Jump to content

A Bad Painter's Iron Warriors Project:


Shifte

Recommended Posts

Hi folks,

 

So, I've been a Warhammer player for over twelve years at this point. I started when I was 12 and I mostly liked playing it because I found the game itself extremely fun. However, I've always been a terrible painter and generally used to prefer playing with undercoated models, rather than poorly painted ones. Because of this, it took me a long time to work up the motivation to have a proper go at painting an army. So, a few months ago, myself and a group of mates decided to properly paint up new armies over time and only use models which were finished when it came to gaming.

 

I chose the Iron Warriors because I'd just read Angel Exterminatus and decided that they were my favourite legions (alongside the Iron Hands). So, I got around to painting them and had fun doing it. I'm not a good painter - I'm clumsy, I lack patience and I'd prefer to keep painting a model even if I lack the right colour of brush - but I found the experience of painting up my Iron Warriors extremely fun. I don't know if it was the hazard marks, I don't know if it was my love of their lore and I don't know if it was just the fumes coming off the pain pots, but it was a pretty relaxing experience and by the time I was able to field the army I realised that even a poorly painted army looks a lot better than a grey one.

 

Anyway, I thought I'd share my experience alongside some low quality pictures of the models I've finished so far:

 

http://i.imgur.com/1YhJzCj.png

 

Terminator Champion and former Black Legion turncoat, Tarsis, and Warsmith Krand. The former leads my squad of as-yet-unfinished Terminators and wields an orange power axe. The orange part is important, but that will come up later. The latter isn't quite finished, but I thought Huron Blackheart's axe worked pretty well as a replacement to the model's power fist and wanted to show that off. I use it as a Warpsmith HQ.

 

http://i.imgur.com/3Ms1hgB.png

 

The three vehicles that I've finished so far. Hardaz, former Captain-turned-psycho-dreadnought, "Old Reliable" the Predator Destructor and "The Crimson Slap", a stolen Crimson Fist's Vindicator.

 

http://i.imgur.com/08LWhZe.png

 

Kresh's Boys.

 

These Cultists were quite fun to paint, although I only had 50 minutes to finish the job because of an arranged game. In the games we've played it has become a bit of a thing that Kresh himself hides at the very back of his squad and never takes any risks. Mostly famously he solo'd two Ravenwing Bikers with his shotgun. 

 

http://i.imgur.com/fEML95t.png

 

Squad Amadeus.

 

http://i.imgur.com/wGHcVa9.png

 

Squad Firstus.

 

These two Squads are painted almost identically, save for the tertiary colour. I decided that it'd be cool to paint one of the yellow hazard marks a different colour in order to link together squad members. I also made sure that the sergeants' weapons matched this colour, which led to Tarsis the Terminator getting orange, Amadeus getting green and Firstus getting blue. I'm currently painting up "Squad Dorn", which has red as its tertiary colour and is designed to wind up my Imperial Fist playing mate. I figure the Champion decided the perfect insult to Rogal Dorn's legacy would be to sully the name. I also couldn't fit the Iron Warriors transfers onto shoulder pads, hence this solution. :P

 

It's not the prettiest sight zoomed in like that, but on the battlefield I find it looks pretty decent in comparison to my other armies. Ta' for read this far if you have, and I'd be happy to take suggestions.

I think the coloured stripes are a great idea to differentiate your squads! I'm usually just mixing my models to get whatever squad loadout I want and it can end up a bit messy on the battlefield (especially if 2 or more units end up in the same close combat). The big hazard stripes on your tanks are looking really clean as well. I tried them on Rhino hatches before, but they look terrible. How did you do them?

 

I do however think that your silver looks really shiney (a bit too much for my taste), but that could just be the light in the pictures. How do you paint it?

 

Here's my stuff, if you're interested: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/199456-kythnos-iron-warriors/page-4?do=findComment&comment=3427451 :)

The flash on my phone was the main reason behind them appearing so shiny, I think. The picture in the last post is a bit more accurate! The yellow was just Flash Gitz Yellow base and a couple layers of slightly watered down Averland Sunset. Your stuff looks great - a lot neater than mine!

 

I'm 50-50 on the coloured hazard marks. I've decided to give them a go, for now.

Great start mate! Definitely don't think you're a terrible painter, the paint doesn't look thick and you can certainly do hazard stripes better than I!

 

one thing I'd definitely recommend though is GW's washes. Myself and a friend have just got some and the difference it makes is amazing!

 

I did my IW just by painting on leadbelcher and Gehennas Gold then washing it wall in lots of nuln oil then a few highlights with runefang steel. Quick and easy, and I think the results aren't bad!

 

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg586/clarkus-maximus/2013-07-25193914_zps0fa61880.jpg

That's the exact method I used to paint mine, I thought I was being particually lazy. Good to see I'm not the only one. Everyone is still sitting there waiting for their hazards though, haven't been in the mood to do the little details. That will probably change as I'm doing all the details for my Black Legion detachment and not finding it as annoying as I expected.

 

Still putting off the cultists though, no idea what to do with them, but I have 4 days to figure it out and finish them.

Well if it looks good why not eh? Do you have any tips for Hazard stripes? Both OP and Pariah? I don't mean to hijack the thread but I'm not very good at doing them so I decided to leave them off.

 

Interestingly enough I'm also looking at a black legion allied detachment, but that's because of the Abaddon and Reaver mini's from forgeworld, the supplement is just an added bonus!

 

Cultists I paint with bleached bone and steel legion drab, a flesh colour, then wash it all with agrax earthshade, just as quick as the IW, and comes out as below:

 

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg586/clarkus-maximus/image_zps5f5bd0b8.jpg

The few I've done have only been on chainswords/axes so far. Only planning on putting them on weapons, maybe a few small patches on my vindicators, not going to try to do the whole siege shield, my hand isn't steady enough. I've found if you get stuck on a certain flat surface because of the angel or what-not, you can cheat and use any straight edge to help steady the line. I personally start with the yellow layer first and paint the black stripes over it.

 

This guy was a test model for my first idea to make particually brutal looking Iron Warriors to count as bezerkers. I didn't end up going with it, but it's the only pic I have that actually has a model with hazards already on him. Angle isn't all that good to see the stripes, but you can see I'm not fantastic at painting, though to be fair, that was an hour paintjob as he was just the test.

 

536517_480274771989207_960487253_n.jpg

I really struggled with hazard marks for the longest time at the beginning. I was making the mistake of painting yellow onto black, rather than black onto yellow. If you basecoat the stripe areas with Averland Sunset, then paint with watered down black and watered down Flash Gitz Yellow, it is a lot easier.

 

I probably benefit from the fact that I am okay with the stripes being uneven or different from model to model. I like to think they don't spend too much time perfecting them, which means I don't have to strive for uniformity.

I'll post up a few closeups when I can get some natural light in. biggrin.png

I'm really pleased with how they've turned out. They're imperfect and I see where I could have done a better job, but I've gained a lot of confidence and it just feels good to have a painted army. I mean, I'd like to paint up more models now and generally enjoy the process/end result. Like, I don't think I'll ever be an expert painter - but idk, it just surprised me how much better it feels to have put the effort in. Saying I play Iron Warriors means a lot more when they actually ARE Iron Warriors!

Currently, I'm wavering on whether or not I should have the squad-coloured-hazard markings on the shoulders or whether I should go back to all of them being yellow/black.

Glad to hear it! I'm in the same boat, I've never been one for painting either but I've really identified with the Iron Warriors and having them all lined up and painted really does inspire me to keep going.

 

It's good that you've gained some confidence painting, I'm sure you'll only improve!

 

Personally I'm not a fan on the squad coloured hazard markings, prefer it just yellow/black and have another way of putting on squad markings

Here's an updated series of images which should be a bit easier to look at! Some of the models (Land Raider, Krand, Dorn), aren't finished yet or need touched up:

 

http://i.imgur.com/gf2cqk4.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/NTImWNB.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/n3ypPVY.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/VWxHXgr.jpg

 

The tanks with Imperial markings have been covered in graffiti, as I'm trying to give an impression that they've been repurposed.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.