Shadow Force Dragomir - A Raven Guard Army

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

@Pulse: :whistling: That's pretty much the ultimate praise any modeller can hope for I think :o

 

@TDA, BBL & BCK: Thanks guys ;)

 

Credit where it's due, man.

 

 

 

I like to imagine Uirroth is standing on these steps declaiming the foulness of the enemy and the righteousness of the sons of Corax, but I'm not quite sure the pose says that just yet.

 

I like the legs and torso, though the right knee still needs some work of course, and I'm pretty happy with my Crozius as well. I'm wondering if I need to point his wrist down a little more to get more of a pointing feel to the crozius or whether I can shave the back of his helmet so I can tilt his head further back to align his eyes with the head of the crozius so it looks like he's calling on the Emperor to smite the foe.

 

Speaking of the helm, I'm also wondering whether to make sure he's obviously a chaplain whether I need to find a skull helm from somewhere rather than use the 'Corvus Corax' helmet I've got there now. I was thinking about painting the 'beak' in bone rather than white in a nod to towards his chaplaincy, I wonder if that will make it obvious enough he's a chappie.

 

The final concern is the left arm, I've tried a variety of arms/hands there and this is the best I've got so far but if anyone has any suggestions as to pose or what he should be holding (a holy relic of some kind, a censer?) I'm all ears...

 

I'd say angle the wrist down a little more but also raise the right arm higher as if he's pointing the heavens or something in the distance, like an enemy fortification, to direct his fiery oration at. I think the current helm could work with little or no modification if you painted it as bone(and the chest icon), but don't forget his rosarius! Maybe you could have that in this left hand? Gripping it tightly as if he's drawing strength from it, or maybe dangling from a chain as a not-so-subtle reminder to his men to uphold their oaths in the coming battle?

[Dosjetka]

So the young Uirroth of Kastorel-Novem has become a Chaplain? Quite fitting, I think :o

 

Ludovic

 

EDIT: I can so see him screaming "LOOK AT MY METAL PIMP CANE YOU XENOS SWINE!" :whistling:

Edited June 29, 2012 by Battle-Brother Ludovic

[The_Chaplain]

Nice, Uirroth is sporting my favorite Crozius head GW has ever produced. I do have to agree with the sentiment of making his helm more skull like however. Perhaps you could cleverly bore out the eye area for sockets and add nostrils so the "skull" in this sense would look more avian in origin?

[Captain Juan Juarez]

Consider seeing how well a sculpted greenstuff skull might look layered in some way over the skull, or even paint the Corvus white - as suggested elsewhere above - and add on a smaller skull like those you see on the more "mainstream" Marine helmets.

[Hyaenidae]

A thought for the Chappy.... ditch the Pistol arm, and switch it with a bent elbow arm with a open hand, palm up. Almost like he's giving a battle sermon on the steps. Might help you get that 'Preaching' look, man.

 

EDIT: Another thought (full of 'em right now apparently, lol) Maybe use one of the Mk. VI helms from the Legion of the Damned, the two I can think of would work well as Chaplain helms, and look far more 'skull-like' than the RG 'Corvus' helm.

Edited June 29, 2012 by 1000heathens

[SCC]

So the young Uirroth of Kastorel-Novem has become a Chaplain? Quite fitting, I think ;)

Now that's well spotted! ;)

Nice chaplain. I'd try to keep the beaky and look for other parts to reinforce his look as Chaplain. Painting a (bird)skull like figure on his helmet should go a long way but if you change his helmet for a skull helmet you might lose too much of the Raven Guard identity he currently has.

As for the chaplain, could you try your hand at sculpting some ocular cavities around the brow/lense region, turning the whole helmet into the typical skull motif, but with a ravenguard twist.

do have to agree with the sentiment of making his helm more skull like however. Perhaps you could cleverly bore out the eye area for sockets and add nostrils so the "skull" in this sense would look more avian in origin?

Interesting, I'll think about a painted skull and how that could work. The other thing I've done is look at the Chaplain helms around the traps, aside from being skulls they tend to feature some similar design features like sunken eyes with more pronounced lenses, nasal cavities etc. I've also drawn some inspiration from the LotD range and am trying to produce a beakie skull:

It's a little rough but we'll see how it goes :lol:

I'd say angle the wrist down a little more but also raise the right arm higher as if he's pointing the heavens or something in the distance, like an enemy fortification, to direct his fiery oration at. I think the current helm could work with little or no modification if you painted it as bone(and the chest icon), but don't forget his rosarius! Maybe you could have that in this left hand? Gripping it tightly as if he's drawing strength from it, or maybe dangling from a chain as a not-so-subtle reminder to his men to uphold their oaths in the coming battle?

Genius!

The regular rosarius is a little...common...so I thought I'd try a raven skull rosarius - I'll add a Greif lens to the small hole I've drilled between the eyes to indicate it's rosarius-ness. I've also cranked up the angle on the wrist and raised the arm and skull to the skies and he looks much more orator-y :yes:

[rwd6378]

I have got to say, I have followed this posting since page one and I have loved everything you have done here. This has been an inspiration for my own work, especially the black paint scheme.

[Lord Tharand]

The skill and passion with which you've modeled your Raven Guard has really inspired me. You have a very wonderful army and you should be very proud!

 

My only suggestion for the Chaplain would be to lower his helm a bit so he's looking straight ahead instead of up. That way he appears to be leading his brave squad forward. He's a wonderful looking chaplain no matter what you do with him.

[The Yak]

Like the triple Raven Skull look. I was going to suggest a skull back pack but I don't know if this would clash with the Raven skull idea.

 

This might sound daft but what about a Raven perched on the left side of his back pack? Not a big psyber raven variety but one from the Warhammer Empire range, like this one on this dudes shield...

 

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/...rodId=prod20010

 

The brass etch 19 on the leg is a superb touch. I cant even say why I like it so much, it just works.

 

Cheers

Edited June 29, 2012 by The Yak

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

I'd say angle the wrist down a little more but also raise the right arm higher as if he's pointing the heavens or something in the distance, like an enemy fortification, to direct his fiery oration at. I think the current helm could work with little or no modification if you painted it as bone(and the chest icon), but don't forget his rosarius! Maybe you could have that in this left hand? Gripping it tightly as if he's drawing strength from it, or maybe dangling from a chain as a not-so-subtle reminder to his men to uphold their oaths in the coming battle?

 

Genius!

 

The regular rosarius is a little...common...so I thought I'd try a raven skull rosarius - I'll add a Greif lens to the small hole I've drilled between the eyes to indicate it's rosarius-ness. I've also cranked up the angle on the wrist and raised the arm and skull to the skies and he looks much more orator-y :D

 

I'm glad you like the idea and I think it turned out nicely. :woot: Your rosarius looks great and I'm sure he's gonna be awesome once painted.

[Dosjetka]

So the young Uirroth of Kastorel-Novem has become a Chaplain? Quite fitting, I think :)

Now that's well spotted! :whistling:

Well, I did have the book right in front of me and it is one of my favourite illustrations out there ;)

 

Ludovic

[muggs]

The chaplain is loooking really cool, have you read/listened to any of George Mann's books? Theres a short story for download only called Prey (its about £1.50 not sure how much in AUD) that describes a RG chaplain hunting large Corvids on Deliverance. The description of him is really similar to what you are doing here. The same character is in the Ltd Ed BL book The Unkindness of Ravens.

 

This is definitely one of the most characterful plogs about, every model really tells a story, keep up the good work!

[SCC]

Long time no see, real life can be such a drag, eh?

@TheYak: I thought about the perched raven, I've got a variety of ravens tucked away from WFB, Reaper and other lines, but it just didn't seem right...

@BCK: We'll find out soon!

@BBL, muggs: Thanks guys :)

The final member of Drago's body guard squad, Battle Brother Durzo, is finally finished.

Durzo is unusual, almost unique, amongst the Raven Guard in never having actively served as a Scout. During the geneseed implantation process his body partially rejected the Ossmodula resulting in incomplete rib cage fusion, ossification of the right leg and over-strengthening of cranial bone structures. In many other Chapters such a reaction would condemn an aspirant to the life of a mind-wiped servitor but for the Raven Guard, with their degraded gene-seed, even partial implantation acceptance is often looked on as success.

As a result Durzo received bionics for his leg and skull during the geneseed implantation process, these implants impeded his ability to work in the stealthy manner expected of Raven Guard Scouts and despite more than a decade as a Scout he never saw action as the Master of Scouts deemed him unfit to serve.

After more than a decade awaiting deployment Durzo was seconded to the Armoury by the Master of the Forge to assist in the restoration of the Rhino Justus Mors, he quickly displayed an aptitude for the work and spend several years assisting the Chapter's TechMarines maintaining various vehicles and equipment. At this point the Master of the Forge persuaded the Master of Recruits to allow Durzo the final implant, the Black Carapace, despite his lack of combat experience, and to appoint him to the 7th Company as a Battle Brother.

Over the last 30 years Durzo has been tempered by battle and served as an assistant to the Company TechMarines of the 7th, 6th and 4th companies. He is currently assigned to the First of the Fourth whilst awaiting acceptance for full TechMarine training on the Adeptus Mechanicus homeworld Mars.

Durzo is built from a hodge podge of parts:

• Bionic leg from somewhere - MaxMini maybe?
  
• The bionic leg is mated to FW Mk.II legs
  
• FW MkIV assault arms/weapons
  
• Mk.III torso with cog'n'skull swiped from plastic TM bitz
  
• Plastic TM shoulder pad from the Rhino set
  
• Iron Hands bionic head
  
• Iron Hands Iron Father shoulder pad with servo-skull
  
• Regular plastic backpack
  

Phew! Quite a long list of bitz there.

And a squad shot for Vanguard Squad Ravill:

Front left: Brother Apothecary Andros

Rear left: Battle Brother Zalman

Centre: Battle Brother Ravill

Rear right: Battle Brother Durzo

Front right: Battle Brother Galt

Unfortunately Drago himself suffered minor damage in a recent cat-related incident so I can't take a full photo of him and his boys, I need to make him a new staff first :(

I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how the squad turned out, I think when it's married up with Drago it'll almost rival Command Squad Arcolin for character and coolness ;)

[SCC]

A non-SFD update, but one folks might be interested to see anyway...

Many moons ago I set myself an 'Admin Challenge' of painting up a mini for each B&C Admin. It had a very loose timeline I've completely failed to meet, but I have finished the second of the Admin Challenge Marines, Brother Sergeant Skeletos:

Skeletos represents Elijah7, who has an LotD army, and will one day find his way, together with Codicier Dienekes and the other other (as yet imaginary) Admin Marines, to Brother Tyler for use on the B&C Games Day Table.

I used Skeletos, as I'll use all these Admin Marines, as a test bed for some new techniques - mostly a range of new bone recipes using GW's new paint range, there are some interesting possibilities there, I'll say that much ;)

As with my RG I stuck firmly to the 5 hour rule so he's not as polished as he might be, but I think Elijah7 will be quite happy with his Games Day Table avatar ;)

[The_Chaplain]

SCC, that model looks great. You mentioned a new recipe for bone using the new GW paints; mind sharing?

[SCC]

I tried a variety of bone colours. Probably the one I was happiest with was:

 

• Black undercoat
  
• Khemri Brown basecoat
  
• Leviathan purple wash (heavy)
  
• Devlan Mud wash (light)
  
• Highlight 1: Khemri Brown
  
• Highlight 2: Baneblade Brown
  
• Leviathan Purple wash (light) + Devlan Mud wash (light) - I laid the purple down and immediately hit it with the brown instead of waiting for the first layer to dry
  
• Highlight 3: Baneblade Brown
  
• Highlight 4: Karak Stone
  
• Highlight 5: Rakarth Flesh
  
• Highlight 6: Bleached bone (actually, the VGC equivalent but the name rubbed off the label so...)
  

 

It seems quite long but aside from letting the basecoat and first two washes dry I ran through the rest of the steps in just a couple of minutes, do it quickly enough or add some retarder medium and you can almost wetblend if you fancy with those washes in the middle. His helm uses this method, it gives a really dirty, natural look to the bone that I like for the LotD.

 

For my RG I'd probably be a little tidier and go easier on the washes to make the whole thing a little lighter as well.

 

I'll also say that throwing in a green wash in the middle can also help achieve and aged/organic look if that's what you're interested in.

[Dosjetka]

The Vanguard Squad looks excellent with all of its members gathered :cuss

 

What's next? The Storm Eagle?

 

Ludovic

[SCC]

Chaplain Uirroth is finally (sort of) complete ;)

Obviously it's been a while since my last post - a combination of work, a bad back preventing me sitting for any length of time and most importantly frustration in turning my mental image of Uirroth into reality mean it's taken a very long time to complete this model:

At this point I'm well past the 5 hour rule and even beyond the 7.5 hour character rule and I'm still not happy at all with the end result :) At any rate, I've stalled long enough on SFD and I've decided to finish him off as best as possible as quickly as possible and move on to finish the rest of the army.

I'm currently waiting on a Greif lens for the 'rosarius' raven skull and I ran out of Dull Cote at the end of the second coat and have a slightly spotty finish as a result. I can fix that up simply enough with the next supply run to the hobby store.

I can admit to myself the model isn't bad, but it isn't what I'd imagine it would be and what it could have been. I'm still happy with the pose and feel of the model and I learned a lot in building and painting it, but it hasn't been a pleasant experience in any way. I dropped him at least three times resulting in a wonky crozius that got wonkier with each repair and a revamped 'rosarius' when the original proved far too flimsy for the real world.

The worst thing though is the right shoulder pad, I tried any number of schemes here with no luck I couldn't make the raven on circle work at all. I even tried removing it, but it's glued, pinned and GS'd in place so I gave up before I broke the damned crozius (again!). It gives me fits just to look at it :pinch:

Like I said, I know it isn't a bad result, but it's not what I'd hoped and that's hit me harder than a more spectacular failure...

[eetdestroyer]

He looks pretty boss to me, man \m/

[Gk_fury]

Love the take on the chaplain man good stuff. The corvus head with the bone works as an alternate to a skull too might try something on them lines myself.

[Boramar]

He looks awesome! You should be proud.

 

I have to admit when im looking for inspiration and or paint themes i refer to your thread. You have hands down the best looking RG army in circulation right now. (And there are few good ones out there right now :P )

[batu]

I like him.

 

Since you have issues with him, I have some suggestions:

 

- Paint the trims of the schoulder pads.

 

- Paint the eyes yellow, like the rest of your ravens. ( For example, the Apothecari of the sternguard looks amazing )

 

Those two things could improve his looks. But I perfectly understand that point where you just want to be done with it and as mentioned before he looks fine as he his now.

 

Is the Boltpistol holster from FW ?

 

What is next ?

 

Cheers

[NightHunters]

I agree regards the shoulder trim, but like the red eyes!

[Blindhamster]

He looks awesome, very very impressed!

[Tyrannicide]

I know what you mean when you say you're frustrated and not content, but dude he's a very well put together piece of work. Is it your best work? No. But don't lose sight of the fact that this is probably a solid 95% better than any other models in the world. The world, SCC! ;)

 

You said it's been a learning experience, so just take the things that worked and drop the things that didn't. I have no doubt that you'll continue to churn out beautiful models at an actual reasonable pace still. I personally really like the grim tones you've created. My biggest complaint is the base. It's bare. I'd like to see something else. Something dead, preferably.