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Well, Space Wolves happened to be my first miniature army I ever collected. I still remember stepping into Pegasus Games well over a decade ago and picking out two new, shiny boxes...one being a Predator Annilator and the other being a squad of Blood Claws. Why Space Wolves you ask...Viking Werewolves in Space Duhh ! That and Eldar were in the process of being reworked and as such, there was only a few blisters available.

Since I lacked GW paints, I had the local true value mix me up some latex paint...thus the purpleish grey. The preditor was the first miniature I ever painted. To simplify the process, I decided to paint all the components individually...unfortunatley this made the assembly and glueing of the tank very difficult ...lesson learned! Soon after that, I received the Space Wolves 2 ed box set as a Christmas gift and away I went. I have been thinking of simply painting over the models, though given the already fairly thick paint job on most of the mini's, a dip in Simple Green may be nessessary. I think I will keep the tank as is though...for a momento.







Of course alot of time has passed, and I have gradually improved...though the majority of my work has been on Tyranids. Recently, I have been repainting a squad of Long Fangs and Wolf Scouts (In more traditional Shadow greys that is). However, they still need to be based and as such, I have been experimenting with various combinations of grits, paints, and grass vs snow to find a good mix; fortunately, my friend was willing to provide me with a bunch of poorly assembled and over-primed models !




Based on the results of the first go around I desided that I liked 4 & 5 the most and would experiment further with grey rocky terrain.




Given this second round of samples, I think I have narrowed it down to 12 and 13, which are primed black and then over brushed with Shadow Grey and Cold Grey, followed by Dry Brushes of Fortress Grey and Ghost Grey with a Black Trim. I also like the mostly fine sand mixed in with 20% medium git and 1 or 2 pebbles. And while I like the Winter Static Grass, I have not been a fan on how the snow keeps turning out...so I might end up leaving out the snow.

Hmmm...I just found an excellent tutorial on snow basing by Grey Death:

http://thepaintingcorps.blogspot.com/2008/12/friday-quick-tip-snow-basing.html

I will have to try this out!

OK, tried out Grey Deaths technique with GW snow flock. Ploblem is that the flock absorbs the glue and instantly hardens so that you have to add a ton of water to turn the mix into a spreadable gel. Even still, it is a bit of a pain ...Grey Death how dare you make things look easy !

Anyways, here are pics of the bases utilizing Grey Death's snow technique. All-in-all a definate improvement and I might end up keeping the snow with the static grass .




Any thoughts?

OK, I have been painting honest I have and here are the results complete with finished bases. All in all, I like how the bases turned out...even if my snow does look more like sheets of ice !

First up my Long Fang Squad:

This is a squad that I recently repainted. Also I free hand painted the red wolf skull on the Long Fang Pack Leader's shoulder. Definately room for improvement but not bad for my first attempt at such!





Next is my Wolf Scout Squad complete with an attached Wolf Guard Pack Leader:

Another squad that I just finished repainting. The Wolf Guard model is by far one of my favorite models, though I just had to make a little improvement by swapping out his chain sword for a power sword. For the two Wolf Scouts equiped with Power Weapons, I decided to go with an ivory/bone paint scheme for the sword hilt which I think compliments the dark red of the blade quite well. For the last two figs, I chose not to redo up the faces. Mehh, gives the overall squad a bit of contrast as their flesh is much darker. The melta gun bearer was my first conversion and involved one of my friend's Dark Eldar heads (said friend also happened to introduce me to the game so you can thank/curse him accordingly ! Man that was over a decade ago!






Well, again definately room for improvement. Yet I think that I have come along way since I first started painting Space Wolves. For one, back when these were first assembled I was way lazy and as a result I didn't clean the flash and mold lines...and I didn't feel like doing it when I was repainting them. For new models (unpainted) I definately make sure to clean the mold lines. Still I got alot of models that have already been painted and are in need of a second coat. Oh well.

How did you make these wolfs?

1xx700007117 wrote:How did you make these wolfs?

Not sure if I follow If you mean where did I get the models:

Preditor, Blood Claws, Grey Hunters, and Wolfguard are all 2nd Edition pewter figures specific to Space Wolves

Fenrisian Wolves are OOP Warhammer Dire Wolves

Long Fangs are 3rd Edition Plastic Devistators with Space Wolves upgrade bits

Wolf Scouts are 3rd and 4rth Edition pewter figures specific to Space Wolves with weapon swaps using Space Wolves upgrade bits

Hope that answers your question

Wow! You've improved so much! Your original models look good, but your current ones are wonderful!

Excellent work

Thanks for the compliment Nids .

I will be basing my most recent painted model, a blood claw bike, this week. Unlike my previous posted figs, this is not a repaint, so the quality of the paint job should be that much better IMHO.

Also I am going to take another jab at the snow as I was told I was adding too much glue to the mix (the snow should look white NOT grey !)

One thing I have learned...Basing should largely be done prior to painting your actual figures due to the drybrushing required that can inadvertently get all over the figures legs (though applying grass and snow, can be left for later) ...unfortunately I wasn't ready to try basing at the time the figures were painted so I kinda made life harder . Of course most of you guys already know that !

I <3 your wolves.

Classic Space Wolf minis have a soft place in my heart, I started playing back in 2nd edition with space wolves and I still regularly field some of the minis that I bought in the mid 90's
I also recently started to repaint my army, and it feels good to refresh the old models.

UPDATE time!

This is a WIP of a SW Bike I am repainting, having been painted originally in 2001 for my WGBL. Currently, I have repainted the wheels, the bike seat, the gold and metal trim, and added shading for the shadow grey bike panels.

I am especially happy with how the gold has turned out, having orginally been simply a single dry brush. The eagle wings cowling makes a great counts as storm shield to boot ! Now if only I could get a couple more (they were orginally from the SM Bike Chaplain).

I am currently working on the skulls with the following planned buildup:

Base Coat: Scorched Brown

1st Highlight: Beastial Brown

Intermediate: 50% Bestial Brown/50% Filthy Brown

2nd Highlight: Filthy Brown

3rd Highlight: Bleached Bone

Intermediate: 50% Bleached Bone/50% Skull White

4rth Highlight: Skull White (edges only)

As you can see, one side has been built up to Filthy Brown while the other is at the Bleached Bone Stage





After that, I will need to touch up the wolf head, reapply the highlights on the Shadow Grey Bike Panels, redo the brass work on the smoke launchers, and redo the head and the shoulder pad of the WGBL (not pictured). After which I will reapply the model to a new base (rounded calvary base ).

Heah guys, well I finally finished up repainting my old Wolf Guard Battle Leader and I am really pleased with how he turned out. I did some experimenting with the face with a differnet color scheme than my scouts and I love the results. IIRC, I used the following buildup:

Base: 1:1 Dwarf Skin and Charred Brown

Mid-Tone: 1:1 Dwarf Skin and Filthy Brown

Wash: Ogrin Flesh

Reapply Midtone

1st Highlight: 1:1:1 Dwarf Skin, Filthy Brown, and Elfic Flesh

2nd Highlight: Elfic Flesh

Final Highlight: 1:1 Elfic Flesh and Dead White

Apply fresh would with slash of gory red followed by a glaze of lich purple

I also like how the ivory turned out on the skulls ect. He is armed with a frost blade and a storm shield built into the bike (the golden eagle wing cowling on the front)






I also painted my latest Swift Wing who is armed with a hunting lance and a reinforced hide shield (2 CC weapons). Unlike my previous models, this is not a repaint.





I am currently working on repainting 3 old blood claw bikes and after that is complete, I plan on mounting all 5 bikes on new rounded calavary bases before basing the models. Well, what do you guys think of my latest efforts?

You have done a great job on getting the right blue colour for space wolves, the gold is really good. Considered weathering?

Thanks Gutteridge. I plan on trying some weathering techniques on a few upcoming vehicles. Nothing over the top like Mig...just some simple/basic stuff with oil paints and some sponge effects that I saw in the FW Masterclass book. Before that though I need to purchase an airgun...and master the basics of that.

Update Time!

Finally finished my Swift Claw Squad led by a fierce WGBL mounted on a bike.

First, I removed them from the old 3rd edition calavary bases and painted up a few of the newer rounded bike bases. On a positive note, I was able to get the snow looking a little more opaque this time by adding less glue in making the slurry base as well as sprinkling on a final layer of snow flock before letting the slurry dry. Still not quite what Grey Death has in his tutorial though



And the finished results:






I was able to experiment with a few new techniques on painting faces as seen below.




The center face (red spiky hair guy) utilizes CMDantes method outlined in detail here: http://cmdante.blogspot.com/2009/11/fleshing-things-out.html. Check it out . So which one do you like the best?

Finally my army as it stands now:


Well I am off to paint up 2 more long fangs, 6 scouts, 1 bikes, and an attack bike, and one wolf guard swift claw pack leader .

So 8 months and I actually have something to show . So far I have been working on a Swift Claw Attack Bike, a Swift Claw, and a WGPL on a bike. The armour and the reds have been completed and I have blocked in the ivory, greens, and browns with a brown foundation.







The red is a new technique slightly modified from the WD Space Hulk Masters Tutorial.

Foundation: Scorched Brown Foundation followed by several thin coats of Heavy Red.

Wash: Several washes of Devlan Mud applied heavily to the recesses.

Mid-Tone: Scarlet Red was painted with a few thin coats

Highlights: Started with a 1:1 thick highlight of Scarlet Red and Blood Red, then a second highlight of Blood Red, a thin highlight of Hot Orange, and finally a very thin highlight of 1:1 Filthy Brown and Hot Orange.

Wash: Baal Red was washed over the areas.

I also am working on 2 Long Fangs to flesh out my original squad.





I thought it would be fun to compare my recent blended/highlighted Plasma Cannon to my earlier drybrushed one.

Nice stuff! really like it, I actually am quite impressed with the original colour of your first wolves I think it suits them better than some current schemes, your more recent ones are still great though :-) looking forward to more pics

Why thanks, it seams alot of people really aren't fans of the baby blue color scheme used in the GW's recent SW codex. It is actually kind of funny, because several of my swift claw bikes were originally painted Space Wolf Grey (the foundation of the current color scheme) back in 2000. I ended up repainting them in December of 09 as I prefered the darker tones of Shadow Grey used in my WGBL.

For September, I will be working on the metals, starting with the silver/gun metal areas and finishing with the golds. I still haven't decided if the metal trim on the WGPL bike should be painted gold (like my WGBL above) or silver like my other swift claw bikes.

Any thoughts?

I really, really like that red. Most impressive for weapons. Gonna have to try that!

Thanks Vent, I wish I had done a step by step tutorial, largely for my own sake as my memory tends to blur after a couple weeks.

I am pretty sure that on the plasma cannon, I left a bit of the scorthed brown showing in the recesses when I was layering the heavy red on; it tends to get blended together nicely after the devlan mud wash, which completes the foundation.

The general painting is very good, but that red is amazing

Repeat after vent :

I really, really like that red.

Looking great.

Tasty minis you've got there. After you get a few more done, you should do a group shot for us.

Well during the Christmas Holiday, I managed to finally nab some time to work on my swift claws and long fangs. As such, I started work on the steel areas. The look I was going for was slightly tarnished. After the positive feedback on the red upholstery, I wanted to create a work in progress collage so I snapped pictures at various stages as I was painting the steel.

So to start off with, the steel work on the swift claw bikes:



Step 1: Black Primer
Step 2: 1:2 Black/Gun Metal basecoat
Step 2b: Not Pictured . Bolt Gun layered on making sure that the crevices show the exposed basecoat
Step 3: 2 liberal washes of Dublin Mud and one Babad Black washed into the recess
Step 4: Silver highlight on the extreme edges

For the Heavy Weapons I followed the same routine for the cabling. The gun casing differed in that I went with pure Gun Metal for the basecoat and worked it up to a metallic blue:



Step 4b: Washed Babad Black into the recess and applied a wash of Azurman Blue.
Step 4c: Applied 2 further washes of Azurman Blue, allowing each previous wash to dry before painting on an additional layer.
Step 5: Silver highlight on the extreme edges

Faster! MORE!

Thanks for the kindly boot in the ass . Me so slow...but I will have time to work on the models this weekend. Next up, the wolf tails and wolf heads that decorate the bikes.



The picture above will be my referenece piece; so fingers crossed that I can make it work.

Just got the fur completed and I am pretty happy with the outcome! So here is my take on the fur:





If interested, here are the steps in how I got there:

Two Tone Fur

Step 1. Basecoat Beasty Brown

Light Fur Areas - Cheaks, Chin, Inside Ears, and Around Eyes

Step 2. 1:1 Beasty Brown/Plague brown

Step 3. 1:1:1 Beasty Brown/Plague brown/Bleached Bone

Step 4. Bleached Bone

Step 5. Dead White

Step 6. Devlan Mud Wash

Step 7. Reapply Dead White

Dark Fur Areas - Every Where Else

Step 8. 1:2 Beasty Brown/Heavy Charcoal

Step 9. 1:1 Beasty Brown/Heavy Charcoal (Reverse Highlight)

Step 10. Babad Black Wash

Step 11. Devlan Mud Wash

Paint Nose Heavy Charcoal and wash the nose with Babad Black

Thats some old school wolfy paintin styles you got there

Thanks! At 30, it seams to fit

Great stuff so far, by the way I have heard of some people using baking soda for snow flocking instead of what GW sells

Hey Fox, Just found your wolfy blog here and I have to say I love them I'm currently doing much the same with a lot of the same old school models actually!

I thought I would chime in with the snow technique I use though. I use Woodland Scenics snow flock, and I've heard that GW's stuff just doesn't work well when you use the white glue slurry technique. I guess they are just made from completely different stuff that doesn't react at all the same.

I will be posting my first 500 points of finished wolves soon, worked on them over the last two weeks for use in Dakkacon yesterday! Unfortunately the list I used was VERY weak and they were pretty well tabled every game .

I'll be watching this as it progresses though! Keep at it!