One really fun part of commission painting is that you get to paint a lot of new models without having to buy them yourself. So painting a Grand Cathay army was quite a treat, as it is a whole lot of new models!

It seems like I have not taken a picture of the whole force together, only this short video. Anyway, below are unit by unit shots.

The Sentinel is the first model I completed for the army, and the one I was most eager to paint from the whole range. I thought painting it all gold was too simple, so I added the red armor, only to find out that all official Cathay Sentinel are monochromatic.

It had been a while since I did Old World or Warhammer Fantasy Battle style of armies, I did not miss the rank and file units. What a shame to have all these beautiful models hidden behind one another.

The artillery was also a piece I was looking forward to paint. There’s a couple of Grand Cannon, better ones, and one Dragon Breath, the cooler looking one. I wish the crew-ogre had more build options.

The Gate Masters kit is interchangeable, you can swap who between the hero or the battle standard bearer gets the steed. I really like how these models are very similar to the regular troops but with just enough flair that you can immediately tell them apart from the troopers. This is great design.

This model, the Shugengan Lord on Great Spirit Longma, is my favorite to say out loud. I decided to keep the green from the original scheme, but darken it to match the aesthetic of the whole army. It’s also apparently facing the wrong way on the base.

Miao Ying and its dragon form was another color substitution model. I wanted to keep the purple from the official Miao Ying model, but also have the red and yellow colors to fit in the army.

The Sky Lantern is the real star of the show. What as incredible model! The magistrate is magnetized so it can either go in the Lantern’s base, or on its own base. I found that solution much more practical than magnetizing some of the crew and having to fidget with the enclosed basket to make the switch. The decal really shines on the picture, the glare is not that obvious in person.