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Hi,

I have finally finished this Black Templar Initiate, now to power through four more + neophytes to match. (and about 100 others)

This is my 4th attempt at painting a Space Marine & I have tried my hardest to break away from the same old thing i did with the first two BT initiates

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/460979.page

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/461772.page

Vallejo Game Colour Paints & Inks were used & Secrect Weapon washes were also used.

The scratch effect on the shoulder pads was achieved by doing a base coat of Silver Chainmail which was then washed with Secret weapon Armour wash, afterwards 3 coats of thinned Off White was applied and once dried using a scratching tool made out of fine wire bound to a hobby knife handle i scratched the surface of the shoulder pad until the metallic base coat became slightly visible. I then took a hobby knife and chipped random bits of white paint off here and there, this was followed by a coat of Secret Weapons Parchment wash.

Once the appropriate surfaces were painted black i then proceeded to coat these surfaces in undiluted Secret Weapons Blue Black Wash.
I then proceeded to highlight the black edges with a grey composed of 2/3 black & 1/3 cold grey, after this i highlighted these same areas to a lesser extent with yet another grey composed of 2/3 stonewall grey & 1/3 black.
I then washed all of the black areas with 50/50 mix of Secret Weapons Blue Black wash and H20.

At this point the highlights seemed fine but the rest of the black areas which were untouched by the dry brushing were way to glossy (an unfortunate side affect of Secret Weapons line of washes), I figured it was nothing to worry about as Matt Varnish would reel that glossy look back.
When it was done and dusted & the brush on Matt Varnish had dried i found that my highlights were way to dull so i may go back over the whole figure with a grey composed of 2/3 stonewall grey & 1/3 black.

I seem to be caught in a bit of a bind as far as my dry brushed highlights go.

Overall i am happy with the outcome but even so i would appreciate advice on how i can improve.
In particular i would love to hear how other people are doing Tabards & highlighting black areas.

Thanks

I think the black and the tabbard are great. My only criticism would be the red on the helmet and the tabbards purity seal look a little flat.
I really like the scratching on the pads.
Nice work.

Good job on the weathering!!

From your description it took an awful lot of work. Have you tried using a Brass Wire Brush? Just paint your boys up with the white shoulder pads and scratch the surface with the brush. The brass will scrape into the paint and will also leave "ghost" tracks if you rub softly.
Give that a run on some test shoulder pads..see if you like the effect

Andyman

Wow, really awesome. The red could use a wash, though.

Lucarikx

MOAR edge highlights! It'll make the model pop out more. Right now the black is a little bit much, it could use something to show off the details

Pretty damned good IMO.

I like that youre painting the backpack stabilizers in a metal color, ala the GW chapter pics. Ive never seen it done but you may have moved me to start.