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When I was much younger i hoarded a small 40k space marine army and abused it. Back then I didn't have the patience to paint and for me the fluff and games were much more interesting then sitting down for hours to paint. So it probably isn't a huge surprise that the results were mediocre to poor. Fast forward through some different phases in my life and we arrive at my current situation. I have a decent desk job and can sometimes come home a bit rushed or tired. I used to just turn on my PC and play some games and watch some TV with the misses. PC gaming is great, but to be honest, repeating the same level 100+ times doesn't really add more then having played the a level 10 times. Instead of numbing my brain with video games I decided to read more books. I love sci-fi and the moment I read a dark library book I was instantly hooked to 40k once more. I dug up my old space marine force from the basement and was amazed at how poorly I had treated those expensive gifts. I decided to repaint the entire force to a level that I should have done from the beginning! I decided on Ultramarines because the color scheme is forgiving, there is tons of fluff, colorful, and plenty of paint guides. I want to keep the force reasonably traditional and that's how I ended up going for the 2nd company. With the latest GW paint guide it recommends to trim the shoulder pads gold.. which isn't reflected in the old company colors. The 2nd company is yellow which is closest to gold hence my choice.

With that ladies and gentlemen I share with you my WIP thread. Please be gentle and I would appreciate small improvement suggestions since this is already quite hard for me.

The force before:



The force Now:




update:
Just updated the first post and cleaned it up a whole bunch! Updated picture shows current status!

Welcome to Dakka!

Those new minis show a massive improvement, and it's always great to see someone get a second lease of life from an army! Looking forward to more!

Always nice to see a fellow Ultramarine. Massive improvements. One thing you might want to do while stripping the old stuff is to do a mould line cleaning pass. I noticed in the last picture, the backpack had a bad one.

I always have a problem with the white trim work when I do it. You need a lot of thin coats to get a smooth result. Massive pain.

Always good to see a fellow Ultramarine player, and the second company as well at that!

Come check out my blog if you are ever in need of some conversion ideas for your marines.

Also, are you thinking of going with a clean armour look or will you add things like battle damage or weather to the models too?

Well the start is looking very promissing. Keep up the good work.
I'll be following your thread. Thanks for sharing.

Grtz,
Remco

Thanks for all the replies, I will need some support to keep me motivated! Anyway i finished gluing the cork to all current models. Which appears to be 20 already! I purchased the cork sheet for 1.80 Eur which is quite cheap at the Van Gogh hobby store in Haarlem. I am using some cheap all purpose Tesa glue (the type kids used to make glue balls out of). I have seen other guides and i am really happy the cork is nice and thin! I didn't want to go overboard so 8 bases have a 2nd bit.. actually 2 have a bit more then just a single bit. Looking forward to painting these, just a bit weary that the cork will soak up the paint. Not quite sure how to paint them but I have black so I am thinking a base coat and then highlighting with grey (which i need to mix w. the white i have because I don't have a grey. Will do that tomorrow time permitting. Going on a weekend trip to Italy.

Also I did cut my thumb when remove the bases from the models. Most were slotted in (old skewl) and it wasn't that hard at all to remove em. Just jab the hobby knife in the slot where the glue was and apply some force. One or two bases got a bit warped, but who cares For one of the models the base stuck to the feet when I pulled it of so the base now has two shoe sized holes!

So I was on a short trip to Milan and didn't have time to paint anything. Crazy period at work, so it took me forever to find the time to get some painting done. Today I painted 5 bases as a test. It takes quite a bit of time painting the bases so I will batch them 5 at a time for laziness! I am looking for feedback, but i am happy with these results. I need to make sure I don't overload on the grey's when painting since it reduced the visible texture if applied to much.

I used photeshop auto tone to get a clearer view of what it looks like in real life. I will make some more pictures tomorrow in natural lighting conditions.




Here is one of the most completed marines on the new base!

small update! finished glueing and basing the models! Also did lenses! Next up is priming the bases because painting them black is boring work

Got a whole lot of painting done today! Everyone now has a base, finished the shoulder pads, two of the terminators now also have insignia on power fists, 3 marines purity seals done. Feeling quite happy with the progress! Now sure what to paint next, a dreadnaught or some HQ guys. Suggestions?


Also any tutorials on the face/hair and powersword? Cant find an easy power sword tutorial anywhere. Also what is a good ultramarine powersword color?

Recently I’ve been doing a base -> wash -> light highlight for my faces. Base is an older base paint, taleran flesh? Chestnut wash on top of that. Then hit the high points with a little bronzed flesh. Sometimes I skip the highlight if the wash looks good. Hair is just a straight color from the pot. Not the best advice, but it’s easy and what I do.

I just paint power weapons with a metallic blue most of the time. Sometimes I go for a silver, with a color drybrused on.

Your army is really coming together nicely. The bases remind me of asphalt. I kinda expect to see some white/yellow road markings on them.

Aye, that lot's looking good!

As for faces, Nev's suggestion is how I do it as well; base, wash, highlight does well enough. I find adding a bit of very thin red or purple as a final glaze brings a little colour back into it if the highlight is too pale.

As for swords, I've become partial to starting with a dark blue base and working up to a sky blue on the edges or centre depending on how you want it to look. I don't have any WIP pics, but here's one that's finished:

I am holding off on the power swords for now. First working on my dreadnaught!

I am also trying to work out how i will play my force: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/627507.page#7441719 any suggestions welcome!

Anyway WIP images:

Hey guys, happy new year! I almost completed my dread last week and finally a chance to upload the pics here. Since I am not getting any responses I am considering to stop posting updates because I was hoping for constructive comments and feedback which hasn't been happening

Image is quite big so hence a spoiler

Very nice work on that, your blues and golds are great as ever. Getting comments can be tricky, but do keep going; eventually, most blogs pick up a good following. It may take a while, but it's worth it in the end.

In terms of feedback, what kind of thing are you looking for? From what I can see, your paintwork is at a very decent level, and unless you are looking to try something new, all I can suggest is to keep doing what you're doing.

The dread (and everything else too) is looking great now that you've decided to revive them. The Power Face and Sword info posted above is good. Are the terminator heads going to get a treatment? Perhaps you'd get more comments if you converted to chaos? ;-)

Looking good! Keep up the work and the blog. Even on older blogs sometimes attendance from the crowd waxes and wanes. One thing to do is be sure you ask questions or otherwise engage the audience. When you asked about faces and swords, you got some hits.

Ahh thanks guys for all the responses, i feel like a spoiled brat looking for attention! But it really helps to keep me motivated since I don't think i will want to play 40k. I went to a GW store last week and the audience was extremely young! I saw a 13 year old painting a knight like it was a cheap chinese lego set. Knowing those things are very expensive I got a feeling that i would not enjoy playing a game there. Also the GW employee was very helpful but showed me 15+ different box sets while i wanted 2 special weapon bits (grav or plasma) but those have to be ordered online and are a bit expensive in my eyes.

I will play a bit more video games while i decide on which model(s) will be my HQ troop and once those are done i will start with some Sons Of Medusa!

- trollmeat
Are the terminator heads going to get a treatment?

Yes? I think they are alright for now since i don't know how i can improve on them, the white helmets were the most difficult thing I painted so far.. which is a bad omen since Sons of Medusa all have white helmets as well.

- Nevelon
When you asked about faces and swords, you got some hits.

I think the best solution is to buy some fresh paints for the face and find a dutchmen with a airbrush who I can snailmail the powerswords. Airbrushed power weapons are in my eyes the most "power" looking. I always imagine the metal turning into a lightsaber due to the sheer energy, similar to a current-day thermal lance (link).

Paradigm
In terms of feedback, what kind of thing are you looking for?

Did you ever write a story/essay, create a painting, or fix your house? Then when you friend comes over he points on that spelling mistake, piece of tape, or crooked edge? I hope a fresh set of eyes can help me find the "outliers", the eye catching mistakes, so I fix those to quickly bring the overall quality level up. I am also hoping for people to come with some suggestions for painting and modeling since I am quite a novice. Right now i am painting all lenses red, perhaps someone has a good reason to paint a lens green, e.g. it is a targeting lens. I suppose any fluff related painting suggestions and ideas on how to make the models cooler. Right now its all out of the box and no kit-bashing or green stuffing, which might be totally worth it. I just don't have that artistic sense. I live by copy right.. the right to copy whatever I see!

Also thanks for the comments! Awesome motivator

It is easy to become demoralised when our efforts aren't acknowledged/encouraged.

White is a really difficult colour to do (I am terrible at it). I wasn't saying that anything needs to be done, was just curious if the shadows were going to be darkened (are there any close-up shots?).

I don't play any more though I'd like to have the occasional game of Necromunda. If you were wanting to start playing 40k again I'm sure dakka could help (we have our little flags next to our names)

I was just curious if the shadows were going to be darkened
the shadows were going to be darkened
shadows to be darkened

I think that might be the answer! I could mix 3 drops of white with a small bit of black to create a slight grey and paint the shadows for more of a 3d effect! I will look into that.. it sounds hard

That'll do it. However, I'd say that if there aren't too many layers of paint, you'd be better off painting the whole thing grey before highlighting back up to white; it's always easier to paint from shadows to bright points than vice versa.

Or, alternatively, if you make a black or grey wash and apply that to the recesses that will work as well.

I don’t generally do white helmets for my Ultramarines. Doing the white trim on my vets’ shoulderpads is enough to give me fits. I did do one, for my bike captain, who wears a White Scars helmet. I based white, grey washed, and then re-highlighted with white.

As for the age of the crowd playing, I guess that depends a lot on your FLGS. One of the perks of playing with younger folks is that you get to help form them into decent gamers.

Hi !

It's quite normal that you don't get much comments. Your topic is one among many, and it's only at it's beginning. You need time to have your topic "installed".
Keep posting, even if you don't get lots of feedback, it's enough if you have some good ones.

And don't forget it's Christmas time, people are traditionnally busy with their families in the end of year.


Back to topic.
I can give you some advice regarding your Ultramarines, as you know I paint Ultramarines too. :tongue:

1) it's good that you update this army
2) it already looks much better
3) the white stripes on the shoulder pads are a good idea
4) The base texture looks good, but the result is too flat. You should drybrush with a very light color. You can also add colored washes (brown or green for example) to add depth to the stones.
5) I'm sorry to tell this, but I have to : the markings on the tactical marines are on the wrong side. The "omega" should be on the left shoulder. It's ok on the terminators though.
6) Try to highlight you golds with silver. You can also wash the chest eagles with a flesh tone wash. Those are two really simple things that will make you gold look muuuuch better
7) The squad numbers on the pads are a good idea. The problem currently is that the result is not neat enough. Try to "clean" the end of the black lines, to have a sharper shape.
8) Add an orange point in the middle of the eye lenses. It will make their look more intense.
9) For the power swords, I'm getting tired of the Grey Knights looking blades. You could get a simple and interesting result using colored wash (I'd go for purple... but I love purple) over a metallic base.
10) Drill your barell holes. Don't take much time, really improves the result.


That's it for the moment. Most of those are simple to make, and should make your models look better with not too much effort.
Hope this helps.

 trollmeat wrote:
If you were wanting to start playing 40k again I'm sure dakka could help [i](we have our little flags next to our names)

I will give that a try, thanks!

 Nevelon wrote:
I did do one, for my bike captain, who wears a White Scars helmet. I based white, grey washed, and then re-highlighted with white. As for the age of the crowd playing, I guess that depends a lot on your FLGS. One of the perks of playing with younger folks is that you get to help form them into decent gamers.

Thanks, I like how you did you biker captain. The apothecary i will be painting soon will have a white helmet and i will try your paint order.

 Minus wrote:

3) the white stripes on the shoulder pads are a good idea
4) The base texture looks good, but the result is too flat. You should drybrush with a very light color. You can also add colored washes (brown or green for example) to add depth to the stones.
5) I'm sorry to tell this, but I have to : the markings on the tactical marines are on the wrong side. The "omega" should be on the left shoulder. It's ok on the terminators though.
6) Try to highlight you golds with silver. You can also wash the chest eagles with a flesh tone wash. Those are two really simple things that will make you gold look muuuuch better
7) The squad numbers on the pads are a good idea. The problem currently is that the result is not neat enough. Try to "clean" the end of the black lines, to have a sharper shape.
8) Add an orange point in the middle of the eye lenses. It will make their look more intense.
9) For the power swords, I'm getting tired of the Grey Knights looking blades. You could get a simple and interesting result using colored wash (I'd go for purple... but I love purple) over a metallic base.
10) Drill your barell holes. Don't take much time, really improves the result.


That's it for the moment. Most of those are simple to make, and should make your models look better with not too much effort.
Hope this helps.

Delicious feedback
3) I copied it off some french bloke, but my version looks much better
4) I will dry brush and add a colored wash, I currently have Black and DarkBlue washes. Do you think the black one will work?
5) True, but autism wont allow the terminators the have it on the right shoulder and the rest on the left. Conscious decision, but it was a bit hard
6) Highlights with silver and flesh tone wash.. I have 10 more Ultramarine models to go (HQ and 5 tactical) and then I will order some new paints for the Sons of Medusa. I will touch up the chests at that point.
7) Agreed, I will use my "eye" brush to tidy up the roman numerals. Do you have any other inspirational work for the shoulders?
8) Do you have an example? Right now the eyes are dark-orange, dark-orange with some white, and then one white dot.
9) I just stumbled upon a potential powerlook i like > link. The other recommendation i got from Nevelon is to paint metallic blue and then drybrush. I wont do purple since it would stand out a bit too much in my army. I am leaning toward light blue and white as it would catch the eye, but not stand out.
10) I will see if i can find a hand drill on the cheap, i already have quite a selection of drill bits I got with my Bosch drill. I will also need to check the size of the drill that is needed.

Thanks for the comments it appears I can make some quick improvements by ordering 2 washes and silver. The eyes and the numerals I will touch up the next time I am painting eyes (for my current wip models). I would also highly recommend you put your models in a vault before I get in a car and drive to France to duel you for ownership.

With all the comments (and free time) I have made quite some progress on 7 marines, 2 with heavy weapons, and 2 HQ models. I think I will stick the missle launcher in the devastator squad and add an extra marine to a tactical squad and the rest will serve as HQ for now. Not sure what to paint after this since the ultramarine force is quite complete for now. Perhaps the ultramarine land speeder, but i am itching to paint some Sons of Medusa. Hope to finish this lot tomorrow. Still need to base, shade, and highlight.

Coming along nicely.

Small update, almost done w. this batch. Still need to do the bases, symbols (white basically), and eyes. I also did a blackwash on the dreadnaught base, but since i got the feedback about the bases being a bit plain i am thinking how i can add some spice. I am also considering ordering some necrohounds from maxmini because i think they look cool. If i order i will also get some shields and hammers to create 5 hammernatiors and 5 assaults marines which i still need to paint. The dreadnaught and standard bearer also have banners which i need to do something with. Not quite sure what yet though and i am wondering if it would be cool to 3d print something. I have a bunch of captains which, by default, come kitted out with chainswords and pistols I am thinking of turning them into close combat marines and just generally doing my first conversions with them because I hate how generic they currently look.

I will be uploading images on dakka now since it is easier and i get better links


Faces still need to be done ofcourse, but will need some new paints for that

Coming along nicely.

Your smurfs are looking good, look forward to seeing the Hammernators :-)

How many captains is a bunch? And are they built already, or just the kits?

If you get some TH/SS termies, you are going to want a LR to stick them in. Which means you are going to need more armor on the table for saturation, and some outriders to bubble wrap it. We’ll see you at a reinforced battle company before you know it!

Coming together nicely.

 trollmeat wrote:
Your smurfs are looking good, look forward to seeing the Hammernators :-)

Well i am going to order the following, but before I do i would value your opinion. You recon these would look cool?

 Nevelon wrote:
How many captains is a bunch? And are they built already, or just the kits?

If you get some TH/SS termies, you are going to want a LR to stick them in. Which means you are going to need more armor on the table for saturation, and some outriders to bubble wrap it. We’ll see you at a reinforced battle company before you know it!

Coming together nicely.

I will check how many, but i think its 2 prebuild 1 plastic model, and then 1 normal one
I have a LR The terminators in questions will be sons of medusa though which i still need to get started w. painting. I will use the above shields and hammers. And i hope i can refrain myself from new buys for now!