Predictably, the resumption of the trimester has hindered my progress to a near standstill, but lately i've been finding time to fiddle with bits and do some assemblies. I take a deceptively long time to assemble characters these days, as I travel to the far reaches of the GW/FW bits universe and try to keep them original. I've learnt a good lesson from the bits I bought for my characters this time around - and that lesson is one that i've learned in the past. I'm not a fan of using non vanilla/UM bits to assemble ultras. I purchased some for the sake of experimentation and basically none of them have stuck - even if the model looks super cool, it feels wrong. With that in mind, I butchered a lot of lovely kits and vanilla bits with ambitious goals for conversion, and some have paid off. Anyway, enough spiel - take a look at these two characters I built over the past three days! hopefully there'll be some time for painting this weekend. Kudos to those who can guess all the bits used
I agree Whalemusic! I like to think the Captain with the sword has been administrating a futile defence from a bunker with his adviser, mr Hammer. They've held out as long as possible, and now there are some chaos goons at the door, and these two and the rest within the bunker are ready to fight to the last - or a similar such circumstance on the skirts of a battlefield where two sides are about to clash.
I get the feeling they were trying to parlay with someone, and it just ended with irrevocable differences. Mr. Sword has just resigned himself to single combat with his opposite number, and Mr. Hammer is giving the crowd a stare to make sure it stays single combat.
Hey all, like many, i've become a sucker for the new deathwatch releases - they came at a very cunning time for me, as although I haven't been painting much because of the restraints on my time these days, i've still been grossly immersed in the hobbysphere throughout these last months. Duncan Rhodes has become my Jesus, and as such i've been really wanting to sharpen up my painting basic skills and have been looking to divulge from my Ultramarines path for a time - and Deathwatch is the PERFECT avenue through which to do this! Thus, i've made an order, and will be starting a new P&M blog when I get my lil' mitts on it In the meantime though, uni is on a 2-week break at the moment, and I painted an Ultra captain and will be doing a few more things to fill the gap. You can probably notice the Duncan Rhodes painting influence having taken effect on this miniature when compared to my other recent ones. Patience and a steady hand, lord Rhodes teaches, is all that is need for painting success
More to come,
LDP
PS - RE: the photos, I still haven't been able to find a reliable and consistent photography spot at this Hall of Residence, so sorry if they aren't 100%.
EDIT - I forgot to mention when it happened, but I feel very honoured and privileged to have reached 1500 replies on the blog. Dakka is the best community and its so great to have a body such as this for fostering hobby vitality! You guys are all amazing.
Super stuff! If I were to make one minor suggestion, the foremost knee could use something on it to break up the blue, maybe a Company marking or such like, but that is really a tiny thing, and it's not detracting from the awesome mini, it just jumped out.
Duncan is a legend, half the time I'll find myself watching his tutorials for stuff I never intend to paint just to try and absorb some knowledge!
@Para yeah, I was thinking along the same lines after I completed the knee. The paintjob came out too smooth there for me to want to go over it :( And hahaha, ah man I do the same, whenever I have uni work that I should be doing, i'm watching Duncan painting a bunch of AoS stuff!
Anyway, finished this apothecary yesterday - quite chuffed with him, had a really good time painting all the little details and the servo skull following him around. I think it creates a cool suggestion of a little narrative around the miniature. Anyway, i'll leave the rest up to you guys, would love to hear what you think! Thanks for tuning in.
@Spacewolverine thanks a lot mate, good to hear from you again
@Kid_Kyoto thanks buddy - the miniature is actually a relatively complex kitbash. The components are as follows
-Body and Legs - From the FWRG Mor Deythan set
-Helmet - Vael Donatus from DW Overkill
-Right arm - a sternguard arm cut at the elbow with Pedro Kantor's fist attached and reversed
-Left arm - the medic arm from the Tempestus Scions box
-Backpack - vanilla apothecary
I had to trim the fixed arm off of the Mor Deythan body and attach the apothecary parts seperately onto the torso, but I think the end result is worth it
@EDC Thanks a lot mate - yeah i'll try to do the models justice - they look so nice
@Possum cheers for the feedback my man, mean a lot
Looks good dude, my only criticism on colour choice, the interior of the robe being a cream/white kind of blends into his armour, perhaps a black or dark colour may have separated it off.
I've created a new blog, and would love for you guys to all check it out! Its a Deathwatch blog, as i'm wanting to make a small force to accompany the Smurfy boys that I love so dearly.
Check it out here, and i'll attach photos of the test miniature that I have completed:
Hello everyone. It's been a while. Glad to announce that my last exam was sometime last week and i've been getting back into the hobby HARD! Unfortunately my time pressures this summer will be greater than the last, and i'm also finishing up some work things over the next few days, but I really hope to make some strides with my Ultramarines over the summer.
I've got a bunch of cool things lined up - including:
-2 Tactical Squads (1 of which is already in progress)
-A Captain or two (of course)
-All of the stuff still that I said i'd try to complete at uni (was always an unrealistic goal, its hard to fit anything in when juggling a triple major with a job )
-Some smurf casualties! (objective markers)
-and finally, a NEW MARNEUS CALGAR AND HONOUR GUARD BOX. My original models have served me well and have somehow held the highest rated image in my gallery since they were completed many many MANY years ago. I figured I owed it to the big boss and his boys to get 'em from scratch and paint em up real nice like.
I'm tackling the tactical squads first, in a similar manner to how I did the running group - that is, a few at a time, doing each squad of ten in wee groups of 3 or 4. The first group is finished, in which I painted 3 marines, and then after that I did the Veteran Sergeant up alone because I think the miniature is pretty, and deserved my full attention (also notice the new recipe for painting green power weapons, if anyone's interested I may make a wee guide). I've also, if you've noticed, changed my painting recipe slightly. Its a simplified version of my old blue power armour that achieves the effect a little quicker, and leaves the ultras a little brighter, the gold recipe has also been slightly changed to make it brighter also, making them a bit more true to their smurfy goodness. Man, Duncan Rhodes is having too great an effect on me!
I'll be doing another bach of 3 next, or, knowing me, probably all of Marneus and the Honour Guard .
Anyway, it feels good to have made a proper return, i'm very much looking forward to all painting endeavours on the horizon! See you all soon.
lipsdapips wrote: ...make some strides with my Ultramarines over the summer...
I'm sitting here, holding a cup of tea, with multiple layers on trying to warm up after just getting home. My initial reaction was 'What the are you talking about'.
Then I remembered you are in the southern hemisphere
Good to see you back at it! I'm excited to see Calgar and his honour guard buddies.
I looked at the pictures before I read the text, and was wondering what was up with the colours. I thought it was the pictures, but reading the text, I see you've changed the way you do things.
It's a noticable difference, fwiw.
(I noticed a slip on one of the shoulder highlights, too, and now I can't unsee it :( )
Hey guys, sorry for no posts in a while. I started on the new Marneus squad with the man himself - I lucked out and found a helmet with the same eye lense as Marneus' one! A couple comparison pics with the old Marneus in there - lemme know what you think!
I bet the one with the helmet is the evil mirror universe twin. Probably has a goatee.
You did a great job painting him, but it just feels a little odd to see him with a helmet. Not sure about the white either. He’s the chapter master, and a bit above just 1st company veteran status. I might have done it up in gold. No amount of bling is over the top for the chapter master.
Always love to see the new stuff on this blog. Papa smurf looks great, and while I second nev on thinking he looks odd with a helmet, I will eternally envy your ability to paint that smooth white. Great work as always!
Ehh, I don't know if a gold helmet would look very good. May sound good in your mind, but it's probably one of those things that isn't that impressive in practice. I don't mind the white personally.
Any update whenever is welcome, especially when it's This! The model looks excellent, but the white looks a tad out of place on him, with so much blue and gold.
I really like the look of the white helmet, but Calgar with a helmet is like Abaddon with a helmet - it makes sense, but visually I'm just so used to the bare head that it seems a little odd to me. Great painting on him though.
Great work! The eye lens on the helmet is a really cool touch. I think you can see a distinct improvement in colour work and overall neatness on the newer one.
My last update was mid December of 2016, but i've been silently following everyone's progress throughout the past year with the occasional comment here and there. My interest in the hobby hasn't wavered, but my living conditions prevented me from having the space to continue work on my Ultramarine army. Luckily, i've since moved into a new flat and have a workspace set up in my bedroom and have brought all of my hobby materials out of the woodwork! It feels great to be back let me tell you.
I spent the last year trying to reconcile the new Primaris releases, the new direction of 40k and of course the return of my Primarch! Took me a good while to get to a stage where I felt good about it and was able to reconcile all of the advancement of the 40k plot. Thankfully, 14-or-so months is a bloody long time, so i'm in there and happy about it now. I painted up an intercessor sergeant to see how up to speed I am and am really eager to get into some new projects. I feel like conforming a little to GW's shift towards slightly more mono-pose miniatures and focusing on my paintwork more so than my conversions, but I have no doubt they'll come back to the surface when I get some cravings. I also played a game against Knightley the other day to familiarise myself with 8th.
Typically my Ultramarines army has been quite singular and removed from the 40k canon, but i'll be trying to focus more on sticking with it, which should result in Guilliman being done up as well as some Custodes! Anyway, I feel as though I have more to say, but i'm eager to get back to the painting table, so for now i'll leave you with some photos of my first miniature for 14 months as well as a picture of my new paint station (you might notice something interesting on the desk)!
I’m a little “meh” on the new fluff, but am having a lot of fun painting up the primaris. Can’t fault GW for putting out some nice minis. I am also enjoying 8th as a ruleset. It’s got a few issues (every edition has though) but is fun and smooth.
Even after a break in painting, your marines still look excellent. And quite the array of stuff on the workbench. Looking forward to seeing them all get paint. And not just the big guy in front!
@Para good to hear from you as well. It's good to be back, the hiatus has left me full of vigour!
@Neve likewise great to hear from you - as far as 8th goes I am inclined to agree with you. I was hesitant to many of the changes Knightley was helping me through at first, but it actually streamlines the game quite nicely! I too am looking forward to painting some squads up - I think my inclination at the moment is more towards bulking armies rather than punching out characters (Roboute however is an exception , as well as someone else who i'll be working on shortly).
@San Very kind of you, good to hear from you again
@Mad.. I have no doubt our paths will cross again. The more battles the merrier!
@sierra cheers. Looking forward to all the new possibilities. The good thing about being away is that the 40k universe grows a great deal.
@Knightley I still need to pay you for that! FB me.
Hey everyone, just tuning in with some progress. The gold has taken me SO long on Roboute, but it is now finished, along with the blue and a few other minor deatils. This essentially leaves a few more minor details and then the Emperor's sword and the base as the last big hurdles of the model. Really looking forward to getting him knocked out so I can start on the new additions - the Custodes! It makes great sense story-wise that the custodes and ultramarines are in close communication and I loved the FW Open 2017 Ixion Hale model too much not to do anything with them. I've been having real fun visualising ideas and meddling with all the new kits, combining and crossing over various bits and bobs. But for the time being, i've just built a vexilius praetor, the tribune and a shield captain, and will get the remainder of the guys built after Roboute is done. Keen to make some more headway! That's all for now.
That's the LDP we know, casually chopping up pricey models for cool conversions! Worth it though, I really like what you've done to the standard Ixion and his arm works perfectly on the Vexilla. Looking forward to paint on these chaps.
Great to see you back in action! Love the conversions on the custodes. Great sgt model to get you back into the swing of things. And Robute looks suitably intimidating
Hey everybody! Roboute is finished. It turned out to be quite the journey - some stages took way longer than others and other less than I thought. i'm pretty pleased with the finished product, but the golds seem to have come out a little flat in the photographs. It doesn't seem that way in person but i'm not sure. It's essentially the product of changing my recipe slightly to more of a Duncan Rhodesy gold which is brighter all round and has a main highlight of liberator gold with some mithril silver zenithals - which overall makes it have less character I suppose. Regardless, i'm pleased with the result, painting him was a blast and it's not often an ultramarines player gets to paint what is essentially a monstrous creature!
Working on Custodes next and am equally excited for them.
Cheers for looking,
LDP
EDIT: The photos look a little dirty on here, clicking on them for a closer look amends that so I encourage doing so! Cheers everybody.
Looks cracking! The play of light on his right leg - his right - and on his chest shows the gold’s shine. Sounds like you’ve got the goldbug, moving on to Custodes
Amazing work dude! Normally, Guilliman looks a tad bit out of place, even as a primarch, but in your army, he looks like a natural fit! Really looking forward what else you have to show
Hey everyone, A quick turnaround on this guy. Still took me a good while but I got in a few heavy duty paint sessions over the past couple days so pumped him out. Quite pleased as far as my first Custodes miniature is concerned - you'll notice I diverge a little from the GW painting technique. The most striking instance is like the gold face plate. I feel as the the custodes are already so self-indulgent that its a cop out to not make them as gold as possible Anyway, let me know what you guys think - either way it was really fun doing up a BEAUTIFUL sculpt, even if it was a tricky paintjob. The marble stairs were probably the funnest part of the paintjob for me!
Cheers, LDP
EDIT - still trying to optimise the photography space in the new flat so please bear with me!
@lindsay40k the base model I used is Ixion Hale, who was an exclusive release mini from the FW open day in 2017. Naturally this means getting him in nz cost me a small fortune
Your Guilliman looks awesome, the fire effects, the blue gold, everything just works really well and you have done a great job on it. My brother has one and all I will say about the model is, watch out for the flaming torches on the base, they are flimsy as and both broke on my brothers very easily.
Custodes... looks amazing, and is that a AXE with a bolter? That's even cooler than the normal guardian spears! Maybe I should have a closer look at custodes, I don't have an imperial force yet hehe.
@Mad.. Hey thanks for the comments and for the tip! Yeah I don't doubt it, man. The torches were enough of a pain in the rear when I was painting him. @San Cheers buddy! The marble was very fun. Duncan has a fantastic tutorial for it on youtube. @kavika Thanks very much, I really appreciate that @Knightley indeed, indeed. I'm looking forward to there being a bunch of them. @Carlos great to have you on board! Hoping to bust out a bunch of content over the next month or so.
Hey everybody! How's it going on this balmy Monday night?! I'm just checking in with some progress. I'm feeling very sporadic with my painting line at the moment, almost to the point where i'm painting one Custodian, one Warden, one Custodian and so forth in a strange pattern. I have enough free time that I can almost do one a day, and i'm having a lot of fun with it! Gold is proving to be less of a pain than I anticipated. Retributor armour works wonders, especially compared to the complication of my previous gold recipe. I'm close to finishing this custodes at the moment - I can't remember where the head's from, but it's some SM kit from Forge World. I also tried to take some better photographs of the Shield Captain.
Cheers for checking in, stay tuned!
LDP
EDIT - doesn't help that the "better pics" are sideways :\
For better pics, I suggest a few simple things that'll make the world of difference (they did for my work!)
Spoiler:
Firstly, make yourself a lightbox. Doesn't need to be anything fancy, I use an old biscuit assortment box lined with white paper and with two sides cut off. Having one of these directs the light of your lamp back at the mini, making your shadows more prominent, your light more neutral and your colours more natural.
Example:
Then, you want to get yourself a background, something neutral in colour to sit behind the mini. A sheet of black paper or card, or something more specific like one of these:
http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/photo-backgrounds.html If you print one of those, make sure you do it on thicker paper as otherwise the ink will bleed and ruin the effect.
Finally, use a photo processor to correct white balance, crop blank space and just make things a bit neater. I recommend photoscape as it's free and fairly easy to get to grips with.
http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/download.php
It'll take some experimentation to find a setup that works for you, but in the long run it'll make a drastic difference. Your paintwork is always great, but more 'professional' (for want of a better word) presentation will take it that little bit further.
@Para Yea it is helpful, thank you. May have to look into making a light box. @Knightley cheers Like I said earlier, it's less arduous than I was expecting.
Very nice. I do think Wardens are the best of the bunch of the new releases, slightly edging out the Terminators and to my eye, leagues better than the regular Custodian kit, so I'm looking forward to your take on them.
@Para - cheers! Indeed, well brace yourself for my take. I saw some cabinet custodes from some GW event and they had these stunning cream coloured tabards so I couldn't resist replicating it for my guys.
@Cam My friend, you are too kind!
@Knightley Cheers They're actually a surprisingly simple formula I came up with for blue power weapons.
Hey everyone, finished up the Warden yesterday. I think from here on out i'm going to bulk do the 4 remaining guards and then do the same with the wardens, before doing the jetbikes
Yep, that cream tabbard absolutely works, somehow it stands out even more than the red and definitely does a better job of accentuating the depth of the gold armour. A force with the red kept on the regular guys (well, as regular as Custodes get!) and the cream used to denote elites would look lovely.
Thank you, Neve I am planning to intersperse some ultras in there to maintain my sanity, so don't worry!
I totally agree with you as well, Para. The warmth of the cream tabard falls in line with the gold to me - it gives way better unity to have a brown washed article than a black to accentuate the gold (the tabard would be built up from black if i did it red instead of brown). But as I said I can take no credit for the idea. If you're able to track down that reference pic i was talking about - those miniatures are breathtaking. I may have to do a little huntin myself :p
I also forgot to post this in memoriem for a super exciting project I was game for before I started my hiatus for more uni last year. I left some miniatures at my parents' house because my flat lacked the space, and sure enough, after repeated scours of the property they are nowhere to be found. Such a bummer as I was really excited for it and have the photographs from a year ago so we can all see the miniatures that will probably never be found and never be painted. My parents maintain that they only threw away "rubbish" but my skepticisms remainnnn!
R.I.P to an LDP classic honour guard for mr. Marneus Calgar
@Para I curiously managed to find two other custom honour guards I made at the same time who are on my desk - but the others were not with them at all. :( i'll post pics of the surviving two when I get around to painting them.
@Elnibbus haha Custard Blokes is a better name for the custodes I think
A bit of variation from all the gold - I've started tackling the inceptors. Really pleased with how the sergeant is going so far. I've managed to keep him very clean up to this point! The paint job on the box art is pretty much the sole inspiration for picking up this box so i'm glad it's working out!
Shame about the missing HG. Just think of them as on crusade in the Warp. Someday they might return, be it tomorrow or 20 years from now. "The house looses nothing.” They might just be hiding someplace really odd.
Inceptor is looking clean and smooth. Checks on the knee are crazy-tidy. I didn’t like those minis at the start, but they are growing on me. I’ve still got the bolter guys from the DI box to do myself, and am actually starting to look forward to tackling them. Seeing yours getting paint helps me see them in a better light.
@Neve a warp-crusade is a heartwarming thought -- I keep thinking they're all just sitting safe somewhere really obscure but when last there I tore my parents' house apart from head to toe looking. I agree on the inceptors though! Was NOT a fan at first but I am also warming. I'm significantly more fond of the designs of the plasma gunners though. Cheers as always for the feedback!
@Cassian Thank you, and yes, i'm happy to share the recipes.
Gold (Over black primer):
- Retributor Armour, 2 thin coats
- Reikland Fleshshade, wash
- Auric Armour Gold, layer
- Mithril Silver, highlight (I think Runefang Steel is the modern equivalent?)
At long last, I have finally finished who nerdfest09, I think fittingly, called 'Richard Hammerbrush'. I built him as a duo with the captain with mk.4 helm and sword that I finished just prior to my hiatus last year, and I feel a warm sense of completion knowing that at last they are both done. I'm really pleased with the results, especially the two of them together - testament I think to the builds of the models more so than the paintjobs. It's no secret at this point that I love the HH Character series and try repeatedly to fill the void of Ultramarines models in there by building my own. I feel as though these guys capture that aesthetic at least somewhat. In any event, i'll leave you guys with the pics. Lemme know what you all think!
Wow, you're really smashing these guys out at a rapid pace now! Lovely stuff, that model is badass and does fit perfectly with his companion from before as well.
They make a great pair. I can see them as an action buddy comedy across the battlefield. The sword guy seems so serious, as if he’s just shouted out a challenge, or just called “dibs” on some giant monster. Hammer just made some snarky comment, and is taking 5 while his partner works. Alternatively, Captain Hammer just cracked open a Wave Serpent or other transport, spilling the passengers out. “Did my part, you’re up!” “Right!” <sound of power sword firing up>
Since I showed the HG marines I lost, I figured i'd show the ones that I hadn't. Currently working away at the chapter champion. I also built this lieutenant out of spare parts today which was real fun
Ooohhhhh I remember the sword sliding out of the scabbard guy.... nice to see his buddy Richard is done now as well, they look great hanging out together.
Working away at the squad to get something done in a batch to break up all the single miniatures. I have to say i'm not one who really cares for drybrushing at all, but doing it on the silver highlights for these guys really buffs the armour quite nicely and makes it look far more burnished than lining it - a look I think is more befitting for the custodes. Going to keep trucking onwards so i'm just briefly checking in!
Custodes look great! And what I can only assume will be the scenic base for a Custodian Dreadnought (anything else would surely be heresy!) is shaping up nicely as well...
Paradigm wrote: Custodes look great! And what I can only assume will be the scenic base for a Custodian Dreadnought (anything else would surely be heresy!) is shaping up nicely as well...
Was going to make basing material joke, beaten to it. Of course, T:au should be used to base Ultramarines, not Custodes.
Thanks for all your feedback everyone @Para hahaha I wish it were so. I have such a soft spot for T'au I just can't help it :( @San cheers, yeah custodes are surprisingly quick to churn out. @Neve thanks my man, also refer to my reply to Para @Elnibbus the kit is easy, cooperative and beautiful. Only problem is that it's quite monopose in a lot of senses, although you do get some freedom. @Knightley Yea as I said, I can't help myself :( They such a cool army to me. @Cam cheers! Always great to hear from you @youwashock That's an interesting insight re: the stormtroopers! I actually see where you're coming from but never thought about it. Thank you!
Hey everyone! Trying my hand at a white scheme is really pushing all the boundaries of all my painting abilities, but the patience is paying off, and its proving to be really fun. I feel good with where the commander is at the moment, and am really eager to move forward and keep progressing.
Now if my foggy memory serves me correct, you already had a Tau army, but in the more classic Orange/Brown scheme, are they going to get a repaint, or will you look to combine the forces as a unified greater good force?
It was more of an scrappy hab-dash mess of certain things I felt like painting at the time. I think i'll leave finished miniatures out unless I need some extra stuff as a stand in and then see what's salvagable The T'au sept was sooo difficult to paint and its a surprising relief painting the WHITE of Vior'la.
Hey all, sorry for the short delay. Currently doing some ultras for the unofficial paint comp
EDIT: I'm not quite sure why, but my photo quality is rendering poorly on the sit. If you click on the image to zoom it looks far better! Why can't it look that nice on the main blog page?
Nice work as always, LDP. Honestly, I am so fething jealous^^ One question: The lastLieutenant you built on the last page... Where do you got the Bolter arm (left one) from?
@Lum the arm is a primaris marine arm holding a bolter - a bit i've been trying to convert for years! With the set now out I never have to worry about that agian.
OK, with a chaplain like that I guess we can forgive you for painting a T@au. But try not to make a habit of it. If it gets too bad down there, I’ll have to insist you paint up an ordo xenos inquisitor and/or a squad of Deathwatch.
@Knightley Cheers! I actually tried a different colour group for the highlights (towards a pinky skin tone instead of orange)
@Neve it would be fun, but I don't think it'd work so well with the clean finishes that I strive for :( The smurfs are pretentious enough that I think it would somehow pertain to have ultra-clean armour even in the midst of battle
@youwasshock thank you very much! It was a very fun model to convert and paint.
@cormadepanda thank you kindly! Hahah, I very much intend to
@Cam always good to hear from you. Really appreciate you encouragement
I got the Primaris captain today (and have ordered the ltd. ed. one online ) and had a go at some small conversion work and kitbashing and i'm suuuper excited! Really pleased with the pose I managed to get. Also made 2 Lieutenants to accompany the surprisingly big guy - really getting up to speed with that 8th ed fluff
For those after their painting fix, I did up this shas'ui over the weekend, and got lots done on my D&D miniature!
Tau are looking good. I’ve always hated working with white, couldn’t imagine doing a whole army in it.
Every wizard mini you see tends to be ancient with a beard, nice to see the young up-and-coming guys represented.
You say a captain and 2 LTs, but 2/3rds of them have Iron Halos, which only captains get. So you are going to have to make another LT.
If I haven’t said it recently, I am deeply envious of your modeling skills. You get amazing poses and flow out of your kitbashes, and once the (incredible) paint job is on, you would never tell that it’s been frankensteined from multiple sources.
@Neve ahhh ya' got me i'm in denial about my captain addiction. May indeed have to do another Lt. I appreciate your feedback and your comments, Neve, 'frankensteined' is a good way to put it! Yeah, it's always been my goal to get fresh, unique looking models that look as though they could've been store-bought in the poses they're in, and I have to say that i'm quite please with where i'm at in that capacity.
Tau are looking great, D&D guy is superb, love that guy. But it is your modelling of the SM guys that is above and beyond excellent, really stunning. You have one of the best looking armies out there.
Cracking stuff, the Tau and wizard (not things you expect to see in the same post! ) and those conversions are very promising.
The only one I'm not sure on is the first one, it might just be the angle but the legs look a little thin and almost like he's buckling under his own weight (the model is fairly top-heavy). If I'm right those are converted from regular SM legs, you might be better off just using Primaris ones or adding something to bulk them up a bit.
Sorry to nitpick like this, but the rest are so natural that he stood out a bit.
War Kitten wrote: I love those Lieutenants. Wish I had those guys for my Marines...
Can't you just kitbash them as he did?
If I had the right bits I could. I currently don't have that many spare bits after I purged my closet of a lot of the stuff I had laying around that I hadn't used in years.
@Para cheers for the feedback. Neither Lt. is actually meant to be a primaris marine, but nonetheless I see where you're coming from concerning the legs. They're actually FW legs from those Emperor's children swordsmen miniatures. I think the angle may play some role in the 'buckle' theory, which, you're right, in the photograph at least he does look like he's buckling and little. I've thrown some other angles in at the bottom of this post because I do think the mini isn't as bad in person - the leg stance IRL is more akin to the gravis DI primaris captain (beginning a forward advance, frozen in time just after starting the initial step).
@San76 thank you. I put some progress in last night, trying to take my time in the mundane phases so I can get to the fun stuff with a good base, but its really testing my patience! I'm too excited.
@War Kitten Noooo! Never throw the bits box away! I think a big chunk of my old bits box got lost when a bunch of my hobby stuff got moved around. Made me feel really limited in my options for things
I kit-bashed three of my LTs. I used the body from the DI set (which i got on ebay cheap) and then used the bits from the intercessor upgrades as well as some other conversions. You can find them on my blog, I don't want to throw up my work on LDPs page as his work is just plain fantastic.
LDP, what bit did you use on your last captain? i recognize the body from the Primaris Captain in Mk 10 tacticus armor, but where did you get the outstreched hand and the sword arm? they look amazing and dynamic. Love it brother.
@Azalle Cool! I'm a sucker for kitbashes so i'll check it out. The last captains arms are an amalgamation of many things. The outstretched arm is the arm that comes from the captain set, which i cut off and reglued at a slightly different angle. Then I did some minor cuts on the wrist and clued Sigismund's hand from FW on the end. The sword arm is from the plastic captain with the winged helmet that comes with the old command squad box. I cut the arm just above the elbow and glued it onto a different miscellaneous shoulder to give it the angle that the sword is on. Hope this helps!
Hey all. Sorry it's not an utras update. I'm on the D&D craze at the moment, and just painted up this miniature of my girlfriend's character for her. I figured I should share and see what you guys think of something a little different
That is amazing. Fantastic colours, great shading as usual. Got to say, that texture on the cloak, is it ridged or did you paint them on too. I mean I can see you have done probably the best paint job on material I have seen, but I can't work out if the ridges are painted or sculpted. Which ever it is, this is next level bud.
@San cheers! Yeah they eyes turned out to be huge but it ended up being a reflief actually. They came out quite well and i’m glad, and I appreciate your feedback
@camkierhi I wish it wasn’t textured! That’d be a crazy testament to my abilities I only wish it were true. Sure enough it had a strange texture that at first I found intimidating, but I resigned to drybrush and glaze and i’m proud of the result so I appreciate your feedback as always!
Hey everyone! I'm so chuffed to bring you this.
I am currently at my parents house, likely for the final time before they move elsewhere. I had a final scour of all the nooks and crannies of the place, and thanks to my mother, the squad I almost resigned to the fates showed up in the furthest depths of the tallest cupboard (not poetic license). I am so pleased to be reunited with these guys and can't wait to get some really exciting painting in.
The crusade into the warp is finished, and they have returned to real-space! Rejoice! Be sure you have the librarian check them out for any possible taint before painting.
You guys realized yet, these " men" managed to avoid the whole xeno invasion of the blog. I question their honour myself. Lost in the warp my butt. Only "found" when normal service is somewhat returned! Apart from the cute girl with the lizard. But come on we are all staring at her.
I finished the Primaris captain last night, and was really pleased with the result. The photographs are strange, however, as I took some directly under the painting lamp when I finished (hence the wet pva), before waiting for the morning to take some proper ones in the daylight. The reason for this is as follows: It was to my GREAT frustration this morning, when I picked him up to go my photography space, that his outstretched finger suddenly fell off right before photographs. It was only at this moment that I truly realised how essential that outstretched finger was to the entire miniature's dynamic flow. Next, I suffered from the strange phenomenon known as 'bits dematerialising away from reality whenever they land on carpet' - and I swear, after 30 minutes frantically scouring my floor, it was nowhere to be seen.
So, dejected, confused, betrayed, I hopped defiantly back to my desk before heading to university, already late, and performed emergency surgery on him using one of GW's (this time thankfully) abundant, generic "pointy-finger-charge-into-the-battle!" hands and slipped a replacement finger on there. I will have to paint it when I get home, but Christ, what a stressful morning. That said, i'm excited to see him get finished for a second time, and hope to take better photos when this is done as well. I am moving on to the first of my previously lost miniatures, the UM Chapter Banner, who was at this stage of WIP when they got lost at the time I started my hiatus last year. Looking forward to cranking out some beefy progress on him tonight (after the captain's finger, of course )
Hey all
Painted up the Chapter Banner yesterday and had so much fun! That was a task ~a year overdue, and it was really fulfilling getting him done at last after him being lost for so long. Moving on to more honour guard! Also I took better pics of the Primaris Cpt. with all his new fingers
Your reposed captain is just fantastic. And your paint job is just flawless. Well done brother well done. Your line work is envy inducing. Great work man, great work
Thanks Azalle! I'm glad I finally managed to get some photography of him up on the blog that did him some justice. I retoractively discovered that I must have dropped him at the paint desk and he landed on the outstretched hand, which was why the finger and thumb fell off which made me have to stagger my posts of his completion
Master Azalle my golds are done with retributor armour, followed by a wash of agrax earthshade, layered with auric armour gold and highlighted with mithril (Stormhost) silver
@TheCustomLime very kind words! Thank you. I suppose the one advantage to sticking to the army choice I made when I was 9 is that i've had 12 years of practice
Hey everyone,
The paint competition gave me a great excuse to paint up the 4 assault marines that accompany the sgt I painted up back in 2016. I employed my technique for blue armour for batch painting which differs slightly from that which I use for characters. It involves line washing instead of overall washing and layering back over. In some ways i'm inclined to think it looks better - the result is brighter and sort of more 'ultramariney', but in another breath you lose a bit of the grimdarkness that i've come to appreciate in my force. I'd appreciate some feedback on what you guys think about this!
Cheers,
LDP
EDIT: hmmm, photographs seem to render rather unfavourably for me on the forum at the moment, the lighting environment in my flat is very strange and I haven't nailed photographing in it yet. The picture quality improves drastically if you click on the images so feel free to do so if you want a closer look!
Wait a sec, you paint squads? I thought your army was composed of nothing but HQs and elite character heroes?
Honestly, I can’t tell a huge difference between the these guys and your last pic. Part of that might be the models; these guys are a lot less baroque then you normally do.
But whatever you are doing to them, it still looks awesome.
@Neve Hahaha I surprised myself - hopefully will be doing some MORE squads soon! The blue is a bit flatter and brighter, which has is pros and cons. But you're right, the colour difference is pretty insignificant, so it's a bit of a non-issue. @Azalle cheers as always my friend.
Hey everyone!
I went out on a mission today to get the materials to build a lightbox, and after some preliminary experimentation i'm pleased with these early results. Tell me what you think! I definitely feel as though I have solved my photography problem in this new flat. Always room for improvement but this feels like a big jump up.
OK, so you went from “awesome” to “awesome”. My Cool-o-meter is pegged. You were already at the top of the chart, I literally can’t perceive any better looking Ultramarines. I’m sure there are improvements there, but frankly my brain can’t process them.
Except the Tau. The new lighting shows all the flaws in your work. Abandon the filthy xenos project.
It might be interesting to take a new lightbox photo and make a composite pic with an old one, so you can do a direct comparison.I did it with my foot captain, showing the difference a lightbox/real camera makes on the same model.
All I'd suggest now (I might have mentioned it before, sorry for nagging if I did!) is getting a smooth background in there to hide the corner. Even a sheet of grey/black card would do, it just evens out the light and reflections so you're viewing the whole model against the same neutral background.
Neve, this seems like a good idea, i'll have to get around to trying that
@Para the background is a curved sheet like you mentioned. The guide I used recommended elevating the miniatures so I propped them on a box, which is what the line is. I'll remove it and experiment a bit!
@IGtR cheers, that he does. I'll be taking it into consideration. I appreciate the feedback!
Just doing some tests for compression of images as it's really horrible. There doesn't seem to be a way for me to reduce it though :(
@Para I took these photos with it off and agree, I like the plain setup quite a lot. It's annoying though that my phone camera sits higher than eye level of my miniatures, but i'll sort something out to work around that.
With the new edition and advancement of the 40k lore, my alt-universe black templar mindset of having no librarians went out the window, and i've started working on one. I got an overwhelming urge to do up a neat libby so I figured, especially since they're a 40k element that I neglect a lot, that I should get one in. In terms of miniatures i'm not far away from a full company actually, so I should see what I can do to make that a reality
@Valkyrie years of practice, careful brush prep and patience
Also, I realised that I never really uploaded a finished image of my sternguard squad that came together over time a while ago (i'm having too much fun with my lightbox and threw in a tac-squad fun shot, I apologise ).
I just clicked the first page, and then the last page... and WOW you have come a long why. Your skills have definitely improved. Very nice stuff. Is this all brush painted, or do you airbursh any of it?
@Dynas thank you! Yes, I shudder to think of the material that occupies the first half of this blog. All of my stuff is still brush painted - i'm not a huge proponent of the airbrush -- not yet at least...
@complex57 thank you very much! Its taken years of fine tuning to get my hand to stay steady
@San76 Very kind! Thanks as always.
Hey everyone! Had a hectic few days at uni recently, but got a good couple hours in and finished off my first librarian! I'm actually quite chuffed with how it came out. Since there was a darker blue already for the librarian I figured I'd go for a brassier bronze-gold as well - both of which colours are contrasted a bit by the original Ultramarine heraldry on his left shoulder. Anyway, keen for you guys' thoughts! I have a few projects on the horizon for what's next but i'm still waiting on a few bits shipments
Back to normal I see, well given that normal is stunningly brilliant smurfs. Light box is really working, but it does really help that your paint work is superb.
Looks good. A bit more muted then your normal work, but that’s not a bad thing. The non-ultra tone of the blue might be throwing me off. Or the brass. Sort of like a mirror universe Ultramarine.
Cheers for the feedback everybody! Dynas, Warp Angels, Stevo, thanks for joining and for the comment!
Hey everyone! Really chuffed with this one. Tackled and finished another one of the miniatures from the "long lost" collection. This honour guard conversion which I was really proud of. Feels good to get him done at last, and i'm pleased with the result. Would love to hear your thoughts!
Cheers for tuning in,
LDP
EDIT - as usual, i've taken the pictures with wet PVA on the bases because i'm too excited
Hey all, just checking in with 3 tactical marines - nothing flash, just want to get the squad out. I did 3 other marines and the sergeant end of 2016 for this squad so I was wanting to finish it off. I have one more batch of 3 then it'll be done.
@youwashock I appreciate that - I was really gutted when I thought this particular mini was lost for good because I was really pleased with the conversion - glad to have him back and finished
@Para I feel you there bud. Tac marines and their non-primaris buddies are too few and far between. I fear for the monopose future of GW :(
@Valk The base model is the primaris captain - i repositioned his arm and attached sigismund's outstretched hand, and the sword is from the captain from that Raven Guard Tau box that came out a while back. i think he comes with a command squad set now. I cut the arm at the elbow and repositioned that too.
@San76 Thank you! I have a bunch more to get to and i'm quite excited for it
Tacs are looking good. They going to get a rhino when the squad is complete? It might just be the lack of coffee in my system at the moment, but I can’t recall you doing vehicles. When was the last time you did an army shot? Or took inventory? You paint so many cool HQs and elites, I’m a bit curious what your army looks like these days.
The last vehicle I did was a Land Raider Redeemer in 2016 before my hiatus. As far as vehicles I have a couple of Rhinos, a razorback, a dakka predator and the Land Raider. I've given away a couple vehicles whose paintjobs haven't aged well. I'm meaning to get onto some stuff like that though - things I tend not to paint as often as my regular produce (which you're so very good at pointing out Neve )
The RG symbol could be a memento from a time he was seconded to that chapter. I'd assume having exchanges between chapters, especially founding chapters, wouldn't be uncommon for those in leadership roles.
I was content with the RG symbol looking 'Imperial eagle-y' enough for me, but hey! I actually like whale's justification far more adds some nice character to the sarge. I appreciate the input!
lipsdapips wrote: I was content with the RG symbol looking 'Imperial eagle-y' enough for me, but hey! I actually like whale's justification far more adds some nice character to the sarge. I appreciate the input!
I agree that it’s a nice bit of fluff to add some character to a mini. I painted my bike captain’s helmet in a White Scars scheme for that reason myself.
Hey guys!
Finished up the next custom default honour guard today. More of a regal, 'stand and stare' type. The next few will be more action-oriented but for now i'll be breaking it up with some vanguard vets.
I've attached a group shot of where Marneus and Co are currently standing.
Really loving all of the Honour Guard, great conversions and they look awesome all together.
Also loving the Tactical marines. I only have 2 more Tac Squads left to paint to make a full company. I will miss the models (guessing will all be Primaris from now on).
@straightsilver Yeah I feel you there bud. I'm closing in on company strength myself as it happens. I have a bunch of assembled and primed tacticals still and i'll be damned if i'm not finishing them up over time, whether primaris exists or not!
@Crimson_ Thank you very much. There are a bunch of other minis in the HG i'm keen to get onto, but i'm treating them as a 'one-at-a-time' sort of exhibition process, to break up the rest of my work. So it'll probably be spanned over quite a long period of time. You were a direct inspiration to get me onto my vanguard so quickly! Your squad is real flash.
Hey guys - tuning in with progress on my first vanguard vet.
I'm really taking my time with these guys and am going to try and nail the squad - inspired by the neat, uniform finish of Crimson's vanguard vets and I want to get a quality finish on my guys too.
@Neve I feel you there bud. Took years and years of trial and error and factory-lining miniatures with bad white parts to get my white-painting to where it is. Praise be to Duncan Rhodes and the thin-coats mentality!
@Crimson_ Thank you! I paint finecast minis or forgeworld stuff a lot of the time so it's really nice when I get to work on stuff that's rendered in GW's reliable plastic for a change. I truly feel like the surface your working on affects your paint-job significantly.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Hey everyone. Got a spell in today to do some more work on the vanguard vet. I really wish I wasn't so busy at the moment! I'd be painting like crazy if only I had more time. Anyway, maybe it's for the better as I really feel like i'm able to put my all in to this veteran, and i'm quite pleased with how it's going so far. I essentially took the power axe finish that is on the back of the Vanguard vets box (Held by the raven guard marine) and changed the scheme from blue to green. Keen to get more done ASAP.
@Para yeah cheers - it's satisfying to do a retrospective and see how far i've come. This is the first decent image of a power weapon on the blog from way back in 2011:
Neve, Crimson, thank you guys Dakka is really fulfilling as I can trace the 7 years of progression and the whole duration has been underscored by great feedback and interest from people like you!
So, I finished the first veteran. I'm really proud - I feel like my patience has paid off with him, it really pays to just put in that extra little bit of time. He's given me great footing for the rest of the squad. Up next is a mk. 6 with lightning claws
The power axe on that Vanguard Vet is gorgeous. I got a few Tac Marine Sergeants who have an effect like that on their swords, and I love it to pieces.
Been real busy with uni lately, lots of dense class, translations and marking, so I haven't had much time or mental capacity to get some paint down. That said, I took the night off tonight and got some headway in on the next veteran. I also built my lord executioner of the ultramarines to be the capstone to this assault wing that i've found myself working on lately.
@Neve busting out far too many HQs is so much of what keeps me loving this hobby
Hey all!
Got a good spell in tonight and finished off vet number 2. Pleased with him over all. I don't paint lightning claws very often and it was nice to do some
@Para the cloak is from WC Artemis, the helm from the UM DW character, the left shoulder (with the shield and tassle) is from the limited edition primaris captain and the jump pack is made from bits from the regular assault squad kit. Otherwise it's all vanguard bits
Checking in with some progress on the sergeant of the squad.
I always love painting sergeant helmets. There's an 'Eavy Metal painter on instagram who posts 9-grid images of all the different helmets in his primaris army and it's really inspiring.
Also, i've tried the ever so slightest stray away from my clean paintwork on the eye lens, a titchy-wee piece of battle damage!!!! It's a small scrath on either side of his right eye.
I’ve never been a fan of the red helmet for sarges. Probably just that my army pre-dates that convention, and I generally don’t go back and repaint guys. Always good to see a helmet stripe though.
Been a bit slow of late, LOTS of uni work. That said, I finished up my D&D mini and figured i'd share a pic for anyone who wanted to see. I am still working away at the vet squad, but progress has been slow. I'm waiting til I get a decent chunk of free time so I can put a bunch of work into the last couple. The photograph has brought the awful clipping on the thunder hammer to my attention, which is handy. I will have to shave that away
Hey everybody, Finally got a chance for some decent progress on this guy. Felt good to get a good session in at the painting table after what feels like a while. Got the armour highlights, whites and golds done. In retrospect, I agree with Crimson in that I should have filled the gaps in the jump packs, but ultimately i'm not too phased. Stuff to consider for next time ultimately this squad I feel is coming along quite nicely - so i'm just looking forward to seeing them all finished.
I assumed you left those there on purpose. In some cultures, artists leave flaws in their work, as only the divine can achieve perfection. And while one should always strive to be more like the God Emperor, getting too close could lead you to Horus’s fate.
Amazing work as always. Getting to the point where I feel I should grab a thesaurus to broaden my field of complements.
@Neve I feel like I should grab one too for responding! Its a true testament to your support, I appreciate it every time. All the comments inspire me to keep on going Every ultras players comment is worth all the more as well I feel like we're a breed that is few and far between these days.
Good to see your progress and that you take my criticism as constructive as it was meant. I agree that moldlines are somehow more visible on photos, must be the light.
Great work on the stormshield vet. Im running out on compliments, so i just look at the mini one more time
Nice neat work. If you want a quick fix for the mould lines, cut a thin strip of plasticard, glue it over the mould line and paint it maybe the same bling-ed up gold as your armour trims. Would look like deliberate decoration rather than an omission.
)
are you talking about'.
.
That is off the charts. 
you Gue'La are smarter than you look....
