Ultramarines Project Log

[Dan Sly]

Hey!

Been lurking around for a while, and recently picked up the hobby and brushes again, so thought I'd post some images from my first project, the Finecast Terminator Librarian.

I seem to have been lucky as there were no major problems with the cast, and the clean up time with the new finecast is so fast, I had it primed and ready to go in no time.

First off, for the blue, I haven't used any citadel colours, I used these:

http://www.andrea-miniatures.com/_carro/As...ctoDetalle=1427

6 Shades, from deepest shadow, to highlight, lovely quality paints too.

Enough rambling, picture time!

1: Primed and held under a light to plan shading/zenithal lighting. i use a grey primer as I like a neutral base to work over.

2: First Stages of the blue, I'm afraid this is already at the first hightlight stage, got carried away and forgot to take a pic of previous step, but basecoats aren't that exciting anyway ;)

3: As the base colour blue in the set is pretty dark, probably darker than regal blue, I really wanted to push the highlights to get a strong contrast. iPhone pics make it a little bright, but hopefully you get the idea :D Even though the overhead light is bright, most of the shadow/highlight contrast you see is painted in.

Front:

Back:

Side:

Side again:

This was also my first attempt at hard edge highlighting, little hard to see, but easier in the next set of pics. How do you guys think I did?

Now the next step, this may sound a little weird, but I began laying shadows down using Leviathan Purple wash...I know right, but it has a way of making the blue become really rich and dark, whilst giving a subtle purple sheen that is hard to see in the pics but adds life to the armour with the changing colour.

Front:

Left side:

Back:

Comparison:

Unshaded left, shaded right.

Thats how far I got as of an hour ago, tomorrow I'll try and charge up my proper camera and get some better pictures of my progress from there.

if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask :) or any tips/advice/critique

Thanks for looking guys!

Dan

[Kierdale]

Very educational!

The idea of holding a miniature under a lamp to plan the shading is a new one for me.

 

Thanks, and I'm looking forward to seeing more.

[deathnid]

very NICE ;D

[OptiMAT]

Better than mine so what else is there to say!

[Dan Sly]

Thanks for the responses :o

 

Kierdale: it's quite a useful technique, although it requires a bright overhead light. I find planning the highlights and shadows early helps keep everything neat and "believable" without putting highs and shadows in the wrong places.

 

I'll put more up tonight, plan is to do either the face or robes.

[Magic Dragon]

Looking really good so far mate. would love to see a few more WiP posts from you once this guy is done. Always great to learn how other people paint and such fantastic results.

[Dan Sly]

Cheers magic dragon! I'd love to do some more WIP logs, got the battle force and some goodies I snagged cheap on eBay, so I'll have plenty to paint, any requests? Haha might even try and do a video if people are interested?

 

Biggest challenge at the mo is whether to go with a made up chapter, or field a force of ultramarines all to a similar standard as above? Any advice would be great.

 

Thanks again everyone.

 

- Dan -

[Kierdale]

Biggest challenge at the mo is whether to go with a made up chapter, or field a force of ultramarines all to a similar standard as above? Any advice would be great.

 

Thanks again everyone.

 

- Dan -

 

If you've got the time and patience to do a force all to the above quality, I'm sure we'd all love to see it.

[Dan Sly]

Kierdale: sure, all I have is time. I work in London so painting gives me a chance to wind down but still be creative (I'm a graphic designer).

 

I'll post some more progress tonight. Not sure whether to go standard white robes or maybe red? Thoughts?

 

Thanks again

 

- Dan -

[OptiMAT]

While my painting quality is no where up to that standard might I show my Librarian with red robes just to show what it might look like contrast wise.

 

An overly warm white might look really good, especially for Ultramarines.

[Dan Sly]

That looks good mate! It's nice and cleanly painted which was something I struggled with for a long while. I'd add some nice washes on there to get some shadows and you're there! :lol:

You've probably seen the site before but Massive Voodoo is a site which is very useful.

 

Yeah the red definitely does look nice, I'm painting it now (waiting for some wash to dry) I think I'm going to do a white outside face, and a red reverse side.

[OptiMAT]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Havent seen that site before no so I'll take a look in the morning for sure.

 

Struggling to get to grips with the paint's consistencies. White, I think there's something like 5 layers of white on that chest eagle just to get an even tone across the whole thing and it's still not right.

 

Really looking forward to some more pictures. What type of Lens are you using by the way? Just got myself some Macro Filters (couldn't afford a new lens) and the shots I have now are good, manual focus is new to me, but you get really decent model shots in comparison to the ones I had before, but those pics above are just so clear at that range I'd be interested.

[Dan Sly]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Havent seen that site before no so I'll take a look in the morning for sure.

Struggling to get to grips with the paint's consistencies. White, I think there's something like 5 layers of white on that chest eagle just to get an even tone across the whole thing and it's still not right.

Really looking forward to some more pictures. What type of Lens are you using by the way? Just got myself some Macro Filters (couldn't afford a new lens) and the shots I have now are good, manual focus is new to me, but you get really decent model shots in comparison to the ones I had before, but those pics above are just so clear at that range I'd be interested.

No problem ;) How long have you been painting may I ask? It's well worth a look, does go very advanced but it has a lot on colour theory and lighting for mini painting.

Ah yeah, that will happen, are you painting over a black basecoat by any chance?

I wish I could say these were taken with my DSLR... they are actually just done with my iPhone 4, no edits apart from cropping. I'm going to try and set up a photography area soon so I can get some nice decent shots.

So, as promised, more pics

HEre I hav laid down a basecoat, a kind of slightly warm grey tone, and started roughly blocking in some reaaally rough shadows with devlan mud.

Unfortunately, I was on a roll, and forgot to take a pic until the end! sorry!

and a comparison between before and after

Hopefully you can see the areas that will be painted red, the parts of the tabard that are folded round, by his right leg for example. This will bring some more warmth to the cold model.

All comments welcome, ask if you'd like to know anything more

- Dan -

[ephrael]

I really like the work you have done so far on this model. The work on the blue armor really is inspiring. Thanks for sharing your work so far, I can't wait to see the tabard finished.

[OptiMAT]

Well, I collected Blood Angels for a little while when I was younger (I think crossing 3rd - 4th edition possibly) but those were terribad, as you might expect. There was vast improvement across 1st model to last though so I suppose that's all you can ask for. Then a massive break, called High School and University, where I didnt work with paint as a medium for... anything, let alone miniatures. So, ignoring Blood Angels - that model was about a week or 2 in, counting blood angels it's something like 8 years.

 

Now I'm back into for the same reason as yourself. Creative wind down. I took a look at that site and you're right it is a little detailed, probably too detailed for what I'm trying to get out of this for now (mostly just because it must take SO LONG), but I'm not one to ignore good advice either - you can only get better by checking it out even if you dont adopt it religiously.

 

It is black basecoat ;) I tried brown on it first, one of the 'foundation' paints, and that worked a little... but not a lot. I only just picked up a grey so maybe that'll work better.

 

Models looking really good, would be difficult to see a better start!

[Shmitt21]

Looking really good so far! Can I ask what primer you use? Have been looking into using grey primer myself, as i have heard that is what a lot of the 'pros' use now.

[Dan Sly]

Mikhail: Thanks mate! I'm really pleased with the armour, first blue armour attempt, and as I said in an early post, my plan is to paint an army of ultra's in the same way. The tabard will be done tonight, so watch this space!

 

OptiMAT: similar story to me! I graduated from uni 3 months ago now, so it's nice to be back in the hobby!

Yeah give grey a go, as you can tell I'm a big grey primer fan (from my history of historical figure modelling) so give that a try, spray primer is best, brush can work too though. I'm just not a fan of black as it makes it harder to see the features, and working from a mid tone I find gives me more room with highlights and shading. I do a light badab black wash in the deepest crevices after priming though, just to make sure.

 

Shmitt21: thanks! The primer is halfords auto primer, silvery can, grey top. Cheap, big can and really sinks into the model and around details, also being a car primer it sticks very well, I didn't wash the resin at all before priming, and I've heard people have had issues with finecast and paint adhesion.

 

 

Thanks again everyone! Didn't expect such a great response!

 

- Dan -

[Dan Sly]

Here's the update as promised, tabard is done, it's not quite as bright as it is in the pictures, but it gives an idea.

And here's one of roughly actual tabletop size

Didn't get as much done as I'd have liked to tonight, but I was making moulds for bits for my converted Sternguard I have planned.

Thanks for looking

- Dan -

[Shmitt21]

Thanks Dan Sly, i may try that myself - there's a Halfords round the corner from me!

[Dan Sly]

No problem mate! Let me know how you get on with it!

 

Questions for everyone, when I start the rest of the force shall I add it to this topic or start a new one?

 

- Dan -

[tiny sam]

pure inspiration!

[Dan Sly]

Thanks Sam! :cuss means a lot.

 

I've been keeping an eye on your sternguard, very nice mate.

 

Really new here to great to see everyone is so friendly, definitely sticking around

[Boomsly]

No problem mate! Let me know how you get on with it!

 

Questions for everyone, when I start the rest of the force shall I add it to this topic or start a new one?

 

- Dan -

 

add to this topic and change the title i think is your best bet as you have alot of views and subscriptions, therefore getting people to see your new work will be easy

[Dan Sly]

Boomsly: Thanks for the advice mate, is there a way I can see how many subscriptions a thread I start has?

 

Sorry about the lack of updates since, over the girlfriends this weekend so away from the paints.

 

Thanks

 

- Dan -

[Dan Sly]

Update time!

Once again, sorry for the lack of updates, but managed to get time to sit down tonight, and crack on with painting.

Tonights challenge was the gold, and man, I forgot how bright and reflective shining gold was!

First up, All gold painted scorched brown, then a couple of layers of thinned shining gold (I do all my thinning with plain water and a little acrylic retarder)

after that a wash of ogryn flesh, then leviathan purple

The highlighted up through 50:50 s.gold and mithril silver, then straight mithril silver on it's own

back...with an arm! just blu-tacked on for the mo.

Thought I'd also grab a shot of whats to come next in this fledgling ultramarines force...

Got the commander, command squad and black reach termies (in the brown box) on eBay for a very good price, sanguinary guard will be vanguard, and the combat squad in the battleforce will be converted into Sternguard.

So yeah, would love to hear from everyone! Any tips/comments/crits all welcome :huh:

- Dan -