Brother Tiberinus and Dreadnought Praxis

Before receiving the mortal wounds that led to his internment in the sarcophagus of the Dreadnought Praxis , Tiberinus was Captain of the Brazen Claws 3rd Company and a veteran of more than four centuries service to the Emperor. He fell on the battlefields of Thattr during the Hieronymous Crusade, leading his Company in the charge that broke the back of the heretic army on the steps of the Heiron Cathedral itself. In that same battle the Dreadnought Praxis was severely damaged, Brother Eurystheus, the pilot, finally joining the Emperor after more than a millenia of faithful service, killed by the same lascannon round that damaged the ancient walker's engine and ended it's battle. When Tiberinus' wounds were deemed more than even the enhanced body of a Space Marine could survive and the damage to the Dreadnought Praxis was determined to be repairable it was decreed that the two would be joined in service to the Chapter once more.

The 4 years it took for the extensive repairs needed to Praxis left Tiberinus, unable to activate his Sus-an Membrane due to his wounds, in the care of the Chapter's Apothecarion. Although they were able to sustain his life for this period even their arcane technologies could do little for his pain. By the time of his attachment to the Dreadnought's life-support systems Tiberinus' nerve endings had been scarred by constant pain impulses, meaning a life of permanent suffering for the former Captain. Only the honour of serving the Emperor once more kept Tiberinus alive throughout this ordeal.

In the two decades since Praxis was reactivated by Brother Aulis, the Brazen Claws' Master of the Forge, Tiberinus has been instrumental in a number of the Chapter's campaigns, most recently the epic Defence of Kasr Grallen during the 13th Black Crusade where he fought alongside the Ultramarines Dreadnought Magister , containing the shattered remains of the very same Brother Captain Palinurus who taught the Brazen Claws the ways of the Codex Astartes more than 10,000 years ago.

Painting Praxis

Praxis was painted for the Dreadnought Painting Contest held at the Bolter & Chainsword. I decided to go with the Forgeworld Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter arm to make him look a little different from the run of the mill Dread (I'd have liked to have converted him, but I have zero converting skills so...) and the Missile Launcher for the other side. The contest was run under a deadline and this unfortunately did impact on the quality of work I was able to produce, in particular I had all sorts of problems with the varnish.

First, it diminished my red highlights, originally they looked much more noticeable, more like the right arm but once the varnish was on they were gone. Happens sometimes and I didn't have enough time to redo them before the entry deadline so it'll have to wait for another day...

My second problem was the varnish cracking, particularly over the decal on the Dread's left side, again with the deadline looming I didn't have time to correct the problem, one day though, one day I'll fix it up...

The base could do with some more work too now that I look at it, the tiles never did get finished properly.

In all I learnt quite a lot about painting whilst getting this bad boy ready and in real life he looks a little better so overall I'm pretty happy with Praxis. Plus, he came 3rd in the Moderator's Category in the comp so I can't really complain, can I?

The colour recipes are the same as my more recent Brazen Claws and can be found on my Brazen Claws Assault Squad page.