[WIP]Salamanders: Ashen Brigade ++ The Old and the New

[Son of Carnelian]

I think the shoulder flames are your best ever! The transition from each color to another are seamless. The metal of the hammer does look a little plain though, maybe give it another highlight or drybrush of another color.

[our_baz]

Looks great. Could b the pic, to my the drake shield could do with a dry brush. The flames are real good though.

[BlueBelly1863]

Looking real good though.

Maybe they're lefthanded because all the different Terminator CC-weapons are lefthanded too

I... oh. You're right. Moving on Here are two pictures of the Predator I've been working on! Lots left to do, but trying to mix between highlighting and doing the details, because I don't think i could do even half of the highlighting that needs to be done in one sitting. Let me know what you think!

Looks great. Could b the pic, to my the drake shield could do with a dry brush. The flames are real good though.

I agree, the shield does look rather flat and plain. I guess I should just drybrush it with a lighter green perhaps? Dunno

[Son of Carnelian]

That front plate on the Predator looks ace! 

[our_baz]

Try giving it a wash, maybe athonian camoshade, then two stage dry brush. From your original green to a lighter one. Or just do a single dry brush. A final yellow glaze can also perk the final look up.

[BlueBelly1863]

Try giving it a wash, maybe athonian camoshade, then two stage dry brush. From your original green to a lighter one. Or just do a single dry brush. A final yellow glaze can also perk the final look up.

Okay, thank you for the help!! I'll try to get to this today and post the results! For now, here is a quick update on the Predator Infernus:

I painted an inscription in Modern Hebrew on the scroll, which transliterated is "Tehevrah." Tehevrah is the Hebrew word for conflagration, fitting I thought for a Predator Infernus. Henceforth, the tank shall be known as Predator Tehevrah. All the detail work is done on the main body of the tank, just (lots) of touch-ups to be done on it now. Then I'll focus on the turret and hopefully finish up within the week!

[Memento Of Prospero]

I am cool with this, as long as your next superheavy is called "The Hebrew Hammah!"

[Knight of the Raven]

The Forge World Salamanders rhino conversion set just looks so good. Nice highlighting too.

[BlueBelly1863]

I am cool with this, as long as your next superheavy is called "The Hebrew Hammah!"

 

Indubitably. 

 

 

The Forge World Salamanders rhino conversion set just looks so good. Nice highlighting too.

 

Thank you!! 

 

I've pretty much finished the Predator at this point, of course a month later than I thought I would. But, I'm almost done with exams and will head home for summer soon, so hopefully that means an increase in productivity. Today I'm going to try to work on the Firedrake's shields and perhaps do some extra detail work on the Predator. Pictures to come either later today or tomorrow. 

[BlueBelly1863]

Well, dear friends, for once it has been a productive day at the painting table. First, here are improved shields for the Firedrakes. Baz's suggestion worked really well IMO, but let me know what you think! Added a wash and then a drybrush of Loren Forest.

I've also (finally) finished Predator Tehevrah. I'm pretty happy with the results of my first tank for the Ashen Brigade. Highlighting everything was crazy tedious, but the results are worth it I think. Might go back and thin some of the lines but I need a break from armor for a minute. Here are pictures of the tank!

(I put two layers of 'ardcoat over the glass viewports and screens to give em some reflection and shine. I think it worked well enough!)

I wanted to break up the monotony of all that bright green, so making the heavy bolter covers bronze was an easy way to do that I thought. Really happy with how it looks as a part of the tank as a whole.

When I sent pictures of the (almost) finished tank to SonofCarnelian, he immediately asked, "What, no flames?" This was a fair question. Behold, flames.

Up next...

[BlueBelly1863]

Woah!! Two updates in two days!! We haven't seen this kind've productivity on this thread since this past summer!

My plentiful study breaks have allowed me enough time to finish up another Firedrake! It's nice when I'm able to tell my painting is getting better and I'm able to paint at a higher level in a quicker amount of time; something that was definitely evident when working on this model yesterday and today. Perhaps all that highlighting on the Predator was valuable practice?

Meet Firedrake Abdas. Abdas is known and respected throughout the Legion for his incredible sense of duty, and his unending willingness to serve the Emperor, Vulkan, and Praetor Aryeh. As a part of the Ashen Brigade, he still speaks every day of how he serves Vulkan. Along with the rest of the survivors, he believes Vulkan Lives.

(I offer a free cookie to anyone who can figure out the meaning of the name Abdas and how it plays into my short background for him)

[our_baz]

Your drake shields have come out a treat, glad I could help. The predator looks great, the FW upgrade helps it pop. You could go further and add some weathering to the tracks and armour. Great stuff.

[Cryptix]

Woah!! Two updates in two days!! We haven't seen this kind've productivity on this thread since this past summer!

My plentiful study breaks have allowed me enough time to finish up another Firedrake! It's nice when I'm able to tell my painting is getting better and I'm able to paint at a higher level in a quicker amount of time; something that was definitely evident when working on this model yesterday and today. Perhaps all that highlighting on the Predator was valuable practice?

Meet Firedrake Abdas. Abdas is known and respected throughout the Legion for his incredible sense of duty, and his unending willingness to serve the Emperor, Vulkan, and Praetor Aryeh. As a part of the Ashen Brigade, he still speaks every day of how he serves Vulkan. Along with the rest of the survivors, he believes Vulkan Lives.

(I offer a free cookie to anyone who can figure out the meaning of the name Abdas and how it plays into my short background for him)

St. Abdas? Awesome job by the way, I never could handle that much edge highlighting, I shade my models.

[Brother Pheidias]

Firedrakes look fab, as does the pred!

[BlueBelly1863]

Your drake shields have come out a treat, glad I could help. The predator looks great, the FW upgrade helps it pop. You could go further and add some weathering to the tracks and armour. Great stuff.

 

I'm glad you could as well, that bit of advice made a world of difference. I should think about weathering, I'm just nervous to do it and then it not turn out well and have to redo some painting... Guess it's hard to mess up weathering though when it's supposed to look messy. Maybe one day when I muster up the bravery....

 

 

 

Meet Firedrake Abdas. Abdas is known and respected throughout the Legion for his incredible sense of duty, and his unending willingness to serve the Emperor, Vulkan, and Praetor Aryeh. As a part of the Ashen Brigade, he still speaks every day of how he serves Vulkan. Along with the rest of the survivors, he believes Vulkan Lives.

 

 

(I offer a free cookie to anyone who can figure out the meaning of the name Abdas and how it plays into my short background for him)

St. Abdas? Awesome job by the way, I never could handle that much edge highlighting, I shade my models.

 

 

Mmmmm not as such! A hint for all those in pursuit of the aforementioned free cookie: it's a name with the same meaning in both Hebrew and Arabic (a Hebrew name? Who saw that coming?) But thank you for the kind words Cryptix! I'm not sure if I was really able to handle it, but I made myself get it done! Not looking forward to the land raider I plan to do next........

 

Firedrakes look fab, as does the pred!

 

Thank you good sir!! Stay tuned for the other two firedrakes! 

[BlueBelly1863]

BOOM. Finished the last two Firedrakes, completing the squad. I wanted these guys to be a centerpiece for my army; hopefully I've achieved that. Enjoy the pictures, and as always, all comments are welcome.

The full squad:

Now I just gotta put together a ride for em......

[Brother Pheidias]

Looking lovely still.

What'll they be riding, a Land Raider?

[BlueBelly1863]

Looking lovely still.

What'll they be riding, a Land Raider?

Thank you Brother Pheidias! They indeed will be riding in style within the confines of a Land Raider! Here's the interior, which I finished painting today:

This was actually my first time painting the interior of one of my tanks! I didn't try to get too complicated with it, just gave the whole thing a drybrush and then detail work on the light panels and screens, along with the seats and purity seals.Put two layers of 'ardcoat over all the screens to give 'em a shine.

Got the whole thing assembled this evening, complete with forge world upgrades.

Can't wait to get started painting this guy! Three layers of warpstone glow, here we come.......

[foamy248]

Looking awesome as always!

[Knight of the Raven]

The land raider's interior and the firedrakes' highlights are lovely. The former probably was less of a pain to paint than mine too, being much more monochrome.

[our_baz]

Great work on the drakes, they look awesome. 

[BlueBelly1863]

Thank you all for your kind words!! It seriously does help me stay inspired to work on the Ashen Brigade. I hope to have another update for you soon, paint is being applied to the land raider....

 

The land raider's interior and the firedrakes' highlights are lovely. The former probably was less of a pain to paint than mine too, being much more monochrome.

 

I tried to make it as little of a pain as possible  I wanted to too look good but not take up a terrible amount of time, because it often won't be seen. I'm happy with how it turned out, and glad to finally have a transport whose doors aren't glued shut. 

[BlueBelly1863]

Quick break from the regularly-scheduled Salamanders programming, although it is a bit related. Made some objective markers today as a fun little side project for myself. It was a nice break from the routine of Warpstone Glow.

[BlueBelly1863]

For the past year and a half, I've been really good about keeping only one project on my table at a time. Alas, no longer.... The coming of 8th has thrown me into a flurry of hobbying activity with the goal to get as much ready as possible. The GW near me is having an all-day release event and I want as much painted as possible, so the past few days have been rather productive, although I am spreading myself a bit thin.

I finished the last three tacticals from the B@C set, so all of my infantry (minus the captain in termie armor) is now painted, an achievement I'm quite proud of. Maybe I'll get around to that captain this week too.... Here are the pics! C&C welcome of course

The guy on the left has oaths of moment scrawled all over his armor, because I think it's a cool idea. I really need to write some more fluff for these guys at some point.

I've also started work on the rhino I picked up a while back.... Forgot how frustrating it can be to have it all fit together. I painted the interior, but with a different method than I did on the Land Raider. I used the same technique that I used for the metal on my Knight, and I quite like the results of it. I wanted something brighter so that the inside could actually be seen, and I think I achieved that quite well.

So, this is how the painting desk looks right now...

Hope to have another update later this week! The Salamanders shall march to war!

[BlueBelly1863]

The progress continues! The rhino is a fantastic shade of green at the moment, and I'll be hoping to finish it by the end of the week. For now though, I decided to tie up the loose end of having the Cataphractii Captain unpainted, so I worked to finish him up today. Here's the fruit of my labor:

Something about him, at least to me, still really leaves something to be desired, and I can't put my finger on a reason as to why. Something about the model just doesn't thrill me, and thats been the case since I first started applying paint to him over a year ago. The lighting I utilized kind've washes out some the shading and highlighting work done on the model (man I should make a light box) but even despite that I find the model lacking. Perhaps the bare head? I'd love any advice or comments that may lead to an improvement of the figure. Thanks so much in advance.

"We were broken on Istvaan. Never before have the Salamanders allowed themselves to be shattered thus. We will ensure it never happens again. We will forge a new future for our legion, and for the Imperium. We will bring hellfire and death to those that would dare stand before us. We are the Ashen Brigade, and our enemies shall turn to dust before us." -Praetor Aryeh addressing the Ashen Brigade before their first engagement after the Istvaan V massacre