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So if you've noticed my introduction thread, or my other thread about army choice, you'll Know I've been out of the game for a long long time, and that I've decided to make my [triumphant?] return with a Black legion Army. I'm starting it using the Chaos Space Marine Battleforce boxed set, which arrived this morning. Hints, tips, comments and criticisms are all welcome. To start my blog off, here is the first finished marine. He's pretty shiny because I used a gloss varnish, however I don't really like the effect so I'll be going with a matt varnish in future. That's the first thing I had to remember that I had forgotten

nice job so far, it is a little too shiny for my tastes though, but your colors are clean.

Very glossy as if laminated. Everything else is excellent!

The black looks too glossy otherwise its very good

Wait why is it so glossy any ways?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
btw: 400th post!

Munch Munch! wrote:Wait why is it so glossy any ways?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
btw: 400th post!

If you read his post, you'd know. He glossed it to seal it instead of a matte varnish.

Pebble Monkey wrote: He's pretty shiny because I used a gloss varnish, however I don't really like the effect so I'll be going with a matt varnish in future. That's the first thing I had to remember that I had forgotten

You can stick with the gloss then give a thin coat of matt , that way you get the protection and toughness of gloss but with a matt finish.

That's exactly how I used to do it, thank you for reminding me. Can't believe I forgot that!

Right, I have all the models from the battleforce box assembled and undercoated, loving the look of the Possessed Marines. I'm looking at the Rhino that comes in the set and wondering how the hell to paint it. Back when I had my SW army I just edged the panels in a lighter shade of grey, but how do I highlight and shade what is essentially a black box?

Anyone have any tips for painting vehicles at all? I never was too happy with my former results so any advice will be useful.

Spray black, drybrush (lightly) with a mix of about 70% chaos black and 30% codex grey, then 50/50 and if you feel it still needs more, a very light drybrush on the edges of pure codex grey, but be careful as that can completely overpower it. Dont worry about shading, the first drybrush will take care of the depth, the second and third drybrushes are for the real highlighting·

Do a test bit first though on some sprue to make sure the finish of the black spray and citadel paints are the same or you can end up with an ugly mix of textures/finishes. Doesnt matter if you are varnishing it of course though.

Thanks for the tips, overall I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Not sure how I can make the lighting better for pics, but this is probably the best I can manage.



Also finished are the 15 chaos marines that come in the CSM battleforce, including a standard bearer and aspiring champion. ATM they're all glossed like the first marine, because it's dark outside, and cold, and I can't be bothered to go outside and matt varnish them now, so pics of them to follow, probably tomorrow.

All I have left from the box to do now are the 8 Khorne Berserkers and the 5 Posessed Marines. Hopefully at least on of those squads will be finished in the next few days too.

Ok so pics won't follow, cos the marines all ended up looking a bit frosty, I guess it was too cold this morning for the matt varnish spray. It isn't overly bad, some of the models look a bit greyish, so I'll leave pics of the full squad until the battleforce is complete.

Starting to think about the next models now. I already bought Abaddon to lead, so I'll be thinking about either some elites or heavy support. Right now I'm leaning towards a squad of 3 obliterators. Painting those will be a challenge, although the possessed marines in the boxset, which will the be last ones I do from it, look to be similarly challenging.

Well aside from the fact that I hate your camera, I can still see exceptional work on what has been done so far. I am expecting great paint jobs from you!

Right, different camera, so hopefully better pictures. I took advantage of a sunny day to do the shots outside too. The battleforce box is now finished, so now I'm painting up Abaddon. I think the next purchase will be some obliterators, although I'm tempted by a havoc squad too. Posted as thumbnails.

The whole army


The standard CSM squads. 10 man and 5 man. (these are the models that got ruined by spray varnishing too cold. any tips for removing that other than repainting?)


Possessed Marines, which will probably never be used because they don't seem too effective


Berserkers, with the Rhino theytend to zoom around in.

looks good overall mate

looking pretty nice! For some more advanced vehicle painting techniques check out the first couple of pages of my blog http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/274891.page

The obliterators arrived yesterday, however one was missing a head, which I didn't notice til after I started putting it together, however a quick email to GW and a replacement Obliterator is on the way FOC. Bloody good service that, and I managed to stuff a CSM helmet in as a replacement on the headless obliterator which doesn't look too out of place, so my obliterator cult that was originally 2 models, now will be 3 models for the price of two. Bonus! I decided to wait til I have all three together to paint, so I spent today messing about with foamcore making some terrain to fight around. I was heavily influenced by the GW 40k scenery as you'll notice in the pics. None of it is painted yet, I need to get some Sandtex before I do that.

The pieces as a group


The large 3 storey centrepiece


Two storey pieces

looking good so far!

tip for the photos, try and take them on overcast days, the light is diffused by the clouds and lights the minis much more evenly. This applies to both indoor and outdoor assuming you have a window nearby.

Buildings with windows for fire points are nice at times.

But trust me, it's annoying having your vehicle able to be targetted because there's a 1/2" crack between the lineup of one window on one wall and another on a different wall to allow a shot at your vehicles and get them blown up. There's much to be said about solid walls that give you something substantial to hide behind!

Good choice on the Black Legion, and let me tell you this: Black Wash will be your friend. It really makes the gold and silvers stand out.

Spellbound wrote:
Good choice on the Black Legion, and let me tell you this: Black Wash will be your friend. It really makes the gold and silvers stand out.

Hear hear! However, whilst I use black wash on bolt gun metal and silver, I use Devlan Mud or Sepia on gold. The brown tinges work better for me.

Thanks for the tips guys, I shouldn't have any problems getting overcast days living in the UK

I hadn't tried black washing after I did the gold and silvers, I'll try that later today.

Nice ruins and your Legion is looking pretty good too.