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Hi all,

I posted several of these pics in my intro post, but will include here along with, well, all the other units in my chapter. As I've mentioned, I want each squad to be of a different chapter. My reasons for this are three-fold: I prefer the aesthetic of a 'rainbow coalition', I didn't want to get bored painting one hundred things all the same colour scheme, and I wanted to test myself with a variety of different styles and methods. So, some of my U-marines are undercoated white with a couple of coats of Drakenhof Nightshade while others I used a Macragge blue spraycan.

The Imperial Fists are my latest and IMO best work so far. I am more impressed with the Heavy Intercessors than the Assault Terminators. I used one method for them, a different one involving a contrast coat (just one this time) of Ianden yellow for the Intercessors, and a third slightly different method for Tor Garadon.

None of my units is finished as yet. I just keep buying more. But I reckon I'll finish the Fists first.

The technique for yellow is good. Gives everything a nice grimy look. But I think you're overusing it and leaving out some details. I'd recommend going back and painting in things like faces, armor joints and machined parts, like the lenses, in a different color. That will add some variety and differentiate the armor from the other materials.

 Mr Nobody wrote:
The technique for yellow is good. Gives everything a nice grimy look. But I think you're overusing it and leaving out some details. I'd recommend going back and painting in things like faces, armor joints and machined parts, like the lenses, in a different color. That will add some variety and differentiate the armor from the other materials.

If he's going for a normal look, I completely agree. However, I have to say the palette and style used remind me strongly of some classic artists like Vincent van Gogh and I honestly think that's really cool. Most people will probably look at it funny, and I certainly thought it a bit odd at first, but the more I looked at it the more it grew on me so to speak. It's very interesting and a full army in that style would look like a painting come to life in the strange way where you can still see the brush strokes, if you know what I mean. You could even make up a cool backstory for it; maybe it's actually a warp manifestation of the humanities unconscious perception of the Imperial Fists come to (unholy?) life in service of the Emperor, similar to one of the theories about the Legion of the Damned.

Mr Nobody wrote:The technique for yellow is good. Gives everything a nice grimy look. But I think you're overusing it and leaving out some details. I'd recommend going back and painting in things like faces, armor joints and machined parts, like the lenses, in a different color. That will add some variety and differentiate the armor from the other materials.

Thanks for the info - and I think to some extent I took your advice pre-emptively. If you take a look at my '99% finished' Tor Garadon at the bottom, you'll see the disparity between the different yellows has been a bit dulled. I went over Tor (and all my Imp Fist heavy intercessors) with a final, thin coat of Ianden yellow, and it seems to have made it look more cohesive.

SergentSilver wrote:

 Mr Nobody wrote:
The technique for yellow is good. Gives everything a nice grimy look. But I think you're overusing it and leaving out some details. I'd recommend going back and painting in things like faces, armor joints and machined parts, like the lenses, in a different color. That will add some variety and differentiate the armor from the other materials.

If he's going for a normal look, I completely agree. However, I have to say the palette and style used remind me strongly of some classic artists like Vincent van Gogh and I honestly think that's really cool. Most people will probably look at it funny, and I certainly thought it a bit odd at first, but the more I looked at it the more it grew on me so to speak. It's very interesting and a full army in that style would look like a painting come to life in the strange way where you can still see the brush strokes, if you know what I mean. You could even make up a cool backstory for it; maybe it's actually a warp manifestation of the humanities unconscious perception of the Imperial Fists come to (unholy?) life in service of the Emperor, similar to one of the theories about the Legion of the Damned.

Thank you, this is quite a compliment! And you are the second person today to tell me it reminded them of an artist. The other person said John Blanche.

Tor Garadon 95% done!

I finished up around 3AM today before I crashed. I can see from the closeup pics that I need to clean up some lines, but save for a sealant, this one is finished, and will be indicative of what the rest of the heavy intercessors in this chapter-specific squad will look like.

So here are my finished squad of Imperial Fist Heavy Intercessors with Lightning Claws and Thunder hammers

Well, the assault terminators have been binned. I followed the advice I received regarding using Dettol (worked great!) to strip the pain, but for some stupid reason I decided to sit them in real, real hot water afterwards to rinse them off. Ended up warping them badly enough to consider the squad destroyed :(

LOL that's ok. It was only nearly one hundred Australian dollars. Not nearly the amount I've lost on an average watch resale. But I digress...

My first squad of Dark Angel intercessors is now finished. I'm looking forward to finishing the Chernobog and Ultramarine squads in due course, at which time I'll have what I think should be a decent size army to actually start playing the game.

I think they all look pretty good. The dark green looks messy, but intentionally so, like they've been out there fighting for millennia. The only thing missing is painting the eyes. I think you did a pretty good job with the eyes on your Bladeguard veteran. My only suggestion would be to put a little bit of wash in the recess around the eye to emphasize that panel line.

I prefer the dark angels over the imperial fists. I would suggest painting the eyes of the assault Intercessors too like in the Bladeguard Veteran.

It’s worth noting, since you mentioned also planning to paint some ultramarines with the aim to make an army to play the game, mixing different chapters in the same army is unusual. If you want to play with a battleforged army then each detachment is from a single chapter, and by mixing chapters you miss out on a lot of synergies and army specific rules.

I like the weathered look on the DA. I agree that wye lenses you make them look better but eye lenses are hard!

What paints are you using, I’m not sure if it’s the photo or not but the finish doesn’t look very smooth, which is one area I think would improve the look.


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Did you use contrast paints?

 ShadowsAndDust wrote:
I think they all look pretty good. The dark green looks messy, but intentionally so, like they've been out there fighting for millennia. The only thing missing is painting the eyes. I think you did a pretty good job with the eyes on your Bladeguard veteran. My only suggestion would be to put a little bit of wash in the recess around the eye to emphasize that panel line.

Thanks! Which wash would you use for this?
I freely admit that painting eyes - even the larger ones of the Primaris range - is daunting. I need to research techniques.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

mrFickle wrote:
I like the weathered look on the DA. I agree that wye lenses you make them look better but eye lenses are hard!

What paints are you using, I’m not sure if it’s the photo or not but the finish doesn’t look very smooth, which is one area I think would improve the look.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Did you use contrast paints?

If you are talking about the Imp Fists, I used much the same process that is detailed in my Tor Garadon thread, here:https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/799036.page

But the Dark Angels were a base coat of a basic British racing green spray paint from Bunnings. It was a gloss finish, so I then coated them in dark angel contrast green to dull it and darken the recesses. I think it came out pretty good.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Aash wrote:
It’s worth noting, since you mentioned also planning to paint some ultramarines with the aim to make an army to play the game, mixing different chapters in the same army is unusual. If you want to play with a battleforged army then each detachment is from a single chapter, and by mixing chapters you miss out on a lot of synergies and army specific rules.

Yeah, I've recently discovered there are a lot of rules that my army is not going to conform to. I paint and collect for the enjoyment of it. The game itself has always just looked like arcane math to me. It might be fun, maybe. I just like painting space marines coz they're cool.

I'd put a little Nuln Oil (or equivalent black wash) in the recess around the eye using a small brush. Don't worry much about hitting the eye. Most of the wash will just naturally migrate to the recess around the eye.

 ShadowsAndDust wrote:
I'd put a little Nuln Oil (or equivalent black wash) in the recess around the eye using a small brush. Don't worry much about hitting the eye. Most of the wash will just naturally migrate to the recess around the eye.

OK, cool I have that, but curious that there's not a deep red wash or equivalent for this... I guess I should check out the GW paint section.

 Abaddon1 wrote:



Automatically Appended Next Post:

Aash wrote:
It’s worth noting, since you mentioned also planning to paint some ultramarines with the aim to make an army to play the game, mixing different chapters in the same army is unusual. If you want to play with a battleforged army then each detachment is from a single chapter, and by mixing chapters you miss out on a lot of synergies and army specific rules.

Yeah, I've recently discovered there are a lot of rules that my army is not going to conform to. I paint and collect for the enjoyment of it. The game itself has always just looked like arcane math to me. It might be fun, maybe. I just like painting space marines coz they're cool.

Just wanted to make sure you were aware of the implications for playing the game so you don’t get stung further down the line! The most important thing is to enjoy what you’re doing! Looking forward to seeing your ultramarines.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Abaddon1 wrote:

 ShadowsAndDust wrote:
I'd put a little Nuln Oil (or equivalent black wash) in the recess around the eye using a small brush. Don't worry much about hitting the eye. Most of the wash will just naturally migrate to the recess around the eye.

OK, cool I have that, but curious that there's not a deep red wash or equivalent for this... I guess I should check out the GW paint section.

If you’re looking for a red wash, I’d recommend Reikland Fleshshade. But for the eyes, a black wash like nuln oil as suggested above would be a good choice.

Aash wrote:

 Abaddon1 wrote:



Automatically Appended Next Post:

Aash wrote:
It’s worth noting, since you mentioned also planning to paint some ultramarines with the aim to make an army to play the game, mixing different chapters in the same army is unusual. If you want to play with a battleforged army then each detachment is from a single chapter, and by mixing chapters you miss out on a lot of synergies and army specific rules.

Yeah, I've recently discovered there are a lot of rules that my army is not going to conform to. I paint and collect for the enjoyment of it. The game itself has always just looked like arcane math to me. It might be fun, maybe. I just like painting space marines coz they're cool.

Just wanted to make sure you were aware of the implications for playing the game so you don’t get stung further down the line! The most important thing is to enjoy what you’re doing! Looking forward to seeing your ultramarines.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Abaddon1 wrote:

 ShadowsAndDust wrote:
I'd put a little Nuln Oil (or equivalent black wash) in the recess around the eye using a small brush. Don't worry much about hitting the eye. Most of the wash will just naturally migrate to the recess around the eye.

OK, cool I have that, but curious that there's not a deep red wash or equivalent for this... I guess I should check out the GW paint section.

If you’re looking for a red wash, I’d recommend Reikland Fleshshade. But for the eyes, a black wash like nuln oil as suggested above would be a good choice.

OK, great, thanks. I have that wash also, but can see how the nuln oil will provide a darker, more exact contrast.

I have begun work on the Ultramarine squad.I am enjoying the challenges involved in creating the cleaner look of the Ultramarine space marine. Where other chapters typically have a less rigid attitude to rank, colours and coding, the Ultramarines pride themselves on close adherence to heraldry.

Looking pretty good so far.

 ShadowsAndDust wrote:
Looking pretty good so far.

Thanks! This is a second attempt at getting the eyes right. I've usually left them be as I doubt my abilities, even with a tiny brush & USB telescope.

Getting closer to what I think is a finished piece. I've taken a stab at colouring the eyes - only the second miniature I've tried in recent history to paint the eyes of - and I know I have several bits and pieces left to clean up (like the gold trim and white symbols on the shoulders, dry-brushing highlights to the gun holster & cleaning up the rim of the base), but I am wondering what things I've missed?

I really don't know if it would look better with a gold double crest on the torso... what other colours apart from white might finish this up nicely?

Thanks

Returned to painting recently and just remembered this thread. I've painted a few dozen pieces in a variety of chapters but have decided on Space Wolves for my army. Once I have a confirmed list of soldiers I'll provide specs etc. I've also been painting some things other than space marines that I found on Etsy. Some of the prints available there are pretty great, and much more affordable. I've collected about fifty miniatures from the Socratis and Grimguard ranges and I'm steadily getting through them all.

Here are my first finished squad of terminators and a Lieutenant. I have a Rhino, a Hounds of Morkai squad and three more squads of miscellaneous primaris space marines with space wolf upgrades. The Hounds are almost done and will be posted soon.

And here's my first squad of Ogryns. This is Beebop squad. I also have a Ghoulgryn squad in production, painted to look like zombies. They're going to be pretty cool.

Looking back on the thread you definitely get a feeling of progression. The techniques become a little more controlled and varied the further down I scroll. Great work.

Those ogryn look awfully shiny. Are you finishing them in some kind of varnish or is that the paint?

Thanks!
Yes, I've been sealing them in a mod podge sealant that is deadening some of the light and shadow work with its reflection in the pics. I've switched to a mat sealant now.

Just looking through the pictures looks good.
What shade are you using?

Ah, reikland flesh shade for the ogryn flesh, nuln oil for the shin guards, agrax earth shade for the bolters, from memory.


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I'm in the middle of building both a Space Wolves army and a tabletop diorama. The diorama is called 'Vesperon Refinery' and will include the following:

* two section, modular laboratory, built from the plastic inserts packing a piece of Ikea furniture, sections of carbon fiber arrow shaft, PVC sheets of varying thicknesses, putty, glue and sand, and several 3D printed items from the good people at CouatIsHoard and ScorchedEarthStore.
* Resin three story station (Outpost Defense Set A) and additional chemical barrels set supplied by TableTopTerrainShop.
* MDF sewerage plant, which is the top floor of a building from BrutalCities I have repurposed.
* Miscellaneous resin pieces from Betagaming and Heyjake-au.

TheResinSmithMinis is where I got the Socratis light infantry squad, which I have named the Vesperion Guard. I have two or three (or more) squads of Socratis and Grimguard minis to complete the Vesperon refinery defense team.

The top shelf above my workspace, where the diorama is being constructed, is covered in storage boxes of varying heights. To work around / incorporate this, I have built a staircase to what will be a depot platform. The stairs are cork floor tiles fanned around another section of arrow shaft and power sanded to smooth the corners. There will eventually be a turret mounted at the top of the stairs (courtesy CouatIsHoard) and light posts from ScorchedEarthStore.

The modular lab is the piece I have been working on the most, as I designed it myself after a bit of measuring and testing. I wanted a piece that would fit all, or at least most, of my 32mm and 40mm based W40K minis. Once I paint the last set of guard rails and the 'narcotics vendor kit' pieces I've ordered, it will be complete.

The diorama will be on sale once finished. Progress pics are in the next posts.

These pics are a few days old and I've made some significant progress since then.

Here are the Vesperian Guard.

I like how those guys turned out. The blue is rather striking against the other darker colors, and the highlights really bring out the detail.

Thanks! Yeah, I agree, this colour scheme works well. I've had a couple of failures too. But I really enjoy the added challenge of creating my own faction colours and back story for diorama villains.

A couple years ago, a member of this forum told me that I needed to focus on just the one chapter in order to build an optimized army. Prior to that I'd painted up a dozen or so Dark Angels, six Imperial Fist, and a few Ultramarines... so I have dabbled a bit with chapter colours, too. But Etsy has given me a load more options at very good prices. I'm probably going to keep buying Socratis etc for side projects while I build my Space Wolves army.

DIORAMA #1 Vesperon Refinery
SECTION #1 Vesperon Labs
progress pics: