Two more members of the command squad to round it out to five models. A chap with a grenade launcher and a regular lasgun armed trooper. Both figures are from 1989 and are Mark Copplestone Sculpts to the best of my knowledge.
The dark patch on the right cheek is actually intended…
Rear detail – he will probably get some more personal iconography later on
Really, who the hell designs a gun like this?
Love that rear badge on this sculpt! ❤
Both figures are painted up to almost complete stage. I need to sit down with the whole squad and try to normalise them a bit to each other. They need some personal icons and to have little tufts glued to their bases to complete the effect. I have opted to matte varnish the models generally with the exception of the gun, amour plates, shoes, helmet and goggles which received the gloss varnish. I am pretty happy with the work on this squad so far. I still need to get a medic done up for them so they will be Rogue Trader legal.
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Here is the group shot so far:
Cheeeeeezzze!
TheOttoVonBismark 
They look great! Still my favourite Guardsmen style through the ages. I feel like improving the paint job on mine now. I will, eventually.
Thanks Subedai! They are my faves also. This design of uniform featured heavily in the cool Imperial Guard pictures in the late 80’s early 90’s when I was getting into the hobby. Plenty more of these 80’s chaps left to paint! Some of these figures are a repaint of earlier crappy paint jobs. I find it is pretty rewarding to paint even one of these classics to a good tabletop standard so I would encourage you to have a go at at least one of your favorites from the range. Feels a bit like renovating a classic car I suppose in some respects.
Nice painting Otto. Glad to see that you are sticking with these guys until you get enough finished to play a bit of a skirmish. A medic is a must have for old school “legality” as well as narrative options and the like in-game.
I actually quite like the look of the grenade launcher. Sensible? No. Cool? Yes.
The original plastic lasgun was a funny looking thing and while I like it a bit largely due to nostalgia it is still a bit peculiar. On the other hand the more modern lasgun (about twenty years old now, but you get what I mean) doesnt sit 100% well with me either for some reason. It seems a bit bulky and bland. Neither issue being any fault of yours of course.
Very nice to see the painted command section though. The photo reminds me of a section shown in a Guard painting guide printed in WD when the plastic box was released, around the time of the first guard list (the painting guide may have been reprinted in the Compendium. I cant remember).
Thanks for the feedback Sho3box.
I was using Compendium as source material all right so it could be the same spread. I definitely wanted that vibe but with nice modern paint techniques – the actual paint jobs back in the day look very slapdash to my more experienced eyes now. My figures always turn out a bit more dark and contrasty (or whatever word describes it) which I think suits the models better than them being too bright and cheery like they are about to break into song about the Imperial Navy.
The grenade launcher is a little curious because there is actually a gem mounted on the front of the magazine, like it could be a camera perhaps? On the sights for the weapon there is a little panel which I will paint like a little camera sight. I suspect that this was the intention with this model, some kind of sophisticated targeting system for lobbing grenades to the right spot. Then the magazine being on top makes some kind of sense. If I ever meet Mark Copplestone I will have to ask him that obsessively nerdly question.
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I tend to concur on the subject of lasguns, I think the best of the lot were either the Eldar plastic lasguns from the 20 Guardians boxed set or the lasguns from the Perry twins plastic Catachan models. They were the stripped down jungle pattern. Perhaps forge world make some cool ones for the Drop Troops regiment? I think they might.