After being sat on my desk for a while I have now finished painting up my Iron Hands captain conversion, I've never been fond of (or good at) painting black power armour but I'm happy with how he came out:



Update (16/02/14)

I've now finished up the Master of the Forge!



Update (15/3/14)

I've finished off the Counts-as Sammuel to lead my Ravenwing allied force!

Well done, he looks excellent! Good highlighting. I also find it hard to paint black armour (with highlights, painting plain black armour is not too difficult ), and you nailed it!

Nice!

Thanks guys, he's the first fully completed model in a small Iron Hands force I'm working on, will e ordering a Fire Raptor for the force tomorrow.

Nice conversion! The weapon and shield both look really good!
Can't wait to see the rest of those Iron Hands!

Great work, he really captures the feel of the chapter. Looks like you need to update your avatar too

 Melcavuk wrote:
I've never been good at painting black power armour

LIES! If this is 'not good' then I don't know what is.

Seriously, though, this guy is looking awesome. Full of character and theme, and immensely detailed. Great work.

Dude, that looks awesome!

Sweet. Where is this head from?

Very dark and gritty! Nice work!

Thanks guys, the comment are great motivation to keep working through the aemy.

stargasm wrote:Great work, he really captures the feel of the chapter. Looks like you need to update your avatar too

Good point, I'll get a better head picture and update soon.

tommse wrote:Sweet. Where is this head from?

The head is one of Forgeworlds Night Raptors I found on a bits site, looked suitably angry without excessive crazy.

Very techy, very stern looking, and very cool! He's got a very authoritative pose, and the paintjob is great.

I'm glad to say that this guy got noted as model of the day on friday from forge worlds facebook page was nice to see something of mine up on the page!

Congrats on the FW feature, that's a pretty high accolade given the quality of painting people generally put into FW models. To stand out among that you have to be pretty good.

Congrats on the FB feature!

Very nice use of parts! I'm inspired.

I've updated the initial post but I'm now glad to say I have followed up the Captain with a Master of the Forge armed with the Primarchs Wrath relic who has been performing admirably in games recently. Finally finished the paintjob after having put it off for weeks.

C&C welcome as always:

Wow. Those two minis are brilliant and the use of bits combined with the great painting really bring them to life.

When I see them I imagine that they are from an early post heresy period. Ferrus' death is still raw and they're filled with hatred as the glory days of the Imperium begin to fade before they even began.

What's next?

Next up I'm slowly trudging through tacticals and centurions but characterwise I'm moving onto a Bike Captain (because they're useful in game) and after that converting up a very Iron Handy command squad!

MOTF looks awesome! Looking forward to seeing more on this project.

Subbed as I want to see more!

First of my Assault Centurions is painted up, when assembling I went light on the excessive cabling the goes to the back of them as it didnt fit in with how I wanted them to look which may have ended up with the model looking a little sparse in the rear. While usually not considered to be good my Centurions have claimed the lives of: 1 Razorback, 5 Purifiers, 15 Ork Boys, Warboss, Big Mek, 10 Grots and a Bastion across the two games they have played in.

More to come but here's number one:

Again, nice work. I'm not so much a fan of the model itself (the drills are too over-the-top even for 40k imo) but you've done a great job with it. That's quite the kill count as well.

Those Centurions are a credit to the model. Great paint job, man.

Also, ignore what the internet says is "worth taking." Assault Centurions pummel anything they manage to assault. Anything short of a Monstrous Creature or some silly HQ with super initiative and AP struggles to land wounds on them while they have no such problems with anything, including vehicles and buildings.

I also modeled mine without all the crazy, excessive cabling in the back! They look awesome!

Wow! Well done.

Very inspiring work! very well done, my hat of to you sir!

Been a while since I checked back here as I got distracted with other projects but thank you all very much for all of the nice comments. Managed to get some more focus on my Iron Hands and friends lately including one of the newly release knights for my force.

First up one of the Medusan Relics from before Ferrus arrived on the planet, dubbed the Storm Giant legend tells the Knight was bested by the Primarch in feats of strength long ago.



I need to hit the decals with something to lose the shine but otherwise happy with the paint job.

Then something heresyish with a Cataphracti, painting on this guy with somewhat more troublesome as he used to be a part finished blood angel that I had nothing to use to strip him so the paint is perhaps somewhat chunky:



C&C welcome as always

Love it all! The Knight got my attention big time!!

Two new additions in my painted iron hands force!

First up is a terminator squad reclaimed from my old unused box of half painted blood angels:


And the first of two tactical combat squads:

Awesome stuff! You continue to impress.

The Iron Hands are looking great, really love the knight as well.

I've been working on my counts as Samuel for an Allied Dark Angel force, he's now done and dusted if somewhat simplistic:

Better and better!! the jet bike is grand!

1) How the feth did I miss that Knight?

2) Everything is looking awesome, this will be an amazing army when done. Any chance of a group shot soon?

These are fantastic - the black is matte enough for the detail and shading to really stand out - what's your recipe?

The black it actually quite simple. Its a black base coat with a highlight of German Grey (Vallejo), edge higlighted with mechanicus grey and a very light dry brush of screaming skull. And agrax to shade.

Got a test scheme from something else I'm working on, one imperial fist:

love your work Melcavuk.

great pose on the IF.

Nice IF, I like the tone of the yellow a lot.

Thanks guys, I was a tad nervous doing yellow marines for the first time but I do like how striking they look on the tabletop. Just finished off a second imperial fist to ensure I can repeat the scheme:



Photo is a tad darker but the miniatures match up.

Nice worn yellow, with good black lining, I'd be very happy with them if I were you.
Are those torso's from the new SM kits, I don't recognizing them.

Really nice Iron hands as well

They look (lord strike me down for saying this)....Fabulous.

Genuinely good looking IF Marines ,which is pretty hard to pull off.

I also like how you mixed up the helmets with various Mk7 Breast Plates..I will be copying that, to increase my troop numbers! They remind me of this picture,



If David Beckham was a Space Marine.

 mwnciboo wrote:




If David Beckham was a Space Marine.

Why am I not surprised to see this


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But they do look pretty sweet. Do you have a tutorial? Or a link? I would like to try my hand at the imperial fists.

Why am I not surprised to see this

Not sure if this is a compliment, or otherwise - I genuinely like that painting, it never struck me as solely 40k, based on the Bolt Pistol, (the backpack is a Mk7 but the rest of his Armour is bespoke). This is one of the few paint jobs that captures this kind of feel. I love your work, and as a fellow Pre-Heresy Iron Hands collector, I like the fact you have branched out into other legions. I may yet do some Ultramarines inspired by this picture.



I love the 30k stuff, it allows some real freedom to redesign the Astartes away from the CODEX structure, to more individualised Legion specific stuff. Love this blog.

Some nice artwork there, not come across those before. The original inspiration for the colour scheme was from a request to try and work as close to this rugged looking yellow for pre-heresy Imperial Fists for a commission that I may be doing pending the release of HH Extermination.



Obviously without the red stripe on the head and a different armour mark, but the core scheme was the test.

I enjoy the more crisp details of the MKIV head and shoulder pads and love mixing in the FW with standard 40k, not only from a cost point of view but appearancewise the techier forgeworld kit with the more blinged 40K just looked right to me.

I can work up a tutorial for the paintscheme if you'd like, its relatively quick and easy and I enjoy how much a yellow marine stands out on the battlefield.


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 OneManNoodles wrote:
Nice worn yellow, with good black lining, I'd be very happy with them if I were you.
Are those torso's from the new SM kits, I don't recognizing them.

Really nice Iron hands as well

Missed this one in my reply sorry, the Torsos are from the Space Wolf kit, and the Sternguard kit. The wolf one originally had a furry crotch guard that I trimmed away to leave a cleaner appearance (I didnt have a tac kit on hand at the time)

Great stuff keep up the great work!

Thanks, I have some MKII command models coming from forgeworld to paint up. Turns out I quite like painting yellow marines after the initial test models.

Melcavuk wrote:

I can work up a tutorial for the paintscheme if you'd like, its relatively quick and easy and I enjoy how much a yellow marine stands out on the battlefield.

Very nice work on the Imperial Fists.

I'd like to request a tutorial for the yellow. Thanks.

I'll add in a proper tutorial when my new kits arrive for some in-progress photos, however the basic process goes as follows:

- Assemble model and mount on piece of sprue so you have access to the underside of the model.

- Prime White (I use car primer)

-Using airbrush (or brush if you prefer) Lightly spray Vallejo Burnt Umbra from beneath the model to give shadows.

- Focus spray more on the areas that will be more heavily shadowed.

- When dry spray the model with Vallejo Yellow (Have also tried golden yellow with very little difference) in thin layers, using the relative transparency of the paint to let the pre-shading do alot of the work

- When dry edge highlight again in the yellow in any areas the shadow has overwhelmed the hard edges.

- Lightly drybrush Screaming skull in the areas of the model that would be most hit by light (peaks, edging, etc).

- Apply a watered down wash of Agrax Earthshade to the model ensuring that it doesnt pool/tide mark too much on the higher surface.

Thats the Yellow pretty much done, I occasionally revisit the screaming skull stage at the end in order to bring out the highlights more.

One Half of the MKII Command Squad now done:

Awesome. The banner is understated but effectively so.

Looking good!

really beautiful work!!!

your stuff is exactly the style i like! I really like that realistic, dirty, beat up, scratched war-torn look.

more please

Thanks guys, the banner was something of a moment of indecision. I had more decals cut to put on but once the initial symbol was there it looked like I'd just be drowning it in excess decals if I went much further.

As for another marine, here is the second half of the command team. My flash gun is out of batteries so the picture quality isnt quite as I wanted it:

Beautiful.

great stuff mate. love the banner.

Thanks guys, really enjoyed painting the MKII armour. Here's the pair together ready for battle:

 Melcavuk wrote:
The black it actually quite simple. Its a black base coat with a highlight of German Grey (Vallejo), edge higlighted with mechanicus grey and a very light dry brush of screaming skull. And agrax to shade.

Got a test scheme from something else I'm working on, one imperial fist:

You make me want to flipping throw my BA's in the trash and start Fists!!


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What are the helmet armor types on those IF's?


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And are they standard SM Games Workshop plastics or Forge World helmets?

Captain is looking very nice. Again, very understated which I think fits the IF nicely, down-to-earth and practical.

 Paradigm wrote:
Captain is looking very nice. Again, very understated which I think fits the IF nicely, down-to-Earth Terra and practical.

Fixed.

I was actually going to put Terra, but decided it was just too cringeworthy.

Paradigm wrote:Captain is looking very nice. Again, very understated which I think fits the IF nicely, down-to-earth and practical.

Thanks, there wasnt much bling that I thought would add anything to the models. The Heresy seemed a more practical and less theatrical time for marines.

Kelly502 wrote: What are the helmet armor types on those IF's?

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And are they standard SM Games Workshop plastics or Forge World helmets?

The test models were Sternguard bodies/torso/arms/legs with forgeworld MKIV heads and shoulder because its what I had to hand.

Melcavuk could you add 30k to your subject heading at the beginning.

I've got a campaign with Legoburner to create a 30k mini board for us 30k types. Anyone else doing this if you could do it too! We can then have evidence for LEGO to convince him it's a good idea.

Done. Would be nice to get a more focused stream of 30k discussion.

 Melcavuk wrote:
Thanks guys, the banner was something of a moment of indecision. I had more decals cut to put on but once the initial symbol was there it looked like I'd just be drowning it in excess decals if I went much further.

As for another marine, here is the second half of the command team. My flash gun is out of batteries so the picture quality isnt quite as I wanted it:

The mold line up the left leg kills it IMO

EDIT -Yeah I always feel "Gutted" for beautiful models like this, when you see a mould line. You are a much better painter than I, I'm just fastidious with my preparation prior to painting. That said it's very minor, and only people with OCD get hung up on it. Keep up the amazing Pre-heresy Work. I look forward to when we can all share our items in one area, or at least a dedicated Post with links to our Pre-heresy P&M Threads.

Gorgon Terminators are confirmed by FW and in the pipeline maybe a few months away yet.



Thought you might be interested!

Cheers guy, the mold like really stood out after the wash but I had completely failed to pick up on it before hand. Sadly at that point I was so far into the scheme that stripping it out and starting over would have meant losing he whole scheme.

Those terminators are awesome, waiting on them to come up on the site.

Here's my latest commission, House Raven Knight:

I want an Ad Mech Pre-heresy Army now!

Cool stuff on that knight. The scheme is bright without being garish, which is great. The striping is very neat as well.

Thanks guys, really enjoyed doing my own knight and learnt alot while doing it (especially around the decals) so really enjoyed the chance to take on a knight related project.

Still due a few decals but finished for game worthy play, my Imperial Fist Forge Father model:

Same again. Awesome stuff.

Thanks!

Decals are now on:




Also my WIP Guard scheme. The Artician Crows, frost themed guardsmen:

Its been a while since a marine related updated so here's where I'm at. I'll be running a 30K escalation style campaign locally in the coming months and to mark that occasion I've made up my own Imperial Fist Legion Centurion: The Stone Templar. Just needs decals to finish him off.

Beautiful. Wonderful job

Awesome job!

Great models mate. Love the forgefather, never seen one done up like that before. Great stuff.

Wow, these are great... I can't wait to see more!

Great stuff.

Its been a while since I posted an update, but the local 30K campaign is due to start soon so I've made some progress on my army. 5 of the Legion Tacticals, the Fire Raptor and the Centurion are done now.

They just look awesome. Beyond words cool. You've really given the Imperial Fists colours a gritty realism.

How was the Fire Raptor to put together? I've heard the Storm Eagle could be a pain in the arse.

It's turned out great regardless!

Thanks!

Fire Raptor was (and still is to a degree) warped beyond compare when it arrived, and after soaking it a number of times managed to force, pry and glue it into shape to try and keep everything in place. It was my second one from forgeworld after the first was returned due to immense warping.

That's the only reason I stay away from the larger FW kits, couldn't handle the warping! Really wish they'd tighten up on that.

Any IG or IH updates in the works?

 Melcavuk wrote:
Thanks!

Fire Raptor was (and still is to a degree) warped beyond compare when it arrived, and after soaking it a number of times managed to force, pry and glue it into shape to try and keep everything in place. It was my second one from forgeworld after the first was returned due to immense warping.

Wow, that really sucks! I really like the model, but that puts me off--especially with the associated cost.

Anyway, thanks very much for sharing this--I love the way it's coming together. I really like both of these Chapters (being a BA player myself, I just admire from afar) and I think the color schemes would actually make them work well together on the table top. The Yellow would contrast well with the dark and understated (I also have struggled with painting Death Company power armor as you described). Any chance you could post a photo of the Iron Hands and the Imperial Fists together as a whole force? It's great to get a look at the whole army as well as individual models.

In any case, the Iron Father model in Yellow is amazing!

Amazing work!

Sub...Must...Sub!awsome painting love the highlights

Fire raptor seems a bit plain but that could be me

Very nice work and theme

Thanks, finishing off the other 5 marines tomorrow and getting to work on assembling my legion medusa, very much looking forward to seeing it finished and on the battlefield

Medium of Death wrote:That's the only reason I stay away from the larger FW kits, couldn't handle the warping! Really wish they'd tighten up on that.

Any IG or IH updates in the works?

My Iron Hand force is currently made up of two dozen assembled but not painted bikes, and the Astra militarum hasnt seen much more paint since the chimera got half done. Both forces have been taking a beating in games locally which made me slowly lose the urge to continue with them. I'm sure I'll soon get a pang to get more painting on them done but currently my love for them has waned a little.

pantheralegionnaire wrote:

 Melcavuk wrote:
Thanks!

Fire Raptor was (and still is to a degree) warped beyond compare when it arrived, and after soaking it a number of times managed to force, pry and glue it into shape to try and keep everything in place. It was my second one from forgeworld after the first was returned due to immense warping.

Wow, that really sucks! I really like the model, but that puts me off--especially with the associated cost.

Anyway, thanks very much for sharing this--I love the way it's coming together. I really like both of these Chapters (being a BA player myself, I just admire from afar) and I think the color schemes would actually make them work well together on the table top. The Yellow would contrast well with the dark and understated (I also have struggled with painting Death Company power armor as you described). Any chance you could post a photo of the Iron Hands and the Imperial Fists together as a whole force? It's great to get a look at the whole army as well as individual models.

In any case, the Iron Father model in Yellow is amazing!

Thanks. I'll see if I can dig out my old Iron Hands along with the current unpainted ones soon, some of the character pieces got sold off to finance another army, but I'm still holding onto 90% of them in order to have atleast two armies at any one time.

Talassar wrote:Sub...Must...Sub!awsome painting love the highlights

Fire raptor seems a bit plain but that could be me

The raptor is very plain, I wasnt sure if I wanted to battle damage it or keep it simple but dirty, ended up leaning toward the latter.

Minis look fabulous, great jobs.

A bit more progress has been made, the second 5 tactical marines including the sergeant have now been completed bringing my first Legion Tactical Squad to completion:



And I've managed to get a decentish photo of the completed rapier aswell:



Next up, assembling and painting the Legion Medusa.

Good work, and I like the subtle headswap on the rapier operator.

Just about finished up my Legion Medusa to add a little artillery into the growing 30K force. Lovely kit with no warping what so ever.




And I'm now about half way through my legion contemptor mortis!

Outstanding!

That Bassie really is a nice piece.

But Contemptor Mortis? I wait with baited breath to see what you can do with one of the best 30k models there is...

Contemptor Mortis has been finished aside from the scrollwork, which is something I'll come back to when I have a steadier hand and more experience. The model came from ebay pre-assembled so posewise there wasnt much change possible, the guns are magnetised so when I pick up various varieties he'll gain more armaments.

However for now here he is:

Awesome.

Not disappointed, flippin awesome!

Looks fantastic mate. Hope when I get one I can paint him that well...

Dude just catching up on your work and am very very impressed with those fists! love the forgefather model and the contemptor looks brilliant too, this is a force I'm really enjoying watching you paint up, it's bright anf gritty and just looks sweet as!

Thanks guys, I'm currently at the beginning stages of a Horus Heresy campaign (shown in my P&M Blog I started yesterday). Since my Imperial Fists have turned traitor I may end up including a few more spikey lookng units, nothing overly traitorous but I'm debating giving things like a Flamer Tactical Support Squad the heads from Night Lord Terrors for when they storm fortifications.

Right now I'm bidding on various bits on ebay in the hopes of gaining a few more contemptors, and planning on investing in 20 Breacher Marines to run the Stone Gauntlet.

After a length delay due to issues in my personal life (divorce, moving out etc) I had to sell off everything HH related in my collection aswell as... well my collection.

After a few months getting myself sorted again I'm back with a couple of my old unpainted contemptors and ready to tackle my imperial fists from a fresh start. Now I've completed them as present my first two: Contemptor Mortis, and Contemptor with Close Combat weapons!

Mate, real sorry to hear about how things have been going, hope they turn around for you.

the contemptors look great! been toying with the idea of getting one for my IF, and since we have exactly the same scheme, i think these have sold me great work!

Great work on those. Definitely something to build up from again.