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Hello,
I'm looking into finishing my army big by painting up a Command Squad and a Rhino. I am going to pick up the Ultramarines Upgrade Kit. Should I pick up Green Stuff, since I've never done any sculpting prior. Are there any tips on painting the banner you guys can give me? Also, I have a can of Rustoleum 2x cover blue spray paint. Would it be suitable for basecoating/priming?
Thanks,
David

If you haven’t done green stuff before, there is no compelling reasons to start on the command squad. You should be able to do fine with the bits provided.

Assuming you don’t get a sticker/sculpted banner, I’d recommend trying to keep it simple. Unless you can go fancy; more power to you in that case. Just keep it reasonably close to your skill set.

For my HG banner, I took the basic one from the command squad box and tacked a bunch of purity seals, scrolls, and the like on it. You might want to sketch out any freehand lightly before painting. I took a picture and printed it out to help get the scale/details correct.



The ancient is primarily parts for the sternguard box

a WIP pic:

 Nevelon wrote:
If you haven’t done green stuff before, there is no compelling reasons to start on the command squad. You should be able to do fine with the bits provided.

Assuming you don’t get a sticker/sculpted banner, I’d recommend trying to keep it simple. Unless you can go fancy; more power to you in that case. Just keep it reasonably close to your skill set.

For my HG banner, I took the basic one from the command squad box and tacked a bunch of purity seals, scrolls, and the like on it. You might want to sketch out any freehand lightly before painting. I took a picture and printed it out to help get the scale/details correct.

Should I paint the design on before I work with shading the cloth? Also, do i sketch it on with a sharpie, a pencil, or just with a little paint?

I did the freehand before the shading, but then, I did only a very light bit of highlighting on the cloth. Hopefully someone with more skill then I can give you a better answer.

I forgot to actually pencil in the “U”, but I would have used a light pencil on the primed coat. What I did do was to line out the shape using a micra pen. The same one I did all the squiggles with.

Have you considered calgar's command squad?

 teban wrote:
Have you considered calgar's command squad?

I'm running Cato Sicarius as my HQ. Is Calgar's Command squad an honor guard? I'm not all too familiar with them. Would I be able to have 5 marines, 1 with a bolt pistol and plasmagun, one with a bolt pistol and power sword, one with a combi-plasma, and a company champion and an apothecary?
Thanks,

Ah - you got me there. Its more of an honour guard hehe. They all carry power weapons. (2 axes and 2 power swords).

But it comes with an awesome banner I think

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Space-Marine-Marneus-Calgar-and-Honour-Guard

 teban wrote:
Ah - you got me there. Its more of an honour guard hehe. They all carry power weapons. (2 axes and 2 power swords).

But it comes with an awesome banner I think

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Space-Marine-Marneus-Calgar-and-Honour-Guard

Okay, thanks! I think i'll stick with the standard command squad.

Your best bet for doing the banner is to use a retractable pencil. I've tried painting on banner markings and to be honest that way madness lies! A retractable pencil will give a sharper line than an ordinary pencil which sometimes does not work on paint.

Slipstream wrote:
Your best bet for doing the banner is to use a retractable pencil. I've tried painting on banner markings and to be honest that way madness lies! A retractable pencil will give a sharper line than an ordinary pencil which sometimes does not work on paint.

By retractable, do you mean a mechanical pencil?

Yes he means a mechanical pencil.

Your best bet for parts for a command squad are going to be the Command Squad box along with the Ultramarine upgrade sprue.

That will give you parts to make a Company Champion & Apothecary in addition to special weapons aplenty and a standard bearer as well.

Hopefully this helps & best of luck on your command squad build.

Take it easy.

-Red__Thirst-

 Red__Thirst wrote:
Yes he means a mechanical pencil.

Your best bet for parts for a command squad are going to be the Command Squad box along with the Ultramarine upgrade sprue.

That will give you parts to make a Company Champion & Apothecary in addition to special weapons aplenty and a standard bearer as well.

Hopefully this helps & best of luck on your command squad build.

Take it easy.

-Red__Thirst-

Alright, I will pick up the Ultramarine Upgrade Sprue if I see one!
Thanks,
David

SirSertile wrote:

Alright, I will pick up the Ultramarine Upgrade Sprue if I see one!

Make this a priority. Honestly, that thing is packed full of awesome. My one regret is that it didn’t come out until after most of my army was finished. If you play Ultras, do yourself a favor and get it. Especially before putting together such a high-profile unit like a command squad.