Picking Parts

My drop pod now has a midtone coat on the doors, but because I don't have pictures, I won't get into detail about it. However, I think I might have discovered one of the culprits in my poor metallic coverage...my brush. I use a red sable #2 brush for larger areas right now, and the bristles have gone a little stiff of late. It's leaving streaks in my paint, and not just in the silvers. It happened to the blue last night as well. Looks like it's time to buy a new brush for tanks and pods. I run through size #0s for infantry at a regular clip, so I shouldn't be surprised that the brush I've used for tanks for so long is dying. I can try applying a ton of conditioner and cleaner to it, but I'm not sure it'll work.

I've started planning parts and bitz to make up my Shadow Captain. I've done a lot of Google searching for inspiration and come across some neat ideas and some interesting obstacles.
The first thing I want need to decide is how the Captain will stand out from his subordinates. In the past, I've made mistakes when putting together leader models. I tend to make them too plain and they just blend in to the crowd.
But for Raven Guard, I wonder if that's a bad thing. Ultramarines wear a lot of decorations. Banners, ropes, chains, icons, seals, and other gubbins. I figure all that crap banging around makes a lot of noise. Noise and Raven Guard don't mix. Also, long tabards and purity seals have this tendency to get sucked into the intake of a jump pack or wrapped around an arm or leg. So none of those.
It looks like I'll need to use flat decorations in order to differentiate my Shadow Captain. Things that are sculpted onto the armor, as opposed to attached to it.

With that theory in mind, I picked out a couple of models I might like to use as a starting point. First you have Captain Korvydae from the Forgeworld line. He's got a minimal amount of junk on him, just one rope and badge, a couple purity seals, and a short leather strap belt thing. From looking at sprues, his body and legs are one piece, with his head separate, and his arms in three parts without removable shoulder pads. He sports a very cool jump pack as well. I'd discard the head and arms though, as I'm not a fan of that face, or the thunder hammer armament. I could always use them on another model. At current exchange rates, he rings up at just under $30, which isn't bad when compared to the next model I'm looking at...

The Lord Executioner from the Masters of the Chapter line. I've wanted this model since it was released, but it poses some problems. I really like the head, pack, and body/legs, but that iron halo has to go. Thankfully, it's separate from the jump pack and can be left off. The major problem is that his arms are sculpted on from the shoulder to the elbow/wrist. If I use this model, he's stuck with the power axe. I haven't decided on armament yet, but I'm leaning heavily towards the iconic double lightning claw setup.

Speaking of double claws, I do have the old Medusa V Limited Edition Captain Sicarius model, but I'm very, very hesitant to mod that model in any way, since I know I'll never own another one. (I've owned two, one of which was damaged by someone modding him into another chapter, so I sold it. I've fallen ass-backwards into several copies of some of the more valuable limited edition Marine models, like the Army Box Captain with the horsehair crest).

The final option is to buy the new Vanguard Vets box and cobble together a model. There are some nice pieces in the kit, and I know I'll eventually use all the parts in one project or another. They just don't have the level of detail that the Korvydae or Executioner models have.