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Time to kick off the new year of challenges with the traditional Space Marine round!

As usual, the community gets to pick the winner! Feel free to cast as many votes as you like for as many entries that catch your eye, be it for the paintjob, the imagination, the conversion work or anything else you happen to appreciate! Voting will run for 5 days, at which point the winners will be announced. You're also encouraged to leave some feedback or gallery votes for the entrants if you wish to, it's always appreciated!

The entrants:


Nevelon: Salamanders Sternguard


Elbows: Leviathan Dreadnought


KernelTerror: Possessed Champion


CREEEEEED: Raptors Terminator


SirOllox: Black Templar's Primaris Captain


Zergsmasher: Abaddon the Despoiler


lipsdapips: Ultramarines Chapter Champion and Chaplain


kavika0311: Ultramarines Devastators


Kustomer D: Ashen Shrikes


Midget Gems: Knights Sanguine


dwro1234: Redemptor Dreadnought


Apollinaire: Brother Leofrith of the Grey Knights


Porphyrius: Raven Guard Devastators


Craggy: Blood Angels Assault Terminators


Dukeofbeer: Nomad Intruder


Rybrook: Ultramarine Veteran Sergeant


Tim 121RVC: The Sigmarine!


Power Elephant: Deathwing Terminator


Feltmonkey: Angels of Vengeance Primaris Captain


ZoBo: Death Guard Land Raider


Chris56: Nurgle Lord, Khorne Lord, Blood Angels Librarian


Suzuteo: Iron Hands Battle Pilgrims


Paradigm: Cato Sicarius


vejut: Tiger Soldier


Modock: Nomad Bandit Hacker


womprat49: Salamander marine


Oppl: Chapter Master Shrike


Jadenim: Ultramarines Intercessors


keezus: Captain Tara Kurkova


Marine_With_Heart: Nurgle Chaos Marine


ChaosDad: Blood Angels Deathwatch Captain

Good month this go-round...but arguably very tough to vote for. Marines are so commonplace it really takes a lot to make me even notice them (including my own!).

I gave a vote to CREEEEEEED for a well done Raptors terminator.

Power Elephant for the superb lighting.

Feltmonkey for a wonderful paintjob.

Oppl for a much better take on Shrike...than Shrike.

Keezus for a gorgeous painted model (and I just love the model).

Well done guys.

good gravy...I tell ya what, these poll threads are a pretty hefty task!...it's mostly just a bunch of copy/paste, and a good deal of double-checking and farting about, but still, this took me about an hour or so to get sorted!

Para, this's given me a whole new level of respect for you mate, getting this lot organised every month...bloody well done! (don't worry though, I'd still have no problem doing this again if you ever need mate )

Feltmonkey: A good, but not really impresive paintjob. The cape, however is incredible.
ZoBo: Great weathering
Chris 56: Great paintjobs
Modock: Great painjob with lots of contrast

Thanks for stepping in ZoBo, what an amazing collection of astartes of all colors and shapes.

Wow, lots of awesome Space Marines, and even their equivalents from other game systems. They really run the gamut of all types of Marines too, from tacticals to devastators to various Primaris guys and even some filthy heretics! I just have to talk a little about each one:
Nevelon: Those Sallies turned out at least as good as your usual Ultrasmurfs. The aftermarket bits are a great touch and really make them pop.
Elbows: I love the Leviathan, and you really nailed the weathering on this one! It certainly looks like it has seen some action.
KernelTerror: That's a cool take on Possessed; it really looks horrific, as well it should! I'm curious as to what you used to make it look like that.
CREEEEEEEEED: You sure know how to make Raptors look good! I like seeing you do their scheme on different models, and this one is certainly well done!
SirOllox: You made the black armor look interesting, which is an achievement in itself. I love that Primaris Captain model, and you rocked it with that scheme.
ZergSmasher: I'm pretty happy with how Abaddon turned out. I tried to make the eye on his shoulder look a bit like the one on the Forgeworld Horus model, although I probably should have given it a glossy sheen. I really need to get my camera figured out better or buy a better one so you guys can see my work better.
lipsdapips: These guys look incredible! I've rarely seen such clean paintjobs with all those little details picked out.
kavika0311: The models look awesome, but they are slightly let down by the bases, but that might just be a matter of taste. Still excellent work, especially on that sarge and his little machine!
Kustomer D: You conveyed the grittiness of the Carcharodons very well with that diorama. I confess I don't know all of their fluff, but from what I've heard this seems to fit.
Midget Gems: Wait a minute, these aren't Orks! Some nice looking sons of Sanguinius there, although one of them might be some Grots standing on each other's shoulders under that armor...
dwro1234: A very solid first entry for you, although better photos would do it justice more (I have the same problem most of the time). Hope you come back and enter again!
Apollinaire: Very nice Grey Knight. The power weapon glow and the glows on the sides of the shield look cool!
Porphyrius: Another first timer, unless I'm mistaken, and a very solid entry. Only thing missing are the shoulder icons, and given how much of a pain it is to freehand them or use transfers (to say nothing of how hard it is to find Raven Guard transfers) I definitely understand leaving them blank.
Craggy: These Blood Angels look great, but they kind of blend into their bases. The detail is still pretty well done, and I like how the shields contrast with the armor.
Dukeofbeer: I love the models from Infinity, and you made this one look wonderfully menacing!
Rybrook: The paintjob on this guy is very clean with good use of shades to bring out the detail. Only criticism is that the skin is a bit too dark, but the model is still pretty nice.
Tim 121RVC: This was a great idea from concept to completion, and you nailed it! The only thing I don't like is the flame effects from the jetpack, but honestly the rest of the model is so mindblowingly awesome that it really doesn't matter!
Power Elephant: Your use of OSL from the flames on the armor is excellent! I really should learn how to do that kind of stuff myself.
feltmonkey: Kudos to you for doing a model from a Dark Angels successor chapter. It looks awesome as your work usually does!
ZoBo: Grandfather Nurgle has certainly blessed that Land Raider. I imagine you'd smell it coming before you saw or heard it. Very nice!
Chris56: An interesting selection of models, and well painted too! I think the Librarian is best; the sheen effect on the armor is very well executed!
Suzuteo: Very appropriate use of Skitarii parts on Iron Hands models. Close up photos of the individual models would have been great for showing off the details better.
Paradigm: Sicarius is probably one of your best models to date. Your gritty style suits the model well!
vejut: You are certainly brave for trying to do camo on a model that small. You pulled it off too, which is impressive!
Modock: You really have a gift for making these Infinity models look good! I especially like the base on this one.
womprat49: Very sharp looking Salamander marine. I like the more emerald green on these guys; most people make them a bit too dark IMO.
Oppl: Shrike's model is awesome, and you made it even better with that paintjob. Getting the script to look that clean on the jump pack must have been difficult, so props for that!
Jadenim: Very clean Ultramarines, although a bit more shading might have made them even better.
keezus: The bodysuit is especially well done on this model, and the orange armor is pretty good too. Very nice work!
Marine_With_Heart: Nice conversion of the bell guy from Dark Imperium. I've been thinking about buying a second copy of that set to try conversions like this!
ChaosDad: I like the shiny gold on the model. This guy is clearly proud of his former chapter. I love the wings on the jump pack. Pity there weren't photos from more angles on this excellent model.

Everyone should feel proud of their work this month. I'm certainly happy with mine. Shout out as always to Paradigm for running this thing, and also to ZoBo for getting the poll thread fixed while Para is under the weather (get better soon buddy!). See you all in the next challenge!

Thanks Zerg. I'd thought about doing a contrasting base, as I've been having good results basing lately, but I haven't decided what colour I'm doing my BA bases yet, and I've a whole army to worry about, so held off on these guys.

Thank you Zerg, the skin is pretty dark I only had the AoS paint set to use when I did it (mine had all dried up) only the brushes were of any use.

Voted on all vote-able images and the poll as usual,enjoy and nice work all!

Elbows: Cool weathering combined with that camo scheme!
CREEEED: I love the army green on this model. Inspiring edge highlighting.
SirOllox: The sword, the cape and the glowing eyes caught my eye on this one.
Lipsdapips: Awesome detailing on the Champion. The Chaplain is nicely painted as well, but the skull really pops for me.
Kustomer D: What I like best is the posing of these two: the legs and the hands holding the knives. Cool!
Midget Gems: Solid paintjob on all of them. The power weapons are great!
dwro1234: Sweet "action" effects: the rocket, flash and the crushed tyranid add some life into the model. I can just see that gatling gun spin around while firing.
Rybrook: Nice posing on this one as well. I'm not that familiar with the SM models, is this original or converted? Anyway, I like the dynamic look!
Power Elephant: Fantastic OSL, but your shiny metal on the back is simply astonishing. Very impressive!
Feltmonkey: What a clean paintjob! I guess this is the way black armour should be painted. Beautifully done and the sword and cape highlighting by "striping" is inspired.
ZoBo: Never seen anyone using the technical paint like this before. Really works in green for the nurgle theme, nice!
Chris56: Cool features: the (edge) highlighting on the Librarian, his open hand and his axe. Honourable mention: the slime/ooze on the Nurgle Lord's base.
Paradigm: If you're talking about a dark future, this model represents that perfectly!
Modock: Her pants are striking. Is it supposed to be metal? Either way, it shines like a full moon!
womprat49: Salamanders are probably my favorite SMs so I like this one. It just needs some fire.
Oppl: One of my favorite entries this month, loving that crow/raven theme. Where's the bird skull on the chest from?
Keezus: Sweet oranges!
Marine_With_Heart: Good head choice. Overall a fitting dirty nurgle look.

My Sigmarine: I'm satisfied about the pose and the flame effects. The flame effects could possibly use some more black towards the base. When I took the pics I noticed that I forgot to highlight the purity seal scrolls after washing them. The blue edge highlights on the armour was pretty difficult. First time doing that, but the "side of the brush tip" way as shown in the GW painting guides need some more practice, hahaha! In the end that could use just one extra layer of a lighter blue, doesn't it?
Can anyone guess where the custom ammo belt is made from?

Massive thanks to ZoBo for stepping in and setting this up! I'm still under the weather so without his help this probably still wouldn't be done!

 ZoBo wrote:
good gravy...I tell ya what, these poll threads are a pretty hefty task!...it's mostly just a bunch of copy/paste, and a good deal of double-checking and farting about, but still, this took me about an hour or so to get sorted!

Para, this's given me a whole new level of respect for you mate, getting this lot organised every month...bloody well done! (don't worry though, I'd still have no problem doing this again if you ever need mate )

I think you were a tad unlucky, the Marine month is always an incredibly busy one! Some top notch entries though, so I'll make sure to drop back in and leave a few comments once I'm well.

Usual stuff, red = vote. Thanks to all that voted for me or passed comment, and thanks for everyone else just participating and keeping the competition alive.



Nevelon – solid stuff, but the green looks a little mottled, and it’s basically the whole model. I don’t know if you noticed but I had the same problem and got told to paint the rivets. I think it worked out well, and on MK 3 you can also paint the edges of the armour plates as silver to break up the flat colour.

Elbows – I love your models, and I think the bright blue of the claw contrasts really well with the rest.

KernelTerror – A good paintjob, but it suffers due to the sculpting being what it is. And the mould line, which is on you. Remove your mould lines kids! I don’t care if it makes assembling your minis take forever.

Me – I’m pretty happy with how he came out. Obviously not the best model ever painted, but probably the best model I’ve ever painted.

SirOllox – An overall good paintjob, I really like the power sword and the cloak is not the best cloak ever, but I really like it, something about the folds just does it for me.

Zergsmasher – Quite flat, although the skin is good. Not that I’d ever vote for an armless loser.

lipsdapips – two really strong paintjobs, I especially like the bone of the chaplain.

kacika0311 – A good paintjob, but I’m gonna have to come out and say it. I don’t like cork bases.

Kustomer D – I really want to vote for you, the paintjob is great but the execution of the diorama… dude’s got to be Jesus, walking on water like that.

Midget Gems – Characterful poses, and a good paintjob. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, but I think the armour is blended.

dwro1234 – I like the crushed gribble, the spent shells and the muzzle flash and missile, all great stuff. But the blue is flatter than a polished marble tile.

Apollionaire – Ayy, tartaros. Good paintjob, just not stand out enough for a vote.

Porphyrius – I like these guys a lot, especially the armour. But the bases could do with some work, IMO.

Craggy – Base sizes and rims are all over the place. Good painting though.

Dukeofbeer – You get the highly vaunted, extremely prestigious award of Creed’s favourite for the month. It’s not the best painted, it’s not been converted, and it’s not even a GW Adeptus Copyrightus. But I really like it. Although this time I’d understand if it doesn’t come first, unlike last month’s travesty.

Rybrook – For a first model back in a while it’s great, and it’s always nice to see a model get restored to a good place.

Tim 121RVC – Very cool, and a great conversion.

Power Elephant – An ambitious and laudable swing, but a miss for me I’m afraid. The OSL needs to be smoother, although given my limited ability I can’t tell you how.

Feltmonkey – Love the freehand and NMM. The power sword and armour are also pretty standout. Second Favourite!

ZoBo – A great paintjob, and a saviour job too.

Chris56 – I rescind what I said in the main threat about Modock being the best painted, these are the best painted this month. I’d give ‘em a gold daemon. Joint second favourite!

Suzuteo – A good paintjob, but they remind me a bit too much of chickens.

Paradigm – A really good paintjob, and the second favourite cloak.

vejut – Something about this just hasn’t come off right, though given what you said in the main threat I think you’re more conscious of it than anyone else.

Modock – Pushing the boundries of space marine, but I’ll tka eleather trousers and blue swords any day.

womprat49 – A good paintjob, especially given the time it took you, but I can’t be giving myself competition in the high contrast green highlight department.

Oppl – Top rate conversion and a solid paintjob. Third favourite!

Janedim – Solid line troops, but I think there’s a few places that might need a little clean up before you take photos.

keezus – “realized that it needs fixing as soon as I photographed it...” Sure.

Marine_With_Heart – I like the paintjob, and I like the rust. In fact I’m gonna give it a vote just for the rust.

ChaosDad – A good paintjob, but nothing standout.

Thank you guys for the nice words.

Votes for a bunch of you:
- Elbows
- Midget G
- Duke of beer
- Power Elephant
- Feltmonkey
- ZoBo
- Chris56
- Modock
- Marine w/heart

@Creeeed: Seriously? I mean it's not about the vote but seriously because he's "jumping"? In a painting competition?!?!

It's been fun painting these. And just for correctness: the are from the Ashen Shrike Chapter
mistymiasma.deviantart.com/art/Tactical-Marine-Squad-Leader-Ashen-Shrikes-715068779


K D

For a while there it was looking like I might make it to the podium or even win... Oh well, beating my personal best will have to do.

 Kustomer D wrote:
Thank you guys for the nice words.
@Creeeed: Seriously? I mean it's not about the vote but seriously because he's "jumping"? In a painting competition?!?!

Well there are no waves or disturbances of any kind in the water to imply movement so I can see how someone can interpret as walking on water.

 Power Elephant wrote:
For a while there it was looking like I might make it to the podium or even win... Oh well, beating my personal best will have to do.

 Kustomer D wrote:
Thank you guys for the nice words.
@Creeeed: Seriously? I mean it's not about the vote but seriously because he's "jumping"? In a painting competition?!?!

Well there are no waves or disturbances of any kind in the water to imply movement so I can see how someone can interpret as walking on water.

This made me laugh hard... In a high fantasy sci-fi universe we gonna pay attetion to ripples in the water.

To me it looks like he's walking on water. If I were to do it, and of course I'd have to learn how to make water effects, although it looks like hot glue, I'd have stuck him to the river bed then made the water so he was standing in it.

And whilst I wouldn't really care, if someone's making a diorama involving water, isn't it important to make the water behave like water, with ripples? I get it's a lot of effort, but the idea that because it's fiction suddenly water doesn't ripple, what? Why should it suddenly not matter because they're space marines not royal marines? I'll take other arguments for not having ripples, like the difficulties involved, but not 'it's sci-fi'.

I know what are you trying to say but I think looking for realism in water effects in a world where all kinds of abnormal / abstract gak happens.
If I wanted I could find something unnatural in almost every entry, from pose (where's the gravity, that spine is too flexible)to almost everything. Hack most of the
minis have down syndrome cause of the huuge heads.

Kustomer D's entry is one of the better ones, he got my vote.

I dont really like space marines (yeah I know you love them, you have a freaking month dedicated to them!) but I voted for 10 or so.

Kustomer D's entry was one of them.
Yes the water effect is not the best but we are not looking for perfection. Not that i judge CREEEEEEEEED for not voting it. The voting process is really difficult. Yes you can vote everyone if you want but then there is no reason to have a poll. Sometimes you have to find a little detail to not vote someone. And for some of my votes if you ask me why I voted A and not B I don't really have an answer. It just looked better to me when I voted.

Oh and the enrty that stand out for me is Elbows's Dreadnought

By all means people should vote whatever they want.

Spaaaaaaaaaaace Mariiiiiiiiiiines! Congrats to everyone who entered, it's another busy and fine-looking month.

Nevelon - Good tabletop stuff as usual. The shoulderpads look good. You may have been a bit heavy-handed with the wash, as it has dulled-down a lot of the colours more than usual. Still nice neat work.

Elbows - This is really nice! You've got that sponge weathering technique down really well. It looks really effective. The blue areas create a nice focal point as well.

KernelTerror - A really weird old-school chaos mini. I like the light, pastelly colours you've used, and the base is great.

CREEEEEED - A good neat job. Going back in with the edge highlights really helped break the mini up, and the red eyes contrast well with the green. Are the symbols freehand or transfers?

SirOllox - Hey that's a cool mini! Painting it black is definitely the smart thing to do, I reckon. You've done a really nice job on it, I particularly like the weathering, especially on the cloak.

Zergsmasher - A lovely job on a mini that is showing it's age a bit. More spikes! More skulls! Never mind that it looks like he's wearing an iron fence. You've picked out the details on his face really well.

lipsdapips - Gorgeous work, really neat, super sharp and detailed. The chaplain is particularly striking.

kavika0311 - Nice tabletop-standard ultramarines. Massive bases! The first guy is the pick of the bunch - the details on the screen is a lovely touch and the face is very well done. The unit on the whole could do with some edge highlights to add a bit of interest.

Kustomer D - I'm always impressed by anyone who manages to do a diorama for one of these challenges. This is a really nice one, too. Nice painting and an atmospheric choice of colours.

Midget Gems - You've got that red tone down very nicely, and the green spots create contrast and focal points.

dwro1234 - I like the little modelling touches you've put in, such as the launching missile and the grabbed tyranid. As it's the first thing you've painted in ten years, it's a nice start back. Everything is blocked in neatly. You'd notice a big improvement simply by thinning the paint though.

Apollinaire - This is quite a nice grimdark model, nice and atmospheric. The base is nice. Is his cloak meant to be PVC though?

Porphyrius - Nice neat tabletop work. The photos didn't show up great on my phone, but look a lot better on my PC.

Craggy - Kudos for doing a whole squad of such detailed minis. The shields are nicely done.

Dukeofbeer - Very nice. The highlighting is lovely. My eye is drawn to the armguard on the right forearm. Very nice transitions there. I like the relaxed, casual pose on this mini.

Rybrook - Good work picking out all the details, including the scanner and the eyes.

Tim 121RVC - A nice paintjob on a pretty mad conversion. I've seen Sigmarite/Marine conversions before, but never one with huge jumppack jets and a gun that can only be desribed as ostentatious. Is he compensating for something?

Power Elephant - I've mentioned before that I admire your ambition as a painter, and taking on night-time OSL is quite the thing. The fact that you've pulled it off rather well (particularly the back of the miniature) is to your great credit. Fantastic job!

ZoBo - I love the imaginative use of texture paints to weather the model. All the weathering is amazing, in fact. The spot colour of pale blue is what makes the miniature though. Lovely stuff.

Chris56 - Stunning work as always. I'm a particular fan of the librarian. The shine on the armour is amazing, and the glow effect on his hand is just incredible. I'm not sure I've ever seen that particular effect done better. It's just perfect.

Suzuteo - Interesting conversions, and a nice colour scheme.

Paradigm - Your ability to capture the spirit of a miniature and place it in the 40K universe never ceases to astound me. No matter what we do, most of our miniatures will end up looking like just that - miniatures, toy soldiers - your Cato Sicarius looks like a grizzled warrior. A veteran who has seen and done terrible things. Miles better than the official GW paintjob.

vejut - A brave attempt at the camouflage. As you mentioned in the thread, you've probably done it too well, so the areas of camo blend into each other. The yellow does break it up, and overall it didn't come out badly.

Modock - Really nice painting, great blending and highlighting as ever. I like the green drain thing on the base. A really cool miniature, as well - that wagging finger!

womprat49 - Lovely edge highlighting, and a nice vivid green.

Oppl - A really great conversion/kitbash and a super clean paintjob. There's something about the pose that you've really capture. An air of menace.

Jadenim - Nice tabletop stuff. Very neatly done, and I wish I could apply transfers that well.

keezus - Lovely painting. The red/orange/brown armour is very nice. It's a shame you didn't manage to get it based though.

Marine_With_Heart - Very good, solid work. The rusty metal on the base is great.

ChaosDad - An interesting model with an enormous sword! Is he compensating for something as well? Nice tabletop painting. I like the gold.

Thanks for the comments on my entry, Elbows, Power Elephant, Zergsmasher, Tim121RVC, Creeeed, and Kustomer D, and thanks to everyone who's voted for me. I think I'm doing well by being a lot of people's second or third favorite this month!

@ZergSmasher: Thank you very much ! The armor is based in deathworld forest, higlighted with ochre yellow, agrax earthshaded and higlighted in yellow. The flesh is based in ochre yellow, dry brushed in white, then some touches of very thinned down blood for the blood god for some gory areas, and cassandoria yellow on some others; agrax earthshade on top of that and finally some highlights in white, Gory red or pink if I recall.

@CREEEEEED : No excuse on that mold line, I even saw it after uploading the pictures, but I was out of time. I'll remove it and repaint later, promise.

@Feltmonkey : glad you approve, took me a while deciding on that color scheme.

Thanks Zergsmasher, CREEEEED and Feltmonkey for the comments; I was pressed for time/patience this month, so what you’ve got is my standard tabletop finish for line units, which I recognise is not the best I can do. Also, I think that means my photos are getting better, if the painting flaws are more visible, so yay for that?!

Also Feltmonkey, I used to hate transfers, they never worked, but recently I’ve developed a system based on various advice from online, which seems to work pretty well. It is such a relief, because I would have had to abandon the Ultramarine project if I’d had to freehand the markings.

@ zergsmasher, creeeed, and feltmonkey:

Thank you for the positive comments about the modeling. Entering this competition I expected to get a lot grief for my low skill. Instead I only received great advice and encouragement. In an ideal world I would build the models and have one of you guys paint it
I have nothing that fits the bill for April, but I am holding back on some of my projects in hopes that they will work for May.

Again, thanks to everyone that has given me advice, I will use it in my future painting endeavors.

IMO very balanced entries this time around. I'm just gonna vote this month, I'll comment more next time.

Thank you guys for the comments and votes.

Votes went to:

Kustomer D
Midget Gems
Dukeofbeer
Power Elephant
Feltmonkey - I like the head area the most. I think you nailed the highlights perfectly. Also I love the texture on the cloak cause it makes the mini more interesting.
But I believe the recesses should remain dark, I don't think I looks right and you've lost quite a bit contrast there. Nonetheless amazing job mate!
ZoBo
Chris56 - Lord of Contagion is my favourite painted mini of the month. Excellent paint job Chris.
keezus
Marine_With_Heart


Thanks to Para and Zobo for stepping in. See you all next month.

Thanks to everyone who had a kind word for my rendition of Sicarius. I don't really count him among my best work, and I think the poll reflects that, but it's nice to know my style has its fans still, even when I turned it up to 11 on this entry (kind of by accident... he's almost too grim even for me! ).

 feltmonkey wrote:


Paradigm - Your ability to capture the spirit of a miniature and place it in the 40K universe never ceases to astound me. No matter what we do, most of our miniatures will end up looking like just that - miniatures, toy soldiers - your Cato Sicarius looks like a grizzled warrior. A veteran who has seen and done terrible things. Miles better than the official GW paintjob.

You are far too kind, mate! This comment really means a lot as the GW version of Sicarius served as a major inspiration for me; A good few years back, I bought the 'Eavy Metal Masterclass book and saw Joe Tomaszewski's take on Cato broken down step by step, and that was pretty much the mini that inspired me to start taking painting seriously. That mini and that guide were the pages that got me thinking about how colours fitted together, how techniques led to textures, how to compose a paint scheme beyond just following the colours on the box...

I don't think I've even come close to surpassing it, but that comment made me reflect on how far I've come... I'm still just an ape with a paintbrush next to the old 'Eavy Metal guard, but I've come a long way since then so Sicarius kind of represents a full circle on my journey...

On a less sentimental note, if anyone ever sees the old 'Eavy Metal Masterclass book, nab it! Insanely useful, I still refer to it even now, probably getting on for a decade or so after it was published!

My votes this month go to:

Elbows: Your previous Dread was one of my favourite entries in the 2017/8 rotation, this new one is just as good. Your distinct style, 'simple' yet so eye-catching, always impresses on these larger models.

Lipsdapips: When it comes to Ultramarines, I am but a pretender!

Kustomer D: A superb little vignette there. Such a strong sense of motion and purpose, these Marines are ready to kick some ass (even if there aren't any ripples! )

Feltmonkey: By The Emperor, that is an impressive model. My favourite this challenge has produced in quite some time.

Paradigm is not wrong - the old 'Eavy Metal books were great! The terrain book itself wasn't bad either...

Hi All

Been away for a few days so just catching up, Thank you very much Zobo for doing the vote, yeah I agree when I did one last year it made me realise how much effort Para puts into running these challenges. Hope you feel better soon Para.

It's great that we have had like a new faces in this months challenge, welcome to you all and and hope you enjoyed it. We have a good community here so if you want to improve feel free to ask and people will give you a bit of guidance (likewise if you are happy doing what you are doing keep on going and we are mre than happy to see what you create and provide encouragement)

Thanks for the comments and/or votes Zerg, Tim, Creed, KD, Felt, Modock. Space marine month is generally my weakest month so happy I got any comments or votes at all.

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:

Midget Gems – Characterful poses, and a good paintjob. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, but I think the armour is blended.

Thank you very much Creed. Thats the effect I wanted to create. I didn't wet blend but used very watered down layers to build up to a lighter colour, about 6 or 7 different layers to each piece of armour. As Mootlet has said in previous months in RL there is quite a distinct tone difference from the bottom to the highlight but it just doesn't show very well in the photos. I'm thinking it might be because the light sources I used when taking the photo were shining directly onto the models when I should be using reflected light to diffuse the harshness, a theory anyway.

Stand outs this month to me were:

Elbows - Your weathering style suits Dreads perfectly, it brings the model together really well.

SirOllox - You have done everything well on this entry and added nice touches like the tones different tones on the cape, Glowing eyes, blending on the sword

lipsdapips - I always look forward to your finished entries because you know its going to be a cool model with a good paint job and this month is no expecting.

Kustomer D - A very good diorame with a great sense of movement to the 2 models. A nice battle beaten look to the SMs and like I said it in the thread but really like the spiders web in the tree as an extra touch

Porphyrius - your edge highlighting on the black is very consistent and must have been painstaking to achieve. Well done

Dukeofbeer - Model and paint job are really good, the blue is particularly well do with the different tones.

Tim 121RVC - a very unique model that will stand out on the battle field, you have given the conversion a very good shot and you can tell you have put thought and effort into the entry.

Power Elephant - first one wasn't so good, this one is really good and has a great atmosphere around it. I have a lot of respect for you to try something completely different is is very hard to achieve.

Feltmonkey - Far to good, brilliant highlights to the black and the cloth texture technique is really coming out well for you

ZoBo - Very Chaosy, a hell of a lot of great weathering and effects to make up a wonderful model.

Chris56 - Wow Chris, these a simply wonderful. the librarian is the real stand out model with awesome shiny armour, force axe, OSL, skin tones the works really. Very impressed with how your painting has come along since you have been entering these comps.

Para - Great model to start with and you ave painted him well s you can see all the lovely details.

Vejut - You have painted the camo so well that its broken the model, by that I mean that you have painted camo exactly like its supposed to work by braking up lines and blending them together but that has made it hard to see any detail lol

Modock - I like that you enter different models than the standard GW ones and paint them exceptionally well, you are certainly making a strong case for people to buy infinity models

Oppl - Good solid colours and details. The bird on the base is a cool touch.

keezus - Hard to believe that is not finished (other than a base), Orange colour to highlight is great.

Marine_With_Heart - Looks very well painted with some nice dirt on the cloth and orange/yellow puss bits in the armour

CREEEEEEEEED wrote:Zergsmasher – Quite flat, although the skin is good. Not that I’d ever vote for an armless loser.

I think I know what you mean about flat. It's not easy to shade and highlight metallics and have it show very well. Likewise I struggle a bit to make black interesting.

feltmonkey wrote:Zergsmasher - A lovely job on a mini that is showing it's age a bit. More spikes! More skulls! Never mind that it looks like he's wearing an iron fence. You've picked out the details on his face really well.

Thanks very much for the compliment! I love this sculpt despite its obvious age, and like you I'm super happy with how his face turned out.

Part of the point of me posting this was to bump this thread so more votes could be cast before the end. You're welcome.

thanks, Feltmonkey! They were cobbled together from old Space Hulk termies, with the leftover arms from a BA Terminator Assault squad and Forge World pads. Compared to the first set of Assault Termies I did these guys were much less detailed, which was a relief, and let me focus on the little bits more.

CREEEEEEEEED, I just went with the bases the models came with. Thought about trying to rebase them on the new size, because it does look a lot better to me, but the legs were already glued in and I'm scared to ruin them. Don't worry, this month's entry will be consistently based! Thanks for the compliment on the paint.

The feedback that goes on at the roundups of these monthly comps is really wholesome! Congrats to everyone who scored super high and great work from all the entrants. I'm really grateful to those who gave me a vote and especially who left a comment. I'm going to endeavour at the end of this month to set some time aside to give a comment to every entrant, because I know how much it means to me at least .