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How about a crest similar to your IG, but have a serpent on either side of the crest and one riding he top of the crest? Those colors are sweet, and if you pull it off I think it will look amazing . I vote no cloaks or hoods though on the alpha legion guys. I think that will make the too cartoon villainy. If Hesse guys are imitating regular marines then they shouldn't be trying to hide themselves.i think defacing the Aquila would draw attention as it was a sacred item with the believers of the emperor being a god. Maybe you could also use tridents like nerdfest09, with the tips being the three heads of the hydra.

Agreed.

Yes yes, Get on with it!

@Vik- Sorry Vik, totally missed your post on the previous page! You seem to be the only one in favour of the hoods, even though it would make it a hell of a lot easier for me! I will try one with the crest and one with the hood, I know your not keen on crests, but we have to appease the masses

@Thephoney - ooh! now thats an idea, whilst I would love to do the serpent crest idea, it simply doesnt seem to work, I cant get the serpents small enough, I've been foiled by my big clumsy fingers! I have tried to use the idea though on the backpack. On reflection you may be right about the aquila, and it saves me a lot of bother so thank you! The no hoods or cloaks idea we will have to see about, they are alot easier to do! Thanks for your input though, some awesome ideas there!

@gits -

@STC - Patience is a virtue!


So I have got my grubby mits on the SM codex and a box of the new sternguard, and my creative juices are really flowing.....in fact I have buckets surrounding me to help catch the excess...its all very messy truth be told....

But I have been having a think about which chapter tactics I should use, and raven guard spring to mind initially, but ....hmmm, i dont know, I have been strongly considering the white scars too, with operatives on bikes counting as scout bikers, and all the units having hit and run (seems like the kind of thing alpharius would approve of)

In the mean time I have been trying to get a good looking concept to build from, so far I have this: What do we think? The backpack is a subtle but nice addition? or total time consuming rubbish? I may well try a head with a hood too, just for ease, getting the crests to look like they are not partly greenstuff is a nightmare.

Going back to the rolls tutorial, that was great. Will dfintaly be using that for some army at some point, thanks very much

Young Logan

Very nice... I think that looks clean and sharp.

@Young Logan - My pleasure, I hope you get good use out of it!

@Gits - And with paint?

So just going to drop the pictures of the finished Alpha legionnaire here, I ended up deviating a fair bit from STC's paint scheme, but I'm fairly pleased with my take (I've always had a soft spot for turquoise) The free hand hydra on the shoulder is actually not that great, but the light glare has been very kind to me in these pictures, hopefully it will improve if I do another. I have quite a few pics here, but I spent quite a lot of time on blending/layering so indulge me!

The legionnaire is really well painted, but I don't believe the head really fits. It should be a contrasting color like white or the sort.

I love it, J! I think the head has a nice, spooky, Alpha Legion feel to it. Color tones are just right and the palette, as a whole, is very complimentary. Hydra looks good, although fairly basic, but should definitely look great from arms distance. This mini actually makes me want to stop what I'm doing and paint.

WOW!! So much to catch up on you have been busy, love the standard update and the sniper simple but fitting.

The Commissar looks great and good use of body as the chest plate is perfectly fitting, also like the DKOK body with the crest head make a cool looking unit.

Great job on the tarpaulins and gear stowage and the tutorial is spot on and easy to follow, just so much to remember.

The last Alpha legionnaire Marine up date is a nice idea, I like the overall look but have to agree the head gets a little lost in the overall colour, however it does look great in green maybe you could give the chest armour an alternative colour ?

Anyway great stuff also love the stubble chin and hair, maybe you could send me a PM with tutorial on how to do it as it is one thing that bugs the hell out of me

Yes, I think a whole force like that is much needed.

The mask-helmet made me think of the alpha legion theme... gives a anonymous faceless theme to it. So much so that I like to imagine it was just a black mask-face instead of having the crest

the colors are really beautiful too, good work man!

Looking good man.

I think you've done a great job with the colour on the alpha and i think you are underselling he freestyle - it looked simple but effective to me. the additions to the backpack are great.

Blue as the highlight colour (seals, lenses etc) looks great. The helm is striking and distinctive. strangely enough, as its obviously a mask of a face its somehow (to me) even more dehumanising and anonymous than the normal helmets (which i think are quite expressive in their own way).

with those bases they should ally well with your Dolosians.

@comrade - Thanks comrade, appreciate the feedback! Its weird you say that, i actually considered doing it white for a while, but unfortunately I took far too long on it to change it now!

@Moltar - Thanks moltar! Yeah the hydra is a bit too simple, but hey, its my first attempt! Hopefully it can only get better! I'm glad I inspired you though!

@LDD - Thanks LDD, have sent you a PM! I'm impressed you managed to remember so much! I can never remember that much when I comment on other blogs!

@Whalemusic - Do you really sir, the only thing is it took an absolute age to paint!

@Meade - Cool! I was hoping the helmet would give that kind of impression! But you think maybe try the next one without a crest? I certainly will give it a try, would my life infinitely easier!

@San - Thanks San, the freehand really isn't great, the lighting is kind to me! The blue was a total spur of the moment thing, I had actually got out my red to do my purity seals and was like...wait a second, they don't HAVE to be red!



So although I really like my alpha legionnaire, I stupidly have been reading my new SM codex to find out good ways to represent them.....let me say that for the ADD hobbyist lurking inside of me it was a terrible idea! I have fallen in love with my very first 40k army all over again, the Black Templars, so I may have to do at least one to shake the obsesseion.

What do you all think of a black templar on a bike, (like a true knight!)

Also does anyone have any idea how I would go about getting the lovely dirty white in this picture:???

Dam I can answer this one I think start with a base coat of skaven brown, or a darker brown if you want another shading first then skaven brown (sorry I don't follow GW paint names anymore ).

Then paint bone white blending to the skaven brown leaving the darker browns as shades, then wash with a very translucent brown wash building up till you get the desired look, then highlight with the bone white again then a very light wash of the brown just to pull it all together.

I hope this helps probably not but it might give you an idea at least

Templar on bike no way give him a bionic horse the empire one would work with a little conversion work, or convert a juggernaut even.

That turquoise is really pretty.

Those are awesome templars! I think dirty dog has pretty much nailed it.

A quick and dirty way you might want to try is painting the area up to Ushabti (GW) then wash the whole area with agrax but before you do, mix the agrax with some glaze medium. It's will cause the wash to flow nicer but also, delay drying a bit and let you clean off the highest (brightest) bits with a clean brush. Kinda like acrylic version of oils.

Or you could use oils maybe..burnt umber might do this well?

Excellent. That face/helm is just fantastic!

I agree with what an earlier poster said. The Alpha Legionnaire face mask is creepier because it's a mask that is like a blank face. I love it.

Looking good J-P

I must say that the blending on that chap from the blue up to the bright green is very very nice. Good job.

I just wanted to clean up my subscription list and stumbled across your blog again, so I thought before just deleting it I've got to at least take a look inside.
Well can't do it now! So much great stuff. Nice conversions and painting. Great tutorial. Keep going, mate!

@LDD - That was very helpful indeed sir, thanks very much! I will give it a go on this guy!

@rustproof - Pretty? lol! perhaps we shouldn't say that when he is in the room, he might feel emasculated

@San - Aren't they just gorgeous, they have inspired me so much, the plain white and black has always put me off, but the background is my absolute favourite, I will give your idea a good go, annoyingly I havn't got any glaze medium, will have to make do with water for the time being

@Gits -

@Valhalla - Creepy is what we aim for! thanks!

@STC - Full tribute goes to your awesome painting guide!

@ Dr H - Why thank you, I must admit it took an absolute age, but the result is quite nice and subtle, quite pleased!

@Baiyuan - Phew! Glad I managed to make the cut! Feel like I've made it to the next round of some weird reality TV programme, every week Baiyuan will unsubscribe from 2 plogs, who will stay, who will go!


So thanks for all the alpha support guys, unfortunately being the hobby butterfly that I am I have started a Black templar, I wanted him to look as OTT as the artwork, which I love! This is my first real attempt at a greenstuff cloak so go easy on me!

Also as for paint, I was thinking black armour, a dirty bone white (like in the spoiler in my last post) and maybe purple as a spot colour? I want to be a bit different from the usual red, do we think it will work?







And I have FINALLY learnt not to stick everything together to make it easier to paint:

Stay tuned for the next round of DTV's "Unsubscribed" when Baiyuan has to decide which two blogs he's going to take along to a romantic weekend in Nottingham.


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I see you're loving the new SM releases as much as I am. They're great right!

That... is really REALLY good work! The candles are just amazing...

What ever you do, dont let Fulgrim find out there is a a.l operative that looks prettier. Lol. Real nice job on the blending.

I think purple will look awesome as a spot colour J, especially for lenses.

Model is looking great. As Gits said- candles are amazing. Begging for some OSL!

The cloak looks really good too. What colour are you going to paint that?

For the dirty white J-paint, start off with a brown base coat. Then apply a sepia wash between layers of white. Do it alternating, white, and sepia can generate a very lovely dirty white.

Go with the purple it'l look good