[Epic] Epic and Epic 30k thread - show it off.

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**SamusDrake**

Beautiful work considering the size.

**AllSeeingSkink**

Albertorius wrote:
Honestly, they all look cool ^^, but if were I to choose, I prefer from the above the Scars, the Sons the Ultras and the Angels, and of those the Scars and the Angels I'd say need a bit more to really pop up.

chaos0xomega wrote:
Yeah, loving everything I see here. Albertorius Russes are incredible, that weathering is a work of art and I love the lil vostroyan tank commander (is that a 3d print?).

I think the rhinos all look good, though something looks "off" with the alpha legion, i think it reads too blue (at least in photos) rather than the teal/turquoise color im more used to. I initially thought they were ultramarines tbh when I first glanced at the photo. Something about the ultramarine rhino seems a bit off as well - it looks very good, I love the richness of the blue, but it also seems a tad dark - put a bit more red on there and I'd have thought it was a crimson fist. I would agree that some edge highlighting on the word bearers would help make it pop a bit more, I think the red is just a tad too dark against the black and thats why its not reading the way you want it to. Love the yellow on the Imp Fist. Men have fought wars and ended nations to discover the secrets to painting a b right lemony yello like that without spending years painting hundreds of super thin coats. I agree, White Scars in this scale look great and I've been really drawn to them as well. The Sons of Horus looks good, i dont think ive seen a bad SoH LI mini yet, it seems like a very good color scheme for the scale thats hard to screw up.

I see what you mean about the dark angels - good on you for making heavy use of white and red to provide something visually interesting, but I agree that the black still kinda reads flat - it looks good, but also feels like its missing dimension. I think, unfortunately, the key to making the black legions look good at this scale is going to end up being to not paint them black - use non-standard amounts of their secondary colors to brighten them up and provide more contrast, use darker greys or dark blues, etc. in place of actual black. If you're using contrast I think basilicum grey could work, might need a double-coating to get it sufficiently dark enough. Unfortunately, I think what you really need to do with the black minis at this scale is a very aggressive edge highlight to create that depth. I'm not sure that you can cheat it with drybrushing or undershading/slapchop techniques. That highlighting/shading unfortunately also extends to needing to do the secondary markings/colors in a similar manner - the white looks fine, but I think the red needs. a brighter orange edge highlight, including on the diagonal stripe across the top Another weird thing is that it looks like the highlighting on the black is actually around the recesses rather than the edges? Like it looks like a reverse highlight/the highlights are in the "negative space" that should be shaded, and the raised edges look darker than the inside corners?

Pacific wrote:
AllSeeingSkink - love that you have properly done the Rhinos, that's a good way of deciding. I like the Whitescars, lovely deep read and really pops with the white. If it's not too onerous I think a tiny bit of weathering would add to it, but the 'factory fresh' works well as well. Lovely deep blue with the UM and the SoH looks nice as well actually, like the contrast with that deep green/teal and the gold looks really nice. So in answer, you need to do all legions

Thanks for the comments!

The Alpha Legion have a subtle purple shade as they are purple drybrushed blue drybrushed blue mixed with pastel yellow (inspired by the novels where they are described as purple shade rather than green shade), but the camera doesn't really pick up the purple (all the other colours look pretty accurate in the picture, except the purple for some reason). That said, the purple is subtle and from a distance of a couple of feet it doesn't stand out in person either. Ages back I tried a few metallic Alpha Legion schemes and could never get something I was happy with that didn't take far too long on Epic scale models, so figured I'd try a non-metallic version that's somewhat inspired by the artwork in the new rulebook and also the HH Aeronautica book where they are less metallic looking and more just blue -> yellow transition. Though I could see how they could get mistaken for bright Ultramarines rather than AL.

The Ultramarines were somewhat inspired by the old Epic 40k Armies Book cover, and the blue on that is on the darker side.

I think HH Ultras are generally darker anyway, aren't they?

The Imp Fists, I think they look too much like lemons.

But if you like that, it's white undercoat, skeleton horde all over, drybrush bone (I used Vallejo's Bonewhite), very light drybrush with pure white, then Imperial Fists over that. Pretty fast to do.

The Dark Angels, yeah, they're "negative highlighting", it's a concept that is used more in historical models where if you're going for a photo-realistic model it's not really appropriate to edge highlight. So instead, people use grey washes or pigments to lighten the crevices as if dust or grime has fallen into them. I have seen the same basic idea used on Forge World models also when they try to go for gritty realism more. Maybe it didn't work as I was hoping, but the idea was that maybe I could push a panel-wash harder than I could push an edge highlight before it looked "wrong".

Anyway, I think the conclusion is I just do them all?

That's one nice thing about 3D printing I guess, not a big deal to just throw in a random formation from a different chapter as once the models are set up in the slicer there's very little work required to just print out another dozen or two.

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Albertorius wrote:
Russ company I needed for my not-Vostroyan army ^^

Can I ask both where you got those models and what was your recipe for painting them?

I don't recognise them from any of the "main battle tank" models that I've been hoarding

**Albertorius**

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

Can I ask both where you got those models and what was your recipe for painting them?

I don't recognise them from any of the "main battle tank" models that I've been hoarding

I'll PM you the source ^^

As for the recipe, well, I'm trying to go for "minimum effort, maximum return", so it's much easier that it looks... basically white primer and three colors:

- XPress Armor Green directly over the primer for the camo stripes.
- XPress Battledress Brown thinned 1:1 with medium over the whole mini.
- Vallejo Metal Color Gunmetal Grey for all the metal parts.

And that's mostly it!. After that I did a light wash all over with "Marine Juice" for added definition, and pinwashes with a couple oils (mostly dark oxide for the tracks and guns, light oxide to add the birghter orange, which I find adds a lot at the scale, and some grunging up with brown), and that's that.

**AllSeeingSkink**

Thanks!

They look really nice. Was thinking of changing to a brighter "sand" tone for my orange camo IG/Solar Auxilia to create a bit more contrast. Might give your recipe a go instead.

**leopard**

they are nice tanks, do they have a sponsonless version?

**Albertorius**

leopard wrote:
they are nice tanks, do they have a sponsonless version?

Yep, they have versions both with and without sponsons. I just happened to prefer the sponson version for my current army at least.

**leopard**

Albertorius wrote:
leopard wrote:
they are nice tanks, do they have a sponsonless version?

Yep, they have versions both with and without sponsons. I just happened to prefer the sponson version for my current army at least.

sorted, they do look the cats pyjamas it has to be said, may I trouble you for a hint as to the not quite trademarked name they live under?

have a fair bit of stuff for the XIV still to paint but will be adding to my Auxilia in the not too distant future and they look spot on to run alongside the Baneblade I have.

**Albertorius**

You have a PM

**leopard**

it really is jaw dropping what some people have managed to come up with

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Going for a 365 day Hobby Streak throughout 2024.

Made a start today assembling my Contemptors (not as fiddly as I feared, but still a bit fiddly), and the Missile Launchers. As you can see I kept the Marines on-sprue by a tactical sprue bisection.

Tomorrow’s activity will be getting them base sprayed. Unsure if I’ll rattle can or air brush. Might even do more than that. As I’ll be working phases of spraying seems the best idea to maximise activity, as I can spray front and back, leave to dry, do more work, then rinse and repeat until it’s all done.

Given the super simple paint jobs I’m planning, should be able to crack this all out by the end of the week.

And once they’re done and I can properly visual my collection, maybe consider writing a list.

Also got my tanks built from a few weeks back.

**leopard**

first two of those (not) Leman Russ

sweet mother of a thing with a mother, they are essentially professional quality sculpts, the guy is a genius, the only bit missing is they are solid not "scooped" but frankly it hardly matters

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Also on the Marine Infantry? Three of the Assault Marines have channels on their Jump Packs as well as their feets.

Quick tactical clipper application and clean up and good to go for spraying.

Found a really simple paint job too. Spray black. Tickling dry brush of Incubi Darkness. Then tone down the gun and backpack vent with Black Templar. Another tickling “top bits only” dry brush with a gunmetal. Then pick out the vents in same gunmetal.

**leopard**

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Also on the Marine Infantry? Three of the Assault Marines have channels on their Jump Packs as well as their feets.

Quick tactical clipper application and clean up and good to go for spraying.

Found a really simple paint job too. Spray black. Tickling dry brush of Incubi Darkness. Then tone down the gun and backpack vent with Black Templar. Another tickling “top bits only” dry brush with a gunmetal. Then pick out the vents in same gunmetal.

the models do seem really designed for painting on the frames with a quick paint job to look, well actually pretty good. base & drybrush, base & wash and done

plus the benefit of Mk VI armour is how little bling there is, still have my marines to do, the Auxilia are amazing though, waiting on a delivery with primer and hope to have a run at the marines this week. not anticipating more than an evening per sprue of them

**Albertorius**

leopard wrote:
first two of those (not) Leman Russ

sweet mother of a thing with a mother, they are essentially professional quality sculpts, the guy is a genius, the only bit missing is they are solid not "scooped" but frankly it hardly matters

Right? They are absolutely incredible.

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leopard wrote:
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Also on the Marine Infantry? Three of the Assault Marines have channels on their Jump Packs as well as their feets.

Quick tactical clipper application and clean up and good to go for spraying.

Found a really simple paint job too. Spray black. Tickling dry brush of Incubi Darkness. Then tone down the gun and backpack vent with Black Templar. Another tickling “top bits only” dry brush with a gunmetal. Then pick out the vents in same gunmetal.

the models do seem really designed for painting on the frames with a quick paint job to look, well actually pretty good. base & drybrush, base & wash and done

plus the benefit of Mk VI armour is how little bling there is, still have my marines to do, the Auxilia are amazing though, waiting on a delivery with primer and hope to have a run at the marines this week. not anticipating more than an evening per sprue of them

Plus no rim on the shoulderpads, which helps getting them ready faster and easier.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Sprues are definitely well thought out. I may get clip them down into strips. Should make them easily accessible to the brush, and provide a decent handhold for me.

Likewise I can’t see a box worth taking much more than an evening to blitz through, which is nice.

**AllSeeingSkink**

Albertorius wrote:
leopard wrote:
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Also on the Marine Infantry? Three of the Assault Marines have channels on their Jump Packs as well as their feets.

Quick tactical clipper application and clean up and good to go for spraying.

Found a really simple paint job too. Spray black. Tickling dry brush of Incubi Darkness. Then tone down the gun and backpack vent with Black Templar. Another tickling “top bits only” dry brush with a gunmetal. Then pick out the vents in same gunmetal.

the models do seem really designed for painting on the frames with a quick paint job to look, well actually pretty good. base & drybrush, base & wash and done

plus the benefit of Mk VI armour is how little bling there is, still have my marines to do, the Auxilia are amazing though, waiting on a delivery with primer and hope to have a run at the marines this week. not anticipating more than an evening per sprue of them

Plus no rim on the shoulderpads, which helps getting them ready faster and easier.

On the down side, that rim is what I normally use to create a contrast colour

At this scale, it's not a huge deal to just paint the shoulder pad rim with a single colour (no highlights or shades) or maybe 2 colours (midtone + highlight or base + midtone).

**Albertorius**

Oh, I agree... but it IS faster ^^

**Pacific**

Welcome to the thread MDG!

Is it Dark Angels you are going for then?

Yes these new guys are certainly super fast to paint, I like that they are single piece for the most part too (I'll live with the undercuts and as has been pointed out a quick snippet clip can resolve the ones which are visible).

I did start painting mine on the sprue, but I'm lazy and now base them first (although that's partly because I'm doing sand/grass basing and don't want to accidentally paint completed minis)

**chaos0xomega**

those ultramarines minis look fantastic.

still trying to figure out how to make raven guard look anywhere near that good. I'm starting to realize I'm going to have to deviate from their standard scheme a bit and make not only more use of white as a secondary color, but also probably grey (or another color) for trim in order to give them depth. It really seems like you need at least 3-4 colors minimum to make your little dudes recognizable as something other than a tiny blob.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Pacific wrote:
Welcome to the thread MDG! Is it Dark Angels you are going for then?

Yes these new guys are certainly super fast to paint, I like that they are single piece for the most part too (I'll live with the undercuts and as has been pointed out a quick snippet clip can resolve the ones which are visible).

I did start painting mine on the sprue, but I'm lazy and now base them first (although that's partly because I'm doing sand/grass basing and don't want to accidentally paint completed minis)

Dark Angels indeed!

To paint, I’m gonna do…

Step 1 - Mechanicus Standard Grey spray
Step 2 - Army Painter Gun Metal lightly drybrushed
Step 3 - Army Painter Speed Paint Grim Black all over.
Step 4 - Collect Underpants
Step 5 - Back with the Gun Metal on casings and vents and that.
Step 6 - Army Painter Vampire Red on right shoulder pad, just for a splash of colour
Step 7 - Profit!

Went a bit mad this morning and really broke down a sprue, thinking it would make painting quicker. And whilst I’m not convinced I was entirely wrong? I think in hindsight for sheer speed and efficiency, the layout is good enough to keep them whole for spraying, then break them down for brush application.

Technically I could call today’s Hobby (insert Simon Quinlank) the purchase and planning bit. Because both are hobby. But if I can find that blutak I know is here somewhere? I can get some spraying done. Weather is foul outside, but I reckon the back door is suitably sheltered enough to prevent gusts.

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Balls. I knew there was something else I wanted in the shop. Kitchen Roll.

Can’t Bally well drybrush without out! Plenty of daytime left though, so will nip out once I’ve had a snack. And might as well grab blutack whilst I’m at it, then I’ve no excuses.

**leopard**

Was going to have a look at putting my Mk VI together, just found one of the sergeant models is AWOL, and a few rocket launchers are lose in the box

can cope

whats a bit worse is some models have clear stress discolouration from being bent and squashed flat in the box and a fair few have only weak attachment to the sprue which will make priming a pig

also how many parts for the Contemptors?

put them back in the box for now, may trade them locally for something else

and on spray boxes.. if you know anyone who moved house, the larger cardboard boxes make for good spray boxes, good at blocking the wind, just stick a brick or two inside them to keep the box on the ground

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Contemptors aren’t as fiddly as they look. At least in my opinion.

Importantly, there’s tongue and groove mountings for the hip joints.

Only breakage thus far for me is a back banner.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Do Dee do Dee do.

Getting there.

Just need to do the flip side, and that’s my infantry primed/basecoated.

**leopard**

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Contemptors aren’t as fiddly as they look. At least in my opinion.

Importantly, there’s tongue and groove mountings for the hip joints.

Only breakage thus far for me is a back banner.

oh its not that they look difficult, just a bit over the top, nothing to say a 2mm finescale railway wagon

thing is I have them, and I have STL files, and while the plastic ones do look nice, they also look like more work

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Do Dee do Dee do.

Getting there.

Just need to do the flip side, and that’s my infantry primed/basecoated.

something wonderful about freshly primed models

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Hoping that, if my intended recipe works as hoped, I’ll be able to get all my infantry painted tomorrow, and based on Thursday/Friday.

Either way I’ll be spraying the relatively few tanks I have Friday, hoping to do them over the weekend.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Now at the stage of digging out my tools.

Water pot filled with filtered water. Brush soap located. Do need to grab a larger brush for the Speed Paint stage, but those are in my Magic Box O’Stuff, a solid walnut chest filled with all sorts of gubbins.

As you can see, going to blitz the Tactical Marines first. Blutak is simply there to hold them vertical whilst drying.

But before I go further? Lunch, and maybe a run to Sainsbury’s or Asda to get bits to make a wet palette.

Yeah the pic helps doesn’t it!

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

And calling it a day. All 8 bases worth of Tactical Legionnaires done.

Right pauldron is a just a splodge of Vampire Red, wriggled into looking vaguely like an emblem.

Tomorrow I’ll do the Terminators and other power armoured infantry.

**leopard**

they look the part, nicely done

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

As a formerly dedicated non-painter, I’ll admit to being rather chuffed with myself.

I mean, LI scale is hardly difficult to paint. But to actually put them to the brush has been very enjoyable.

The right pauldrons ended up just getting somewhere between a splodge and a squiggle of the red. Enough to suggest an emblem.

Right. I’m off to spray the bases. Might as well get those done tonight, as the other infantry are up tomorrow, and I might do the bases as well, just get these two boxes entirely cleared.

**Albertorius**

Waddling through the IG infantry... kinda "angry" that so much work costs so little points and die so very fast xD

Closeup of the actual look:

And now the Emperor, in His infinite wisdom, will send them all to fight on a desert planet.