Stabbin' and such: Triumphant at Last! 2/9/17

[Aggememnon]

Amazing quality. After painting tons of models I find the hardest part to 'blend' colors.

 

I'd really like to know how you blended the robes so well, to give them depth in the folds and whatnot.

 

I really like how you painted the armor highlights, mine are much more subtle and I am thinking of redoing them.

[Firepower]

Well first off, the shoulders:

 

Prime Black, separate from the model- having the shoulder separate makes it easier to paint the fine details in the final stages, and prevents the trouble of hard to reach spots behind pistol butts, swords, etc.

 

Base Bestial Brown

 

Now there are two choices

 

Easy: Paint on a few watered down layers of Dheneb Stone until mostly even, paint over with Bleached Bone, and line the edges and recesses with Vomit Brown or Bestial Brown, depending on preference.

 

Hard: Layer steadily up to Bleached bone with progressively lighter shades of brown, starting with Vomit, then Graveyard Earth, Khomando Khaki, and finally Bleached Bone. Keep each layer thin and watered down to ensure a smooth finish in the end.

 

I don't highlight the bleached bone in either method, which i think helps to keep that sort of worn/ancient/gritty look that the pure white lacks.

 

 

As for blending on the robes, it's a simple trick that just takes practice. Again, always used watered down colors to ensure an even spread, and it also helps keep the paint a bit translucent and help the blending. Let each fresh coat dry before moving on to the next. To be super precise, blend paints between steps (i.e. Graveyard earth leads to Khaki/Graveyard 50:50 mix before going on to pure Khaki) but i dont bother with that much trouble. One very helpful trick i do use, if the contrast between shades grows too extreme, stop, let the latest coat dry, and then step back one color in the progression (i.e. if painting a b. bone highlight on khaki, stop, and get out the khaki again). Simply water down that color until it's pretty much a wash, and cover the whole area. It wont really affect the darker colors, and will help melt the line between the most recent coats. Let dry, and repeat as necessary.

 

Hope that helps, and thanks for the kind words :) .

Edited April 12, 2010 by Firepower

[Aggememnon]

Exactly the kind of explanation I was looking for, thanks brother!

[Firepower]

I've been painting 40K models for around 14 years, and I haven't completed a playable army for well over 10. Now, largely thanks to positive support on my paint jobs from you, fellow fanatics, i have completed a 500 point, playable, Black Templars Army! I dont think i can fully convey how shocked and delighted I am by this. And now, pics of the latest models, and a full army shot.

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2113.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2117.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2122.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2126.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2131.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2173.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2176.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2182.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2185.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2192.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2199.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2203.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2207.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2213.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2218.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2224.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2226.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2231.jpg

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2237.jpg

 

 

Some quick notes: All models have been based, the first time I've ever done so in all these years, and i HATED it. But, i can't deny it does tie all the models together that much better. You may notice the paint job looks different on the latest infantry models, but actually i just tried a different white balance on my camera. The paintjob is identical, but i turned off the flash and changed a few things around so I wouldn't get that strange blue hue in my highlights. Also, you all may notice the one Initiate with the skull paintjob on his helm. He was the last figure of all I had to paint, so I decided to go a little nuts and show my rendition of the mini-Chaplain idea that so many folks have been praying for on the "What GW Should Give us in our 5th Edition Codex" forum.

 

It's probably pretty easy to tell which Rhino was the test model :tu: . I've always avoided painting vehicles so i had some stumbling blocks to overcome. All the same, I had a bit of fun by slapping the motto from my family's crest on the front hatch ("Fortiter" or "Bravely/Courageously"). For some extra sh*ts and giggles i also added 3:16 to the scripture on the top hatch. I've no idea what biblical text it references, but everyone with a favorite sports team and a sheet of paper to wave seems to think it'll help out :P .

 

I'll be fielding these beautiful sword swinging lunatics ASAP, and hopefully I'll find the game as entertaining as painting. Otherwise, these little fellas might end up on E-Bay: I gots bills to pay after all.

 

C&C welcome as always!

Edited June 8, 2010 by Firepower

[romeo.lima]

Now, since I am also doing bone instead of pure white on my zealous little crusaders, I would just like to ask you a quick clear-up question.

 

I will probably be doing the "hard" method of painting on bone, at least for the shoulder pads (chest eagle will actually be highlighted a tad and so will have different base colors used). With each successive coat of color, should a tiny amount of it still be visible at the edge of the pad, or would you apply it all on and then paint the line of bestial brown?

 

These are all very inspiring and fantastic, by the way. ;)

Edited June 8, 2010 by romeo.lima

[Wulff]

Well done brother firepower!!

Keep up the great work.. soon you'll be bringing the Emperor's justice to a new level!

 

Wulff

[chaplain belisarius]

very nice templars...wish i could paint like that! :)

[Firepower]

I will probably be doing the "hard" method of painting on bone, at least for the shoulder pads (chest eagle will actually be highlighted a tad and so will have different base colors used). With each successive coat of color, should a tiny amount of it still be visible at the edge of the pad, or would you apply it all on and then paint the line of bestial brown?

 

 

I only left bestial brown showing along the ridges and in recesses, and in retrospect i think it may make things too stark in contrast. It might be better to leave a much lighter shade showing instead, to make it look like a gradual, natural fade of dirt instead of a black/white difference between shades. For comparison check out the bone panels on the two rhinos. The darkest shade visible there is Graveyard earth, then a bit of Kom. Khaki, and finally Bleached Bone, and i think the transition between colors looks a lot nicer there.

 

 

I'd recommend taking a look at the "Bone chest eagles?" thread, as it discusses the same issue to some extent, and has a link to Harris' work (who I'd say does a better job with his bone coloring). He explains his order of colors, but doesn't really shine much light on just how he makes the fade so fluid.

 

I've also caught bits and pieces around the web talking about additives to paint to make it flow smoother, cover better, etc. which might turn out to be a huge help if i can figure out exactly what it's all about.

Edited June 9, 2010 by Firepower

[Bluesfart]

Looks great, especially the shoulder pads.

[Pigeons]

they all look amazing, but did you notice you missed part of the tread on the first rhino?

 

 

right back section, right below the armor plate, it's just black.

[Firepower]

they all look amazing, but did you notice you missed part of the tread on the first rhino?

 

 

right back section, right below the armor plate, it's just black.

 

 

;) I almost slapped myself when I read this. Can't believe after all the hours i spent mucking around on that thing i overlooked something so simple. ;)

 

Thanks for pointing that out at any rate, took me 5 seconds to fix.

 

And thanks to everyone else for all the kind words. Hope to field these little plastic loonies soon.

[Pigeons]

no problem, and keep up the good work!

 

 

 

armies like yours are what inspire me to learn to paint better.

[Cstriker01]

I must say they look great. I managed to get a very even coating of White for my shoulder pads by using black primer, then a codex grey under coat, then using 2-3 coats of watered down skull white (consistency of milk for the skull white). However...I am digging the Bone color more and I am now VERY tempted to go back and paint my initiates with bone for the shoulders and Aquila's on their breastplates. Good work Brother!

[chaplain belisarius]

wow! makes me want to get a BT army...im sure i got that black templar upgrade sprue somewhere...:unsure:

 

Very nice templars mate...

[Firepower]

Had my first game in over a decade tonight, and now Im one for one! My first game was a victory, and against the army that use to mop the floor with my BA's back in 3rd edition, which i take as a very good omen.

 

To make a long story short, i went to meet someone for a 500 point game at a local store, and they didnt show, so someone who was there was kind enough to chop up his Eldar list into a 500 point army and have a go with me.

 

My army of 2 rhinos with 6 Initiates and 3 Neo's each + a Castellan w/ a power weapon faced off against a Farseer, his escort of 5 dire avengers including an exarch, 5 fire dragons, and 4 or 5 pathfinder's (i cant recall specifically). I screwed up deployment and left a rhino a couple turns out of the action, so as any Templar would i just rushed headlong with what i had on hand. The rhino got blasted into a million pieces (by a sniper rifle of all things) and my disembarking unit and the Castellan accompanying it was cursed with Doom, as they would stay for the rest of the game. To top it all off, they were quickly pinned afterward, leaving me a useless unit for a turn in open sights of enemy shooting, and the other woefully out of arm's reach and racing to catch up.

 

After the ominous start, assaults began to unfold, and little by little the Templars overwhelmed the skinny, sneaky xenos. A steady progress turned to a change in tide with the arrival of squad number two. Eventually, the foul witch fell, his escort was shattered, and the pathfinders (which had previously been weakened by a shockingly good volley of bolt pistol fire turns before) was picked off from their clifftop, and the fire dragons were sent packing and running for the edge.

 

Last turn of the game, i was advised by the more experienced players to simply stay near the last retreating unit and escort it off the table. Seeing as our beloved Templars would take offense to letting any xeno filth escape, i charged regardless, and just barely cut them down to a man, leaving not one space elf left to rear it's hauntingly pretty face.

 

 

Game two, i faced a Tau player, bringing a Shas'el w/ 2 escorts, two minimal squads of Fire Warriors, and a squadron of 2 Piranha. Seeing how i was at a distinct disadvantage in options, he was kind enough to go with Annihilation for the mission. Also, to get a feel for how re-rolls in assault could feel, i swapped out my Castellan for a bare bones chaplain, and reorganized the squads to leave him with the lion's share of Initiates.

 

I won first turn, and learned from my opponent the blessed art of leapfrogging rhinos and popping smoke. Immediately afterwards, his piranha shot across the whole damn board, spun around, and blew the tracks off the front rhino, regardless of said sneaky smoke tactics.

 

The lesser of my two Crusader squads hopped out of its useless tank and charged the adjacent pirahna's with vengeance in mind. Nearly 30 CC attacks lead to well over 10 sixes, which in turn lead to an abysmal failure to do anything with said attacks against the zippy little buggers. The rear tank ran round it's stagnant brother and towards the gunline. In return, his gliders flew off to take a few more pew pews at me with their fusion, and his gunline unloaded hell on the exposed squad, turning a unit of 9 into a unit of 2.

 

Undaunted, the Chaplain and his mates hopped form their ride and charged the Firewarrior squads. With what remained after another volley of blue death from the angry midgets, he hit the line of Firewarriors and bashed a few heads, sending them running off the edge. As things stood then, i had a harmless rhino, 2 initiates way in the backfield and a wounded chaplain with 3 initiates in the tau deployment zone, and in good fun he charged with his commander. A duel ensued and, as it should be, the chappy and his pals tore them apart. Eventually it was a wounded chaplain, 2 piranha, and a rhino, and we just kept pitting his speedy invulnerable save versus my rosarius until, sadly, the peppy little head splitter was blown to smithereens.

 

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun the game was, compared to how i remember it as a kid. I had a few rough patches but my opponents were kind enough to sort things out as they came along (though righteous zeal was a tricky rule to sort out). I was delighted with the Templars performance in HTH (though Tau and Eldar arent remarkably strong HTH troops). I was horrified by the poor display of my melta troops, who are well on their way to earning themselves shamefully goofy names (Edgar "Aiming's for sissies" McGee and The No Eyed Wonder Knight seem appropriate), especially considering how shockingly outclassed they were by several successful Bolt pistol volleys. And finally, i now understand the fickle nature of the dice gods first hand (roll to hit...6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5...roll to penetrate, 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 ;) ).

 

So, thanks a lot for all the support throughout phase 1 of my army folks. I doubt I'd have completed it without the positive reinforcement (and a couple ideas i stole from the more impressive armies amongst us). And now, I'm frustrated to say my bank account is in for another hit now that playing the game has encouraged me to start phase 2 in earnest. I'll be bringing pics up as soon as they're ready!

[Marshal Laeroth]

Glad to hear that you had a good time playing with the Black Templars! I love them dearly. :D

 

And of course, your painting is still exquisite. :woot:

[Wulff]

Welcome to the glory that is TEMPLAR..

its very addictive when you lock into combat and get rerolls on the to hits.. but the best part is the feeling of knowing..be it eldar or tau.. or chaos or nid.. or dark eld and ork.. heck even a renegade will do or a heretic.. but as long as your TEMPLAR and delivering the justice.. your the one that your oppenent is going to fear to do battle with..plus we look so good in our BLACK Armor!

 

wulff

[Firepower]

So, I know bikes aren't the best tactical option for BT, but I'm a painter first and a gamer second. So, with a bit of inspiration from various painters, most notably brother Titan, i present the first of 4 Cavalier Crusaders, Battle Brother Molay!

 

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2324.jpg

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2294.jpg

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2302.jpg

http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/Wills40k/Black%20Templars/IMG_2313.jpg

 

I did up the shoulders to represent Sword Brethren instead of general fast attack options, namely because i see the unit (more to come on that when time allows) as the sort of battle changing veterans that characterize crusaders. He and his brothers could be the sort to charge ahead of the main force and smash faces, or wait on a hill (albeit with great frustration) waiting for just the right time to charge in and tear the heart out of the enemy a la Alexander the Great. If there's any BT capable of stomaching patience for the sake of tactics, I imagine it would be the SB.

 

The melta gun slapped on to one of the bolters lets me run him as either armed with a melta or a P. Weapon via the lance.

 

Also, out of respect for the painter who most encouraged this fellow and his yet to be completed brothers, a link to my greatest source of inspiration's own bikers: http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php...ge=21&pp=15 . Oddly enough, i was oblivious to his work when i first started, but seeing the similarities between his own style and mine I couldnt help but steal some ideas.

 

C&C encouraged as always!

[Amodeus]

Allo Firepower,

 

Have to say, that is some lovely work. Your painting style is quite unique and I'm pleased to see someone else who favours fairly stark highlighting. My own 500pt BT micro-crusade is slowly coming together (WIPS soon). Keeping the shoulder pads seperate is such a blindingly obvious good idea. Wish I'd thought of it sooner.

 

Also the Bike Lances are just awesome, really brings the idea of a 41st Century Knight to the forefront. I shall shamlessly steal that very fine notion (not that anyone really wants bikes).

 

Incidentially I am returning to the fold as a real grown-up 10 years after last childishly dabbling with brush and fluff, but I've not had a problem so far with basing. As somebody else suggested above, getting it out of the way first thing seems to work. The basecoat seems to seal the flock or sand and you can get the basecoat on it immediately rather than fiddling around trying to paint dirt when your model is shiny and complete.

 

Anywho, keep up the good work, I heartily look forward to seeing more of your efforts.

 

-A-

[Wulff]

fast question.. firepower.. why not take the mandatory EC? not got one painted. Or just trying out different stuff in your 500 kill point missions?

 

Ps love the bikes.. gonna steal the idea on the melta/pw idea.. its a beaut..

 

Wulff

[Head Mook]

I've taken a few shots at basing and it hasnt gone well. More often than not the basing is incredibly brittle and flimsy, flaking off with pressure as light as a heavy drybrushing. I still have a few other methods to try out (using more glue, different mixes of materials, etc.) but frankly i find it tedious.

 

I find that painting straight white glue onto the base works, though for larger objects i use a tiny bit of GS or super glue to anchor it. After that, lay in your material and let it dry completely. Then I seal mine in with a mix of glue and water. Then let it dry. Then paint. Works well enough on guardsmen!

 

Also, those are some seriously well painted Initiates. I love the EC as well.

Edited July 1, 2010 by Head Mook

[Firepower]

The basing issues have been resolved. Initially, i was just using too thin a coat of glue, which obviously left things brittle. Also, i used rocks that were too large, leaving even less total surface area for the glue to bind to. On a related note, I bought some nice fancy resin bases off Dragonworks for my bikes, i just gotta go get a glue that can actually work on resin (the brand I use doesnt seem to care for it).

 

@ Wulff: I havent used the EC because it's a bit pricey for 500 points. I suppose he'd work if i used Suffer not the Unclean to Live instead of the mandatory AAC, but even then he's still pretty pricey for such a low point army. Worth giving a shot. Also, I have a chaplain on my painting table that i got to use in one of my matches, which gave me a small feel for the power of rerolls. I like the rerolls ;) . One thing Im curious to try is springing the extra ten points to give the Chap or Marshal a Holy Orb of Antioch. At 500 points that's a pretty big smack to the face assuming it hits.

 

@ Amodeus: Go right ahead and steal, I pretty much did myself. I used a different lance from Titan, the source of the idea, but it's still pretty much his idea (or the idea of whoever he stole it from, and so on and so forth). Im looking forward o seeing your own first step into the world of BT.

 

I'll get the next three bikers up ASAP, and after that, well you all probably wont see anything out of me for quite a while. Im applying to a graduate program that will have me globe trotting for almost a year starting mid august-not a whole lotta time for painting :lol: .

[Iago]

Love the crisp clean rhino.

Keep up the good work!

[Mjelnir]

How did you do the Freehand crosses so neat I cant for the life of me get those the correct size and dimension.

[Firepower]

How did you do the Freehand crosses so neat I cant for the life of me get those the correct size and dimension.

 

It's a fairly strait forward trick, but it'll take time to "master" (i should know, i still havent :) ). I actually thought it was shown in the BT codex, but really i first saw it in the White Dwarf issues that came out around our codex release. But to save me the trouble of drawing up a diagram myself, I'll simply point you to brother Titan's page- he was so kind as to draw it out for another looking for the same advice, and it's the same technique.

 

http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php...ge=10&pp=15

 

The only problem here is that getting those nice, sharp angles on the cross requires cleaning up sloppiness around the edges after drawing the initial shape. In itself that's not a big deal, but if I were using a pure white shoulder pattern like most folks I'd imagine i'd find it pretty damn annoying after a while. If this is the way you paint, I would recommend trying to do at least the majority of the cross design in a lighter color first, like gray, and going back over with black after you're happy with the outline. The first few dozen times you do this wont likely come out real pretty, but just keep at it. Sorta like learning a signature for your army :)

 

Hope that helps!

 

P.S.- Dont beat yourself up if they dont all come out the same size or exact shape. As was said earlier in this thread, BT are prone to personalizing heraldry, even the chapter insignia. Youd be hard pressed to find two hand painted crosses amongst all these guys that were exactly matched in both size and shape, so just go with it and have fun!