Shadow Force Dragomir - A Raven Guard Army

[Pulse]

Agreed, its great to see you working on your fantastic Raven Guard again, looking forward to more work!

[SCC]

Nice to see this thread back up, your black is extremely nice, how do you do it may I ask so I can use the method (if you don't mind) on my chaplain.

 

Rob

I can do better than that, much better!

 

Complete SCC Raven Guard painting tutorial!

 

That should sort out your Chappie :)

 

@Pulse, Ravendove, batu, sockwithaticket, keith, jimmimellows: Thanks guys, going to try and make some progress over the weekend but the miserable weather (and Battlefield 3) are making that hard. Still, let's see if we can't finish the combi-flamer vet and maybe get a good way through at least one more eh?

[Grizzly_bear]

Ah thank you sir, when Ive painted the chappy I'll message you so you can see your tut put to use.

[Ravendove]

@Pulse, Ravendove, batu, sockwithaticket, keith, jimmimellows: Thanks guys, going to try and make some progress over the weekend but the miserable weather (and Battlefield 3) are making that hard. Still, let's see if we can't finish the combi-flamer vet and maybe get a good way through at least one more eh?

 

Oh, I know that feeling. Fully expecting my hobby to drop off the face of the planet once Skyrim is released ;)

[SCC]

@Pulse, Ravendove, batu, sockwithaticket, keith, jimmimellows: Thanks guys, going to try and make some progress over the weekend but the miserable weather (and Battlefield 3) are making that hard. Still, let's see if we can't finish the combi-flamer vet and maybe get a good way through at least one more eh?

Oh, I know that feeling. Fully expecting my hobby to drop off the face of the planet once Skyrim is released :)

Tell me about it! And after Skyrim is SWTOR! I'll never get anything done...

And back to the actual topic at hand:

Finished Combi-Flamer:

With stripes inspired by Imperial Armour 8 RG markings.

WIP 'Captain':

Like the rest of my RG he's going to be fairly subdued, just white studs on the leg and some fancy-work on the shield and shoulder pads. As well as keeping him in line with the rest of my grim-dark RG, he's designed be less eye-catching than Dragomir himself who will remain the centrepiece of the army (such as it is).

I'm debating whether he needs a white 'beak', or whether I ought to just leave it black. I'm thinking white beak for him and the rest of the squad too for that matter, should make them distinctive on the battlefield as a unit, as much as it pains me to paint that much white.

Still, that's a lot of white for the 'Captain' here with that big chest eagle, and I'd hoped to paint his shield white too. Hmm. A black 'beak' might make him stand out in the squad while it stands out from the army...maybe..

[Ravendove]

Finished Combi-Flamer:

Combi-Flamer looking sweet. Is that a custom job? Haven't seen the piece before but maybe that's just me being forgetful. Stripes add a lot to the weapon without cluttering it with detail. As always, cracking job on the overall miniature too.

I'm debating whether he needs a white 'beak', or whether I ought to just leave it black. I'm thinking white beak for him and the rest of the squad too for that matter, should make them distinctive on the battlefield as a unit, as much as it pains me to paint that much white.

Can see what you mean re: white overkill. Had an idea, how about just doing the 'nostrils' in white. You know the little grooves in the beak you sometimes see on the Raven Guard, perhaps just marking those in white-grey but leaving the overall helmet black? Suppose something of a 'reverse' of the regular white beak with dark grooves. Does that even make sense? Sorry - it's early monday morning and I've only had a single cup of coffee so far.

:)

[SCC]

Hmm, white nostrils is an interesting idea...sadly by the time I read that I'd already given him a white beak :angry:

The combi-flamer is from the FW character conversion set, lovely bit of kit that, lovely. I liked it so much I've converted a similar one using a Finecast Sternguard combi-bolter and a regular flamer for this squad too.

Now, a progress update:

Sergeant Arcolin - the 1st Company veteran assigned to 'assist' Dragomir lead his mission - is coming along quite nicely, I have however, hit a minor snag:

What colour should I paint the 'Raven Guard' etched brass on the shield?

I'm really quite taken with the white stripe, so that means painting the scroll white is probably out, I could do a standard scroll/parchment colour I guess. Or perhaps silver? Brass/gold? Maybe I can do the 'inside' of the scroll one colour and the edges & RG wings another? Maybe red outside (like the combi-flamer guy's heraldry shield) and white in?

Bear in mind so far I've used a very limited palette for the whole army and, ideally, I'd like it to be a light colour to make the inscription easy to make stand out, other than that - comments or suggestions more than welcome!

And to provide some context for the rest of the mini here are a couple of other WIP shots of Arcolin:

[Ravendove]

I'm really quite taken with the white stripe, so that means painting the scroll white is probably out, I could do a standard scroll/parchment colour I guess. Or perhaps silver? Brass/gold? Maybe I can do the 'inside' of the scroll one colour and the edges & RG wings another? Maybe red outside (like the combi-flamer guy's heraldry shield) and white in?

Personally, I say paint it red. You've done well with a limited, muted palette so far and I think you should continue it.

[MagicMan]

A vote for a brass colour from me.

[SCC]

Sergeant Arcolin, First Company

I went with red edging on the shield inscription and matched it with the shoulder pad detail. Pretty happy with the end result, though now I look at the chainsword, it looks a little plain compared to everything else and the eyes could maybe do with a little more detail :)

Still, play, not display and Arcolin is over 7.5 hours which is my character limit over and above the regular 5 hour rule, so it can wait until the army is complete and I've got time to touch up the little things.

On the whole though, I'm pretty happy with how he's turned out. The pose is nice and menacing and I think the colour scheme nicely marks him out as badass whilst still fitting in with the rest of the army. All in all, pretty darn happy with Arcolin ;)

Veteran Brother Daulk

Some slightly better photos of the combi-flamer veteran, now named Veteran Brother Daulk.

[TheDarkApostle]

I think a gold or bronze half imperial eagle sprouting out from the white stripe and down the side of the sword would help it pop a bit more SCC.

 

Other than that it looks ace. :)

 

TDA

[Pulse]

@SCC - Seriously,your painting work seems to be getting better and better each time i return to see this thread. Seriously awesome work on Sergeant Arcolin and Veteran Brother Daulk, such characterful models.

 

Can i ask, where did you get that chainsword for Arcolin? I have seen it before i think but i can't remember where. :)

[Ravendove]

Or perhaps edging the white line on the chainsword in red, to tie it in with the other white elements on the model.

 

Either way, stunning job - very jealous.

[SCC]

Or perhaps edging the white line on the chainsword in red, to tie it in with the other white elements on the model.

Oooh, nice idea!

 

@Pulse: Thanks mate, glad you're enjoying the army ;)

 

The chainsword is from the FW Mk.II assault marine set (the Mk.V set has the same chainsword too I believe). It also has some neat old style BPs and those fantastic RT era JPs, good set that, good set :)

 

@TDA: Thanks TDA, I do have those etched brass eagles lying around..

[Pulse]

The chainsword is from the FW Mk.II assault marine set (the Mk.V set has the same chainsword too I believe). It also has some neat old style BPs and those fantastic RT era JPs, good set that, good set :)

Ah yes so it is! Thanks mate!

[Lord Ragnarok]

Wow some reason those Mark 4 legs don't look as bad on that mini. Good Job SCC! I think I forgot to subscribe to this thread. tsk tsk :)

[Dosjetka]

Brother Daulk is epic (I especially love that little shield! How did you make that?) and I do like your Captain :tut: Great work all in all!

 

Ludovic

[Midnightmare]

Pure epic-ness all round. Great how each mini is part of a narrative, excellently modelled with much thought put in; and the painting - WOW!

[Marius Perdo]

Massively inspirational. Love it.

 

Right, inspired, so back to my lot B)

[Meatman]

Made me very happy to see you start posting in here again :cuss

 

Beautiful models as usual :D

[Grimdarkness]

They look good really good well done.

[plasman]

Neat paint jobs, cool poses (I :) Sgt Arcolin's one) and conversions. It's a great army you have here. :ph34r: Edited November 3, 2011 by plasman

[SCC]

Thanks for the kind words all, always a great motivation to hear nice things said about one's work ;)

@Ludovic: The shield is part of the shoulder pad - from of FW's RG upgrade set.

Now for the latest update:

Still playing with the camera setup in the new place so the photos aren't quite right, but as ever, if you squint everything is fine :huh:

Veteran Brother Keldor here is a mix of parts

- Standard Dev (or are they Command?) squad kneeling legs

- BA quasi-MkIV torso

- Red Scorpion MkIV helm

- FW MKVI arms, pads and backpack

- FW etched brass and plasticard RG symbol on leg

- All topped off with my last metal Deathwatch bolter. I'll miss those bolters, I really will ;)

There wasn't much room for red on Keldor, but I've made sure the cabling on his bolter and torso is red to tie him in a little more with the others in the squad, no squad pics yet, but I think it works pretty well.

When I've the leisure I'd like to add either some backpack based sensors or perhaps a sensor heavy servo skull to Keldor, I think either or both would help cement that 'scanning the battlefield' vibe I was trying to achieve with him as part of the 'hunting' theme of the squad.

I'm also considering adding a small RG decal to his right shoulder pad, it looks very odd to my eyes to see him with no RG symbols on his shoulders at all...

[Lorenzen]

if you wanted to add more red to him you could make the rim of the symbol on his knee red ala the veteran sargeant/captain man

 

i think considering the idea behind the model, he seems a little too much like hes posing for the camera for some squad photo.. if you rotated his head so he was looking over his shoulder slightly i think it would work a little better..

 

not sure what to suggest with the shoulder as i think the white from the nameplate would look odd with any more white on the pad, is there any squad markings or something that you could use? otherwise i think your best bet is to put a black raven on his pad with a fine white edge to it.

 

you can just ignore me of course.. though if you start purchasing any crons i'll be forced to have words with you, ravendove and marius.. :woot:

[SCC]

His head is already rotated a little, I had trouble with the camera wanting to focus on the near/far parts of the model simultaneously, unlike the standing Marines Keldor is actually quite 'deep' from front to back and it did funny things to the focus on my regular settings.

 

The red circle is a good idea, I'll file that one under my growing list of 'minor alterations for when the army is playable', ditto the outlined RG symbol, that should work nicely when I've the time to do it :)

 

On the 'crons, have no fear, they hold no allure for this staunch Imperial - Ave Imperator!