Rainbow Warriors - Casting! Casting!

[Aqui]

Hello!

Whilst I already have a WIP topic already, and have a little of my progress with my eventual Rainbow Warriors army in it, I decided to keep the progress I make separately. One reason for this is that hopefully I can impart what I have learned in stripping paint and repainting the minis I'm going to use for them. This topic is also heavily inspired by Gitsplitta's Mantis Warrior topic (Thanks mate )

I had already stripped a mini a while back, and it went quite well, except when it came to painting it. I had drybrushed the undercoat on, ultimately the coats of paint I put on after were too thick as the paint was about two years old and I didn't thin it very well. That mini will be stripped again, but the stripping part is still effective.

Anyway, this is what I have stripped so far:

I use "Fairy power spray" and got it whilst it was on offer in one of the retail chains we have in the UK. I wish I'd picked up a couple now

For the best results it's best to keep the minis covered in the stuff for about 12-24 hours. When I got them out of the jars, the paint had bloated, and the vast majority was so easy to remove; I was able to pick it off with my fingers in large chunks. An old toothbrush and cocktail sticks were used to get the more difficult parts. If anyone who hasn't stripped paint off minis before and use this method, they should bear in mind the following:

Keep the area you work in ventilated as the fumes aren't fun at all (not really bad, but nasty enough). A heavy spray of the power spray is enough, although I topped up a few hours later to make sure.

Hands should be covered where possible (no plastic gloves as it'll most likely eat it away). I've been using chemicals like it for years, so my hands are far more used to it.

Best container I found to house the stripping process are Marmalade jars.

In the tub, there is just enough to make a tactical squad. The missile launcher needed a little more time in the stripper as it was painted quite heavily in the old Metallic paint.

The other components have been washed with water and are currently drying. Afterwards they need to be checked over and have the mould lines removed. The minis used to belong to a school friend of mine and like myself back then were not very vigilant with removing bits of plastic where the parts were attached to sprues

In all I have 49 or so minis to strip, so I have nearly enough for a Demi Company. I do have a decision to make however. I have about four missile launchers and five old style flamers. Not sure whether to have all of them as Tactical squads or to have two Devastator squads and two Tacticals. In any case, I also have three old metal Mark VII bare head Marines as well (one is missing an arm), an old squad of metal Devastators (with only the Lascannon surviving, nearly all of them are without arms), so I'll probably have the Sergeant wearing Mark VII with the rank and file using Mark VI.

I bought a modern Command Squad for this army, the Company Banner bearer already painted (the banner itself is going to be stripped and redone - hopefully a lot better), so I'll keep to the convention that Marines with rank use Mark VII.

More progress to follow as I intend to use spray paint to undercoat/basecoat them and for this I'll most likely use the Army painter "UltraMarine" one (it'll be a while until I get it), so won't have much more to add for now except perhaps a few ideas and concepts I want the army to have.

I will get around to reposting all the RW stuff from my other topic soon, so that it's all in the same place.

Thanks for looking

[Olis]

Having seen what Gitsplitta can do with the old beakies, I'm looking forward to seeing some Rainbow Warriors. Good luck, brother.

[Aqui]

Having seen what Gitsplitta can do with the old beakies, I'm looking forward to seeing some Rainbow Warriors. Good luck, brother.

 

 

Thanks Olis ^_^  I've been putting this project off for quite some time, but I got quite a bit done today, so it's put some enthusiasm into getting started properly ^_^

[Kierdale]

At last he starts his Rainbow Warriors! :D

Will be watching.

[Aqui]

At last he starts his Rainbow Warriors!

Will be watching.

I was going to do the tidying up tomorrow, but I decided to do it tonight. I've gotten the vast majority of the mould lines off and the excess plastic remaining from the sprues. My left thumb nail is scratched to feth but worth it in the end. I've got another thirty or so plastic minis to strip, so I'll get on them tomorrow instead. I don't have any money for spray paint until the end of the week (I do have Skull White in a can, but it'll be easier to get the Army Painter UltraMarine blue). Hopefully, I'll be able to get them sprayed next week, as it looks like I'll finally be able to go back to work after nearly six weeks the week after I could have gotten nearly every miniature I have painted (which is a LOT), but there have been other things to do despite hobbling around for all that time

I've also seen Forge World Mark VI minis, which has given me an idea to use them as the basis of a more "old school" Command Squad. I do want to have the entire army in Mark VI rather than have some in Mark VII. If I get them, it won't be for a while yet.

I do have a few ideas for the Chapter banner, but haven't worked out a way to make them simple enough to be able to paint on. I'll have to get practising on paper. One idea is to have an "Incan/Mayan" version of the Imperial Aquila, but I never was much of an artist

[Monstra Sumus]

I will be watching this like a hawk. 

[Razblood]

Good to see you moving ahead with this :)

[Aqui]

Being the impatient person I am, I decided to try painting a mini with a white undercoat instead of spraying the mini blue. All well and good until I realised that the Enchanted Blue I have been using, has gotten very thick. I have Lahmian medium, and could try to use that to thin the paint out, but as one can not get Enchanted Blue any more, there is little point

Anyway, the spray went on okay, although it pooled slightly around the chest area along the "braces/armour cabling". It's not a huge problem, and most likely down to me rushing

The pictures:

Up to this point I have stripped around 20 miniatures, so roughly two Tactical squads or one Tactical squad and two five-man Devastator squads. Still not sure yet which Battle Company to do yet (in my own mind painting them in Reserve Company Colours is not very logical). Whilst there's hardly anything fluff-wise for them, they are Ultra Marine successors, and with that in mind I'm drawn to a Fourth Company designation, as most Codex adherent players seem to go for Second or Third.

Any one know of a novel way of showing such a designation on Mark VI armour? Mark VII's tend to use the Shoulder guard edging and or knee pads to show Company Colours. Mark VI has no such things. Do I paint the whole of a shoulder guard in Fourth's colours? Paint their helmet in Green? Any other ideas that would be novel, or cool?

[Monstra Sumus]

The bolter housing? 

 

I would suggest a green stripe down the helmet, but then how do you differentiate between command positions? It's a real puzzler. 

 

If they all have the studded shoulder pad, maybe paint that one in the company colour, leaving the other free for Chapter symbol? 

[Aqui]

The bolter housing? 

 

I would suggest a green stripe down the helmet, but then how do you differentiate between command positions? It's a real puzzler. 

 

If they all have the studded shoulder pad, maybe paint that one in the company colour, leaving the other free for Chapter symbol? 

 

I did consider the bolter housing, and the stripe on the helmet, so great minds... :lol:  Having said that, I had planned on Greenstuffing a head dress of a sort for Sergeants and above (so the higher up the chain of command the bigger and more ornate the head dress).  If anything, I could work it so that the head dress on the Sergeant is the indicator.  I'll have a think about it.

 

  They all do have the studded shoulder pad, so for the rank and file I could paint that instead.  I've decided since my last post that the Company they come from will be Fourth Company ^_^  Green would be a good colour to use against the blue - not jarring like red or black, but a dull or dark green would probably look good.

 

I'll be getting the new version of Enchanted Blue (Caledor sky) at the weekend, so I can get started properly.

[Monstra Sumus]

The head dresses sound like a good idea and I've always been fond of crests on 'Beakies. 

[Studio Silvernale]

Use Vallejo game color "magic blue" its pretty much the same color.

[Razblood]

For your company colour you could add a circle or diamond on the side of one of the legs perhaps? Or have the Chapter badge in the company colour?

[Aqui]

Use Vallejo game color "magic blue" its pretty much the same color.

 

I've considered using their stuff, but the only shop that sold Vallejo where I live has moved premises and I don't know where they've gone :lol:

 

I'll have to have a search for them.

 

Or have the Chapter badge in the company colour?

 

:blink:  Such a simple but effective idea!  Plus it would be in keeping with the Chapter's fluff :lol:

 

I think that'll be the way to go ^_^

[Studio Silvernale]

Order it from their online site like I do =D

[Aqui]

Order it from their online site like I do =D

I would do, but I'm impatient

However, on that note, I do have more actual progress to report

I had tried painting a mini with a different shade of blue while ago and it didn't look right at the time. It didn't help that the paint was put on too thickly, so today I decided he would act as a test mini, ultimately going back into the stripping solution when I have no further need of him. I managed to paint on highlights quite well, but then decided to go over them with a "brighter" shade to act as a map of where highlights should go. You'll see him in the last image.

The colour scheme I used for the Mark VII minis is basically Enchanted Blue, Guilliman wash, and dry brushed Enchanted Blue. I quite liked the colour, but now after seeing the alternate colour scheme, I quite like the new one. The new scheme is Kantor Blue, Drakenhof Nightshade, and then highlighted Enchanted blue. I'm quite excited by this, as highlighting tends to happen to other people

Anyway, the pictures:

So, besides the issue of being able to paint the Chapter symbol (which I know requires practice), the other issue I had was the stripes down the helmet. Below are two different ways of doing it. I'm inclined towards the first one:

I'm quite pleased how he turned out Going forwards, when I get the others done, it'll be back to the "production line" method of painting, which will allow me to get everything done without getting too sick of repetition.

[Razblood]

Nice highlights :)

 

One thing I'd advise for the Chapter badge freehand is to thin your paint a bit more and go back over it with your base Blue to neaten it up afterwards. But above all don't stress about it as stress leads to shaking ;)

[Aqui]

Nice highlights

One thing I'd advise for the Chapter badge freehand is to thin your paint a bit more and go back over it with your base Blue to neaten it up afterwards. But above all don't stress about it as stress leads to shaking

Thanks ^_^ it's something that I've been trying on old bitz, but practice can only take you so far :lol:

I'm not sure if it's the paint I'm using (White Scar), but if I thin it, it's too watery to paint anything with even with multiple coats. Too thick and it clumps :(

I might get another type of white on saturday and see how that goes.

[The Yak]

Proper proper Beakies!!! Great work Brother. The blue is spot on. Good luck with the chapter symbols and stripes I would love to be able to paint freehand but I am far to cowardly to attempt it!

[Aqui]

Proper proper Beakies!!! Great work Brother. The blue is spot on. Good luck with the chapter symbols and stripes I would love to be able to paint freehand but I am far to cowardly to attempt it!

Thanks Yak - I've seen your Raptors and I love their colours. I'm glad I spent the time on the mini I thought I'd ruined with a darker shade, as I much prefer that one now

When I get around to getting vehicles, I'm lucky in that I somehow kept the transfers from the two Land Raiders I once had (unfortunately the Land Raiders are long gone ) there are a load of the original "Founding Chapters" on there:

I'm not sure if they're appropriate, but if you want the Bird ones (not sure if they are actually Raptor logos, but they look Raptor-y ) at the top, then give me a PM. There are nine in total. Bear in mind that they are twenty years old, so I honestly don't know if they'll be any good now

I'd expect nothing back, except that they go to a good home

Free hand is something that I'll hopefully get better at ^_^

[The Yak]

Thanks for the offer Aquilanus. To be honest it makes me happy just seeing that transfer sheet. Reminds me of the good old days when Space Marines all used camouflage and Guard could have Landraiders!

 

Your right that was the old Raptor Insignia. Isn't it nice to see a transfer sheet with all the cool chapters on rather than the big four!

 

I wont take you up on your offer as I am using the White logos on my force. But again thanks. I am similar to yourself in that I am happy to send stuff to a happy home, especially to comrades here on the B&C.

 

I think you should frame that sheet and put it on your mantle piece as a true piece of 40k memorabilia.

 

Cheers

[Devolver]

Looking good mate, Look forward to seeing alot more of this RT awesomeness!!

[Aqui]

Thanks for the offer Aquilanus. To be honest it makes me happy just seeing that transfer sheet. Reminds me of the good old days when Space Marines all used camouflage and Guard could have Landraiders!

 

Your right that was the old Raptor Insignia. Isn't it nice to see a transfer sheet with all the cool chapters on rather than the big four!

 

I wont take you up on your offer as I am using the White logos on my force. But again thanks. I am similar to yourself in that I am happy to send stuff to a happy home, especially to comrades here on the B&C.

 

I think you should frame that sheet and put it on your mantle piece as a true piece of 40k memorabilia.

 

Cheers

 

Fair enough.  I can understand you wanting everything to be consistent ^_^

 

Looking good mate, Look forward to seeing alot more of this RT awesomeness!!

 

Thank you.  Unlike a lot of miniatures I've painted in the past, I actually enjoyed painting it from start to finish.  The whole process was straight forward and relatively painless (I did have to get up from the stool a few times as my knee went stiff) which makes a change! :lol:

[Aqui]

Curiosity got the better of me, and I found a few lots for RTB01 Marines on ebay. For various reasons I've kept well away from that site in the past, but what I found is too good to be true I have over bid on them compared to the other bidder (by a lot :blink: ), but ultimately, if I get them at the price I bid it will be worth it in my eyes as they are worth the bid ^_^ I registered for pay pal etc and the auction is for another 46 RTB01 Marines, ready built and undercoated in black. There's another 8 or so days on the auction, but if I win then I'll have enough for nearly an entire Company! Included in the auction are enough bitz to nearly make another 10 on top of the 46! (missing back backs) I've seen a few other auctions for RTB01 bitz as well, so I'll keep an eye on them.

Damn it :lol:

[The Yak]

Hahaha you do know you are showing all the signs of a fully fledged RTB01 Addict!