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I started getting serious about painting and collecting 40k about 3 years ago. I spent many hours painting and perfecting my craft and technique during that time....including pulling all nighters to complete projects. I initially began collecting the army that originally enticed me into this game; the Blood Angels. I rarely played the game and really never play tested, I just bought what I liked and made sure to assemble it within the confines of the rules. In the last 6 months I began playing alot and figuring out what works best in-game and what I could do without. Despite having 4 other armies in various stages of assembly (ans some complete unassembled), Ive decided to revise my Blood Angels army....and by that I mean paint an entirely new army and then sell off what I had originally painted.

The first major change I wanted to make was painting the metallic areas of my models. My previous army was meant to be painted up quickly, and I had plans to return to those figures eventually to paint the details and the metal areas in NMM. As my freetime has started to get shorter and my schedule thicker, I figured this was no longer going to be possible. The next change I wanted to make was blending the armor in a more natural way then I did the first time around. The final reason I wanted to revise my army is because the D-bags at GW deemed it necessary to change all the formulas of the previous paints....so I wanted to use the updated colors.

Pictured is the first of what should be an amazing looking army when Im finished. I have plans for some nice conversions and kit-bashing to be included. I want to give my army the appearance of a more realistic looking ceramite suit of armor....so much of the iconic BA shoulder pads and backpacks are going to be excluded from my army. I am freehanding all symbols and icons. I also want to use the catachan heads instead of SM heads, as I like that they are slightly smaller and the bandanas are a nice marine touch. I should have a few more done soon so you can get the visual of what im talking about with the catachan heads. Looking foward to this project....enjoy the pics, would love some C&C!

Also, my spider senses are tingling about the crap I might get for not painting the BA helmets yellow. To that I say, when they remove their backpacks, they are really no longer FA models (well for BA they are not a FA choice anyway). Bikers, Speeders and Marines with jump packs have the yellow helmets, so it makes no sense to me why they would have yellow to distinguish them as a FA choice. Plus.....i really dont like yellow helmets

The second model in the pic is a comparison from my old work to the new work......im still debating whether to attach all my marines to 40mm bases....you know, to keep my paint jobs looking nice when other players feel its necessary to pile in their pewter figures onto my painted ones, thats the reason behind the unfinished base.

OH, AND THE PICS LOOK MUCH BETTER IF YOU CLICK TO EXPAND THEM!

I really like this scheme. I always go for a much more muddy and dirty look for my BAs but I really enjoy looking at this. Especially the freehand. Im gonna have to try some of the designs on the guns, knee pads, backpacks, etc. Great models!

Well done.

I found hitting my minis with some dull coat varnish usually allows them to stand up to gaming.

You have some skills bro. I like the green honor marks a lot.

Very subtle battle damage, nicely done!

Requiem wrote:Very subtle battle damage, nicely done!

I agree, it's really impressive. If you wouldn't mind, some WiP shots would be great when you work on your next batch of minis...

Requiem wrote:Very subtle battle damage, nicely done!

+1 to that

That is looking really great. I must say if mine were turning out like yours I may still be working on my Blood angels. I think you accomplished your goal of creating a more realistic armor. The freehand and the damage really puts these into a new level.

A Kvlt Ghost wrote:

Requiem wrote:Very subtle battle damage, nicely done!

I agree, it's really impressive. If you wouldn't mind, some WiP shots would be great when you work on your next batch of minis...

Sure, I can do that. I will come back and update this thread with a few new pics from time to time. Im nearly finished with the 2nd model. The battle damage actually was easier than I thought it would be. The chipping effect looks difficult, but its more time consuming than anything else.