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That RB looks great Ramus, as do the Assault marines! Looking through the rest of this thread now!

@YB: No prob! I'm always willing to share!

@WM: Absolutely! Shoot could make a weekend out of it.
I'm not the best teacher as far as painting goes, as some of my painting is based on certain inexplicable gut feelings, but Im always willing to share techniques, give tutorials, and overall help out where I can!

@Matt.Kingsley: Thanks! Glad to have ya aboard!
The style of the blog has changes immensely in the past few years, and I know that my posting was erratic and the painting tended to jump around a lot between projects. Funnily enough, it wasnt till I started commissions that I got into a nice habit of updating this more than once a month
I hope you see an improvement- I like to think Ive gotten a lot better not only at building and painting the models, but also at taking pictures of the finished products!
Have a good read!


Man... That makes me realize.... Ive been running this thread for more than 3 years!! On top of that, more than half of the pages are actually from this past year!

Crazy times man.... crazy times.
I think im gonna go and do a retrospective after the apothecary and Razor get finished. Something of a "Where are they now" xD



While no picture updates (nothing really changed, save for a bit of white on the Apothecary) I've come to a quandary.

The dozer blade has a large flat area, unbroken by rivets or any other details... This is prime real estate for freehand work or other insane detailing!

Rather than do the hazard stripes, as is common on these bits of wargear, I want to do something different. One idea is to do a big Imperial Aquilla. Itd be simple white over black, and would be a good touch of detail to break up the field of gray.

However I also had another idea: Some sort of litany or prayer to the Emperor. Some calligraphy, some Illustrated letters... In theory it'd look incredible. just need to think on what to put on it. So I scoured the internets, and found a few (some rather long) ones that have potential:

Those who oppose thee
Shall know the wrath of Man.
Field and forest shall burn,
The seas shall rise and devour them,
The wind shall tear their nations
From the face of the earth,
Lightning shall rain down from the sky,
They shall cry out to their false gods,
And find silence.

Liturgy of War 8:2

==========

One unbreakable shield against the coming darkness
One last blade, forged in defiance of fate
Let them be my legacy to the galaxy I conquered
And my final gift to the species I failed

=======

Chastise the Unholy with the Sacred Bolt,
Cleanse the Unclean with the Fire of Purity,
Cleave the Impure with the Blade of Hatred,
Armour your Soul with the Shield of Righteousness,
Guard your Heart with the Ward of Honour,
Strengthen your Arm with the Steel of Revulsion.

==========

I particularly like the first one, though it may be difficult to put all of that on a dozer blade!

Thought? Suggestions?
Lemme know!

I like it, Ramos. That could look very cool! I like the first one (though I don't know if it'll fit), but they're all good.

I really like that one too. Tried fitting it in photoshop but no dice :/

It seems that none will really fit well... too much text and not enough area to spread it out. Rather I cant get a good layout for it.

So now I need a short phrase. I figure that will fit nicely, and some form of freehand or other smaller litanies (aka squigglies) filling the rest of the blade.

Ill sleep on it and see if anything pops. Really I need something short and sweet, like "Only in Death does Duty End" or the classic "Kill the Mutant, Burn the Witch, purge the Unclean!"

Well, in the long run (post adepticon and whatnot) I have 4 rhino/razorbacks. What if you put a different part of a poem on each blade?

My favorite poem is Invictus by William Ernest Henley.

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Whatcha think?

That's a fantastic idea for the dozer blade Ramos! Can't wait to see it executed!

That's actually a pretty good idea to split up a poem/prayer, WM. And I recognize that poem. Was a favorite of a few friends of mine down in Columbus- If I recall correct, one of them had one of the lines tattooed on her arm or leg or something (its been a while xD ). I believe it was just "Under the bludgeonings of chance, My head is bloody, but unbowed."
My only issue with the poem is that it doesn't strike me as particularly GrimDark. I think we'd need to warp it and throw in more "Hail the Emprah" and whatnot...


What if we split up the first prayer, and put one phrase on each blade that way?

For instance:

======

Those who oppose thee
Shall know the wrath of Man.

Field and forest shall burn,
The seas shall rise and devour them,

The wind shall tear their nations
From the face of the earth,

Lightning shall rain down from the sky,
They shall cry out to their false gods,
And find silence.
============


It seems to break up awkwardly in the middle. I'm not entirely fond of the second and third ones, but I think they could be made workable.
The first one is -perfect-, and has the feel I want to go for.

This way, The blade wont be cluttered with text, and it will have the short powerful verse Im looking for.

=====

Dozer 1 : "Those who oppose thee
Shall know the wrath of Man"

Dozer 2 : "Lightning shall rain down from the sky,
They shall cry out to their false gods, and find silence."

Dozer 3 : "There is no darkness, nor death either, in the Emperor's Light.
And nothing that He has wrought shall be lost."

Dozer 4 : "..."


And finally, an alternate: "And he, being naughty in thy sight, shall snuff it."




Naturally Im open to suggestion- I know I want that first one (if thats cool by you, WM), or something similar in tone, but the rest are a rather quick job banging them out on the keyboard..

Your thoughts (especially from WM)?



EDIT: A WiP in photoshop, but maybe something like this on each one? I was thinking a banner clutched in the eagle's talons would have the text on it.

That looks good. Much more text than that might be rough, I think it may get a bit cluttered.

More photoshop work today, plus the silver on the Razor's main hull.



The above are paper mock ups- the real thing will be printed on white decal paper.
The first is the plain Aquilla, then the others introduce more scrollwork. The scrolls will be painted/colored brown, like the parchment on the Razor's doors.
Ive decided to do it all as one big decal for ease of application, and preservation of detail- My tests show that the decal paper has a very tiny lip at its edge, but this method should reduce it to almost nothing, at most the appearance of another armor plate.

Very nice Ramos. Man those are going to look cool!

Wow, those are awesome. The scroll work is great.

Looks good. Only thing that bugs me a bit is the vanishing part on the bottom one. If it was connected, it'd look more complete.

@Gits and Ice: Thanks! Im pretty excited about this myself! In theory this'll give me an easily replicated, easily altered set of decals.
At this point Im considering printing the words on the decals as well, however I dont know how id get aroud the coloring aspect of that.... probably calls for experimenting.

@WM: I have it in mind to have it fade to shadow like its going behind the eagle. The mock up makes it look more abrupt than it actually will be.
Ill make the fade closer to the eagle's border in the final product. Would that be better?
Oh, also it wouldnt be a white to black fade, more like parchment brown going to darker brown, then the black outline of the aquilla

To solve the lip:

1) Gloss varnish the entire surface under the decal.
2) Apply the decal.
3) Apply Microsol.
4) Wait for the Microsol to evaporate. Use a soft round-tip brush to work out any wrinkles, or work the decal film over curves, bumps.
5) Apply Microset.
6) Matte varnish for protection.

--Brian

That looks great, Ramos! Love the scroll work. These are going to be very cool.

@YB: Thanks! I'm sure hoping so ^^

@Briancj: I've used setting solutions before, though I haven't had any in many years....
How are they on self-made decals? I've read that there may be some compatibility issues?If it really does take care of the lip, I definitely will order some!

Alright! So the Razor and associated bitz are finished and waiting on final varnish. In the mean time, Ive been busy building the Dozerblade's Details!


Here it is in photoshop:




And here it is in print- just after varnishing it!




So far hopes are high! Just gotta wait on the various sealants to dry and we'll be ready to go!

Tomorrow- The Razor will be finished!

Is that DIY decal paper? If so... how do you get it to work well? I've tried it but it never seems to have the solidity I want and it just kinds of falls apart or the colors bleed out.

Looking forward to it. That'll be just the apoth from that squad, yes?

@WM: Yup. And he shouldn't take long at all! In fact, I should have him finished tomorrow!


@Gits: Yup its DIY paper. I got it from Micromark, along with a ton of supplies (I love that store).

Several tricks to using it-
First off, this is "white" decal paper, meaning that any area you dont put a color on will be white, or a near white if the colors underneath are particularly strong. This is great for details like the white aquilla (and is the only way short of silkscreening to get white on a custom decal), however you need to be sure to keep in mind that you'll need to cut right next to your design (unless you want a white border). Also, the colors you print on it will be super vivid, just like painting on a white-primed model! I've messed around with clear paper, but I find it really is only good for black and white decals, as printer ink tends to be pretty translucent.

Second- I print it on as high a quality photo setting as I can. I use my dads old HP Photosmart inkjet, but anything that can print photos to a good quality is perfect for the job. By using a "photo" setting, rather than regular old document settings, the printer will spray the ink much heavier and at a higher dpi (dots per inch- essentially the resolution of the print). After printing, the ink will stay wet for a little bit, so you need to set it carefully aside for around an hour to make sure it all sets. Dont worry if the ink looks a little thick- the decal paper will hold on to it all!

Finally- and this is definitely the most important step- Varnish the whole decal. This locks in the color, and ensures that the colors don't run or chip. They say you don't need to varnish decals printed on laser printers or copiers, but I HIGHLY recommend it!! I use two light coats of whatever gloss varnish I happen to have, letting them dry in between coats. In this case I used Rustoleum's clear gloss. A secondary benefit to varnishing your decals is that the varnish will act as a second layer of the decal, thickening it a little, but strengthening it considerably. I did a test on one of the smaller decals from this sheet, and they're magnitudes stronger than traditional decals. Just be sure not to overdo the varnish, or you can end up with decals with sizable lips on their edges!

Hopefully that helps a little!

It does Ramos, thank you!

I have not done DIY decals with Microsol/set, so I would test. An alternate method, which I used before sol/set:

1) Gloss varnish the area.
2) Trim the decal tightly, and lay it down. Use a soft rounded brush to remove air bubbles/position the decal while wet.
3) Let dry fully.
4) Apply a layer of gloss varnish.
4a) [Optional] Apply some of the basecoat paint to weather the decal.
5) Matte varnish.

I always lightly weather my decals now, before the final matte spray.

@Gits: Good! Glad to have helped

@Brian: Alrighty, thanks a ton! I think I stumbled on your technique while putting the decal on the blade I may yet go back and chip it up though. never thought of weathering it. That would be a pretty nice touch!

It really helps blend down the edges.

And the Razor is ready to go!

Now with your choice of armaments: Lascannons or Assault Cannons!




Closeup of the weapons:




More pics of the Razorback:








And finally, the interior:



The rear hatch is fully magnetized, and holds tight enough to resist a decent amount of shaking around. Weapons are fully swappable, and the top panel is removable to look inside!

Next up- the final RS piece for Squad VI: The apothecary!

That's truly amazing, Ramos. Beautiful work! Really love the weathering you did on this.

Bloody fantastic mate!

(and now that I'm no longer typing on my phone... some intelligent commentary)

I love the warmth of the yellows with the grey... just beautiful. The discoloration on the guns is a really nice touch. I usually try and do that myself but never with the realistic touch that you've achieved. Mud around the edges is very nice too. Really impressive Ramos. Nicely done.

Only just come across this thread.
Nice Razorback. I'll look through the rest a bit later.

I like the discolouration on the assault cannons, that's nice.

Tha came out very nice! The assault cannon in particular looks exceptional. Really likening e dozer blade as well. Can't tell in the photos that it is a giant transfer at all.

Woo I love to see the heat marks on gun barrels, it's come out absolutely beautiful, will have to try doing some more smoke on the stack itself I quite like the effect, also makes me wish I had more gems to paint on the chaos vehicles. I have got to get my hands on some of that transfer paper too, though the current printer is a wreck so it'd mean a new one of those too and therefore less models. I'm far too lazy to do the interiors on my vehicles, my hatches are very much sealed, I'll just claim the daemons are holding the lid down.