DIY chapter vanguard and terminators

[Astalon]

Still can't take good pictures, washes the detail out! Tell me what you think...

 

http://i51.tinypic.com/10glcvb.jpg

 

http://i51.tinypic.com/33ucpaw.jpg

 

http://i54.tinypic.com/n36zrk.jpg

 

http://i55.tinypic.com/w15nok.jpg

 

http://i51.tinypic.com/2i2aknr.jpg

 

http://i54.tinypic.com/14tsumd.jpg

 

http://i52.tinypic.com/2pq1ct3.jpg

 

http://i52.tinypic.com/smd029.jpg

 

http://i51.tinypic.com/2lw1ylw.jpg

[SCC]

They may be the grassiest bases I've ever seen, are they fighting on a football field?! ;)

 

Jokes aside looks like the beginnings of a good table top army. I think adding some shading with a simple wash and maybe adding a second layer of highlights would be a pretty simple way to improve these guys without too much extra effort though. The silver areas in particular could really do with a wash to give them some depth, Badab Black will do nicely and it'll also let you tone down some of the grey highlights on the black armour if you want to as well.

 

The last comment I'd have would be 'drill out your barrels', it's a cliché these days but it really does look so much better and a pin vise (or hobby drill) is one of the most useful hobby tools you'll ever own so it's worth the investment...

[Astalon]

Thanks for your reply, as for the bases i guess I was so excited to finally get something to base my models with I went a bit overboard!

 

I hadn't thought of adding a black wash to the silver, like you say it will be nice to add a bit of depth to that, and I'll try to tone down the highlights on the termies as well.

 

The red on the vanguard models is merchite red, red gore with highlights of blood red and then washed with red ink. do you mean add some highlights on top of that as a second layer?

[SCC]

The bases are fine, I was just kidding, desert and urban bases are all the rage these days so seeing grass is a bit of a shock. Back when I started everyone used awful green flock...

I think if you add an intermediate step between the Gore Red basecoat and Blood Red highlight you'll be able to use the differing highlights to emphasise different areas to different degrees. You could add a fine orange highlight over the BR highlight if you wanted a really bright mini but I think an intermediate step would give a better result.The pic below isn't a great example, there are many folks out there who paint better than I do but hopefully it'll illustrate my point:

If you look at the upper left leg in particular you'll see a the green slides from brightest at the top to darkest where the recessed panels meet the knee. That's the result of more than two highlights but it's the kind of more 'realistic' effect you can achieve on such a small scale. You can achieve similar results by painting two or three highlights and blending them or even simply washing them with GW's fantastic washes to help smooth the change from one colour to the next.

Trust me when I say it sounds/looks harder than it is, give it a go and see for yourself, be patient and you'll find that after a few minis it just 'clicks' and starts to make sense. And you can do it with any colour by simply mixing your base colour with your top highlight in varying proportions, I just use a bit of space plastic card as a pallete and use a little nice clean water to thin the paint out a little when mixing.

Another trick you could try for the red is using a brown wash to add some shade/depth to the colour too. Brown's a better choice for this than black as it'll deepen the red rather than muddy it up, works a treat to add just a little more depth for very little effort.

As I've said though, for the tabletop your army looks fine, there's no need to go the extra mile unless you think you're army needs it. After all, under the '6 foot rule' one extra highlight doesn't really make much difference! ;)

[Astalon]

Thanks for such a detailed response! These are the first models I've done using highlights and washes after a long break from painting of many years so it is very much appreciated, I'll try it out.