The beginnings of a Star Phantoms army

[Freakiq]

So, I recently decided to strip my Ultramarine army and decided to repaint them as Star Phantoms as I like the scheme and their fluff.

Their heavy use of Devastators and Land Raiders also fits my playstyle.

This is the first test-model.

While this one is painted over a black basecoat the army will be painted using a white spray.

In the images in IA 10 they only have metallic trims on shoulders that use the Mk3-style raised trim but I just found an all-white model to be too boring.

[Olis]

Very nice work, brother. The slight chipping you've done speaks a lot, imho. It's also good to see a Star Phantom popping up when we are seeing yet more Marines Malevolent. Keep up the good work. :D

[The Yak]

Subscribed. Love the Phantoms!

 

Good luck with all the white. Seems you have got what it takes to pull it off.

[Chronotonic]

devastators have always been last to fill an army list for some reason...

 

dont know why that is...

 

but this looks great

[Urauloth]

Finally! Maybe you can help reign in some of the Malevolents running rampant on this board ;)

 

In seriousness though, this is a really nice start. The metallic trim is definitely a good idea, I was intending to do the same if and when I get around to picking up some phantoms of my own. What did you use to shade the white? it looks very natural. The earthtone on the base is nice too.

 

Love the weathering and also the helmet lense colour, it's a superb contrast and very eyecatching. My only complaint is that he seems to have some serious mould line issues going on.

[Freakiq]

Thanks for the comments everyone. :)

 

The white was shaded using thinned-down Dawnstone painted into the recesses.

 

Didn't notice the mold-lines until I started painting him, seems a lot of my former Ultramarines were badly cleaned.

Will be sure to clean the models before repainting them in the future.

[Biohazard]

Finally! More Phantoms, he looks great brother. Can I ask how you painted the white as Im struggling to find a recipe Im happy with.

[Freakiq]

Thanks, glad to join the ranks of such a fine chapter. 

 

As for the paintscheme, this is what I did:

Spray Black -> basecoat Ceramite White -> wash with thinned-down Dawnstone -> repaint armour plates Ceramite White -> highlight White Scar

 

Will be buying a Skull White spray later today and skip the first two steps, so my new technique will be:

Spray White -> wash with thinned-down Dawnstone -> repaint armour plates Ceramite White -> highlight White Scar

 

Will post another test model using the new technique tomorrow or maybe even later tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

[Cage304]

Excellent looking white scheme. I love the fluff for the Phantoms. I will be following this thread.

[Mr Paranoid]

This looks great, it's awesome to see you've managed to get such a nice white from a black undercoat. I'm debating on whether or not to start a Star Phantoms army myself when i get reunited with my models (that won't be till summer though :() so this and Biohazard's plog are really making me want to pick the Phantoms. Keep up the good work!

[Inquisitor Eisenhorn]

Wow this is exciting!  The Phantoms are a really cool under represented chapter, and you have an excellent ravaged aesthetic.

 

One thing I'd suggest as you go forward is to be a little more careful cleaning your mold-lines--I see a few remaining on the left arm and leg.

 

The I-beam on the base is really cool too.

[Dosjetka]

Subscribed.

 

Lovely models, I look forward to seeing more :)

[Freakiq]

Haven't had the time to start on my squad so here's version 1.1 of my test model.

Made eyes brighter and more orange, changed heat dissipators on backpack to steel and added minor source lighting to the faceplate.

Will try to start on the squad later tonight.

[Biohazard]

Thats more how I painted my back packs as well. The osl on the faceplate looks good as well.

[Mr Paranoid]

That looks great, love the gritty look you've got going on too.

[Bannus]

That is one fine test model - and it is looking even beter than before.

 

I applaud your efforts at building an army painted white and I'll start up a collection for your therapy that is soon to follow (we would do the same thing for our Imperial Fist players, but there is just too many of them to help, so they have been left to their own insane devices)  :P

 

I look forward to seeing your squad grow.

[Olis]

I'd be happy either way on the backpack dissipaters but if you feel more comfortable with painting them silver rather than white then go for it. The slight OSL looks great, btw. :)

[Adeptus-Alaska]

see what you started Bio? oh.....I mean, another Star Phantom guy, YAY! wow, you are painting them exactly how I am! weird! so are you using the Vanilla Dex or the Dark Angel dex? I think the other four SP players are using DA (though I am still undecided).

[Freakiq]

@Bannus: These are the easiest models I've ever painted, send the therapy money to Dorn's Banana-boys. 

 

@Furioso-Prime: Using the Space Marine codex for these as I'm quite fond of that list.

 

On the painting front I've started with the first white-sprayed marine and it does indeed save a lot of time, just spray, wash with Dawnstone and highlight White Scar.

The white is done and took about ten minutes, even my Necrons feel like a hassle compared to this. 

 

Will have a picture up by tomorrow, I promise.

[Biohazard]

Ill be heading to my local store to buy some Dawnstone and White spray tomorrow then :)

[Freakiq]

Hope works as well for you, be sure to thin it a lot. If some areas are too light you can just paint Dawnstone into any recesses you want darker.

 

Must applaud GW for the Skull White spray, goes on very smooth and thin, not like any other brand I've tried.

[Freakiq]

Second test model almost finished, the white undercoat yields very similar results except smoother and in half the time.

This means the scheme is now finalized and and full production may begin.

Will finish this one and start work on a full Tactical Squad later today.

[Biohazard]

That looks awesome, definitely going to have to borrow your recipe.

[Olis]

I'm looking forward to seeing a whole squad of these guys. Hell, I'm looking forward to an army shot. :D

[Freakiq]

Anyone have any clue how the Star Phantoms' company markings work? 

 

IA10 shows the 9th company with a black and white kneecap split vertically, however according to the Codex Astartes that marking is usually associated with the 6th company. There's also a Tactical Marine with the blank/white kneepad associated with the Scout Company. 

Should I just assume this is a mistake due to a lack of communication between the artist and the writer and go with the codex patterns? 

 

Or is the kneepad just another way of designating squad type, with white being Tactical, black being Assault and halved being Devastator?

 

 

What's your opinion?