Angels of Absolution

[Gillyfish]

Wow! Really looking forward to seeing some more of them. Sorry to hear about you battlefield losses, but the painting award is a good thing to have! :lol:

[xnickbaranx]

Today we have an out of the box dreadnought started in 2006. This week I went back and spruced up his base and weathered his legs:

 

Eros of the 5th Company of the Angels of Absolution

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5LoJNHk1ayw/UEH_dRCYO_I/AAAAAAAAAmo/6eDUczS7emg/s1600/IMG_1685%5B1%5D.JPG

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cvubFvkh_EU/UEH_hnLjXsI/AAAAAAAAAmw/nriLDn1AIyM/s1600/IMG_1686%5B1%5D.JPG

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9kTTeY5CYjM/UEH_l5iF1xI/AAAAAAAAAm4/m5rvbWJB5YY/s1600/IMG_1687%5B1%5D.JPG

 

The complete blog post can be found here...

[Isiah]

Like all your other stuff – it's a real beauty!!

[FinylCut]

xnickbaranx:

 

This is a great army you've put together. I think the bone and blue really pop. Nice freehand work and weathering on the dreadnought.

 

FC

[xnickbaranx]

Thank you both!

 

I've been quietly painting all week since that last post. I jumped around a lot as described in today's blog post here:

 

Distracted! Angels of Absolution Mix and Match Week.

 

I did "complete" another Wardens biker. One more and I have a playable squad for this coming Saturday's AWC tournament at the Chicago Battle Bunker.

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-md_0lXrsXoI/UE3283L6EMI/AAAAAAAAAno/pVLkUbM1vNw/s1600/IMG_1695%5B1%5D.JPG

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9fxk3BYOb-M/UE33Cpi6fMI/AAAAAAAAAnw/TlmqbfwIAAM/s1600/IMG_1696%5B1%5D.JPG

 

Still go check out the blog post. Its pretty lengthy and has a bunch of WIP pics that I didn't include here.

 

-Nick

[xnickbaranx]

Its been a while since I added to this hobby log - almost a month actually.

 

In the middle of the month I went to a tournament here in Chicago and got my ass kicked but had a lot of fun, and took home a painting award. Here's a review of the tournament:

 

http://2ndcitywarzone.blogspot.com/2012/09...om-40k-and.html

 

Once again, I've been all over the place working on different projects and having WIP crap all over my painting table. I did get focused enough to do a little conversion work. Here's what I spent the last week on. I wanted to change one of my Rhinos up to have dual Storm Bolters, but it utilized the old Sisters of Battle Immolator that only has one top hatch, so I needed to come up with a mod that accommodated that. In the end I decided to custom build my own Dual Storm Bolter. It looks like this:

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GvNVr0rQ6ik/UGxvgzid4oI/AAAAAAAAAv8/QYwvf9aH3FI/s1600/IMG_1744%5B1%5D.JPG

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OduR_wvh-CM/UGxxLb1BUHI/AAAAAAAAAwM/ZH44IC3eDww/s1600/IMG_1746%5B1%5D.JPG

 

Wow, seeing it this blown up makes it look sort of sloppy to me. haha. Maybe I should touch it up just a little?

 

Anyway, if you'd like to read the full blog post you can check it here:

 

2nd City Warzone - Converted Dual Storm Bolter

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sjc2LcEs14o/UGx0Y1ebZbI/AAAAAAAAAw0/-UTM82d5hWo/s1600/IMG_1750%5B1%5D.JPG

 

Thanks for reading!

[xnickbaranx]

Time for a little Thread Necromancy. The last post was almost a year ago. At the time I was hitting the AWC Tournaments and following the rumors for the upcoming DA Codex daily. Also around that time I needed to build scenery for the 40K Warzone Tournament at Adepticon 2013 and I started doing work for Hyacinth Games, helping them with their post-apocalyptic skirmish game: Wreck-Age.

 

Anyway, I did pick up all the new Dark Angels stuff upon release but barely touched it until a few weeks ago. I tore my ACL and meniscous on the job and suddenly had plenty of time to paint between doctor appointments.

 

Here are some WIP pics and you can get the whole play by play at 2nd City Warzone:

 

http://2ndcitywarzone.blogspot.com/

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J5_GHKN_lzo/Ui_CUHr57OI/AAAAAAAABFU/ImoTyxsNuIk/s1600/IMG_1866%255B1%255D.JPG

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gJlOSOU3bR4/Ujc4cIiqfrI/AAAAAAAABF8/av97GEN1Ff4/s1600/IMG_1876%255B2%255D.JPG

[Isiah]

Glad to see you back and still churning out awesome sauce AoBs. The headless scout looks very promising. As I've said previously I really like the hand-painted iconography.

 

Cheers

I

[Grand Master Belial]

Oh WOW!!! Glad to see this thread revived and with some awesome new WIP photos too!

[Liberame]

a blast from the past, always enjoyed seeing your AoA

[xnickbaranx]

Thanks for all of the kind words. Blogger is giving me even bigger fits than usual (today I can't upload images at all for some reason) so I put my two completed Angels of Absolution Scouts in a new gallery I started here.

This is the previously shown "Headless Scout" with head and bolt pistol arm now attached. When I get to five Scouts completed I'll likely go back and add some scratchs to the armor and weathering powder around the feet. Thes are good for now. You'll notice that both models have Tactical Marine heads rather than Scout Heads because I hate them. I'd also like to point out my reference that gave me the idea of using bald heads and loin clothes was the Scout image from the 4th Ed Codex. I tried to put it on my Pinterest and link it here but the editor said NO! Not sure why. You can see it here:

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/466826317595867646/

Both that image and the new Scout image in the new Codex show them wearing back packs too. I think my next few are going to have packs.

So anyway, here's former "Headless Scout" in his completed state:

And this was the "test Scout" that I painted and documented on 2ndCityWarzone back in February of 2010: http://2ndcitywarzone.blogspot.com/2010/02/first-blood.html Check it out if you also want to see the Angels of Absolution "Roomba's" I made.

-Nick

[xnickbaranx]

I finally got a proper blog post up detailing the the completed Scout I pictured in the last forum post above. You can read my full ramblings http://2ndcitywarzone.blogspot.com/2013/09/two-down-angels-of-absolution-scouts.html

 

I made a bunch of progress over the weekend so I should have something else to show off later today.

[xnickbaranx]

Scout #3. This one with a back pack.

[Interrogator Stobz]

I don't normally like scouts, yours are cool :tu:

[xnickbaranx]

I don't normally like scouts, yours are cool

Thanks Stobz! Yeah, I love the idea of Scouts but the models kind of suck. Some of the details are sort of "soft" and the heads are atrocious but with just some slight modifications I think they look pretty bad ass.

For anyone that's interested I got my blog post up for yesterdays completed Scout that has some additional angles.

http://2ndcitywarzone.blogspot.com/2013/09/three-angels-of-absolution-wip-5.html

[Bryan Blaire]

Nick, really like the way your scouts turned out! Really, really don't like the heads, but obviously that's no fault of your painting, which is great as usual. My only comment would be that Scout #1 seems like he has too little iris & pupil, and Scout #3 looks like one of them is too large. However, I suck at faces, so I think yours are better than mine! Really like the backpack, very neat addition to the model!

[xnickbaranx]

I have a sad story to share:

 

This pile of bitz was a fully painted Assault Squad. I was getting ready for a tournament last Saturday and had set my army out on the dining room table. My Assault Squad was sitting on top of my army list. I ran to the corner store to grab a snack to fill my belly for the tournament and when I came home from the store to finish packing up my army my girlfriend was standing there:

"Ian was bad. I found a Justin's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup wrapper on the ground and a bunch of your models broken on the floor."

It was my own fault. I had set the Assault Marines on my army list and just on the other side of them was a couple of candy wrappers from when we went to the movies the night before. I forgot they were there. Dogs and peanut butter. God damn it. Each Assault Marine takes me about 12 hours to paint - so collectively 100 hours of painting spread out over 17 years smashed on the floor. I was not stoked but it was my own fault so Ian didn't even get yelled at. He just got the cold shoulder as I struggled to get another couple squads together to bring to the tournament because I had just lost access to over 200 points of my army.

 

http://s10792.storage.proboards.com/5410792/t/Ut1IWtp727szsbLgMQjt.JPG

 

When moments like these happen I like to turn a negative into a positive. Two out of my 8 finished Assault Marines have "heat glow" painted onto their jump packs, so I decided to do that for all of them. I painted over the Mithril Silver (Runefang Steel) highlights that were in my jump jets with Khorne Red, Wazdakka Red, and then a final highlight at the sharpest points with Troll Slayer Orange. This is over the original paint job (Boltgun Metal/Black Wash/Mithril Silver) and leaves traces of the previous metal intact.

http://s10792.storage.proboards.com/5410792/t/CShWIRWMUEhnB6hr5ROh.JPG

 

These bases were originally just grit and old school static grass so since these guys needed an update I figured now was a good time to add grass tufts, some rocks from the Citadel Basing Kit, and some natural broom bristle (which if you look closely at the above image is slotted into holes drilled into the base with a pin vice). 

http://s10792.storage.proboards.com/5410792/t/jDm3JnnBWBipIEtdLSkK.JPG

 

My favorite part of this set of legs is the plasticard kite shield that I cut out, filed, and fitted to the knee. I love subtle details like this
that blend in and go unnoticed. They're the sorts of things I look for when I scrutinize other people's armies.

 

This was a bummer but so far I've repaired and upgraded 5 of the damaged Marines. Thankfully a couple of them just had some scrapes on their jump packs and the like. Half of them require a whole lot of scraping, filing, and regluing however.

 

This is the culprit (how could I be mad?):

 

[Terrahawk]

I got a couple of dogs myself (please don't tell the Inner Circle) so I can relate. You just can't get mad at the fuzzy buggers, no matter what they do.

Anyways, I really like your AoA and I think your Assault Marines are getting back into the game rather nicely. I especially like the blueish highlights you have used throughout the army, it makes the black pop rather nicely.

[Brother dean]

Hey...  Cats like to take termie power fists and play "hunt" with them...   

 

Very nice work Nick.  Been watching you for a while...  Still not sold on the blue highlights but they are well done.   Keep on brother.

[Major_Gilbear]

You'll notice that both models have Tactical Marine heads rather than Scout Heads because I hate them.

 

You're not alone - I don't know of *anyone* who thinks they even look okay. To me, the plastic Scout heads look like melted Ben Affleck face masks... <shudder>.

 

Anyway, very good work on these - they look very Second Edition, and you can take that as a compliment from me! :D

[xnickbaranx]

Hey...  Cats like to take termie power fists and play "hunt" with them...   

 

Very nice work Nick.  Been watching you for a while...  Still not sold on the blue highlights but they are well done.   Keep on brother.

 

Let me tell you about the blue highlights, since they go back to the 2nd Edition Angels of Death Codex, and my untrained eye.

 

Now its important to understand that this army has been a fixture in my life for what? 18 years?

 

So I was an Undead player (note: not Tomb Kings or Vampire Counts as they did not exist yet as dedicated factions) and Warhammer Armies:Undead gave a step by step on how to paint skeletons. I painted up a solid Undead army of mostly skeletons and then got turned onto playing 40K. I was stuck between Orks and Dark Angels, and finally decided Orks were "too goofy" and the Dark Angels were suitably serious with their Interrogator-Chaplains and dark secrets. I was in.

 

So then I needed to choose a paint scheme. I loved the Dark Angels Green look, but I already fully understood how to paint revolving around Bleached Bone and Brown Wash, so I painted up my first test model as an Angel of Absolution - with no dry brushing! This was my first meticulously painted and highlighted model (crap compared to what I do now, but it laid down the groundwork!)

 

Now I don't know if it was the lighting when the Codex: Angels of Death Angel of Absolution photo was taken, but the grey highlights had a blue tint to them. They could have been done with Space Wolves Grey? Not sure but most likely. But I didn't own Space Wolves Grey and didn't know the colors available back then, and didn't have anyone instructing me. I owned Hideous Blue, which was a pale slightly greyish blue instead of Space Wolves Grey, which is a pale, slightly bluish grey. That's what I went with.

 

As time went on that first year I started doing multiple levels of shading and highlighting, so Deadly Nightshade and Festering Blue got added to the mix since I owned Deadly Nightshade already.

 

What I'm saying is, I locked myself into the blue/black scheme almost 20 years ago. If I were to start the army over from scratch now, would I choose Blue all over again? Nope. Its not 100% true to the army.

 

BUT! It does have a lot of pop to it and its not worth going back and redoing all of my models at this stage. And believe me... I've considered it. Many many times. Hell, you've got me second guessing 20 years of painting right now. But yeah. That's the story.

[Inquisitor Eisenhorn]

Super awesome.  Love this chapter too.

[Major_Gilbear]

Let me tell you about the blue highlights, since they go back to the 2nd Edition Angels of Death Codex, and my untrained eye.

 

Now its important to understand that this army has been a fixture in my life for what? 18 years?

 

So I was an Undead player (note: not Tomb Kings or Vampire Counts as they did not exist yet as dedicated factions) and Warhammer Armies:Undead gave a step by step on how to paint skeletons. I painted up a solid Undead army of mostly skeletons and then got turned onto playing 40K. I was stuck between Orks and Dark Angels, and finally decided Orks were "too goofy" and the Dark Angels were suitably serious with their Interrogator-Chaplains and dark secrets. I was in.

 

So then I needed to choose a paint scheme. I loved the Dark Angels Green look, but I already fully understood how to paint revolving around Bleached Bone and Brown Wash, so I painted up my first test model as an Angel of Absolution - with no dry brushing! This was my first meticulously painted and highlighted model (crap compared to what I do now, but it laid down the groundwork!)

 

Now I don't know if it was the lighting when the Codex: Angels of Death Angel of Absolution photo was taken, but the grey highlights had a blue tint to them. They could have been done with Space Wolves Grey? Not sure but most likely. But I didn't own Space Wolves Grey and didn't know the colors available back then, and didn't have anyone instructing me. I owned Hideous Blue, which was a pale slightly greyish blue instead of Space Wolves Grey, which is a pale, slightly bluish grey. That's what I went with.

 

As time went on that first year I started doing multiple levels of shading and highlighting, so Deadly Nightshade and Festering Blue got added to the mix since I owned Deadly Nightshade already.

 

What I'm saying is, I locked myself into the blue/black scheme almost 20 years ago. If I were to start the army over from scratch now, would I choose Blue all over again? Nope. Its not 100% true to the army.

 

BUT! It does have a lot of pop to it and its not worth going back and redoing all of my models at this stage. And believe me... I've considered it. Many many times. Hell, you've got me second guessing 20 years of painting right now. But yeah. That's the story.

 

I actually like the blue highlights personally, although I can see why others may not.

 

However, if you want to tone them down a bit with minimal effort, you could glaze them with a little black ink, water and matte medium. Add a few super-fine highlights with a very pale grey/white here and there, and done. No more than a few minutes (5-10?) of neat work per model, so perhaps an afternoon spent on them would bring them all up together? They'd also still be blue-ish, but less obviously so than they are now.

[xnickbaranx]

 

Let me tell you about the blue highlights, since they go back to the 2nd Edition Angels of Death Codex, and my untrained eye.

 

Now its important to understand that this army has been a fixture in my life for what? 18 years?

 

So I was an Undead player (note: not Tomb Kings or Vampire Counts as they did not exist yet as dedicated factions) and Warhammer Armies:Undead gave a step by step on how to paint skeletons. I painted up a solid Undead army of mostly skeletons and then got turned onto playing 40K. I was stuck between Orks and Dark Angels, and finally decided Orks were "too goofy" and the Dark Angels were suitably serious with their Interrogator-Chaplains and dark secrets. I was in.

 

So then I needed to choose a paint scheme. I loved the Dark Angels Green look, but I already fully understood how to paint revolving around Bleached Bone and Brown Wash, so I painted up my first test model as an Angel of Absolution - with no dry brushing! This was my first meticulously painted and highlighted model (crap compared to what I do now, but it laid down the groundwork!)

 

Now I don't know if it was the lighting when the Codex: Angels of Death Angel of Absolution photo was taken, but the grey highlights had a blue tint to them. They could have been done with Space Wolves Grey? Not sure but most likely. But I didn't own Space Wolves Grey and didn't know the colors available back then, and didn't have anyone instructing me. I owned Hideous Blue, which was a pale slightly greyish blue instead of Space Wolves Grey, which is a pale, slightly bluish grey. That's what I went with.

 

As time went on that first year I started doing multiple levels of shading and highlighting, so Deadly Nightshade and Festering Blue got added to the mix since I owned Deadly Nightshade already.

 

What I'm saying is, I locked myself into the blue/black scheme almost 20 years ago. If I were to start the army over from scratch now, would I choose Blue all over again? Nope. Its not 100% true to the army.

 

BUT! It does have a lot of pop to it and its not worth going back and redoing all of my models at this stage. And believe me... I've considered it. Many many times. Hell, you've got me second guessing 20 years of painting right now. But yeah. That's the story.

 

I actually like the blue highlights personally, although I can see why others may not.

 

However, if you want to tone them down a bit with minimal effort, you could glaze them with a little black ink, water and matte medium. Add a few super-fine highlights with a very pale grey/white here and there, and done. No more than a few minutes (5-10?) of neat work per model, so perhaps an afternoon spent on them would bring them all up together? They'd also still be blue-ish, but less obviously so than they are now.

 

You'd have to understand how I paint to understand the level of difficulty of what you're suggesting. I paint my models piecemeal. All of the guns and backpacks, the areas underneath... All fully highlighted. I'm completely OCD about that sort of thing. What you're suggesting in my OCD mind would mean breaking off every gun and backpack, properly cleaning off the glue, carrying out what you suggest (which at this point means that I might as well repaint the piece since it would take as much time) and then regluing (and often times pinning) pieces back in place. For someone who is less OCD, sure, your fix is a quick fix. For me... Its a 3-6 month long process if I don't get bored of it and focus on something else. At that point it would be just as easy to paint all new backpacks and guns and replace them over time.

 

Not every quick fix works for everyone. Some of us do things in possibly very stupid, but very meticulous and methodical ways that suits our own brains. 

 

Believe me, my army is pretty - but at almost 20 years to get to 2000 points don't you think something is amiss with how I do things? haha. Its not Golden Demon quality and at 20 years for 2000 points... It should be. Haha.

[Brother dean]

Well that makes sense.  I was going to say that it looks very retro...