My Sisters (Order of the Vermilion Veil)

[tvih]

In that picture the flowers were still a bit unfinished, like indeed the middles - but even with them there's something off about them. But on one hand I think it's about the model itself, so not sure different colors would solve it anyway. Not a huge deal anyway.

[*Furyou Miko]

I'll admit I've never found a use for my Ardent Blade - my 'Celestine' has a bolt pistol.

[tvih]

Working on the next batch of 8 models, consisting mostly of WIP models I had in the very early stages of painting. What really gets to me and is part of why it's so hard to get started on painting these is that it feels that just about every drop of paint I put on the models beyond the silver basecoat +  black wash detracts rather than adds to the paint job! Hah. Talk about weird. The reds and the whites especially just don't seem to look good compared to the base.

[Sororita Katya]

So keep it the way you like it, if you think it takes away from them then don't do it

[grendal1989]

Working on the next batch of 8 models, consisting mostly of WIP models I had in the very early stages of painting. What really gets to me and is part of why it's so hard to get started on painting these is that it feels that just about every drop of paint I put on the models beyond the silver basecoat +  black wash detracts rather than adds to the paint job! Hah. Talk about weird. The reds and the whites especially just don't seem to look good compared to the base.

Yeah, I felt the same about mine (except I use a agrax wash). All I really do beyond that is the robe and detail.

[tvih]

So keep it the way you like it, if you think it takes away from them then don't do it

 

Well, I've been tempted to, but black&silver isn't that much of a color scheme :P Though I toyed with the idea of the "Order of the Living Statue", haha. Darned cloth parts. The brown pouches and such aren't that much of an issue.

[Sororita Katya]

True...although you could say they are made of metallic thread, or even silk, just use a thicker silver to cover them?

Honestly I wouldn't say I'm qualified to assist but I feel your pain.

[WarriorFish]

The robes are a good opportunity for some colour and contrast on the models; the paint scheme is always the finished article so that's how it should be judged :)

[tvih]

Hmm... even though the Silver spray stays on better than the other "undercoats" I've tried, it's certainly not impervious to wearing off, especially at edges. I'm thinking that once I do the spray + black wash, I may need to add a coat of varnish at that point. Then paint the other colors, and then add a final coat of varnish. Maybe then I'll not end up with "bare metal" spots. Although the upside of the silver base color is that the bare metal spots aren't as obvious as with, say, the black base color of my first canoness.

 

As is I think I gotta do over at least one figure that has the base + wash + whites already done, because it has a few glaring missing basecoat spots from an illconceived transport attempt where it got banged around with some other models.

 

Gotta dislike metal as miniature material :(

[WarriorFish]

That's one of the reasons I prefer plastic, being careful and applying a varnish goes a long way for metal models but you can't remove all risk.

[tvih]

Yup, plastic or resin are so much easier to deal with. Easier to clean up, easier to paint. And obviously far easier to convert, too. Can't really think of much upsides for metal, other than being suitable for knocking out opponents by throwing metal models at them :P

[WarriorFish]

Back in the day metal had a lot more detail compared to plastic, that's not the case any more which is why you don't see any new metal models. I'm glad that plastic has done so much catching up - still short of metal though but not enough from a business point of view it seems which is fair enough.

[tvih]

Long time no bump I guess. Here are the completions from last year's and this year's ETL vows since I haven't posted them on this thread yet:

 

http://www.tvih.net/stuff/wh40k/etl2015-vow1-complete.jpg

http://www.tvih.net/stuff/wh40k/etl2016/etl2016-vow1-complete.jpg

... which is incidentally all but like two models that I've completely painted of my Sisters so far, with some more primed and such  That's some nonexistent progress right there.

Really need to try to start getting at least a couple models done per week. Ideally I'd finish all the Sisters before the end of the year, but who knows. Gonna try to work on the next three WIP models today at any rate.

[WarriorFish]

Good things come to those that wait? :P

[tvih]

Good things come to those that wait?

 

Ha! If only.

 

Turned out to be a more productive day than anticipated painting-wise, though, painting while watching telly as usual.

 

http://www.tvih.net/stuff/wh40k/paintingprogress.jpg

 

Five jump models and three infantry models have their whites and reds done, which is the most time-consuming part for me. Now it's just some of the details like jewelry, some faces (some already have 'em painted from prior), holsters and pouches and whatnot. Should get those done tomorrow at latest, some of it probably still today. Then gotta test on some model how they look with my spray varnish, only tested that on a Crimson Fists model so far. Darned edges with the paint rubbing off...

 

Anyway, of course it would've been nice if I would've gotten around to doing this stuff during the ETL rather than after it.

[dracpanzer]

Working on the next batch of 8 models, consisting mostly of WIP models I had in the very early stages of painting. What really gets to me and is part of why it's so hard to get started on painting these is that it feels that just about every drop of paint I put on the models beyond the silver basecoat +  black wash detracts rather than adds to the paint job! Hah. Talk about weird. The reds and the whites especially just don't seem to look good compared to the base.

I would say that this is because you are using the silver basecoat spray. I would suggest a black primer and then a medium to heavy drybrush over the entire model. You want full coverage on flat and raised areas but some black in the many recesses is fine. Paint in your darker base colors then let dry and then wash it with nuln oil. Even over the entire model to give you a nice rich base metal color.

 

When doing my block colors (robes and the like) you want good coverage on the flat and raised areas but dont feel like you have to paint into the dark areas where the colors meet. It will save you time and give your colors more contrast. For my argent shroud i painted the red inner robes and celestra gray outer robes and washed them both with nuln oil.

 

After the wash dries all you have is some edge highlighting and you are done. Maybe that will help.

[tvih]

Nah, the silver coat is fine, plus without it I wouldn't get anything done. Painting red/white on black? Please Emperor, no, there's a reason I haven't painted any new Black Templars in ages. The silver spray + nuln oil is a perfect base - looks great and sooooo easy to do. And that's the exact reason why the additions sometimes seem detrimental. And as I mentioned in the previous posts, the black really seems to have trouble properly sticking to the metal no matter what black I use etc, the silver works much better, even if it too does rub off the sharpest edges.

Strangely enough with these latest models the reds and whites have been a lot easier to do. I'm not sure why, somehow the partially dried paints are sort of thicker now but yet don't get too globbed when painted on the model. For the white I'm actually now using a mix of Space Wolves Gray and Ceramite White, and it's working quite well - on silver anyway, I doubt it'd work on black this well, even if better than my older attempts. Mind you, I did previously also usually paint a gray layer or two prior to putting white on, but it was still a pain that way. I painted these models I'm currently working on way faster than those last year because of this.

Here's a better pic of the infantry squad from last year:

http://www.tvih.net/stuff/wh40k/etl2015-sisters-squad.jpg

 

Looking at them I'm probably gonna have to do a bit of repainting, mainly for the red. Last year I tried a new red, from Vallejo, and it was supposed to be a close match to the GW red I had been using prior. Well, turns out it was anything but. It's lighter, and it's way too shiny. At least for the robes, in the weapons It's not that bad I guess. But all the models I'm currently painting, I did the weapons with GW's red too.

Also, looks like there are a several pieces could use some Nuln Oil, dunno if I didn't put enough or if I forgot altogether. It really shows in this well-lighted picture, my painting spot (well, actually my entire apartment) is usually so dark that it's not as easy to judge the shadows and such while painting.

[Servant of Dante]

I really like your color scheme!

[Blackarmor_redtruth]

It is a nice set of colors indeed. As for the silver primer, I dig it. Very crisp silver parts, which for me was always tough to get when doing coat after coat on the black. Good job.

[tvih]

My painting of the Sisters has been largely subverted by the Imperial Fists Expansion event and other such things (like now I'm trying to put together a Forgeworld Spartan transport that I received yesterday together with huge pile of other things in the last two days), unfortunately. Going to have a 1000-point tournament with some buddies in early January however, and I'm aiming to have a painted Sisters+Vostroyans list for then.

 

However I did partially paint one Battle Sister, and looking at the model it struck me that her gloves don't really look like metal, but rather like leather or such, with folds on them and everything. And upon closer examination it seems to be true of many models. I'm now thinking of maybe painting the gloves brown or some such. Might not be a part of the official color scheme of the Argent Shroud, but I feel it'd provide some additional contrast to a scheme that somehow seems to lack some of that when looking at the ready models. I reckon I'll at least try one model and see how it looks.

[Servant of Dante]

My painting of the Sisters has been largely subverted by the Imperial Fists Expansion event and other such things (like now I'm trying to put together a Forgeworld Spartan transport that I received yesterday together with huge pile of other things in the last two days), unfortunately. Going to have a 1000-point tournament with some buddies in early January however, and I'm aiming to have a painted Sisters+Vostroyans list for then.

 

However I did partially paint one Battle Sister, and looking at the model it struck me that her gloves don't really look like metal, but rather like leather or such, with folds on them and everything. And upon closer examination it seems to be true of many models. I'm now thinking of maybe painting the gloves brown or some such. Might not be a part of the official color scheme of the Argent Shroud, but I feel it'd provide some additional contrast to a scheme that somehow seems to lack some of that when looking at the ready models. I reckon I'll at least try one model and see how it looks.

Fluff-wise I'm going to say that the gauntlets are most certainly metal (its power armour), especially for a major order like the Ardent Shroud, but it might look interesting! Edited November 16, 2016 by Servant of Dante

[A.T.]

Fluff-wise I'm going to say that the gauntlets are most certainly metal (its power armour), especially for a major order like the Ardent Shroud, but it might look interesting!

 

A few parts of the sisters can be interpreted as either metal or fabric over metal - the Celestine model notably implies that those sleeves are used to hide external power cables and the lower torso looks like a fabric or brigandine over (going by some WH art) slatted armour.

[Servant of Dante]

 

Fluff-wise I'm going to say that the gauntlets are most certainly metal (its power armour), especially for a major order like the Ardent Shroud, but it might look interesting!

A few parts of the sisters can be interpreted as either metal or fabric over metal - the Celestine model notably implies that those sleeves are used to hide external power cables and the lower torso looks like a fabric or brigandine over (going by some WH art) slatted armour.

Her cape has power cables running through it to the cherubs, but Celestine does not have any sleeves on her arms, just armour. The lower torso is like the Seraphim models, which I like to consider to be either metal shaped to look like it's not metal, or a leather layer overtop the power armour. You could certainly interpret that differently

 

But I don't see any sleeves on Celestine, and I consider her armour to be all metal.

[Warsmith Aznable]

I've always thought of the Sisters as having a combination of armour plates and highly advanced ballistic weave (mostly because of the lower torso.) Space marines would have to have flexible material on the stomach portion as well, but the prominent belt and cabling covers this on the models. I imagined that the Ecclessiarchy has lots of money and can make Sororitas armour look cooler by using a little but more advanced technology, explaining the less bulky armour providing the same level of protection as space marine armour.

 

If you look at modern proto-type military exo-skeletons they are not much more than thin tubes, yet allow soldiers to carry loads of heavy gear with little effort while, reportedly, not limiting standard battlefield movements. In the 30th+ millennium, a powered frame could be even smaller, allowing even the smaller Sororitas armoured plates to fit over them without making the Sister too bulky.

 

As far as the gloves go, I think it's an old designer thing. I expect any new models to have better sculpted and unambiguously metal gauntlets.

[A.T.]

... but Celestine does not have any sleeves on her arms, just armour.

Yes - I mean that the model indicates what the other sisters might be hiding with the sleeves

 

I've always thought of the Sisters as having a combination of armour plates and highly advanced ballistic weave (mostly because of the lower torso.)

If the picture on the WH codex cover is any indication the torso is solid or slatted metal similar to a medieval breastplate, the fabric being an over-layer either for the look or for ablative protection. I mention brigandine because of the 'studs' on the torso - plates bolted to the fabric.