Welcome to my Fire Hawks Blog!

My original post about the Fire hawks is below, but I thought I'd add a couple of links at the top here for convenience.

Paint a Fire Hawk Contest
Paint a Fire Hawk Contest Rules
Paint a Fire Hawk Contest Entries
Paint a Fire Hawk Contest Winners

Yellowbeard's To-do List




Hello, Dakka.

At the urging of Solar_lion, I’ve decided to start a P&M blog. I hope this blog will give me an incentive to keep painting, and more importantly, that it gives me feedback and advice to improve my painting and modeling. With some patience, a lot of practice, and a little luck, I hope to take these guys to Adepticon next year.

Personal Information

I’m new to Dakka and relatively new to Warhammer. I used to play WH 40k back in 2nd ed. I played Eldar then. But, I left the game and sold my army for financial/temporal/geographic reasons. A couple of months ago, I became interested in the game again, especially with the release of the new Space Wolf and Tyranid models. I managed to get down to Adepticon for a day, and now I’m really excited about it. I’ve never been very creative, but with all of the changes in the hobby over the past 16 years, especially the information available on the web and online communities such as Dakka, I think I can do ok….

Fire Hawks

Not many people seem to play Fire Hawks, and there isn’t a whole lot of information on them out there. As far as I know, though, the first mention of them is in Rick Priestly’s description of the Badab War in White Dwarf 101 back in 1988, so they’ve been around for a while. (You can read Priestly’s description of the Badab War in the first post of Gitsplitta’s Rebuilding the Mantis Warriors.) Of course, the chapter was greatly expanded in Forge World’s IA 9: The Badab War part 1. We do know that they were part of the 26th or “Cursed” founding, two of their homeworlds were destroyed (one in a nuclear holocaust), they fought in the Badab War, they disappeared mysteriously (possibly due to imperial machinations), and their survivors may make up the Legion of the Damned. Some pretty cool stuff, actually. For those interested, you can read more about them at the Lexicanum: Fire Hawks.

Why do I like these guys?

- Relatively Rare Chapter – Not many people seem to play the Fire Hawks, which suggests it will be a little different on the table top.
- Badab War - Yeah, SL got me hooked on the Badab War….
- Color Scheme – I like yellow armor, for some reason, and the original color scheme for the FH was yellow with red flames. (I remember liking back in the late 80s even.) I also like FW’s updated color scheme, too.
- Not Codex – This is just fluff, really, but I think it opens up the possibility of different and interesting armies.
- Fleet Based – I don’t know why; it just appeals to me.
- Close Combat – I like the idea of assault marines… not that I’m any good at close combat, I just liked the image of marines jumping into combat. Plus, you know, jump packs, power swords, and flamers….
- Swords and Dueling – What? I’m German.
- Vindicators
- Fluff – I like a lot of the mysterious background: the cursed founding, the destruction of two homeworlds, nuclear disaster (which goes a long way toward explaining the original mushroom cloud symbol the chapter used), the rivalry between Lazaerek and Huron, the Badab War, the mysterious disappearance, the Legion of the Damned….
- Symbols – I like the image of the phoenix and the idea that the chapter has risen from disaster (nuclear holocaust, Badab War) time and time again and that they might rise again….

Codex?

I haven’t thought too much about army lists yet; I’m mostly interested in fluff and imagery at this point, but I think I’ll play them as Blood Angels. The BA emphasis on assault marines, jump packs, and close combat as well as the availability of inferno pistols seems to fit the FH well. This means I won’t be able to run the FW character, Elam Courbray, but I was thinking I might just convert a model and run him as “counts as” Commander Dante (and just call him Courbray… or Lazaerek?).

That’s it for now. I’m working on a couple of test models, and I’ll try to post some pictures in a day or two. In the meantime, any comments or thoughts about the Fire Hawks are welcome!

So, I've started a couple of test models, but I can tell already that I'm going to be disappointed. I'll post a couple pictures later anyway, so that I can get some feedback and advice. For now, however, I could use some help choosing a good color scheme and figuring out how to paint it.

Original Fire Hawks Color Scheme



This image is the original Fire Hawks color scheme published in White Dwarf 101 (1988).

New Color Scheme





These two images show the new Fire Hawks color sheme from Forge World's Imperial Armour 9: Badab War part 2.

So, I could use some suggestions:

1) Which color scheme do you like best ? (Why?)

One thing I was thinking of doing was to paint two color schemes: the new scheme would be for regular marines; the old one would be for veterans and such. I like the effect this kind of two-color scheme has in an army. See, for example, Gitsplitta's Tranquility Snipers in his Mantis Warriors.

2) Do you have any suggestions/recipes for painting yellow?

I've tried one darker scheme, but I think it needs to be brighter for the Fire Hawks.

3) How would you paint the new red (?) color scheme from IA9? There seem to be two colors there: a kind of rust red on the power armor and a darker red on the terminator, but I'm not really sure what shade of red that is. Any ideas on how to achieve a color like that?

Thanks.

I actually had planned to reverse the paint scheme years before the IA book presented the new FH scheme, but changed my mind when I decided I just didn't want to paint flames on everything.

But I've always liked the Fire Hawks and the fluff for them. As far as running them as Blood Angels, if you're creative with magnets and model selections you could easily run the army as both Blood Angels and Codex Marines depending on what suited your mood. They you'd also be able to run the FW rules from time to time.

@Veteran Sergeant: Thanks for the comment. I'll keep that idea in mind.

Ok, so I tried painting a couple of models. These are the first two models I've painted in 16 years. Also, my first attempt at line highlighting (though I don't know if you can see it in the pictures). Also, first attempt at freehand. (Please disregard my pathetic attempt at flames.) (Sorry for the poor quality of photos: phone camera.)











I learned a lot painting these, but I know I have a long way to go....

C&C welcome!

Why dont you mix them eg if they were made up of two company's have one with red and yellow flame and then one with yellow and red flame

I would go with the new scheme simply so it doesn't look like you've painted flames on Imperial Fist marines.

The photos of your test figures don't look bad, but they're kinda small, so it's hard to get more than a general idea. I think they might benefit from a darker red tone like you see in the illustration - give a more serious and brutal tone to them with a muted paint scheme.

@warrior lord: that's kind of what I was thinking I'd do: yellow for veterans (so first company) and red for normal troops (2-10 companies).

@Kage: Thanks. Sorry about the photos. I took them with my phone, and that's where I could get them to focus. Definitely need to work on my photography.

I see your point about the yellow armor, though there are other yellow chapters out here, too (Lamenters). But I agree that the ted would be good, especially if it was darker. I think jt needs to be "warmer" too. This scheme was based on the Flesh Tearer scheme (so, prime black, Mephiston Red, Wazdakka Red, Evil Sunz Red highlight). I was thinking of starting out with a darker red (Khorne Red) and then going up a shade or two. I also used Badab Black to wash; I might try Carrburg Crimson next time.

I know nothing about color theory, though. Can anyone recommend an article or a tutorial on it?

Thanks.

why dont you start a legion of the damned with fire hawk shoulder pads?

I like where this is going! Experimenting never hurts. I normally blend washes together and one of my favorites is sephia with about 25% of devlin mud (or whatever it is called) it looks warm and bit darker.

I hope this helps!

@eldartau1987: Thanks! I may try that wash blend. In truth, I made a mistake and started to wash the yellow marine with Agrax Earthshade (Devlan Mud) instead of Sepia. I tried to fix a little, but it came dirty and gritty. (not necessarily bad, but I think I want a brighter/warmer yellow.). That mix may do the trick.

@warriorlord: Legion of the Damned are definitely on the list! But, right now I'm working on the Badab War period, so LotD will come later.

If you look at some of the pictures in IA9, you'll see that the marines' boots shade into an ash or bone color.





I'm wondering if FW did that on purpose as a nod the LotD, kind of like the fire is burning up their feet, leaving ash and bone. I definitely want to try that.

Anyone know a good bone color recipe using the new paints? How about ash?

You might want to start with an orange or a brown and tint it red to get that rust color. Something like the old Tausept Ochre (Balor Brown now?), with some red mixed in, or perhaps a watered down Carroburg Crimson brushed over it. I'd definitely start with a brown or orange base and add red to taste to get that base color.

As for painting yellow, Averland Sunset really does a pretty decent warm yellow. You could base your flames with that and try Lamenter's Yellow glaze over it if you decide you want a richer yellow. I've also heard that painting white and then applying Casandora Yellow over it can provide a pretty decent yellow color.

arkhamjack is correct with the Casandora Yellow. I am doing an entire GK army like that, just priming white, then air brushing Casadora and finally touching it with a bit of Lamenters, It is cool to see. I am not sure how it will work with your overall scheme though. I think that Averland and washed brown will give you a warmer feel.

@arkhamjack: Thanks for the suggestions! I had thought about starting with Mournfang Brown but then put it aside because I wasn't sure where it would go. I like your suggestions about using ochre/brown followed by a crimson wash. That might do the trick. Need to pick up a couple more paints, I guess....

@eldartau1987: i thought about tryin Cassandora Yellow over white, but I thought it might be too pale (based on the White Dwarf article). I hadn't thought of following it with Lamenter's Yellow. Thanks! (but, yellow Grey Knights? )

Hey Yellowbeard! Just noticed the link in your sig. Anything I can do to help, just let me know. There's a link to a my yellow tutorial in the OP of my MW page. That's for using the brush method mainly. I can also give you some hits for air brushing yellow if you want to go that route.

@Gitplitta: Thanks for checking out my blog! I'm a little embarrassed to say that I did read your tutorial and used it as a guide. But, I messed up, and for some reason, I decded to wash with Agrax Earthshade (Devlan Mud) instead of Sepia. I also started with grey primer because it's what I had. White, no doubt, would be better. I also need to figure out how to layer paints properly....

Small update for today.

First, a couple of better pictures of the test models:



Stupid mold lines.



Wow. Sloppy. Yellow paint on the copper.





C&C welcome!

Also, I picked up an Army Painter Detail brush this week and practiced a bit painting flames:



It looks a little better at a distance, as the close-up reveals how sloppy it actually is, but I think it's an improvement over this



Remarkable the difference a decent brush can make.

I still need practice, of course; I need to develop more control with my brush. I probably should have started with orange instead of yellow. Also, I need to figure out a good color for the boot, which I want to fade into ash or bone. Ant suggestions?

NOM NOM NOM
lost and damned good lookin

White primer will help *IF* you want a vibrant yellow. Keep in mind that whatever you wash with, you want to take a lot of it off immediately, or it'll just make your yellow look dirty. As soon as you've slopped the sepia on, get the brush very wet and go back over all the high spots and big plates, basically you want to wash the sepia off these areas and leave it only around the edges and underside. Then you need to keep an eye on the fig so the wash doesn't accumulate into big drops, otherwise it'll dry in big brown patches that'll be hell to try and paint over.

I think your red is too red. I look at the IA books and see more of a rust red or more of a orange tint to it. IMO this is why the yellow seems to not be as bold and seems to blend in better. I'd follow up with wash of Sepia ( Git explained it best.) Then let dry completely. From there you can continue to specifically apply washes to darken areas.

For the armor Joints I prefer black the drybush the color you want as a highlight. The key is to use a damaged brush that has very very little paint. Using the brush as a “ Duster” to pick up the outer most edges only.

I try mixing a few blends together till you get the color you want for your base. Start there. Flames later.

Lets get together and I can demonstrate some of the techniques I have picked up and think work. You are on the right track and practice makes perfect. also I can bring my AB to do some basecoating once you've determined a case color.

I guess the first thing you need to decide is whether you want to model after the original Fire Hawk patterns, or the newer IA ones. All of the IA color schemes are very dull and muted when compared with the originals, and your processes for achieving them would be quite different.

I like the new IA look myself. More color contrast. I like the steel look of the Termi helmet. There is some nostalgic appeal to the old color scheme. Though bright yellow will make them look like Imperial fists. The Atomic bomb blast is just not appealing for my tastes ( along the lines of " space sharks or flame anything). In all ...do what your excited about. It’ll keep you motivated and trying new things.

As always let me know if you need anythihg

SL

@SL and Gits: Thanks, Gentlemen, that is very helpful.

These two models were very much practice models. So, for example, when I did the joints, I painted them black followed by a Hashut Copper drybrush. They came out nice (better on the red than the yellow). But then I workde some more on the yellow and got it on the copper....

As for color scheme, I actually like both of them. My thought was to do red for ordinary troopps and then use the yellow for veterans. Gits. I really like the effect the tranquility Snipers has in your mantis Warriors and was thinking of creating something similar. I agree, though, the mushroom cloud is a bit much. (I get it now, with the destruction of Zhoros, but I may use it for a banner rather than shoulder pads.)

SL, I agree that the red is too red. I don't really like the orangey-rust on the power armor, but I do like the deeper red on the termi. It's a warmer red. arkhamjack suggested starting with an ochre or brown base and then washing with red to build that color. I may try that. On the other hand, I could see going with something bolder. For example, something like James Wappels' BloodAngels for the red or Wappel's Imperial Fists for the yellow. I really like the purplish red he achieved on the Blood Angel assault squad, even if it isn't really the IA red.... Wappel is way beyond my skill level, but I might be able to achieve something similar.

Really? .. nothing like setting the bar high.. I like in his IF he painted the lames in the dreads leg. WOW! Get painting!!

Wappel's BA ...The red is on the blue side, not the yellow . Certainly would give it a different look. You could try washing your red with a blue or purple wash instead of brown.

SL

Piece of cake Yellowbeard.... you can wip out one of those in an evening after work!

Yeah, I know, right? Eyes bigger than stomach...

Wappel describes his process for the red here. I think it comes down to this:

Scab Red (Khorne Red) + Rotting Flesh (Nurgling Green) base (1:1?)
Add Rotting Flesh in for highlight layers
Scab Red + "ivory" (Bleached Bone?) final highlight

Thin Ogryn Flesh (Reikland Fleshshade) + Baal Red (Carroburg Crimson) "transparent glaze" wash (1:1?)
Add Baal Red in increasing "purity" (red)
Baal Red + Asurmen Blue (Drakenhof Nightshade) wash
Baal Red + Badab Black (Nuln Oil) final wash

No doubt, Wappel does many more passes than I would, but that general recipe makes sense. What I got from it was the idea of mixing different colors into the red - green and blue. That will create a very unusual color. I never would have thought of that; I would have added yellow or something.

I think two things make Wappels figures really pop: his skill in layering and belnding colors and the details. I don't have any illusions taht mine will look that good, but I might be able to get that darker, purplish-red color.

I'm not sure about the yellow, though in another post, he mentions that he started with Tausept Ochre (Balor Brown) as the basis for a Sanguinary Guard. he's actually painting NMM, here, but the base color is quite yellowish. That's also the color arkhamjack suggested I try as a base for the yellow, and I think Gits mentioned that he starts with a brown base for his yellow, now, too. So, a start, anyway....

I started with brown as well. I went with a rust as I think it added more range of depth. I can wash it with sepia and get more color blending. IMO.

Still Wappels is nothing short of amazing.

Good luck and share your tests. be intrested in how it comes out.

SL

I thought I'd give SL's suggestion of washing blue over red a try:



1. Khorne Red with a Carrouburg Crimson wash (all over)

2. light Drakenhof Nightshade wash over the above and then wiped off [not much difference here]

3. heavier Drakenhof Nightshade wash over above, not wiped off

The second blue wash did have an impact. I'm not sure what I think about it....

nice

thanks for including the old paints names I don't know gak about the new ones

Hey duder!
I hope you are well!

The tests do not look cool.

A little bit more info on the yellow.

I was told by our friends at GW HQ down here to start with Lamenters Yellow and they wash with a watered down Cassadora yellow. I did 25 GK this weekend in it and it looks stellar. I will work on getting a pic up to you soon.

the only problem I had is with fuzzy primer in some places.

I hope this helps.

I think you're going at the red backwards... you're going from light to dark, when it should be the other way around...

@eldartau: Thanks. I agree. I'm not happy with the tests either.

One problem I'm starting to see is that there are a couple dozen ways to paint yellow (or red), and each seems to work for that person. I'm not sold on the Cassandora Yellow/Lamenters Yellow over white yet; I think I want it to be a deeper, darker yellow. So, I think I'm going to try Balor Brown (Tausept Ochre)-Averlund Sunset (Iyanden Darksun)-Yriel Yellow (Golden Yellow)-Cassandora Yellow wash (to blend)-Sepia wash in the recesses.

I'd love to see your GK; post them when you get a chance.

Last, "fuzzy primer"? What do you mean by that? Is it the photo or am I doing something poorly in terms of painting?

@Gits: Thanks. I agree with you. This was just an experiment to see what would happen. It's sloppy and "dirty." To get a purplish red, I'm going to have to mix paints, and I'm not ready for that yet. So, for red, I'm thinking Balor Brown base coat and then either shade with red to move toward a reddish brown/rust red color, or, Balor Brown-Khorne Red (Scab Red)-Wazdakka Red (Red Gore) then wash.

What I mean is that the primer did not coat evenly and it has some cracks in it. The humidity down here is crazy. I am in the process of moving so I will try to get something posted soon.

Looks like a promising start, keep at it, you'll find what works for you.

Why don't you try "lining" in the wash rather than washing it all over the figure. It takes more time, but the results are excellent and it's really the only way to do a good white without an airbrush (and frankly, I can't do a good white WITH an airbrush).

Eggroll's reds are deep and rich... phenomenal. Yes, he uses an airbrush... but his results are unquestionable.

@Eldartau: Gotcha. I thought you were referring to my minis, hence my question. No worries. Moving's a pain; post pics when you have time.

@whalemusic360: thanks for checking out my blog! And thanks for the comment. I think I'm getting closer. Patience and practice, I keep telling myself.

@Gits: That's good advice. I didn't do that on the test minis, and I see my mistake now. Especially for the Sepia, I plan to line the recesses.

Has anyone tried the new glazes? I understand they're supposed to coat more evenly, unlike the shades/washes, which are supposed to pool in the recesses. I'm wondering if the Bloodleter glaze over Balor Brown would result in a decent red-brown. I think it might go more smooyhly than the Carrouburg Crimson.

Hey Yellowbeard... check this out: Camelson's Pedro Kantor

It's another professional painter, but you might take a whack at his technique for your red. As far as I can tell, he must prime black, they paints in thin layers from dark red to bright red... but only on the exposed surfaces, leaving all the recesses the original black. The end result is very dynamic and accentuates contrast throughout the figure.

Wow, that is... really nice! I'll have to keep that idea in mind. What color is the rest of his armor? Is that yellow? Bone? Oooh, bone armor. Oh damn, now I want to paint Star Phantoms.

Thanks, Gits!

Well, I need to pick up a couple more paints to try, so in the meantime, I put together a couple of tactical marines:



Loosely inspired by the WH 40k 2nd ed box cover, I think this one came out the best. My wife said of him, "He looks mean. His hand looks like, if he scratched his head, his head would explode."









I focused on two things putting these guys together: 1) cleaning mold lines [Fail!] and 2) more dramatic poses. I think I did ok on #2. I don't really like the Bolter-across-the-chest pose, so I tried to open up therir arms a bit and give them something else to hold: pistol, missile, scanner, etc. My first attempt at converting and green stuff work. I added some cork to the bases for more interest and to help tie the sqyuad together. Thanks for the idea, Gitsplitta.

As always, C&C welcome!

Excellent work on the poses & basing. Need to get in there and get after those mold lines again. I know it's tough, but nothing screams like a mold line to draw attention away from a nicely finished figure. Also... drill those gun barrels! It'll make a huge difference!

Looking great so far! Can't wait to see more work from you!

There is more dynamic poses (to open them up, which I agree needs to happen) but you need some across the chest to balance it out and add diversity. Also, remember that the poses all have to look natural, at present some (The auspex and the melta gun) look forced. When not using your bolter you would have it at rest/ease, so lowered not held out from your body while a meltagun will be heavier than a bolt pistol (I know they're marines and as such are super-strong, etc, etc- but they are still human and have common sense in a battlefield situation) so once again it looks slightly odd. Otherwise it looks good.
And you are right to take your time with the painting, if you launch in you will be unhappy half way through and want to change your mind.

Camelson's Pedro Kantor's red is on the orange side. I thought you wanted to be on the blue side?

His yellow is more gold. No doubt this guy is a GD winner.

SO now you have 2 GD winners to emulate. Get cracken!

@Gitsplitta: Thanks! I tried drilling some gun barrels and messed them up, so I was a little, um, gun shy on these.

@Demdiddydizzy: Thanks!

@Imperial Monkey: That's a good point. I think what I need to do is figure out how to pose the arms and head so that it looks like the marine is firing rather than standing at attention. I agree with you on some of the posing; it is awkward. I was disappointed with the melta marine, too. I wanted him to be holding the gun straight up and resting on his shoulder. I made the mistake of attaching the arm first and then the gun. I think if I had attached the gun to the arm first, I would have seen how to attach the arm better. Thanks for the pointers!

@SL: Still looking for the perfect scheme. I posted Wappel's stuff as a possible direction. I do really like that purplish red, but I think that to achieve it I will need to mix paints. I've thought about that some more, and I'm not sure I'm ready to mix a lot of paint. So, I'd like to try to use exisitng mixtures for consistency.

By the way, Camelson has a blog, on which he has posted his Pedro Kantor and other work as well as a How-to-paint-space-marine Tutorial. His example marine is wearing turquoise armor, but you can get a sense of his technique and the paints he uses for other projects - airbrush and Vallejo paints. (I suspect there's a lot of VMC Desert Yellow on his Pedro Kantor.)

I'll have to go check that out!

Seeing your poses in person . I think your on the right track. They do show as individual figures.

Be careful that you don't all make " special " figures you can't field due to codex restrictions. Nuff said.

SL

I like the models should look good

Hello Yellowbeard

I'm not sure if this helps you any but IMHO that yellow tester Marine looked like a very good test piece. It's a clean and well executed 'yellow' Marine in it's own right.

I wonder if Raatcharch'syellow Marines will help you with your ideas? He uses Vomit Brown as a base, and it gives a more orangey, earthy tone.

ALSO

Painting flames. I too dislike this BUT I find what makes things much easier is painting them as little 'S' symbols, then linking them up at the bottom. Does that makes sense? You can elongate the S's as you see fit to get a variety of flames.

P.S. Your wife's comment on the Sarge made me chuckle, and I like your homage to 2nd edition cover art too.

@SL: thanks! I really appreciate your help and feedback. I think I'm ok on the figs: sarge, special weapon, and heavy weapon in a 10-man squad should be ok, right? (I still need to build a couple of models....)

@warrior lord: thanks! I'll try to get some paint on them this weekend... if I don't get sucked into buying new LotD figures. Speaking of, if you don't already follow Gitsplitta's Mantis Warriors log, you might want to check his new project: Spartan LotD.

@Jihad_Ragsta: thanks for checking out my blog! And thanks for the comment on the marine. I learned a lot playing around with him, but he's not quite where i want to go. I have a couple more ideas to try out...

That's an interesting color on Raatcharch's marines; I'll have to look at them more closely. Recently, I've been thinking of a paler yellow, such as on Camelson's Pedro Cantor. I picked upsome Vallejo Sand Yellow I want to try. I wish I had more time to paint!

Thanks for the tip on the flames. That's actually what I was trying to do. A little more practice, and I think I'll get it.

Yellowbeard wrote:(Fifth post down. Sorry, I haven't figured out how to link directly to a specific post yet.)

See where the post's date is, right above your screen name? To the left of the date there's a little pic of a piece of paper with a bent corner. Click on that and it'll take you to a screen of your post, but the URL at the top of the screen is the URL for that post, not for the entire page of the blog. Copy & paste that and you'll be fine.

What! How on earth did i not know that! lol

The poses are very cool indeed. Liking this project so far!

@Gitsplitta: Cool! Thanks.

@Vitruvian: Thanks! Glad you checked out the blog.

Small update. (No pics. Sorry.): Cleaned up some of the mold lines on the minis above (new xacto blades are wonderful ) and drilled the gun barrels.

Played with some paint: Black primer + Vallejo Lite Rust + Carroburg Crimson wash comes pretty close to the color on the FH terminator in IA9. Not sure where to go with highlights from here, thoguh. I have some Korne Red (Scab Red), Wazdakka Red (Red Gore), and Evi Sunz Red (?), so I may just try using these. I'm afraid it might turn it much redder than what I have now. I may also try to get some Vallejo Black-Red, Burnt Cadmium, and Red and try those. I think the Vallejo paints would be darker overall.

Also, Doombull Brown (Dark Flesh) is a very nice color as is P3 Sanguine Base. Sanguine Base has a nice purplish touch to it; a purple wash may come close to that purplish red I like. The P3 paints seem a little thinner than Citadel paints (though I still found it useful to thin them some). Has anyone tried them in airbrush yet?

Pic's or it didn't happen... (also kind of necessary when making color judgements).

P3 paints are supposed to be excellent to airbrush. You can dilute them with ethanol which is nice too. I bought some just for this purpose but I haven't tried them yet.

Yay! You are back!

Gitsplitta wrote:Pic's or it didn't happen... (also kind of necessary when making color judgements).

PM Blog after all!

Good that your working thru the early items.. get it where you are comfortable then try a few more effects.. Like or discard and keep trying till you get another step in the right direction. One you got your formula it'll go quicker.

It'll be helpful for when you do the 3 LR's they are going to make you field!

SL

@eldartau: Hey, right back at ya. Did you get moved?

@Gitsplitta & Solar_lion: Thanks for keeping me on track!

So, right, pictures:

Gun barrels drilled:

Damned mold lines...

First up: Black prime, Vallejo Light Rust (airbrush), Carroburg Crimson wash


The picture is a little dark, but I thought it was pretty close to this


Not sure where to go from here, if I follow this pattern. Here are some choices

Picture isn't very good, but maybe it gives some idea of shades....

Next up, Doombull Brown


Followed by Korne Red


Tried for a thin glaze, but it was a little thick to start, so I had to thin it down some more

Follwed by Badab Black


I think this is pretty good at this stage

Finally Vallejo! Black prime + Red Black airbrush


Only second time airbrushing - plus the dark colors - meant I probably applied it too thickly, but I really like the color!

Followed by Vallejo Burnt Cadmium


I tried to airbrush this from about a 45 degree angle from above, to try to create some natural shadows, but inexperience shows again. I think the airbrush was a little clogged, and it was difficult to tell if the paint was actually hitting the model. The dark colors made it difficult to tell, too - and my old eyes. Anyway, a little more paint than I intended, but again, I like this color.

Thoughts?

I like the last one. With a little more practice you'll develop a lighter touch which will just improve the look of the figures.

I like to look on the termi (color obviously, mold lines still there, I assume it was a color test). I think the brick/rust color is perfect.

Personally I like the " Black prime, Vallejo Light Rust (airbrush), Carroburg Crimson wash " of the temi. IMO the color will align better with the flames you'll have to do.

second the Burnt Cad. Seems a bit too dark for me. For this I would like to see the black and metallics on. . My guess is that this might help lighten the model.

Termi is actually a some test figures I lent YB to practice on. Definitely moving forward.

SL

I did not get moved yet, but I did move a good deal of my stuff over last night. I have 5 big boxes of Warhammer stuff that I did not know I had. My GF was in pure awe...

@eldartau: lol. Finding 5 boxes of forgotten WH stuff must have been fun. Good luck with the rest of the move.

@Gitsplitta: Thanks. I like that one, too, but I don't know if it's a Fire Hawk.... I played around a bit more with the AB yesterday... see below.

@whalemusic: Thanks for your input. I was pretty happy when I saw that effect, too. It was easier than I expected, since I just washed the whole model. I still need to figure out highlights. I could just highlight it in Light Rust, but that might be too orange.

One thing I might try is to get a couple other of the Vallejo Panzer Ace rust paints - they make a Dark Rust and a Yellowish Rust in addition to the Light Rust - base paint in Dark Rust, Highlight with Light Rust and Yellowish Rust and then wash with Crimson. The highlights should show through the wash. (Am I thinking about this right?)

Oh, and yeah, just a color test. The model is actually, um, Solar_lion's....

@SL: Thanks. That's a good point about the flames. I didn't do black or metallics on the Burnt Cad yet as I'm still playing with the AB, but here are a couple more pics....

Following on the Burnt Cadmium mini from my last post, I airbrushed Vallejo Red:


I tried to airbrush from above, and I think I was more successful this time (though it may be difficult to tell in these pictures). I realized that the paint I was trying to airbrush the other day was not thin enough. This time, I had a better mix of paint and airbrush medium.

On top of this I added a thin wash of Vallejo Smoke to the recesses:


Man, that's a nice color.

Anyway, I also tried airbrushing P3 Sanguine Base and Sanguine Highlight. The paint is so thin, I don't know that you need any medium. I added it, to be sure, but it came out vbery thin and "wet". Unfortunately, it is so dark - a very thin purple, really - that you can't see it in the picture I took.

Finally, inspired by Meph's description of how he painted his Death Company, I tried mixing Warplock Bronze with Korne Red. It came out quite nice, but again, the picture was too dark to see what was on the mini. Sorry. I need a light box....

Hey Yellowbeard... change the background. Something neutral like tan or grey. There's so much contrast none of us are going to be able to say much about your color trials.

The marine looks good but I agree with Gits, you need a different background. What I can discern is progress! It looks pretty cool as far as I can tell!

Hello Yellowbeard. I'm glad you're picking up another Badab Army. Fire Hawks were one of my favorites too. I hope you paint their old chapter badge!

After reading through your P&M blog and staring at the pictures you posted from IA 9, I almost feel like they're more orange then red. His hands for example appear more of a brown which, when I painted my Tiger Claws, is what I based them in. Have you thought about starting with a foundation brown and going the orange route instead of the reds?

@IceAngel: Hey, thanks for checking out my blog! Yeah, the more I read about these guys, the more I like them; cursed and damned. I have mixed feelings about the old chapter badge, at least for the shoulder pad. (I actually remember when these guys first came out, in 1988, and wondering about the choice of a mshroom cloud as a chapter badge at the height of the Cold War.) However, I just ordered a couple of WHFB banners that I think, with a very little green stuff, will feature both the old and the new chapter badges on it. I think it will look pretty cool.

Well,as you can see, I'm struggling with color schemes, though I think I'm getting closer. The PA marines definitely have an orange-ish cast to them, but the problem is, I'm not a very big fan of orange. Don't get me wrong; I think orange works fine in many cases. Your Tiger Claws are excellent! I've even seen orange Fire Hawks that look pretty good. But, I'm not sure that I want an entirely orange army....

Also, there's some discrepancy in IA9. The PA marines are definitely ornage, but the terminators are more reddish brick. Also, the text in IA9 actually says their colors are "blood red" and "flame yellow"....

I have been playing with brown! I've learned more about color theory in the past month than I knew there was to learn. On one of the test marines, I started with Doombull Brown. I still need to develop my techniques, but I can see the difference. When I get around to painting more yellow, I'm sure it will have an impact.

Thanks for the suggestions! I hope you stick around.

@eldartau: Thanks! Hopefully, the photos below are an improvement.

@Gits: Is there anything you don't know? You improve my painting, you improve my blogging, and now you improve my phtotography! I had no idea about using a different background; I assumed white was the best choice. But as I told Ice, I've learned a lot about color in the last month.... Thanks!

So, taking Gits' suggestion, I re-photographed some of the minis with a different background. I think it made a difference, but let me know what you think.

1. Vallejo Light Rust base (airbrush), Carroburg Crimson wash



2. Doombull Brown base, Korne Red, Badab Black wash



3. Vallejo Burnt Cadmium base (airbrush), Vallejo Red highlight (airbrush), Vallejo Smoke wash



4. P3 Sanguine Base (airbrush), P3 Sanguine Highlight (airbrush), Druuchi Violet wash


Very purple...

but check out it out against a different background:

Color is so cool! (That's actually blue paper it's against.)

5. Playing around with mixing paint: Warplock Bronze + Korne Red

Pure Warplock on the left, mix on the right. (As I said before, inspired by Meph's description of his Death Company.)

And against a different background:


Let me know what you think.

Yes... it made a BIG difference... as the last two pictures illustrate nicely.

Agreed.. when I say on the orange side.. I don't mean orange Marines.. I'm saying I like the red leaning to the yellow side as opposed to the blue side..

I'd like to see these in person. I have to admit I like the last pictures red color. You then could go with a rust red for highlights and would look great.

I've ordered some of the vallejo primer in black and white.. When it gets here, I'd like to see what we can do in addition.

Maybe I'll stop over this week to get a peek.

SL

I think your totally on the right track. SL and Gits being able to see them in person will help out too.

Thanks, Gentlemen, I appreciate your feedback.

@Gits: Are you still leaning toward the Burnt Cadmium colors (#3)? Or does a different scheme appeal more now that you can see them?

@SL: Last marine, as in the Bronze/Red mix? Do you like this more than the Rust/Crimson (#1) marine? Earlier, you thought #1 was best... and that last one is still kind of difficult to see....

@WM: Which do you like best now? Still #1?

yes no 1 is my fav. but if you are leaning toward more red I like the last pic in the series, I reserve the right to change my mind upon seeing them in person.

SL

Solar_lion wrote:yes no ! is my fav.
SL

Translation: Yes, Number 1 is my favorite. For those that were as confused as I was.

I still like the color on 1 as well. I want to hold final judgement for a fig with the rest of the colors on it though. Sometimes it completely changes the base color by contrasting. Not literally, buy you know.

Interesting paintjobs. I'll be sure to watch this thread.

Well, it's hard to say. The issues with the figures looking different vs. different backgrounds is a problem with your white balance. Which version looks truest to what you can see with your own eye? The version against the brown, or the version against the aqua?

In general (and taking the original IA artwork that you posted into consideration) I think you're too far to the red side of the spectrum.

Take a marine with no shoulder pads.
- Paint him a nice warm medium brown.
- Wash with delvan mud or equivalent.
- Airbrush with lighter, golden brown from top. Repeat with lighter mix if necessary.
- re-apply delvan mud or perhaps sepia with a fine brush into the recesses of the areas that have been covered with the lighter spray.
- paint shoulder pads, boots and left hand yellow, yellow over brown will require several coats or a white undercoat.
- pull yellow flames up onto the shin armor & add yellow striping to helmet

You might want to do the helmet separately from the rest of the fig as it'll probably be easier to do the yellow if the helmet can be manipulated separately.


Then come talk to me...

@killykavekommando: Thanks for checking out the blog and for posting a comment. I have to say, this is all very experimental at the moment, and I don't really know what I'm doing. So, I hope it continues to be interesting!

@SL: Thanks.

@WM: Thanks for the translation. I actually speak a little solar_lion, but sometimes it's confusing. That's a good point about adding other colors. I'll try to finish a few next week and see what I get.

@Gits: Thanks. The ones against the brown are truer; that's why most of them are against that background. I only posted the ones agains the aqua to show how much difference background can make (in regard to the P3 figure) and because in the last one the greenish tinge helped set off the dark red a little better.

In general, I think you're right about the red; most of the figures are still very red. The Burnt Cadmium is actually fairly brown, which may be why you liked the first picture of it I posted.

Gitsplitta wrote:Take a marine with no shoulder pads.
- Paint him a nice warm medium brown.
- Wash with delvan mud or equivalent.
- Airbrush with lighter, golden brown from top. Repeat with lighter mix if necessary.
- re-apply delvan mud or perhaps sepia with a fine brush into the recesses of the areas that have been covered with the lighter spray.
- paint shoulder pads, boots and left hand yellow, yellow over brown will require several coats or a white undercoat.
- pull yellow flames up onto the shin armor & add yellow striping to helmet

I'll give this a try, though it sounds like it will come out more yellow.... I played around with this basic idea last night but using glazes. Just practicing really (and it came out pretty messy, so I won't bother you with pics).

I like the red on the termie, but the more I play around with red - adn fail to find what I want - the more I think yellow might be better. Would there be anything wrong with painting the FH in their original colors?

Certainly not on our team... several of us have chosen to paint our marines in the original color scheme. I just thought you liked the new one better.

I dont hate the original scheme (I do hate the original emblem, looks like a black tree). I think if you made some Vets, sternguard or vanguard, in the original colors it would be a nice addition, but I personally like the more grimdark colors of the FW scheme.

That said, they are your models, do what you like!

Hey there,Yellowbeard. I like the look of paint scheme 1 the best so far, it looks most like the art you provided earlier. If you're still trying to match the look of the rust/orange guys, I agree that starting with brown or orange is the way to go, and shading with brown. You seem to be steering too far into the bright red range with some of your later attempts.

Keep experimenting. You earn a lot and though it seems fustrating. once you get " that" color everything else moves along.

No one has to like the color more than you.

SL

@Gits: Thanks. I guess I knew that. Don't get me wrong; I like the red. Do I like it better than the yellow? I'm not sure. I like them both.

@WM: Thanks. That was kind of my original intent; mostly red with some yellow vets to really stand out. By the way, have you decided how you're going to paint your Red Scorps? Are you going for the new IA grey scheme or are you going to paint up some Angstrom Incident guys? I really liked that jagged black and red scheme.

@arkhamjack: Thanks! I appreciate the suggestion; I can use all the advice on colors and paints I can get. The more I think about it, the more I realize I need to do more brown. More on this later....

@SL: I guess I am a little frustrated, but mainly because I want to start painting squads and characters rather than trying to figure out base coats. I haven't given up on the red yet; I'll keep experimenting!

I just realized that this little blog has reached 3 pages with little more than base coat experiments! Thanks for your support guys; I really appreciate it.

(Of course Gits got to three pages with nothing more than fluff.... )

I'm going with the FW style, with Angstrom vets.

How about this? It's not quite right yet... the brown needs to be redder, but I think I know how to do that. May give it another go on a different figure if I can get the time.



compaired to...



I think if I started with something like Vermin Brown with a Delvan wash, you'd be right there. Trick would be to make it air brushable so you could blend it up a little bit.

Thats def too brown imo gits. Some sort of rust colour would work, vermin brown or equivalent would be perfect imo. Yellow is a bit too sharp too

@Yellow: I think number 1 is the best, though if you could make the red hue a bit more orange you'd be right on the money!

I agree, that's why you experiment. That's also why you have to paint them beyond the base and wash stage in order to find out how they're going to look.

Fooled around some more, got the yellow toned down a bit. After due consideration, I think it's vermin brown with a delvan wash for the body & bubonic brown with a sepia wash for the yellow areas. Though I think the top highlight of the bubonic areas would actually be tinged with yellow.

Id be tempted to highlight the yellowy areas with bleached bone.

I think the edge highlights would be done that way... but if you look at the original artwork there's actually yellow there, if muted. Bubonic, while it looks like the right shade (that's where I started originally) is *really* flat... has no natural glow at all. That didn't look right to my eye. I wonder what a thin coat of the new yellow glaze would do over the top of that.

@Gits & Vitruvian: you guys are amazing, and I mean that in a good wa! Yes, this is the direction I want to go. In fact, I was doing some research yesterday and came across these Fire Dragons by Stahly over at Tale of Painters. Here's his recipe:

"basecoat with VGC Dark Fleshtone, wash with Badab Black. Make sure you don't let the wash pool on the flat areas by pushing it into the recesses with your brush where necessary.... highlight with Dark Fleshtone again..... apply sharp highlights of Vermin brown."

I think this may be it. I'm out of town for the weekend but plan to give this a shot next week.

@Gits: Wow! Thanks for putting so much time into this project. I don't know whay else to say....

@Vitruvian: Thanks for the suggestions. Bleached bone is also something I was thinking about, kind of like Camelsob's highlights on Pedro Kantor.

No problem Yb, since I shot my mouth off I figured I owed you a little work.

Just thought I'd show the finished product...

It's a bit to brown imo. I still like the brick color.

And this is how Gits adds another marine to his GMS army

Very nice work, Gitsplitta. I like tjis marine very much, but i agree with Vitruvian and WM that is a shade too brown. I think, though, as you suggested, this is the right direction to try. Starting with Dark Flesh/Doombull Brown, which is much redder, might get the right result. I'll have to give it a try.

Also, I can really see what ypu and WM were gettong at when ypu said the details need to be painted, too. The extra bits really add to this marine and make him stand out.

Hey,
Nice plog matey, and you seem to have stirred up quite a lot of interest already!
Ok, onto my suggestion.

I am not, by any stretch, the world's best or most patient painter. However, I reckon you could come up with something very Fire Angel-y by doing something similar to how I approach Weeping Angels (which is in essence White prime, liberal sepia wash, repeat 3 times progressively thinner) and then hit it with Yellow Glaze and seal with matt varnish to take the edge off. Does that make sense?

I agree, wrong brown... not quite red enough (as I mentioned in an earlier post). But once I got to a certain point there was no going back, so I just thought I'd finish it. Right or wrong however... that brown is really delicious in-person.

If you look at his pistol holster... *thats* the brown he needs to be. I think that might either be vermin brown or dark flesh, with a delvan mud wash. Dark Flesh is much darker red, VB is on the lighter side but still with the red tone you need. Ogryn Flesh wash will actually bring you a long way to red too while still being in keeping with the brown feel.

In any case, even though both the brown and the yellow are off... I thought you'd be interested in the finished product. I'd make another one to see if I could get it right, but then I wouldn't know what to do with the second one.

@Graven: Thanks for chdcking out my blog! It's great to have you on board. I hope I can maintain the level of interest.

Thanks for the suggestion! That's an interesting approach. I would not have guessed that that's how you did the Weeping Angels. (Those are great models, by the way; I really love the statuesque image.). I'll have to give it a try, but it sounds like you might be leaning toward a yellowish model? 3 washes of Sia would add a lot of brown, but the glaze would change it quite a bit, I'm guessing. Have you tried the glazes yet? How are they? I haven't actually used the yet.

@Gits: Yes, of course, and thanks again for painting up this model. It really is very helpful.

I do like that color on the holster. Vermin Brown? I think that's Skrag Brown now....

I also found these Fire Dragons by Akaelus. He used Rinox Hide follwed by reds. This might work nicely, too.

The glazes are mad. There's a video somewhere on t'internet of a guy painting a white-primed Imperial Fist Land Raider in 37 secs using 3 layers of yellow glaze, not counting drying time.

Leaving aside the glaze, then, I highly recommend the alternate drybrush/wash method. Works a treat.

Amazing Git.

YB.. Would you mind if I too had a shot at it?

I cannot mach the Git touch but I think I be able to express my color concept with a figure. Ok to say no. I got lots of other guys to finish up . ( ice's Apoth is going to make me more insane . )

Sounds like you have a lot of good options Yb, I'm not trying to steer you to any one of them, just trying to help by discussing my attempt.

@Graven: ok, I'll have to give them a shot!

@SL: LOL. No problem at all, my friend. The more people who try out schemes, the more options, I have. If you have the time, give it a shot.

@Gits: I never thought differently. Your suggestions are some of the ones that made me start to look at color differently, so any ideas/suggestions you have are most welcome. The Fire Dragons by Stahly and Akaelus (and Iffy!) I found because of suggestions made by you and IceAngel! Thank you, Gentlemen! :

Cool beans!

I'm in the middle of a couple of projects right now, but I got some bits the other day, so I thought I might show you a couple of WiP pieces.

First, a banner:

The one on the left shows the original (which I'm sure you recognize). The one on the right shows what I'm thinking of doing to it.

What do you think? I might add a loop of smoke around the main column. Should I cover up the torii gate at the bottom or leave it?

Second, a piece I really like: Stibor Lazaerek:




Credit where credit is due: wish I could claim credit for the hawk helmet, but I saw it online here.
Also, several bits (eagle bit, torso, and arms) are courtesy of Solar_lion. Thanks!

It's just tacked together, of course; I thought I'd get some feedback from you all before I glue bits together. So, what do you think?

I think the helmet still needs some green stuff (and the rest needs to be cleaned, of course). I'll add a jump pack, too; I couldn't get it on with just tacky.

I was also thinking of using a larger base for better stability (though this one seems to work ok), kind of like Gitsplitta did for his MotF. I've heard some people are sticklers over bases.... I may just pin him to the architectural bit, so I can put him on a regular base in case someone complains.

I was thinking of trying some of that stained glass stuff Gits uses, too....

Not sure on the helmet yet. Want to see paint. I'd think the helm from the ravenguard vets ma work better.

I like the idea, but the eagle head extending from the front of a normal helmet looks kind of goofy. You could split the helmet (top to bottom) from back to front (though I wouldn't quite go all the way to the end of the beek) and green stuff in the empty wedge in the middle to make it wide enough for a normal helm. Then once you've got it where you like it, cast multiples in resin so you can equip a whole squad (or more) with them.

I like where you are going Yellowbeard, but you need to shorten the base big time. I need to read up on Stibor Lazaerek before I can critique the helm or weapons, but the first thing that jumped out at me was the base. It'd be awesome if it were on a big display board but if you plan on using the model you need to bring him down a bit. You don't need to have him be all that high off the ground to be taller then all of the other models on your army. Keep in mind from a gaming stand point if an enemy can see him they can shoot at him, you'd never be able to hide that guy.

Ask Git, he did the same thing with his jump pack marines.

Perhaps chop the top third off and then place it at an angle. You could still add some stained glass to it and have him jumping away from it.

good advice all around..

or.. just leave the figure high up and trust that the faith in the Emperior will protect him. Let us know how that works out.
He is a special character so he deserves to have a special base. I like Ice's surggestion. Play around with different heights!

What are you going to do with the back? Jumppack?

SL

Hey YB!,

I hope you are well. I would agree that Stibor Lazaerek is too high. Personally, I would shoot him down asap! I also am not sure about the helmet. I feel that it does not flow well with the rest of the model.

Gits' idea about converting the helmet is a good one. I would look into this further!

First of all, good work with the colour schemes- nice to see effort being put into getting a good scheme together!

I have also been toying with the idea since seeing the Fire Hawks in Imperial Armour (I though "huh, they're different") so if you see a picture in my blog of a Fire Hawk, don't immediately think "That git has stolen my idea! *RAGE*"

Anyhoo, I read up on Lazaerek's fluff and isn't he partly crippled? In my mind, I see Lazaerek as a bit of a grumpy old git and a gnarly Terminator.

However, the beauty of the Grimdark Universe is that you can do what you like! I would suggest though that cutting down the base height would not only be a good one aesthetically, but also tactically as mentioned befored: If you can see him, people will shoot at him.

Keep it up!

Cool pose. How about using one of the Calgar honor guard helms?

Thats what i was thinking too, but those are molded in, and rather hard to remove.

Hmm, not quite the reaction I expected, but then that's why I asked for feedback! Thanks, everyone!

@WM: Not sure about paint for this guy yet, so he won't get any for a while. I've thought of doing a color fade from yellow up to red/brown, kind of like this, but I'm not sure how that would look. At least, it would give me some practice with wet blending.

I didn't know there were actual ravenguard vets. Can you point me toward them? I've only seen Shrike, and his helmet is more raven than hawk.... I guess I might be able to adapt a Corvus helmet...?

@Gitsplitta: What makes it look "goofy" to you? Is it too narrow? I hadn't thought about casting it; that has some potential. I'm not sure that *I* could do the work (splitting the helm) that you suggest. I think it might just come apart on me. (Just don't have those skill - or tools - yet.)

Just for fun, here's a comparison of helmets:


@IceAngel: There isn't much on Lazaerek; here's his Lexicanum page: Stibor Lazaerek. He's discussed in IA9, of course, but there are no official stats for him (that I know of) and no mention of weapons or armor (that I've found). I was planning on using him as a counts-as Dante....

When I first conceived of the model, I imagined him in a diorama, descending from the sky and firing at Lugft Huron! (In fact, I still want to do that piece sometime.) I may still do this base but only pin him to it without glue, so that I can put him on a different base for gaming. (I plan on getting a Lugft Huron model, too... or maybe you should... ) Here are a couple other basing ideas, inspired by Ice:

Same base but lower position:


Smaller bit of wall (probably still to high):


Lower on the smaller wall:

I kind of like this one.

Ice's suggestion:

Also quite nice, I think.

Slight variation on Ice's suggestion:


Koolaid!


Thoughts?

@SL: Thanks. Sang Guard jump pack. The tacky stuff I have isn't very good, so I couldn't get all the pieces to stay on.

@eldartau: Thanks, my friend. Now that I've taken a couple more pictures of the guy, I'm starting to see what you object to in the helm.... Which of the bases above do you like?

@Elnibbus: Thanks for checking out my blog! And no worries about doing Fire Hawks; there aren't many of us who play them, so we need to stick together. If you see something here, feel free to help yourself! Thanks for the comment on the paint schemes. I'm trying.

I missed the bit about being crippled. Do you remember where you saw that? He is old (600) and definitely arrogant and agressive, but I'm not sure about the gnarly bit. I was planning on running him as a counts as Dante, so I stayed away from the termie armor. I've seen a lot of chapter masters in termie armor - and it makes sense - but I was trying for something a little different. (Yeah, 'cuz a Dante proxy is "different"... ) Which of the bases above do you like?

@Graven: Thanks! I was planning on using that helmet (the one with the wings on) for another character, Elam Courbray, but I may need to use it for Lazaerek instead. I haven't been able to find it as bits yet, though. A little pricey to buy that kit for a couple of heads.... Anyone got a couple Honour Guard sitting around they'd be willing to part with?

Any thoughts on the banner? Good idea? Bad idea?

Who is the FH named fella from IA9/10? Dont have my books at work (though as busy as I am today, I wish I did)

I enjoy the one with him down on the post a little bit. number one from this end. Makes him look very dynamic and picturesque.

This one is my fav.


As for the helm.. I thought Git had a great Idea about splitting it. and filling it in. Was the original from the pack pack?

check these out .. http://www.sciborminiatures.com/en_,shop.php?art=1285#i/conversion_parts_2012/big/egyptian_helmets_2_01.jpg

SL

@WM: Elam Courbray, captain of the 8th company. He's pretty well detailed: two-handed sword. I plan building him, too, but I had Dante on my mind....

@eldartau: this one?

I like this one, too, but is he still too high?

@SL: Yeah, Commander backpack + cut-down helmet.

Oooh, Scibor. Those are nice, but would they look better? Too Egyptian? Here's what the head looks like on a body: Egyptian SF Warrior.

I've planned my Elam Courbray already

Yellowbeard wrote: Oooh, Scibor. Those are nice, but would they look better? Too Egyptian? Here's what the head looks like on a body: Egyptian SF Warrior.

Yes.. but that appears to be the look you are heading towards.. . I still think this is a better start/ chance to modify than modifying the backpack into a helm. IMO. I think its size is more appropriate.
I always wish I could see one in person so I could judge the size and the look.
SL

Very interesting with the colours I find though sometimes the main colour looks very different after you finish the model. I'd advise going so far as adding the yellow to each model and the flames as they will look different and see where to go from there.

In the head department these might interest you http://puppetswar.eu/product.php?id_product=102

yes that is the one that I like. He may be too high still though. SL's choice is my second choice as well.

Your model of Lazaerek is so awesome! I love it, and I can't wait to see how it looks when it's finished!

Yellowbeard, what about if you took this set up, but instead of having the ruins straight up, lean the ruins back? So Lazaerek is still jumping off the face of the ruins. It still gives you the nice dynamic pose without making him a target on top of a pole.

Can you tac that one up for us please?

I like this chap you are working on

I prefer this pose



Not too much wall but it does the job!

Hey YB... could you give me a close-up side head shot of the head of the model? Perhaps my judgement on the head was affected by photo angle.

Also, do you anticipate that a normal man's head is in there (i.e. the head is just a helmet) or has he been altered in some way by his gene-seed to actually have a bird's head?

I'm seeing it more as a head than a helmet on the model, but I think it should be more helmet orientated otherwise it kind of looks like this



No disrespect intended, tis only my opinion

You could always sculpt the front of the head onto a marine helmet not sure how that would look.

GiraffeX wrote:I'm seeing it more as a head than a helmet on the model, but I think it should be more helmet orientated otherwise it kind of looks like this



No disrespect intended, tis only my opinion

You could always sculpt the front of the head onto a marine helmet not sure how that would look.

Haha. This was my first thought too. The concept of the "hawk" head is good. Problem is that the helmet is too long. Needs to be moved back to shorten it up better. Right now, the aesthetics of it don't work (at least for me).

I love the Fire Hawks. I flitted with doing an army of them years ago, way before the IA article came out, just because I was a fan of the Firebird cars. I'd even wanted to reverse the red and yellow, which made it even more amusing when IA did exactly that. I'lld add that I think you should go with the more red scheme. The browns aren't really doing the models justice.

@Elnibbus: Cool! Care to share your plans...?

@SL: Well, I was goinf for a hawk helmet but not necessarily Egyptian. I think the Egyptian look has a lot of potential, and one of these days I'd like to do a Thousand Sons army, but I'm not sure the Fire Hawks fit that theme. You're right about the size of the head; it's much better. I also just realized that there are 2 different Horus heads at Scibor, but I can't tell which one you get in that order.

@GiraffeX: Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog! Glad to have you on board. Yes, I've heard that advice from a couple of people now and plan to do that. In fact, I had started painting earlier in the week and then got distracted by this model... Thanks for the link to puppets war! I've heard good things about them and those heads look interesting.

@eldatau: Thanks!

@3D: Thanks! Glad you like it. I hope I can make it work in the end.

@Ice: Like this?



That's a nice pose. Thanks for the suggestion! He may be too high still, but I can lower him some when I actually pin the pieces together.

@tipios: Thanks for stopping by and casting your vote! I'm looking forward to your comments on my feeble attempts at converting models.

@Gits: I'll try to take a couple of close -ups a little later.

In the meantime, here are a couple of different heads scanvenged from my (very small) bitz box:



I was thinking of the original as a helmet, yes. I did cut it down a little, but I think there's plenty of room in the front, and the only bits I cut off the sides were the ear piece. That is, if you look at a Mk 7 helmet, you'll see a ridge on top and a ridge on each side. The actual helmet is smaller than that. I trimmed the side ridges, but the rest of the helmet is still there. So, it should be able to fit a human head...

@GiraffeX: Didn't you post that picture in another thread? What is it with you and Sam? None taken. The idea of a hawk head is actually interesting. I'm not sure what the =][= would think about it, though....

Yellowbeard wrote: @GiraffeX: Didn't you post that picture in another thread? What is it with you and Sam? None taken. The idea of a hawk head is actually interesting. I'm not sure what the =][= would think about it, though....

No not guilty, its the first time I've managed to post a pic thats not uploaded to dakka. I think the =][= would burn you at the stake for heresy unless of course he's a primarch then its ok...

I would try my own version of the firehawk scheme to see what comes out but I'm not sure if I have any minis spare, I'll have a ferret round this weekend. Its a very interesting challenge I really like the FW scheme its just replicating it thats the hard part.


edit: how come when I google firehawk space marine in images it finds loads of Git's Mantis warriors, conspiracy I tell ya.

Yellowbeard wrote:@Ice: Like this?



That's a nice pose. Thanks for the suggestion! He may be too high still, but I can lower him some when I actually pin the pieces together.

That little piece of ruin has a ledge where it looks a window would have been. If you cut straight across there and made him jumping off the top piece after removing the botom, that'd be my suggestion. Sorry if that was a lot of work to illustrate my design.

YB -- finished my mock up. Took some pictures, unfortunately they all came out very poorly. so I'll try again tonight.

SL

@veteran sergeant: Thanks, mate! Good to see you around here again. I may try that, move the helmet back some. The problem is that when it is cut off the back pack, it has a flat edge. So, I need to figure out some way to round off the helment in back... and make it shorter... and make it wider.

@GiraffeX: Sorry about that, then. I swear someone posted that exact image in another thread I read. Oh well. I would love to see your take on the Fire Hawks. Feel free to post a pic here if you get a chance to paint one up!

GireaffeX wrote:how come when I google firehawk space marine in images it finds loads of Git's Mantis warriors, conspiracy I tell ya.

Yeah, did you notice that Gits also painted up a Fire Hawk and that he's working on the Legion of the Damned now. Coincidence?

Seriously, though, Gits has helped me tremendously, so I'm happy to see more of his work pop up!

@Gits: Forgot to do close-ups. Damn! Sorry about that.

@Ice: Thanks! I see what you're suggesting. That would certainly reduce the amount of stuff on the base, which I see now might distract a little from the figure.

@SL: Thanks!

Speaking of SL, Solar_lion stopped by the other day with a gift:





Check out those falmes! Thanks, man!

This is quite a nice color scheme that comes very close to the IA scheme, without the orange-ish tinge.



The photos are a little redder than in person. The second one - of the marine's back - probably shows the true color best. It's also a fairly simple scheme to do, so I think I can handle it. Just need to get one pot of paint, and I can give it a try....

SL has a great scheme there. I would try to emulate it and roll on !

Wow, that's a nice colour scheme there!

That does indeed look tasty; mind if I jump on this bandwagon too?

Cool stuff solar lion. I can't wait to see an entire army of them!

Looks like SL nailed it!

Thanks.. I just was trying get my idea on a figure. Easier to do than trying to explain it in writing. I think the marine is actually a wee bit darker ( on the rust side ) than these pictures look IMO. I think its the bright camera lights that are making it so.

The only thing I would have done differently is to use a lighter yellow layer on the shoulders to lighten the center.
( and do the boots in the yellow - sloppy workmanship ~ sigh~ )

Really, thou this is just my version of the Firehawks ( actually more IA's than mine) . Feel free to do what you think looks best. No ego here. Do something your gonna like painting a lot of. Let me know when you got it and when your ready to borrow the AB.

SL

Those are some great flames

LOving the concept idea of Lazaraek, but I do think the hawk head is mounted a but high and slightly narrow, Have you considered cutting the helm in half lengthways and widening it with GS a little?
Of course that is just my opinion though. Overall it looks great.

I attached a pic of a scibor model with a hawk head, as an idea too although it is an expensive way of acquiring a helmet lol.

Score! My FLGS carries Vallejo Panzer Aces paints! They're the only Vallejo paints they carry, but it means they had the paint I needed.

@eldartau & Elnibbus: Indeed it is, and that was also my thought.

Mr. Delicious wrote:That does indeed look tasty

@Graven: By all means! I'd love to see your take on the Fire Hawks. The more the merrier!

@Ice: Me, too! Oh, wait... I'm supposed to be doing the painting.

@Gits:

@SL: Thanks, again! It's really very helpful! yeah, the photos are a little too red; the model itself is a little more brown/rust. I think the boots look fine. Sure, the picture I posted has yellowish boots (maybe fading into bone or ash), but I don't think all the pictures are painted that way. There seems to be quite a bit of indiiduality among the FH, one of the things I like about them. Right now, I like this scheme a lot. I also like the darker duller yellow. I think that might transfer well to the vets I want to do. Now I just need some time to paint!

@tipios: Indeed! Someday, I hope to do stuff like that.

@dantay_xv: Thanks for checking out my blog! And thanks for the comment on Lazaerek. I'm glad you like the idea. Gits suggested splitting the helmet, too. I might be able to do that. (My modeling skills are still pretty basic.). But as Gits pointed out, it should really be a wedge, as the beak should still come to a point. I'm not sure I can pull that off. SL also suggested the Scibor heads. I like them, though initially I thought they might be too Egyptian. But the more I've thought about them, the more I like them, so I will probably get a couple to see how they look. Thanks for the suggestions! I really appreciate all the feedback I can get!

No worries, what did you use for the helm, was it the vents from the commander backpack?

If so I would advise, cutting lengthwise through to te beak then a very (very) shallow angled cut like a Y. If you mess up one side, don't worry as you can repeat it on the other backpack vent
Glue at the beak, so you have a small open V shape at the back which you can fill in with GS.. maybe makthe back ever so slightly rounded like the very back of a SM helmet.

A small half circle on the underside to fit it in to the armour and you are done.... The only other thing to make it look a bit more natural would be to maybe try lowering the front collar a little, as I think part of the problem is extending the neck up and over it, maybe like -v- by removing the blood drop in the centre. I know this is sounding hyper critical, but the concept and the execution is great, I really like where you have taken it.

Excellent plan. I think you should have a Paint a Fire Hawk and send it to me contest. That way you'll have a army in no time.

Wait... Paint a squad of Fire Hawks....Priceless.

There is that YB.... even though you have yet to paint a Fire Hawk yourself, you're inspiring others to do so. That's a good thing! Now just convince everyone to send them to you (as has been suggested) and you're on Easy Street!

I am going to pm you some GK pics tonight, I am finally settled!

eldartau1987 wrote:I am going to pm you some GK pics tonight, I am finally settled!

NO NO.. Fire Hawks.. your not gonna win the contest with GK's.

SL ( this message is not designed to cure or prevent any disease, Fire Hawks shown are not intened to represent any actual Firehawks living, dead or undead. Use product as intended. Never use a fire hawk as a dental drill, always use caution when putting a Fire Hawk near open flame or next to a Mantis Warrior as this has been to cause rash and in most cases internal bleeding. Use caution with collecting Fire hawks as you may see a sudden decrease in disposable income. See MSDS sheet for more information)

on the subject of the hawk head, why dont you sculpt it on the beaky marine head??
ill add a pic once mspaint starts working with me

*edit*
kind of like this:

Solar_lion wrote:

eldartau1987 wrote:I am going to pm you some GK pics tonight, I am finally settled!

NO NO.. Fire Hawks.. your not gonna win the contest with GK's.

SL ( this message is not designed to cure or prevent any disease, Fire Hawks shown are not intened to represent any actual Firehawks living, dead or undead. Use product as intended)

you have got me on this. Let me dig around and see if I can paint a firehawk!

Oh heck... now I'm going to have to paint a *second* Fire Hawk as my "entry". Bloody SL...

I'm going for a jumpy one. Huzzah - yellowbeard's incited a one-man gms!

Contest?

Sure... painting a Fire Hawk and sending it to YB gets you your entry.... winner either chosen by YB or popular acclaim, YB has to come up with the prize.

Done and done. Next??

Seriously? i'm so in it's not funny :-)

I'll put up the prize since I kinda started it.

In pursuit of the perfect painting scheme. Git and I have put together the first “ Paint a Fire Hawk “ SM contest. This all in getting good painting formulas for our friend Yellowbeard!

Rules
Must be a single figure, No veh,, ect No special characters ect.
Must be sent to YB.
Must contain the painting formula.
Must be a Fire Hawk. no counts as a fire hawk looks like a DA! Golden Demon winners is encouraged!

YB is the decider, I am ineligible.
Prize value not more than $50 not less than $25 ( free shipping) . I have lots of stuff I can give away!

Contest closes… ? Rules subect to change depending on feedback from YB and most importantly Gits ( As the Nerd Amb. )

Check out YB thread for more FIRE HAWKS.

SL

Sounds fine to me.

So... we're just kind of cramming this down YB's throat, right? He doesn't actually get a say in the matter... it's just kind of happening... with or without him.

It's so crazy I might have a go!!!

Emotional or spiritual problem with it...? ahhh nope. Besides he's had 20 minutes to respond, like they say in business. Silence is consent! ( I'll regret saying that someday!) Besides I'm thinking of making BriancJ my moral compass anyway!

Yeah.. if nothing else he'll get some cool ideas and different takes on the IA scheme. Besides what are fellow warders for if not for helping out when you don't know about it!

Still it'll be based on his prefrence. The DAKKA community is always been good sports and some of the most generous people in the game. All in fun, but with a prize!

SL

Let me see what I can throw together!

You guys are awesome!

Yes, the Paint-a-Fire-Hawk contest is on!

Rules (slightly modified by YB):

1. Must be a single figure, No vehicles, No special characters etc.
2. Post pictures of your painted Fire Hawk here, in this thread. (Feel free to post pics in the GMS thread, too!) Post must be clearly marked as a contest entry. Actually sending YB the figure is optional. PM if you're interested.
3. Must contain the painting formula. (I'm learning, and I appreciate all the ideas I can get.)
4. Color scheme chosen by the contestant, but must be a Fire Hawk. (No counts as a Fire Hawk, looks like a DA!) Either original color scheme (all yellow) or new Imperial Armour (brown/rust red with yellow shoulder pads) color scheme is acceptable. Variation and individuality encouraged! All details up to the contestant.

Contest closes on July 1, 12:00 midnight US Central Time.

YB will serve as judge.

Prize provided by Solar_lion - value not more than $50 not less than $25 (free shipping). Thanks, mate!

edit: due date added and judges amended.

OK YB. How about you, SL and myself as judges since we're all out of the competition? (though I'm still going to paint a mini for you... 'cause I got the bug)

That way we're covered from all angles.

This sounds awesome! What's the due date?

I'm guessing we should have a fairly quick turn-around on the pics, say a week or 10 days. Then a delay before final judging so the judges (or at least some of them) can take a look at the models in-person before final decisions are made.

Gitsplitta wrote:How about you, SL and myself as judges since we're all out of the competition?

Ok, that's fair.

I'm guessing we should have a fairly quick turn-around on the pics, say a week or 10 days.

Let's say 10 days. That should give people enough time to learn about the contest, find bits, paint, etc.

I'll edit the rules....

Hey, whos messing with my contest. Yeesshhh!

It need to be more than 10 days. Summer dakka slows down. and painter are generally not that fast, besides we want GMS quality if possible,

I don't need to be a judge, I paint Lamenters - remember?
SL

1 month?

Solar_lion wrote:I don't need to be a judge, I paint Lamenters - remember?

Solar_lion wrote:Rules subect to change depending on feedback from YB and most importantly Gits ( As the Nerd Amb. )

You've been overruled.

July 1st
sounds reasonable.

And I think you should be the only judge and Git should be allowed to enter and the figure should eventually get to you ,, I promice the winner a much greater value for 1 figure and some postage. everyone has a ABOR guy somewhere.

since I'm offering the prize I don't want to give me anything that I already own.

SL

Ok, changes made.

Guess I will get off my duff them and find a AOBR marine!

Cool I'm in just need to find some marine legs as I seem to have lots of spares of everything else but these for which I blame FW

Sweet..

Not to mess with rule 1 but, a question: I'm thinking about doing a jump captain and I think I have spare set of lighting claws my bits box - so effectively could count as Shrike - eligible or no?

Sounds like a cool contest. I have a few marines kicking about so I am sure I can knock something together

inmygravenimage wrote:Not to mess with rule 1 but, a question: I'm thinking about doing a jump captain and I think I have spare set of lighting claws my bits box - so effectively could count as Shrike - eligible or no?

Sure, but the criteria is the paint scheme, not the pose! For clairification.. call it a vanguard vet. and take out the words " counts as Shrike" Any single figure. Assault DeV or Tactical , No termies. What were intressted in is the color and color formula you used on the main colors. Other wise stay away from named characters.

I understand people like to paint cool stuff. but remember the criteria. IF you want to mount him on a Land Raider and call it his base, I gotta call you at that! Mr D.

SL

Fair dos mate. I fully appreciate the paint's the thing, but you know me, I'm all about the build. I shall resist the urge to put him on a tank.

inmygravenimage wrote:Fair dos mate.

Explain please.... for the English impaired.

Gitsplitta wrote:

inmygravenimage wrote:Fair dos mate.

Explain please.... for the English impaired.

Not a problem of any significance my good sir and may this small misunderstanding be as water under the bridge.

Gitsplitta wrote:

inmygravenimage wrote:Fair dos mate.

Explain please.... for the English impaired.

fair point or fair enough, I think

Very eloquently put Silver. You Brits can sound so SMART when you feel like it! Not like we Colonials... we're all NFL and NASCAR 24/7.

Well I was going to explain it like Silver has, but I thought you wanted it simple terms

inmygravenimage wrote:Not to mess with rule 1 but, a question: I'm thinking about doing a jump captain and I think I have spare set of lighting claws my bits box - so effectively could count as Shrike - eligible or no?

Yeah, what SL said, but a vanguard vet should be fair game, as long as he's a Fire Hawk.

When I first thought of what I wanted to do for Lazaerek, he had wings, a jump pack, and twin lightning claws, so your idea definitely fits.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Sorry, I was distracted by the contest, so now I need to catch up on a few comments!

@SL & Gits: thanks for concocting the contest. I was quite happy people wanted to paint some Fire Hawks, but the contest has gotten a few people fired up. Nice work! By the way, Gits, I've been thinking about #5 in your Building a better blog post, too. Thanks.

@dantay: Thanks for the suggestion. That may work. In fact, I almost gave it a go this morning, but I didn't have time. But it's on the list.

@eldartau: Hey, I still want to see those GK! You can PM me if you want, but you should put them up in your own log. Or if not that, feel free to post the here. You first mentioned them as an example of painting yellow after all, so they'd fit here, too. Looking forward to seeing what you do with an actual Fire Hawk, too!

@DijnsK: Thanks for checking out my blog! That's a nice suggestion. I had looked at a shrike conversion where a beakie helmet was made more bird-like, but your idea is much more hawk-ish. I'm not sure if my modeling skills are up to that, but it might be worth a try. Good practice! Would you leave the rest of the helmet as is or try to model some feathers on?

@Gits: Yay! Another Fire Hawk by Gits! Glad you're excited about this.

@Graven: Woot! Looking forward to seeing what you do with it, mate! I had actually thought about doing a gms with those of you painting Fire Hawks, but now that SL and Gits have turned it into a world wide contest, I don't think I could paint that many models! I mean, I'd never get to paint any Fire Hawks!

@nerdfest: Thanks for checking out my blog! Glad to have you on board with the contest, too. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

@tipios: It looks like you've got a lot going on, but if you have time, I'd love to see your take on the Fire Hawks, mate.

When did I start saying "mate"? Bloody Brits.

@Raatcharch: Welcome and thanks for checking out my blog! Someone pointed me at your blog a little while ago (eldartau maybe?); it looked like you had a really interesting take on painting yellow. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this! Due date is July 1.

@GiraffeX: Sweet!

@SilverMK2: Hey, thanks for checking out my blog! Glad to have you on board for the contest, too.

@Graven, Silver, & tipios: Thanks for the lesson in British slang and elocution!

Yellowbeard wrote:@veteran sergeant: Thanks, mate! Good to see you around here again. I may try that, move the helmet back some. The problem is that when it is cut off the back pack, it has a flat edge. So, I need to figure out some way to round off the helment in back... and make it shorter... and make it wider

Thanks. Been lurking around, playing around with multilasers and Space Marines slowly but surelying my Battle Company, haha.

As far as the helmet, the only version of that pack I have is the original one it is based on, Marneus Calgar's metal pack, but the dimensions arent exact. My suggestion would be to explore not worrying about the helmet dimensions so much. Cut the back of the helmet off to match the width of your eagle head. But, before you do that, use a blade to shave off the top vent scoop detail, and shave off the "ears". Then you can explore filing smooth some of the eagle head details in the side and reattaching the ears? And then checking out if the scoop can then be glued back on. Might use the beakie helmet as a base, its scoop is narrower which gives you more options. Again, this is all theoretical. But might offer some options to make it more compact.

Im in on that contest. Could use something different to paint xD

Im assuming you want all hand painting (i.e. no airbrush)?
Other than that, I think ill have a bit of fun with this guy!

Yellowbeard wrote:@DijnsK: Thanks for checking out my blog! That's a nice suggestion. I had looked at a shrike conversion where a beakie helmet was made more bird-like, but your idea is much more hawk-ish. I'm not sure if my modeling skills are up to that, but it might be worth a try. Good practice! Would you leave the rest of the helmet as is or try to model some feathers on?

Your welcome! Its good to see someone painting a chapter not a lot of other people "burn their hands on" like the Fire Hawks.
about the helmet, i'd leave it helmet like just to keep a uniform look.
about the greenstuffing, if you got the sides flat and smooth, you can file the rest down. a hawks beak is kind of sharp edged/angled so just goop on some greenstuff and file it down as desired

as far as i know the hawks dont have any real bird like iconology, so i wouldnt go crazy with feathers and stuff

Ramos Asura wrote:Im in on that contest. Could use something different to paint xD

Im assuming you want all hand painting (i.e. no airbrush)?
Other than that, I think ill have a bit of fun with this guy!

AB is fine.. A lot of them use them now... Remember to include your formula in your entry!

SL


Automatically Appended Next Post:

inmygravenimage wrote:Fair dos mate. I fully appreciate the paint's the thing, but you know me, I'm all about the build. I shall resist the urge to put him on a tank.

Yep.. You gotta be you! No power in the verse can change that! Like Politics.. It's not what you say or do , but how you spin it! Look forward to your entry!

SL

@veteransergeant: That's kinda what I did: shaved down the sides to match the eagle and attached it to the back of a helmet. I left the top vent scoop because it actually matched the top of the eagle fairly well. I might be able to cut down the eagle and the helmet some, thus shortening the helmet length. I also might be able to add some green stuff to the sides, restoring the "ears" a bit. Good suggestions. Thanks!

@Ramos Asura: Welcome and thanks for checking out my blog! Glad to have you in on the contest! As SL said, airbrush is fine, just note when you used it in your recipe. And yes, please do have fun with this!

@Dijns: Thanks for the pointers on green stuff; that sounds like a possibility. As to the feathers, I was thinking of something that would make it more like the eagle helmet I made. Leaving it un-modeled might make him look a little more like Shrike? Maybe that isn't a bad thing, though. The old FH didn't have much in the way of hawk iconography, just flames an mushroom clouds. But the new scheme from IA9 does: the phoenix is now the chapter symbol:



I don't want to overdo the hawk imagery, but a little bit for characters, I think, will add interest to the army.

i would go easy on feathers but heavy on flames if you want some more interest
i currently dont have any greenstuff or i would have made one for you

DijnsK wrote:i would go easy on feathers but heavy on flames if you want some more interest

Yes, flames. Burn, baby, burn!

DijnsK wrote:i currently dont have any greenstuff or i would have made one for you

I'm tempted to get on a plane and come visit you just to get that helmet!
(Besides, I understand people in your part of the world know something about good beer.... )

Ok, not much of an update, but Gits asked for some close-ups last week, and I finally got new batteries in my camera! I had a devil of atime getting the camera to focus, but hopefully these are helpful....






Note both the poor modeling and the poor green stuff work.
Well, I guess you have to start somewhere....

Looking at these now, I see one area that might make for improvement: I could cut the eagle right behind the feathers. That would shorten the helm quite a bit.

Quick question, the cut off for the PAFH challenge is July 1st, does that mean you need it in your hands by that date? if so i need to get cracking to mail it in time :-)

I love that helmet idea!
I think the feathers would be cool to leave on the final helm.
To improve the look of it, id suggest cutting the helmet back a bit like this;



After that its a quick job of filling gaps!

Green-Fu is just one of those things that people learn. Im still a novice myself xD
Keep up the great work!


Oh, and if youre havin trouble getting your camera to focus, try finding "Macro mode" on it. should be a little picture of a flower. Thatll help ya focus on close-up stuff

^ I hope not! Build started today, but will take a while

We do know our beers! I'll get my new paycheck at the end of the month so I can pick up some greenstuff then and see if I have a beaky helmet laying around so I can sculpt it for you if you'd like

nerdfest wrote:Quick question, the cut off for the PAFH challenge is July 1st, does that mean you need it in your hands by that date? if so i need to get cracking to mail it in time :-)

inmygravenimage wrote:I hope not! Build started today, but will take a while

Pics posted by July 1.

If you're going to send it to me, you may do so at your leisure.

I am very excited by this gentlemen, and I'm really looking forward to what you create!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

DijnsK wrote:We do know our beers! I'll get my new paycheck at the end of the month so I can pick up some greenstuff then and see if I have a beaky helmet laying around so I can sculpt it for you if you'd like

Wow! Thanks, Dijns! That's very generous of you. But please don't feel any obligation to do that. I'll figure it out, and really, I need to practice these things myself if I'm going to get any better.

Now, if you want to pick up some beer for me....

Wicked! :-) thanks YB that makes it better for figuring it all out and scrounging a model lol!

Quick question. I'm doing a jumpy marine, as mentioned - do YOU have a preferred loadout? Eg lightning claws, power fist and combi melta, flamers ( )...

Ramos Asura wrote:I love that helmet idea!

Thanks! I'm glad you like it.

Ramos Asura wrote:To improve the look of it, id suggest cutting the helmet back a bit like this

And also cut it behind the feathers (leaving the feathers), so as to take out that bit in between? That would also shorten the helm a bit. It might also raise the angle of the beak, which might help... or not? I amy give it a try.

Several people also suggested widening the helm a bit, maybe by adding a bit of GS to the sides. Damn! I'm going to need more eagle backpacks!

Ramos Asura wrote:Oh, and if youre havin trouble getting your camera to focus, try finding "Macro mode" on it. should be a little picture of a flower. Thatll help ya focus on close-up stuff

Yeah, I have it set there, and often it does just fine, but this time it was just out to annoy me....


Automatically Appended Next Post:

inmygravenimage wrote:Quick question. I'm doing a jumpy marine, as mentioned - do YOU have a preferred loadout? Eg lightning claws, power fist and combi melta, flamers ( )...

Totally up to you, mate! I like the lightning claw idea, and would (will) probably do one myself, but follow your inspiration! Create what you want to create!

This guy from FW would also make a great captain

Has a hawk/eagle on his little shield thing and a nicely shaped imperial eagle on his chest.

I MUST have that head...... but yes it would make a sweet cap for the FH's!

im picking that one up!!!! only thing i dont like about that armor variant is the backpack!

Holy smokes is that an awesome model!

Yellowbeard wrote:@tipios: It looks like you've got a lot going on, but if you have time, I'd love to see your take on the Fire Hawks, mate.

I need more practice on painting smaller models this will give me an excuse, and something to do while waiting for water effects to dry

Gitsplitta wrote:Holy smokes is that an awesome model!

He'd be a nice MW as well. the style of helm always reminds me of the MW. Not intentional but it has such a different look.

Ok to make it official, I am throwing my hat into the painting competition! I started building the model last night from some spare parts and should start painting this weekend!

This thread makes work on a Friday not so productive.

Yellowbeard wrote:

Ramos Asura wrote:To improve the look of it, id suggest cutting the helmet back a bit like this

And also cut it behind the feathers (leaving the feathers), so as to take out that bit in between? That would also shorten the helm a bit. It might also raise the angle of the beak, which might help... or not? I amy give it a try.

Several people also suggested widening the helm a bit, maybe by adding a bit of GS to the sides. Damn! I'm going to need more eagle backpacks!

Ya thatd help. a little trim with a knife behind the feathers would give you a good surface for GS.
I recommend using a small ball of GS between the helm and the beak parts so you can adjust angles as you see fit. Then once it sets, fill any gaps and yer golden!

Wow that is brilliant. Is that from the SM commander back pack? Would have never thought of doing that. Nice Idea.

See, when I get an idea, I have to explore it. Bother...

Nice work graven!!!

GiraffeX wrote:This guy from FW would also make a great captain

I just saw this and had exactly the same thought! That hawk ( it's definitely a hawk ) on the shield sold me. But now what do I do with the hawk helmet I've been working on? I love that Maximus helmet, but I wonder if I could replace it. I can't tell if it's a separate part or molded on....

DijnsK wrote:im picking that one up!!!! only thing i dont like about that armor variant is the backpack!

That's what jump packs are for.

@tipios: Right on! Hey, feel free to practice water effects here, too.

Solar_lion wrote:He'd be a nice MW as well. the style of helm always reminds me of the MW. Not intentional but it has such a different look.

Actually, yeah, I agree; the Maximus helm would look great on some MW characters!

@Cutthroatcure: Thanks for checking out my blog and welcome to the contest! Can't wait to see what you cook up.

eldartau wrote:This thread makes work on a Friday not so productive.

You're tellng me! Pretty cool, though. Thanks, everybody, for all your enthusiasm!

@Ramos: Thanks! That's a great idea! I was just wondering how I might fit the helm on there properly.

@Schank23: Thanks! Glad you like it. I can't take full credit for it, though. I saw it first here. But yes, the eagle is from the commander back pack.

@Graven: Nice work! What have you got him perched on? Is that going to be part of the base? Or are you just using it to hold him?

So what figure is this exactly??

New Space Marine Captain from Forge World's Sace Marine Mk IV Command Set. Also comes with a standard bearer...

God, I love the new mk4 stuff. So purty.

The jump chappy has the cape from a high elf wizard, which has flames licking up from the bottom. That's gonna be pinned into a weighted base for some stability.

Speaking of elves, I'm sure there's Phoenix stuff in the high elf range generally. Might be worth a look.

The only thing I don't like about him is the crest on the helmet... just not my thing. Unfortunately with the helm tucked under the arm I suspect it would be near impossible to get rid of.

The crest does just look like a broom

Don't knock broom hats! I can forgive it, it fits the Romanesque aesthetic.
Anyway, built:

To the paintenating!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Bother, forgot to gs the wrist mount for the combo melta. Knickers.

Yeah, I agree about the broom. Might look good with Minotaurs, though....

inmygravenimage wrote:The jump chappy has the cape from a high elf wizard, which has flames licking up from the bottom. That's gonna be pinned into a weighted base for some stability.

Speaking of elves, I'm sure there's Phoenix stuff in the high elf range generally. Might be worth a look.

The mini's looking great, Graven. Post a pic of the cloak, if you get a chance.

Yup, thought so


Cape!

Its so interesting to see that the Fire Hawks later become the "Legion of the Damned"

The comment above.

The rest is looking great though, looking forward to seeing what you do next.

Hello Yellowbeard,

I saw you had a contest for painting a Fire hawk Space marine.

I painted a Macragge starter set marine from 4th Edition.

Here is my go:


Think the flames on the leg pad came out pretty well, chapter symbol a little less satisfied with.

Anyway let me know what your think

EDIT:

Alright, here is the Paint recipe:

Red: Scab red drybrush-layer(I do that roughly because it gives a pretty good red base) followed by a layer of scab red/blood red 50/50 to get a nice red.
Recesses are done with a little watered down chaos black. Highlights are edgelined with pure blazing orange.( I noticed the highlights don't come out very well in this picture, a bit too dark, maybe I will edit this picture in this post later on)

Yellow: Ochre verde from the Vallejo line as a base ( only needs like 2 layers to get a good coverage) Graveyard earth in recesses.
Highlights are done by a 50/50 mix of the same base colour with Bleached bone ( the helmet has an extra highlight 80/20 bleached bone / skull white)

Chapter Symbol is scab red painted directly over the base yellow. symbol itself is highlighted with blazing orange. Bleached bone highlight around the symbol.

If you want to know anything else, go ahead and ask me.

Looks great Develain, however inorder to be an official entry you must include your painting formula. It is less a painting competition than a painting effect competition.

Intresting use of turquoise on the shoulders. Really livens up the figure.. I like a lot. Your skill with highlighting is amazing.

SL

@CTC: yes, I agree. That little bit is one of the things that really attract me to these guys. There's a lot of mystery as well as a lot of tragedy. I'm surprised there hasn't been more done with them.

@Ghost in the Darkness: Welcome! And thanks for the comment. I plan to actually paint some Fire Hawks! (But stupid house work keeps getting in the way.... )

@Develain: Welcome to my blog, and thanks for joining the competition! As SL said, part of the competition includes presenting the paint recipe. I'm mostly interested in the reds and yellows, but include any tips you like. You can just edit your post above, I think.

The mini itself is very nice. I agree with you that the flames came out very nice, and I'm actually impressed with the chapter symbol. How did you paint that? It looks like you started with a bright yellow and then paintrd the red over it, leaving an edge of yellow for highlight. Or did you actually add that edge highlight afterward?

The highlighting as a whole is very nice. On the helmet, did you highlight with yellow first or go straight to an extreme white highlight? (I can't tell from the picture.)

I agree with SL, too; the blue is a nice touch.

Agreed on turquoise and highlighting; freehand's pretty damn fine too.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, I'm going to post my WIPs up on my blog just to prevent clutter here.

I completely agree, their story is awesome!

Hey, Everybody.

First, just a couple of notes:

Graven has started work on his Fire Hawk over on his blog. He's using an unusual approach to painting the model (well, maybe not unusual for Graven, considering his Weeping Angels and such, but unusual for me at any rate) with some very interesting effects so far. Check it out.

Also, I thought I recognized Develain's name when he posted his Fire Hawk here (see above) just the other day, and it's because he's got a very cool Attack of the Clones Project underway. I understand there's a Clone Trooper Conversion Tutorial in the works. Take a look.

Ok, on to an update. I managed to get some paint on some models yesterday....







These guys, obviously, are still WiP. I got some base coats down and gave them a Sepia wash. Highlights are next. Made a lot of little mistakes on them: paint where it isn't supposed to go, no paint where it is supposed to go, a couple of mold lines. The last guy in particular has some problems; his right arm is a mess of GS. I might try to sand it some.... Hopefully, I can fix some of the paint problems when I highlight.

Also a question: How do you guys paint the parchment on your purity seals? I started with Ushabti Bone (Bleached Bone) and then gave it a Sepia wash. How does it look?

The paint scheme is based on Solar_lion's Fire Hawk. I really like this paint scheme so far, but SL's version came out redder than mine.



SL's is in the middle; mine are left and right. I think there might be a couple reasons for this (one being tha mine aren't done yet):
- I used a gray primer; SL used white (I think). That may have changed the base color some.
- I don't have an airbrush, so by painting by brush, I almost certianly put on a thicker base coat.
- I used the new Seraphim Sepia; SL used the old Gryphonne Sepia. I understand there are some differences in the new shades.

In any case, I like where they're going... if I can clean up all the mistakes.

Also, a couple of new marines I've been working on:




These guys were inspired a by a comment by Imperial Monkey reminding me to have some basic poses in the army for balance. The first guy I tried to make like he was actually shooting something. He's not bad, I think, though his gun is a little low. The second guy was inspired by one of Vitruvian's Imperial Fists. I didn't quite get it, but it was fun messing around with the model. I actually had to extend the left arm to make it reach across the body. It needs some GS, but otherwise, how does it look? Does it look out of proportion? There was a third guy, a banner bearer, but none of the pictures came out...

As always, C&C welcome.

I think the third guys arm looks way too long. Maybe it is just the camera though!

Looking great; looks like you yourself have a real handle on the paint scheme already tbh! Thanks for the shout out btw, this wash/glaze method is inspired by weetyskeemian's excellent work, in fact.

I also concur that arm looks super long, I also got a ton of work done on my entry last night for the competition

@eldartau & CtC: Yeah, That's what I was afraid of. I guess I'll have to try to fix that. Thanks

@Graven: Thanks! I do like this scheme, but there's a lot more for me to learn. For example, I decided to paint the chest aquila yellow because Develsin did so, and I liked how it looked. (The aquila in IA9 are gold or bone I think.). Every version of the Fire Hawks teaches me something new!

@CtC: Great! Have you posted any pictures yet?

Speaking of, tipios has started his Fire Hawk too!

Good morning everyone I would like to present to YB and his loyal followers my take on the FireHawks marine challenge I painted him yesterday and i hope you like him, not as good as some here but eh! it's fun to do! the first pic is the most accurate one as far as colours go, I used my phone camera at night which was probably not the best idea, but if you PM me YB I'll send him to you soon!





Paint recipe:
REDS:

Army Painter Dragon Red coloured Primer.
wash with Devlan mud.
highlight with blood red.
70/30 Blazing orange- Blood red highlight
Blazing orange highlight.
60/40 Blazing Orange- Vomit brown highlight.
Pure Vomit brown on very edges.
wash entire model with Carroburg Crimson Shade

YELLOW:

Dheneb stone- Golden yellow 60/40 paint areas where you want yellow, pauldrons, flames etc.. (wash pauldrons with devlan mud after your first coat)
for the brighter yellow parts i add more golden yellow and paint down from the highest part fading it into the base layer until your top parts are pure golden yellow.
for the ash coloured boots I did the opposite and mixed more Dheneb stone into the base mix and painted the boots and blended up into the flames, finally a small bit of white in the mix and edge highlight sparingly on the front of the boots.

then it was just the details and he was done, took about 45-60 minutes to paint this way, i really hope you like him

regards

Nerdfest09 - Damo

Looking nice Nerdfest!

Good stuff, like the highlights and freehand's cool.

hey there yellowbeard!
im not gonna enter your contest (sorry) but i will linger about for some artistic advice here and there (same as with the beaky sculpt )
what i did is i have broken down the firehawks chapter symbol so its pretty easy to recreate
hope it helps
*edit*
sorry i didnt have my trusty photoshop and my paintskills are not that great *

Very nice work, nerdfest09! That deep red is quite nice. Your process looks pretty close to your quick-and-dirty process for painting red armor, but this one looks a little deeper. Maybe it's the photo.... Fantastic work on the freehand! Thanks, too, for all the recipes, especailly on the boots. I've been thinking about how to do the ash color, and that helps a lot.

PM sent.

@DijnsK: No worries, mate. Paint what you like! Glad to have you around, in any case. Advice is always appreciated. Thanks for the break down of the chapter symbol. I may end up trying to make some decals, but that will be very useful!

@Develain: I just noticed that you updated your post with your recipes. Thanks! A couple of quick questions:
- The only highlight on the red is is an edge of pure blazing orange? Nice.
- I've not used Vallejo's Ochre Verde. Based on the Vallejo Color Chart, it looks brownish (which I've noticed is a common base for yellows), but on your model it looks more yellow. How does it compare to something like Vomit Brown?
- What did you do for the Turquoise edges on the shoulder pads?
Thanks!

Nice job Nerdfest, the flames aand symbol are ace

Thanks DijnsK, thats a great help

@DijnsK: I just took another look at your Blood Ravens, and the color scheme you describe in your first post is a very nice scheme. Chnage out the bone for a nice dark yellow, and you could have a good, dark recipe for Fire Hawks, too. I'll have to keep that in mind! So, even if you don't participate in the contest, you've made some great contributions to my project. Thanks! Those models, by the way, are wonderfully painted. Very nice work!

Cheers guys, i'm happy you like the way he turned out! :-) I'll send him off to you soon as i can YB hopefully next tuesday will be a go!

@DijinsK: most useful! Many thanks.
@YB: if I/we can get finished sharpish, would you like pre-deadline if possible?

DijnsK wrote:hey there yellowbeard!
im not gonna enter your contest (sorry) but i will linger about for some artistic advice here and there (same as with the beaky sculpt )
what i did is i have broken down the firehawks chapter symbol so its pretty easy to recreate
hope it helps
*edit*
sorry i didnt have my trusty photoshop and my paintskills are not that great *

I have to laugh that after step three it is all downhill on being easy to paint

Cutthroatcure wrote:I have to laugh that after step three it is all downhill on being easy to paint

if i can do it in paint with a mouse you can do it with paint and a brush!

@YB hehe your welcome! and thanks for checking my WIP thread
if you ever find yourself in there again, feel free to leave a comment
same goes for everyone of you

/end shamelessselfpromotion.exe

I think your guys came out good.. I still think your lighting is too bright and makes the rust color come out brown rather than the red the actual figure is.

Very nice Nerdfest09.. glad to see your take. and that you did the boots yellow.

SL

I like your take on the Firehawks, and some of the other guys work is really cool.
I have been working on one too and I'll post pics up soon. I do parchment with Kommando Khaki, then washed with Gryphonne Sepia.
Another coat of Kommando Khaki leaving the Wash around the recesses and edges where the parchment overlaps.
Bleached bone to highlight.

Hope it helps.

Hey folks,
Approaching the end point with this guy:

Lots more pics in my blog (link in Sig), and C&C sought!

@Graven: you can post pics whenever you're ready before the deadline, so if he's finished, go ahead and post. If you want to send me the mini, you can do that whenever, pre- or post-deadline. PM me if you want to do that. Btw, I think your Fire Hawk turned out quite nice. That's a very interesting technique you and weety use!

@SL: Thanks. I agree, the lighting is poor. I need a light box... and maybe a new camera. Fortunately, I have a b-day coming up in a couple of weeks, so we'll see how that turns out. If you stop by next week, you can see them in person. Hopefully, I'll have some highlights done by then, too...

@dantay: Thanks! Still working on them, and the encouragement helps! Thanks for the recipe. I don't think I have Kommando Khaki at the moment; what's the new color...? But I'll try it out. Looking forward to seeing your Fire Hawk. Let me know if you post WiP pics, or feel free to post here, too!

Hey Yellowbeard,

A few (lot) of WIP pics of my Firehawk... last round of highlights went a bit awry, so a bit of tidying up needed. Without further ado.

I need to quite a bit of tidying then... play with washes to try and pull all the coulurs in. Then I am going to work up the yellows and lenses and skull. Not too much to do

Interesting approach dantay... look forward to seeing it tidy'd up and ready to roll.

Kewl. Lovely curly freehand I am dead jealous.

Yeah .. I like the height of the flames on the leg. It has a better feel than mine. Good job!

looking forward to the finished result.

SL

Barring possible pics on a better background, this guy's done:

Nice one Dantay, Flames on the chest are very nice!!!

And gravens finished too, I'm going to be last:(

Not quite tipios I haven't had the time to start mine yet, I'm not even sure if I'll be able to partake at this rate

Thanks Tipios!! Been the best part of 7 months since I painted so this model is going at warp speed in terms of paintin for me.

So thanks Tipi, for making not the last one done with my glacial painting style!!!

The orange is a bit extreme so I plan to tone it down with a few washes

Just a quick update/WIP of mine for some C&C



Quick run down of how I painted it:
+Prime white
+Wash with bestial brown wash (you can see how thick it is by looking at the jump pack as that has not been given anything else yet).
+Wash with a thin wash of blazing orange all the marine armour parts, avoiding straps, flexible joints etc
+Retouch in white any parts that will be painted yellow/other colours
+Paint yellow stuff yellow (I can't remember off the top of my head which colour it was but I start with quite a light one and then will shade down)
+paint eyes white, then use green ink (since it dries with a shine - you can use green washes/paints and then gloss varnish)
+Use a thicker bestial brown wash on the armour joints, mouth grill and chest eagle, then hit with Devlan Mud
+Use a thin black wash on the jump pack straps

And that is pretty much as far as I got other than using a blue ink on the plasma coils and in the jump pack jets.

Ok, think I have finished now

+Prime white
+Wash with bestial brown wash (you can see how thick it is by looking at the jump pack pipes as that has not been given anything else yet).
+Wash with a thin wash of blazing orange all the marine armour parts, avoiding straps, flexible joints, shoulder pads etc
+Retouch in white any parts that will be painted yellow/other colours
+Paint yellow stuff yellow with a couple of thin layers of golden yellow
+Paint eyes white, then use green ink (since it dries with a shine - you can use green washes/paints and then gloss varnish)
+Use a thicker bestial brown wash on the armour joints, mouth grill and chest eagle, then hit with Devlan Mud
+Use a thin black wash on the jump pack straps across the torso
+Paint the plasma pistol front section and chainsword motor with dwarf brass then give a thick badab black wash
+Paint the pistol body and the blade case with black ink (can use multiple black washes)
+Paint the plasma pistol coil and jump pack vents with blue ink
+Paint the sword teeth with a heavy badab black wash
+Outline shoulder design in chaos black, fill in with bestial brown then go over with blazing orange wash and add golden yellow eye
+Paint skulls with bleached bone/kaki and then go over with sepia wash


I think that is everything, and I hope you like the scheme

Because it uses washes so much, it gives you a built in weathering which I think looks pretty cool (can be seen most on the edges of the angular bits of the jump pack).

Hey, Everyone, sorry I haven't been responding. I was away celebrating an anniversary with my wife!

So, first, Cutthroatcure is sponspring a Malifaux Painting Competition to kick off the summer! Check it out.

@dantay: Nice work! I agree with everyone else; nice work on the flames, especially on the chest. Glad to see you're paonting again, and I'm looking forward to how you finish the Fire Hawk.

@Graven: Great work! I'm really glad you're participating in the competition. Your approach is so different, I feel like I've learned a lot just following your process. Speaking of, could you add a summary of your process to your post, for the competition? Thanks, mate!

@SilverMK2: Nice work! Interesting approach, using washes like this. I like the result. Thanks for entering the competition!

@GiraffeX: I hope you have time to paint your Fire Hawk! I'm really looking forward to seing what you do.

Also, just thought I'd mention that there are two weeks left until the competition deadline!

Yellowbeard wrote:@SilverMK2: Nice work! Interesting approach, using washes like this. I like the result. Thanks for entering the competition!

The best thing about it is that it is really quick

And happy anniversary

@silver - looks good, you've got the colour down nicely. You don't fancy doing any flames?

I think you can see fom the hawk badge that my painting skills don't extend that far

Well I think it is a good effort on the hawk badge.

Better then what I could, my entry has a note saying add Hawks here and Here..LOLz

Yellowbeard wrote:
@GiraffeX: I hope you have time to paint your Fire Hawk! I'm really looking forward to seing what you do.

Well I've made a start but have a long way to go, I might not have him finished in time but he will be done at some point.

I have not had time to make this happen yet. I am working on trying to get my dreads done for an upcoming tourney. Lately, I have so little hobby time, it is saddening. I wont have it done for the contest but I will get you something soon!

@GiraffeX: No worries. Work on what inspires you. If you have time for the Fire Hawk, great! If not, that's ok, too. Looks like you've got an interesting start on him, though. Is that a skull you've added to his chest? That's a nice touch. It'll be interesting to see what you have planned for the iron halo, too.

I'm fascinated by the different approaches to modeling and painting this project has brought out. Looking at GiraffeX's marine, it occurred to me that I always start building the legs first, then the torso, arms, head, etc. GiraffeX seems to work in the opposite direction. The different paint schemes (and methods!) are fascinating, too. Can't wait to see some more and put them side by side!

@eldartau: I understand. Real Life always gets in the way; I haven't had much time either. Well, if you can't get a Fire hawk done, that's ok. I'd still love to see some of your stuff. Have you posted any pics of GKs yet? I'd love to see those dreads you're working on, too.

I was just looking through Meph's Blood Angels blog and noted that he uses a red primer. I wonder how that would affect some of the paint schemes that have shown up in this competition. Nerdfest09's Fire Hawk starts with a red primer, too, but he builds up to more of a classic red. I wonder how it would affect a brown base coat such as Gitsplitta's Fire Hawk or datany_xv's Fire Hawk or a rust base coat like Solar_lion's Fire Hawk.

Oh, nice colour scheme and execution! I've got an orange army in Dawn Of War 1&2. ^_^

But I really need to peer-pressure you guys into staring to use oil paint washes. They're sooo simple to use and give such a perfect detail outlining and panel details. If you want to give some extra oomph to your models with no difficulty, that's it.

Oh, and I don't use a red primer per se. It's a 50/50 Mech. Red and Blood red (thinned for airbrushing) over a black undercoat. Although a warm reddish brown might be a great start to build up a warm orange on.

There is still time to enter the contest.! it not over till July 1

SL

Yellowbeard wrote: @GiraffeX: No worries. Work on what inspires you. If you have time for the Fire Hawk, great! If not, that's ok, too. Looks like you've got an interesting start on him, though. Is that a skull you've added to his chest? That's a nice touch. It'll be interesting to see what you have planned for the iron halo, too.

I'm fascinated by the different approaches to modeling and painting this project has brought out. Looking at GiraffeX's marine, it occurred to me that I always start building the legs first, then the torso, arms, head, etc. GiraffeX seems to work in the opposite direction. The different paint schemes (and methods!) are fascinating, too. Can't wait to see some more and put them side by side!

Um I usually work my way up from the legs as well but I dont have any spare at the moment

The chest is from a chaos space marine with the arrows either side of the skull removed.

can we get a look at all the entrants in one post you think? it'd be great to see what everyone's come up with :-) I know i've missed a couple!

@Meph: Hey, thanks for checking out the blog! I really like the FH colors, too, but they've been difficult to replicate... at least for me. Hence the contest, which has drummed up some really cool ideas. I've learned a ton watching everyone come up with different ways of painting these guys. Thanks for the clarification on your painting. That one picture I linked really looked like you had primed in red. I need to experiment more with different paints processes, but I don't have the time....

I've been thinking about oil washes, by the way. I read your post on it quite a while ago - SL keeps going on about it - but I'm still trying to get down some of the basics. (Also, your recent description of your process you posted for paulguise was most useful. Thanks!)

Oh yeah, what SL said: if you've got time and feel like giving it a go, I'd love to see your take on the FH scheme!

@GiraffeX: LOL. No legs!? Guess you'll have to mount him on a land raider or something! Feel free to be creative! (Though for clarity's sake, vehicles are actually out of the competition.... )

@nerdfest: Yup, I plan to post all the entrants in one post after the competition closes. For now, let's see...

Develain

nerdfest09

inmygravenimage
Graven's WiP photos start here

SilverMK2
Silver's WiP is here

tipios' WiP

dantay_xv's WiP

GiraffeX's WiP

Cutthroatcure, TiB, and eldartau all mentioned they were going to participate, but no pics yet....

When is the closing date of the contest?

@giraffeX, any particular kind of legs you looking for? I have tons of basic standing legs kicking about.

@yellowbeard, the missus got me the MAsters of the chapter boxset (metal) for Fathers day... the concept is amazing but they do not suit the SW aesthetic. 2 are gonna be easy conversions, , but if you fancy a captain type model on foot, I can certainly start with a red primer if you want. May just run a bit behingd the July 1st schedule.

A quick query which someone may be able to help me with. I found a small model shop locally that has some old GW stuff and is priced from before the price hikes... paint pots still £2, still git green, blue magenta inks etc.... sword brethren in metal £20 Metal GK's £18 etc.

Anyways the paints seem to have separated a weebit and gone gloopy..... would they be salvageable? Or are they wrecked, cos I could restock my paints, but I do not want to waste money.

Seperated paints should be salvagable with a good wrist action

Acey pacey..... paint pot lunacy here I come.

dantay_xv wrote:@giraffeX, any particular kind of legs you looking for? I have tons of basic standing legs kicking about.

Any legs, marine legs that is would be great.

Managed to get some yellow on him today!!

@yellowbeard, When you say red primer, do you mean to use red as the base coat instead of the brown to get a more ruddy colour or just a red prime with brown base to see if the brown would change?

That yellow is looking really nice tipios

@Gitsplitta: July 1. Stil plenty of time, my friend.

@dantay: 2nd Q first: actually, I meant as an actual primer, such as Army Painter Dragon Red, which is what nerdfest uses. So, it would replace your normal black or white primer. 1st Q second: that's very generous of you (painting one of the Masters), but you don't need to do that (unless you want to experiment for yourself). You've already got 2 maronrs started; you should finish them!

@GiraffeX: Glad you clarified that; you might get Wraithlord legs or something!

@tipios: Looks great! I love the dark colors and the stance. The topknot is ace, too.

I will try to get some pics up this weekend. I may start my own p&m blog as well. That is still very much up in the air. I feel like I have turned in late homework or something O.o.

@YB will do chief.
@dante where is this place you speak of? Metal gks you say? Hmm...

[@dante where is this place you speak of? Metal gks you say? Hmm...

Its a small newsagent in my local area.

Hoefully some updates soon, done some reverse painting this time around on marine 2 haha...... works quite well.

Now how to get the armour less brown looking???

dantay_xv wrote:Now how to get the armour less brown looking???

Have you tried the new glazes? Maybe the red woild provide the proper tint....

Hey, Everybody!

I've been getting ready for a conference this coming week, so no time for hobby and so no updates....

Just thought I'd remind everyone of the Paint a Fire Hawk Contest! One week left! Entries are due July 1. Rules are here. Still plenty of time to enter. Looking forward to seeing more Fire Hawks!

Tomorrow i should drop my picture and painting recipe off on here!

Oh, meant to do my method:

1. primed white
2. washed with new sepia.
3. glazed yellow
4. Next, flesh tone layer wash, except for on pads.
5. Red wash, oil on combi, green on grenades and laurel, Purple wash on cape. Dwarf flesh on, well, flesh.
6. Thin mechrite red on armour, sunset on yellows, and blood letter on cape.
7. Sigil: Outlines done with a brown Sakura pigma micron (.05) to help me, filled with gw orange.
8. Blue on seals, writing with black micron (0.1)

Et voila! Capt. Saul Ignis: