Shadow Force Dragomir - A Raven Guard Army

[Wicced]

fantastic work brother ;)

 

only criticism would be the sergeant's purity seals. in my humble opinion, they don't look like they're moving with the airflow one would expect from a moving bike.

[Dosjetka]

only criticism would be the sergeant's purity seals. in my humble opinion, they don't look like they're moving with the airflow one would expect from a moving bike.

Hum, I missed that one. A good point.

 

Ludovic

[SCC]

Like the issue of the sword, the seals were raised in WIP too. I did actually re-position the shoulder ones to give them some motion, but in my mind the squad is scouting through a ruined city/industrial area rather than zooming and zipping around. At 20 km/h I think the seals are OK, especially if you think of them more as cloth parchment than paper, something more substantial, stiffer and altogether more resistant to moving...

[Wicced]

Like the issue of the sword, the seals were raised in WIP too. I did actually re-position the shoulder ones to give them some motion, but in my mind the squad is scouting through a ruined city/industrial area rather than zooming and zipping around. At 20 km/h I think the seals are OK, especially if you think of them more as cloth parchment than paper, something more substantial, stiffer and altogether more resistant to moving...

 

 

your army, your rules :P

[SCC]

Like the issue of the sword, the seals were raised in WIP too. I did actually re-position the shoulder ones to give them some motion, but in my mind the squad is scouting through a ruined city/industrial area rather than zooming and zipping around. At 20 km/h I think the seals are OK, especially if you think of them more as cloth parchment than paper, something more substantial, stiffer and altogether more resistant to moving...

your army, your rules ;)

If the rationalisation is even faintly reasonable, it'll do ;)

Now, a minor update:

This is what my RG look like before they get Dull Cote'd ;)

I needed a break from bikes so I decided to make a start on the 4th Company veterans who'll accompany Dragomir in a Razorback (or possibly my StormEagle, if it ever arrives!) on the battlefield. I know Vanguard Vets aren't generally considered terribly effective but I think I'll put together a 5 man squad simply for the modelling opportunities. Speaking of which, any guesses as to where our friend here's right leg is from? It's mostly obscured but I think someone out there knows...

I struck upon this pose by accident, I was just playing around with bits looking for something less than ultra-common for assault type troops - you know, one straight arm with BP/CCW and one bent one with whatever isn't in the opposite hand. With this pose I like to think he's just heard a sound or seen a flash of movement and is pinpointing it before he vaporises it with that plasma pistol or perhaps simply eviscerates it with that lovely SW chainsword I added an old power axe handle to to make a hand-and-a-half-ish sword....

[SCC]

Battle Brother Galt is a member of Fourth Comany's First Squad and a veteran in his own right. Like the rest of the 'First of the Fourth' Galt will be considered for promotion to the First Company or to Sergeant upon the Company's return to Deliverance.

The members of the First often accompany their Captain into battle as his bodyguard and as a result are granted access to the Company's armoury. Though not as extensive as the Chapter Armoury the equipment carried aboard the Strike Cruiser Pride of Deliverance is nonetheless some of the finest available to the Raven Guard.

Galt and his brethren, though nominally a Tactical Squad, have elected to equip themselves with powerful close combat weapons from the armoury in order to better act as a close protection detail for Codicier Dragomir on the Ork infested world of Travan IV:

Galt is mostly plastic, MkVIII torso and MKVII helm (shaved to fit a little snugger in the raised collar), Mk.VI legs with lower right leg is from the FW Captain Korvydae model, BA plasma pistol (with blood-drop turned into a raven skull on the forearm) and SW chainsword (with an old power axe pommel in place of the wolf one).

I like the 'alert but not alarmed' pose, in my mind he's just heard a sound and is checking it out, making sure it's no threat to his charge, Dragomir.

Detail of the Korvydae leg conversion, have to say, I'm pretty darn happy with how it turned out, from the front it looks like it came off the sprue like that :huh: Not so much from the back maybe, but hey, it's not too bad back there either.

[Midnightmare]

Excellent work! The leg conversion is seemless :huh: The dullcoat certainly makes the difference on the black finish, makes them look like they are sucking up all the light.

[SCC]

Thanks Midnight Runner :) I think when the army is done I shall send Testors a nice letter of thanks for making it look so good!

Now, a minor update with a second Fourth Company veteran taking shape:

Based on a metal Sternguard, I've replaced the extended bolter/sling arm with a bionic and BP with GS'd raven skulls. Other than that, it's mostly been a matter of Dremmel'ing the extra detail off and either trying to GS it ( I can never get it smooth, never) or covering it with etched brass RG symbols.

To keep the squad distinct from the actual First Company veterans accompanying Dragomir not only are their left rims green, but their helmets will be all black and instead they'll have other white elements to indicate their lower 'level' of veterancy.

I'm also toying with the idea of equipping the squad entirely with Mk.VIII and III armour to emphasise their close combat role - both offer the best possible protection, both to survive any ranged threats to get in close and then in hand-to-hand fighting. The MkVIII troopers, being more mobile, will act as the squad outriders with the III-equipped Marines forming a central shield for Dragomir. We'll see how the next couple of model builds go...

[SCC]

Brother Ravill has been completed:

Photographed with a new, much harsher light setup that still needs a bit of tweaking. Poor bloke looks positively grey instead of black...

Anyway, as discussed before he's based on the metal Sternguard Sergeant with some bionics, etched brass and RG bitz and bobs. Pretty simple really.

Painting wise, the five hour rule kicked in here so I finished Ravill up in a fair old hurry, if I had the luxury of time I'd smooth out the white parts and fix up the bone too. Still, a more than reasonable table-top mini I think so he'll now join Galt in guarding Dragomir :D

[SCC]

Finally! My Storm Eagle and Rapier have arrived from FW.

Quick inspection of the kits was pleasing, they're both lovely, characterful models, but closer inspection revealed some seriously misaligned lascannon barrels on the Rapier that have taken me some considerable time to sort out. Still, the model is coming together nicely:

It's just pinned together at the moment, no glue, I think I'm going to paint it in three or four major components (left/right tracks, lascannon battery & gun shield {not shown} plus the crew of course) so I can get at all the detail.

The Storm Eagle kit is nice too, there's a serious weight of resin there:

There's some warpage of the large body panels, to be expected and manageable with some warm water, if a pain in an 80GPB kit but almost everything else seems to be an excellent cast. I say 'almost' because they've somehow sent me 2 left canards and no right one :D I've sent FW an email, we'll see if they respond, but I suspect I'm going to be up for an expensive phone call to the UK early next week given their track record for responding to email...

Still, the kit itself is :)

[Castellan Alaric]

so i just read this whole thread in one go and i have to say SCC it's quite fantastic work you've done on your shadow force. i particularly find the dull black you achieve on your models is fantastic. very nice work, good luck on your storm eagle! i would like to get one of those for my templar force as well. good show man, good show.

[batu]

Im looking to see the Storm Eagle finished :)

 

I think its time for a group shot, isnt it :)

[Ace Debonair]

I realise I'm a bit late with this one, but those bikes are excellent.

 

Top stuff! :)

[SCC]

so i just read this whole thread in one go and i have to say SCC it's quite fantastic work you've done on your shadow force. i particularly find the dull black you achieve on your models is fantastic. very nice work, good luck on your storm eagle! i would like to get one of those for my templar force as well. good show man, good show.

Thanks :tu:

 

And thanks to Testors for Dull Cote too, it's largely responsible for that menacing matte black.

 

@batu: I'll see what I can do about a groupshot, lighting is always an issue...

 

@Ace: better late then never, eh? ;) Thanks mate, there's still another bike and an attack bike to go. If the weather doesn't get better (and it doesn't look like it will this week) so I can undercoat that Rapier I'll turn my hand to them I think...

[Bat33.1]

Finally! My Storm Eagle and Rapier have arrived from FW.

 

Quick inspection of the kits was pleasing, they're both lovely, characterful models, but closer inspection revealed some seriously misaligned lascannon barrels on the Rapier that have taken me some considerable time to sort out. Still, the model is coming together nicely:

 

It's just pinned together at the moment, no glue, I think I'm going to paint it in three or four major components (left/right tracks, lascannon battery & gun shield {not shown} plus the crew of course) so I can get at all the detail.

 

The Storm Eagle kit is nice too, there's a serious weight of resin there:

 

There's some warpage of the large body panels, to be expected and manageable with some warm water, if a pain in an 80GPB kit but almost everything else seems to be an excellent cast. I say 'almost' because they've somehow sent me 2 left canards and no right one :lol: I've sent FW an email, we'll see if they respond, but I suspect I'm going to be up for an expensive phone call to the UK early next week given their track record for responding to email...

 

Still, the kit itself is :D

 

I had the same issue with the Rapier barrels, big mould slip on mine to the point I didn't even attempt a fix just called them for replacements. I fear you are right about having to call them, I have had no success at all with email response in the last two months, previously they had been very quick usually next day. I even tried a post on their facebook page to get a reason for the zero response and best I could get was a - 'we are very busy, please re-send emails and we'll get back to you' - which of course they didn't :huh:

 

Maybe try FW's Facebook page yourself to save the cost of a call?

[SCC]

@PJ: Yeah, I ended up having to call them in the end, but they were helpful as always and promised to cast the missing part and sent it toot-sweet.

OK, so wet weather this week has meant my poor Rapier battery is still sitting nude, awaiting an undercoat:

On the plus side that does mean I've been able to start constructing my Storm Eagle:

One side mostly completed, still a little gap filling to do and some aquilas and RG etched brass to go on there somewhere too. The other side is ready to mate the wing/engine section to the fuselage, then I'll do my interior painting and full assembly.

Construction has been....challenging. The fuselage warping was corrected with hot water easily enough and the fit has been fairly good overall (but still far from seamless) but this is not a kit for the inexperienced. I started building it according to FW's instructions but quickly deviated as building it the FW way would make it impossible to paint the interior properly and if you did it before it'd be a nightmare of fitting, drilling and jiggling to get it all sorted out.

Further, the weight and design of the kit has made a full dry fit nigh on impossible and I hate not being able to dry fit a complete model :rolleyes:

At them moment I've had to guess the correct lengths to cut the ramp arms too and I've had to tidy up a lot of parts (like the internal bulkhead that forms the best part of what keeps the kit properly aligned when complete) and prepare them for pinning pretty much blind.

Here you can see the gap between the plastic wing and resin engine/'aileron' assembly (which itself needed some gap filling). You can see how the fit is OK, but not much more than that with the gap growing right to left in that shot. You can also see where I've pinned the plastic and resin together in two of the three vents at the top of the join, there's only so far I trust superglue with this kind of weight.

The engine/fuselage join was also a far from smooth operation. Below is the as yet un-mated port side and you can see the engine is designed to attach on those three curved ribs. The engine also has some cut-outs that are supposed to help you align them but in neither case were they quite right and I've had to resort to 7 pins (including 2 the best part of an inch long each), enough superglue for the fumes to make me dizzy and plenty of liquid green stuff to complete the join in a way that gives me any confidence that it will hold.

Conversely the front on fit was excellent with the interlocking section lining things up beautifully. Because I'm an idiot and didn't read the SE rules I superglued the lascannons into the wing not realising I'd be better off with magnet to swap them for missiles if I wanted :blush: Oh, well, I like lascannons so it's not the end of the world...

FW claim the craft has a 'fully detailed interior' and while the inside isn't exactly bare, it's not exactly 'fully detailed' either in my opinion. I'm going to add a little more detail in there before the undercoat goes on, more plasticard rods and struts together with etched brass bolts, aquilas and RG symbols certainly, but I'm also going to look at whether some of the Storm Raven plastic stuff (seats etc.) can be incorporated into the design - there's plenty of it left over after all.

[tagsta]

@PJ: Yeah, I ended up having to call them in the end, but they were helpful as always and promised to cast the missing part and sent it toot-sweet.

OK, so wet weather this week has meant my poor Rapier battery is still sitting nude, awaiting an undercoat:

On the plus side that does mean I've been able to start constructing my Storm Eagle:

One side mostly completed, still a little gap filling to do and some aquilas and RG etched brass to go on there somewhere too. The other side is ready to mate the wing/engine section to the fuselage, then I'll do my interior painting and full assembly.

Construction has been....challenging. The fuselage warping was corrected with hot water easily enough and the fit has been fairly good overall (but still far from seamless) but this is not a kit for the inexperienced. I started building it according to FW's instructions but quickly deviated as building it the FW way would make it impossible to paint the interior properly and if you did it before it'd be a nightmare of fitting, drilling and jiggling to get it all sorted out.

Further, the weight and design of the kit has made a full dry fit nigh on impossible and I hate not being able to dry fit a complete model ;)

At them moment I've had to guess the correct lengths to cut the ramp arms too and I've had to tidy up a lot of parts (like the internal bulkhead that forms the best part of what keeps the kit properly aligned when complete) and prepare them for pinning pretty much blind.

Here you can see the gap between the plastic wing and resin engine/'aileron' assembly (which itself needed some gap filling). You can see how the fit is OK, but not much more than that with the gap growing right to left in that shot. You can also see where I've pinned the plastic and resin together in two of the three vents at the top of the join, there's only so far I trust superglue with this kind of weight.

The engine/fuselage join was also a far from smooth operation. Below is the as yet un-mated port side and you can see the engine is designed to attach on those three curved ribs. The engine also has some cut-outs that are supposed to help you align them but in neither case were they quite right and I've had to resort to 7 pins (including 2 the best part of an inch long each), enough superglue for the fumes to make me dizzy and plenty of liquid green stuff to complete the join in a way that gives me any confidence that it will hold.

Conversely the front on fit was excellent with the interlocking section lining things up beautifully. Because I'm an idiot and didn't read the SE rules I superglued the lascannons into the wing not realising I'd be better off with magnet to swap them for missiles if I wanted ;) Oh, well, I like lascannons so it's not the end of the world...

FW claim the craft has a 'fully detailed interior' and while the inside isn't exactly bare, it's not exactly 'fully detailed' either in my opinion. I'm going to add a little more detail in there before the undercoat goes on, more plasticard rods and struts together with etched brass bolts, aquilas and RG symbols certainly, but I'm also going to look at whether some of the Storm Raven plastic stuff (seats etc.) can be incorporated into the design - there's plenty of it left over after all.

looks very promising so far! could you provide a picture of the bulkhead you mentioned?

cheers

[SCC]

Ask and ye shall receive:

Internal bulkhead and the rear ramp (the front ramp is just your basic Rhino ramp).

There's a few other shots in my Raven Guard gallery here too of the other resin components like the missile launchers and the forward sections of the wings for those interested.

[Dosjetka]

Wow! That is one beast of a kit! Good luck with assembling it :)

 

Ludovic

[red_starrise]

Very nice. I'm loving the Stormeagle! I really want one myself eventually but I fear placing another order from FW. I bought a land raider proteus which had a significant amount of issues for a $130 kit. It had an actual deep wrinkle along one of the sides below the door, a broken track section that was completely missing the broken off part &, worst of all, 2 right side lascannon sponsons so it's impossible to complete the build. It did indeed require a rather pricey phone call to FW and alot of hassle w/ my phone company to get international calling added, not to mention time differences since I'm west coast US.

 

I hope you get your piece quicker than me, it's been over 2 weeks and still waiting, despite the original order being over $600.

 

I will watch this thread avidly though, I can't wait to see the eagle built.

[The Yak]

I don't know where to start with this plog, I don't feel I have a true enough range of superlatives to describe how magnificent it is. Firstly its Raven Guard and I have always loved Corax and his lads. Secondly it is of a modelling and painting standard that is jaw droppingly cool (see what I mean).

 

Went through the whole plog the other day and had to sign up to show my appreciation. Here is a list of things I like most about your great work.

 

1) Individuality: The detail in each marine and the little bits of fluff are for me what the Astartes are all about.

2) Modelling: The way each squad is planned out and the various MK armour parts seamlessly blended.

3) Painting: The matt black is superb, all the painting is great the contrast and limited colours work so well.

4) Raven Guard: The older pieces of armour and the practical theme is Raven Guard Wondermilk. Just like the Raptors none of this fancy ornamentation business.

5) Detail: The detail in the organisation of your squads in keeping with your prepared force organisation chart.

6) Inspiration: So many cool ideas and tips for fellow beakies

 

Great work looking forward to following this threads progression. Good luck with the storm eagle!!

[SCC]

@Ludovic: Thanks, gonna need it!

@red_starrise: I got my replacement piece about 4 days after I made my phone call, in fact it beat the MkIV Assault Squad and new bolters I'd ordered that had already shipped before that call somehow. Hopefully yours has turned up by now...

@The Yak: Nice to see another Son of Corax on the boards, glad you're enjoying the army :)

OK, so progress on the Rapier:

As you can see the Rapier itself is pretty much done, as is the gunner's body/legs. The fit of arm with control to Rapier is odd, it leaves the gunner point off to the side, upon reflection I should have prepped the control arm for pinning to the Rapier as I've had to 'pot luck' glue it in place since taking this photo. Live & learn I guess.

You can see how rough the barrels still are despite much work straightening them out and cleaning them up :) Still,

play not display' is the rule and they're fine for tabletop. Work continues apace on the gunner and his companion while I think about how to paint the interior of my Storm Eagle.

I've based it grey and that'll be the main colour, but I'm wondering whether I need another colour to liven up all those grey, grey panels. I'll mull it over some more while I work on the Rapier...

[Dosjetka]

Quite a nice kit, that Rapier. Though the driver/operator looks a bit strange, as if he was falling off the thing.

 

Ludovic

[Sanguinius Chosen Wing]

Yeah seems to have a gangster lean or something :P

[SCC]

He's just propped up there, the actual, glued down pose is less awkward, well, a little...