WIP Angels of Vigilance and Dark Angels - 7-5 Dread/Razor

[Deathwing70]

I figured since I have recently brought my http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/185245-angels-of-vigilance]old Angels of Vigilance thread[/url] back from the dead in the WIP modeling section of the forums I would make a thread here aswell for my future projects and models I plan on doing (and off course attract some more attention + c&c etc.). Though still not 'officially' a Dark Angels successor, pretty much everyone assumes they are by now.

Basically a couple years ago (as in like 5+) I decided to start an Angels of Vigilance army. I decided the color on the Index Astartes looked a little sand-yellow ish and started painting some Marines up with really bright yellows, mixed in some browns to get a more muted color and added some darker colors to break it up a little and add some 'darkness' and I liked it. Unfortunately... it's still a type of yellow + general distractions and being in it just for the painting/converting led to me taking a couple breaks along the way and it's probably becoming one of the slowest painted armies ever

Due to some circumstances I found myself with alot of time recently and have been building up motivation again to start/finish some of my models. My plans are to build an army list of around 2000-2500 for my Angels of Vigilance ('greenwing') and stick to that. I think one of my main problems with motivation was I never had a true goal or end-line that I could work towards... there was always just 'more to do'.

For now I'll just post this 'army' picture I made a couple months ago. There is more to come and some part here aren't finished:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/P070712_1513_klein-1-1_zps772e8ee5.jpg


While / during I work on these yellow Dark Angels I also want to restart my 'green' Dark Angels (I still have some of my first painted Dark Angels of around 15+ years ago, they look horrible ). Basically painting a different color to distract me and use up all the cool bits I don't want to use on my Angels of Vigilance. I suppose I should also make an army list for them...
However, while I love them to look really dark and gritty, I want them to look good and sort of 'pop' on the field so when I would place them next to their bright yellow allies, they don't just look like a dark greenish blob. I've been working on some color schemes that I hope you guys will share your opinions on.

Basically I want to limit my palet to a few colors but make all of them appear on greenwing/deatwing and ravenwing while still holding on to the green / bone / black ofcourse. I also love some of the images you see of pre-heresy Dark Angels so have tried to keep some of that in there aswell. What else... I started Warhammer in 2nd edition, back then you bought tactical squads per 10 and usually had a sergeant and 'squad leader' with banner. I like banners so will hold on to this.

Anyway here's my concept of Greenwing:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Dark%20Angels/dark_angel_concept_magenta_zps3238dd7b.jpg

Deathwing:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Dark%20Angels/deathwing-concept_zps79cf021b.png

Ravenwing (problem here is I don't know where to include 'green'):
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Dark%20Angels/dark_angel_concept_ravenwing_zps2e590ba8.jpg

The Greenwing I plan on doing will be 7th Company (with squads from other reserve companies perhaps), simply because you hardly ever see anyone paint those. As you can see the colors I chose are different from ussual, hopefully enough to make them 'pop' while still be recognisable as Dark Angels (ofcourse there will be alot of bits and pieces from Dark Angel sprue's on the models themselves).

Colors:
- Dark green (hightlighted with some yellow to make it a little 'warmer')
- Bright gold accessories (chest eagle etc.)
- Black (slight touch of purple in there to be 'fancy')
- Light bone/white
- Back to traditional red (dark magenta ish) chapter markings which can be used on all 3 wings

All with the goal to keep the 3 wings look more belonging to the same army on the table than they do currently (in my opinion).

As for power weapon colors, I am still undecided. I don't really want to go with blue but blue IS popular for a very good reason... Here's some photoshopped stuff with some different colors:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Dark%20Angels/dark-angel-weapon-all_zps767a126d.png

So any thoughts on my chosen colors? Too much? Too little? I don't want to put in the bright red except for the eyes, those should look like they're burning with hatred.


Though I don't have alot of time to actually model and paint atm (should improve within a few weeks). Here's something I worked on last weekend:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Dark%20Angels/20130401_194028_zps72b14b86.jpg

Basically my Dark Vengeance tactical squad all cleaned up and ready for paint. I swapped the arms of the Sergeant and PC marine around and there's a few bits of putty on them aswell, tabards and an attempt at a robe:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Dark%20Angels/20130401_194134_zpsb4897daa.jpg

The bases are a bit of an experiment. I plan on going for a heavy woodland type base with some bright colored rubble (marble maybe? if I can pull it off) scattered around as if it's some sort of lost ancient colony, maybe Eldar even?
(I've been looking into starting a Warhammer Fantasy army aswell and Goblins look fun so I might even throw in some bright red mushrooms )

Anyway I would love your thoughts on the color scheme's, see what you guys think and if there's something I haven't considered yet in color choice. Thanks!

[deathspectersgt7]

Paint scheme looks cool like the basic  the best .

[The Shadow Guard]

Love the Angels of Vigilance army. I think you have the concept right if you wanted a colour linking your AoV and DA force... retty neat idea.

 

SG

[Deathwing70]

Thanks

Paint scheme looks cool like the basic the best .

Slightly confused, which one do you mean with the basic? One of the power swords? (blue?)

I've been looking into an army list for my Angels of Vigilance as a first goal, I figured 1500 pts would be a nice start and includes everything I've finished or added some yellow paint to already. I don't have the codex (yet... it's in the mail as I type this) so I build the list using BattleScribe. Do devestator squad heavy weapons really cost the same as they do in tactical squads now?

I have no clue how it would do on the field as I haven't played a game since 3rd edition but I always tried to build my lists in a style that fit the background of the army and not specialised against any single specific enemy.

HQ:

• Company Master (135 pts)
• - Power Sword
• - Combi plasma
• - Artificer armour

Elites:

• Deathwing squad (5) (240 pts)
• - Assault cannon
• Dreadnought
• - Plasma cannon (145 pts)
• - DCCW+SB
• - Extra armor
• - Deathwing upgrade (venerable)

Troops:

• Tactical Squad (5) (195 pts)
• - Plasma gun
• - Veteran Sergeant - Power Fist / Bolt Pistol
• Razorback (Master can ride here if desired)
• - Twin linked lascannon
• - Extra armor
• Tactical Squad (5) (95 pts)
• - Heavy Bolter
• - Sergeant - Power Sword / Bolter
• Tactical Squad (10) (185 pts)
• - Missile Launcher
• - Flamer
• - Veteran Sergeant - Power Sword / Bolt Pistol

Fast Attack

• Assault Squad (5) (125 pts)
• - Plasma pistol
• - Veteran Sergeant - Power Sword / Bolt pistol / Melta Bombs
• Ravenwing Attack Squadron (3) (150 pts)
• - Meltagun
• - Sergeant - Melta bombs
• Attack Bike
• - Multimelta

Heavy Support

• Predator (125 pts)
• - Lascannon sponsons
• - Dozer blade
• - Storm Bolter
• - Extra armor
• Devestator Squad (5) (100 pts)
• - 2x Lascannon
• - 2x Plasma Cannon
• - Sergeant - Signum - Bolter

According to my Battlescribe files this should come up to 1500 and model wise I've build most of these guys already. The bikers and devestator squad will be new additions so there is still room to play with. I'm not too up to date on the rules to know whether extra armor is still a 'must have' on vehicles. If not, that would free up quite some points to get more upgrades elsewhere.

Other models I have 'planned' which I would like to use to expand towards 2000-2500 with include a Land Raider, another Deathwing squad, Command squad, Chaplain in Termi armor, at least another 10 power armored marines though I don't know where to put them yet (fill up the dev squad / make another combat tac squad or a full tac squad etc.).

So what do you think? Any type of firepower I would be lacking? I have no clue how flyers work so I guess there will have to be some modifications to handle those.

Looking forward to your opinions!

[Rizara]

I must say, I do like your variation on the green wing, the bone shoulder pads are a nice contrast.  However, I really like your Angels of Vigiliance better than any greenwing, mostly because you don't see them very often, and they are yellow marines that aren't imperial fists.

 

Extra armor basically is a really expensive upgrade that only lets them ignore crew shaken results.  On a deathwing dread its not a bad choice, because you get to force them to reroll penetatration, so if they get that, you can just ignore it, and you can hopefully force harmful results to that.  Typically its not worth taking as an upgrade, but for a shooty dread, it could be well worth it to be able to ignore that.  On that note, have you thought about paying the 25 pts to upgrade your dread to a deathwing dread.  This gives him +1 BS/WS which makes his shooting more reliable, also one of the great combos for a dread with a plasma cannon is to give him a missle launcher instead of close combat weapon, so he can throw down two templates against hordes or squads, or if its light tanks or heavy armored troops, a krak missle and plasma shot can put a hurt, then your dread becomes long ranged fire support and a threat up to 48 inches away, so takes some of the heat off your other stuff.

 

Also, your devestators.  Lascannons are great, but I just faced a small 5 man squad with 4 plasma cannons and they really hurt.  This unit wipped out my librarian on bike and 3 blackknights in one round of shooting, even with one of the 4 plasma cannons overheating.  It was really painful, might be a good choice as well to go for plasma cannons here to really bring some scare threats off your tacs.  Also I would personally drop the storm bolter off the predator to shave some points and put it elsewhere in the army.  Mainly cause your predator is going to be focused on probably removing the enemies tanks, and that would give you more points for your devestators.  And since you have the predator and razorback with lascannons, this is just more cause to give plasma cannons to the devestators so they can help annihilate units of infantry.   Between the two lascannon toting tanks, and your missle launcher, you have descent anti tank support, plus the dread if you take a missle launcher, and your attack bike and ravenwing bike unit are designed for anti tank. 

 

Good luck and look forward to seeing how your marines start turning out.   As for powerweapon color, I would avoid the green one.  Already too much green.  The other 3 work, but I think the magenta one works best with the green armor. 

[Deathwing70]

awesome, very good feedback thanks.

I agree in a way that I also like the Angels of Vigilance better but I started on them over 7 years ago and still haven't painted up a legal force in that time

Though my commander/company master/Azrael standin has been build over 4 years ago I still felt/feel there's something missing so haven't put any paint on him yet.

Yellow just ... makes me struggle sometimes, especially since I'm learning to use an airbrush and trying to recreate the same colors as I started with 7 years ago to keep them consistant. It's not working as planned yet and I end up spending alot of time on some models before I'm happy. Also modelling wise I don't want to use any of the winged swords or other icons that 'scream' Dark Angel on the models which is a shame since they are cool. So building a Dark Angels force next to it is more of a distraction and learning new tricks again using different colors.

Extra armor lesson.. check. I tried to put Venerable/Deathwing on the dreadnought but just couldn't find the points for it. I didn't know it also boosted WS/BS to 5 though, that makes it a bargain! Fluffwise I would try to give everyone of my Marines that are supposed to be 'elite' or 'veterans' whatever rule upgrades I can buy for them so technically I want to give *all* my dreadnoughts the venerable/deathwing status. They've been put into one of those machines for a reason right?

I understand what you mean with the extra armor on a (shooty) dreadnought, basically it's an expensive upgrade but adjust the circumstances to make its effeciency per point as high as possible.

I do still have a spare dreadnought missile launcher somewhere. Might just paint it yellow aswell, though I love the look of the dccw claw.

The Devestators, as I said were just fillers atm. I gave them Lascannons to 'reserve' the points. I do love plasma cannons aswell but have also thought about making it a heavy bolter squad. I rather not take more than 2 heavy weapons though... I figure it should be a 10 man squad, combat squad it and split the heavy weapons

The Ravenwing was added as I didn't know what else to throw in there I have to be very honest and say I'm not a huge fan of the (old) bike models. Though I guess if I take those out, I lose manouvrability/flanking options. I threw melta's on them as that's what I was used to... Still if there's a better option for those points that fills a bigger hole?

I'll edit the list in my previous post, removing some extra armor, swapping the lascannons and some other things have given me the points for the Deathwing Dreadnought.

Here's a concept of the banner I want to paint for the Dreadnought btw. I might still throw around some colors but storywise I guess he could be the former Company Master, deserving his own custom banner:

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Angels%20of%20Vigilance/Dreadnought/35b2ee23-8842-404d-81ca-75a8e175b3ca_zpsec5e4f60.jpg

I've also played with my camera a little today and learned some new settings I never saw before. Also with some of my free time lately I've been playing alot with color options in paint programs which allowed me to 'fix' my pictures alot better than I used to (I think). Here's a picture of my last combat squad I painted (only the Sergeants banner needs some finishing... something to fill the black spot on his banner, I'll probably repaint the sword aswell and give in to the airbrush look):

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Angels%20of%20Vigilance/AOV%20Tac3%20HB/tac3_zps7d2c407b.jpg

Since everything was setup anyway I also took a shot of the WIP combat squad, the ML guy is the squads squadleader and will end up getting a banner aswell (2 banners per squad). The missile launcher itself is from a Cadian heavy weapon team, I ended up combining the barrel with some parts of the space marine missile launcher arm. My guess is he lost his bolter (considering the bionics he's not the most carefull guy) and picked up the Missile Launcher just because he could, the end justifies the means.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Angels%20of%20Vigilance/AOV%20Tac%204%20ML/tac4-wip_zps34f7ae93.jpg

(btw the bionic arm is from Anvil Industries, holding a pistol also made by them)

[Rizara]

ravenwing are still good to take, and melta guns work well with them.  They already have twin linked bolters, so they are pretty good standard against troops.  Against other marines, the melta can still pop one just as efficiently as a plasmagun, even though the plasmagun can rapid fire.  Flamers aren't bad, I just don't see flamers on a bike being completely effective, both from a fluff perspective and game one.  Generally I try not to get my bikes into hand to hand.  They might have hit and run, but they aren't really all that effective in melee with only 1 attack, 2 on the charge.  Still flamers could work against horde armies.   Meltas are good all around guns for ravenwing, and mine have two plasma guns because thats what the bikes came with.  After my game with them, I am tempted to remove the plasma guns for meltas, just on the ground that they are great at closing the distance and being first turn tank busters.

 

My attack bike has multimelta, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  That attack bike is a fire magnet, and a hard one to take out, and its easy enough to get within 12 inches on a tank to get double dice for punching holes in armor.  If you move it 12, you get that jink save, and surprisingly enough, I make it quite often, plus its two wounds and toughness 5.  

 

That is undestandable on the small dev squad only being 2 man. I myself don't like taking 4 on a five man, it was effective, but start losing wounds, and you have to give up the sergeant or a cannon first.  I like the two extra body tokens myself, because the sergeant provides one of the guns a BS boost, very handy.    Also our ability to take 5 man tac squads in smaller games with a single heavy weapon is something to take advantage of for mini dev units.  One heavy weapon and 4 extra bodies is handy.  

 

Totally feel you on the airbrush, makes sense.  I would love to get one, but first investing in it, then having to invest the time to get good at it, would definitely do the same thing and create a new army to practice with the airbrush if I had one myself.   I am still painting everything by hand myself, and with my already lack of time to paint, I mainly went for an official yet sort of a DIY army choice with the angels of vengeance because black is easy to paint.  

 

Yellow gives me fits, but your marines are looking good.  Always wanted to do a yellow army, i almost had one with my last attempt at a tau army, but i only painted one stealth team, the commander, and 1 fire warrior unit, and they army sat on the shelf for almost two years.  Had to get rid of it.  Still would love to do a yellow army, but my issue is time.  So for now sticking to one army, already strugglign to get the battle force I got for my son painted.  I got his models assembled, and granted they are necrons, its just if I find time to paint, I rather finish my own stuff right now.  Not like I have time to sit down with my nine year old to teach him to paint, or play right now.

 

That banner is wicked sweet.  The purple will stand out nicely against the yellow.  I also see your doing checks, is that something that is official for the angels of vigilance, or somethign borrowed from the lamenters, cause it reminds me of the lamenters minus the bleeding heart.  It also reminds me of taxi cabs, being yellow and checks, at least new york taxi's.   

[Deathwing70]

Well tbh, some of the yellow units have been touched/based by the airbrush and I suppose in the end it does save time but I still have trouble controlling the flow and getting the paint consistency / psi right (not to mention I need a laser pointer on the damn thing so I know where it's aiming sometimes).

I am trying to 'accomplish' getting to skip a few steps I normally did so I save time but so far I keep ending up going back with a brush and adding some more shading or highlighting. For basecoating it's great and pretty easy to get into, specially for these 'hard' colors (I mean the WIP shot above is airbrush work with a thin layer of wash over them (hard to see atm) they don't look as yellow as they do in the picture though, editing the colors must have done that.

As far as Angels of Vigilance go, nothing is official, like your Angels of Vengeance

It's not even confirmed the Angels of Vigilance are an Unforgiven chapter, the only written history they have is that they took up station at Pervigilium after the Dark Angels ignored/defied orders from Terra to leave the planet alone and assaulted it anyway shortly after the Heresy (maybe the first Fallen they encountered after Caliban?).

They never leave their home undefended and have fought in 3rd Armageddon and 13th Black Crusade.

Other stuff I have pieced together that might have something to do with their background:

- Symbol: Crucible - popular book/play about some witch or witchhunting

- Pervigilium (Venaris) - name of a poem ... Lion El Jo(h)nson/Dark Angels have off course also been linked to poetry for some time now.

- Vigilance (my main language isn't English so I've looked this up to see any other meanings besides the most sence making one) + never leave home undefended = they Guard something? The Crucible on the other hand is also an item used to craft metals and such.

So maybe they guard some hidden Unforgiven forges on the planet that are crafting all the unique and rare items the Unforgiven require in their quest of hunting the witches (Fallen) amongst the Imperium

There's no way of telling really.... and I guess I have already thought up more links that the creator of the name actually had in mind.

As for the checkers... I like the checkers I started these guys (with checkers) before I even knew what Lamenters were (or they became popular) + they are 4th company which also has the half-checker-half-bone. And alot of the pre-heresy Dark Angel symbolism/heraldry seem to include checkers aswell (as do alot of other Marine pictures).

I might change up the colors on some models a little, maybe some yellow/black checkers instead of white. I want to stay away from red though, gets too close to the Imperial Fists. I'm always looking for more 'freehand' bits I can add to them to make every Marine more personal. Like the last tactical squad I 'finished' has some Marines with a small imperial eagle and some writing below it. Once I made the first one and thought it looked pretty good I immediately started looking for spots on the other Marines to practise aswell.

Anyway todays update: not so much pictures of the modelling but I did receive some orders I have been waiting for for a while now

More bitz to play with!

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/20130405_181514_zps783b2098.jpg

I have to say those Deathwing knight parts look awesome, never really saw them up close before. The hooded heads are really making me consider building most of the Dark Angel force helmetless. I also love how many of the bits are all seperate and can see alot of items I can use for other conversions, guess the set is worth the money after all. Just need to find a way to complete 5 more bodies (back plate / legs).

Other stuff I received today is a starter pack of ... casting chemicals I guess I should call them. The mixtures to make Silicone molds / Resin etc. I decided I want to give that a go aswell, motivate me to build more custom stuff for my army/ies, I've had some thoughts for conversions for years.

For my Dark Angels I am also considering banning the chainswords and stick to plasticard / sculpted swords, maces and other medieval weaponry knights would use. Seeing as game wise a knife has had the same stats as a chainsword since 3rd edition, the main power of the weapon comes from the marine slamming it into the other guy's head anyway. Being able to cast these myself should also help me build them in the first place

Anyway yay for more learning curves

[Deathwing70]

Just wanted to show what I've been up to this weekend and these last 2 nights... still a few bits left to do (banners / sergeants weapons - probably will switch those anyway).

 

I can't seem to get my pictures 'right'. Guess I'll have to try taking some photo's during the day and see if that fixes the color balance a little.

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Dark%20Angels/DV%20tac/20130409_211920_zps55f6721a.jpg

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Dark%20Angels/DV%20tac/20130409_212255_zps5848f382.jpg

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Dark%20Angels/DV%20tac/20130409_212218_zps9280c5f6.jpg

 

 

Overal I'm quite satified with the color scheme (had my doubts while painting though), the models themselves... well I won't be buying any more DV Tac squads I think. I seem to have developed some shaky hands in the last few months (probably medication) which drove me crazy on some of the lesser defined details.

Lots of 'firsts' for me on the squad aswell, glowy eyes, glowy plasma guns. I stuck with the magenta, I guess it looks 'different'. (I actually airbrushed the plasma coils blue first then did a thin layer of red over it which made some of the effects purple ish, then highlighted and shaded some parts with red/dark red again.)

When I finished airbrushing the armor and I'm sure it looked alot brighter green and better highlighted (more contrast) than they do now but I guess adding all the brighter colors kinda washed that out.

 

I didn´t want to spend much time on weathering but I do like it when it´s there. I drybrushed some copper like colors onto edges/plates where it would make sence and a lighter drybrush of silver over that. With the dark green color it looks like you can get away with it and still have it look pretty good.

 

Anyway, I'll save the banners for later! Back to yellow for now!

[deathspectersgt7]

Oh yeah brother !like your paint scheme.

[Rizara]

yeah the images are a bit dark, at first I was like...black..i thought he was doing them in green.   Gotta say the shoulder pads are a nice touch.  The magenta looks great.  I am still not 100% sold on glow effects, just because I understand the principle, its just the application on little toy soldiers seems less than stellar to me.  I think its because to make the effect work, everyone over does the glow effects, cause honestly in real life, if your gun was glowing that brightly, you wouldn't be able to aim or fire it, sure marines can make up for optics, but its a plasma gun and if the gun is glowing hot, then its more than likely going to explode on you when you fire it in the first place.   Just my thoughts on glow effects and the science behind the application.  

 

Anyways, the colors are working nicely and the weathering is subtle, and looks like they still maintain their armor in between battles.  Which is great.  Can't wait to see the banner being finished and the unit as a whole.  Looking forward to more of your yellow battle brothers too. 

[Interrogator Stobz]

:tu: Loving you work Brother, can't  wait to see more.

 

s

[Deathwing70]

Thanks deathspectersgt7 :)

 

I've made some photo's in the daylight (cloudy day though). The green is still very dark, highlights are barely visible... ohwell I guess they are very subtle in real life too. I'll just have to add more contrast in the actual paint with the next guys to make nice pictures :)

(then again you can see the black lining pretty clear on some armor parts so it's not 'that' dark)

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Dark%20Angels/DV%20tac/20130410_093528_zpsd2f130f9-1_zps1a232e98.jpg

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Dark%20Angels/DV%20tac/20130410_093228_zps5559a25e-1_zps81da8046.jpg

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Dark%20Angels/DV%20tac/20130410_093405_zps7eb9d63e-1_zpsecd2f047.jpg

 

 

I understand what you mean with the glow effects. I've tried to keep mine very subtle but I guess in the end, imagining you're a 7-8 feet tall genetically enhanced super human carrying a weapon that must weigh a ton, capable of firing miniature exploding stars at whatever alien race that is always at war with you... rule of cool > realism :)

 

On the Plasma Cannon I've kept (well the airbrush did it in less than a second, before I knew what was going on it was already pink) the 'glow' pretty much limited to the robe and not so much on the darker parts since the robe would reflect/pick up the color much easier being brighter.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Dark%20Angels/DV%20tac/plasmacannon_zpscc15749a-1_zps65c77f8a.jpg

 

 

 

Anyway... more interesting perhaps. I've also been doing alot of thinking about the concept of my Angels of Vigilance lately, as I said I finally got some tools to do my own amateur resin casting (no pressure tank or anything). This will make my life alot easier if I want to make more customised weapons / armor.  As for the weapons themselves, I always saw the Dark Angels as the sort of noble warriors/knights using the graceful weapons like swords, so I've been avoiding axes for a long time now which is a shame with the new/6th edition rules...

 

I've been toying with the idea of a personal bodyguard / guard type veterans that would accompany HQ's and what better weaponry for these guys than a long spear/halberd type weapon + shield (lookwise)? I guess rulewise a CC decked out command squad might also be the only place where spears (power lance) might prove usefull. Though if I model them right I suppose they can count-as axes aswell.

 

Fluff wise I guess more specialised 'guardians' could fit into the theme also since they always leave at least one company at home. I've also started with the idea that the Angels of Vigilance might have been created to keep an eye out / look for the Lion himself. Storywise the Dark Angels have no clue what actually happened to the Lion after Caliban, and they do venture into the eye of terror from time to time...

 

I think it would make sence and I don't think there is any Dark Angel fluff that touches on this subject yet? They could have been formed by some of the marines that often stood at the side of the Lion himself, acting as his guardians and are now tasked with finding the Lion while the other Unforgiven focus on hunting down the traitors. One way of explaining why they're not an official Unforgiven chapter (they are aware though, they just have other priorities).

 

Now I just have to figure out why the heck they would take a crucible as a chapter symbol...

 

Anyway here's some doodles I drew up for weapon concepts:

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Angels%20of%20Vigilance/20130410_091413_zps09ebb58b.jpg

 

 

I think a spear would look great on this guy:

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/captain/P121209_1218.jpg

 

He was supposed to be my Azrael count-as. I'm not entirely happy with him atm, this is an old picture but he's pretty much still the same.

I'll change his backpack to include a banner. If I keep the sword (magnet option) I will reposition it at least to be pointing down / across his body in a more relaxed 'Company master' confident style pose. I also need to add something to his helmet, small wings probably. Tubing on the plasma/bolter will probably go and ofcourse I need to add alot more crucible and wing type stuff to make him actually look like he's from this chapter.

 

Any other thoughts on stuff to customise (not just the Master :))?

[Rizara]

Spears and halberds could work.   Unfortunately you can't give spears to black knights, but normal ravenwing sergeants can have a spear/powerlance so that could work.  If you make the spear more halberd like, you could justify it for power axe easily enough and it would then look like a weapon that should strike last and hit harder. 

 

As for your azrael stand in their, he looks good.  The sword doesn't look to bad, but I can see where its not impressive looking either.  A power spear would look cool at that pose, so would a halberd.  Definitely go with some magnetized options.  The helmet definitely needs some wings, but I like the wings that you did in the sketch that match the army icon better.  That chaos helm just has to much extended areas the helment lacks something.  Perhaps even modeling the top crest/ventillation area that most marine helmets have across the top of their helms would also help to improve it.  Also he needs a larger shoulder pad on his right side.   You used the ornate one on his left, but his right side needs a nice ornate, mark 3 shoulder pad as well, cause in the image that one looks small. The last addition for him, maybe a cape/cloak.  The backpack just looks small on the figure, and its as if he is lacking something, and I think the flowing cloak might suit since he is also your chapter master.  

 

I am a bit dry on other conversion ideas, the ones you have in your sketch are great so far.  I will have to think about the crucible part and get back to you if i can come up with any ideas that might help on why they might use it as an icon.  

[Deathwing70]

hmm well as usual Ravenwing hadn't even crossed my mind yet. Not much of a problem though, was thinking of keeping the spear/halberds for 'specialists' anyway like the command squad that could double up as a Company Veteran squad... The Veterans also have access to storm shields so I can complete the 'image' I'm after.

Though now you got me thinking of other Sergeants aswell. Still I like swords very much aswell and, rulewise, they are probably better suited for a lone sergeant...

Thanks for the feedback on the master/azrael. I still don't have a clear image yet of how I want him to look, except that I want him to look the part of the commander of the force, calm, confident, standing there watching his master plan unfold.

I might even scrap the helmet entirely but I'm definately gonna try some/work on some different wings to add to helmets in different sizes aswell as I want them on the veterans/guards aswell. I did file down the ornate plate on the left shoulder pad a little, the cracks could work for chaos but not for someone that takes care of his armor Maybe I'll just build new shoulder pads aswell (again I have seen some cool custom ones that have given me some idea's for the guards - master's armor has to look better than theirs doesn't it?). I never really liked the mark 3 total look but looking at those shoulderpads... good suggestion. And yea, definately a cape/cloak blowing in the wind, I've never done something that big with green stuff before though so I think I'll look into that deathwing cloak first and see if it opens options...

Overal so much to change though, I might just be better off restarting a Master and using this one as one of the veterans - if a spear would fit him very well why not replace it with the company banner, problem solved.

Anyway, while pulling out my yellow paints again I've decided to stick with the airbrush untill I'm happy with the color/transition and won't touch it afterwards except a little wash to define the edges, so lots of layers of yellow/brown/white/yellow and back to brown again, but at least I'll learn to use the damn thing faster

I've also printed out one of those white-blue backgrounds to use for making pictures and made a quick snap shot (didn't setup anything, just put the model on the paper and made a picture - at night). Quality is so much better, no editing done afterwards besides cropping/resizing:

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Angels%20of%20Vigilance/AOV%20Razorback%20custom/20130410_210043_zpsbf31b6b9.jpg

The razorback was just in between layers btw, I've managed to make some of the transitions alot smoother already. Just realised I've never really thought about my color scheme for the vehicles... I also need to stop making such long posts :)

Thanks for all the feedback so far btw.

[[TA]Typher]

I'd get rid of the plasma pistols. They are a waste of points. 1 shot (maybe) for the same points you'd spend for a Plasma Gun or Cannon, which statistically will do much, much more damage. Even a a Power Sword and Melta Bomb would be a better point-sink.

 

On another note.. I LOVE that plasma effects you made. it looks really good.

[Deathwing70]

thanks mate

The red/magenta color is growing on me. I'm agree with you on the plasma pistols, I'm guessing it's more of a you pay alot of pts for the 1 good shot AND then keep your +1 attack in CC. Basically you need an upgraded CC weapon like a power sword to complement it then.

I'm most likely going to replace the sergeants weapons with a power sword and bolt pistol. For the AoV army list, the only plasma pistol I have in there is in the assault squad I think. I am thinking about replacing their chainswords anyway for a fancier blade, I'll look into making a compact size flamer to replace the plasma pistol.

When I do get around to finish the DA I'll probably not be able to resist giving their armor another highlight (little edge highlighting) and making their eye lenses pop some more (think scary cartoons where you see those bright red eyes show up in the dark... that's where I want to go with them )

Anyway on to the AoVig., this week started pretty good painting wise but the weekend I just kept learning new things not to do (touch models with dirty hands etc.) and ended up having to repair / fix a lot of stuff before I was happy with them - basically screwed up my planning, I also wanted to finish the Razorback. I did end up adding more highlighting with a brush since when I was almost done (or so I thought) I put them next to the older ones and it just looked like I forgot a color of highlighting. Anyway I'm not in a rush so I might as well ease my mind and keep adding paint until I'm happy with them.

I'll try to update the picture/add some more tomorrow if I can get some better light (my new avatar got some heavy editing )

Hope you like em!

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Angels%20of%20Vigilance/AOV%20Tac%204%20ML/20130415_002921-2_zpscf123e47.jpg

I've been studying alot of green stuffed cloaks and such on the web and been thinking of other elements to add for customisation, for those guard type/command squad/veterans, it seems I was basically thinking of a Dark Angelic/gothic/knightly version of the Custodes. Basically make them look alot more robust than the actual Custodes everyone seems to build with their slim elven like legs. Anyway that should be a fun project but I should really first finish off what I have build and started to add paint to first:

- Razorback

- Predator

- Terminator squad

[Deathwing70]

As promised, some pictures during the day:

 

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Angels%20of%20Vigilance/AOV%20Tac%204%20ML/new_zpsb837dfd4.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Angels%20of%20Vigilance/AOV%20Tac%204%20ML/tac4-2_zps3558f98a.jpg

 

I've switched to decals for the chapter symbol and tactical marking, I must say I'm happy with the result, much more crisp and clearer than I could ever paint those lines. Well the symbols on the sergeant still had to be painted since I only bought the clear decal paper. I tried to outsmart it by printing them grey (I cant print white and clear decal paper won't show white either) but it said.. 'nah!' and gave me a piece of decal with nothing on it but a little black lining I added. Still I could use it as a template to paint over.

[Rizara]

Looking good.  you got alot more painting done over the weekend than I managed to accomplish in a week and a half lol.  

[Deathwing70]

I´m inspired atm :)

 

I just noticed someone with alot more skill than me basically is building the company master I have in mind (or well I do now...) over at the WIP forum:

http://http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/262046-heresy-death-guard-updated-150413/page-14?do=findComment&comment=3349985

[Rizara]

That cape is cool and I can see the inspiration. If you go with a commander that is similar replace the eagle backpack for something more fitting. The axe also looks a bit uninspiring mostly cause it is big, recognizable and doesn't,t fit the death guard or dark angels either.

 

Keep up the good work. Enjoy being inspired. My issue is no time right now due to work and school. That being said ext week I will be getting some painting going, just will be hard to decide what to pint first hehe.

[Deathwing70]

That cape is cool and I can see the inspiration. If you go with a commander that is similar replace the eagle backpack for something more fitting. The axe also looks a bit uninspiring mostly cause it is big, recognizable and doesn't,t fit the death guard or dark angels either.

 

 

 

well I'm going to stick to the no axes rule. Axes are for the wolves... I meant the entire pose and vibe + cool cape as inspiration. Anyway everytime I try to think of a cool pose to try and model something after I keep ending up with a foot on a rock/knee up kind of look. I'm already going to have too many of those in my army so I do need something different. Also dug up a very very old DA captain model (the oop one from 1980something), maybe I can think of something cool with his fist on his hip or something similar. Not all hands have to be filled with weapons at all times...

 

 

Keep up the good work. Enjoy being inspired. My issue is no time right now due to work and school. That being said ext week I will be getting some painting going, just will be hard to decide what to pint first hehe.

 

hehe, I know the feeling, that's why I'm trying to force myself to paint the stuff I've already build first instead of building more. Though last night I really didn't feel like painting much, I worked on some preparation for shoulder pads I want to recast before and really wanted to pull out some procreate (greenstuff) and get some practice with that again:

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Angels%20of%20Vigilance/wip%20general/20130416_105901_zps0abc1265.jpg

 

overal pretty happy considering I hadn't touched my sculpting stuff in about 2 years, still some edges to clean up and make a little sharper. Since I want to recast them I guess I can go for perfection and make it as sharp as I can. I'm still thinking of how to make the actual pad a little more interesting / icons to sculpt on them, though I'm also really liking the crisp details the decals provide and a flat surface does have it's charms.

[Aegnor]

Some great stuff in this thread. Love your Angels of Vigilance and those plasma glow effects.

[Deathwing70]

Well managed to get another squad combat-ready. Most of it was already done about a year ago, just needed to finish some details:

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/terminator/terminator2_zpsbef13f5c.jpg

 

 

Looking at the picture I can already see some major booboo's (and simply a few details I forgot) I need to fix and unfortunately some of the weathering/damage I added seems to be much more noticable in the picture than real life, I'll need to tone that down a little.

For some reason I'm also not entirely happy with them yet, there seems to be something missing (besides the banner for sergeant and making his sword actually noticable). It took me alot of tries to find the colors for the shoulder pads (Forgeworld Blood Angel shoulder pads with the blood-drop green stuffed to look like a crucible), in the end I went with a silver/bright gold combination and I'm still not sure it's 'right'.

 

Anyway, I'd love to get come c&c on them, what's there to make these guys look more like 'Angels of Vigilance'? (next ones will definitely be getting more green stuff though)

 

Also, if anyone's got some tips on making photo's, I'd love to hear those. I can't seem to keep my standard at a constant level...

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

*edit: I've gone and editted some of the old pictures in the thread aswell as I learn more about image editting, giving them a better color balance etc.*

*edit2: I've gone and made some new test pictures. I like them, I'll try to keep this exact situation the same for all future pictures aswell. I've also made a new picture of the last combat squad with these conditions:

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Angels%20of%20Vigilance/AOV%20Tac%204%20ML/tac4-new_zpsb5014c8c.jpg

 

[Interrogator Stobz]

I'm not too sure what all these cool looking Imperial Fists are doing in the DA Forum, but DAMMMM they are cool ;) :P.

 

Well done on Lysanders Termie friends ;)

 

:D

stobz