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Hello everyone. It's been a while. Glad to announce that my last exam was sometime last week and i've been getting back into the hobby HARD! Unfortunately my time pressures this summer will be greater than the last, and i'm also finishing up some work things over the next few days, but I really hope to make some strides with my Ultramarines over the summer.

I've got a bunch of cool things lined up - including:
-2 Tactical Squads (1 of which is already in progress)
-A Captain or two (of course)
-All of the stuff still that I said i'd try to complete at uni (was always an unrealistic goal, its hard to fit anything in when juggling a triple major with a job )
-Some smurf casualties! (objective markers)
-and finally, a NEW MARNEUS CALGAR AND HONOUR GUARD BOX. My original models have served me well and have somehow held the highest rated image in my gallery since they were completed many many MANY years ago. I figured I owed it to the big boss and his boys to get 'em from scratch and paint em up real nice like.

I'm tackling the tactical squads first, in a similar manner to how I did the running group - that is, a few at a time, doing each squad of ten in wee groups of 3 or 4. The first group is finished, in which I painted 3 marines, and then after that I did the Veteran Sergeant up alone because I think the miniature is pretty, and deserved my full attention (also notice the new recipe for painting green power weapons, if anyone's interested I may make a wee guide). I've also, if you've noticed, changed my painting recipe slightly. Its a simplified version of my old blue power armour that achieves the effect a little quicker, and leaves the ultras a little brighter, the gold recipe has also been slightly changed to make it brighter also, making them a bit more true to their smurfy goodness. Man, Duncan Rhodes is having too great an effect on me!

I'll be doing another bach of 3 next, or, knowing me, probably all of Marneus and the Honour Guard .

Anyway, it feels good to have made a proper return, i'm very much looking forward to all painting endeavours on the horizon! See you all soon.

LDP

Good to see you alive and well, and back to painting Ultras!

Welcome back. Sounds like Uni is going well for you!

The Tacs are looking very nice, and the new colour scheme seems to work quite well. Nice and smooth!

 lipsdapips wrote:
...make some strides with my Ultramarines over the summer...

I'm sitting here, holding a cup of tea, with multiple layers on trying to warm up after just getting home. My initial reaction was 'What the are you talking about'.
Then I remembered you are in the southern hemisphere

Good to see you back at it! I'm excited to see Calgar and his honour guard buddies.
I looked at the pictures before I read the text, and was wondering what was up with the colours. I thought it was the pictures, but reading the text, I see you've changed the way you do things.
It's a noticable difference, fwiw.
(I noticed a slip on one of the shoulder highlights, too, and now I can't unsee it :( )

Welcome back!

Ah, the prodigal son returns! It's real good to see ya back, and those tac marines are looking real good(The captain especially)!

Nice looking marines man, especially like the sergeant with the beaky helmet. Keep up the good work!

Gotta say super into the whole clean cut look

not so much the secret raven guard leg

Hey guys, sorry for no posts in a while. I started on the new Marneus squad with the man himself - I lucked out and found a helmet with the same eye lense as Marneus' one! A couple comparison pics with the old Marneus in there - lemme know what you think!

I bet the one with the helmet is the evil mirror universe twin. Probably has a goatee.

You did a great job painting him, but it just feels a little odd to see him with a helmet. Not sure about the white either. He’s the chapter master, and a bit above just 1st company veteran status. I might have done it up in gold. No amount of bling is over the top for the chapter master.

Always love to see the new stuff on this blog. Papa smurf looks great, and while I second nev on thinking he looks odd with a helmet, I will eternally envy your ability to paint that smooth white. Great work as always!

Looking good LDP - I also agree with Nevelon. The ultramarines are known for their bling! perhaps a golden helmet would look rad on him

Ehh, I don't know if a gold helmet would look very good. May sound good in your mind, but it's probably one of those things that isn't that impressive in practice. I don't mind the white personally.

Well done LDP!

Any update whenever is welcome, especially when it's This! The model looks excellent, but the white looks a tad out of place on him, with so much blue and gold.

I really like the look of the white helmet, but Calgar with a helmet is like Abaddon with a helmet - it makes sense, but visually I'm just so used to the bare head that it seems a little odd to me. Great painting on him though.

P..S. Don't let all this helmet-hate get you down. The model is gorgeous.

Great work! The eye lens on the helmet is a really cool touch. I think you can see a distinct improvement in colour work and overall neatness on the newer one.

Love it. Very nice white and think the head swaps a brilliant idea,

Nice work on new Marneus. I much prefer termies with helmets.

He looks extra bling too, which is very fitting.

EDC

Awesome work on your new Marneus, it's a really cool figure.

How did you achieve this bright blue armor ?My macragge blue is much more darker .

Hey there everybody! Its been a long time.

My last update was mid December of 2016, but i've been silently following everyone's progress throughout the past year with the occasional comment here and there. My interest in the hobby hasn't wavered, but my living conditions prevented me from having the space to continue work on my Ultramarine army. Luckily, i've since moved into a new flat and have a workspace set up in my bedroom and have brought all of my hobby materials out of the woodwork! It feels great to be back let me tell you.

I spent the last year trying to reconcile the new Primaris releases, the new direction of 40k and of course the return of my Primarch! Took me a good while to get to a stage where I felt good about it and was able to reconcile all of the advancement of the 40k plot. Thankfully, 14-or-so months is a bloody long time, so i'm in there and happy about it now. I painted up an intercessor sergeant to see how up to speed I am and am really eager to get into some new projects. I feel like conforming a little to GW's shift towards slightly more mono-pose miniatures and focusing on my paintwork more so than my conversions, but I have no doubt they'll come back to the surface when I get some cravings. I also played a game against Knightley the other day to familiarise myself with 8th.

Typically my Ultramarines army has been quite singular and removed from the 40k canon, but i'll be trying to focus more on sticking with it, which should result in Guilliman being done up as well as some Custodes! Anyway, I feel as though I have more to say, but i'm eager to get back to the painting table, so for now i'll leave you with some photos of my first miniature for 14 months as well as a picture of my new paint station (you might notice something interesting on the desk)!

It's good to be back,

LDP.

LDP! LDP! LDP!

Good to see you back, man! While I'm still not sure I like the Primaris, I think they'll suit your style very well indeed so I look forward to more.

Good to have you back!

I’m a little “meh” on the new fluff, but am having a lot of fun painting up the primaris. Can’t fault GW for putting out some nice minis. I am also enjoying 8th as a ruleset. It’s got a few issues (every edition has though) but is fun and smooth.

Even after a break in painting, your marines still look excellent. And quite the array of stuff on the workbench. Looking forward to seeing them all get paint. And not just the big guy in front!

@Para good to hear from you as well. It's good to be back, the hiatus has left me full of vigour!

@Neve likewise great to hear from you - as far as 8th goes I am inclined to agree with you. I was hesitant to many of the changes Knightley was helping me through at first, but it actually streamlines the game quite nicely! I too am looking forward to painting some squads up - I think my inclination at the moment is more towards bulking armies rather than punching out characters (Roboute however is an exception , as well as someone else who i'll be working on shortly).

Certainly not lost a step with the paint brush. Wonderful to see you come home.

Welcome back! Ultra looks amazing. Great work

Welcome back LDP, nice to see you hitting the brushes again, loved seeing your Ultras in the flesh and hope to see them again in the future...

And I can't wait to see your Guilliman, I reckon that model will look awesome once your painting skills have been thrown at it

Nice to see your work back on dakka again, looking forward to see what you do with the new models!

Awww yiss, Gulliman on the painting block already, boy you work quick

@Camkhieri Cheers my friend. It's good to be back

@San Very kind of you, good to hear from you again

@Mad.. I have no doubt our paths will cross again. The more battles the merrier!

@sierra cheers. Looking forward to all the new possibilities. The good thing about being away is that the 40k universe grows a great deal.

@Knightley I still need to pay you for that! FB me.

Hey everyone, just tuning in with some progress.
The gold has taken me SO long on Roboute, but it is now finished, along with the blue and a few other minor deatils. This essentially leaves a few more minor details and then the Emperor's sword and the base as the last big hurdles of the model. Really looking forward to getting him knocked out so I can start on the new additions - the Custodes! It makes great sense story-wise that the custodes and ultramarines are in close communication and I loved the FW Open 2017 Ixion Hale model too much not to do anything with them. I've been having real fun visualising ideas and meddling with all the new kits, combining and crossing over various bits and bobs. But for the time being, i've just built a vexilius praetor, the tribune and a shield captain, and will get the remainder of the guys built after Roboute is done. Keen to make some more headway! That's all for now.

LDP