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@thechosen1: I build armies based on what I want to paint for the most part and I like to FW TLAC, so...

I present for your viewing pleasure Veteran Sergeant Arcolin of the First Company, Raven Guard and his brethren:



In game terms they represent a Captain and Command Squad of course.

I started developing in July, you can see what it originally looked like here.

I went through an awful lot of evolutions to get to the finished product and I'd like to offer my thanks to all those who commented on the squad and helped me bring it to life. Only one Marine survived from that initial planning phase intact (Veteran Brother Daulk - far right), although a number of parts were shuffled around to form new and improved Marines. In the initial phase I made the mistake of just making models that looked cool, the problem of course is that there's no coherency amongst the squad at all. Some discussion on my B&C blog and my WIP thread, especially with Povar, helped me identify the need for and develop a more defined theme for the squad.

The theme I settled on was 'hunting xenos through a ruined cityscape' and I think the revised squad does a pretty good job of presenting that theme. As I look at that group photo I'm more convinced than ever that I need to paint a servo-skull for Keldor (kneeling) so it looks like he's receiving a report or giving it instructions so he ties in more closely with that theme. I also used red through the squad to help tie them together a little more as well, typically, but not always, on the shoulder pad.

OK, so some links to individual Marines, these take you to the final entry for each Marine on my Bolter & Chainsword Raven Guard blog and include pics from multiple angles as well as a commentary of the construction, posing and painting of each:

Sergeant Arcolin (Shield & Chainsword, centre front)
Brother Apothecary Leandro (rear left, BP/Chainsword)
Veteran brother Keldor (bolter, kneeling)
Veteran Brother Daulk (Combi-Flamer, far right)
Veteran Brother Balfour (left front, bolter - left handed)
Veteran Brother Renner (rear middle, BP/Chainsword)

Love how crisp your whites are and the way you do the black armour, awesome!

I can really not overstate the envy I feel. My Marines are so poor by comparison.

Marines are great fun from a modelling perspective; the codex's scope for individualising the squad 'n' all the markings and things one can add. Aware of all this fluff and looking at your models, I can really imagine them as having been ripped straight out of a 40k movie or something. I wish my Marines could look that 'real'.

Stunning! Absolutely love the Raven Guard.

love the color scheme. Very, very impressed with the dreads green lights or whatever. Keep it up!

Incredible painting and modelling skills! Nice to see more Raven Guard as well.

I love all the little details and conversions. Really great stuff!

As usual, your Raven Guard are amazing! they all look so damn good together, each model performing their battlefield role is conveyed excellently and I am certainly envious of how your army is looking and progressing! the info in the links is great to see how you do the steps and the process involved, you' will in inspiring people I have no doubt! :-)

Keep it up my friend!

Nerdfest09

Masterful. Probably the best RG I've ever seen.

Great work! A really well executed squad with extremely well painted black and white. I can see you use the Bolter and Chainsword site as your primary site but could you upload some pics to our gallery so I could cast some well deserved votes?

Those are some pretty sweet Ravens!

WOW..... i minus well burn all my mini's now... seeing that yours are the far more superiorly painted..... O.o you make me sick being all perfect lie that XD lol they are just too amazing! Wow... i think i just went through 3 emotions right there

what color do you highlight with?

Woooo How long did it take you to paint like that?

Thanks for the tutorial on Page 3. I will be dragging all my RG minis out and trying my best to bring mine up to a fraction of this quality. I am jealous to the Nth.

Sorry for the delayed reply, I was kidnapped by SW:TOR...

@Henners91: Thanks, I think the 'movie' look is really enhanced by hacing the squad 'moving' and themed. Looking at my other RG minis to coolest ones are all 'moving', the ones just standing still look more like minis than 'real' Marines, maybe that's the key.

@Nerdfest: Thanks mate, glad you're enjoying them and if they do inspire someone, well, that's the highest compliment a gamer can get, right?

@ReaperMan2020: I will eventually upload more photos for viewing but I want to do it properly rather than upload the mish-mash of photos I have right now. Really I need to re-do the whole army in a consistent manner now I think of it.

@capitansolstice: As Sonophos said, I wrote up a full tutorial a while ago, you can download it over at the B&C:



@nightfall: If you mean how long did the minis take to paint, around 8 hours each (although I have the rank and file down to about 2.5 hours these guys got a more care and attention as veterans). If you mean how long did I take to learn to paint like this, well, technically I've been painting models since my first Airfix Spitfire in about 1983 and 40K since '87. That said I think if you have the core painting skills of thinning paint, shading, highlighting and neatness then after a few practice runs at the tutorial method you should be able to turn out some good looking tabletop quality RG in a very darkl black with a little effort...

@Sonophos: Feel free to PM me if you need help and be sure to drop a link to some pics here when you're up and going.

@ Everyone else: Thanks for the kind words all, glad you're enjoying things!

These must look beast on a city fight board!

How do these marines fare in-game?

Just saw that SCC
sweet tutorial by the way!

Some of my paltry efforts at RG are in my gallery.

I love raven guard and these efforts warm my heart sir, well done!

At first; awesome work you got there!

second: Brother Drazan, left shoulderpad, a custom one or a trimmed down tac pad and termie pad on it?

Nerd-gasm! They look amazing! Hmmmm so wanting to paint my black templars now using your recipe so they look amazing as well.

I can't wait for Christmas Day! The prezzies are piled in front of my paint & modelling gear.

Awesome work! Keep them coming!

Wow probably the best painted black iv ever seen, plus you've turned a SM chapter that i usually pass by or over look as boring and dull into something else my man. You've really added something thats been missing from other incarnations iv seen.

Gonna try your technique for painting my CHaplain in terminator armour!!!

Now is it just me, or are there two LEFT-HANDED Marines in the command squad? Hmm?

First Thread post of 2012! Woo!

Cheers for the tutorial SCC I adapted a couple of your techniques to my style and the first result is on my blog.

I'm looking forward to seeing your next results.

Half year update time:

Combat Squad Trae, first half of Tactical Squad Devlin:

A mix of ForgeWorld armour and regular plastic parts, fairly standard stuff really.

Whirlwind Eudynamus:

A ForgeWorld MkI Rhino chassis mated to FW Whirlwind launcher.

Rapier Laser Destroyer (second crew member still WIP)

More FW gear, the second crewman is still under construction/painting...

Predator Corvus Ferox:

A standard plastic Predator really, I added some Greif lenses and that was about it really.

Assault (Bike) Squad Kviarim:


Some close-ups:

Wow Chris, absolutely beautiful as usual dude! it's a rare person who paints black like you who can confidently take a close up and still have it look amazing! I love everything you paint, you really put so much passion into it, all the small details and care taken make them something special and a joy to look at!

It's great to see you here again, lets hope it's not another 6 months before we see more? (that's a hint I want to see more lol)

Damo

Excellent update! You keep us waiting a while but it is really worth it when an update comes. One suggestion might be to change the colour of the bike tyres a little to differentiate them some more from the rest of the bike. Maybe some mud or dust? Loving the Rapier, are they any good in the game?