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Hey all, I just completed this combat squad of assault marines and would like some CONSTRUCTIVE feedback. I am well aware that there are glaring issues with them (i.e. my filler didn't work properly when assembling the jump packs so the assembly lines are visible, etc), but welcome any tips/ suggestions/ ideas and so on.

I used Army Painter paints and am pretty happy with the results. The red came out a little more orange than intended, but truth be told, I like it; hence, the reason I may go with a subchapter of the Blood Angels. These guys ended up being a test bed for several techniques I will employ on others: like the heating effects on the flamer/plasma barrels, and inking the eye lenses to get a glowing effect.

Most of these effects are ones I picked up by reading or videos, and so are not new. Any questions, let me know.

I have started on a squad of devastators and tac marines using the same techniques. I hope to be done before Adepticon so I can field these guys. Altogether, I am fairly happy with the results. The last time I played was the 2nd edition rules, so my guys may get blown to hell but at least they will do it in style!

I really like them. Nice color scheme too. They will be perfect once you've added insignias.
Maybe the chest eagles could a contrasting color to pop out, but I don't know which one. Gold or bronze maybe?

And it's nice that thers's no damage/weathering. A marine's weapons and armor are literaly Holy to him, so they should be in pristine condition.

Looks sharp! What grey did you use for the hardlines? Also what orange is the highlight? Any thought on names for the chapter?

That's Army Painter? The quickshade dipping technique right? Some of the best I've seen if so. Really top notch work.

I'd say just keep em Blood Angels. Tons of pre-made chapter symbols and whatnot, and that red is pretty on point for 90's style BA.

Cheers

----I really like them. Nice color scheme too. They will be perfect once you've added insignias.
Maybe the chest eagles could a contrasting color to pop out, but I don't know which one. Gold or bronze maybe?

And it's nice that thers's no damage/weathering. A marine's weapons and armor are literaly Holy to him, so they should be in pristine condition----


Thanks! I agree, insignias will add a finishing touch. I went with the black chest pieces because that is the normal BA color scheme, but combined with the jump pack straps, it is too much. I contemplated doing them in the white/cream colors like the Blood Ravens, but the red of their armor is darker. I think a bronze or copper would look good.

Funny you mention weathering. I thought about trying it out on these guys but chose against it. I am not a fan of weathering to the extreme that some choose to do it. I imagine more like your average M1 Abrams or Humvee in the sandbox; they get their scratches but are well maintained. Maybe some dust around the edges, too. I definitely know where you are coming from.


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----Looks sharp! What grey did you use for the hardlines? Also what orange is the highlight? Any thought on names for the chapter?----

Thank you! I will have to check the names of the paints when I get home. The grays were a pair from Citadel. The orange edge highlight is from Army Painter- I will get those names for you.

I threw some names around, but nothing stuck. I'd like to stick with the "blood" theme and make it dark/gothic. Any ideas are welcome, though I may keep them BAs.


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----That's Army Painter? The quickshade dipping technique right? Some of the best I've seen if so. Really top notch work.

I'd say just keep em Blood Angels. Tons of pre-made chapter symbols and whatnot, and that red is pretty on point for 90's style----

Thanks for the compliment! 90% is Army Painter, just some detail work done with Citadel/Games Workshop.

I've seen the dipping technique in video, but never done it. The armor was done using an airbrush and zenithal highlighting; it makes for some beautiful transitions. Once I laid down the three reds/orange with the airbrush, I went back thru and applied a shade in the recesses. I then applied the orange edge highlight. When all was said and done, I am very satisfied. I can't wait until Adepticon, hopefully I can find a really nice set of brushes!

You'd be fine keeping them as BA if desired, older style BA painting had the black edging on the shoulder pads. Sadly I do not excel at naming chapters so I can't do much in the way of suggestions. :/

I really can't see anything to actually criticize on the paint job. They look great to me, I'd be quite wowed if you played an army painted to that standard.

My only real suggestion is to paint the thunder hammer "heads" something other than silver if you so desire. It can add more contrasts to the model and look sweet if done right. This isn't a criticism by any means, simply tossing out something I like to do, but also really comes down to personal preference.

Very nice, using the camera flash leaves any imperfections on your models nowhere to hide, but your lines still look next to perfect even with it on, well done.
My only criticism would be that the golds look a little flat, I feel they could use a little shading/highlighting

 troa wrote:
You'd be fine keeping them as BA if desired, older style BA painting had the black edging on the shoulder pads. Sadly I do not excel at naming chapters so I can't do much in the way of suggestions. :/

I really can't see anything to actually criticize on the paint job. They look great to me, I'd be quite wowed if you played an army painted to that standard.

My only real suggestion is to paint the thunder hammer "heads" something other than silver if you so desire. It can add more contrasts to the model and look sweet if done right. This isn't a criticism by any means, simply tossing out something I like to do, but also really comes down to personal preference.

Thanks for the compliment! I wholeheartedly agree, just started running out of time; had to move on to other squads. I would definitely like to do something with the Thunder Hammer; I'll be perusing Dakka for inspiration. For now, it is done and usable.




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 Niatona wrote:
Very nice, using the camera flash leaves any imperfections on your models nowhere to hide, but your lines still look next to perfect even with it on, well done.
My only criticism would be that the golds look a little flat, I feel they could use a little shading/highlighting

Thanks! Any ideas on the gold/bronze details. My method is a base of weapon bronze, then gold, with a final silver highlight. Oh, and a wash in the middle. Some of the skulls just look like gold blobs. I thought of using a darkened bronze (mixed with a dark brown) for the base to create more contrast between layers. As one of my high school art teachers said, it's all about contrast!

Yeah the flash was a gamble! I'm happy with the final result in "normal" light, just wanted to be able to see into the detail in the pics.


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 Icelord wrote:
Looks sharp! What grey did you use for the hardlines? Also what orange is the highlight? Any thought on names for the chapter?

Icelord, sorry to take some time getting back to you. The final edge highlight is Lava Orange from Army Painter. I start with Dragon Red over a black primer. With the airbrush that gives me a dark red, almost brownish-red over most of the mini. I then move on to Pure Red and build many (probably about 7-10) very thin coats. It starts to pick up that orangish hue then. My final coats with the airbrush are a 1 to 1 mix of Pure Red and Lava Orange, that way the orange EH stays somewhat subtle.

The grays are from games workshop- Eshin Gray and Dawnstone.

Agreed with the others. I really liked the details on your special weapons. The burnt effect on the muzzles and that blue pilot light are really nice.

Thanks so much for getting back to me! These look great and I am going to try something similar!

I was thinking of starting with Vallejo burnt umber as opposed to the darkest of reds. I was thinking of mine being less orange more red. What do you think?

Very nice work