Ghoul Crusade

[Chaplain Reikert]

Hello Brother Templars, this is my first post in a very long while. College has had me lurking with not much time to reply or do anything with my Templars, but I have finally worked up the courage (Zeal?) to actually post what I have painted and assembled!

Things I intend to do with it is go through and highlight the black, and give them a thorough washing, and this leads me to why I am posting the army in such a WIP state. I have hit a bit of a mental roadblock, similar to writers block, and I need tips and advice on some of the basic techniques. I am relatively new to painting, and have as yet been unable to master the simple things such as paint thinning, and highlighting. Also, a query, what washes would my brothers recommend to bring the models tabards to a higher standard, I have considered Gryphonne Sepia, but I would like advice from more experienced painters before I take the leap.

Without further ado (Finally) I will let the army speak for itself:

My Emperor's Champion and his Crusaders,

Marshal Kurn and his Crusaders,

The next two are of a Land Raider Crusader, as yet unnamed,

Chaplain Reikert (Hey, that's me!) and his Sword Brethren Terminators,

Close up picture of Marshal Kurn,

Close up picture of the Emperor's Champion,

Close up picture of Chaplain Reikert,

And, because it was requested when I was gathering ideas, here's a close up of the neophytes with their helms, from Pig Iron,

Just for fun, some Fluff:

Led by Marshal Kurn, a former Castellan of High Marshal Helbrecht, the Ghoul Crusade was assigned the task of returning to the Ghoul Stars following the third war for Armageddon. Marshal Kurn was selected to lead due to his tactical prowess, and this has weighed heavily upon him, for his martial prowess can be found lacking to that which is expected of a Marshal. The Crusade itself is not a grand affair, freshly minted weapons and armor being distributed to a crusade of relatively young Initiates, though the veterans of the Crusade are all hardened warriors who were Sword Brethren that fought in the thickest fighting on Armageddon. Kurn is not the most venerable nor most honored of the men in the crusade, and his selection as Marshal is received as an insult by some of the more traditional warriors, who feel they are more deserving. Kurn has demonstrated his capabilities time and again, however, and has convinced many of his prowess as a commander. The crusade grinds into the depths, towards whatever fate may await them in the cold darkness of the Ghoul Stars.

(Also, a final prayer to the Emperor that these image tags work, if not... Help!!!)

Edit: If a Mod needs me to resize the images, I will do my best. Not very tech savvy, so please forgive my errors in posting... (Please, no paddle-um. :PXP )

[Drac0]

Avoid using skull white to paint white parts, in the end it'll look like tip-ex unless you apply LOTS of very thin layers of paint (most people use light greys to paint white)

Your metallics look too thick, try to dilute them a bit.

 

A couple of highlights here and there and you're ready to hit the tables.

 

BTW

The chaplain's skull helm looks great.

[Th!rdeye]

FOR THE LOVE OF THE EMPEROR. SHAVE THOSE MOLD LINES.

:drool:

 

Add some highlights like Draco said, little bit of diluted wash and you are all set.

[waaanial00]

A better approach to White that I have found is start with a slightly thinned coat of Dheneb Stone for a base. It allows a decent covering which then allows you to work up using thinned white. You are looking for something like melted icecream in terms of consistency for the Dheneb Stone, then quite thin white. Apply slowly making sure that you only have a little paint on your brush at a time to avoid it running unnecessarily.

 

For the tabards I find Dheneb Stone (thats right I use a lot of it) as a base, throw on a wash of Sepia, then a thinned down Devlan Mud. Then apply a very light dry brush of stone again, though only if you are not happy with the previous step. It makes it look dirty and gives it a nice distinctive yellowing.

[Roesor]

Where did you get those neophyte helmets? O.o

[Brother Vader]

I'll agree with what was said about the white and the metallics. Those can be fiddly though and in both cases building up multiple thin layers is always worth the effort. Try basecoating gold areas with a mid-tone brown, like bestial brown, first. Gold covers brown better than black and if you leave a bit of brown showing through some areas it creates shading.

I use Shadow Grey as a basecoat for white, then 50:50 grey to white and build from there, each thin layer getting more white until I'm using pure skull white. It takes a while though!

 

Your LRC is nice and clean though. Good stuff.

[waaanial00]

For gold I like to start with Iyanden Darksun base, paint over with Shining Gold and then add some Mithril when I am feeling ambitious.

 

 

Oh and

 

but I have finally worked up the courage (Zeal?) to actually post what I have painted and assembled!

 

Well done sir, it takes significant moxie to put your work out there for people to see. The Internet can be a harsh mistress and you never know what you will get back. I have rarely posted my work up and each time I have got snide comments, one of the reasons I dont do it anymore.

 

If you are open to suggestions I would pick a different red, the one you have picked is very rich but not very bright. I would work more twoards the Blood Red and then darken with a wash of Baal Red, it will contrast better with the Black and make the model stand out much better than he currently does. Still its all cool, the fact that you have actually painted your army shows commitment, I know people who have been in the hobby 2 years and never gone further than a basecoat.

[Drac0]

I just use mithril silver + dwarf bronze for gold parts and if needed a drybrush of gold.

That usually does the trick quite nicely and easy

[waaanial00]

For the tabards I find Dheneb Stone (thats right I use a lot of it) as a base, throw on a wash of Sepia, then a thinned down Devlan Mud. Then apply a very light dry brush of stone again, though only if you are not happy with the previous step. It makes it look dirty and gives it a nice distinctive yellowing.

 

Its rather stupid quoting myself however I have an example of the method described above, given that I am painting up for a tournament at the moment I have a mini with a contrast between Dheneb Stone and the finished product.

 

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm183/waaanial00/Compliance_Prep/DSC_3039.jpg

 

The scroll on the leg is exactly as I describe and the scroll on the Melta is pure Dheneb Stone. Takes about 20 minutes in all to ensure that the different coats dry correctly, probably more but I was painting different details in between. Hope this helps.

[Chaplain Reikert]

Sorry about replying so late, my friends' visited, for the weekend, and then we all went to a Rammstein concert yesterday. ><

 

Avoid using skull white to paint white parts, in the end it'll look like tip-ex unless you apply LOTS of very thin layers of paint (most people use light greys to paint white)

Your metallics look too thick, try to dilute them a bit.

 

A couple of highlights here and there and you're ready to hit the tables.

I'm thinking of kit-bashing a Marshal when I get some free time, and so when it's done I may try to hit it with these different techniques, any advice on highlighting? I've tried it and it was atrocious, the highlights were way too thick, and made the model more grey than black. My best guess would be patience, time, and a thin brush, but any tips anyone can give would be most appreciated. Also, for thinning, last time I tried it it was too thin, what would be a good amount of water-paint, or is it something I have to trial and error?

BTW

The chaplain's skull helm looks great.

Thanks, that one was one of my first attempts at using a wash. XD

Add some highlights like Draco said, little bit of diluted wash and you are all set.

Same question, thinning versus diluting ratios, and highlights, any advice you can give would be great.

FOR THE LOVE OF THE EMPEROR. SHAVE THOSE MOLD LINES.

:mellow:

Ack! I knew I had missed something, do you think its worth it for tabletop standard to go back through and try to shave them? Also, better with a knife or a file?

Where did you get those neophyte helmets? O.o

Pig Iron iirc, Heavy infantry visord helms or some such.

[Chaplain Reikert]

Sorry for the double posting, trying to avoid any massive posts, but I want to respond to all of the advice and suggestions offered.

 

 

I'll agree with what was said about the white and the metallics. Those can be fiddly though and in both cases building up multiple thin layers is always worth the effort. Try basecoating gold areas with a mid-tone brown, like bestial brown, first. Gold covers brown better than black and if you leave a bit of brown showing through some areas it creates shading.

I use Shadow Grey as a basecoat for white, then 50:50 grey to white and build from there, each thin layer getting more white until I'm using pure skull white. It takes a while though!

So start with a base coat of brown, and then apply the gold? Sounds simple enough, and the white seems time consuming and requiring one to pay attention, but nothing I couldn't manage over summer break. Although when I have tried building up it seemed as though the paint simply layered and didn't change its actual color, my guess was that the paint may be too thick, and so I tried to dilute it (With disastrous results), is dilution necessary for layering to work?

Your LRC is nice and clean though. Good stuff.

Thanks for the compliment, was nervous about coming back to this thread all weekend. XD

A better approach to White that I have found is start with a slightly thinned coat of Dheneb Stone for a base. It allows a decent covering which then allows you to work up using thinned white. You are looking for something like melted icecream in terms of consistency for the Dheneb Stone, then quite thin white. Apply slowly making sure that you only have a little paint on your brush at a time to avoid it running unnecessarily.

 

For the tabards I find Dheneb Stone (thats right I use a lot of it) as a base, throw on a wash of Sepia, then a thinned down Devlan Mud. Then apply a very light dry brush of stone again, though only if you are not happy with the previous step. It makes it look dirty and gives it a nice distinctive yellowing.

I was going to try a similar trick with the Tabards, alhough with slight changes... I was going to do it over a skull white base, and I hadn't thought to thin the devlan mud. I may try both, and see which one I like best unless someone has experience with white and washes?

For gold I like to start with Iyanden Darksun base, paint over with Shining Gold and then add some Mithril when I am feeling ambitious.

Thanks for the tip, so much painting advice here, my army'll look all hodgepodge if I try to use them all!

Oh and

 

but I have finally worked up the courage (Zeal?) to actually post what I have painted and assembled!

 

Well done sir, it takes significant moxie to put your work out there for people to see. The Internet can be a harsh mistress and you never know what you will get back. I have rarely posted my work up and each time I have got snide comments, one of the reasons I dont do it anymore.

 

If you are open to suggestions I would pick a different red, the one you have picked is very rich but not very bright. I would work more twoards the Blood Red and then darken with a wash of Baal Red, it will contrast better with the Black and make the model stand out much better than he currently does. Still its all cool, the fact that you have actually painted your army shows commitment, I know people who have been in the hobby 2 years and never gone further than a basecoat.

Yeah, as I said above, this thread had me worried sick when I made it, it's good to see so much good feedback, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. XD

On the red, what do you think of using brighter reds for glass and other shiny bits, and keeping the darker red for the cloth and icons?

I just use mithril silver + dwarf bronze for gold parts and if needed a drybrush of gold.

That usually does the trick quite nicely and easy

Would that work if combined with a brown basecoat as was recommended above, Brother Draco? thoughts?

 

Also, to Brother waaanial00, thank you for posting a picture, it's always nice to actually see how the techniques turn out, as I can only imagine so much after working mainly with 3 colors (Chaos Black, Skull White, and Red Gore. XD ). I like the brightness on the scroll, gives it some more pop against the darker armor.

[Drac0]

I just use mithril silver + dwarf bronze for gold parts and if needed a drybrush of gold.

That usually does the trick quite nicely and easy

Would that work if combined with a brown basecoat as was recommended above, Brother Draco? thoughts?

 

 

 

Never tried it. I always give a black basecoat.

 

I use the mithril silver to make the dwarf bronze lighter, so it looks more like gold instead of bronze or copper. (looks more shiny)

The drybrush is to give that extra golden reflection to the risen areas.

 

I know this isn't a direct answer to your question, but as I've never tried the method you asked about, maybe by explaining why I use my method you can come up with a rough idea of how things would look using brown basecoat.