New project: Adeptus Ministorum Regiment

[Simon Ros]

Hello everyone!

I just recently returned to the hobby after taking a pause for a few years. Before then I was an ork player for 10+ years, and I mainly hanged around at the waaagh-forum. I really enjoyed my time there - lots of polite and kind people - but as I'm now starting up with a new astra militarum-army, it was time to find a new forum. Reading some of the discussions here, I thought that Bolter and Chainsword seemed like a nice place. So, anyway, that's the background - thanks for having me here.

As for the project, I'm looking at creating an Adeptus Ministorum-inspired regiment (not adeptus sororitas), most likely from some fringe world in the imperium. Details are emerging slowly (not too much time for converting, so a few hours per week at maximum - updates will probably not be very regular). The basic idea is to focus on small and "atmosphere-building" conversions, close combat tactics and imperial cult-symbolism. At the moment I'm focusing on slowly converting some of the first infantry squads. I haven't been converting for years, and building customized Battlewagons seems somewhat different from AM , so please be kind to me.

Anyway, here are some pictures of my first models. I'm planning to paint them washed down dark grey with some red details (not sure how much, or if I even skip the red alltogether) with the ground consisting of dark brown rubble. The skin will be dark brown and the hair black. I am not sure about whether to go for a black or white primer though, any suggestions here?

[Doghouse]

Very nice stuff, you already have a very unique look to these. I look forward to seeing more. :)

[deathspectersgt7]

First off welcome. A Good Start looking forward to seeing more.

[Kierdale]

The Invulnerable Bede approves.

They may not be Astra Militarum/Imperial Guard per se, but if you start an army thread down in the AM forum you're sure to get a lot of good advice (and regular events to help you build your army).

[Simon Ros]

The Invulnerable Bede approves.

They may not be Astra Militarum/Imperial Guard per se, but if you start an army thread down in the AM forum you're sure to get a lot of good advice (and regular events to help you build your army).

Thank you Kierdale! :) Should I have posted this thread in the AM-forum instead, rather than here in the WIP-forum? I had some difficulty deciding where to put it.

[Doghouse]

If I remember right (might be worth checking) you can post the same thread twice before it is considered spamming so post one in each of the two forums.

[Kierdale]

Edit: thread's been moved anyway :tu:

[WarriorFish]

Welcome to the Guard and B&C Simon and congratulations on your ascension from xenos scum to a real army Looks to me like you've got a well stocked bits box for your conversions which is great, as for your scheme I'd say it depends on how dark a grey as to what primer colour you should use. If it's a darker grey closer to black you can use a black undercoat otherwise I'd say white.

Do you have any ideas as to how you'd like to build your army? Infantry heavy, artillery etc or a hybrid? The Guard codex has almost limitless flexibility

Last but very far from least we'll soon be running a painting competition - a chance to earn some stripes and paint up a model or two if you fancy it I look forward to seeing your army progress

[Father Mehman]

Welcome to the fold. We here in the AM Forum will gladly help all we can. Also, you might want to get used to calling WarriorFish "Lord Commissar". He's top dog around here and keeps us all going down the straight and narrow.

 

Anyway, your army is looking nice! The praying conversion is really great and gives a real sense of piety. I hope to see some Frater Militia down the road, as well. Those ladies need someone to kick around besides the enemy.

[Simon Ros]

Welcome to the Guard and B&C Simon and congratulations on your ascension from xenos scum to a real army Looks to me like you've got a well stocked bits box for your conversions which is great, as for your scheme I'd say it depends on how dark a grey as to what primer colour you should use. If it's a darker grey closer to black you can use a black undercoat otherwise I'd say white.

Do you have any ideas as to how you'd like to build your army? Infantry heavy, artillery etc or a hybrid? The Guard codex has almost limitless flexibility

Last but very far from least we'll soon be running a painting competition - a chance to earn some stripes and paint up a model or two if you fancy it I look forward to seeing your army progress

Thank you, Lord Commissar!

I'm not so much after a highly compettitive army as one that is fun to play and follows an interesting theme. I like to convert things, so that's my focus. That said,in the long run I'm looking at creating a force with, first, a solid backbone of perhaps eight to ten squads in two or three platoons (combined into larger units when deployed), with flamers, priests and power axes + melta bombs on the squad sergeants. The second part will consist of a few tanks, such as devil dogs and hellhounds, and perhaps one close ranged Russ (not sure about that). The third part will be a mix of "fun units", such as bullgryns, psykers, etc. I'm not planning to include any artillery or heavy weapons. The army will be led by "Kraken", or rather Saint/Inquisitor <nice name goes here>. The basic idea is to throw the whole army in the face of the enemy on turn one and then enjoy the show.

Welcome to the fold. We here in the AM Forum will gladly help all we can. Also, you might want to get used to calling WarriorFish "Lord Commissar". He's top dog around here and keeps us all going down the straight and narrow.

Anyway, your army is looking nice! The praying conversion is really great and gives a real sense of piety. I hope to see some Frater Militia down the road, as well. Those ladies need someone to kick around besides the enemy.

Thank you! A Frater Militia sounds like a fun idea, I'll be thinking about it.

[Simon Ros]

Finished my first squad today, next up is another ten guardsmen, and then its time to start painting:
 

 

 

[Father Mehman]

Excellent! The squad looks very nice. You should be proud of yourself! Loving that flamer woman. "Let's burn it with fire!"

My only consternation is about the photography. It could be better. In fact, it looks a lot like mine before I read this. Now I use my hobby lamp, room light, and a few pieces of connected kitchen towel and get decent pictures. It's really cheap around here, at the moment.

Keep up the good work!

[Simon Ros]

@ Mehman: Thank you! And thanks for the link! :)

[WarriorFish]

Looks like you're well planned out, with all bases covered except for heavy armour and artillery pretty much. Don't worry you'll soon be adding them to your force - collecting Guard is less a hobby and more a way of life You're assembling quickly too which is great Don't worry about the photos too much as it's the finished pictures that matter the most - and keep one model spare for an upcoming painting event!

[Simon Ros]

@ Lord Commissar: Yes, I am beginning to see the appeal of collecting Guard already, it turned out surprisingly fun to build guardsmen (hopefully to paint them as well). As for the painting events, I'm mainly doing this as a stress-reducing activity, so I'll probably stay out of competitions for now. But thanks for letting me know!

[WarriorFish]

Once you go Guard you never go back! The Regiments challenge is completely stress free, a whole month to paint a single infantry model - couldn't be easier and there's no penalties for failure (other than seeing the sad faces of your comrades). What have you to lose? ;)

[Simon Ros]

Once you go Guard you never go back! The Regiments challenge is completely stress free, a whole month to paint a single infantry model - couldn't be easier and there's no penalties for failure (other than seeing the sad faces of your comrades). What have you to lose?

Hmm, a month is a long time, I might join when there starts one for troops.

Anyway, here's a brief update. So far I've finished nearly twenty of the guardsmen, and I just bought a range of GW-colors. I did notice that they had changed the name on all the colors (?!), and also introduced four different color varieties. I felt rather old in the store, grumbling about the good old days when you had to mix your own ink/wash/shade.

The next goal for my project is to find a color scheme. As it is, I'm doing this really slow, experimenting with different color combinations on a few select models. Figured I might as well get it right before I put together 200 of the models...

So here's the first attempt - a white paladin-style look. I'm open to any suggestions at this stage. An alternative to this one would be a gray/black body with red armour, but I fear it would become too much "sister of battle"-clone over it.

[Father Mehman]

Well, you're in luck Simon! You can paint a trooper for this challenge, sort of. Go ahead and read the link in the forum for all the details and have a think about it. You're already doing good work so no reason not to join in .

Let's give a look at this girl. I like the white. Really liking it, in fact. The armour, on the other hand, needs to contrast. Try this:

Khorne Red basecoat

Nuln Oil wash

Evil Sunz Scarlett highlight

That'll give the armour a real nice crimson colour- very deep and rich.

The problem is not contrasting it with a bright colour. Or, if you're so inclined, feel free. This is just the ramblings of an old priest (middle-aged maybe). Also, if you're planning on doing light coloured robes, go ahead and buy a can of white primer. Anything you want dark, just paint it black beforehand.

Your painting is good- her face and hair look nice- but going from black primer to white is tough to do. You'll want to do much thinner layers as the first picture is showing some real "chalking" on her right leg. That's one of the problems with painting pure white- it tends to "chalk-up" after a few non-milky layers of paint. Also, it's tough to drybrush in large quantities.

Games Workshop went with all new paints a few years back so they could trademark everything- hence most of the new names (both black and white primers retained their names). We did get some nifty stuff, though: differing shades, glazes, medium, technical paints, etc. When in doubt, do it yourself. If you want a pale brown wash, go forth and make it.

[WarriorFish]

Looking very good, white will be a long road to trek though as Meh said but it's worth it in the end.

 

Also as mentioned there's a special clause that lets you retake the original challenge that is just a single Troop unit model. The Blood and Glory challenge is just a single infantry model too, so they couldn't be easier! Don't forget the CCS is a valid unit entry and can have many different models in...

[Simon Ros]

@Mehman: Thanks for all your helpful advice. The "chalking" is definitely something I will aim to avoid in the future. As for the color scheme, I am tempted by contrasting white with red or green, but I also like the bright clothes and the contrast with the skin and ground - its something I'll have to think more about!

@Lord Commisar: Got it, just reread the challenge thread. Sounds like a lot of fun! I'll try to join in before the deadline.

[WarriorFish]

There's plenty of time to join, but you can always strike a deal with the commissariat if necessary. As long as you remember that such deals much be honoured as the consequences of failure are most dire... ;)

[Simon Ros]

There's plenty of time to join, but you can always strike a deal with the commissariat if necessary. As long as you remember that such deals much be honoured as the consequences of failure are most dire...

I thought it wise to not risk any consequences, and signed up promptly.

Very small update on the project. But anyway, I'll soon have two squads of the guardsmen - lots of fun converting them. I've dedicated one squad to "painting practice", and I also bought a large sortiment of colors and a can of white paint. So I'll be trying a few different combinations for these models the next few days, including the red armor details suggested by Mehman.

Picture of my current experiment:

[WarriorFish]

Wise indeed ;) Glad to have you aboard the challenge especially with your models which are really looking nice. I am keen to see one finished, not just for the challenge! :D

[Father Mehman]

Good idea on having some for painting purposes. When you find the paint job that "clicks", throw the models in some Simple Green (US) or Fairy Powder Spray (UK) to strip off the paint. It won't hurt the plastic underneath. Works on resin and metal, also. You probably already know all of this. Humour me for new painters that read our threads. Just don't drink it afterward !

Let's take a look at what you've got, then. Even the nails are painted! Perfect. Since you'll be doing these ladies as African skin-type, have you thought about a highlight for their skin yet? Mournfang Brown might hit the bill- drybrushed or not. Also, don't forget the hair. A nice sheen could be achieved with some dark grey, maybe like Eshin Grey, and then a sharp highlight of Dawnstone. Play around with it, of course.

Now to the armour. This looks rather nice. Those colours really work together, especially with her skin tone. Colour me surprised ! That being said, personally, it's missing some colour. Every sister will be black, yes? There's a good common feature: skin and hair tone. Cream armour and eventual bases are a plus, as well. The eye is drawn to some colour but really the colours on here all feel the same. Think about a spot colour- something to draw the eye of the onlooker.

Again, she looks fantastic and that's very hard to say sometimes about some peoples' models. Keep it up !

[Simon Ros]

@Mehman: Thanks! I did not know about Simple Green actually, its definitely something I must try. :)

About the skin: Right now I'm painting their skin with doombull brown upon white primer, then a wash of nuln oil, and finally I try drybrush some skrag brown on top of it. I'm not very good at making the drybrush work however, as you see in the above photos. But I've got a lot of practice ahead of me. :)

Still working on the eyes and mouth though. Basically, I need a better brush for those.

I took your advice on highlighting the hair and adding some red, with the following result (I also added in some gold).
 

Also, not sure how interesting this is, but perhaps someone out there who is planning their own color scheme might benefit: :)
Hair: Eshin grey, nuln oil wash, celestra grey highlight.
Skin: Doombull brown, nuln oil wash, skrag brown highlight.
Nails: Screaming skulls.
Flak armour: Khorne red, nuln oil wash, evil sunz scarlett, auric armour details.
Clothes/feet: Ceramite white, several layers of screaming skulls wash.
Weapons/gear: red/gold details, otherwise nuln oil in several layers over white primer.