Archangels 3rd Company (image intensive!)

[Stryker25B]

With my very first set of tactical Space Marines, I knew I wanted to start off with my own chapter rather than paint one that already existed. I decided on a successor chapter of the Dark Angels Legion. One big reason I chose to make my own is that it seems like it would be better in terms of switching my army list between codices should I want to (which I have done for the time being with the release of 5th Edition SM Codex.)

 

I decided on a Hawk Turquoise/Chaos Black color scheme because it is a color combination that has always appealed to me. The current army I have really showcases the evolution of my painting skills, as I got progressively better with each new squad I painted. Now I want to go the distance and create a full chapter based on the layout detailed in the Dark Angels codex. The 3rd Company of the Archangels will consist of 6 Tactical Squads, 2 Assault Squads, and 2 Devastator Squads. I currently already have 2 Tactical Squads and 1 Assault Squad finished, with the first devastator squad nearing completion. I'm going with the 3rd Company first just because I have a good bit of it completed already. Next I will work on the first two Companies, and I am seriously considering converting my brand new space hulk terminators for this purpose.

 

Here are a few images of the devastator Sergeant, still missing his squad number and a few highlights. Pardon my horrible photography, I have read a great deal on the forums about this today and intend to remedy the situation!

 

As always, I welcome any tips or criticisms! I have only been in the hobby for about 2 years and this is my first army.

 

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/DevSgt_Front.jpg

 

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/DevSgt_Left.jpg

The company insignia wa just a small ball of greenstuff that I flattened on the shoulderpad.

 

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/DevSgt_Back.jpg

 

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/DevSgt_Right.jpg

I used a tau shoulder plate and half a hatch leftover from my Land Raider to spice up the base a little bit.

[AdeptusDavidus]

I really like your converted combi-plasma. Your gem effects on the assorted blinky-lights and whatsits look like a strong start, but I think a few more colors in them to add depth, not just the white "glint". Overall, though, you seem to have pretty good brush control, so I think you ought to just practice some more on layering and arranging the colors. Are you thinning your paints? They look a little thick in a few spots.

 

Your transfer on the right pauldron has that hazy border around it from the film. There are a number of ways around this - a thin layer of high-gloss varnish on the pauldron, then place the transfer, let dry, and seal with another thin layer of varnish, then top it off with the matte finish of your choice. MicroSol and MicroSet are magic little elixirs for applying transfers, and Future Floor Polish (now "Pledge with Future Shine" or something) has a few million uses at the hobby desk.

 

Also, thank you for your service.

[larundel]

This looks cool, really like the colour and your highlighting, the base looks amazing as well.

 

Cant wait to see more of these guys.

[cathar the great]

Painting: For my tastes too much drybrushing on the armor. It's a nice technique for metal colors and fur, but not so much for the overall figure. You seem to be very good with extreme highlights so you don't really need the drybrushing for a good effect.

The scheme is nice and simple and a not very common blue so I like it a lot. The lenses still need some work. The guides on this in the WhiteDwarfs are usually very good.

 

Converting: From the arm positions, he has too much going on. I usually try to have only one (if any) pointing arm. Why would he have his bolter raised if he is looking in the other direction? The kneeling position gives the impression of resting, while both arms outstretched would fit a more dynamic model more. If you had the bolter arm at an angle, so the weapon was resting against his shoulder, you would have a more fitting pose. Like he was checking out the battlefield and giving orders.

 

Overall I like it very much and I'd like to see more pictures of that army ^^

 

 

EDIT: Whow, post number 1000. I have too much time... :D

[averykess]

The only issue I have with the model is the black feet. It makes me think the is just wearing shoes instead of armor. I think it might be because the feet are solid black. You can keep them black, just highlight them up a bit. :tu:

[Stryker25B]

I appreciate all of the compliments and suggestions! I didn't expect a response in just a day, I guess I underestimated you guys.

 

I'm working on the 4 other devastators in this squad right now. With any luck they will be finished and I'll have my lighting/photography issues fixed. My next update will include the other 3 squads that are already completed (though with all the tips I have been learning lately, I might revisit them and touch up the painting I did before!)

 

Here are the 4 in progress, standard poses. I'm working more on my painting skills than my conversions since I lack a lot of the tools I would need for drilling/pinning. Soon I will have an overflowing bits box so I might see what I can do with the tools that I have.

 

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/DevSquad_1.jpg

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/DevSquad_2.jpg

After black priming, the squad was given a quick couple of coats of Hawk Turquoise then a wash of Asurmen Blue so far. I usually then drybrush hawk turquoise back over the main armor areas to get rid of the tint but I am toying with the idea of learning more advanced techniques like layering.

 

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/DevSquad_W.jpg

The weapons and backpacks are all so far done with a coat of boltgun metal over black primer, then a wash of badab black. Next I will fill in with the other colors the weapon needs and highlight the metal areas in mithril silver. I believe I read this technique in a white dwarf somewhere.

 

 

I really like your converted combi-plasma. Your gem effects on the assorted blinky-lights and whatsits look like a strong start, but I think a few more colors in them to add depth, not just the white "glint". Overall, though, you seem to have pretty good brush control, so I think you ought to just practice some more on layering and arranging the colors. Are you thinning your paints? They look a little thick in a few spots.

 

Your transfer on the right pauldron has that hazy border around it from the film. There are a number of ways around this - a thin layer of high-gloss varnish on the pauldron, then place the transfer, let dry, and seal with another thin layer of varnish, then top it off with the matte finish of your choice. MicroSol and MicroSet are magic little elixirs for applying transfers, and Future Floor Polish (now "Pledge with Future Shine" or something) has a few million uses at the hobby desk.

 

Also, thank you for your service.

 

I thin my paints usually, sometimes I let myself get lazy and try without thinning (ie the red stripe on the company symbol.) The insignia on the shoulder was my first ever attempt at using the transfer, so I got mixed results. I've done a little more work on the Sergeant since those photos were taken in which i painted over the transfer to reduce the hazy effect and I hand painted the squad number over it. Unfortunately an electrical problem in my room has caused me to be without light for a while and once that gets fixed I can use my new lightbox setup to take some better pictures.

 

The only issue I have with the model is the black feet. It makes me think the is just wearing shoes instead of armor. I think it might be because the feet are solid black. You can keep them black, just highlight them up a bit. ;)

 

Good call! I seem to forget about the black parts of the armor needing highlights. I'll definitely work on it.

 

 

 

Painting: For my tastes too much drybrushing on the armor. It's a nice technique for metal colors and fur, but not so much for the overall figure. You seem to be very good with extreme highlights so you don't really need the drybrushing for a good effect.

The scheme is nice and simple and a not very common blue so I like it a lot. The lenses still need some work. The guides on this in the WhiteDwarfs are usually very good.

 

Converting: From the arm positions, he has too much going on. I usually try to have only one (if any) pointing arm. Why would he have his bolter raised if he is looking in the other direction? The kneeling position gives the impression of resting, while both arms outstretched would fit a more dynamic model more. If you had the bolter arm at an angle, so the weapon was resting against his shoulder, you would have a more fitting pose. Like he was checking out the battlefield and giving orders.

 

Overall I like it very much and I'd like to see more pictures of that army ^^

 

 

EDIT: Whow, post number 1000. I have too much time... ;)

 

The drybrushing on the armor was a result of using the blue wash over the hawk turquoise. It tinted the model a little too blue for my liking so I drybrushed just the main parts of the armor to try and get it to fade to that blue tint on the outer edges. It seems to work pretty well, but I do want to learn better layering techniques so I will definitely work on it. The lenses are my favorite part of this model, the pictures I took don;t do them justice at all. I started with scab red, then added blood red, a blood red/fiery orange mix, and ended with the white highlight. I will definitely work on my photography technique today and post some better images tomorrow.

 

As far as converting goes, the only conversions on this model are my first attempt at the combi-plasma and I cot off the rock/dirt that the original legs were kneeling on and replaced it with the land raider hatch. I really would have liked to bend the bolter arm up exactly like you suggested but I am still a little squeamish when it comes to cutting up arms/legs- especially with the limited tools I have out here.

[Brother Mordeus]

I like them a lot, though its true that the armor of the armless ones looks "dirty", the first marine is awesome, though, you should try to paint your other ones the same.

 

cheers

[Stryker25B]

I like them a lot, though its true that the armor of the armless ones looks "dirty", the first marine is awesome, though, you should try to paint your other ones the same.

 

cheers

 

Yep, those haven't gotten the drybrush of hawk turquoise yet. I am also working on some vanguard veterans and I might try a layering approach with them instead of drybrushing, though I do like the scratcy look the drybrush gives.

[Stryker25B]

Some have expressed an interest in seeing more of this army. The following pictures are the other squads I've painted previous to the devastators I'm working on now. Keep in mind these were done over the course of the last two years, and I'm not exactly thrilled with the painting looking back on them now.

 

Here is the current army in the order that I painted them in:

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/tactical1.jpg

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/tactical2.jpg

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/terminators.jpg

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/assaultsquad.jpg

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/chaplain.jpg

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/librarian.jpg

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/apothecary.jpg

 

There is the look back at some horrid painting, but a good chronicle of my learning process. There are also a rhino, dreadnought, and dark angels veteran squad but I haven't take pictures of those yet.

 

Now on to the works in progress!

 

Here is my Devastator Sergeant with his shoulder insignia all finished up. I painted over much of the transfer to get rid of the glossiness, then I hand-painted the number on.

 

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/devsgt_insignia.jpg

 

And the rest of the squad is coming along slowly. I planned to have them done by now, but I got sidetracked making the light box and taking pictures of the rest of the army. These guys still need another layer or two of red on the weapons, as it seems to be a difficult color to get to come out clean.

 

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/devastators.jpg

 

I almost forgot about this guy. This is the techmarine for my Thunderfire Cannon. I put him on hold because the cannon itself is problematic to put together. It seems I got a bad molding of it because the parts don't all fit together as they should. Aside from the cannon, the techmarine is coming along very nicely. I coupled some layering techniques with the dry brushing and highlighting that I already knew and I'm liking the results.

 

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/techmarine.jpg

 

Thats all I've got for today, tomorrow I will upload some updated pics of my progress on the devastators and the vanguard veteran squad I'm working on again.

[Stryker25B]

I didn't get to update as soon as I would have liked, but here it is.

 

I was having motivational issues finishing up the devastator squad (this may have something to do with every plasma-toting mini I had managing to blow itself up on the first shot in the game I played on Sunday.) I decided to do some more work on my vanguard veterans and start an overhaul on my only dreadnought.

 

I've been slowly working on the Vanguard squad I got in the SM 5th Ed. spearhead. I love the detail on these guys! The squad itself was painted in my normal hawk turquoise base > asuremen blue wash > hawk turquoise drybrush, but I went a different route with the sergeant. I used a blue foundation, and then built up layers of different mixes of regal blue and hawk turquoise, then thin layers of pure hawk turquoise so he isn't too much of a different shade from the rest of the squad. I am especially happy with the leather holster and straps. I did those with a basecoat of dheneb stone, then a 50/50 wash of Baal Red and Devlan Mud followed by a wash of straight devlan mud after the first wash dried.

 

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/VV_Sgt2.jpg

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/VV_Sgt.jpg

 

My dreadnought is my first attempt at going back to one of my earlier works and re-painting it. This poor dread has a tendency to not survive very long in battle for some reason, so I figured along with repainting I would do some conversion work on him as well. I originally wanted to add some armor plates with plasticard, but I have no plasticard here and the nearest substitute I could find were blank ID cards, but they are very hard to cut with a hobby knife. I dug around in my large bits box and pulled out a few empty sprues which shouldn't have ended up in there. I was about to throw those away when it dawned on me that I was holding the Dread's new armor in my hands. I cut up pieces of sprue and glued them to the body of the dread. Here are the before and after shots:

 

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/dred_before.jpg

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/dred_after.jpg

 

The conversion won't stop here, however. I like the look of the FW dreads, with the SM helmet peeking out. Since I'm upgrading the leg armor plates to those from the DA Veterans bits, I'm working on converting one of the old leg plates and a window from a random building sprue into a face like the FW ones. Here are the bits for that.

 

http://www.johnbrooksdesign.com/images/dred_bits.jpg

 

More to come on my first big conversion attempt, complete with newbie greenstuff mistakes, excessive use of superglue, and experiments in painting techniques!

[cathar the great]

Will you strip the thing of paint first before you repaint it?

 

And I wouldn't use a standard helmet for a conversion like this. Maybe this tutorial I made some time ago can help you with the conversion (I know you're doing it differently but maybe it helps ;))

 

Easy MkIV Dreadnoughts

[Stryker25B]

Will you strip the thing of paint first before you repaint it?

 

And I wouldn't use a standard helmet for a conversion like this. Maybe this tutorial I made some time ago can help you with the conversion (I know you're doing it differently but maybe it helps ^_^)

 

Easy MkIV Dreadnoughts

 

I will try to strip the paint first, but as I am in Iraq right now I don't have easy access to anything but simple green, hopefully it does the job!

 

And that's a great idea for converting the dreadnought! I didn't think to use a terminator torso. Now I just hope I have one in my bits box...

[cathar the great]

And that's a great idea for converting the dreadnought! I didn't think to use a terminator torso. Now I just hope I have one in my bits box...

 

Thanks ^^. You can also use a normal torso and a PA shoulderpad cut to size. The inner detail on shoulderpads looks almost the same as the upper half of a Terminator front