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This is a thread dedicated to my progress and production of Captain Erasmus Tycho of the Blood Angels. I will frequently (or when school permits me) update this thread with pics of my work as this pewter model develops into a fearsome and ornate Blood Angels leader.

Some backround on Tycho:

He was once considered to be the greatest strike leader the Blood Angels had ever known. Erasmus had been selected by Dante as his successor as the Chapter master (or Lord). Tycho took command of the 3rd company when his predecessor was slain during the second war for Armageddon. Shortly after an ambush by orks, Tycho and his company were left for dead. Tycho survived, however, the total paralysis of the right side of his face by a weirdboy psychic assault would prove to be a grim reminder of the ambush and his hatred of orks. In the wake of this great campaign for armageddon, it became increasingly obvious that something had changed within Tycho. No longer could he relax in the hallowed halls of the Chapters fortress, for its aesthetically pleasing images and architecture were only a bitter reminder of Tycho's mutilation. His battle tactics became audacious to the point where he began to intentionally put his battle brothers in harms way. As another large war began on Armageddon, Tycho's rage ensconced him and he was reluctantly assigned to permanent battle duty in the ranks of the Death Company. It was here where Erasmus finally perished, ripping through ork boyz with the ferosity of a possessed man.

The interesting thing about Tycho is that he has two profiles, one pre-rage and post rage. With his induction into the Death Co, Tycho naturally lost his ability to lead but he became an absolute terror on the front lines. Because, I dont really dig the fact that he no longer counts as an independent character as Death Company Tycho and I like the 10 leadership throughout my army, Ive chosen to go with pre-rage Tycho....the one in glittering golden armor!

Anyone that has seen pictures of my Blood Angels before knows that I adhere to a sentiment that it is more important to achieve a fully painted army rather than waisting my precious time on compeleting every single detail on a model. Lately though, this has come with one exception; that I want to paint the HQ characters to completion for the most part because they represent focal points of any army. Tycho will fall into this category, so most/all of his details will be painted, though His NMM golden armor will most likely be left the base color (1:1 mix of Calthan Brown/Snakebite Leather).

With Tycho I decided on the Golden armor over painting him red, because I think that all artificer armor should stand out among the army. I also decided early on that giving him a banner and painting his infamous symbol (the red stripe through a yellow background) was an imperative detail that he couldnt go into battle without. Also, because he is pewter and I want my work preserved from damage or other players who roughly move their figures into CC, I wanted him mounted on a 40mm base and I wanted him elevated to illustrate his significance to the army.

So without further delay, my foray into the production of Tycho:

Nice start!

So an update came much sooner than I expected it to, despite the fact I have 2 exams on monday this week. Anyway, the anticipation of Tycho was eating at me so I found a few hours to get some paint work in and at least assemble the base. I was struck with the decision to either mount Tycho on a typical base or paint part of the Imperial aquilla acrossed the base. I want to keep the attention on Tycho when the paint job is finished so I opted to just paint the base in my typical panel fashion. I painted the ground with a basecoat of scorched earth followed by drybrushes of beastial brown/bleached bone mixed. The other portion of the base was painted with various colors and blends of greys. Then for a final highlgiht a mix of fortress grey/spacewolves grey. I drill holes into the panel base area for the pinning of Tycho. It worked out pretty well as I was able to drill right through the green stuff dirt mound, this will ensure Tycho's total security to the base! I had to cut away some of the gravel as the base wouldnt mount properly and didnt look right. Once im finished, these areas will get static grass so that the visual defects are covered up from this. Anyway, here are the pics. Enjoy, there are more to come!

Base looks good, although the stairs seem to be designed for toddlers...

I knew the stairs were going to be a smaller scale when I bought them. But I think it works well with the piece and illustrates the sheer hulk and brute size of the marines...so I went with it.

looking good thus far,i like the wear and tear on the steps.

Another update. With my tests finally out of the way (and im happy to announce at least 1 confirmed grade off 99% on my Chem test! ), I decided to celebrate by neglecting my wife and pulling late night last night to get the ball rolling on Tycho.

I am happy with the base and its overall result. Tycho is another story though. I love some of the pewter characters and their poses, but I hate painting pewter and hate working with it. Maybe its because I dont have the experience with it or the tools necessary to remove blemishes (like the pitted areas that piss me off on what should be a smooth shoulder pad!). Like I mentioned, Tycho will eventually be a NMM character, but for now Ive painted him a base coat of calthan brown/snakebite leather mix. I really dont like how he is turning out so far, but im going to stick with it until I start doing the details.

He required about 3 layers of basecoat for even coverage. You may also notice that his weapons has been basecoated with denheb stone. I think that Tycho's iconography is essential for his character and think its a shame that on the newer versions of Tycho, the 'eavy metal team doesnt paint his unique red stripe/yellow background design anymore. I will eventaully hand paint his banner in the same fashion, but for now, I am focused on the gun of tycho. His groin garment is going to be the same color as all of my units/models in the ranks of the HQ (a slightly blue shade of cloth). Enjoy the pics for now, should have some more updates by this weekend with the start of his detail work!

Promising start! I love to see classic models painted to such a high standard. Do you have the White Dwarf that shows a nmm pic of Tycho? It has a great eavy metal paintjob in it and could be a great place to take inspiration from.

looking fantastic wish i could do bases as awsome as that.

Commander Cain wrote:Promising start! I love to see classic models painted to such a high standard. Do you have the White Dwarf that shows a nmm pic of Tycho? It has a great eavy metal paintjob in it and could be a great place to take inspiration from.

I love all the classic models for the Blood Angels, but Capt Tycho is probably among my favorites all time. I do have that White Dwarf 'Blood Angels' issue your talking about and yes, I refer to it religiously! I like that it shows both the vintage and modern versions of Tycho as I am applying Details from both of them to my model. That will definately come in handy when I start the NMM portion of the armor.

Some detail work I was able to get done last night. I love the way his gun insignia turned out!

A new update with some more pictures. Finally, after beginning this project about 8 days ago, Tycho is finally starting to look decent. The extra details really bring the model to life and I am happy with the progress so far. I hand painted his name on his shoulder pad along with a blood angels symbol to go with it. I spent extra time on the purity seals as well making sure it actually looked like writing on the paper part. Anyway, the pics are below enjoy.

So, judging by the lack of comments or any criticism on this thread, I can make the assumption that everyone on Dak is thoroughly uninterested in the Tycho WIP....but, it wont discourage me from pressing on with another update . Comments and criticism is definately welcomed and appreciated.

The metal Tycho figure has been completed. After much procrastination, I decided to put the NMM gold work aside for now; however, I did try my first real attempt at some NMM work on Tycho. His gun has been done in NMM and I love the way it turned out. I also went with grey hair for Tycho as opposed to the traditional hues of yellow that fill my army. I wanted to show his age and intelligence as a tactician and a leader. I also think it will ultimately look better with gold armor...it will give a nice contrast. Now, with the base model finished, the only parts that remain are the back pack and banner pole. The next update should be the last and I look foward to finishing this model. Really satisfied with the way he looks right now!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Man that second picture really looks like crap up close. Definately doesnt look bad in person

Here is the end product of Tycho, which took me about 10 days to complete. Comments and criticism is welcomed.

He's a bit too, brown...
shouldn't he be more of a goldy colour?

Matt.Kingsley wrote:He's a bit too, brown...
shouldn't he be more of a goldy colour?

Thats what i was thinking too. thought it might just be me lol. other then that he looks great.

The brown areas are very very flat, they almost don't look highlighted. The other parts look good, and the base is AWESOME.

Don't worry about the lack of people replying, I'm in the same boat. The details you've done on him are outstanding. With your gold NNM he will be a highly painted model and I hope to chime in once you've come back to it!

(also subbing to this so I wont miss any updates in future)

Edit for those who may have missed it, Element has not done the armour yet, that's going to happen once he.... um comes back to it?

Oh sorry, I did miss that!

Then I very much look forward to your return!

Don't worry too much about the responses, although it is frustrating. I don't always understand what prompts people to answer myself, as someone like Sigur and his Battle Brush Studios commision blog don't get neatly the responses I would expect them to. Hell, I like the guy so much I hired him to do some of my minis, and I like to think I have pretty high standards.

Hmm, he said that did he...
Well then, I have no complaints!
Still, you were a bit misleading saying that he was DONE in your last update...

Sorry I thought you were done the nmm
.. hope to see it completed

Knightley wrote:Edit for those who may have missed it, Element has not done the armour yet, that's going to happen once he.... um comes back to it?

Thanks for inputting that. Guess I should attach that to every update, because its unlikely very many people will go back to the first post to see that I mentioned that.

Thanks everyone for the comments about Tycho. I dont know why he looks so bad upclose. The highlighting on the gun looks fantastic on the actual model but looks horrible in the photos. Also, my model looks like I shook an old dog full of dandruff over the top of it in these pics....but I assure everyone that the black looks black and the model doesnt appear dusty. I think the flash of the camera is picking up the sealant on the model too much. These pics leave me feeling unsatisfied with the model, yet in person the model looks fantastic.

For those of you waiting for my NMM progress, it is on the horizon. I am currently working on a Terminator Chaplain then its onto Dante, who will be the last of the NMM models. If any of you have ventured into my gallery, you will notice I also have a Sanguinary guard unit awaiting NMM details. I plan to start all of them as a group once dante has been painted.

I suppose the comments/posts are simply hit and miss, but I appreciate all of your comments.

Great looking Tycho love the paint job. Just wanted to share my version in death co colors.

Nice Death Co Tycho. I dont use Death Co that often and since he loses his independency once he succumbs to Black Rage, I went with the normal Tycho. Your model looks fantastic though! Great idea to paint the casing of the gun red -- works nicely with the rest of the character.

Element206 wrote:Nice Death Co Tycho. I dont use Death Co that often and since he loses his independency once he succumbs to Black Rage, I went with the normal Tycho. Your model looks fantastic though! Great idea to paint the casing of the gun red -- works nicely with the rest of the character.

Thanks man and good luck with his alter ego. I still use him as regular tycho just liked him more in death co colors.

On the pictures, try using other lighting than the flash. If done correctly the flash on the camera should not be needed. Can't wait to see him in person.

Element, Tycho is coming along fantastically. I also wasn't aware that the armour wasnt finished. But hes gonna look stellar. Really love the blending on his loin cloth. Fabric is my downfall, well done!

TheChronoTrigger wrote:Element, Tycho is coming along fantastically. I also wasn't aware that the armour wasnt finished. But hes gonna look stellar. Really love the blending on his loin cloth. Fabric is my downfall, well done!

Thanks alot. Creating the color for that cloth is a chore in itself. Its four different colors blended to get that look. Then of course I start blending up from the base color by adding skull white into the mix.