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Here are some of my work in progress pics for my long time in coming Nova Dragons Space Marine Chapter. I've been collecting marines for years now (since 2nd edition) and with the release of the new codex I decided it was finally time for my Emperors finest to storm the battlefields of the 41st millenium.

There a few design considerations which I took into account before modelling and painting the army.

1) Unique colour scheme.
2) Exclusive use of axe's instead of swords.
3) White helmets for veterans.
4) Beakie helmets used only by veterans.

First up are the Tactical squads. I've got a decent assortment of marine figures represented here:





Next are the Scout squads. I've only got the older metal ones. In the future I plan to add some of the new plastic models to round out the squads:



Now for some heavy armour support:


My fast attack slots are used up by assault marines:



Here are my Vanguard Veterans (note the beakie helmets & power axe's).



Here's my captain and my large squad of Terminators:


Here's the Captain & the Termie Sgt.:


Master of the Fleet, Master of Recruits and my Sicarius:


My Techmarine:


Finally, my Vulkan He'stan:

delvan mud wash is your friend give the orange a quick wash with that and those will be some purty marines

Yes, the models are not finished yet. There is still some detail work and shading to be done. What I'm going to do is get everything painted up to a basic level so that I can field a painted army. Afterwards I'll go back and do the detail and touch up work.

I really dig the Vulkan conversion.

Very nice set up you've got. Orange is a fickle mistress; I've never been brave enough to use it for more than the occasional highlight.

I really dig the Vulkan conversion.

Very nice set up you've got. Orange is a fickle mistress; I've never been brave enough to use it for more than the occasional highlight.

Also digging how well you've blended the older models in with the new ones. Great work.

Looks great!! kinda reminds me of some loyalist red corsairs

I think that some fortress grey for additional trim would look great, but those are some great marines nonetheless

nice clean paint jobs, but I think as others have said, some low lighting and highlighting would take them to the next level.

They are looking great.

Keep it up.

highlighting will make these models look so much better it breaks up all the orangeish red you have

If you decide to wash them, do a test first on a spare part painted orange, and see if you like the look of either Devlan Mud or Ogryn Flesh washes. The Devlan is more darker brown, and the ogryn flesh has a red undertone that should work really well with your orange.

The gryphonne sepia might also work, much more subtle than either the devlan or the ogryn. Listen to Grimteef and paint up a bit to test before slapping it on a marine. I found that out the hard way...

Otherwise, it's been said already: a clean and simple paint job beats a messily detailed one. You've got a nice hand at converting too - simple head, weapon, and arm swaps establish a theme for the army that's easier to keep up than the oft-seen chaotic slapdash.

Let's see some paint on those other squads!

The Vulkan conversion is solid, man. Very nicely done. Almost inspires me to play Sallies.

Here's a pic a Chapter Master and Captain Sicarius:

Lookin' good, but those scouts need their swords (or giant knives) replaced with AXES. Machetes would suffice for hacky-goodness.

Agreed 'bout the scouts.
I dunno, whilst the orange has been applied very evenly and cleanly they look too plain too me, I'd add another colour.

First battle report is up here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/229389.page

The detailing and shading continues:

What Primer did you use? Black or White?

Arran

As mentioned above I think it would help the theme a bit more to give that scout a hatchet or a tomahawk?

They are starting to look very good in those latest pictures.

I primed the models white.

I'd like to convert the two scout sergeants. I'm having trouble tracking down the right bits for them though. Any suggestions? Eventually, I think I'm going to replace both scout sergeants with new models from the plastic box set. These guys are just stand-ins for now.

Sharp looking army, that's going to look absolutely stellar on the field. I really don't have any criticism for you as the comments i agreed with at the top of the thread seem to be addressed in the newer updates. Keep it up!

It's lacking something...

But other than that I really like the Terminators.

The current issue of White Dwarf has an article featuring the work of Australian master class miniature painter Luke McFarlane. He is working on an original space marine chapter that sports a firey orange power armour and a dragon motif. The article says he hasn't decided upon a unique name for his chapter yet but I'll be upset if he chooses Nova Dragons (I hate it when my creative works turns out similiar to someone elses design). His brilliantly painted space marine model (on page 91) is really the kind of effect I'm going for with my marines.

So it's time to choose a chapter badge for my army. My original idea was to use a star symbol (signifying a star gone nova). But since the Nova Dragons are a Salamander successor chapter I also wanted to incorperate their distict dragon head symbol into the star. So here are nine examples I've come up with. I'm not sure which one I like most.
(note the numbers are for reference purposes only):

I like 6 or 8.

I think 6 or 7 I'd suggest using the white one so it stands out against the grey armour.

I like no.1 it's simple but effective

I'd go with 1 or 9.

SoG

I like 8, 6 is pretty good as well.