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I managed to stop collecting, modeling, and playing Warhammer 40k about 3 years ago and I thought it was something far behind me... then I saw the new Dark Vengeance boxed set the same week my wife went on a month long work trip. So of course I impulse purchased it and a box of space marine scouts (I've always liked them, even if they always die by the second or third turn). Anywho, I'm right back in the thick of it, and this time I plan to play with an army that's actually completely painted, as opposed to the dark legions of black inky primer darkness I used to field. Painting has always been the part of the game I found the most challenging, meaning everything I tried turned out looking like bland, lackluster clump of discombobulated shades and paint splatters I tried to pass of as some really poor OSL (his foot is magical, and so it, uh, casts a dark shadow over his left eye and right elbow....).

For the space marine portion of my current collection I wanted to use a color scheme based on the newest US Navy digital camouflage... which has turned out to be a complete and total pain in the everything. Here's the first scout I've managed to get a good start on. I'm aware that there are some areas that need touch ups,and its really overcomplicated for a single troop model, but I kinda like it, so I'm going to waste my life one 3-4 hour individual at a time and see if I can finish the whole thing.

Here's the first scout, has anyone every tried something like this who might have some suggestions on how to make the lines crisper? Right now I'm just painting one coat at a time and using stupid tiny pieces of cheap masking tape to mark out the digital pattern and fixing it up at the end... it still needs something though, I just can't tell what.



Thanks in advance for any comments or criticism (just not too much of the latter, it is my first model in a couple years and my painting skills were never all that awesome.)

-JMS]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/591483/6755370.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/591483/6755370.page GMT
Oh and welcome to dakka. Great first post. I look forward to seeing progress on your project!]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/591483/6755453.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/591483/6755453.page GMT
Sheet of acetate, cut out tiny squares or 'digital camo shapes' maybe a few small ones. that way you have a variety of shapes that remain and you can push down onto the cloaks as you apply the colours. you'd save time having to invent new shapes each time.

However, there are also digital camo stencils, but i think they might be more aimed at vehicles and thus on the large side.

But that first model does look sweet so far!]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/591483/6756151.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/591483/6756151.page GMT
Thanks for the encouragement, a part of me put that picture up hoping I'd get some positive feedback and find the motivation to keep going, because it is pretty tedious. So I put on my painting hat and got to work on a couple more. Here's what's happened so far.

WIP terminator with digital camo… going well so far, I think



I’m not sure if this guy is done yet or not… every time I think he is I see something else that I need to fix, so I’m putting him up here and I’ll give it some time before I look at the model with open paint nearby and see how I feel about it.




There's obviously still some room for improvement, and final touch ups should make some of the lines a little more crisp

Solar Shock: I've been cutting out so many little squares, and I have a whole stack of acetate sheets sitting upstairs from a custom stencil I made to refinish a vanity for my wife a year or so ago and I didn't even think about it. Thanks for the advice! I'm certainly going to try it and maybe save some hand cramping as the army progresses.

I also need to spend a little more time perusing the "how to paint realistic looking skin" articles on here before I am satisfied with the scout's face... why can't everyone just wear helmets? They're so much easier to paint.

*edit* I really lost out on that beautiful natural lighting between the first picture and now... problems with day long projects. ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/591483/6756683.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/591483/6756683.page GMT
The digital camo looks awesome! I know for a fact that you can get digital camo masking tape, but they're for vehicles and too bit for infantry. (Check my blog, I have Imperial Guard with digital camo). I really tilt my hat to you for doing digital camo on infantry models.

Regarding the face, GW washes are great for skin. Fleshshade and sepia are 'skill-in-a-bottle' for flesh.

Good luck]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/591483/6757913.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/591483/6757913.page GMT
Your camo looks fantastic. Keep it up.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/591483/6757939.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/591483/6757939.page GMT http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/591483/6757982.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/591483/6757982.page GMT have you considered like pressing? As in putting paint on a square shape then pressing that onto the model? Like potato printing

Yeh I agree, the washes are fantastic and have place in every painters box. ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/591483/6759605.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/591483/6759605.page GMT