Shadow Force Dragomir - A Raven Guard Army

[SCC]

@Gillyfish: Looking forward to seeing the results of your CC helmet efforts. I'm in the process of painting the first of mine at the moment actually, with luck folks'll get to see it soon. In the meantime:

Battle Brother Stoian

Squad Rhuarc continues to grow, Stoian here is almost ready to join the ranks - there's a tiny amount of decal frosting I want to fix up with some black paint and some hand varnishing, just for neatness' sake. I've gone with mostly plastic for Stoian adding a FW Mk IV helm and RG bolter to help individualise him. I've also used a variant Tactical marking, looking at it now I should have used the hollow RG symbol too, I think that would've looked better. Ah well, live and learn :(

[Chapter Master Ignis Domus]

Even more excellent work. Your hours of hard work per model are really paying off. The bolter is looking good. The Mk. IV is always a good choice.

[SCC]

OK, so I'm slowly recovering from bronchitis (thanks to my local Apothecary) and have finally returned to the modelling table. I've left the paint brushes alone for now as coughing fits still creep up on me out of nowhere and make it hard to paint with any confidence or flow.

Instead I've turned to one of the more unusual units in my RG army - a Bike Squad instead of the more typical JP equipped Assault unit. But there's a problem with the Bike Squad too - they're all identical and that's a no-no in my RG army of course. So, I need to vary the types of armour in the unit, simple enough for the powerpack, head and torso - they'll just be swapped over. Arms are a little trickier - I can't use the FW Mk.IV/V arms out of the box, they don't work with bikes, but with a little GS it should be possible to replicate them without too much trouble. It's really just the plate on the back of the hand for the IV (and optionally the skull on it too) and the exposed cable for the V. I think I can manage that.

That leaves the legs, which'll be more of a challenge for me as I always have trouble getting a smooth surface with GS. Still, below are the in progress shots of my first attempts at Mk.V and Mk.VI legs for bikers.

Mk.V

I figure bikes are a good place to put Mk.V armour, they'll offer the protection that particular Mark doesn't to the rider. Above you can see I've tried to give the knee-pad the Mk.V 'point' at the top and I've added the first of the exposed cabling. The bottom of the knee-pad isn't quite right but I think if I leave it the point, cables and studs will make it pretty clear we're dealing with Mk.V.

For the studs I settled on drilling a hole and making a little mould so I can churn out evenly sizes studs for the rest of the armour. I'm sure there are many easier ways but after 9 days of high fever my brain isn't working too well and it works so it'll do for now.

Mk.VI

Mk.VI is a little simpler, I've shaved the knee-pads down to the Mk.VI shape (I used a cardboard template made by wrapping cardboard around a pair of Mk.VI and cutting that to shape) and extended the rib sections at the back of the knee a little. I've begun the process of building up the leg to the right shape with GS, as you can see it needs a little more bulking up but I'm doing it slowly to try and keep things smooth.

So there we go, the beginnings of some variation for biker legs. I'll use the template trick to do the Mk.IV kneepads when I get around to them as well and I don't think Mk.III would go too well with bikes so I shan't worry about that.

Adding variation to the bikes will be my next goal. I've picked up a cheap CSM bike to see what I can do with that and I can also add the FW etched brass and decals to individualise things but I want to see what else I (or you guys) can come up with to Raven-ise the bikes. Raven 'prows' maybe? Rounder armour a la the old Epic-style bikes? Suggestions?

[Captain Mick]

Looks promising, cant wait to see more :) .

[onipunk]

I think some Ravenwing stuff might fit nicely with the bikes. After all, half the name is there :) Especially the winged front plate for the bike, that would go fantastically with the biker leader.

[Brother Nihm]

Still tidy! :) :P

Impressive,

keep on cranking out Raven Guard marines in the x-mas holidays ya'hear? :)

[Meatman]

I really love your models and paint job SCC, my new command squad and combi-flamer tactical sergeant have taken a great deal of inspiration from this thread. I love checking this thread for updates, because even if there isn't one, I've seen the models again :o

[Terminatorinhell]

Quick question, did the Red Scorpion HG kit come with a full command squad sprue?

[Lord_Halrian]

This stuff looks really, really awesome.

I love your conversions, and your painting!

[SCC]

@Meatman & Halrian: Thanks guys, should be some new additions in the next few days so stay tuned.

 

@Terminatorinhell: Yes it did. Which was a pleasant surprise, I was expecting an 'upgrade' kit rather than everything required to make the models in the FW images.

 

@Darklink: I dunno, like the BA stuff a lot of the DA stuff is too angelic and not Raven-y enough for my tastes. I'll think about it but at this stage I think I'd prefer to try making RG style wings than using the RW stuff.

[Terminatorinhell]

Thanks SCC.

[SCC]

According to Wikipedia the term 'inertia' comes from the Latin word, iners, meaning idle, or lazy. And damned if that doesn't describe me to a 'T' over the last few weeks. However, Argos has shamed me (I'm yet to decide if it was incidental or deliberate and this stage :) ) into getting back to the painting desk with his excellent Iron Hands squad here. If you haven't been watching that thread (shame on you!) then check page 3 for a quick update on the completed models so far, it's well worth the clicks.

I on the other have not made much progress since my Christmas day post. In an effort to shrug of inertia and rebuild some momentum however I have picked up and spent the last 15 minutes with brush in hand. I'm going to try and make that my daily minimum, at least 15 minutes, preferably double that so that I can meet my Librarium Painting Challenge vow and continue to make progress on the army so it can get on the table top some day soon.

So here's what I've been working on:

Yes, the dreaded heavy weapons specialist :P

I don't know what it is, but HW troopers always test my patience and dedication. I love the idea, I like the in game rules and I even quite like some of the models. But actually modelling and painting them? Give me strength :)

As it is I'm still not 100% sold on the SW legs, I can't help think they're maybe a bit too manky, a bit too hard up given the relatively well kept state of the armour of the rest of my RG. I talk not just in terms of paint job but also overall feel, there's nothing tatty or ragtag about my RG, deliberatly so, and this guy feels a touch 13^th Company to me. I'm also not sold on the old school ML, it looked good in my mind but perched in his shoulder, not so much, it's too darn tall. My customised RG beakie is also a bit of a let down as a final product, it's just not as nice as the real deal. Still practice makes perfect the second was much better, so maybe I'll think about using that one.

Perhaps when complete he'll feel a little more RG. If he doesn't, well, he's getting replaced with a bolter Marine! Oh, how I wish vanilla Tac Squads could have two special weapons instead.

Still, it's progress and that's a start. Or a re-start I guess, welcome to 2011...

[Captain Juan Juarez]

With that Missile Launcher, it makes the figure look too busy; it draws the eye from the piece as a whole and onto that once part.

 

Also, I looked at it the first time and thought "What the hell is that..?" until I recognised it as old school and not the masonry I though it was ^_^

[Captain Mick]

Looks good but the missle launcher indeed takes loads off attention from the model.

[Chapter Master Ignis Domus]

It could be the angle, but the missile launcher seems to be a) a piece of a building and :) bigger than the model. The shoulder pads and backpack going on would probably help, but if you can bear shaving a few millimeters off the clip, it would probably look quite nice. I love those classic missile launchers, though, and, considering your quality so far, I expect this to look great.

[Cyrox]

Love the paint job, simple, tidy and very effective

 

Good use of armour and weapon patterns, which is in keeping with the RG feel

 

Nice one dude :blink:

[SCC]

Battle Brother Goran

Brother Goran here is the first of my completed Librarium Painting Challenge Marines. I vowed to complete a combat squad and a Rhino by the end of March so I think this is a solid start.

Goran himself wears a mix of armour - the legs show the flexibility of power armour bearing both Mk.VI and VII parts - they were scavenged from the SW kit. The arms and torso and regulation and the backpack is the older style suitable for Mk.IV/V/VI armour and the helmet is a Mk.VI 'Corvus Corax' pattern helm. The raven on the greave is etched brass, to be honest it was a total pain to paint, there was enough detail/contouring to paint but not enough to make it easy.

My tutorial for the Corvus Corax pattern helm can be found here, the idea of course, came from FW's RG upgrade set. It's a really simple conversion that works for RG and most any other bird themed army (Raptors, Imperial Eagles etc.) so give it a go if you're working on such an army.

Goran is also of course the fella previously carrying the old style ML. I spent a bit more time with it but still couldn't make it work to my satisfaction so I switched to the bolter and am much happier with the result. Goran will join the second combat squad of Squad Rhuarc, all of them are posed in dynamic rather than static poses so when viewed together it looks like one squad is leap-frogging forward and the other providing overwatch.

[subtlebrush]

Loving the smoothness and cleanliness of your scheme. Makes me want to collect a Raven Guard army (MUST RESIST :rolleyes: )

[Kassill]

Probably the best Raven Guard army I have ever set my eyes on! :unsure:

[SCC]

Thanks guys :cry: The more I look at that Corvus Corax helm the happier I am with it, so simple, yet so much character - thanks to FW for the idea!

And here's the next Raven Guard warrior:

Battle Brother Casimir

OK, so, that's two Marines down, three plus a Rhino to go for the Librarium Painting Challenge...

In the meantime, Casimir is pretty stock standard really. Biker helmet with extra comms gear, I think the arms/bolter are from the DA sprue. I must admit I like working with arm/bolter combos that are pre-built as such, makes it so much easier to position the arms and I am, if nothing else, a lazy git so sometimes the lack of flexibility pays off in simplicity like it did here

The legs are plain old Assault legs, as I'm not having any JP troopers in my army I've decided to use the Assault legs on some of the Tacs to give the whole army a sense of movement/purpose. Pose wise Casimir is just beginning a forward dash for cover and is keeping his head raised so he can keep an eye, like many in this squad, on the upper floors of the surrounding buildings which offer perfect ambush spots for any cunning enemy.

I'm considering going back and adding a Company marker to the legs, they're very dark due to the positioning/lighting here and I wonder if they're a tad plain. I'll give it a few days and see if I still feel the need to add a touch of contrast to him. Perhaps a green (Tac) kneepad and white arrow might help...

[Brother Argos]

Lovely work Chris ... Rifle Straps are always good and you have the black shading perfectly now :cry:

 

I also like the fully drilled Bolter ... I am eager to see more of your work!

[Gillyfish]

Coming along nicely. Any chance of a group photo at some point?

[SCC]

@Brother Argos: Yeah, I've got the black just about right now :)

 

@Gilly: I'll see what I can do tonight...

[Captain Juan Juarez]

I like muchly, some very crisp work there!

 

Stellar work on the straps though, look rather authentic.

[Vassakov]

Nice Mk VI Helmets - the Corax Corvus is a brilliant idea and executed really well. The tutorial was really well done as well - although I doubt I'll ever use it what with me being more canine inclined.

 

As an aside, how have you found the FW kits, particularly the Honour Guard and Libraian?