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2013/04/28 08:03:33
Subject: Dark Angel's 5th Company Blog (Pic Heavy) - Updated 12/08/2015
The first few posts of this blog detail a lot of practice work from months back. Most of my current stuff starts about half way down the page. I also have a second blog here detailing my Crimson Slaughter guys and my progress on a local competition I plan on entering (failed to get painted on time :( ). Since starting this blog I have decided to try and build the entire Dark Angels 5th Company. I will also occasionally be adding a bit of terrain work and some of my fiancée's Eldar.
Update: Adding some spoiler tags to the earlier post to reduce the pics down a bit.
Hello fellow Dakkites,
I joined Dakka Dakka yesterday after many years lurking as I've been spurred to share some of my work and hopefully get some constructive criticism, tips, hints, souls, and general advice on all things 40k. My introduction thread contains a few pics but I will upload them to my gallery as well: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/503225.page
A quick word on myself before I get to the good stuff. My name is Nick, I'm 27 and from Australia and I've loved everything 40k since I first picked up a White Dwarf in my local newsagent many, many years ago (when it was actually good). I own 90% of the Black Library and that was my main connection with the hobby for many years and my main inspiration for collecting a Space Marines chapter. I love narrative and will probably include a lot of it in any games I play and any reports I post here. I have a two small forces, Dark Angels and CSM, both from the Dark Vengeance set. I realise there are probably a million DV threads right now so I'll try and not be as vanilla as everyone else. Here, have some Neapolitan instead:
Spoiler:
Anyway enough silliness and onto what we're all here for; the models! No you dirty buggers, not those sort of models. Miniatures. Get your minds out of the gutter!
What I thought I'd do is start from the beginning as I've only been back into painting for about 3 months now. Please stick with me for the first few posts and I'll get up to the 'good' stuff soon.
The first few models I painted were an old 5 man tac squad that had been sitting in the cupboard for 5 years or so due to lack of painting space/motivation/paints. I figured doing these guys first would give me a good grasp of my baseline skills and what I would need to improve on:
Spoiler:
I was happy with these guys when I painted them, but I knew I could do a heck of a lot better. These were more of a 'technique brush up' than anything. I also suffered from lack of colours here because the only paints I had were the ones that came in the Citadel Starter Kit so all the colours were mixed by hand (except the red). I wasn't really intending to fully paint these guys to table top standard and as such they do look pretty terrible. I may strip them and redo them one day, but for now they serve as proxy models in my CSM army, muahahahahaahahhahaaaaaaa... ahem.
Then I moved onto my first base attempts which were..... horrible....
Spoiler:
After getting a bit of advice on basing by lurking around Dakka Dakka and other 40k forums who's names shall not be mentioned I produced this guy:
Spoiler:
Much happier with that one. What I am planning on doing next is adding a few pebbles etc and painting it all before gluing on the flock. This brings me to my first question to you guys - How do you handle flock? I find it to be an absolute pain in the bum and it gets everywhere. Also the PVA glue that I am using (from the Citadel Starter Kit) doesn't seem to hold either the flock or the sand very well even after being left for 24 hours.
My next model I tried something different and was very happy with the results. This is my first attempt at drybrushing in about 10 years and I thought it turned out rather well:
Spoiler:
I spent a fair bit of time on the red to try and get it as consistent as possible and for some practice with thinning paints.
I think that'll do it for a first post, otherwise it'll be six reams of paper long and you guys will die of old age/boredom before getting to the end! Next time on Dragonball Z Tactical Squad Raphael get a paint job and a filthy breed of Xenos establishes a foothold in my modelling room!
Thanks for reading!
This message was edited 20 times. Last update was at 2015/08/11 22:40:04
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
Get some more paints and washes, your skills are there, you obviously suffer (like me) a lack of patiance. Can't wait to get.
PS Watch those sneaky mold lines!!
Subbed and looking forward to seeing your work.
Cheers mate! These models are about three months old now. Since painting them I have purchased a huge range of paints, new brushes, washes etc. I'll make my second post a bit later which should bring this blog up to speed on the models I am currently painting. I have also taken much greater time and care with my proper models so the mold lines etc have mostly been dealt with.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/01/28 09:17:43
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
Okay so lets get into another update shall we? This one will bring everything up to what I am currently working on.
Once I'd finished my practice models to my satisfaction (including modelling what I like to call, 'Disco Rocket Man' which I'll post another day) I started on Tactical Squad Raphael. Here is my first model:
Spoiler:
At this stage, this was easily the neatest model I had ever painted. I was very happy with the results, however I still didn't have much experience painting bone hence the breast plate is simply very lightly drybrushed with Ushabti Bone straight over the Chaos Black undercoat. The scrolls are also another area where I hadn't had any real practice and so they are just straight Ceramite White. I may go back soon and re-do all the scrolls as I now know how to paint them a bit better.
The lone painted Marine was soon joined by another and another and then a bunch more:
Spoiler:
That last picture shows a highlighted Marine at the front with two flat Marines behind. Apologies about the picture quality. It's something I'll be working on a lot over the next few months.
Here's another highlight comparison pic. This one is a bit better and also shows the first Plasma Gun I've painted. I was happy with how it came out:
Spoiler:
I spent another day or two highlighting Marines. My highlights are a bit thick so I am working on trying to get a really thin, precise line on the edges of the armor. I'm now at the stage where I have nearly all the standard Marines done and it's really only the Sergeant and Plasma Cannon guy that need serious work. But I had a problem. I entered my modelling room one afternoon to discover that a filthy breed of Xenos managed to establish a webway gate in my house!! These vile Xenos will not be tolerated and will be put to the sword as soon as the Dark Angels are ready for war.
Spoiler:
These guys are my fiancées first ever assembled and painted models. I reckon they're pretty gakking cool. This photo was taken reasonably early and they now look a fair bit better. She has also since added an Eldar Battleforce which she's working on and I am really loving the paint job on her Guardians which I will post later. Over the next few days we'll be putting together the War Walker and the Wave Serpent which will be the first time either of us have assembled vehicles. I'll make sure to take some WIP photos to post.
Hopefully in the next few days the Dark Angels will get their first real battle (because frankly, the CSM army from DV sucks).
Finally, we arrive at where I am right now. I got a little bored of painting Squad Raphael and so I started on my first Ravenwing.
Spoiler:
I am really pleased with this guy. It was my first proper attempt at painting a breast plate in bone. I used a base of Zandri Dust, washed it in Agrax Earthenshade and allowed the model to dry upside down (so the wash ran into the crevices instead of down their faces). The I went over the raised areas in Ushabti bone and then again on the very top edges with Screaming Skull. The feathers on the back and front of the bike got a different treatment to see what I liked the best. I started them with Mournfang Brown (as you can see in the pic) and then followed the same procedure minus the Agrax wash. Also it's hard to see in the top picture, but the exhaust on the bike has been blended to make it look dirtier towards the back of the pipes and cleaner towards the front. I'll try and get a better pic of that later.
So that is where I am now. Over the next few weeks I will be putting the finishing touches on the tacticals, including the sarge and the cannoneer and then moving on to finish up the Ravenwing. I'll also post some pics of Mrs PTR's Eldar if anyone would like to see that.
Thanks again for reading and stay tuned.
P.S: Please feel free to criticise and prove any helpful advice, tips and whatever. I learned almost everything I know from lurking on this forum and so I really value your opinions.
Edit: lol, for anyone interested I just realised that an unpainted Disco Rocket Man is just visible in the background of the third picture.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2013/07/21 10:33:37
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
At the beginning I was going to say your marines were too dark for my liking, but then I saw you starting to highlight, so...suppose I can't really say that anymore.
Really like the Eldar. They're one of my fav armies to paint.
bunnygurl wrote: At the beginning I was going to say your marines were too dark for my liking, but then I saw you starting to highlight, so...suppose I can't really say that anymore.
Really like the Eldar. They're one of my fav armies to paint.
Keep trying new things and happy painting!
Darker is what I was going for because I like that look but I had been using a wash of 1:1 Nuln Oil and Biel-Tan Green and I think you're right - it was making the main armor sections too dark which makes the highlights too bright (because I didn't mix them with anything). So I'm taking out the Nuln Oil for the last few and going to try mixing the highlights and doing a few extra layers to try and bring up the edges. Thanks for the comments.
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
Here are another two pics. Sorry about the quality.
First is my Bike Sarge now he's been painted up a bit more. His robe is the first piece of cloth I have ever painted.
Second is my first attempt at a base. I will admit that I shamelessly ripped off a technique from a fellow Dakkite Andy2D6's thread (although mine are no where near the quality of his) and used bits of cork to make the rocks. I think it turned out too dark though and I'm trying to lighten up the next one.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2013/02/03 10:49:29
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
Got some scenery at an absolute steal from eBay. Some crashed ship parts and gothic ruins which have all been sprayed black. Here's some pics from before they were sprayed:
Spoiler:
And the Gothic Ruins:
Spoiler:
Hopefully going to start painting these soon. Just going to look for some tips on how best to paint them quickly and effectively. If anyone has any, please feel free to share!
I got all of the above plus more (which hasn't been sprayed yet) for about $25 off eBay!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Another quick update:
This is my first ever fully painted and based miniature!
Now that I am happy with the procedure for basing I am going to finish highlighting his last three squad mates and then get them all on their bases.
And another pic of my Bike Sarge, with a dramatic filter effect from my new camera just because:
Spoiler:
Automatically Appended Next Post: Aaaand another quick update. I am on work leave at the moment so sorry for the multiple updates per day!
First some of Mrs PTR's Eldar:
Gems and gold trim done. Bit of highlighting and some 'Ardcoat on the gems and they'll be done. Mrs PTR is kicking ass!
Spoiler:
War Walker glued and ready for undercoat:
Spoiler:
And the base:
Spoiler:
The idea here is that she wants the cracks to glow an unearthly blue color, hence the white in the cracks.
My first ever piece of painted terrain. Dry brushed with Administratum Gray then Celestra Gray then White Scar. The bronze was Balthazar Gold followed by 1:1 Balthazar Gold and Leadbelcher, then Balthazar again and finally a Nuln Oil wash.
Spoiler:
And finally, Sergeant Raphael WIP:
Spoiler:
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2013/07/21 10:35:07
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
New 10 man squad has arrived! All cleaned up and ready for an undercoat.
The sarge has a clone! This new guy is going to be changed a bit:
First draft. I call this the I WILL MELT YOAR FACE draft.:
I will probably paint his helmet a bone color to show his rank. Not sure about the double pistols yet. I will have a play over the next few days until my codex arrives and I get a chance to read it.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2013/02/06 11:55:14
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
Bases prepped and undercoated. Took way too long to paint these guys from start to finish so I am going to try to be much quicker on my next squad. The test base that's finished in the middle is roughly how they're all going to look.
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
And have started painting the 5th Company mark on their knees. This is my first one. I think it turned out okay. It's a bit messy but I think I'll get better as I practice.
I have also highlighted my first bike. Sorry about the quality of this pic but without a lightbox the highlights don't show up well under direct light so I had to use the flash. I have ordered one from eBay which should be here in the next two weeks and then I will be able to take some better pictures.
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
2013/03/14 08:10:36
Subject: Dark Angel's 5th Company Blog (and other stuff) - Updated 14/03/2013
Sorry no updates in a while. It's been much too hot to paint here lately and so I haven't got much done at all. Yesterday was the first day under 35C for two weeks and so I got stuck into doing some detail work and basing on my tactical squads, pics to come soon.
I also finally received my light tent today. Here's my first photo; much better but now you can see all my mistakes!
Hopefully more photos to come in the next few days as I get stuck back into painting now that the heat has gone away!
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
2013/03/14 11:27:11
Subject: Dark Angel's 5th Company Blog (and other stuff) - Updated 14/03/2013
It's so wonderful to see someones painting improve over time, I was going to give all sorts of advice, but it seems like you are needing less and less of that
Your basing is great, and the quality of your highlights have drastically improved (my two biggest bug bares with anyone)
Looking forward to seeing more progression from both the eldar and the DA
Young Logan
30K Blog: hobbyfromtheaett.blogspot.com
Bran Redmaws Great Company - 5500pts 30K Space Wolves - 1500pts Deathguard -2300 pts
2013/03/14 12:33:09
Subject: Dark Angel's 5th Company Blog (and other stuff) - Updated 14/03/2013
Thanks for your comments man. The Eldar are unfortunately not getting much love at the moment as my partner has kind of lost interest in them. I keep telling her that if she doesn't start again soon I am going to take over, lol.
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
2013/04/02 05:43:31
Subject: Re:Dark Angel's 5th Company Blog (and other stuff) - Updated 02/04/2013
I have been flat out at work for the last month and haven't been able to get any modelling done but today I decided to make some time. I picked up my first Assault Squad a few weeks ago, so day has been spent cleaning them up and magnetizing the arms. I also did a bit of work on the bases of Tactical Squad Raphael. I have been really slack with those guys, they should have been finished ages ago. I only have a couple more bases and then they're done, thank god. The company markings can wait until I have finished all my current Marines, so that I can do them all at once.
I am going to try to finish magnetizing tonight/tomorrow and then these guys will be ready to paint.
Quick rules question: Can I run an Assault Sergeant with two plasma pistols? From my reading of the rules it looks like yes. I suppose it doesn't really matter since they'll be magnetized anyway, so I can change the load out if necessary.
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
2013/04/03 02:58:46
Subject: Re:Dark Angel's 5th Company Blog (and other stuff) - Updated 02/04/2013
Taken way too long but I have finally finished Tactical Squad Raphael. First ever fully painted AND based squad. Really happy with how these guys came out.
Unfortunately I ran out of magnets last night before I could finish my Assault Squad, so I've ordered 100 more. In the meantime I am going to get started on Tactical Squad Vasari.
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
2013/04/10 05:25:10
Subject: Dark Angel's 5th Company Blog (and other stuff) - Updated 10/04/2013
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
2013/05/18 10:09:18
Subject: Re:Dark Angel's 5th Company Blog (Pic Heavy) - Updated 18/05/2013
Well, I haven't done much painting for a while now. Work is really getting heavy. Start at 4:30am and finish at 6pm every day and one of the other guys is going on holiday soon so I will pretty much be working 30 days straight.
Attacked a Marine with the paintbrush the other night, same one from the above picture. Just got the highlighting and base to do next:
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
2013/07/21 10:30:33
Subject: Re:Dark Angel's 5th Company Blog (Pic Heavy) - Updated 21/07/2013
So the month of work is over, phew and I even managed to clean up and rearrange my painting area. Got stuck back into it, but had an idea.
I was using corks from wine bottles and blu-tack to create something I could hold while painting rather than the base. Then I decided to do this:
Used a hobby knife to make two holes in the cork. They don't even have to be round, just roughly the right shape. Put a dot of Supa-glue in the hole and then jam the magnet in on the butt of your hobby knife (mines magnetic) or something else. Push reasonably hard. The magnets I used were 1/8" x 1/16" Neodymium for vehicles. The bond is easily strong enough to paint with although I wouldn't recommend anything more than that unless you go four magnets.
Undoubtedly someone has done this before, but I was so happy with the result that I made a few. Hopefully get stuck into a lot more painting now that I have some free time.
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
2013/09/13 09:21:27
Subject: Re:Dark Angel's 5th Company Blog (Pic Heavy) - Updated 13/09/2013
I haven't been able to get much painting done lately. Unfortunately work is still seriously eating into my hobby time. I did manage to bring my desk out into the living area though and set it up with new lighting.
Meanwhile, I have far too many pictures in this thread so I have been condensing them down with spoiler tags. I've left a few that I particularly like and also my last few posts. Hopefully have a more exciting update sooner rather than later.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/09/13 09:33:35
"Oh, yours died on a cross? That's cool. My messiah is a 100 ton land battleship that crushes the souls of the unfaithful beneath it's holy treads. ALL HAIL THE CRASSUS ARMORED ASSAULT TRANSPORT!"
2013/09/13 11:11:44
Subject: Dark Angel's 5th Company Blog (Pic Heavy) - Updated 21/07/2013
Bran Redmaws Great Company - 5500pts 
Deathguard -2300 pts 
