Showcase: Sons of Horus 1st Company Saturnine Dreadnought

From the moment it was first announced, I knew I had to have the Saturnine Dreadnought for my Sons of Horus collection. Once I’d finished my review of the Horus Heresy: Saturnine box (you can find high-res sprue images and tips for magnetising here), I dropped everything and got to work on the Saturnine Dreadnought, which I wanted to paint in the black and red of the Sons of Horus 1st Company. I wanted to do the model justice, so it took a little while – but today I’m pleased to present the finished piece.

Saturnine Dreadnought – the lore

Born in the tech-enclaves of Saturn, the Saturnine Dreadnought chassis shares its heritage with the famed Saturnine Terminator armour. A rare case where Dreadnought design drew from power and Terminator armour alike. Debuting in the early Great Crusade, it was refined by Primarch Vulkan, who, in an act of generous naivety, shared it with all Space Marine Legions. Its distinctive enlarged shoulders housed shield generators and demanded pilots of exceptional mental discipline. Rumours persist that these warriors harboured latent psychic gifts, enabling them to master the machine’s formidable systems.

With advanced power systems and thermal deflection shielding, the Saturnine could wield some of the Legiones Astartes’ most devastating weapons. Heavy plasma bombards could shatter infantry lines from afar, while massive twin-barrelled disintegration cannons – a rare evolution of disintegrator tech – could obliterate tanks or walkers in a single salvo. On the battlefield, the Saturnine was less a war machine than an armoured cataclysm.

My inspiration

In my mind, there are only a handful of Saturnine Dreadnoughts within the ranks of the Legiones Astartes. Even among Legions like the Sons of Horus, who had access to the finest wargear. That’s why I wanted mine to be something special in my collection. I chose to paint it in the colours of Abaddon’s 1st Company – black, with blood-red details.

Having recently painted the black-armoured Horus Ascended (check out the showcase post here), I thought it would be a great idea to add more black models to my collection. I envision a force where two-thirds are in the sea green of the Sons of Horus, and one-third in the black of the 1st Company. At some point, I also want to paint a squad of Justaerin in a black Land Raider Proteus, ready to follow Horus into battle as his personal guard.

The scenic base was made from rubble pieces of the new Drop Pods kit (which I reviewed here), plus MkII power armour bitz from the Heresy tank accessories sprue, and a few Warhammer skulls.

How I painted the Saturnine Dreadnought

For the painting, I followed my own tutorial. I primed the model black with AK Fine Primer Black, then applied a zenithal basecoat with Vallejo Game Color Charcoal to give the black more depth and volume. In hindsight, I probably could have gone even a nuance lighter to push the volume. After that, I drybrushed with Mechanicus Standard Grey and added sponge weathering with Mechanicus Standard Grey and Vallejo Model Air Steel before moving on to details like the gold trims and weapons.

I worked in several sub-assemblies, which allowed me, for example, to airbrush the red gradient on the right shoulder pads: I started with a basecoat of Two Thin Coats Amphora Red, then applied a gradient with Two Thin Coats Asmodeus Red, and finally Vallejo Model Color Vermilion. After panel lining with black, I carefully drybrushed the details with VMC Vermilion and highlighted the rivets with AK Ruby Red.

For more details check out the tutorial on Patreon:

You can grab the complete step-by-step PDF tutorial for my Sons of Horus scheme over on my Patreon by joining the Dire Avenger tier or above. I also got other “grimdark” tutorials for Imperial Fists, Emperor’s Children, and Blood Angels there.

Final thoughts

I hope you like my take on the Saturnine Dreadnought. Even though the assembly was challenging, I enjoyed every minute I spent working on it. I simply love the model, and alongside the classic Castraferrum design and the Contemptor, the Saturnine is my favourite Dreadnought pattern. To me, it’s the best “large” Dreadnought Games Workshop has ever produced, and I’m delighted every time I see the finished model in my display cabinet. Be sure to also check out Garfy’s version, painted in the colours of the Iron Warriors.

Feel free to leave a reaction, or drop a comment below, I’m also happy to answer any questions on our friendly hobby Discord server. Thanks a lot, and happy hobbying!