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I really like it! The Iron Hands and Imperial Fists are my favourite loyalists and the way you make each of them so charaterful really makes for an excellent squad all around!

BrotherArgos wrote:
@ wickedcarrot : I got mine from an online-reseller ... Here Very strong, I recommend using a diffusion / light tent.

Wow they cost a bit.... can't argue with results though! I'll have to save up


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also how many do you use?

@ Wicked Carrot : I use 3 lights ... two of which are the ones I recommended .. the other is my Daylight painting light.

Last night I finished the next marine (apart from his purity seal I noticed while taking pics) ... working on his base tonight/tomorrow night but here are some progress pics. Sorry for the poor lighting .. once again my lights are back in the loft, however I will get them down for the holidays again

The Forgeworld bolter ... although a pain to paint and fiddly actually really looks good in place .. I will get more of these!



Instead of my own "steel armour" wash I made years ago ... I tried badab black and tamiya clear on the back pack .. looks a little darker but quite similar ( I think its important to always try doing things in a different way when ever you can to broaden experience and more importantly have fun)



I ran a dark filter over the tactical decal on the leg to "fade" it a little into the armour ... looking closely I think I will do it again to add more tonal variation.



The "Money Shot" ... Eye, Bionic Eye & Camera Lens ... I am really pleased with the way it all looks and also like the "bronze" skull bionics as well. Once again all items mentioned were "glossed" with tamiya clear.



Interestingly you can see some of the "Tonal" variation on the Chapter Decal ... giving it that "Was white to start with" feel .. before it met the battlefield.

No updates tomorrow ... I am out tonight with friends in the run up to Christmas

Awesome job on the lenses, the chips, the colours, the bases, well.. Pretty much everything!!

I love those "new" FW boltguns, I definitely have to buy some... Someday!

Excellent lens!

Nice work, makes a simple paint scheme interesting.

Absolutely love your one-armed Marine. Consider that idea stolen.

Ahh a night of relaxation ... good food ... and I saw Tron Legacy ... but no Iron Hands were painted!

There is one small redeeming feature to the day as far as hobby work goes, I got to go to my favourite Modelling shop ... "The 4D Modelshop".



This shop has such an enormous stock of modelling materials it feels like being a child and going into Toys R Us, you name it and they seem to have it ... Plasticard, Glue, Tools of all kinds and so on. I had only one hour to shop, I was supposed to helping a large legal firm increase their security ... but I spent all morning looking forward to going to THE model shop

I got a haul of new stuff in that hour ...

3 new types of plasticard treadplate
brass photoetch grid & diamond
2 sheets of plasticard with "tiling"
3 different sizes of plastic strip for "cogging"
2 variants of super glue (one slow set, one gel)
1 pack of UHU glue (for interesting blood effects - more later)
1 set of micro-drills (0.3 mm - 1.6mm)
4 pots of paint (they now stock citadel much to my surprise)
1 spray can of primer (black)
1 new retractable swan and morton scalpel

I also took the time to discuss getting some cutting time on their laser cutter, checking costs for an idea I have

So even though no Iron Hands were painted, I still feel as though I replenished my stocks and moved forward!

Tonight should see the final purity seal decal on the bionic marine head finished, and work begun on his base hopefully to make sure he is finished for tomorrow.

Oh and making a few new decals for the next stage

@ Titanbravo : Go for it .. and come back and show me the result!

Wow, this shop seems interesting...

I'll go and have a look at their online store when I have some time...

I got the base for Marine #5 done last night, I cut a circle of treadplate using the base template I made right at the beginning (about 22.5mm diameter) and then cut that again into 2 sections (roughly 2/3 & 1/3). To support the smaller section I used some 2mm high plastic beams and glued them to the base and then mounted the treadplate on top. I ran a strip of plasticard round the edge to hide the internal cavity and then added some corner strip to the "step" section. Once that had all dried and was solid I worked my way down the step adding small photo etch rivets using super glue. I used a thing superglue for this but washed the step with it and then dabbed it irregularly with a tissue to create a "corroded" uneven texture, this would give the rust pigments something to cling to and work with later.

Recently a purchase from eBay had arrived, oddly this came from a different section of ebay from normal. I had purchased a bag of TINY old watch parts, with lots of very very small cogs and wheels in. I took 3-4 of them and glued them into a heap in front of the step and one on top of the step, I then used the same trick as above to create a slightly corroded texture on the top of the cogs which the rust pigments could cling too as watch parts are often quite smooth. Creating textures like this adds significantly to the micro-detail of any miniature / base and if done sympathetically can really help the paint-job that comes later. As you will see in the following picture the step looks battered and worn, most of that is due to the irregular surface created by the superglue being dabbed as it dried.



I followed up the modelling work with a quick spray of black primer/undercoat and left well alone to dry. When it was dry I painted the whole base in a dark brown and set about using my rust pigments to create the feeling of depth I wanted. I use a rough brush for this as it destroys normal brushes. Using a stippling motion I added the rust in the order of darkest first (and consequently broadest coverage) ... building up with a lighter mid shade ... and then light shade sparingly on top.

After washing the brush out and drying it, I then got my Boltgun metal out and lightly dipped the same rough brush in to it, and wiped almost all the paint off as I was about to start drybrushing. With drybrushing its important to remove almost all of the paint first and then lightly flick the brush back and forward over the "textured" part of the model to highlight the text. I was doing the treadplate first, so I wanted the movement of my brush to match the directions of the raised flooring, so in this case up and down and left to right, importantly no angled strokes as that could ruin the effect I wanted. Once done with the tread plate I ran the drybrush back and forth across the raised step and rivets, this was done slightly unevenly to match the pattern of people walking, if you think about it no one will step over the large metal cogs on the floor to step up, therefore there would be little or no visible metalwork in that area and the rust would be solid. Thinking about usage like this really helps with all weathering work and makes or breaks the believability in my opinion.

Lastly I ran the brush lightly around the very tips of the cogs and lightly across the surface this then left me at the "consideration phase". This is the point where I review my work and decide if it matches my expectations, if not I go back and keep working till it does. This time I decided that I wanted to build up some rust in the areas where the model wouldn't be standing, so using the mid and light rust pigments I went back and touched up those areas again (on the left of the base in the picture and slightly around the cogs). I then considered again and decided I was happy with it, I grabbed the black paint and finished off by tidying the sloping sides of the base in black paint.

This may sound like a lot of work per base, but when you have done it a few times it can be done quickly

Here are a couple of pictures of the model and base ... once again I forgot to do the purity seal ... so looks like that has now been moved to the top of my to-do list.

From the side: -



and from the front: -



The rust nicely offsets the black of the armour and creates a suitable frame

Finally here are a couple of group shots



Next up will be the work on the Sgt ... although I am tempted to do the special weapons perhaps

Are you airbrushing or hand painting?

The white on those bolters is spectacularly clean. Very nice.

I hate you for being able to paint so well.

I'm really impressed with the bases! keep up the good work.

Hey there your iron hand looks great i specialize in painting only i dont play and i found over the past twenty years of painting 40k that the most fun i had was mixing up what i paint i have squads from almost all the founding legions(imperial) and almost all founding (chaos) its just more fun to test your meddle by mixing it up. being a salamader painter perhaps you can help me out what green do you use to paint them i have been using a special mix of scorpion and dark angel green

Great thread and great work on the models thus far!

Love how the scheme and details are coming together to make for a really flavorful army.

The only thing I'm not sold on is the "white" bolters.

They seem a little flat and too pristine imho.

You have to figure that if those marines are moving about in a rusty environment: climbing ladders and rubble, taking cover behind rusty girders, etc., etc. That those bolters are gonna show a little rusty grime on them, etc...

@ CT GAMER : Your absolutely right and I have been fiddling around in the background with some bolters sprayed white trying to find a way to do "rust grime" as you put it.

Looking at the touch pattern for the bolter I had worked out there would be "hand" patterns only on the forward part of the gun near the fingers of the left hand. In addition there should be "random" marks along the rest of the casing depending on the actions of the marines.

The first attempt I tried using the open palm hand from the missile arm ... and pressing it into the pigments. It kind of worked but not quite what I was looking for. I tried using brushwork after that but could not quite get the "finger" pattern I wanted. The next attempt I was thinking of was to make a silicon rubber copy of the open hand and using that in the pigment to get a slightly more normal looking pattern. Suffice to say the aim is to perfect a technique to do it and then retro-fit the result back on the models already completed

@ marinepainter8778 : Snot green ... with scorpion green added as required for highlights .. finishing with a thin line of scorp green.

@ wolfshadow : Hand painted ... but I can and do use my aribrush when required, but usually on Vehicles

Your Iron hands look amazing, i love the bases!
Where/How do you get your Custom base supplies?

These are the best Iron Hands I have ever seen,congratulation on making me actually like the chapter now.
I agree with your opinon of the FW bionic leg it totally needed the greave.
And lastly the next time you paint lenses like that please do a step by step.

Loving them still. Keep up the great work! My only nitpick, and this is a taste matter, is the bolter looks a bit plain. Maybe some black decals or freehand of gears? Otherwise, good stuff.

Wanting to do something original when modelling is always difficult, there are thousands of modellers all of whom have excellent ideas and do their very best to make them into reality. We all are constantly inspired by the works we see on-line and in the real world, to the extent that it shapes our thoughts and often strangely limits our ideas as we sub-consciously copy what we like. With my Sgt. figure I wanted to try and do something original (or at the minimum rarely seen) and at the same time appropriate to the space-hulk theme I had adopted for my Iron Hands. The initial idea came from the normal practice of making special figures somehow more pronounced on the battlefield, people seem to alter their height, often placing them on bigger / higher bases. With that in mind I decided to "raise" my Sgt. above the crowd and use the "Vertical" space on his base somehow.

It didn't take too long to combine "Vertical" with "Space-Hulk" and decide on a scenario where either my Sgt. was descending or ascending onto a new level. That then led onto ladders between levels and I suddenly had the image I wanted, he would either be the last man to leave the level and firing into the crowd of opponents chasing the squad as he climbed up, or first man down onto a new level scanning for and finding enemies to fire upon as he descended. Here is what I saw in my minds eye on Christmas day as I sat with my family: -



With that image in my mind I set about making the base ... I used two thick strips of plasticard for the sides of the ladder, I taped them together with masking tape and measured and drilled the 1mm holes through them for the rungs. I then rounded the tops to give the feeling that the ladder only stopped a little way above the marine, as it would be impossible to show a roof this would be essential to the illusion of height. Then putting some treadplate plasticard on a base and cutting through it, I pushed the sides of the ladder down into the base and glued them. The rungs were then added one by one and also glued but the ends were left with 2-3mm randomly each side, I did not do the last rung as I needed to thing how the hand would attach to it.



I then held my rule along the outside edge of the ladder and using that as a cutting guide, I used my flush cutters (the GW ones) to cut along the ruler, therefore insuring each rung would end at the same distance from the ladder, small details like everything being level help significantly to make the mind accept what its seeing. So with the base done I set about the creation of the Sgt. the first thing I would need would be an extended arm, if you think about anyone hanging onto a ladder while firing, the hand/arm holding the ladder is usually extended and taut as it takes the weight. The pointing arm with the index finger extended was my final choice, I drilled a 1 mm hole through the "fist" portion and then assembled it with the top rung through it and glued the run into place with an arm dangling from it. The chest and back plate were easy to find and I used the techmarine plate with the cog and skull on, I did add a small cog to the belt buckle after filing it flat to enhance the IH style.



Next came the legs, I knew the running legs would give me something close to what I wanted, but upon closer examination the position of the feet would wrong. The foot in contact with the rung would need to be compressed and the other foot would need to be extended either coming up from the rung below or descending towards it. This all involved some drastic foot surgery as I removed appropriate looking feet from another pair of legs, tidied them and then attached them to the set of legs I wanted. Obviously removing and reattaching feet also cost me the power cables normally found from ankle to foot, so using some of the dragonforge ribbed cabling I set about recreating the power cables. Once finished I was pleased with the result especially as the ambiguity of whether the figure was climbing or descending still remained. I then stuck the backpack on and gave it a slight angle to show the shift in weight while climbing, I had used this small trick before as it emphasises the figures movement without being very obvious.



Next came the arm with the weapon, I normally magnetise everything I work with and this would be no exception. I planned to have another outstretched arm and to sever the hand after the wrist joint. Having done so I drilled a hole into the wrist for a 2mm rare earth magnet. The magnets I use are strong enough to hold a plastic/resin weapon in place without it rotating and a matching magnet would be placed into the hand holding the weapon. The initial two weapons chosen were a plasma pistol and a bolt pistol, but my plans include all possible weapon options for a sgt in a tactical squad including powerfist. Lastly I chose the head I wanted, it had to have bionics and have some energy in the facial features, One of the Admins on the Bolter & Chainsword (SCC) had the excellent idea of using the Shadow Captain Korvydae head from ForgeWorld and I must say I think his choice was excellent (I also happened to have one in my bits collection).



After all this modelling I was left with the figure you have seen above, held together with blu-tac while I get the positioning right, I need to "assemble" him with glue now (all apart from the arm on the ladder) and start work on the magnetised weapon options. Once all that is done I need to go and fill in some areas with green stuff and make him a new curled index finger. Then I can start work on painting him!



I hope he meets my original conditions of being both themed and original, I don't recall too many marines in this position (apart from some really old GW dioramas).

That is so many different shades of awsome. If thats the level that you go to for a SGT, I can't wait to see what you come up with for your HQ choices. :-P

Impressive positioning.
Wasn't aware imagination at X-mas can lead to such dynamic models.

It is original as this is the first marine I've seen climbing.

Would a "shooting" arm/hand combo and a separate "CC arm/hand" combo give a better result as swapping "shooty" and "CC" weapons at a arm in a shooting position?
Since any CC-weapon would be 'pointing' at something. Could be your plan from start to have him either shoot or point tough.

BrotherArgos wrote:Ahh a night of relaxation ... good food ... and I saw Tron Legacy ... but no Iron Hands were painted!

There is one small redeeming feature to the day as far as hobby work goes, I got to go to my favourite Modelling shop ... "The 4D Modelshop".

My god, that place is round the corner from where I live. A ten minute bike ride or five minute tube journey. As soon as I saw the photo, I knew it was gonna be close. I'll be in there on Thursday. I've been trying to decide how to base my Tyrant's Legion, and this thread has helped me come up with a few options.

@ wolfshadow : Its a long time till I get to an HQ choice ... lets hope I can have a few more ideas.

@ 1hadhq : Ahh you will have to keep watching to see the solution to the multiple weapons

@ Fifty : Its a treasure trove for modellers ... go .. go NOW!

Oh, quick question, where did you get your Etched brass cogs/hex nuts and gears?

The etched work were from MiG Productions ... as were the pigments, excellent place for Modellers.

I have a FLHS that carries the MiG pigmensts... will have to see if they have the Brass as well.

Thanks for the tip. :-)

Iron Hands are awsome. I'm doing an IH sucessor, so am stalking your long for tips and tricks.

Have you seen the SteamPunk weapons that MaxMini is going to be releasing? (Hopefully tomorrow ... Prezmas, I'm watching you, you tease!)

http://www.maxmini.eu/forum/index.php?topic=346.0

I did indeed see the MaxMini steampunk weapons, Freakforge (the sculptor) sent me a PM to show me after he saw my use of the Bionic legs.

Hey there, first I'd like to tell You how much I like your work!

Second, I'd like to ask if You're willing to sell some shoulder pads? I'm doing the same clan and I'd like to have your pads more than to use decals. Thanks!

One thing i think is so good about this (apart from the amazing painting, basing, modelling, ideas, etc.) is the fact that you seem to improve from model to model, whereas most people improve from squad to squad.

So keep going!

Sadly that's because I wasn't trying very hard on the early models. One of the aims of this project is to reduce the time to make each model. That is sliding somewhat and I need to get back to that!