Ace does a Thing - ETL 2016 - Vow 1 Completed!

[Forté]

Congratulations Ace. You've tackled a colour that so many avoid using. And had the guts to post your first ever mini (which is still better than some turn out). Big improvement there.

[Adra'Melek]

Great improvement. The hats look great :). It'll be interest to see the comparison with first one of the current batch with your last one if you're able to keep going. The differences won't be as marked but practice really does make perfect.

 

Personally I'd recommend online White Scars/pre-H World Eater tutorials. They may not be right for you but you may pick up some tips on white armour (that's a "we can all always improve", not "they need improving" :))

[Ace Debonair]

The White Hawk Looks Good Ace.

Many thanks!

I've got a few other bolter guys that are fully assembled and in need of a nice earthshade wash and extra coat of white /blue/ silver to bring them up to par.

I don't like painting fully assembled models, but it's that or leave them as forever visibly less detailed, and I can't be having that.

With my phone's backlighting at zero, it just looks like reddish pink.

I was curious about your nephew's age because my mind automatically assumed pretty young. My own nieces and nephews are between one and seven. Seeing LotR being used as a theme, and not even over-done either, made me think my assumption might be far off.

Hearing your difficulty with orange makes me a little relieved I have no intention of painting up some Emerald Tigers!

I have many nephews and nieces, all of whom are roughly my age.

Heck, one of them's older than me!

The thing about the theme not being overdone: I'm a Liberite to my boots. Nobody's fluff is safe!

There's influences from a bunch of things in there. Knights, Samurai, Monster Hunter (my addition, 'cause I'm a Monster Hunter addict), Tolkien Elves, a game called Last Remnant which may or may not have directly inspired the Chapter's name...

Best way to do subtle sometimes is to mash a load of stuff together and take any bits that aren't glaringly over the top.

Also, what are the Emerald Tigers' colours?

Your 'Twenty Articles Project' link isn't working for some reason, so I can't check.

Ace the newest painted marine looks really good. Left shoulder pad is from the new box? Keep up the good work.

Do you mean the photo's left or the marine's left?

I think you meant the photo's one, which means you win Internet Bonus Points!

Of all the bits I was missing, I was down one plain shoulderpad from making a marine.

Normally that wouldn't have stopped me, but I didn't want to use all my DA iconography at once!

Congratulations Ace. You've tackled a colour that so many avoid using. And had the guts to post your first ever mini (which is still better than some turn out). Big improvement there.

...And They Shall Know No Fear.

Ceramite White makes the old Skull White look like rubbish, watery gruel.

Most of the white only took one coat.

Heck, the hat and legs were sprayed black from back in the day when I had no white basecoat, and they only took two coats.

Great improvement. The hats look great . It'll be interest to see the comparison with first one of the current batch with your last one if you're able to keep going. The differences won't be as marked but practice really does make perfect.

Personally I'd recommend online White Scars/pre-H World Eater tutorials. They may not be right for you but you may pick up some tips on white armour (that's a "we can all always improve", not "they need improving" )

That hat was one of the ones you sent me. Also it turns out I had another five or so in a small bitz pack at the bottom of my cupboard, along with some torso back bits and the legs I used for this marine.

Despite sharing my colours almost exactly with the Pre Heresy World Eaters, I'd never thought of that.

I've also washed a whole bunch of my Chaos marines with bolters, who look like they've been through the wars as a result.

Luck permitting, I'll get some pics of them up later today.

EDIT:

Odd, the last part of my post was eaten by the forum.

Must have been hungry!

I'll just settle for saying thanks again to everyone who's had a nosy at my impatiently-painted stuff.

[Forté]

Maybe I got a duff ceramite white. I find it goes chalky. I'm still a fan of the Astronomican Grey with skull white highlights.

 

Someone mentioned the WE FW tutorial for white. They sponge the white on so it looks rough. Have a look on From The Warp. I know Ron did a good tutorial for his White Scars.

[Ace Debonair]

Or maybe I just got a really good Ceramite White and the rest are terrible?

Hmm.

I'll have a look at those tutorials in a bit.

[Brother Argent]

... Never mind. .. stupid phone. Your little chapter snavelling has made me think back to the old diy swap days. Call of the imperium might be to big a project but now I am considering reviving the old diy swap. ..

[Ace Debonair]

... Never mind. .. stupid phone. Your little chapter snavelling has made me think back to the old diy swap days. Call of the imperium might be to big a project but now I am considering reviving the old diy swap. ..

What's snavelling?

My internet-fu tells me it's an Australian slang term, but doesn't tell me what it's slang for.

Also, I don't recall what the DIY swap involved last time, to my shame.

[Adra'Melek]

My Ceramite White was pretty good. But I prefered the grey, down to white when I was trying pre-Heresy world eaters.  It drove me mad doing a Mark II one with all those little panels and studs. So I cried for 6 months and then painted over them as Night Lords, until they once again got painted over to their current incarnation.

[Conn Eremon]

No wonder you were so happy about time travel in the Liber. Clearly your family practices it! Or you just happen to be a generation behind your siblings.

 

The link works, but it is an automatic tag search. Some people can't seem to see that, and I believe it is a browser thing. Works in Chrome.

 

As for the Emerald Tiger colors, you are going to kick yourself.

 

Green and orange.

 

Edit: Your google-fu is weak. Snavelling means snatching. Taking.

[Reyner]

White is a hard colour to get right but your latest White Hawk looks good - is the chest plate from the new tactical squad? DIY Swap project eh? Let's do that again, was good last time!

[Ace Debonair]

White is a hard colour to get right but your latest White Hawk looks good - is the chest plate from the new tactical squad? DIY Swap project eh? Let's do that again, was good last time!

Cheers, mon ami.

Chest plate is actually from a Black Templars sprue, not that you can see the cross because it's on his belt.

I'm going to adopt that cross as a Talhonic symbol for 'prosperity' so I don't have to spend ages trimming them off the rest of the sprue.

Madwolf guessed the correct 'new sprue' bit earlier, if you're looking to spoil what that bit was.

No wonder you were so happy about time travel in the Liber. Clearly your family practices it! Or you just happen to be a generation behind your siblings.

The link works, but it is an automatic tag search. Some people can't seem to see that, and I believe it is a browser thing. Works in Chrome.

As for the Emerald Tiger colors, you are going to kick yourself.

Green and orange.

Edit: Your google-fu is weak. Snavelling means snatching. Taking.

If I was a time-traveller I'd have won the lottery long ago and spent it on Forgeworld goodies.

Green and orange... what sort of green are we talking about here? And how much orange? In fact, have you got a space marine painter image of them at all?

Snatching? I am perplexed. Unless SP is referring to the fact I based the Red Lords on the Champions of Athlum, actually, in which case I get it.

[Conn Eremon]

http://oi42.tinypic.com/dyu41s.jpg

 

Since you asked.

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/243479-emerald-tigers-may-29th-update-see-1st-post/

[Ace Debonair]

That's much less orange than I was braced for.

From your comment about my comment about orange, I thought they were roughly half and half!

Shoulderpads are bearable in orange, just about. It still takes a few layers to get looking nice, but there we have it.

In hobby news, yet again the photos of my freshly-washed chaos marines have come out oddly unfocused and faded-looking. Third time might be the charm though, so I'll give it another whirl tomorrow, time permitting.

[Brother Argent]

Sorry, please forgive my australianisms. I was referring to you grabbing your nephews colour scheme. The DIY challenge was where you entered a chapter and when submissions closed you were assigned someone else's chapter to paint and someone got yours. You had to paint one model from their chapter. Main down side of the challenge was some people as usual dropped out leaving some people having painted a model of someone else's chapter but having none of their own. I have a solution for this. Wait till I can get on my PC and I might try to kick it off, after I get mod permission of course...

[Conn Eremon]

Sounds like a wicked thing. Too bad I would never be able to deliver on my end, or else I would totally submit all of my DIYs to that sort of event. Maybe create an optional charity list? :p

 

Ace, you have now got me thinking how much better it would be to have one of my Chapters based on a feudalistic death world, populated by an amazing array of vicious, monstrous beasts that range from the paleolithic to the mythical. Where the small pockets of humanity lives alone, eking out their existence by tearing it bloodily from land and beast. Imagine what a great source of recruits monster hunters would be!

[Ace Debonair]

Sorry, please forgive my australianisms. I was referring to you grabbing your nephews colour scheme. The DIY challenge was where you entered a chapter and when submissions closed you were assigned someone else's chapter to paint and someone got yours. You had to paint one model from their chapter. Main down side of the challenge was some people as usual dropped out leaving some people having painted a model of someone else's chapter but having none of their own. I have a solution for this. Wait till I can get on my PC and I might try to kick it off, after I get mod permission of course...

That could be interesting. I'll leave some bitz on one side, just in case.

Sounds like a wicked thing. Too bad I would never be able to deliver on my end, or else I would totally submit all of my DIYs to that sort of event. Maybe create an optional charity list?

Ace, you have now got me thinking how much better it would be to have one of my Chapters based on a feudalistic death world, populated by an amazing array of vicious, monstrous beasts that range from the paleolithic to the mythical. Where the small pockets of humanity lives alone, eking out their existence by tearing it bloodily from land and beast. Imagine what a great source of recruits monster hunters would be!

I know, right?

Monster Hunter inspires all of my DIY's homeworlds. All of them!

Ashar of the Infinity Knights is based partly on the desert levels.

Cestelion of the Red Lords is based partly on the Tower levels. So is the homeworld of the 2010 Liber Community DIY Chapter, the Obsidian Lords, not that I can remember what it was called. Illustris? Illustria? Something like that, I think...

Kagara is based on the High Mountain and Volcano levels because of all the mountains and the wacky thermal system of the place.

Kudao of the Steel Dragons and especially Talhon of the White Hawks are inspired partly (or mostly in the case of the Hawks) by the Forest & Hills level and the Town/Fortress levels.

Athlum is a mixed bag of rainforests, tundras and deserts all borrowed from Monster Hunter.

Heck, on at least two of the planets recruits are fostered solely through deadly man vs monster conflicts instead of wars.

And I'm more than willing to riff on the monsters typically found in each of those zones for my homeworlds, because I'm a huge Monster Hunter Nerd and damn proud of it.

But this is off topic, so I'll shush and keep any further references tied closer to relevant stuff.

[Ace Debonair]

So back on topic:

I have done a thing!

Admittedly I did it a couple of days back, but it's still news on this thread.

Here's the rest of my bolter mob for my Easy-Mode-Cheat-Marines, freshly washed with that sweet sweet Earthshade. With the two from the earlier post, that's a total of ten bolter chaps plus a Champion.

I really need a better name for this warband.

Now for some smaller group shots in case anyone's interested in them.

Darn, just spotted some bone 'splat' on the helmet of the guy on the right.

I know, I know, there's mould lines. I'll trim them and work over the bits that need altering another time, this was an experiment with washing completed models.

That guy on the right of this pic is my favourite of the bolter mob.

I just like his action-movie-cut-loose-shooting-from-the-hip pose.

Shame the picture is a bit dark, but this was the best one out of the bunch that I took.

My next plan is to make use of all those legs I painted last time.

Work continues on that squad, albeit slowly. I only realised yesterday I hadn't so much as picked out any torsos for them, for example, let alone got paint on them. Drat!

[deathspectersgt7]

Nice looking Traitors!!! My only crit- is the Bolter rounds casings . I paint mine Brass.

[Forté]

Nice looking Traitors!!! My only crit- is the Bolter rounds casings . I paint mine Brass.

Someone taking weapons seriously ;)

[Adra'Melek]

Ditto on the brass cases (as that's how I do mine).

[Ace Debonair]

A thing has been done!

So, with my nephew's kind permission, here's a look at some of the awesome veterans of the Champions of Athlum.

They might not be what you're expecting from the earlier blurb, though.

I intended to paint a picture of an aloof, honour-driven Chapter who take a lot of pride in the clean execution of tactics and the messy execution of enemies, who tend towards flourish-y, artistic methods of warfare over the boring same-old-same-old stuff done by other Chapters.

What I might not have mentioned was the preference for skull hats.

Or snipers.

Sometimes at the same time.

Behold!

Skull hats with hoods!

Also, this pic shows the light grey wash on the capes rather better than the actual cape pic. They do exist! Honest!

This is only really the beginning for these guys. The sniper rifles take a fair old bit of painting, and will be the last part of this project to get some sweet colours on them.

Capes! Also white-robed torsos, because wearing all red on a snow battlefield makes for high visibility snipers.

And we're not about that in this household.

This picture seems to think that the grey wash we put on the capes is a work of fiction, to my bewilderment. I watched them happen, dang it!

By the same token, there's some en-robed leggies for extra concealment. The third pair from the left is known as the 'drunken baby legs' because they have issues staying stood upright.

Wondering what the finished article looks like?

Something along the lines of this:

And even he's still technically WIP because my nephew plans on touching the white up again where the wash got a little out of hand.

Finding the right colour for the wash was something of a trial. First we tried black, then our trusty Codex Grey, then Codex Grey with a generous helping of white.

The result looks a lot more understated on the pictures. On the actual models themselves, it's barely there in the light but it makes even the shallowest shadows have a tone of extra depth in any sort of shade.

If these guys had to have a game-legal equivalent, they'd pretty much be Sternguard.

But for the purposes of our Space Crusade games, they're actual snipers with actual skull hats with abilities that reflect their mad sniping skills.

Regarding the brass weapon casings on the Easy-Mode-Cheat-Marines - I don't own a brass colour. I've got some bronzes I could use, but I could also easily use some story to justify the silver cases.

All I really need is a less ridiculous name for the warband first.

[Madwolf Shadowmane]

Looking good

[Ace Debonair]

Many thanks, mon ami.

My computer just crashed in the middle of typing up some lengthy exposition about my warband that avoided using the name Easy-Mode-Cheat-Marines at all.

Oh well, it's late, so I'll tag that on to a post another time.

In other, better news, I've placed an order for some more spare legs, torsos and two Sternguard Heavy Bolters.

In-game effectiveness be damned, those guns are made of distilled coolness and I can't wait to equip two lucky 'Hawks with them.

[Conn Eremon]

Toss some of the themes and ideas around the Easy Mode Cheat Marines, and maybe we can help inspire you.

 

Though I am now liking "Disciples of Konami" quite a bit, actually. :D

 

As for your nephew's work, holy God-Emperor that is some garish paint. Insert obligatory "thin yo paints" advice here.

 

But there ain't nothing quite like a Marine force that is LOUD AND PROUD.

[Ace Debonair]

Right. Here's the condensed version of my earlier notes from when my computer crashed mid-writeup.

* Vassal Warband in servitude to the Rift Lords, have stayed in the Shroud for centuries as opposed to the usual handful-of-years warbands that pass through.

* Devoted to the Great Gods as a pantheon. As per the creed the Rift Lords espouse, view the Chaos Gods as positive forces - Khorne for honour, Tzeentch for wisdom, Slaanesh for ambition and or happiness and Nurgle for longevity.

* Iconography does not include symbols of any one God so that none are favoured or shunned - all must strictly be worshipped in equal measure. The one exception is offering up the corpses of slain enemies to the Gods, where they work on a 'one corpse, one God' methodology.

* Despite the strength of their beliefs the Warband is quiet about it's faith, and the marines therein are well-disciplined and efficient. More than anything I want them to represent a threatening, effective fighting force that can realistically take on loyalist companies, albeit usually from ambush if their plans go well.

* Often present in attacks on the Glastheim Rift, presumably under orders from the Rift Lords. Often accompanied by units requisitioned from other, more expendable warbands that shelter in the Shroud.

Themes-wise, I didn't really have any when I started the Warband. I want them to look slightly barbarous, but it's a definite case of Space Marine first, Barbarian second.

So far that's only really hinted at by the cape on the Champion and the horns on the helmet, and that's as saturated as I want the theme to get.

I imagine them to fight in a similar vein to the White Hawks - plain but effective tactics and preferring to crush enemies quickly and with minimum fuss. Where the warband differs from the Hawks is in their pre-battle tactics, which would largely be staying undetected for as long as possible so as to get the drop on enemies. They care little for personal honour, and don't care if they stab their targets in the back while they sleep or face-to-face in a pitched melee. The Gods care not how their offerings are prepared, after all.

-=-=-=-=-=-=

With regards to thinning paints, I'm not sure how great of an idea that is.

Orange is a thin paint and is also the devil, after all.

More seriously, we'll look into it.

I had to put the flash on in the pictures, since otherwise my camera refused to show the blue lenses in the skull.

In actuality, the colours are rather more restrained, especially the red.

Also, if you want 'garish' just wait until you see his Chaos Marines.

You'll come to think the above colours are 'tame' once you do.