Jump to content

Ben's Dark Angels


PhDGamer

Recommended Posts

Turmiel WIP:

gallery_44197_7020_82764.jpg

He's close to done, but the deadline looms. I still have a few little details (scrolls, the grip of the sword, the laser-beam eyeball) to paint, then the base, and I want to revisit the blending on the cloak and the armor in a couple of spots. I also think the chapter symbol needs to be darker: the bright green isn't doing it for me. Thanks for all the comments and the encouragement!

Are you making those bases yourself? What are you using to create the rock / dirt? They look awesome.

 

I'm certainly not one to be providing comments on anyone else's painting :) but is Asmodai's black armor washed out simply due to the picture, or is it closer to grey than black on model as well? Was that something you were aiming for? I have always imagined the black armor of the Chaplains to be a deep black, but that may just be me :P

Thanks for the comments, Zhent.

 

The bases are home-made, mostly out of cork tiles and the two-part epoxy clay you can use to fix stuff under your sink. I mix up a good-sized blob of putty and stick it to the base, then stick a piece of cork on top. I use whatever part of the putty is still exposed to stick extra bits (like the spikes or the servo skull) onto the base. Once the putty has cured, I cover all the exposed parts with sand. The final touch, so all the sand doesn't fall off, is to seal the whole thing with watered-down glue. Once all that's dry, you can drill through the cork and into the putty to pin the models and get a pretty good join. The cork is a little soft, but with all the glue and primer and paint that goes on over it, it should be ok.

 

As far as Asmodai's armor goes, you are totally right. It is dark gray--I've been trying to change my approach to highlighting a little bit for this army by painting everything as if it's been lit from above rather than highlighting the edges on everything. It requires a little more work, but it's been fun and I'm learning a lot. Black is giving me a lot of trouble, though, and you're right that it shows on Asmodai. Hopefully between Seraphicus and all the Ravenwing models I have on deck, I'll figure it out. Or I'll have a really gray army. Even then, though, it will be a really gray painted army, which is better than a really gray plastic army.

Turmiel is now complete:

gallery_44197_7020_36373.jpg

gallery_44197_7020_50048.jpg

Sadly, I think the clear coat I used had been touched by Grandfather Nurgle: Turmiel came out looking, well, kind of furry and weird. These photos are from after I tried to fix him up, but there are some spots (the purity seals on his left shoulder, for example) that I don't think I can really fix. I think he is still tabletop quality, though, and this means the first step of my path to redemption is complete. Redemption is a rocky road, as it turns out. I'll just have to paint another Dark Angels librarian sometime soon to make up for it.

The bases are home-made, mostly out of cork tiles and the two-part epoxy clay you can use to fix stuff under your sink. I mix up a good-sized blob of putty and stick it to the base, then stick a piece of cork on top. I use whatever part of the putty is still exposed to stick extra bits (like the spikes or the servo skull) onto the base. Once the putty has cured, I cover all the exposed parts with sand. The final touch, so all the sand doesn't fall off, is to seal the whole thing with watered-down glue. Once all that's dry, you can drill through the cork and into the putty to pin the models and get a pretty good join. The cork is a little soft, but with all the glue and primer and paint that goes on over it, it should be ok.

 

That is incredible. I have a ton of tactical marines and I'm trying to find something to do for their bases without having to remove the actual figures from each - I may see if there is something I can do with that epoxy clay to make em look better. Either way, your bases look great, and hand-made always have a quality higher than aftermarket purchased bases.

 

Sadly, I think the clear coat I used had been touched by Grandfather Nurgle...

 

Funny you should say this - I just bought some clear-coat to protect the one finished squad that I have painted. Any tips on how to coat them properly without hazing the models? :D

Thanks to all for the encouraging words.

 

Zhent, what you might be able to do is use little blobs of putty to give some texture to your bases, sort of like little hills. You could stick bits in them if you wanted, and then cover the whole base with sand to give it more visual interest than the standard flat sandy base. I'm also a big fan of grass tufts, which I think look much better than static grass, probably because they add some height to the base. The only thing to watch out for is building the base up so much that it looks like your marines are sinking into the earth. As far as the clear coat goes, I'm obviously not qualified to pronounce, but I can repeat the tips I have obviously failed to heed: don't spray outside when it's humid, too hot, or too cold. Don't spray from too far away. Spray in thin coats. I will say the GW varnish seems to work ok, it just dulls the colors somewhat. My mistake was trying something new in the hopes that it would be better.

 

Cypher, thanks for the links about varnish; they are very informative, and will help me think through how to varnish my next models.

 

More models to come soon, once it comes time for the October vows...

As luck would have it, my local store decided to start up a kill-team league just as I was trying to decide on my October vow for the Path to Redemption challenge. After thinking a bit about what I could get for 200 points, I decided on these guys:

gallery_44197_7020_35356.jpg

half of squad Raphael from Dark Vengeance (though Raphael has a nice new power sword instead of his chainsword) and a landspeeder typhoon. Not sure if it's the most competitive roster, but it will be fun and I feel that it suits the Dark Angels' background. Besides, I need to confront my fear of painting black. So, these guys are next on the painting table for the Dark Angels. Also, I really hate assembling landspeeders. I hope they are more fun to paint than to build.

  • 2 weeks later...

It's been a while, but I haven't been totally idle. Here are the WIP tactical marines:

gallery_44197_7020_22610.jpg

Still a fair amount of work left to do: smoothing out the grey/white parts, shading the red, and dealing with the sergeant's powersword and shiny bald head. I also need to do the company markings on the knees and, of course, the bases. I'm hoping to get them done soon so I can tackle the landspeeder, now that I have finally filled all the little gaps in the hull. So many little gaps...

Thanks as always for the comments and encouragement!

  • 3 weeks later...

Finally back to work after the hurricane. I am calling this lot done:

gallery_44197_7020_35945.jpg

I must say I'm a big fan of the Dark Vengeance minis. They were a pleasure to paint.

I'm working on the Typhoon now. After that, I have Belial and a posse of Deathwing (including the DV terminators, who are beautiful) to paint. Hopefully this month will be a bit more productive than last!

  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the kind words, Stobz.

Landspeeder is done. I think figuring out how to paint black the way I want is going to be an ongoing process, but I feel this one is a good start:

gallery_44197_7020_17245.jpg

Project for November is some Deathwing, who should start appearing soon. Now, off to make my November vow in the Path to Redemption thread...

PHD they look really good,

Turmiel is fantastic :tu: the tacs ... i have nothing better to say that hasnt been said except the bases help to make em pop, you seem to be the base king around here.

I really dig the power pack off of the Las/plas cannon that you slightly buried on the right tac guys base ...very cool :P and the red on the Multi-Melta is great too.

Look fwd to more work from you especially the Deathwing.. :blush:

 

cheers Mithril

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.