FNG saying hi...and a heavily converted Marine Captain!

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

Hi everyone,

 

Firstly, let me say that there's some amazing modelling and painting work done on this board, and that it really is inspiring to see some of the stuff people come up with. Some truly amazing creative talents here. I used to be involved in the hobby years ago and only recently returned, a spur-of-the-moment type thing. Anyway, I won't bore you with an introduction, but I just wanted to get some feedback/reactions to the first miniature I've converted for about 7 (!) years - it's a Marine Captain for my new chapter (pics of completed Tac squad/magnetised Land Speeder to follow). He uses bits from the Death Company, Command Squad and Marine Captain box sets, as well as a ton of green stuff and a pebble I found on the road :) Oh, and I should say a very big 'thank you' to 200plus for the Sculpting Fur tutorial in the Librarium section of this site, it was very helpful.

 

So, front shot:

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n617/MjolnirVII/P1000063.jpg

 

Second front shot:

 

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n617/MjolnirVII/P1000062.jpg

 

Rear shot, showing some of the fur:

 

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n617/MjolnirVII/P1000060.jpg

 

And a shot with a very WIP banner bearer...

 

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n617/MjolnirVII/P1000064.jpg

[Lysimachus]

Looks good, GS work looks solid and nice use of bits. Looks a little plain on the bottom half, model seems a bit top-heavy visually if you get what I mean? Perhaps a loin cloth/tabard/something?

 

Good start though!

[Wicced]

looks promising, but watch the mold lines, for example on the arms, cuz you'll always see them on the painted model...

 

looking forward to more :)

[celes]

...for beneath his mighty beard was found only a third fist.

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

Good points, taken on board. I didn't even notice those mold lines until I'd taken the picture! I do want him to look slightly top-heavy - he's meant to look dynamic, as if he's about to leap forward off the rock to strike at an enemy - and I find that adding generic plastic tabards can actually make a model look very static. But I'll bear it in mind - will be adding a ceremonial blade (part of my chapter's fluff is that each marine carries a personalised blade of his own), grenades and the like. Thanks for the feedback so far! :P

[Xeonic]

The commander box has a very nice slightly swept to the model's left tabbard that is made to look like leather strips that conveys a bit of movement rather nicely IMO. The BT upgrade also has a couple really nice and dynamic tabbards that would work with a little cutting...it's an idea, at least.

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

@ Xeonic, thanks for the idea :rolleyes: I've got that tabard (or whatever it's called) but I think it's slighty too 'romanesque' for the feel of the character I'm trying to portray. I want a feral side to the character (as hopefully the beard and fur pelt portray).

 

Here's some WIP shots of my Land Speeder - note that the weapons aren't painted or glued on yet as I'm waiting for a shipment of 100 rare earth magnets...found a really good (cheap) UK vendor of these online, I'm hoping to fully magnetise it so it can be used as either a regular LS, or a Tornado/Typhoon variant. I'll also be magnetising the Captain's gun hand (once you start magnetising, you can't stop...)

 

Side shot:

 

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n617/MjolnirVII/P1000073.jpg

 

Gunner shot:

 

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n617/MjolnirVII/P1000075.jpg

 

Front shot:

 

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n617/MjolnirVII/P1000074.jpg

 

Aaand some marines from my first tactical squad (spot the one inspired by Ghost from MW2 :))

 

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n617/MjolnirVII/P1000071.jpg

 

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n617/MjolnirVII/P1000070.jpg

 

 

Yeesh. On seeing these pictures blown up, I'm aware that I can no longer get away with the Codex Grey basecoat/Devlan Mud wash...at least not for the land speeder, which looks dirty and worn as I intended it to (at least I think it does) but it also looks quite patchy...obviously it looks a lot better IRL, but in future I'll probably go over it again with a Codex Grey/Chaos Black layer and smooth out the flat areas so they aren't quite as blotchy.

 

Any comments/criticism welcome. These are the first miniatures I've painted for 7+ years so am pretty pleased with how it's gone so far, but as always there's room for improvement :D

[Wicced]

i guess "ghost" is on the second picture in the left and he's looking good :P

 

i like your color scheme, it gives them a noice weathered/worn look ;)

 

one point of critique though, i highly recommend drilling out the bolter muzzles.

 

keep it up brother!

[Lestat]

I always thought that Chuck Norris was a Space Marine - and now we have proof!

 

But seriously, nice dynamic pose to the captain there and a nice use of bitz. Appart from the sword, what are you going to arm him with?

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

So I've decided that this chapter (Sons of Tyr) will be a counts-as Space Wolves army. I intend for the captain I've worked on so far to count as Ragnar Blackmane, which means he'll be armed with a bolt pistol (although I'll still magnetise his gun hand, for sh..ts and giggles).

 

Firstly, I've sculpted on some flames to his sword (not sure about these - thoughts appreciated):

 

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n617/MjolnirVII/P1000082.jpg

 

And now two shots of the first of my captain's Wolf Guard retinue:

 

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n617/MjolnirVII/P1000079.jpg

 

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n617/MjolnirVII/P1000083.jpg

 

I need to tidy up the GS covering the blood drops on the thunder hammer, and also the fur on his shoulderpad...the green rim on the edge of his base and the Captain's base is where I'm intending to create a sort of 'name plate' effect, the idea being that each member of the retinue will have their name painted on their base.

 

C&C welcome :)

 

Edit: Brownie points if anybody can spot the glaring fault in the positioning of the flames on the captain's sword...sigh.

[Generating Random Name...]

:( I was just about to say, nice GS Fu anyway :tu:

[Xeonic]

Oh, nice work on the speeder litany script, looks really neatly done, though I'm not sure on that mortis, it probably looks fine on the TT from 3ft away.

Drilling bolter muzzles is a nice touch, but you could get away with a little drop of black paint if you can't be bothered.

I'm not sure on that "fire" but painted up it should look fine.

By the way the beard on your captain looks really nice.

 

If you're still looking, and you're up to a litle sculpting, there's a robe tutorial that also includes a really nice tabbardy bit.

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

Cheers! As I won't be priming the captain for a while (left my sprays somewhere else...d'oh) anybody got any tips on how to improve the fire? It probably will look fine once painted, but I'd like it to look better than fine..

 

And yep, bolter drilling is a must I'll be tidying up the land speeder big time as well. Thanks for the comments!

[Peacekeeper]

Loving Captain Norris :lol: I think the fire looks good, but I would put it more around the tip of the blade.

 

Edit: Is the fault that the fire is around the center of the blade?

[lee265]

I feel like the fire is on the wrong side of the blade thats just me. good work though.

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

I feel like the fire is on the wrong side of the blade thats just me. good work though.

 

 

That's exactly it. At least, if he's just swept the blade backwards, then the fire is definitely on the wrong side of the blade. If he's holding the sword in a static position by his side and has just rushed forward, then you could argue it's still in the right place. It's the first time I've sculpted fire so I guess it's a learning experience. Still open to any suggestions on how to improve it however!

 

In the process of retouching all the painted marines and the Land Speeder - bought some charadon granite foundation paint and it's doing wonders for the 'blotchy' problem I mentioned earlier.

 

Thanks for all the comments so far, they've been really helpful...hope to have some more updates soon! :lol: