The Space Hulk boardgame was my introduction in 1990 or so to the Warhammer 40,000 universe: board sections to lay out a derelict spaceship (the titular hulk), counter for doors and other details, and most critically, the miniatures: 20 or so alien Genestealers, and 10 Space Marine Terminators in Tactical Dreadnought Armour. Sure, they were primitively sculpted but they fully captured the imagination, and laid the foundation for my first two 40K armies, as well as over a decade of working with the publisher, Games Workshop.
About a year after parting ways with GW in 2007, I picked up a copy of the revamped game (with far cooler figures) from the Kingsway store I had once looked after as manager, then cell manager, and finally regional manager. The box was damaged so the manager kindly discounted it for a former colleague.
I have unpacked the box a few times, long enough to have applied a coat of blue to the 'Stealers and red plus a black wash to the Blood Angel marines, and there is photographic evidence of having played with Totty in 2018 - which may be the only actual game I have played with this set.
The unfinished nature of these models began nagging at me of late, and in truth, I have no earthly idea why. But for whatever reason, I was compelled to dust off the Genestealers recently with the intent of completing them in 1-2 weeks.
With the blue applied to their carapaces, it was really just a question of painting over the exposed fleshy bits and then coating that with a purply Speed Paint, and finally picking out the claws, teeth, eyes and other details.
Oh, and the bases, which are overwrought and underbalanced but I love them. Speed Paint stood me in good stead once again for things like extensive skull-based inlay or wiring trunks and such.
Now just to varnish them. I grabbed a full can and headed to the front step, shaking it vigorously.
I was on about my third pass when I realized I was re-priming my models.
It had been so long since using this particular spray, Roughcoat, that I had completely forgotten that it was a grey primer, not at all like the 'Ardcoat gloss varnish I had confused it with.
I raced into the house and tossed them into the sink with running water. I soaped up a soft -bristled brush and took that to them as well, but it accomplished very little.
Well, that isn't quite true - the moisture re-activated some of the first-generation Speed Paint I had used, de-tinting many of the heads and hands of my fearsome aliens, as well as leaving fuchsia spots on the counter top that took significant effort to remove. And I suppose some of the fresher primer was washed or rubbed off as well.
Most people I have related this mishap to have been very understanding - a 'there but for the grace of God go I' sort of thing I imagine. And even my initial fury at my own stupidity has relented a bit now, five days later. I mean, at the end of the day, even marred like this, those 'Stealers still look better to me now than they did unpainted.
I am unsure what, if anything, I will do about these models. I may try inking them or touching them up in some fashion, or perhaps I will just play with them as is. For the time being, they are just going to sit in the box until I finish the Terminators - hopefully completing them within another decade or so. ; )
