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EDIT: This army is now for sale. See further down for details.




tonight marks my first attempt at painting my Raven Guard army and I have some test miniatures to show and tell.

One thing I wanted to do with this force was to make the black paintjob both interesting and achievable quickly with an airbrush (with over 50 marines to paint I don't want to spend months just doing the black armor).

Now I have had some experience painting black armor before with my Inquisitorial Guard army. The entire force is Kasrkin models and their armor plates are black...



The method for those is to spray them black then use Vallejo Model Air Dark Grey Blue at a 45 degree angle to highlight followed by Intermediate Blue from above. The result is then given a wash with Nuln Oil and then it's on to doing the brush work.

For my Ravens I wanted to try a different effect...



Looking at pictures of Ravens I noticed that their feathers have an oily pearlescent effect and I felt that I could achieve something similar on my models by spraying them with coloured washes.

Below we have 4 Marines, they are from left to right:

1: Black Primer only - Control
2: Dark Grey Blue 45 degree highlight, spray on Nuln Oil wash, Violet sprayed on the model from above and the sides, indigo sprayed from 45 degrees and above, green sprayed from above.
3: Dark Grey Blue 45 degree highlight, Intermediate blue from above, then as above with the washes.
4: As above but without the Nuln Oil step.



The effect is very subtle (more so in real life than in pictures) but I quite like it. Number 2 is the darkest and most subtle while the colours are the most obvious on number 4. All the models end up with a matte finish as a result of this process so I'm contemplating finishing it off with a gloss coat.

Edge highlights will be tricky and I think this would be best as a finishing step AFTER all the edge highlighting is done so the colour gradients that the process applies show up in the highlights as well.

Wasn't happy with the effect once the light of day hit it. Far too subtle but I had some ideas on how I could improve it.

The Inks act like a darken filter in photoshop, where the model is already black they won't have any effect but in the lighter areas they are more pronounced. In addition the underlying colour has a distinct effect on the end result of the ink.

This time I applied Dark Grey Blue horizontally to the model to lighten more surfaces then intermediate blue from a 45 degree angle. Then I applied Gunship Green from above so the green ink wouldn't be overpowered by all the blue tones.

Violet ink was sprayed horizontally, indigo at 45 degrees and green from above. I let the model dry between each step. After all the coloured inks are dry the model is darker but still quite bright so I spray Black ink from underneath quite heavily to reinforce the lighting and give it a light dusting on all the other surfaces just to tone back the effect a little.



This is the result.

I'm much happier with this one. You can clearly make out the green tints on the upper surfaces and the violet and blue aren't too overpowering.

This is a really original idea, unfortunately, maybe due to my laptop screen, maybe I've got crap eyesight, I can't see the effects. But it sounds good, and it'll be good to have a really unique paint job.
So yeah, keep it up, sorry I'm blind, sounds like it looks good though.

It's kinda hard to see, yeah. I zoomed in on the pic and I could kinda see the oily-colored tint on it, but at first it just looked like a black model.

I agree with Samuel. A very original idea. Yet i too cannot see the effects mentioned. I can tell that the marine on the far left is glossy but the other 3 just look flat black.

This is interesting actually as it looks like the Dakka gallery is losing some colour information when pics get uploaded. The effect is noticeable on the models but in the gallery pics it seems to be getting washed out.



This should be a higher quality version of the most recent image and the green should be visible

EDIT: Last time I try to do that from my iPad. Image works now.

The new image isn't working.

 Snrub wrote:
The new image isn't working.

Yeah for some reason the dropbox links my iPad gives me don't work I had to go fix it from my laptop.

This is the first time I've tried using Inks in this way and I'm not sure if it's the light or a property of the ink as it dries but each time I come back to my test figures the day after taking pictures they appear darker than they did. It's as if the ink continues to get darker for 8-10 hours after it appears to be dry.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
OK Still not happy with this effect and also on the verge of giving up and just painting normal black armour.



Taking the picture from a steeper angle shows off the effect more than from the front. This is another technique where I only used greys to create the base lighting effect for the model. On the left is a model before any inks have been applied, in the middle is after the inks and on the right is the previous marine for comparison purposes.

I used very thin green paint this time instead of green ink and the green is much more noticeable this time.

Ok i can tell the difference between those 3. The one in the middle is very green by comparison.


What about undercoating them black, then using a thin coat of a pearlecent green or blue paint and then just drenching them in a black wash?

 Snrub wrote:
Ok i can tell the difference between those 3. The one in the middle is very green by comparison.


What about undercoating them black, then using a thin coat of a pearlecent green or blue paint and then just drenching them in a black wash?

I did a lot of research into pearlescent paint last night and while it looks good on large things with lots of smooth curves it didn't seem to work well on infantry sized models. It has given me some good insight into the reflective and specular qualities of glossy black surfaces though and I think I'm worrying too much about the armour still being black once I colour it. Glossy black reflect a lot so you actually end up with some quite strong colour in the highlights based on the environment.

You only have to look at wet black paint in direct sunlight to see what I mean. Lots of people paint their black armor with very subdued highlights suggesting a matte finish in ambient light, I'd like to try my hand at the super glossy finish without resorting to glossy mediums.


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This marks my official last attempt at an oily sheen using inks. This is the previous grey model from last night. I went over him today and did all the edge highlights up to pure white and went easier on the black ink in the final stage.

The inks almost completely obliterated the highlights and they are barely visible at all now. If I was to pursue this effect again I would go for an incredibly high contrast lighting effect and use something like Minitaire Ghost Tint paint to add the colour rather than using ink. I think this would work better with the highlights being brighter and thinner.

I think I will go ahead and paint the army flat black and maybe try this effect again on my planned Vanguard squad with winged jump packs.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Painted one of my Boltgun guys in the traditional flat black scheme.



I really hate how bad I am with a normal brush but I have 50 marines to paint by April(ish) so that should give me some practice.

Right after giving up on all that oil rubbish I have a deadline to work towards. I need 1850 points of RavenGuard painted and based by April (ish).

Here is what I have painted so far:



Sergeant Mendoza and "Friend" my first two test models for the army from months ago.

I really want to strip these guys and do them over but for now I'm going to leave them and see how everybody else turns out.

First up on the table will be Squad Vorus and my Librarian, Hexerus.




Squad Vorus also has a corresponding Drop Pod but I'm not painting that yet. The models have all been airbrushed to get a base coat and all the Vet Sergeants in the army have had their helmets painted separately already.



Hexerus is made from Severin Loth and a GK Warding Stave. The Red Scorpion symbols were really easy to sand off. I will probably paint him mostly black with just a shoulder pad in Librarian Blue.

I've been experimenting with sponge weathered space marine armour and weathering powders to try and speed up my marine painting.



The Sergeant on the left was highlighted mostly with a sponge rather than the careful edge highlighting of the middle and right most marine.

I also wanted to experiment with some new basing materials I got for doing forest floors and my new weathering powders so now my marines are going to look like they've been splashing through a forest in rural Yorkshire.

Your painting went from being Mehh, it looks pretty plain, to hot diggity damn! Those last ones are grand!

Some models are a joy to paint. Some are a chore. This guy was the latter.

This was one of those Forgeworld models that was full of tiny details that had clearly been worn down over the years making it harder to paint thatn it probably was when the mould was first made.

I'm still having trouble painting white reliably. I tend to rely heavily on washes for shading with my Guard army because they are mostly neutral tones. White needs to stay clean so it demands a steady hand a good consistency of paint. I have neither.

This model continues my theme of a dirty and gritty take on Space Marines. They may be superhumans but they get covered in just as much muck as the rest of the universe (except maybe Eldar).

Basing was a bit more adventurous, basic process was to paint some GW texture paint on in large clumps and even it out with a sculpting tool. Then I poured some water effects on the base and started sprinkling Thyme on it. After flattening down the Thyme to create my forest floor I add a little more water effects in spots to add some grass flock, then I do the same again for the leaves. Finally I go over the model with weathering powders which will fall onto the still wet base and look like wet mud. It's a messy process but I like to embrace the randomness as it looks more natural that way.

As chore, perhaps, but a worthy one. Nice work. I like the fact you're making them dirty. There's more than enough pristine, straight out of the Mechanicus armoury armys.

I don't have enough time to maintain 5 armies at once so my Ravenguard are going up for sale.

It's sad but with the new Space Marine codex soon to arrive it seemed like the right time to pack them up. I'll be continuing my Guard and Eldar armies and may revisit the chapter later as a small allied force once day.

So here is all the infantry I ended up with (half a battle company in total).








There are also two sniper scout squads but there's nothing special about those.

If you happen to be interested in giving these 63 marines a good home you can check the auction here.

If you do buy them and you want to finish painting them in the same stle I can provide a step by step guide (it's super easy just time consuming).