New Army Blog: Storm Brothers (Primaris Chappy WIP on p.33)

[FragEmAll]

Loving the colour scheme dude. Keep us all posted on your progress!

[geektom]

Loving the colour scheme dude. Keep us all posted on your progress!

Thanks, Frag- I have been working hard on them for the last couple of days. All these smooth surfaces are a challenge for nice blending and highlighting! Learning a lot as I go... Should have the squad finished by early next week, depending on when my micro art bases get here.

[SCC]

Ok, coming along! Base coats 90% done, ready to start shading and highlighting.

 

Introducing the Storm Brothers, 2nd Brotherhood, 4th Strikers (tactical squad):

 

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n60/geektom/image_zps4c61bdfd.jpg

Updated close ups please!

 

I think a little extra detailing would really finish this colour scheme off, things like making sure helmet grills/tubes/wires etc. are given some detail (contrast?) treatment and maybe some individual WS style honour markings will really round them out. 

 

I'm not sure this colour scheme should work, but it actually does, so I'll be tracking this thread with interest...

[geektom]

Hey everyone, I thought I already posted this pic here, but I must have just done it in the painting challenge thread.

Detailing is coming along nicely, I would say about 90% done. Going to wait for my bases to arrive from MicroArts and then finish them off.

Comments/critiques always welcome- it is how we get better!

 

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n60/geektom/image_zps47da0489.jpg

Edited November 11, 2013 by geektom

[Chaeron]

Your painting is superb - such dedication to the scheme, kudos!

[geektom]

Your painting is superb - such dedication to the scheme, kudos!

Thanks, man- that makes me feel great. Coming from Fantasy helps, I think. If I can hold a theme together over 3000 points of Skaven, 100 Marines should be a cinch, lol...

 

Seriously though, looking forward to my first transports after the Holiday season- still undecided on the mix of gray/yellow/purple for them... I may have one "pattern" but then vary the colors to distinguish them.

 

Suggestions welcome!

Edited November 14, 2013 by geektom

[TheHalifax]

I'm really loving your painting here, geektom. The colour pallet and placement and your execution are all great. They all look really crisp and neat.

 

Hey everyone, I thought I already posted this pic here, but I must have just done it in the painting challenge thread.

Detailing is coming along nicely, I would say about 90% done. Going to wait for my bases to arrive from MicroArts and then finish them off.

Comments/critiques always welcome- it is how we get better!

 

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n60/geektom/image_zps47da0489.jpg

[Nemac Vradon]

I'm really loving your painting here, geektom. The colour pallet and placement and your execution are all great. They all look really crisp and neat.

 

This.

 

Very unique colour scheme, I really like it.

[Chaeron]

 

Your painting is superb - such dedication to the scheme, kudos!

Thanks, man- that makes me feel great. Coming from Fantasy help, I think. If I can hold a theme together over 3000 points of Skaven, 100 Marines should be a cinch, lol...

 

Seriously though, looking forward to my first transports after the Holiday season- still undecided on the mix of gray/yellow/purple for them... I may have one "pattern" but then vary the colors to distinguish them.

 

Suggestions welcome!

 

Haha, entirely true. When I used to play Fantasy, I loved the halved Empire paint-schemes. Alas, I lacked the talent to apply them! You do learn a lot from horde/batch painting certainly, and it's great to see you're not simply cutting corners!

 

I think it's best to be consistent - but I think you'll probably want to decide on how you want to do it first. Maybe turrets/sponson casings in purple as the big contrast colour to really mark them out? If they're most on a Rhino chassis, perhaps best to have the 'Rhino-parts' the same, and everything else demarcated by other colours.

[geektom]

Great advice,Chaeron, thank you!

[Adeptus-Alaska]

This is shaping up to be a respectable thread. keep it up man, and remember, vary those skin tones!

[Hyaenidae]

I can't say the colors are to my taste, but the shades you've achieved are incredible.

 

Keep it up, man.

[Disruptor_fe404]

Yup, very clean, very tidy, brilliantly painted!

 

Choice of palette isn't quite my cup of tea though...  

 

But my point still stands. They're deliciously smooth.

 

Nitpick: Their poses could do with a bit of variation, I feel.

[geektom]

Yup, very clean, very tidy, brilliantly painted!

 

Choice of palette isn't quite my cup of tea though... :whistling: 

 

But my point still stands. They're deliciously smooth.

 

Nitpick: Their poses could do with a bit of variation, I feel.

Thanks, Disruptor- I know what you mean about the poses... This was my first ever tactical squad, so it took me a while to get the hang of the arms and bolsters, lol. I can't even show you the missile launcher I jacked up! Confident the next squad will look a little more active.

 

Any suggestions on how to make the most out of posing a tactical squad?

 

I have no bits, which is a challenge... Ordered/scrounged some, so the other units will benefit from that, too.

 

My fluff is that they are experienced xeno hunters, so I am keeping my eye out for trophies.

[Disruptor_fe404]

If the IV is a Company marking rather than a squad one, you can spread these guys into other squads as the more static models.

 

As for making a basic Tactical squad kit more dynamic... Well, I'll have to think way back for that! Don't be afraid to have heads looking in different directions, for one. Torso twists are also an easy one to start with. Slightly more complex is to cut the right arm just below the shoulder joint and rotate the arm itself outward so that it's in an open pose and doesn't obscure the chest (though you'll need to figure out something to do with the left hand).

[geektom]

If the IV is a Company marking rather than a squad one, you can spread these guys into other squads as the more static models.

 

As for making a basic Tactical squad kit more dynamic... Well, I'll have to think way back for that! Don't be afraid to have heads looking in different directions, for one. Torso twists are also an easy one to start with. Slightly more complex is to cut the right arm just below the shoulder joint and rotate the arm itself outward so that it's in an open pose and doesn't obscure the chest (though you'll need to figure out something to do with the left hand).

Those are good, solid tips- thanks!

[geektom]

Oh, and IV is the squad marking, so they will become known as "stiff squad IV" :-)

[SCC]

Very smooth colours, very nice.The squad markings are excellent too, I love those, a nice change from the norm.  

 

I think the yellow feels just  a touch flat though - I think it's because the purple highlights are much more visible than the tellow ones. Alternatively you could add just a little shading to the yellow, it'd achieve the same thing without making the scheme any brighter and might add more richness to the yellow to match that of the purple. 

 

The only other minor gripe might be the skull/stud details on some of the helmets, and I note they might not be complete in these pics as they're still WIP, but they lack a touch of definition - either make the metallic colour a shade brighter or add just a touch more shading around them to make them stand out and they'll be spot on I think.

[geektom]

 

I think the yellow feels just a touch flat though - I think it's because the purple highlights are much more visible than the tellow ones. Alternatively you could add just a little shading to the yellow, it'd achieve the same thing without making the scheme any brighter and might add more richness to the yellow to match that of the purple.

 

The only other minor gripe might be the skull/stud details on some of the helmets, and I note they might not be complete in these pics as they're still WIP, but they lack a touch of definition - either make the metallic colour a shade brighter or add just a touch more shading around them to make them stand out and they'll be spot on I think.

All of your critiques are dead-on based on the last picture I posted. It doesn't show the final highlights of the yellow, or places where I needed to go in and emphasize the shading more. Same with the service studs- originally I was going to go with a non-metallic (either the brightest yellow shade, or white) but it does not give enough contrast, so I will be doing a few careful tests to determine which way to go.

 

Waiting for my bases to arrive before posting final pics, which will also include the replacement missile launcher (since I goofed up the first one so badly)

 

Thank you for the comments!

Edited November 15, 2013 by geektom

[GhostMalone]

I'm loving how your army is progressing brother

[geektom]

I'm loving how your army is progressing brother

Thanks! Same with your sorcerer!

[GhostMalone]

Well I've just started the first squad of 7 marines

[geektom]

Well, crud- just got home and still no bases have arrived. I am traveling for work M-Th of next week, so no updates for at least that long. Bummed!

[geektom]

I didn't want to leave town without *some* sort of update... My bases I ordered still have not arrived, so I made up some quickie ones to take these pictures. Highlighting/detailing is still not quite 100% done (and after these pictures, all I can see is mistakes >blush<)

 

Comments/Critiques welcome, as always!

 

Fai Lung Sai looked over the battlefield, the filters in his helmet working overtime. In his ear (in his mind? in his soul? did it matter?), Brother Wui reported in.

 

"Fang Brother Sai! I have the Ork Trukks in my sites... they are attempting a flanking move, as you predicted. Awaiting orders."

 

Fai Lung Sai surveyed the pocked and blasted landscape one last time, plotting the course of their battered but reliable transport in his mind. "Fire when ready, Brother Wui. Emperor guide your strike". Fang Brother Sai never raised his voice when giving orders; his whispered tones were enough for any member of the IVth to respond with alacrity.

 

Hot, glowing death streaked from Brother Wui's missile launcher, its payload striking the front Trukk exactly where it was needed: low, almost under the vehicle. Designed to break the axles, twist the wheels, and bring the entire lumbering column to a halt. Fire bloomed crimson and orange, a beautiful savage flower in the gray ruins. Distantly, his enhanced hearing could pick out the roars and screams of flaming, shredded Orks as they fled the burning Trukk. The other vehicles screamed and tore as they struggled to stop their ponderous weight and breakneck speed.

 

Reaching out his centrury-old powerfist, blessed many times over by battle, Fai Lung Sai stroked the outside of Rhino affectionately. 

 

"Brothers" he rasped into the comm. "We are the Storm... we are the death unseen, that strikes fast, and hot, and does not show mercy. We are the lightning strike!"

 

His helmet, his mind, his soul reverberated with their reply, "WE ARE THE LIGHTNING STRIKE!"

 

Opening the side doors of the Rhino, he whispered one last call before battle.

 

"Storm Brothers... we ride!"

 

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n60/geektom/SBUpdate11_17p1_zpsc714becd.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n60/geektom/SBUpdate11_17p3_zpsa089dcf5.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n60/geektom/SBUpdate11_17p2_zps9a6d1f8b.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n60/geektom/SBUpdate11_17p4_zps0fdb6123.jpg

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http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n60/geektom/SBUpdate11_17p5_zpsd96bd8cf.jpg

Edited November 18, 2013 by geektom

[Disruptor_fe404]

Fur-lined tabard (couldn't really see it in previous pics, you see)?! Chinese Astartes (if the names are anything to go by)?!

 

Yup, digging it. And the colours are growing on me, too. This last batch of photos does better justice to the shading and highlighting of the yellow.