Shadow Force Dragomir - A Raven Guard Army

[Razblood]

I have simply one word for this, WOW!

 

Extremely cohesive and masterfully painted, along with crisp conversions.

[NightHunters]

Hi SCC, top work as always and loving the Damocles.

 

Regards the seat, I've done a couple of these in the larger hatch at the back but could work on a smaller scale.

 

Basically switch it around, don't mount the seat on the floor, suspend it from the hatch!

 

Mine had two hydraulic rods that telescoped up and down, hypothetical added benefit, when you run over a mine your spine doesn't spear your skull and real cosy over rough terrain.

 

No doubt it's way too late for you to change it to that config but for the next one ;)

 

Good luck though brother!

 

FTE

[SCC]

OK, we're in the homestretch of the LPC and I really need to get into gear after being thoroughly derailed by SWTOR and ME3, plus Rochard. So last night and tonight have been focused on building highlights:

I've taken them up a notch from my (not so) recently completed Predator and they're probably a touch brighter than the other Rhinos in the army too. OK, so highlights done I'm left with metals and SFD's signature white contrast panels. If it's black and not highlighted, it'll be metallic. If it's grey it'll end up white and the aquilas will end up gold I think.

Ugh, and I gotta do all those bolts, ugh, that'll take forever to do neatly :unsure:

3 days to go before the LPC deadline, feeling relatively confident...

As an aside, I'm still tinkering with the interior detail on the Damocles. NightHunters' idea of suspension is proving fruitful (plus, I went to the Australian War Memorial recently and had a poke around an M113 APC and guess what, the gunner is 'suspended'!). I've also made progress on the Commander to stand in the hatch. When the LPC is done I'll shoot some shots of it...

[Dosjetka]

Looking forward to seeing the Damocles completed :unsure: Good luck with the painting.

 

Ludovic

[SCC]

OK, Eudynamus is completed, just scraping in ahead of the deadline for the Librarium Painting Challenge B)

I've taken some snap-shots to prove I've completed my vow of course:

Front quarter image - mostly because I couldn't get the camera to focus properly from front on, it kept insisting on focussing on the launcher damn it's tiny little machine-spirit.

Right -

Left -

Rear -

Now, I've adhered to the '5 hour rule' quite firmly here, or at least, it's vehicle equivalent and Eudynamus took around 7 hours to paint. Yes, I could do better, the white is dull for example and my Greif lens missile nose idea is less cool than I'd hoped it would be, but 'play, not display' is the motto here. I bumped the highlights up a notch from Corvus Ferox (the Predator that forms the other half of my LPC vow) and I think they're pretty much just right. Plenty of definition but without taking away from the flat, functional and implacable black of my RG army overll.

On the kit itself, the FW Whirlwind launcher is nice, I like the design better than the regular plastic one and I think it meshes well with the Deimos IC pattern Rhino hull. Which I must admit I adore :rolleyes: Not only is it a nice change from the regular Rhino chassis but it's got a nostalgic charm that reminds me of how long I've been involved with the 40K universe and how much joy I've had from it. It was a little fiddly to put together but rock solid once properly assembled, the cast was excellent, no warpage or any major issues, overall another great FW kit.

You'll note I've kept everything low-key as usual, the biggest departure from my normal practice is the large heavy support marking on the rear ramp, but all my other Rhino vehicles have bare ramps and I thought it was time to change that up a little. Some FW etched brass ravens sit on the 'shoulders' on the front armour and they, along with the 'Victoris aut Mortis' plate that I'd like to neaten up one day, are really the only RG markings on Eudynamus here.

[Dosjetka]

That is one damn sexy vehicle you've got there SCC! Very well painted and it fits in very well with the rest of the force from what I can see :D

 

Congrats with finishing the vow too! What will you do now? Bikers?

 

Ludovic

 

Edit: Only nit-pick I have is that the metal of the exhaust pipes on the side is much too dark and so it's difficult to see that they have actually been painted. I thought they were just black at first.

Edited March 31, 2012 by Battle-Brother Ludovic

[SCC]

Congrats with finishing the vow too! What will you do now? Bikers?

Thanks Ludovic, and yes, yes it is bikers next.

On the exhausts, it is a dark metal yes, but it's the poor lighting that makes them look black, when I've time & space I'll take some decent shots and you can see the metallic effect better.

Ok, so although I'm not a huge SM bike fan, I would like some 'recon' forces in my army - it is an RG army after all - so I need to get working on a small bike squad at least.

So, I put together a 'draft' of Sergeant Kviarim, I debated whether to go sword or pistol in his left hand, obviously I went pistol:

Raven Guard FW torso & helm:

Bionic leg, RG symbols on BP:

RG shoulder pad with etched brass, Sevrin Loth Honour Guard scabbarded power sword

One of the big problems I have with bikes is the legs - there's only one type. As you can see, a simple swap has given me something unique here, but I still need 2 more bikes and an attack bike and four pairs of the same legs simply doesn't appeal.

For the other two bikes I'd like to improve on my old MkVI pattern biker legs from ages ago, or I may just de-Chaosify some CSM Biker legs and possibly even try my hand at some MkIV biker legs too. The attack bike I might leave with stock legs, we'll see.

As the bike squad is my recon element I'll also be adding some extra kit to the bikes so they can stay in the field without the need for re-supply. I've got lots of old metal bitz that'll do nicely for that, it should also help give the bikes a bit of character too rather than have them being all identical and boring.

[Lachdannan]

Whirlwind looks great.

 

Really looking forward to your bikes, as I've wanted to try assembling them for some time. Will be looking out for what you tack on them (for researching purposes only ;))

[Dosjetka]

Thanks Ludovic, and yes, yes it is bikers next.

 

On the exhausts, it is a dark metal yes, but it's the poor lighting that makes them look black, when I've time & space I'll take some decent shots and you can see the metallic effect better.

Great! I actually quite like the Space Marine Bikes, so I'm looking forward to seeing yours.

 

And I look forward to seeing the better pictures then!

 

Ludovic

[SCC]

@Syth - the Attack Bike kit has some rather good bitz for adding some variety to bikes, definitely worth a look. As are the Scout Bike and Scout squad kits - lots of bags and the like in both. I've also trawled through some IG sprues - FW and plastic alike - for more storage type gear. On top of that I have plenty of metal bitz from over the years that should work nicely.

Bike Squad update time:

Sgt Kviarim's bike:

I've added a camo cloak and storage pack to the back of the bike. I can't imagine RG bikers going to war without having the means to camo their bikes and prowl around on foot so all the bikes will have a camo cloak of some kind.

I've changed the front fairing for Kviarim's bike too, I cleaned up a Chaos biker fairing and added a new light from an Apothecary backpack. On the wheel fairing I added the other half of the Apothecary backpack as an advanced recon/targeting pack for the bike. I thought about using the RavenWing bitz instead of the Chaos ones but I have enough trouble distinguishing my RG bikers from the RW as it is.

Bike #2 here has plenty of panniers and storage strapped to the rear, and of course, a camo cloak. You can also see some FW magnoculars on this side and the different 'mark' of bike info readout - a few simple cuts, some filing and some plastic and etched brass bitz to complete the new look.

Looking at bike #2 from the left you can see the very old school holstered bolter and the de-chaosified MkVI legs. I'm still pondering removing the raised areas of the leg armour entirely :P

[Pulse]

Loving your detailed Rhino, looks ace so far.

 

Also looking forward to seeing how these bikers turn out, keep up the great work!

[Tyrannicide]

It's always a pleasure to visit this thread, and I'm glad you're back to the grind on these boys.

 

The Whirlwind is perfect. From the old style armor plating to the vehicle markings. It looks exactly how I'd imagine an Astartes tank to. I'm quite surprised by the level of detail that brass etch brings to each model.

 

Keep at it SCC! Let's see some paint on those bikes. ;)

[SCC]

Some different twin bolter set ups for front fairings:

An older style of bolter:

Scout biker bolters (lens to be replaced by Greif lens post painting of course):

Attack Bike WIP:

You can see the modified instrument cluster from this angle, and also the copious storage on the AB. I particularly like the holstered bolter strapped to the side fairing.

Bike #3:

Modified MkVI pattern legs, pretty happy with these so far ;) Again, lots of storage and there's another bolter strapped to the bike (on the other side) so all my guys have weapons to hand in case they dismount. You can also just about see some RG etched brass that's replaced the skull on the side of the bike.

Kviarim WIP:

Little bits of etched brass are being added to each bike to individualise them further.

Bike #2:

Again, etched brass has been added and more importantly - a bionic claw/hand! You can just see the plastic-rod 'thumb' on the underside, it's from a MaxMini or similar set of bionics that I've chopped up and converted to grasp the bike handle. A simple conversion, but yet another little detail to help make each biker an individual.

All up, I'm pretty happy with how the squad (including the AB) is shaping up, a little extra detail seems to be helping break up the sameness of the bike kit, and I think they'll fit in with the army - and the idea of each RG as an individual battle demi-god worthy of his own identity - quite nicely.

[SCC]

OK, so Bike #1 has been completed and I'm loving the red edging on the shoulder pads:

I'm pretty happy with the end result here, certainly it feels more RG and less Ravenwing than the first bike I painted (almost a year ago!). I'm quite tempted to pull that bike out and paint over the silver edgings and incorporate him in the squad, although I'll have to add some storage of course :D

Anyway, back to the new bike and I like the look and feel of the model - the storage makes the bike look less generic and the rider, with his MkVI legs and bionic claw/hand also has a bit of character. You can almost see the RG etch replacing the skulls on the sides of the bike, they're subtle but again they help differentiate this biker from all the other SM bike models out there.

I'll also note the highlights here are slightly different - I picked up some of the new paints on Saturday and used those (along with my home-made RG black of course) for the highlights here. First impressions of the base, layer and textured paints are good, I'll let you know how they go as I progress through the squad.

Next up will be the Sergeant, mostly because I'm still trying to get some nice smooth surfaces on the GS'd areas of Biker #3 and the Attack Bike biker. I seem to learn so much more slowly when it comes to sculpting than painting, I know I'm getting better, but I'm only getting better very slowly, which is frustrating to say the least. Still, it's better than not improving I suppose, or worse, going backwards...

[SCC]

And an attempt to take better photos of Eudynamus seeing as I had the camera out for Bike #1:

Here you can really see the green lenses haven't worked with the missiles, but the clear ones look pretty awesome on the hatch bolters, really wish I'd had enough red lenses for those missiles, I'll have to replace them at some stage...

[ssspectre]

Hopefully you're not tired of hearing this sort of thing yet, but this is one of the best Raven Guard armies ever seen. Love that biker in particular, the extra gear on the back definitely gives him that appropriately gritty look that helps to distinguish the chapter.

[Dosjetka]

I'm loving the biker and I aooreciate the new pictures of the Damocles :P Looking forward to seeing the next update!

 

Ludovic

[batu]

Woderfull as always ;)

 

Maybe you could put something white one the side armour of the Whirlwind, like a number or symbole, just to break up the black a little.

 

Looking forward for more updates !

[SCC]

Hopefully you're not tired of hearing this sort of thing yet, but this is one of the best Raven Guard armies ever seen. Love that biker in particular, the extra gear on the back definitely gives him that appropriately gritty look that helps to distinguish the chapter.

Oddly enough, I'm not tired of it at all! :devil:

@batu: Perhaps, I quite like the plain/functional nature of the WW though, it lets the Deimos pattern be the star rather than the markings I think.

@Ludovic: Here's an update then:

I decided to update the test bike to match the revised colour scheme I recently settled on for my RG bikers not just to give me an extra biker for the squad but also push up the total of completed points towards that magic 1500 with only a little fuss.

As well as repainting the old silver details I also needed to add gear - specifically a camo roll, some storage and a weapon for use dismounted:

As you can see, I decided to go with a plasma gun as the dismounted weapon and to have it in hand rather than holstered/mag-locked to the bike. I went with red 'cooling vanes' rather than a more vivid blue or green 'plasma core' effect here, I think it's more in keeping with the army, plus, red + black = ;)

As I was changing over the arm for the plasma gun I decided to replace the shoulder pad at the same time, this time with a raised trim to paint red to match the other biker. I re-created the conjoined RG/Assault Squad marking with decals, I like the way it looks, especially when there's only one available pad to display Chapter affiliation and squad assignment.

I'm pretty happy with the revised biker here, perhaps the only issue is that from the left he's very plain. I'm considering a white kneed pad or maybe a raven marking there instead to relieve all that black...

[KJB]

Congratulations SCC, you've done the impossible - you've made a model I hate look spectacular!

 

I've never liked the Space Marine bikes and had hoped those ageing kits would have been updated/replaced by now

 

As for the Plasma gun, very nice - I would never have thought to do the plasma coil red, it complements the Raven Guard colour scheme nicely

 

Hmm, maybe I could paint a Raven Guard marine... Just one... Hmm...

[SCC]

@Keith: Thanks, I'm not a huge fan of the kits myself either and I'd agree they need some love from GW. On the plasma gun, I like the idea the coils are for cooling rather than part of the firing process, I've never been all that comfortable with bright green and blue plasma guns (now plasma fire, that's fine in bright colours).

Sergeant Kviarim

Kviarim here is made from an awful lot of different parts, even the bike mixes in a few extra parts with the bolters from a scout bike (fitted with MV lens targeter of course), an Apothecary backback sensor added to the front of the bike (MV lens there too!) and some old metal stowage together with the sheathed sword from the Sevrin Loth Honour Guard kits.

Kviarim himself has one plastic biker leg matched to a bionic leg that might be from MaxMini I think. It was a surprisingly easy conversion, just clipped off the plastic leg, neatened it up and pinned/glued the bionic in, fit like it was meant to go there :yes: The only other plastic biker bit is the right arm, everything else is either FW (helm, backpack, torso, shoulder pads and of course, etched brass) or in the case of the left arm, BA plastic.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how Kviarim turned out, he feels properly RG and is, importantly for bikers given the limited range, unique in composition and parts so that he's a true individual like every other member of Shadow Force Dragomir.

Bike Squad Kviarim (so far):

And a quick snap of the three completed bikers shows a nice unified look for the squad whilst still retaining individuality amongst both bikes and riders.

[Lysimachus]

Stunning work as always, SCC. Love the choice of bits, especially on the Sgt. If I had to pick on anything, only the positioning of the sheathed sword looks a little off, would a bit awkward to draw while riding along. Nevertheless, it's a piddly little complaint compared to the awesomeness of the whole squad in general! Are there many more Bikers planned? What's next?

[SCC]

Brother Tyler said much the same thing when I posted up the WIPs a while ago. Here's my response:

 

I agree, it's a dumb place for a sword, but it's the least dumb place I could find it actually fit if that makes sense. I rationalised it by deciding that as it's a power sword, the blade isn't itself sharp so he can lift the handguard from underneath, then, grasping it by the blade, slide it all the way out before flipping it into his hand properly

 

Not super-practical, but doable at a reasonable speed if not anything breakneck. I figure Kviarim, being an RG, would be sneaky enough to know when he's going to need a blade and thus make sure he has plenty of time to execute this... manoeuvre.

 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

[Dosjetka]

Stunning work as always, SCC. Love the choice of bits, especially on the Sgt. If I had to pick on anything, only the positioning of the sheathed sword looks a little off, would a bit awkward to draw while riding along. Nevertheless, it's a piddly little complaint compared to the awesomeness of the whole squad in general! Are there many more Bikers planned? What's next?

I can only second this. Excellent work :)

 

Ludovic

[SCC]

Thanks Ludovic.

 

On the rest of the squad, I've got one more biker and a multi-melta attack bike planned, they're almost built and should be ready for undercoating over the weekend (if the weather holds). I got the new FW Apothecary kit in the mail today, I'm severely tempted to use some of those lovely, lovely bitz to make a bike mounted Apothecary now, although imitating Shiny Rhino's TechMarine biker is also a tempting idea...