Shadow Force Dragomir - A Raven Guard Army

[SCC]

Thanks guys, as I said, I know it isn't a bad model but it's nice to have that confirmed ;)

 

@Batu: Yeah the holster is from the recent boltgun set they released (the nice clean one I've forgotten the name of).

 

I'll think about the eyes/pads/base comments, but as I've said though, time to move on or the rest of the army will never get painted. As for what's next, well, I need to finish up my custom Rapier Laser Destroyer commander/spotter guy and the second combat squad of the third (and final) Tactical squad. After that all that's left is the Damocles Rhino (with detailed interior that's giving me fits) and the Storm Eagle I've got mostly assembled :lol:

 

When that's done I'll have to tot up the points and see what it comes to and maybe round it out to something nice and even with a few more Marines or a TechMarine or something...

[SCC]

Following on from the disappointment of Chaplain Uirroth I've got back on the proverbial horse and finished the battery commander for my FW Rapier Laser Destroyer:

As folks may remember he was one of those guys that went through half a dozen iterations before, with the encouragement of those generous souls who frequent my blog/SFD thread, I dared to break out of my kit bash preferences and actually convert and re-pose the model. The GS work is a little rough still, but I'm learning and I'm really quite happy with the end result.

And here is the completed battery:

Rapier Laser Destroyer Empalion's Lance

This Rapier battery earned it's soubriquet during the Siege of Empalion II as the Raven Guard Fourth Company besieged an Iron Warriors force, mounting a laser destroyer battery Empalion's Lance destroyed numerous Iron Warriors strongpoints and fortifications during the campaign beore the arrival of reinforcements from the Brazen Minotaurs chapter.

During the height of the following battle Empalion's Lance was deployed alongside the Minotaur's diversionary force and claimed the un-life of the Chaos Land Raider Medrengard's Fury before it's crew perished. Recovered by the Minotaurs at battle's end, the Rapier battery was returned to the Raven Guard and after undergoing repair and re-consecration is once more at the service of the Fourth Company.

You can find close ups of the Rapier platform here.

[batu]

Love the posing. He turned out really well. Escpecially the green lens. Did you varnish the lens in order to getting it so shiny ?

 

Cheers

[Blindhamster]

the spotter is truly awesome mate, really nice pose and as always your paint job is spot on.

 

Batu: He uses sequin type things for the lenses, a very clever idea

Edited September 16, 2012 by Blindhamster

[SCC]

@Batu: As Blindhamster said, I use Greif (or MV) lenses for things like scopes or the magnoculars, they look great and at $1 a pop are a terrific investment for those, like me, who can't paint lenses for toffee :blush:

@Blindhamster: Thanks mate, I'm very happy with the end result and how much I learned making him :)

Now, update time and a sneak preview:

Without even trying I may have set a new land-speed record with Jamas here, just under two hours start to finish :huh:

Jamas has some lightly customised MkIV legs - I originally started converting them with the idea of making my own Chaplain legs before switching to the Uirroth model's more 'heroic' post, as a result the paintjob on them is pretty simple - subtle highlights on the plasticard shin detailing, low key skulls and pinpricks of Boltgun metal for the rivets. I also adjusted the legs a little through a combination of heat-warping them and cutting up the feet to slow the pose down a little, overall, pretty happy with how they turned out.

The chest is a Rhino crewman chest I removed the cog from for my junior TechMarine, I just replaced it with RG etched brass, simple. Arms and head are standard MkIV fare, though the arms look a little skinny with the bolter with the Anvil Industries magazine on it :huh:

Still, at under two hours, I'm pleased with the result.

Sneak Preview

And now, a sneak preview of a potential future project closely linked to a number of recent announcements from the subsidiary that has eaten most of my wallet during the construction of Shadow Force Dragomir:

The project shouldn't be too hard to guess now, should it...

[Ace Debonair]

The project shouldn't be too hard to guess now, should it...

 

An army of badly injured marines? :huh:

 

 

Seriously though, it's bewildering to think that you finished painting that raven guard marine in the time it takes me to just paint the white armour on one of mine.

Most impressive!

[Hyaenidae]

The project shouldn't be too hard to guess now, should it...

 

An army of badly injured marines? :D

 

It's just a flesh wound.... :)

[Daemon2027]

Wow very nice Raven Guard, so much character in your army, amazing how god Jamas looks with only a couple of hours work done on him.

 

Looking foward to seeing your new project.

[Pavement Artist]

With regards to the chaplain: Your idea of unhappy with a model, does not correlate with mine.

 

I'd be so happy if i turned out something half as good as him.

[SCC]

Thanks for the comments guys ;)

OK, so as Shadow Force Dragomir nears completion I'm reviewing my options for my next hobby project. I've tried a few things - HH era Ultramarines, white Marines (potentially Star Phantoms) and returning to my Brazen Claws among them - but nothing has really caught my eye until now. And what caught it was a mix of Forge World's new Horus Heresy stuff and some lovely HH era Emperor's Children models that have been popping up all over the net.

Here on the B&C Dargor's PH blog is excellent and his EC are a particular inspiration for this project. And although I started before I saw Duncs' work, I'm sure he'll provide plenty of inspiration in the near future for me too ;)

CMON and the other major 40K boards also have plenty of HH EC eye candy too.

At any rate, I've spent some time this week searching for my EC look and I think I'm very close to achieving it with my first test model:

Built from undercoated bitz already lying around I'm very happy with my basic purple scheme, although I'm less happy with the gold and will be looking for a new, smoother/cleaner/crisper recipe for that as a priority.

In contrast to my neat and tidy Raven Guard I've decided I'm going to weather my EC, partly as a change from the RG and partly to learn something new.

I need to work on placing and sizing for battle damage but I think my grey 'ceramite' under the purple is the way I'm going to go here, I tried metallics but didn't like it and the brown look used by many got overwhelmed by the dark purple. I need to build up some experience with the technique (so if you've got some beaten up models please link me up!) but I think it'll look good once I get a handle on it.

I've also used some weathering powders for the first time, I like the dusty pre-fixative look but the powders comes off so very, very easily and so I've tried a few things here. His left leg has a fixative+powder mix painted on then brushed off to leave a thin residue that dried a bit streaky, it looks OK, but not much more although his left foot turned out awful.

I've used straight powder to dull areas near battle damage, I really like the way it looks (see either shoulder pad for a good example) but it does brush off easily. On the backpack vents (the horizontal lines in the lower portion of the pack rather than the big round exhausts) is probably the most successful bit of weathering - black powder I then ov erwhelmed with fixative. Took forever to dry and did change the look but I quite like it, even if it is very subtle on that purple.

I think the answer is more practice and experimentation but weathering advice is most welcome :(

Oh, and best helmet lenses I ever painted or what?! Sure, I've seen plenty better but I'll be happy if I can replicate that look for the army for sure.

[Martok]

This guide here isn't too shabby:

 

http://www.elementgames.co.uk/forums/how-t...434427356601b70

 

I don't think I have posted here before but I have used a lot of your thread as inspiration for my new Minotaurs. Your cinematic model composition is inspiring at the least so thanks man!

 

Good luck with the Emperor's Children! Loving the first guy but can see what you mean about the gold it looks too 1d maybe build from a darker color as it all looks like shining gold right? Saying that it does look like gold leaf at the moment which I would say is about right for Emperor's Children.

 

- Martok

[SCC]

Oooh, thanks Martok, that's a nice little tutorial and some great examples of chipping for me to imitate.

 

On the gold, it depends, I tried a number of recipes. The cilice on his leg is the best one, it's actually built up from Dark Flesh through brass to copper to gold and even gets brown and green washes, on the shoulder pad trim I skipped the washes and the dark flesh trying to get a brighter look, which I got, but at the cost of depth. In any event, all of those gold recipes are time-consuming, I find I have to wait for metallics to dry otherwise they smear, that might be the result of too thick a metallic paint cover mind, I'll keep experimenting and try Duncs' recipe in the meantime...

[SCC]

Forgive the photography, my wife lent her sister our DSLR so these are iPhone snaps of my current main project the MkVI Razorback Umbra Mortis:

OK, regular MkIIc Rhino with a FW TLLC Rhino setup and a FW Mk.IV crew model popping up out of the hatch.

The Rhino was originally scheduled to be a fully detailed Damocles Rhino but the crew compartment gave me fits so I lowered my sights a little and just added some details to the troop compartment. The aim was to add some fittings that would be logical for a working Razorback that would also explain the reduced transport capacity.

I settled on a combination of batteries and cables on the left and some extra targeting/sensor equipment on the right. Together the two make the seats impossible to use (not that they weren't before!) and limit the Rhino to standing room for 6 only.

I'm also finishing up some models to replace a few of the earlier ones I'm not too happy with, you'll see them over the next little while with any luck...

[Dosjetka]

Looking good SCC :lol: The interior is well painted, but could do with some dirtying :P

 

Ludovic

[batu]

Yeah, dirt it up !

 

Nice to see some updates. There are hopefully more to come !

 

Cheers

[StormDragon]

Loving the interior of the razorback. I might have to "borrow" the hazard striping on the floor by the doors for my rhinos :tu:

 

As for battle damage, I'm a fan of the sponge method. I find it gives a nice random effect to the chips that I can never get with a brush, although I guess it's no good if you want to apply highlights to the chips. Anyway you can see some examples of the results I've been getting here

[SCC]

C'mon guys, 4 tanks, 3 bikes, 35 infantry and a Dread and has anyone seen so much as a chipped kneepad?

 

I will admit the interior needs some extra shading, but that issue is exaggerated by the nasty iPhone flash.

 

That said, my next force, some Great Crusade EC will feature weathering, so links and examples for weathered minis are more than handy, keep 'em coming!

[Blindhamster]

Yay! Updates. This army continues to be ahuge inspiration :) kudos to you sir. I for one approve greatly of the interior

[Emperor's Furor]

Hi, absolutely love the army, did a search for inspiration on my Heresy Raven Guard and I'd really like to do something similiar to the way you've done yours. How did you get the black like that, it doesn't appear to be ordinary does it have a matt varnish or something on it? Edited November 6, 2012 by WoT

[SCC]

It's...it's alive! (Again)

Brother Sergeant Devlin of the 6th Tatical Squad, Fourth Company:

OK, so finally some progress on SFD once more, this time the sergeant for the 6th Squad, Devlin. As usual plenty of FW resin (Mk IV Assault chest and legs, MvVI RG backpack, Tigrus bolter and MkIV arm) mixed with regular plastics (helm, chainsword/arm) to create an alert but not alarmed pose. Pretty standard stuff really, but I'm pretty happy with how he turned out given the multi-month layoff I've had from painting.

I do wonder if the front is a touch plain given the bling on the shoulder pad and backpack, but then, I quite like the plain, functional look for my RG so I shan't lose sleep over it if he is a little 'unbalanced' aesthetically.

I've decided to shuffle some minis around and replace some of the first Tac Marines I created in particular so they'll be the next things you see here along with RB Umbra Mortis which is currently on the paint stand.

It's good to be back <_<

___________________________________

And to answer the question from WoT (Wheel of Time?!) the matte look is achieved through the use of Testor's Dull Cote spray varnish, it kills the shine on anything :)

[Dosjetka]

Aha! It's alive! <_<

 

Good to see some progress on these chaps and welcome back! :) I'm eagerly looking forward to the next update, so please try not to take another 3-4 months to update :P

 

Cheers,

 

Ludovic

 

EDIT: Any updates on the Emperor's Children or have those been left aside too during your time away from the hobby? ;)

Edited December 28, 2012 by Battle-Brother Ludovic

[Grizzly_bear]

Great EC and great update again. Love your black, I need to use this for my chaplain when I do him.

 

Keep it coming fella.

 

Rob

[batu]

Great to see you back SCC ! Sergeant Devlin looks fantastic.

[SCC]

Thanks guys, nice to be back :)

@BBL: No progress on the EC, finishing the RG is a priority, in the meantime I'm watching threads like Dargor's PH thread Brother Duncs' EC one for GC/HH EC inspiration.

One of the things I found really helped me with the hobby last year was forcing myself to post regular updates, even small ones, so I'm going to try to get back in the swing on things.

To start with, I'd like to bitch and moan.

Oh, how I hate painting white :P

I decided Umbra Mortis, which will carry Arcolin of the First Company and his brethren into battle, would have white door panels to help mark it as a transport for veterans. I spent an hour or more over the weekend trying to get a nice clean white sans brush strokes and failing. The photo below is far too flattering, I can see brush strokes from arms length under normal lighting conditions:

This is a little more true to life:

That line above the raven head is a casting imperfection I just couldn't remove no matter how much I scraped, I've been trying to think of a way to make it battle damage or marble or something...

[Lachdannan]

I think it looks good, though I find that white for me takes many thin coats. I do like your idea of a marble effect in the doors, perhaps streaks of sepia, of various strengths and coats might work? Its one of those things I've always wanted to try, so I can't really offer much help there. Still love the progress.