Shadow Force Dragomir - A Raven Guard Army

[Olis]

Great stuff, looking forward to number five, SCC. :)

[Xavier Targhost]

Is it just me or is the Captain finished? Im curious? Love all of the nice and very cool RG you have here mate!!! Painting is awesome and allot of character in them all!!! Thought the Captain went the sgt for the command swuad ? or how does the captain look? is it the wicked relic axe wealder? :D

 

Cheers on a realy sweet army mate!

[SCC]

@Olisredan; kakhisuperbunny; Father of Incendia; Lord Bearer: Thanks guys, number 5 is coming along nicely too...

@Darth: Well, the original planned Force Chart is below:

But I'm most likely not going to end up with that exact force.

Right now I've got just under 1000 playable points

Dargomir

Arcolin + Command Squad

Tac Squad Rhuarc + Rhino

Tac Squad Khalid + Rhino

Ven Dread Pallas

Tac Squad Devlin (5 man)

or at least I will when I finish off the Command Squad (one Marine), add a PF Sergeant to the third Tac squad (total strength 5 and technically playable if not much use) and change the Sergeant of squad Rhuarc so he has a PW and a helm that isn't fully white (seeing as no one else has one and I think it's a bit jarring when seen with the whole army).

After that 5 vehicles and 10 Marines gets me almost to 1500 points - Predator Corvus Ferox (assembled, undercoated), Whirlwind Eurydynamus (in the process of cleaning up and building using FW WW and Damocles parts), Razorback Malifex Maximus for Arcolin and his squad (which will be MkIC Deimos based - and guess what just arrived in the mail today!?), Razorback Umbra Mortis for the Sternguard squad I need to do and the Rhino Raptor Caedes for the expanded third 10 man Tac Squad.

After that I should theoretically do the bikes to hit 1750 and then 1850 points but I'm not that enamoured of the models and am considering some Vanguard Vets, either in a RB or with the old school FW JPs I now have, in their place. I'm also considering replacing the Sternguard squad with something else - I've already built a lot of Marines with fancy bolters so I might consider some Devs, a Vindie or a Predator and some upgrades for any possible Vanguards I use.

Having said that I may need a break from black at 1500 points...

@Xavier Targhost: Sergeant Arcolin is finished, I'm using him as a Captain with Command Squad in game terms (mostly so I can have an Apothecary!) but in fluff terms he's a senior Sergeant of the First Company - there are only 10 Company Captains in a Chapter and they can't be with every fighting force after all! His squad has one more mini to go, the planned fourth mini (Elson) ended up as a Tac marine when the pose didn't hold up with the rest of the squad.

[SCC]

At last! The Command Squad is joined by the final member - Veteran Brother Renner:

Again, the theme of the squad is 'hunting through ruins' and once again a lovely pair of FW legs has given me the right amount of movement - enough to be predatory, not so much as to be charging.

So, MkVI backpack, legs and torso from Forge World, a plastic MkVII helm with extra targeting gear. Weaponry is formed of a BA chainsword arm and FW bionic arm with cool, old school bolt pistol. Again, I've added a splash of red to the mini at the shoulder as a squad identifier and of course the white 'beak' to the helmet I'm using for marking my veterans.

Next up, a class squad photo....

[SCC]

I present for your viewing pleasure Veteran Sergeant Arcolin of the First Company, Raven Guard and his brethren:

In game terms they represent a Captain and Command Squad of course.

I started developing in July, you can see what it originally looked like here:

:P

I went through an awful lot of evolutions to get to the finished product and I'd like to offer my thanks to all those who commented on the squad and helped me bring it to life :D

Only one Marine survived from that initial planning phase intact (Veteran Brother Daulk - far right), although a number of parts were shuffled around to form new and improved Marines. In the initial phase I made the mistake of just making models that looked cool, the problem of course is that there's no coherency amongst the squad at all. Some discussion on my blog and my WIP thread, especially with Povar, helped me identify the need for and develop a more defined theme for the squad.

The theme I settled on was 'hunting xenos through a ruined cityscape' and I think the revised squad does a pretty good job of presenting that theme. As I look at that group photo I'm more convinced than ever that I need to paint a servo-skull for Keldor (kneeling) so it looks like he's receiving a report or giving it instructions so he ties in more closely with that theme.

I also used red through the squad to help tie them together a little more as well, typically, but not always, on the shoulder pad.

OK, so links to individual Marines, these take you to the final blog entry for each Marine and include pics from multiple angles as well as a commentary of construction, posing and painting of each:

• Sergeant Arcolin (Shield & Chainsword, centre front)
  
• Brother Apothecary Leandro (rear left, BP/Chainsword)
  
• Veteran brother Keldor (bolter, kneeling)
  
• Veteran Brother Daulk (Combi-Flamer, far right)
  
• Veteran Brother Balfour (left front, bolter - left handed)
  
• Veteran Brother Renner (rear middle, BP/Chainsword)
  

Next up for Shadow Force Dragomir will be the Predator Corvus Ferox.

[Dosjetka]

Very menacing. I really like it B) Anything special planned for the Predator?

 

Ludovic

[Olis]

Renner looks cool - he seems to be one of a select few MK7 helmet wearers so far. Good thing, I say. :D

[Pulse]

I love Veteran Brother Renner but my only gripe is that your using a running leg for a walking sytled model, on the left foot the toes seem to be a bit awkward as they are pointing upward and it makes it look as though the marine is walking on his heel, other than that he is an awesome addition to the amazing First Company squad!

[Lord Bearer]

I really like what you have done with the minis and it inspires me to really put together a strong theme for my army.

 

I will keep you posted.

Edited December 9, 2011 by Lord Bearer

[Reed]

Well done, your command/veteran squad looks great. Keep up the good work.

[batu]

Just fantastic ! ;)

[SCC]

Very menacing. I really like it :rolleyes: Anything special planned for the Predator?

Thanks Ludovic. Nothing super-special planned for the Pred - there's a pic of it earlier and it's a basic magnetised Predator with a FW RG front. Now, the Whirlwind I've been building, that's going to be a little special :D

 

@Oli: Thanks mate, he's the squad commo specialist hence the speccy helmet with antenna etc.

 

@Pulse: Yeah, I tried to disguise that by shaving the bottom of the foot to make it less obvious but it clearly hasn't worked. Last time I chopped off a toe and tried to put it back on straight and GS it I made an awful mess so I wimped out this time :tu:

 

@Lord Bearer: Thanks, I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

 

@Batu & Reed: Thanks guys :)

 

Updates will be a little slow over the next little while - I subluxed my shoulder last week so I can only paint in very short bursts which means Corvus Ferox will take a while...plus, SWTOR is out soon and that'll require some time no doubt...

[Pulse]

@Pulse: Yeah, I tried to disguise that by shaving the bottom of the foot to make it less obvious but it clearly hasn't worked. Last time I chopped off a toe and tried to put it back on straight and GS it I made an awful mess so I wimped out this time :tu:

It isn't that noticable, nothing is taken away from the model as it is ace even with the wonky foot! :)

 

Hope your shoulder gets better soon mate!

Edited December 14, 2011 by Pulse

[NemFX]

I think you should do that strike cruiser next.

 

 

.. I mean, it's not gonna built itself, y'know.

[Lord Bearer]

I think you should do that strike cruiser next.

 

 

.. I mean, it's not gonna built itself, y'know.

 

 

LOL... Heck.. I'd be happy with a Thunderhawk. ;-)

 

I once had an idea to add a Strike Cruiser to my army....

 

I was thinking of getting a Battlefleet Gothic ship and painting it up for his army. I was then going to attach it to a long thin clear plastic rod. Then build it onto a piece of army-specific terrain. A small ship flying over the battlefield??? Looks like a Strike Cruiser in low orbit.

 

Cheesy?? Probably

 

Fun?? Yup!!

Edited December 15, 2011 by Lord Bearer

[Midnightmare]

That is one bad-ass looking squad SCC. Final product comes together really well, with Brother Balfour my fave :)

[Kaldoth]

As a fellow RG player, I have definitely got to say you have an outstanding army. Have you made any further progress? I'd love to see some more updates! Just note that you have made me extremely jealous and I now have to figure out some way to convince my wife into letting me order all the forge world bits Santa didn't bring this year :woot:

 

-Kal

[SCC]

OK, update time (at last!) for Corvus Ferox:

Apologies for the photo(s) I still haven't replaced that broken light...

OK, so a standard plastic Rhino with a FW RG glacis plate to give it that RG feel, added to that are the FW etched brass 'Corvus Ferox' name plate on the turret, RG symbol on the ammo box at the turret rear, some tiny aquilas on the HB mounts and half-ravens on the HB casing itself. There's a FW tow-cable too.

I have of course also added Greif lenses as targeters (because I still can't paint lenses - see the green 'windows' on the turret hatch as Exhibit A in that prosecution), there's a close up at the middle right of the image that'll show some of those little details. Other than that, it's pretty much your average Predator really with a fairly subdued paintjob in keeping with the rest of Strike Force Dragomir.

Whilst I'm fairly happy overall with Corvus Ferox there's plenty I'd do differently next time around. First, I wouldn't magnetise the HB sponsons, if I'm honest I'll be lucky to ever actually play a game so the flexibility to change weapons is pretty much unnecessary and it's a pain in the backside. The main problem of course, is that whilst everything was fine with the dry fit (bottom right) once both sponson and mount had undercoat on 'em that lovely fit wasn't so lovely any more and, naturally, every time I tried to fix it I just made it worse by snapping off magnets, cutting bits of plastic that oughtn't be cut and so forth.

I'd also go harder on the highlights, even for SFD Corvus Ferox is pretty low-key, a few extra high points wouldn't hurt. I also need to try another coat of Dull Cote to try and smooth out that varnish on the front of the tank around the visor, extra highlights at the same time will help make sure they aren't swallowed by the varnish.

There are also some issues with the neatness/placement of the highlights I'd like to tidy up, but (despite the poor odds on ever playing a game with these guys) I'm still going with 'play, not display' so I'll be moving on from these guys and starting up the next FW RH1NO, which will, coincidentally, allow me to fulfil my Librarium Painting Challenge vow :)

[Dosjetka]

I agree with more defined and lighter highlights, but I still think it looks really good and it should tie in quite well with the rest of the force :)

 

Good to have you back :)

 

Ludovic

[Zhoolda]

I rarely se highelighted black I like, but you realy nailed it. Good job :D

[SCC]

OK, so the second half of my Librarium Painting Challenge is another RH1NO based vehicle. I have a RH1NO Damocles super-detailing project under wraps for the moment that I'd hoped to run into the LPC but time isn't on my side. Instead, I shall try and complete Eudynamus, a MkIC Deimos pattern Whirlwind:

Front:

Lots of little etched brass pieces (as usual) to help break up all the all-black colour scheme of the RG. You can see various places I've had to GS some holes, gaps or minor miscasts but overall the fit of the resin over the regular plastic chassis was pretty impressive. On a note of caution for anyone else building a Deimos - the two bolter turrets are different - make sure you fit them into the correct space on the chassis (there's one deep and one shallow).

Close examination of the missile will show I've flattened them from the rounded shape of the originals, I'll be drilling shallow holes for some Greif lenses for those, I plan on having the Damocles and WW as a 'matched pair' with 'guided' WW missiles slaved to Damocles' sensors in fluff terms (no game effect mind, but it's cool to think about these things).

Left side:

I do wish instead of the slat vents it had the mesh of the original RH1NO design, I miss those.

Right side:

I also miss the flat side doors with a simple flat edge, would've been a great place for some decals or etched brass. I'm going to try to fit a Dev decal on the doors, or maybe even paint the inverted 'V'.

I do like the new exhaust though, nicer than the old ones, they looked like something off a Mack truck with that curve...

Despite the issues I had with the magnetised turret/sponsons on Corvus Ferox, I decided to magnetise the WW launcher on Eudynamus so it could rotate freely (the FW kit already cleverly allows it to elevate/depress as built):

Dead simple - magnet on the bottom of the turret, magnet on a cut down plastic rod pinned and glued to the floor of the chassis.

Victoris aut Mortis:

I love FW etched brass ;)

I really need to order another RG set now I think about it, I'm running out of the smaller, more detailed ravens at a rate of knots.

[Dosjetka]

Very sexy looking Whirlwind/Damocles ;)

 

Ludovic

[batu]

Cool vehicles ! Especially the whirlwind, it has so much character.

 

I hope you will start painting it soon :mellow:

[Captain Juan Juarez]

Looking good as always SCC.

[SCC]

Thanks guys :D

As well as the Whirlie (above) my super-detailed Damocles class Rhino is also coming together, albeit more slowly:

I'm still working out the best way to get the vehicle commander standing in the hatch (not the guy there now, that's just a test fit). At the moment it looks like he'll stand on the seat and be just about the right height. The black circles at the front of the pic are magnets that will allow me to remove the front armour plate at will to display the interior.

Cogitator banks in the rear compartment, as I'll have a driver and a Marine in a hatch there'll only be one marine at the sensors.

From here you can see the commander's seat, sensors and so forth as well. I'm trying to work out whether the seat needs armrests to stand on, whether I should try to have him stand in the seat or even one on the seat, one on the arm and have him at a bit of an angle :D

Argos thinks a folding seat might work too, but I can't work out a way to pull that off in the space I've got left (even with the seat removed). I'm hoping the FW vehicle commanders will prove something suitable for the commander, I'm planning on using some biker legs as they're nice and straight and should be (hopefully) simple to convert to a standing, peering out the hatch. Or I could just keep the seat up front, wimp out and have two marines at the sensors and none at the hatch...

All ideas, help and examples welcome!