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By far the Raven Guard are my favorite Space Marine Legion. Yesterday I bought tactical marines and an Ironclad, along with a battleforce, five more assault marines, and Kayvaan Shrike coming in the mail. Unfortunately, the Raven Guard paint scheme is a little bland to me, being all black with (depending on rank) white head, shoulders, or arms.

I painted the sergeant of the squad. His body is regal blue with chainmail right pauldron, beakie helmet, calves, and backpack. The eyes and eagle on the chest are scab red to bring out the colors. The pic is sending now, it'll be edited in or put into a new post. I really like this scheme, but it doesn't really say Raven Guard or Raven Guard successors to me.

This brings me to my next point. I'm not a pro painter, but I don't suck either. How can I paint my models in a style and form that will scream Raven Guard without a comment like, "Oh, you have blue models, they must be Ultramarines?"

Are you asking how to do a more 'creative' take on the Raven Guard or do you actually want to do one of their Successor Chapters?

Because they have a really flippin' awesome Successor Chapter, known as "Raptors"(retains the bird motif, not the dinosaur ).

Both, depending on which is better. If I can do a creative take on them, whether it's modifying the official scheme or making my own scheme that retains the feel that would be really nice and preferable. However, if neither of those pan out I'd be perfectly okay with doing on of the Successor Chapters.

Here is what I had, I don't know why it's so big and blurry. It just doesn't scream "No Mercy, No Respite!" to me that much, even though I like the combo a lot.

https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=70b0ca0d7e&view=att&th=130c7b04888e1892&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=1372606711842471936-1&zw

This link seems broken...or not a pic at all.

Maybe just "attach" the pic or upload it to the gallery?

Raptors have a blue/yellow scheme too, if it has to be blue.
Revilers got a grey scheme, so you could always argue these marines are painted even when the plastic is bare...

Justus wrote:Both, depending on which is better. If I can do a creative take on them, whether it's modifying the official scheme or making my own scheme that retains the feel that would be really nice and preferable. However, if neither of those pan out I'd be perfectly okay with doing on of the Successor Chapters.

Here is what I had, I don't know why it's so big and blurry. It just doesn't scream "No Mercy, No Respite!" to me that much, even though I like the combo a lot.

Your picture isn't working, try hosting it on Dakka itself.

However, the Raven Guard have only two Successors that I'm aware of. Raptors and one more whose name constantly eludes me. I think it's the Shadow Consuls, but am not sure.

Now, I'm actually a big fan of the Raven Guard scheme so it seems a bit weird that you'd do regal blue with chainmail. That seems more like a Crimson Fist 'variant' to me than Raven Guard, who are one of the Chapters/Legions who were known for their practicality and eschewing the normal "bright colors" in favor of a more menacing/utilitarian color scheme. There's a big reason why they use that "bland" color scheme, and it's not necessarily because they're too lazy to paint their armor.

With the right techniques, you can make the black really pop.

And for reference, this is the Raptors color scheme:

It's a very...drab but effective color scheme, again.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-36323-17753_Marine%20Prototype%20%28unfinished%29.html

I didn't finish because I just wasn't feelin' the love, but that's basically it. I painted some (a lot of) white on my Protectorate of Menoth Battlebox and I really would rather not paint white again, which lead me to looking for alternatives to the normal. I was looking for something that still Raven Guardey with not (literally and metaphorically) only black and white.

Then that's going to be difficult, because Raven Guard are known basically for that.

The armor is black, with white on veterans.

They also have the 'company trim' that you can do, or just forgo the white entirely.

If I were to forgo the white entirely, what would I do with it? A light shade of grey? Or a new color altogether?

Astronomicon Grey would work quite well in that case I think.

It looks very 'white' grey, and looks especially nice over a Codex Grey basecoat.

I just though of doing bleached bone as well, but I'm not sure how that would look compared to grey. The only thing I'm worried about is my poor skill at highlighting and stuff, leaving it a black model with no or crap details.

Well, with Raven Guard you wouldn't actually see too much in terms of "highlighting".

They use a matte black finish for their armor. It wouldn't pick up light. If you ever see photos of the F-117 'Stealth' or the B-2 'Spirit', they have that kind of finish.

So my models will look like a shadow almost?

More like charcoal, to be honest.

But it's definitely not a bad idea for a Raven Guard force to look 'shadowy'

If you can find any around you, take some good snapshots of actual ravens. They have the almost black-blue sheen to their chest feathers that if you could pull it off would look amazingly nice.

Corvus Corax, the common raven. There aren't any in my neighborhood, so I booted up the old internet. To get that look I'm definitely going to highlight the black with shadow grey to get that scummy but majestic look to them. The right shoulder pad (right if you are the space marine) with have a color trim, all black. Sergeants will have white shoulder pads and helmets. Thanks guys!

Even though Raven Guard armor is a flat black, it can still be shaded to give depth and feel, here is a sergeant I did a while back;



https://picasaweb.google.com/RedModeling/RavenGuard#

Ashton

How did you get the white to turn out so well?

just to promote the Raven Guard.....we seem to be the lost original founding chapter...

check here for all RG goodnes

http://sonsofcorax.freeforums.org/index.php

Synthetik wrote:just to promote the Raven Guard.....we seem to be the lost original founding chapter...

Wait, wha? Oo The Raven Guard were never lost... They almost were wiped out as a legion after Istvaan, but Corax actively supported the Codex when it was proposed by Papa Smurf, so they definitely were a First Founding Chapter. What on Earth... err Deliverance are you on about?

Oh and just FYI, the other direct RG successors beside the Raptors (who seem to have two different color schemes: goofy blue-yellow and uber-awesome olive...) were the Black Guard. So no luck on any Regal Blue/Chainmail goodness there That doesn't mean there can't be a later founding using RG geneseed (supposing they were allowed by Terra to use that despite its corruption) that abandoned the black bogeyman scheme and went rather for a more fancy color. Just call them Blue Ravens or whatever... Whatever works for you, works for you!

Yeah I'm working on just creating a chapter that uses Raven Guard Gene-seed (semen?). I'm not going to paint it and give it a name and have it being half assed, I'm going to give it base fluff that all chapters have, based on information from Deathwatch: Rites of Battle and several articles that I've read to make this a full blooded chapter. Then games I play will influence the fluff of the chapter too. How exciting!

Justus wrote:Yeah I'm working on just creating a chapter that uses Raven Guard Gene-seed (semen?).

No. Just...no. That's not how it works or what Gene-Seed is.

I'm not going to paint it and give it a name and have it being half assed, I'm going to give it base fluff that all chapters have, based on information from Deathwatch: Rites of Battle and several articles that I've read to make this a full blooded chapter. Then games I play will influence the fluff of the chapter too. How exciting!

Really, there's several things you need to know first off.

1) Raven Guard gene-seed has a defect within it. It causes their flesh to become marble white and their eyes to entirely become 'as black as coal'.
2) The gene-seed isn't used because there's just not that much of it available post-Istvaan. They had two Successor Chapters, but they were just so the Legion was split to match the Codex Astartes.

Justus wrote:How did you get the white to turn out so well?

Because it is actually not white, it just looks white against the black. The white was painted with Vallejo "sky grey" Then highlighted with a thinned down foundation white. That is the trick with white, if you want something white, dont paint it white, paint it a shade of gray.

Ashton

Zogash wrote:

Synthetik wrote:just to promote the Raven Guard.....we seem to be the lost original founding chapter...

Wait, wha? Oo The Raven Guard were never lost... They almost were wiped out as a legion after Istvaan, but Corax actively supported the Codex when it was proposed by Papa Smurf, so they definitely were a First Founding Chapter. What on Earth... err Deliverance are you on about?

lost as in lost in consideration by the writers and designers at GW....one model , no codex and one novel ! The best support we have had is from FW.....disgraceful!

I've been playing 40k for just over a year and I've always thought of gene-seed as semen, it made sense to me... All the primarchs are males, and semen passes on traits and characteristics. There are also no female space marines. It looks like the stars aligned on this one.

On the Raven Guard not giving away their gene-seed anymore: Did you get this from Index Astartes? I can't seem to find copies to read from anywhere.

Justus wrote:
On the Raven Guard not giving away their gene-seed anymore: Did you get this from Index Astartes? I can't seem to find copies to read from anywhere.

It's not so much a case of "they don't give away their gene-seed", more of a case of "they weren't able to recover too much of it from Istvaan".

The Salamanders are in the same position. They can replenish their numbers, but that's really about it.

Justus wrote:I've been playing 40k for just over a year and I've always thought of gene-seed as semen, it made sense to me... All the primarchs are males, and semen passes on traits and characteristics. There are also no female space marines. It looks like the stars aligned on this one.

On the Raven Guard not giving away their gene-seed anymore: Did you get this from Index Astartes? I can't seem to find copies to read from anywhere.

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Gene-Seed

There are 19 types of Gene-seed, each used to create one of the 19 specialised organs implanted into the body of a human warrior to create a Space Marine.

the geneseed are implants , grown from the genetic matierial culled from the bodies of the fallen by the apothacary , which is a great part of there role , alongside healing marines wounds.


Page 8 of the Codex

And according to the codes there are three successors , black guard,revilers and the raptors

Is there some kind of website that lists the current statuses of the the nine loyal legions and nine renegade ones?

I'd be really interested to see how each is faring and to see which legion lacks with organ, so on and so forth.

it is in the codex of marines , but not what organs are missing

Justus wrote:Is there some kind of website that lists the current statuses of the the nine loyal legions and nine renegade ones?

I'd be really interested to see how each is faring and to see which legion lacks with organ, so on and so forth.

The current status always changes.
The loyal Legions were split into chapters and you'd have to track several paths to estimate the status of the successors of the former
Legion. The traitors lost coherence mostly and became warbands, so Legions are an outdated concept now.

You could however look up sites like Lexi:
http://www.lexicanum.com/ which gather official material and list sources of their content.

Once , back in the day of useful articles from GW, there was "index astartes" a collection of articles about the 18 Legio's and their background, complete with color schemes pre-heresy and actual. Gw published them in 4 books, "index astartes I-IV".
Those who own them may deem themselves lucky as its one of the few if not only sources for some bits of the background.

Another thing to remember is that theres this sort of blurry time in the Raven Guard's history where Corax played with the geneseed a little bit and not a lot is known about the exact actions taken.

Corax basically tried to fix the Raven Guard after Istavaan by increasing growth rates and by attempting to fix problems in the genome. He created essentially crazed marines who scared even the Space Wolves.

Secrets locked away in the Ravenspire etc etc.

My current homebrew chapter ideas definitely play with this part of their history.