Shadow Force Dragomir - A Raven Guard Army

[SCC]

Having finished up my tutorial Marine I decided he looked a little lonely so I've been working to put together the rest of his combat squad. With the new GK boxes out of the weekend I decided this would be a good opportunity to try some light converting to see if you can fit GK parts into an RG army. Turns out that, with a little elbow grease, you can :)

The theme for this squad is that years of combat experience are telling them something isn't quite right and they've gone into defensive postures or are searching for any possible threat, such as an ambush, in the ruined city they're patrolling.

The sergeant here has paused and is concentrating on his surroundings, searching for an enemy he can't see:

Standard kneeling legs, FW MkIV helm, BA torso with BA symbols removed and a BA power sword arm, again, the BA symbols were removed and in this case replaced by bird skulls - this sword is the one from my tutorial from several months ago.

The heavy bolter Marine too is searching for danger:

This Marine uses GK legs - the ones with MORTIS DAEMON on them specifically - daemon has been filled in leaving just mortis, a part of the RG motto and an appropriate inscription for any Marine really. The HB is a relatively modest conversion but I'm still pretty happy with it all up. The psycannon has been chopped down, all the cables and gubbinz have been replaced with a simulacrum of the front of a heavy bolter, I've also added an eagle to the case to tie it to the regular Godwyn type bolter. The left arm has been chopped up, shortened and the hand repositioned so the bolter is being held by a bar mid-body in the same way as a regular HB instead of having the foregrip of the psycannon.

I don't think there'll be too much confusion as to what weapon he's carrying even if the casing is still more round than I'd prefer. I thought about squaring it off but I think if I'd gone that route it might have been easier to cut down a regular HB and add a large magazine to it rather than the belt feed.

In addition to some of the less bling legs I'll be using some of the GK backpacks without the extra gubbinz, they should be good for some variety and some GK pads, again, subtle changes will help ensure each RG I make is individual. There's also a bunch of power weapons, hands and some bitz that should come in handy for my veteran RGs, the two handed weapons in particular could come in handy.

That said, I can't stand the storm bolter on the back of the arm look, it's ridiculous, it wasn't so bad on the metal GK with the belt feed but the magazines sticking out an inch from the model look daft as all get out to my eyes so I won't be using those. I don't really like the weird, pointy helmets either so they're out, and though I do like the torsos, especially the mini psychic hoods, they don't really work for regular RG so they're out too. Still, the GK box has added some variety to the army which is good and I still have plenty of bitz to build a GK squad if I ever want to paint one.

One minor complaint is the can of Chaos Black spray I bought with the GK is more like Chaos Very Dark Blue, that'd be nice if I was doing dark blue as black RG, but I'm doing black black RG so I have to base coat everything with regular black now :)

[celes]

That's a really great idea, using the psycannon instead of a normal (huge) heavy bolter. He definitely looks more at home in a tactical squad now, like he'd have to stop to fire, but can still keep up with the other guys when they need to move it. Shame about the undercoat spray though, seems like it's gonna add time between updates and that makes me a sad panda.

[Olis]

Interesting... Though I'm not surprised GK bitz have crept in. ;)

[Metal Apostle]

Thanks for the tut SCC! Always had difficulty painting a smooth black without it ending up grey... The models as always, are terrific, and as per usual, i'm turning a horrid Ork colour...

[Brother Nihm]

Look at you writing tutorials and cranking out marines like there was no tomorrow.

Very inspiring Monsieur. :thanks:

[SCC]

Look at you writing tutorials and cranking out marines like there was no tomorrow.

Very inspiring Monsieur. B)

I know! Who'da a thunk it just 6 or 7 months ago when I started the army that I'd be onto my third full squad and second vehicle already?

 

@Olisredan: Well, you know the creed - each Marine is an individual - and every little bit(z) helps :)

 

@Celes: Thanks mate, though I'd worry more about the 5k words due on the effectiveness of the UN in less than a fortnight than the base coat affecting my update speed :)

 

@Metal Apostle: Glad the tutorial was of some help :P

[SCC]

Between reading up on international law I've been working on my RG, tonight I did some work on my test bike. I've snapped some shots for you to take a look at, I think it's coming along quite nicely, though I'm not very happy with the rider (not shown ^_^ ):

I thought I'd try something different for the handlebars/control panel/auspex area:

It looks a little more like a real bike with the 'speedometer' and other gauges. This was pretty simple to do, I flattened the 'auspex' panel and added some brass and plasticard knick-knacks to make the rest of the panel. I quite like it and it's an easy way to add some variety to the bikes as I go.

Front on:

I've added an etched brass RG assault symbol to the front and the bolters have been converted to look a bit more old school. Note that whole front panel is just undercoated at this point.

Side on:

Pretty standard stuff here but you can almost see the skull symbol on the side here, enough at least to note the circle it's on is red. You'll note that ties in with the assault marking and seat, in the same way I've used green to accent my Tactical marines (laurel wreaths, the odd knee pad etc.) I'll be using red (the colour that marks RG Assault squads) to trim the bike squad.

At any rate, I'm relatively pleased with the results so far, the highlighting is still a bit iffy but I think I'm getting closer to a solution there. More over the weekend with any luck...

[SCC]

Long time no see!

Work and study have kept me busy but the holiday weekend is upon us and I've managed to polish off my test bike:

It looks OK, I like SM bikes, they're mucho macho and everything, but I'm not sure it looks particularly Raven Guard-ish, it looks as much Ravenwing as Raven Guard...

[Chapter Master Ignis Domus]

I don't know, it actually does look Guardy to me. Plus, the awesome paint job isn't exactly hurting it.

[Dark Scipio]

The bike could use the Raven Guard Symbol, perhaps an the sides of the front wheel cover. But looks very fine to me.

[Pulse]

Theres a symbol on the wheel arch.

[Race Bannon]

Meh, it does look Ravenwing-ish .. but I don't think you can get away from that easily short of adding BIG WHITE Raven Guard icons on it. Then it'll look obnoxious.

 

To me, lack of icons and the rider's helmet keeps the schema of "Raven Guard" fixed in my head. So I give it the :)

 

Where's that Thunderhawk? Oh, and I wanna see the Strike Cruiser to scale!! You can dooo eeet ...;)

[Olis]

Think about context, SCC, fielded alongside your other (awesome) models there will be no mistaking which team your biker is on. I gotta say I'm not keen on SM bikes (I haven't been for a long while) but your biker makes them seem halfway okay again - for that I'd say well done. :)

[Vulkan454]

Think about context, SCC, fielded alongside your other (awesome) models there will be no mistaking which team your biker is on.

 

That's exactly what I was thinking, lined up with your other models it'll look great :tu:

Keep up the great work.

 

Vulkan

[SCC]

@CM ID: Thanks B) Nice to know someone thinks he looks RG...

 

@Dark Scipio/Pulse: Aye, there's a symbol on the front of the bike, I wanted my enemies to see the RG insignia as they were smashed aside by a couple of tons of bike and Marine at 80kph...I thought about side markings but thought it was a little, um, obvious, for want of a better term. I'm also not sure that it'll really help distinguish him from RW anyway - they do the same thing, also with a winged icon...

 

@Race: I had though of adding a little white to the Marine's armour, like I have some of the other veteran Marines in the Tac squads, thoughts? Alternatively I could use more RG pieces - chests, Corvus Corax helmets etc.

 

As for the Thunderhawk, I only get one of those if the army is completed to 1750 points, so a fair way to go. That said, the second Rhino is nearing completion so I'm slowly racking up the points...

 

@Olisredan/Vulkan454: Hmm, excellent thought guys, in context he is unmistakably RG :P I would like to make the squad distinctly RG on it's own though so still some work to be done...

 

 

I did try to Raven-ise the bike with the old school armour and the old school bolters I bodged up, but I couldn't work out a way to make the bike look distinctly RG without, as Race said, obnoxious markings or some kind of raven 'prow' that just wouldn't fit with my practical RG army. RG pennants maybe? I tried the RW 'wings' but they simply confuse the issue even further. I wonder if I could convert them to be more RG symbol like? Hmm...

[Molloch]

Fantastic as always SCC - I think the bike looks great, certainly not too much like Ravenwing. I think if you do too much white details it'll look wrong.

[Olis]

Hmm, well besides adding raven skulls and RG symbols I can't think of what else to suggest... :lol:

 

Perhaps make them as individual as your footsloggers? Keep the theme, and all that?

[Brother Nihm]

I do believe the solution to be quite simple,

As has been mentioned already, when the bikers are placed next to your other models, there should be no doubt as to who they are.

 

But to ram the point home, what about adding a stylised company signifier, namely some 'IV's (?) to the bikers's chassis?

It could be freehanded or just an applied decal.

 

Failing that, you could paint a big honking white ravenguard symbol across the forward gun-shield.

 

 

My 2 Kraks

[Race Bannon]

Maaaaybe, I have it ...

 

You simply can not get away from them being close enough to the Ravenwing. BUT, it's possible but it may take a little skewing. What I mean is this ...

 

GW has given you the way out. Look in the 'Eavy Metal pages of C:SM. Then look at your bike. The difference is theirs is really black. Take the silver edges out on your bike.

 

In other words, scanning over your squad mates and the tank - the overall theme is BLACK. The silver on the bike is breaking that up. Although that makes sense on many levels, not this time.

 

Let me back up - check out GW's version on Ravenwing bikes: A lot of black, a BIG splash of white, broken by silver.

 

So if you want to stay away from that ... then stick to what you have done: black Black BLACK.

 

:(

[SCC]

Hmmm....I quite like Nihm's Company marking idea and the but Race may have nailed it - all black, all the time. And if that doesn't work then white or red instead of silver to break things up might work better and help move away from the RW. I'll have to prep another bike and see how all black goes...

[Foehammer888]

I agree, one of the things that makes Ravenwing look ravenwing is not just the black, but also the contrasting colors that are destinctly Ravenwing/Dark Angels. These are primarily white, cream (cloaks) and red. Avoid those and go more black and you will look more ravenguard. Some suggestions.

 

Seat Color - go a dark brown leather or straight black. If going black maybe highlight it as a blue-black to differentiate it from the rest of the bike

 

Metallic Colors - as mentioned, go darker. If you don't want to go straight black, paint the metal areas how you like them, then give them several serious coats of badab black wash. I learned this from a GW article on how to paint mordor troll armor. you get a very dark metallic that looks like black-metal, similar to modern weapons/firearms which are designed not to shine/reflect light.

 

As you've got a solid way of painting black, take the step of even painting typical GW details on space marines only in shades of black. Purity seals done in a deep brick red that is nearly black, with the "scroll" portion in a black or brown-black cloth. Green-stuff some feathers in small areas but have them in black, maybe only with a small white tip. Emphasize that the model has more black than there should be. And this doesn't just apply to the biker, but any model.

 

What makes ravenguard ravenguard is the overwelming black contrasted by the very few sharp instances of the white/"job" colors.

 

My only other comment would be, with the fantastic black, it almost seems a shame to not have a more contrasting base-color to show it off.

[WNxKilljoy]

Must...Not...Give in...To...Call...Of...Corax....Must...Stay....Faithful...To...Ultramar.

 

 

These minis are stunning mate! Nicely done!

[SCC]

Thanks for the advice Foehammer, there's some excellent ideas in there. The seat was painted red to go with the RG assault squad marking scheme, but you're right, it's too Ravenwing, so a dark leather look might be a better choice.

 

I'm currently building a new bike to test some of this advice out on...

[subtlebrush]

Hmmm I really really like that GK heavy bolter conversion. It has that "commando" on the go look but can still pack a punch. Consider it nabbed for future use :tu: On that note, your stuff is looking awesome as always!

[SCC]

@ Mr. Malevolent: Thanks :)

____________________________________________________________________

The second RG Rhino 'Moriorum' (for Tactical Squad Atanas) is now complete:

A more than reasonable table top Rhino I think B)

Raven Guard brass etch adorns the side doors - with a FW purity seal on one side, whilst the interior has etched brass and some FW resin details too - you can't see them here, they're on the internal side panels, but you can see them in an earlier SFD blog post.

The front panel is FW resin with an etched brass nameplate, in retrospect I might have been better off painting that silver, but it doesn't look too bad as is and in the interest of 'play, not display' I'll let it stand for now. I'm pretty happy with the pace of the project so far, work and uni have interfered but I'm still making steady progress and still happy with the overall look and feel of the army.

I'm working on the first combat squad of the last Tactical squad and refining the look of my bikes before I commit to building the full squad. I think though, that now might be an appropriate time to treat myself to something a little special, I just need to decide between my Fourth Company Veteran squad (Sternguard under the rules) and the FW RG Venerable Dreadnought :confused: