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Trying to decide on my color scheme. This is my 2nd time actually painting a marine after a GKSS I did a week ago. I know there are some ugly splotches but it was kind of rushed and will be done a bit nicer in the future and as my painting improves

Which one do you guys think looks better? Theres no worries about being the 10th blue colored marine army at my LFGS because all the shops I go to...there are no Ultramarines! No smurfs anywhere...so both colors would actually be unique in comparison to what everyone elses armies is.

Ultramarine standard:
Airbrushed zenithel colors to highlight
Washed entire model with nulin oil.
May try not washing the entire model in the future and just spot washing certain parts...

Deathwatch color scheme:
Chaos Black base coat and gunmetal.
I was trying to go for (http://www.coolminiornot.com/302686?browseid=3381548) but I fell far from it. But if this is the scheme chosen then hopefully I get closer to this in the future and as I improve..


So Dakka..help me out. Which color scheme do you think I should do?

While not many people are fans of the Sons of Ultramar, I say Ultramarines.

if this is a random guy, I'd say deathwatch

(heck, maybe make them sternguard in game)

Updated the pics. forgot to post the pictures rofl..

i personally think you painted the UM the best so i'd go with that

While I voted for Ultramarines, do both. Deathwatch are cool, and can fit in mechanically as sternguard. And when you are getting ready to claw your eyes out after painting your zillionth blue marine in power armor, you can switch gears and do some up in black and silver.

Ultramarines every time. Your Ultramarine looks really good, especially since you seem to have found a pretty quick technique. I honestly believe that few things look as good as a big, well painted, uniform Ultramarine army.

If it's for an entire army then go with the ultrasmurfs, an army of deathwatch really doesn't make much sense fluffwise

Ultramarines. It's by far the better looking of the two test models you've presented. Parking the internet LULZ-hate bandwagon, for a moment , the main gripe against them is usually "too much blue in my area." Since that isn't an issue for you, you can focus on the benefits: attractive scheme, plenty of established fluff with a bit of wiggle room for home-brew additions, several named characters with available models (that have pre-sculpted, chapter-specific iconography, no less), relative simplicity of painting (no split/quartered scheme, no prevalent "problem colors," widely available decals, etc.), "old school" options (yellow trim vs. gold, red weapon casings, etc.)...

If you aren't a troll or particularly sensitive to their activities, there's a lot to be said for the chapter, both generally and in regards to painting. Changing your washing technique, as you are already considering, to avoid black surface pooling and deciding on decals vs. freehand for the chapter icon and squad markings are about all you need to to sort out before you're cranking out a good looking army.

Deathwatch, on the other hand, are all about black and silver. Very easy to paint to basic tabletop levels, but tricky/laborious to go much farther than that (there's only so much a black wash/metallic drybrush and grey edgelining can do) - I'd argue that UM are more likely to help you grow, generally, as a painter. There's also the added expense if you want to use actual DW parts instead of just the color scheme, not to mention potential fluff issues, as BrotherVord points out.

 oadie wrote:
Ultramarines. It's by far the better looking of the two test models you've presented. Parking the internet LULZ-hate bandwagon, for a moment , the main gripe against them is usually "too much blue in my area." Since that isn't an issue for you, you can focus on the benefits: attractive scheme, plenty of established fluff with a bit of wiggle room for home-brew additions, several named characters with available models (that have pre-sculpted, chapter-specific iconography, no less), relative simplicity of painting (no split/quartered scheme, no prevalent "problem colors," widely available decals, etc.), "old school" options (yellow trim vs. gold, red weapon casings, etc.)...

If you aren't a troll or particularly sensitive to their activities, there's a lot to be said for the chapter, both generally and in regards to painting. Changing your washing technique, as you are already considering, to avoid black surface pooling and deciding on decals vs. freehand for the chapter icon and squad markings are about all you need to to sort out before you're cranking out a good looking army.

Deathwatch, on the other hand, are all about black and silver. Very easy to paint to basic tabletop levels, but tricky/laborious to go much farther than that (there's only so much a black wash/metallic drybrush and grey edgelining can do) - I'd argue that UM are more likely to help you grow, generally, as a painter. There's also the added expense if you want to use actual DW parts instead of just the color scheme, not to mention potential fluff issues, as BrotherVord points out.

All of this. Exactly.

The Ultramarine here looks nice to me!

Strangely I feel that models with overly dark schemes may not look nice in the masses.

Not only do I think Ultramarines are the better option for an entire army, but Deathwatch without the shoulder pads look very strange.

Did you plan on buying the special Deathwatch shoulders? Because if not, definitely just go Ultramarines.