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Ok, my first attempt at a blog here. I plan to update every night that I get a chance to paint.

Background: I started my Ultramarines back in '99. I've never been real diligent in my painting, until recently. Currently, I'm trying to find a median between quickly painting an army, and painting quality. My color scheme was decided on before I knew anything about the Ultra's First Company fluff, or even that there were different companies. That said, I'm fond of it, and the bright red guns. Without further ado, here's the marines I managed to paint last week. They still need insignias, but I plan on doing that in big batches in the coming weeks. Expect an update when that occurs too.



I know that I'm missing out on a lot of depth. All my marines are. I'll be going back to them all once I get a feel for washes a bit better. I also hope to learn to use layering a bit more with my next two projects.




I hope to get both of them done by the end of the week (earlier on the Tau if I can help it). My goal on both is to further my ability as a painter, while maintaining a decent painting speed. More posts to come when I get progress...

Comments are always welcome, as well as suggestions and tips when it comes to painting.

Edit: And yes, my bases are bright green. I like green.

I love the classic green bases,hope all goes well in your endevours.I like what I see so far.

Not too shabby.

I see a little bit of coverage issues here and there (pauldrons and the base rim). Not too hard to take care of later down the road though!

Now lets see if I can finish my marines up too ^_^;...

Attempted a technique I've seen grey_death do a lot. I found it getting easier the more I did it (the top part of this cloth was done after the bottom, and I think it looks better). I do however need to go and fix the face up a bit. This is also some of the nice white that I've ever painted. Hooray for finally figuring out watering my paints down properly.



Just to show progress on this guy. I wanted to get the cloth based today, and I did that much. Now to wait for my brother to bring down Fortress Grey on Thursday. I might try and get his face done tomorrow.

Super impressed with how much nicer that is looking.

Keep that level of progression going and you'll make some serious headway.

Yea, I agree with grey_death.
However I think you should know not to rush captains or centre piece models.
When it comes to them, spend ages on them and make them look more characteristic.

jackinthetank wrote:Yea, I agree with grey_death.
However I think you should know not to rush captains or centre piece models.
When it comes to them, spend ages on them and make them look more characteristic.

Yeah, well aware of that. There's a reason why only he and the Tau Fire Warrior are on my plate for this week, rather than the entire Assault Squad that I had planned on painting. That and I'm waiting on the 5th member of that squad to be shipped to me...

Welcome to dakka mate!

Looking forward to seeing this evolve

I got some more work done tonight. I'm ok with how it came out. I need to fix up the lines a bit and the two lines at the bottom of the sword as well.

Secondly, I tried a wash method on the shouldpad. Not happy with how that came out, and need to figure out how to fix it. However, the rest of the shoulder is probably the best I've done when it comes to painting white.

And finally, got some brown basecoating done. I hope to have much more done tomorrow night.

Everything is now done except for the following: Metallics, highlighting, cleanup, and the base.

I had fun doing the yellow on the gun and the leg.

Comments welcome!

Had you considered using golds in place of the yellow?

grey_death wrote:Had you considered using golds in place of the yellow?

No, only because I'm a OCD about the colors being used in my army being uniform. And when I start so freaking long ago, I chose yellow.

I curse you, grey_death, for making me think about using gold instead of yellow. It looks darn cool, however. Sepia wash rocks. This is my favorite model I've painted thus far. Took me far longer than anything I've painted also, but I think it paid off.

Comments welcome.

On my plate for this week are a 3 marines: Plasma Cannon, Lascannon, and Heavy Bolter. I hope to use some of the techniques I've learned here to better effect on the normal marines.

Very nice work Pes.

I think a bit more selective washing into the recesses on the gold could be in order. But not 100% necessary.

However, you might want to go one highlight more (again a bit more selectively than you have already), I'd suggest mixing your highlight red with a little bit of orange.

The armor plating could also go with a little more selective highlighting on top of the nice work you've laid down here already. If you have it I'd suggest a 50/50 Dark Blue/Space Wolves Grey, this is normally what I use for the marines I've painted for you ^_-. Dark Blue = Whatever you're using for base color of course.

The tip of the scabbard could be gold ^_-.

Scabbard itself could use a single grey highlight along the top edge to distinguish it more.

Considered writting on the purity seals?

Black dots for the barrels!

Trying gem effects on the powersword could be a fun exercise too.

Ok it seems like a lot of stuff >.>...well it kinda is a lot. But I'm just telling you what I would fix if it were in my hand right now!

Oh and by Dark blue I mean Ultramarines Blue ^_-...

Great work, though I have to agree with Grey death.

Theres something missing on that power armour, right now it looks a little flat. Perhaps some more shading? Also as Grey said some further stages of highlighting might also help.

This is very neatly painted and the attention to detail is fantastic, I think with some extra work it could go further to amazing. Perhaps some light acrylic washes into the recessed areas would really pick things out?

@Grey_death - Spoke with you on the matters you put forward. Me, being the dope I am, forgot to highlight the Storm Bolter. I'll be getting to you suggestions tonight or tomorrow night, because they're all things I could do to pull this together a bit more.

@Gundam-mecha - I agree that it looks a little flat. It's a combination of my highlights not being light enough, and your observation of the armor needing more shading. I'll be taking a wash to it in addition to grey's suggestion of highlighting more.

I meant to get this group done in 7 days (my general goal when I do a group) by life decided to intervene. Thanks to the NHL Playoffs, I got some more time to finish them up tonight. I'm happy with the way they came out (well aware they don't look great) but they still fit in with the rest of my Ultras. They still need shading, but I'll be batch doing that (ALL my marines need shading) at a later date. Most likely when I get around to getting transfers on them. Or when I can sucker grey_death up to PA to help me out.

That said, I'm still accomplishing a lot, and look for 4 bolter marines, and 1 sergeant in the next week.

Proof I've finished more Ultramarines. I got sidetracked on most of my painting nights recently, hence the slow progress.



Same issues as the last group: No weathering, little depth. Doing this batch later on, etc etc.

Next, I'm working on the following:


Picked up the gaunts for my test color for Hive Fleet Tizheruk. Once they're painted, I'll give them to my daughter to use with her older Ultramarines.


The terminator will be my next attempt at actually advancing my skill in painting. Now if only I could get around to starting it. This is what I get for not sleeping during the weekend, and coming home exhausted on Monday.

Just a first concept for the Hive Fleet that I've been toying with. Not sold on the black, but I like the colors otherwise.

The colors are working together nicely, I agree the black seem a bit off, if a tad too stark for the scheme. You might think to add a bit more depth to the armor plating by either starting darker or adding a wash to them after the green. Also I'm a huge fan of striated armor plating on nids, it's a great detail that takes nearly no effort. A few quick strokes along the plate with your highlight color and wham, ezmode texture to a flat piece.

In which case, I'll need to find a replacement for the black. Just not entirely sure which direction to go.

And any tips on how to do that instant texturing? I failed miserably at it last night.

instead of extreme highlighting (painting the edges) Drybrush the area with the highlight color!

hope i could help!

wow , if you dip those nids would be awesome.

Thanks for reminding me that I had this thread, Loki and rod. Here's the updated nid. If I get any free time this weekend, the other 4 will be done using the same method.

I added striations to the armor plating, changed the color of the feet/claws, and made a reddish-brown basing.

I stay away from dipping because I don't have a dedicated place to paint at home (I live in an apartment, and my little girl gets into everything).

Actual progress to report!



grey_death has already pointed out to me that the striations are a bit too even on the new ones, and that I need to work on getting my focus on the camera right. My concern for when I start painting the actual army (keeping in mind these 5 are for my daughter to play with), I'm not entirely sure what to do as far as basing them goes. My brother is hooking m up with the Tyranid boxed set on Thursday, but I don't have the storage for them yet, so I've got time. Suggestions are appreciated.

Oh, and grey_death also points out that the striations get less subtle the more I paint. I had issues with them, sometimes feeling as if I wasn't painting anything on, and I'd add more paint, being too much.

Either way, they're fun, and I look forward to painting more.