strangely got me inspired however is the Ultramarines. In over twenty-five years of the hobby I have never had any inclination to paint Guilliman's finest, often viewing them as rather dull compared to other chapters. Over the past few revisions however a certain 'look' has been working its way into the Ultramarines which I really like. The palette of blue and gold has got richer and deeper, the detailing more 'Centurian' and best of all they are starting to show character and individualism.
If you follow any of my Twitter updates at the top of the blog you would have seen I tried out a tester last week. Being happy with the result, I decided to have a go and make a start on what will now be my fourth Space Marine army. The photo above is what I pulled out to make a start on and consists of a few boxes I had already that were originally ear-marked for my Jackals, a couple of new kits to fill the gaps and a selection of Forgeworld bits including doors, icons, weapons and a few of the new Heresy era armour kits to help add a bit of character.
Along with a few vehicle kits (not shown) that should provide enough of a challenge to see off those dark winter nights I reckon. Now, where did I put my clippers?