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Syro_ wrote:It's a shame seeing the BattleTech painting coming to an end, it's been fun. Thanks for sharing those excellently painted mechs with us Josh

Well, more of a hiatus than an end. That said, how many gamers can actully say that they've painted all their models?

cygnnus wrote:Love the Marauder! Like you, that was always one of my favorite of the original unseen. That said, I have always been most partial to the rifleman, even though it kind of sucked in the rules. Those AC fives just didn’t do it. Great work, as always!

Valete,

JohnS

The Marauder was, indeed, one of the best Unseen. The Warhammer and Rifleman are a close second and third. And while AC5s didn't pack a lot of punch, they only generate one heat, which at least keeps the ROF up.

Captain Brown wrote:More nice work JoshInJapan.

Cheers,

CB

Thanks, Cap'n!

inmygravenimage wrote:All great, and the Marauder is indeed top.

It's my favorite from this set. I wish Catalyst sold individual mechs so I could get at least one more.

Archer wrote:I to am sad to see the end of Battletech. Perhaps you have inspired me enough to stop procrastinating and get some of my favourites? Maybe...

As I said above, I'm stopping because I don't have any more mechs to paint. I'll bring the CAV models home sooner or later, and then it's back to stompy goodness!

Slinky wrote:Very nice work! Does BT tend to be played with any terrain, or just on the flat hex maps?

We used to play on a regular board with 3D terrain. The most important thing is mounting your models on hex bases because you have to pay for turns, but other than that it worked pretty well.

I finally finished the chupacabras:







The theme for the February paining challenge was Location, Location, Location. I tried to capture the feel of the American Southwest in their bases, but it didn't feel like enough, so I took the plunge and made a display base for them. The grass is static grass and tufts, and the cacti are (somewhat amateurishly) hand-scultped. The rabbit came with some Bad Squiddo minis that I have lying around waiting to be painted. As predicted, their tails are prone to snapping off, but I think they'll hold as long as I don't touch the models.

The painting challenge for March will most likely be Space Marines. While I have a bunch of SM models (as would any gamer as old as I am), I don't really enjoy painting marines per se. I'm considering using the models to explore Grimdark painting techinques-- extreme contrasts, weathering, and such.

I love the cactii I actually thought you'd used real ones! Great job all round dude.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
I love the cactii I actually thought you'd used real ones! Great job all round dude.

Thanks! I based the cacti on the stuff that grew where I lived when I was in the US. I'm honestly surprised that they turned out as well as the did.

The theme of the Dakka Painting Challenge this month (actually, every March) is Space Marines. Although I don't play 40K any more, and don't intend to, I have a pile of unpainted Marines, as does any hobbyist of a certain age. I wasn't really interested in painting something "new," but I remembered having these dudes:


I got them back when GW mail order would custom cast anything, as long as you had the catalog number. All told, I have about a dozen of models from this set, and for the challenge I have decided to paint one of each, and enter the ones I'm happiest with.

Rather than painting them in chapter colors, I have decided to give them all unique paint schemes, inspired by some of the color plates from the Rogue Trader rulebook. This first model is based on the fellow on the left:






I went with a high-contrast, muddy palette, based on my limited knowledge of the Grimdark style. Not bad for a first try, I think, but I see lots of room for improvement. The glowy eyes are kind of wonky, and I see that missed the little dags on his helmet, so I'll have to go back and add those.

I'm still trying to figure out how to paint Grimdark, so if anyone has feedback or advice, it would be most appreciated.

Okay, RT Marines are Marines I can get behind. This guy looks great, so I can't really thing of any way to improve him (aside from adding the helmet details from the drawing).

Great work on the first RT Marine! Can't wait to see the rest. Not being too sure on the specifics of grimdark painting, I have no notes.

Glorious!

Great idea, and excellent finished product

Nice job on the old-school Space Marine, and the cacti look really good!

Amazing throwback paint job! And I love the use of the old Rogue Trader art for inspiration!

Man, does that bring back some memories. Between this and the BattleTech stuff you did, you are really hitting the late ‘80’s nostalgia card hard right now. Absolutely love it!

Great stuff as always Josh(e)!

Valete,

JohnS

Solid start to the marines. God's I miss the old days. Nothing really wrong with the new days, just different is all.

I remember my very first introduction to 40k was the Space Crusade board game, a mate and I played that to death without really knowing that there was a bigger universe behind it all....

Great stuff. Always loved that illustration. Interesting fact: when it was used in WD it was captioned 'marines' but in the RT rulebook - the example here, they are 'human renegades'. Just dudes in power armour. The graffiti on the wall behind them.

Anyway love the paint job, can't wait to see the rest, and you've given me ideas since I have a few of these guys knocking around myself....

KidCthulhu wrote:Okay, RT Marines are Marines I can get behind. This guy looks great, so I can't really thing of any way to improve him (aside from adding the helmet details from the drawing).

Although the production methods were relatively primitive compared to today, models from this era certainly have a lot of "character," which keeps them fun to paint.

youwashock wrote:Great work on the first RT Marine! Can't wait to see the rest. Not being too sure on the specifics of grimdark painting, I have no notes.

I think I'll just try to keep with the super-high contrast, and not worry so much about the grime that seems to be the hallmark of the style.

bbb wrote:Glorious!

Thanks!

inmygravenimage wrote:Great idea, and excellent finished product

Thanks!

aku-chan wrote:Nice job on the old-school Space Marine, and the cacti look really good!

I'm pretty happy with the cacti, as well. My sculpting skills are rudimentary at best, so I'm especially pleased when things work.

cygnnus wrote:Amazing throwback paint job! And I love the use of the old Rogue Trader art for inspiration!

Man, does that bring back some memories. Between this and the BattleTech stuff you did, you are really hitting the late ‘80’s nostalgia card hard right now. Absolutely love it!

Great stuff as always Josh(e)!

Valete,

JohnS

It's been a lot of fun reliving my youth over the past month or so. I fondly recall staying up until dawn (or thereabouts) blasting away at each other's mechs.

Camkierhi wrote:Solid start to the marines. God's I miss the old days. Nothing really wrong with the new days, just different is all.

Agreed. It's been a blast revisiting these older models.

PaddyMick wrote:Great stuff. Always loved that illustration. Interesting fact: when it was used in WD it was captioned 'marines' but in the RT rulebook - the example here, they are 'human renegades'. Just dudes in power armour. The graffiti on the wall behind them.

Anyway love the paint job, can't wait to see the rest, and you've given me ideas since I have a few of these guys knocking around myself....

One of the best things about RT was just how sandboxy it was. Of course, we all ended up building armies of identically-painted models, but at first it was a free-for-all. Games like Rogue Stars get close, but don't quite capture the feel of the era.

Here's the next renegade:




Once again, my camera refuses to focus properly. I'm not as happy with the NMM on the weapon on this guy, but I think the highlights on his helmet work better than the previous model. I'm also rather proud of the stripes on the shoulder pad-- they look to be almost the same size! I'm not sure what to do with the insignia badge on the right shoulder, so I'm leaving that blank for now.

Next up, more marines! I'll also try to get some better photos for next time, as well.

I see you've got some of those Marines that are as old as I am! Always cool to see stuff like that get painted. Loving what you're doing with them so far.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
I see you've got some of those Marines that are as old as I am! Always cool to see stuff like that get painted. Loving what you're doing with them so far.

FWIW, I was old enough to buy them with my own money when they were first released, which puts you in the whippersnapper category compared to me

Ooh, the nostalgia is real! Yeah, I likewise was a buyer of such things with my hard earned pocket money. Alas, I had not the sense to keep them

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Ooh, the nostalgia is real! Yeah, I likewise was a buyer of such things with my hard earned pocket money. Alas, I had not the sense to keep them

Every year, either during winter or spring vacation, I clear out some stuff from the Closet of Infinite Possibility. Usually, I get rid of things that I know I'll never get around to using (like a massive backlog of unpainted 40K Orks), and for the most part it feels good. Some things I regret, even a decade later. My Skullz AdMech and Chaos Dwarf Renegades sets still haunt my dreams...

I finished a couple more of the RT marines. First, the missle launcher:




He was supposed to be a dirty off-white, but ended up yellow. The mismatched left arm is supposed to have been scavenged from a different suit of armor, but I'm not sure you can tell just by looking.

Next, the Death Squad marine:




I really struggled with the black armor, and I'm not entirely happy with how it came out. The skull on the helmet worked pretty well, but I had no clue how to best approach the "sword." What, exactly, is it supposed to be? Super-frozen soft-serve ice cream?

I have three more in this set, and I hope to have the next ready to show in a day or two.

I think you are doing yourself a disservice . I especially love the mad old chainsword.

Nice! I don't think I even remember ever seeing that missile launcher marine before...

Love these two. They are such funky sculpts, like the aforementioned sword. I have to go back and see how many of these RT Marines I kept. May end up with my own case of "purge regret."

These guys are coming out great, Josh. I think you're doing an excellent job, especially given how weird some of those sculpts can be.

Solid job on these marines. The old, eccentric sculpts really get to shine with a well-executed paintjob in the style of the era.

 KidCthulhu wrote:
These guys are coming out great, Josh. I think you're doing an excellent job, especially given how weird some of those sculpts can be.

Yeah, the more you look at them, the more odd they look to eyes accustomed to modern marines But Josh's paintjob has really brought out the best in them.

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. These guys are definitely of the of their time, and I'm enjoying them a lot for their funk-value.

I finished this guy over the weekend:




As always, the Dakka SuperZoom makes the model look much worse than in real life. I went with a police car-inspired lack-and-white scheme for this one, with a red-and-yellow check pattern on his shoulder pad to add some color.

Two more left to paint. After that, I'll finish off their bases and decide which ones to enter in the Painting Comp.

I finished the last two RT Space Marines:



I wanted each model to have a unique color scheme, which is how I ended up with teal and violet. The violet guy is the LE2 Space Marine, the first ever released, and is the best model of this entire set. I wish the rest had been sculpted with the same proportions. Here is the entire set together:



I have to spruce up their bases a bit, and then decide which to enter in the Painting Comp.

Between these two models, I dug into the backlog and pulled out this model:


She is from Bad Squiddo's Amazons range. It was refreshing to go back to organic shapes after all those power armored dudes. I'm getting better at bronze NMM, but I'm not quite "there" yet.

Your RT marines are truly inspiring. It makes me want to actually work on the handful of RT marines I have.

I am not sure if I have been following your painting journey from day one, but I have been lurking for a very long time and I think it is time I say that your painting is really incredible.

I really appreciate your efforts to keep pushing your skills to the next level (as well as your photography). You should be very pleased with what you are able to achieve, one of the best painters that I follow on Dakka.

KidCthulhu wrote:Your RT marines are truly inspiring. It makes me want to actually work on the handful of RT marines I have.

Please do! I always enjoy seeing how other hobbyists approach the same models.

Archer wrote:I am not sure if I have been following your painting journey from day one, but I have been lurking for a very long time and I think it is time I say that your painting is really incredible.

I really appreciate your efforts to keep pushing your skills to the next level (as well as your photography). You should be very pleased with what you are able to achieve, one of the best painters that I follow on Dakka.

Wow, that's really high praise! I hope I can continue to live up to it.