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So I recently reacquired some Steel Legion guys I painted a long time ago, traded to a friend, then got back in a complex trade. Not satisfied with the old paintjobs, I decided to strip 'em. Of course this led to a bit of a frenzy as I tried to trade more old stuff of mine here on Dakka and pretty soon I'll have about 60 of these boys to order about. Anyway, here are the humble beginnings:



And I painted my two heavy bolter teams in a test scheme to keep things motivated:






I'm happy with my scheme and it's easy enough to paint, especially once I get to paint in bigger batches. Just a shame I have so many missile launcher teams, since they're not so good - Expect more updates soon!

Cadian meatshields, Catachan badasses.. now.. aw hell I don't have anything to say about them.

Nah, I jest. I'm looking forward to see what you're going to do with these models.

Also, it'd be nice to see your whole IG army.

I'd like to take some full-army pictures of my Guard soon; there's just a whole lot to photograph! I'll look into it since there's a lot I want to show.

Finished the first squad today - here's the 8 new guys with a heavy bolter from the other day:








Also if anybody's got plasma gunners, I'd love to have em! Grenade launchers just lack the punch my Guard need!

Those dudes look pretty good! Not up to your best, I'll admit, but they're Guardsmen, so en-masse it'll be great!


Edit: you could try converting a few of the models with more open poses to have Plasma guns with Cadian or Catachan bits.

I've been checking around, and none of these poses seem particularly mutable - they're one piece metal models holding their guns really close! Fortunately I just got two off another Dakka guy, but sheesh they're kinda hard to track down.

Glad you're liking em so far - I agree they're not my best, but they're right in the middle of my painting quality. It's a good compromise between looking good and being able to crank them out.

its a shame when all the models are metal as its harder to kitbash.i love the way they have been painted though.

Finally got more work done on these boys - I painted up a command squad with a bonus officer, just in case! Here goes:


As you can see I put the Cadian med-pack on the Guardsman in the back - as shingouki said, these guys aren't really easy to convert! I figured it was a simple enough medic stand-in:

I like the green. Oh yeah, the rest of the models are pretty good too, I guess..

In all seriousness, they're looking good. But some of the images aren't doing your work justice, it seems.

I'll be taking some better pictures once I've got the next squad done - I've got 8 more guys to paint, then I've got a whole bunch coming in the mail. I'll make sure to take some good army shots when they're done!

Man I wish I had a lightbox! These guys really aren't photographing well.

Finished up the last 8 guys I had, making for 27 in all:






Right now I'm waiting on a bunch in the mail from a trade here on Dakka, and I'm looking into painting some armor. Just need to nail down a good technique for Armageddon pattern tanks!

though not the greatest pictures i think the trenchcoats and worn leather look they have is awesome! The was really worked well on them, good job

The green plasma coils definitely look better than blue. The colors look just like they do in the artwork. Great job!

Finished up a new squad of the guys, bringing me to about 35 in total:






And here's a comparison shot of some of these guys I painted back in 2005 next to some I painted now:


I need a lightbox.

Cool stuff, and the level of improvement is just.. wow!

Definitely above table-top standard by far. Personally, I don't particularly like this Regiment's colours in general, but I can appreciate how well its painted. Keep it coming.

Just got these boys out of the Simple Green this afternoon:


10 more men and a commissar to put the fight in em!

Like it much better then I could do

So the squad above has been done for about 3 days, but I was busy all weekend working at PAX East! Anyway, I finally got some pictures:





I've still got about 20 of these guys left to go, plus armor. I'll get some whole army pictures together hopefully soon!

It seems a bit odd that the Commissar's power sword is black.. if you're trying to make it blend in with the model, then a dull metallic colour wouldn't go amiss. Otherwise, they look good. Can we expect a shot of the entire force?

His sword is the same Boltgun Metal with a Badab Black wash that all my metallics are; dunno why it photographed so dark!

Brother SRM wrote:His sword is the same Boltgun Metal with a Badab Black wash that all my metallics are; dunno why it photographed so dark!

Haha, had a hunch something was up there.. although it's interesting to see a great master* painter such as yourself using the same technique as me.



*amongst us Dakkaites, anyway.

Very cool, I love steel legion models, they are just so darn expensive and the poses are static, your superior painting abilities totally make up for the lack of posing. Great job, I would love to play against this army.

Had a look at your commision thread and you are obviously a decent painter (Especially when executing camo patterns) but i cant help feeling the steel legion lack something.

It could just be the photos but i dont think the metallics look that great at all, maybe a chainmail or mithril highlight? (I know, the oldest trick in the book). Also i cant help but think the boots/gloves are in need of a highlight, or at least one that shows up.

I really like these dull and drab they look like the pictures. Its great to see a Steel Legion army again!

The Night Stalker wrote:Very cool, I love steel legion models, they are just so darn expensive and the poses are static, your superior painting abilities totally make up for the lack of posing. Great job, I would love to play against this army.

As long as you try not to repeat poses too much per squad, it isn't too bad.

Perkustin wrote:Had a look at your commision thread and you are obviously a decent painter (Especially when executing camo patterns) but i cant help feeling the steel legion lack something.

It could just be the photos but i dont think the metallics look that great at all, maybe a chainmail or mithril highlight? (I know, the oldest trick in the book). Also i cant help but think the boots/gloves are in need of a highlight, or at least one that shows up.

A highlight would do them a world of good. I highlighted the metallics on the Commissar, but since he's more of a character model I put a little more work in on him. If I find the time I'll see about highlighting the rest of them. Their guns are weirdly low detail in the front, where most of the metallics tend to be. It's kind of frustrating.

Thanks for the comments guys!

Very nice, it's going to be a heavy army when it's finished is it going to be just infantry or will there be some armour?

I've got two Leman Russ battle tanks and a Vanquisher I'll have following them around. I've also thought about giving the command squad a Chimera, but I need some Chimeras before I do that!

Great looking army cant wait to see the whole army painted.

heya,
I'm a fellow steel legion player and i'm wondering how you do your coats? Personally i do mine the way explained in Codex armageddon (highlight from beastial brown through snakebite leather to bleached bone) but it takes so long!
example:



Regards

Tom j

I do mine as Dheneb Stone, Skull white highlights, and Devlan Mud wash. It doesn't look as good as your coats, but for a million rank and file Guardsmen it does the job!