Eisenhorn's Raptors

[That Guy Matt]

More awesome.  Keep it coming.

[Monstra Sumus]

Oh wow, that's some special stuff there IE.

[Inquisitor Eisenhorn]

Thanks guys!  I have a few Landspeeders I'll try to post up next, probably next week as I'm about to head out of town.

[Cornelias]

Awesome job man, you deserve a massive golf clap, really like the tones you've used and you've even managed to get the stock scout heads to not look like muppets :)

[El-Diablo]

Very impressive work, a lot of skill on display here.

 

Im almost tempted to paint a small detachment of Raptors myself after seeing these.

[Valkyrion]

I know you haven't truescaled them, but something about that paint work on the tactical squad somehow makes them look bigger...I don't know what it is, they just look bulkier.

Best raptors I've seen I think anyway.

Edit - have you given them an all over wash afterwards to dull it all down? The squad markings, metal aquilas and eyes all seem to share the same tinge, especially on the first squad. (this is me asking for the recipe, by the way...hint hint, nudge nudge etc )

[Inquisitor Eisenhorn]

Thanks Valkyrion!

 

I put a very light wash of Athonian Camoshade over my decals. I think a few of them in the second tactical squad might need that treatment (hence the difference you noticed) but the camoshade on decals serves two purposes:

 

1.  It acts as a matte effect to dull the inherent shine that decals have, which is crucial to remove to achieve a "painted on" effect.

 

2.  It gives a "lived in" sort of look since a white marking in the field is going to get dirty immediately.  

 

I use microsol/set for decals, and I would never not use them.  One quick neat trick I learned is that if you are going to rough up your decals to give a grittier worn look, it's best to do this BEFORE they fully dry.  It's a bit scary, but I take a small pointed exact-o blade to decals after applying microsol, when they are nearly dry but still a bit soft.  I find that once they fully dry, scratching them is less effective and results in less realistic scratch marks.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Edit:

 

I forgot to address your true scale comment.  I've never heard that about my Raptors, but it's an interesting comment.  Squad Kelos is kitted out to be in the field for an extended amount of time, so I actually used assault chest plates which have those straps, which add bulk, so in the case of that squad, that might account for it.

 

As far as the others are concerned, who knows!  I tend to spend a LOT of time posing my guys before committing to a glued assembly, trying to get dynamic but natural looking poses.  I find that sort of thing really matters when it comes to the final result; I've seen plenty of marines who are well painted but awkwardly posed and I think that tends to draw more attention to the weird scale issues that the marine kits have.  The other possible factor is that I use a lot of bare heads, which can make the body look more in true scale when posed properly (although it can have the opposite effect too!)