Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Damn nice work! Love how you put that bright color pallet together!

Moltar wrote:The guy on the far left has my vote for both camo and OSL, but I think the OSL is too much around his eyes, but looks good on the bolter.

Ok, this one was from the first batch of camo-ed Marines... IRL the camo doesn't show enough compared to the other two...

OSL is too much though, I do agree !!

Gitsplitta wrote:I think the one in the center has the best gradient and differential between source and glow, but it's too large an area. The one on the left looks best but I think the center of the glowing thing needs to be a shade or two brighter. (i.e. advice I got from MjrTom) The gradients on the left and right models arent big enough (in color change).

I agree with Moltar on the eyes, way too much glow. Also there's no color change gradient which makes it look less like glow and more like an airbrush accident.

Man that sounds harsh... sorry Yggs. You know I've been struggling with the airbrush OSL too. It takes an incredibly delicate touch to get it right (a touch I don't have yet, though my last experiment was the closest I've ever gotten). I think Tom's right though... you really need a significant gradient in shade between the source and the glow if it's going to be convincing. That middle one really nailed that part.

Yeah, I know... I also know I'm still struggling too... The part I've underlined seems especially true...

I haven't been able to airbrush really small areas. I've been blaming the airbrush for now, but I'm not even sure that's the case...

Problem is :
- if I don't thin the paint, it dries just outside the nozzle and the airbrush rather "belches" than "sprays"
- if I press the AB from too close, the thinned paint is too liquid and flows into the recesses
- if I spray from a bit farther, the paint cone widens, and I end up with large areas being sprayed over

I just cannot find the right mix of pressure, paint consistency, and finger practice to make it work !!

The middle one, I've finished with a brush and highlighted the source with pure white... And it looks better indeed !!

GiraffeX wrote:I'd say the left one with the middle ones eyes.

In regards to the camo thing I think it might make a difference if they had a display board to blend into

Lol, it's not in the 1500pts - contract we've agreed upon with my friends lol....

Though, why not, for a Armies on Parade contest next year ??

IceAngel wrote:Wow, cool stuff Yggs. Awesome Chosen guys. As for the camo guys I'm going to agree with GiraffeX and will also add. I don't think you should go with red guns. Red helms only, go with one of the darker camo colors for the gun color.

When you talk about red guns, do you mean the plasma coils ?
If not, then they're already supposed to be in the last colour I'm airbrushing on the model, that means brown...

MajorTom11 wrote:Hey Raph,

The problem you are having with your osl is the glow is equally as intense as the light source, what you want to do is reduce the glow by like 70-80% outside of the eyes and plasma coil themselves... Give that a try and I bet you will be happier with the results.

Think of a lightbulb next to a whit wall, the bulb itself is intensely bright white, but the wall, even a few inches away is always a dull orange ish color.... It is never, ever as bright as the bulb.

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner btw!

I do get the theory in this, and I think I've quite nailed it with a brush, but still cannot get it to work with an airbrush... I'll try some more !

Scarsminimadness wrote:Damn nice work! Love how you put that bright color pallet together!

Thanks ! I'm just sad most of the paints are now discontinued... I'm going to struggle if I ever find time to expand the army !!

With the eyes, it is too small to paint the source glow... you should only be putting a light, very tranparent general pale glow with the AB if at all, and doing the source by hand. The plasma coils though you should be able to use the AB on everything -

 Yggdrasil wrote:

Problem is :
- if I don't thin the paint, it dries just outside the nozzle and the airbrush rather "belches" than "sprays"
- if I press the AB from too close, the thinned paint is too liquid and flows into the recesses
- if I spray from a bit farther, the paint cone widens, and I end up with large areas being sprayed over

I just cannot find the right mix of pressure, paint consistency, and finger practice to make it work !!

Wow! maybe you could share what airbrush and paints you're using and people can help you more?

What i think the right solution is, turn down your air pressure? And don't thin the paint as much?

You want to be holding the airbrush very close, and then depress the lever only slightly so only a very very fine mist comes out. try it on some cardboard first.

I can't say enough about Vallejo airbrush colors, especially scarlet red... it's quite transparent. And pre-made with the perfect thinning for the airbrush.

MajorTom11 wrote:With the eyes, it is too small to paint the source glow... you should only be putting a light, very tranparent general pale glow with the AB if at all, and doing the source by hand. The plasma coils though you should be able to use the AB on everything -

Just wanted to save myself a lot of time by airbrush-OSL-ing most of the army !

If you say I will never be able to paint the eyes that way, I'll be damned !

However, I've already figured out I had to highlight the source with a brush...

I'm going to have to try some more grrrr

Meade wrote:Wow! maybe you could share what airbrush and paints you're using and people can help you more?

What i think the right solution is, turn down your air pressure? And don't thin the paint as much?

You want to be holding the airbrush very close, and then depress the lever only slightly so only a very very fine mist comes out. try it on some cardboard first.

I can't say enough about Vallejo airbrush colors, especially scarlet red... it's quite transparent. And pre-made with the perfect thinning for the airbrush.

Here's the airbrush & compressor I've bought :



I'm pretty sure they're kinda crappy, but not enough for me to think I might just be using them the wrong way...

As for paints, I'm mainly using GW ones, as other brands are not really available where I live, and I usually prefer to "see by myself" the paints, rather than ordering them on internet, where the hues can differ a lot from the picture !

As for the pressure, I usually keep it around 25-30 psi... Is that too much ?

Thanks for looking into it !

Is it dual-action? Might make it hard if it's not... and yeah you should try lowering the pressure, I know at least that too high of a pressure can cause the paint to dry in the nozzle to fast (causing you to need to thin it more and then get the other problem).

Sure you can use GW paints for everything, but the Vallejo line is worth it for some colors... I find that different paint products might have the same hue, but still be completely different paint.... there's so many variables in transparency, thickness, etc. Really the only answer is to experiment. Anyway Vallejo airbrush scarlet red I would recommend highly!

I would recommend getting at least a couple bottles of Vallejo so you can see what a pre-mixed airbrush paint is like. If you want to blend your own, an airbrushing class I took a couple of years ago at Adepticon recommended P3 paints as they can be cut with ethanol (which Vallejo can't).

Meade wrote:Is it dual-action? Might make it hard if it's not... and yeah you should try lowering the pressure, I know at least that too high of a pressure can cause the paint to dry in the nozzle to fast (causing you to need to thin it more and then get the other problem).

Sure you can use GW paints for everything, but the Vallejo line is worth it for some colors... I find that different paint products might have the same hue, but still be completely different paint.... there's so many variables in transparency, thickness, etc. Really the only answer is to experiment. Anyway Vallejo airbrush scarlet red I would recommend highly!

Yup, it's dual action...
Ok, I'll try lowering the pressure... Let's pray it helps !

As for paints, as mentioned it's hard (well... nigh-impossible) to find any store less than 300kms from home that sells Vallejo, or P3 paints...
And it's hard to choose on the internet !
But I might try the "Scarlet Red" you're mentioning....

Gitsplitta wrote:I would recommend getting at least a couple bottles of Vallejo so you can see what a pre-mixed airbrush paint is like. If you want to blend your own, an airbrushing class I took a couple of years ago at Adepticon recommended P3 paints as they can be cut with ethanol (which Vallejo can't).

That could be an idea too...
As for paints that are thinned with anything other than water, I'd gladly stay away from them (again, time & resources are limited)...

I suspect P3 can be thinned with anything you want... it's just that thinning with ethanol has some advantages (dries on contact so less likely to drip or smear).

Uhuh, I didn't know that... Could be interesting...

Still have to assemble my next models...

In the mail today, I also received something from FW that I had ordered in GD : a trio of Plague Toads !!!

 Yggdrasil wrote:

As for paints, as mentioned it's hard (well... nigh-impossible) to find any store less than 300kms from home that sells Vallejo, or P3 paints...
And it's hard to choose on the internet !
But I might try the "Scarlet Red" you're mentioning....

That color in particular you will not go wrong, and the metallics are awesome, they are a lot less glittery than other brands. As far as I know those are the ones I would try ordering from the internet first and then branch out if you like them. Otherwise you should still be able to use the colors you have when you figure out the thinning... but if Vallejo airbrush colors don't work in your AB, at least you know something's wrong because they are precisely formulated to do that.

Lol ok, you got me convinced !

Nothing much today, work hasn't been really forgiving this week...

Am trying to finish building the Bike Squad...

I've been disappointed by the "Ravenwing Bike Squad" box, TBH : the bikes are the 2000-ish sprues, and they start to show their age... Hopefully the DA sprue alongside do help to make up for it !

It is poor indeed. Almost as disappointing as the overnight £5 price hike on da vets. My local hobbycraft still has them at the old price but I just can't justify it :(

I hadn't noticed the price increase... They're 20£ / 26€ nowadays, were they ever cheaper ?

Something that strikes me also is that if you only buy the "DA Veteran sprue", it's "only" 12£ / 15€50, which makes the Space Marine command sprue at 8£ / 10€50, which is quite a lot !!!

DA vets were £12 before the last price rise, £15 after. Tbh they've always been good value for money, that's why they're my preferred source of parts. I'm not convinced though that at £20 - so admittedly in line with other 5-man boxes - I can justify it. 2 boxes is another full squad however. Sigh.

Let's hope we get some more when the new DA codex is released !!!

On second thoughts, it might prove useful to hoard a few Vets & Ravenwing sprues BEFORE it is released, in case they just stop selling those !!!

I have 5 robed marines if you want them? was going to use them for LoTD marines but gave up on the idea and I can't foresee a use for them in my own force, any other bits Yggs hunting for? anything to progress this beautiful work i'm seeing from you!

 nerdfest09 wrote:
I have 5 robed marines if you want them? was going to use them for LoTD marines but gave up on the idea and I can't foresee a use for them in my own force, any other bits Yggs hunting for? anything to progress this beautiful work i'm seeing from you!

I could use some more Robed DA indeed... But my priorities for now are :
- finish my bike squad ;
- build & paint a Tactical squad ;
- build & paint a Librarian...

Also still struggling on the loadout for my Tactical squad :
- Sergeant : got a nice idea with Power Sword, but not really effective game-wise... I'd rather have PF + Combi-Weapon, or Power Axe, but no modelling ideas...
- Special weapon : Plasmagun ?
- Heavy : Plasma Cannon ? Or do I go to other weapons ?

My thoughts would be:
Power Axes are cool and brutal in 6th. Maybe use a khorne berserker axe with the teeth cut off? Or I can just chuck you a power axe. Then again, you could use the da vet power maul.

Plasma guns: they are great, but depends what broke you want your specialist to do, and what role your tac squad to fill on the battlefield. However, if nothing else, cool osl potential.

Plasma Cannon: I honestly would stick with MLs. They can be both anti-tank and anti-infantry. Versatile as you ever need really.

Plasma depends on your local meta. IF you have a bunch of people jumping on the TEQ bandwagon, then plasma is very, very useful.

Can you snap-fire a plasma cannon? Can't remember the rules for a blast template. I'm just thinking that if you're squad is likely to be on-the-run... you'd be better off with a heavy weapon you can snap fire.

Can't Snap-Fire blasts
But either way, plasma cannons are good, nothing beats them in sheer MEQ killing power, or awesome looks (at least, in the DA Codex, CSM Exoplasma look cooler and are even nore killy )

inmygravenimage wrote:My thoughts would be:
Power Axes are cool and brutal in 6th. Maybe use a khorne berserker axe with the teeth cut off? Or I can just chuck you a power axe. Then again, you could use the da vet power maul.

Plasma guns: they are great, but depends what broke you want your specialist to do, and what role your tac squad to fill on the battlefield. However, if nothing else, cool osl potential.

Plasma Cannon: I honestly would stick with MLs. They can be both anti-tank and anti-infantry. Versatile as you ever need really.

Problem with power axe is the rule of cool... A lot of the "regular" SM power axes look quite dumb ! I only like the SG one, actually (the one I've used on my Tzeentch Icon Bearer)..
I'd also tend towards a Combi-weapon / PF combo, but it's quite expensive (35pts) !! Is it worth it ?

Another problem, I have to admit, is that I've built a cool-looking Sarge already... But he's only wielding a Power Sword ! (And oh my, Power Swords suck in 6th :( )

As for the special, Plasma gun should do :
1. I love Plasma weapons !
2. They fit in well with the DA theme (and DV box) !
3. They are nasty gamewise !!

Heavy : I'm not so fond of the ML models... However useful they can be ! I was also thinking about MM or Lascannon, for a bit of Anti-Tank power... And they can snap fire !

Briancj wrote:Plasma depends on your local meta. IF you have a bunch of people jumping on the TEQ bandwagon, then plasma is very, very useful.

I'll probably be facing CSM, Necrons, and maybe Orks... I guess a few S7 shots cannot hurt !

Gitsplitta wrote:Can you snap-fire a plasma cannon? Can't remember the rules for a blast template. I'm just thinking that if you're squad is likely to be on-the-run... you'd be better off with a heavy weapon you can snap fire.

Matt.Kingsley wrote:Can't Snap-Fire blasts
But either way, plasma cannons are good, nothing beats them in sheer MEQ killing power, or awesome looks (at least, in the DA Codex, CSM Exoplasma look cooler and are even nore killy )

Indeed, no snap firing with Blast weapons

I'm quite concerned with the deviation rolls, however... Even with a BS4, it can go far from its intended target !

All in all, my Tac Squad should be the only "regular" Troops squad in the army, so it'd better be versatile...

Thanks for the various opinions guyz...

*************************************************************************************

In the mean time, I've finished building my Biker squad !! One "rank & file" with a frag grenade in one hand (nothing special about him), and the other one... is a bit more special !!!

I've come up with the idea of a biker that stopped to take aim with his gun, and unleash hell onto his prey...

Here's the result :



I'm really happy with how it turned out ! It took a few hours to tweak & GS the model, but it looks convincing enough to me... Do you guys agree ??

Yes, it is a most excellent model. Rock and roll!

That looks great, Yggs!

That conversion and pose is very convincing Yggs. Great work

Looks great Ygg's

For the tactical squad I'd go plasma and most likely las cannon if they are on foot, if they are in a rhino multi melta might be the preferred option.

Power swords aren't that bad as long as you don't send them off against AV2 guys, best in a squad with a flamer for an anti troop role. You could then give him a combi flamer and melta bombs.

Pretty boss lookin' there son... go for the gusto on this one!

Love that pose - it looks, in the best possible way, unconverted. Outstanding.

Briancj wrote:Yes, it is a most excellent model. Rock and roll!

Matt.Kingsley wrote:That looks great, Yggs!

RiTides wrote:That conversion and pose is very convincing Yggs. Great work

Thank you guyz ! At first I was really doubtful I could model it the way I had imagined it, but the bike kit proved more adaptable than what I had thought at first...

I'm glad I tried ! (oh, and I also had a spare set of biker legs, in case everything went wrong with their repositioning...)

GiraffeX wrote:Looks great Ygg's

For the tactical squad I'd go plasma and most likely las cannon if they are on foot, if they are in a rhino multi melta might be the preferred option.

Power swords aren't that bad as long as you don't send them off against AV2 guys, best in a squad with a flamer for an anti troop role. You could then give him a combi flamer and melta bombs.

I'm almost settled for plasmagun for the special...

Still struggling with the heavy :
- love the looks & S7/AP2/Blast of Plasma Cannon, dislikes no snap firing ;
- love the looks & S9/AP2/Snap fire of Lascannon, thinks it less effective than MM ;
- like the "melta" AP1 of Multimelta, but dislike looks & ranges ;
- like the versatility of ML, but dislike the models & "cheap" feeling it inspires ;
- like the looks of Heavy Bolter, dislikes its poor firepower... Actually, I have always thought that HB should be S6 AP3/4 / Heavy 3, and Assault Cannons something along the lines of S4/AP5/Rending/ Heavy 6-7...

As for the Sergeant... As the initial army is "only" 1500pts, I feel it should be pretty reliable, whatever the situation... So Power Axe probably seems like the most effective weapon, cost-wise...
3x S5/AP2 attacks (ok, at I=1) do seem pretty reliable... And, one of my foe will be Slaaneshi Marines, so I'll be striking last anyway !!!

Gitsplitta wrote:Pretty boss lookin' there son... go for the gusto on this one!

Hey hey... I'm glad you like him !

inmygravenimage wrote:Love that pose - it looks, in the best possible way, unconverted. Outstanding.

Hey, that might be a reeeeeally nice comment, after all ! Looks natural ? All the better

(Also... your avatar makes me think of someone I've met on FB )