Captain Juan Juarez Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 This is going to be my thread for the Raptors army I'm going to try and put together and paint. Things to note: I'm a total novice, with "experience" only in putting together AoBR Marines so things will look crap and I'm also worried about screwing up. So this is my going to be my test squad, for experimenting with putting things together and then testing out how well I do at painting green in various shades. So time to crack open my box and get started! Any tips of things to do before I begin, for those of you who are better than me (everyone ;)).. I know about mold lines, but it's not an issue for these test minis. Wish me luck! Please!? ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lachdannan Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Might be an obvious one, but most people pose with blu tac and after the pose it right then glue. Also glue the bolter after painting the body (or chest area) so you can get at that detail. I generally make up a base as well and paint that after the model is complete, but that is just up to preference. Good luck and have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 If you don't have them already, you'll want some clippers for removing the models from their sprue frames, a hobby knife and files to clean up mold lines, and I suggest some form of Cyano Acrylate(CA) or "super" glue to assemble them. If you don't use a ton of superglue in the assembly, with a little force, you can take the figures apart at a later time if you're not happy with them. If you use a plastic cement, that actually welds the pieces together by softening the contact points, you can't take them apart later. Blue-tac or something similar is very handy to have to temporarily hold pieces in place to see how it will look. As far as assembly tips, beyond cleaning up mold lines, with marines, I always keep their heads and bolters separate for ease of painting. Glue on the right bolter arm, use some blu-tac to hold the bolter onto the trigger hand, and then glue on the left arm. Superglue will generally take a few seconds to cure enough to "grab" the plastic, giving you time to finesse the left arm into position. Before you paint your models, pick up a cheap toothbrush and some liquid soap and scrub them down really well to make sure any mold release, oils from your fingers, dust from sanding/filing, etc, is removed. If you're a beginner to painting, this video might be a bit advanced, but Les Bursley has a lot of vids for painting marines of different chapters. Here's one for the Salamander's chapter, which is a pretty bright green: If you want a darker green, he also has a vid for Dark(green) Angels: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfing Raziel Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 The Raptor's aren't well loved by GW only items that I know exist are the terminator shoulders by FW. That said you could always buy those, some instamold and green stuff an copy over the shoulders. Apart from that the Commander box (eagleheaded backpack) and various other items have bird iconography. Good luck and I look forward to seeing them in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucien Eilam Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 GW make Mentor Legion pads, the symbol is almost the same - in some variations, they've been exactly the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCC Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Nice to see you picking up the paintbrush CJJ ;) Armorcast make some suitable looking eagle head decals, should make markings for troops and tanks much simpler. Also look at the WFB and old Warmaster ranges - there are some eagles there that might make neat Librarian or HQ familiars/companions and oddly enough for a race that lives underground the Dwarves have a nice Raptor-y symbol on their shield sprue. You can see the shield icon I filed to put on this Black Consul's shoulder pad, a little bit of filing to slim it down, bend it using a pen/pencil to get the curve right (it's easier than trying to curve it on the shoulder pad itself) et voila! You can probably find that specific bit cheaper on bitz sites or trade for it, $6 a go is a bit rich for four Raptor markings really. Now, on painting there are a few things I highly recommend: Quality brushes - Privateer Press do some nice brushes at a decent price if your budget doesn't stretch to W&N or you just want to dip a toe in the pricey end of town, but quality brushes are probably the one physical requirement for high quality painting (and yes, I'm including thinning your paint here, I've seen some amazing things done with paint from a pot drybrushed onto a mini). Pratice - Seriously, practice is the best thing you can do if you're looking to improve your painting Patience - Pratice takes time and improvement is rarely instantaneous, persistence and patience are vital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Forge World makes Raptor shoulder pads for terminators, doors for Land Raiders and Rhinos and a decal sheet: Throw money at screen here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Juan Juarez Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Ok, so I've had a bit of a fiddle with putting things together and slapping on a bit of paint; it turns out that despite how fiddling posing a Marine can be, it requires far less concentration than painting one! The following are pictures taken by a bad camera - my phone, as I appear to have lost my DigiCam, - in a room with all features of a cave. Laughter to a polite minimum :P My creations! Undercoated in Black, basecoated in Castellan Green. Castellan Greens dries in a really dull and vaguely aged-metal way, from the test figures. This is Creation #2 Layered with Loren Forest/Green, as it appeared to be more of a "pure" Green than the Straken variety; Straken Green seems a bit more gritty, if you know what I mean? Obviously there are "mistakes" I made: Mold Lines Painting everything green - the Purity Seal and all the small details are green, but I just wanted to get a feel for how the paint applies and how the colours work together. Things I have discovered: I like the cathartic nature of posing and sticking Marines together. I can paint fairly neatly if I concentrate, but still have a lot to learn. Also, thanks for all the consideration and comments guys - really appreciate it and will bear a lot of it in mind for future creations! Despite the bad pictures, I'm quite pleased with how they turned out as that's the first thing I've painted since I made my first stab at AoBR Marines 2 years ago. Obviosuly it isn't anywhere near good enough, even to please myself, but I feel confident that with a bit of time and practice I can put a decently painted army together and take to the fields of battle to get stomped upon by all and sundry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Juan Juarez Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Another bad picture - I promise to acquire a DigiCam tomorrow! - but I wanted to stick this up as a marker to continue my, painfully slow feeling, progress. I have only under and base-coated this guy (fledgling Sergeant), but I picked out details like his eyes and added a couple metallic colours to his Bolt Pistol. It ain't perfect and it took me 45 mintues just to paint this far but I'm kinda proud of myself 'cause I never thought I'd get even this far. Tomorrow (well, today now) I'm going to put on a Layer and see about sorting out his other arm before putting him aside whilst I await for the stuff I need for the wash and highlights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurgan the Lurker Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Multiple versions of the Raptor head decal in the downloads section: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...m=10&st=120 Disappointed you are going wit the jungle green instead of the blue and yellow. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dosjetka Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Disappointed you are going wit the jungle green instead of the blue and yellow. ;) Same here :( *ahem* I'm actually really glad that you've taken the plunge and I must say that I am quite jealous. My first attempts were nowhere near as clean as yours and you'll probably catch me up in no time :) I'm not too keen on the gold on the Sergeant's bolt pistol, but it's a matter of preference I guess. Make sure you wash (with GW Shades) your metals though! :( I'm looking forward to seeing the next update! Ludovic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCC Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Disappointed you are going wit the jungle green instead of the blue and yellow. :( I like te jungle green myself :) Good start there CJJ, BBL's suggestion of washes is a good one, it's an easy way to add depth and contrast to a model. One thing I will say though is that even though you know the 'mistakes' you've made (mold lines. painting everything one colour etc.) you've still made them and bad habits are easy to form. I think it's worth the time to do things 'right' from the start of your hobby career if it's at all possible. Yes, it requires a little more equipment and time, but honestly, the difference the little things make is enormous - models go from 'passable' to 'good' or 'ok' to 'cool' with nothing more than making sure you cover the basics. Keep the pics coming and we'll keep the support flowing! (Oh, and remember to put the camera on 'macro' mode and get as much light as you can in your photo area, it'll make the model look much better ;) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Juan Juarez Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 Kurgan, having the artistic ability of a dead gopher I'd rather just avoid any kind of yellow altogether! Despite that, I do like the blue and yellow, but green is so much simpler for my level of ability. BBL, I'm a perfectionist.. If it wasn't that good, I'd have to go on a killing spree to sooth my savage soul! But cheers dude! SCC, thanks for the support once again and your own epic work is the lash to my tortured soul :devil: No pictures for the moment, but this post comes during the "waiting for thing to dry" stage of painting. I've got five Marines in various stages: 1 has Legs 1 Legs + Torso 2 Legs, Torso + Head The other two from this 5 man batch have been prepped - including the removal of all visible mold lines and the smoothing of the invisible ones, lazy I know but it compromises for the sake of sanity - undercoated and have added the basecoat to the legs and torso. Currently waiting for things to dry before I do the head as I have dexterity issues. Everything else will then be on hold because I'm waiting for the other suplies I've ordered, although I will obviously get each of the Marines I have to that same stage. Currently I have: 1 Tac Squad, 1 Scout Squad, 1 Dev Squad and a Rhino to complete. On the wayI have the SM Battleforce, an Assault Squad, a Tac Squad and a single SM Bker (£6 all told off Ebay.. couldn't help myself). Suffice to say I've bitten off a massive chunk just to begin with, but I'm determined to get this army together and get some gaming in with it. On a side note, having gone up to London yesterday and in to GW on Oxford Street I find that I'm somewhat disappointed; no one tried to sell me anything and they staff were all polite and considerate - what the hell happened!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Juan Juarez Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 Ok, a picture with a proper camera! Under and base-coated, then I did the Aquila and cabling/soft-armour in a metallic colour. Not perfect, but the best I've done so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCC Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Have you got any washes? A black wash will make those metallics really pop, but otherwise, all looks good - neat, tidy, uniform colour, paint not too thick - basically all the boxes have been ticked :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Juan Juarez Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 I have Base and Layer paints but am waiting for some other supplies, such as for washes, to go by the scheme one of our members suggested as being easy to do to represent Raptors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Yak Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Well firstly Captain you have got the most important bit right in picking one of the coolest Chapters in the galaxy! I agree with Ludovic in that my first attempts were both very untidy and so thick that the model looked as though it was made of plasticine. Yours on the other hand are neat and precise and all the details show through. Cant really add to what the others have said really but will reinforce the notion that washes will really assist you in getting the look you desire. A quick Raptors decal using the tutorial over in the tutorials section and you will have a great looking squad. As for all the stuff you have ordered my advice would be not to build it all straight away. Its good to have loads of bits to start an army as you get more variety but if you build it all in one go it can overburden you. Having 70 models built and only 3 painted makes it seem like an impossible task. Maybe build about 10-20 and get through theses first. That's just me though I know some people like to build their whole army and get used to playing with it unpainted, however in my experience they never finish their armies this way. Painting a small section at a time gives you an incentive to get them finished so you can expand your force. Good luck you have made a great start. Issodon would be proud :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Juan Juarez Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 And thus we have Brother Primarus, the First. Missing the right pauldron, which I appear to have dropped; just waiting for another to dry before attaching and little disappointed with the Aquila on the Bolter, bit of spillage of the Leadbelcher metallic but that's because the Detail brush I have is from GW and bloddy useless! Yeah, it needs a wash - at least 4 different people can't be wrong? :D And I'd drill bolters if I could work out how this Citadel Drill thing works :devil: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrion Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Put the rubber end of the drill into your palm, hold the drill twixt finger and thumb, turn the drill with your finger and thumb whilst using your palm to provide the pressure. To avoid spillage, you could always paint the entire bolter metal. I don't know if you've glued the bolter on, but don't. Paint the bolter metal, wash it with black and when it's dry either drybrush it metal again, or just highlight (drybrushing is my favourite way of painting dark colours) As it happens I've ordered a load of raptors style paints too, so I might be taking the plunge later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Juan Juarez Posted June 24, 2012 Author Share Posted June 24, 2012 My first part-Tac Squad. Missing a wash/highlights, symbols and further gubbins but I'm proud of myself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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