Deployment of the Spectral Sicarii (homebrew RG)

[thewarriorhunter]

Harnesses are done!

 

 

 

So... couple things. After putting this together I don't think I like my screen on top of the command console... it doesn't really make sense anymore. I'd never thought about how high it was until I mocked up the harnesses. I may end up repainting that, but I'm not sure how.

 

Also doing this made me realize I need to figure out how I distinguish my veterans from line troops. I don't think I'm going to maintain the company colors on the right shoulder. This chapter is too small for that. I'm currently thinking of just making the left shoulder trim black. These guys are not flashy like SW or BA, they are quiet and deadly, so I think just a little detail on the trim should work. You can see on the Sgt harness that I put a simple black detail on the lines on his harness. I think it does a good job and subtly gets the point across.

 

Any other thoughts on veteran markings?

[Race Bannon]

I'll take a stab and veterancy:  the crux badge.

 

Maybe leave the "stone" or raised symbol for 1st company and the sigil for everyone else.  This way, you avoid using alternate colors on the overall body pallet. 

[WAR]

Ill take a different approach then Race on the veteran status......

 

I know a few chapters and even the Adept sororitas in some aspect. Your Veterans are the elite of your chapter so their weapons would be more unique what about adding Gold Trim on their weapons. Or another Color just to make their weapons stand out from everyone elses in your army.  

[thewarriorhunter]

I'll take a stab and veterancy:  the crux badge.

 

Maybe leave the "stone" or raised symbol for 1st company and the sigil for everyone else.  This way, you avoid using alternate colors on the overall body pallet. 

 

Not a bad idea, but I feel that may lock me into needing certain bits and I don't want to be put in the situation where I have to source a $3 shoulder pad for a captain... I'll have to give it some thought.

 

 

Ill take a different approach then Race on the veteran status......

 

I know a few chapters and even the Adept sororitas in some aspect. Your Veterans are the elite of your chapter so their weapons would be more unique what about adding Gold Trim on their weapons. Or another Color just to make their weapons stand out from everyone elses in your army.  

 

Again, another good idea. My issue with that is that I've always wanted weapons to be utilitarian. On the flip side it might make sense to decorate their weapons. The chapter is named after assassins, after all, and having decorated weapons to celebrate their status might be a good way to represent the enemies that they've slain on the field of battle. I'll have to think about that.

 

Both great ideas, and thanks very much!

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

If you settled on the dagger motif, you could work something in with that.

 

Like if your chapter logo is a single dagger (at an angle), you could make it a pair of daggers (like on a kneepad) for a veteran. If you're going to end up printing/ordering decals anyway, the cost would be minimal.

 

If we really wanted to get the assassin theme across, a bandolier of throwing blades would be pretty neat too 

[9x19 Parabellum]

Looks good! Now to just get rid of the baby blue paint scheme (har har!)

[thewarriorhunter]

Thanks, but trust me it's not baby blue.

 

It's actually a Turquoise base layer, then a recess shade of Prussian Blue, then a finer recess shade Dark Prussian Blue.

 

I think it's pretty clear that there are no babies anywhere in the paint ;)

[thewarriorhunter]

Drop pod is 98% finished! I still need to paint up the weapon options for it but I'd have no problem setting this on the table. The weapons are mostly base coated as is right now and should paint up fairly quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

Trying to photograph this really convinces me that I need a better photo setup. I'll probably be looking into a decent light box and a couple of lamps soon. I really want to be able to take better photos.

[duz_]

Looks great!

 

I just got my Foldio2 and its great! :D

Most the time I just use them with my phone

[Race Bannon]

That's too pretty to use. You should use a Land Raider instead.

 

Chop chop!

 

:P

[thewarriorhunter]

Ha! I need to finish my base kill team first. After that it's either going to be 10 tacticals to ride in this pod or the land raider.

 

Before I touch another 40k model though I have to finish the game for my kids.

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

Well done TWH!

 

This paint scheme you are working on is a prime candidate for shooting on a black background, since it's so bright you don't want it to appear washed out. Good luck with the next project!

[thewarriorhunter]

Thanks Itvyper. I will be looking at a lightbox that can change backgrounds or is black. I have actually been looking at the macromats from Table War. I've seen and heard really good things with their products.

 

I was able to figure out how to do Sgt, LT, Captain marks on these guys. I won't know if I like it until I put brush to model but what I'm thinking is this:

 

Helmets:

Regular - gray

Sgt - gray with blue stripe

LT - blue

Captain - blue with gray stripe

 

I'll have to see how the LT and Captains look with the blue helmet and purple eyes. Otherwise I think it will work.

 

I'm still struggling to settle on a Veteran scheme. I've toyed with the idea of a black/dark gray left shoulder, or doing the trim for both shoulders black/dark gray. I also have a really cool gunmetal blue paint that I rarely use but that might be a good color to put on the weapons of veterans. Something that makes their weapons stand out without being too crazy. I also have a nice black metallic that I don't use much because it's very metallic. Using that and the gunmetal might be a good option for veteran weapons. Here's a picture of the gunmetal blue i found online:

 

Edited December 17, 2018 by thewarriorhunter

[thewarriorhunter]

Alright, all you fraters that click the like button, I need some feedback on my veteran idea. I think I'm going to go with a stylized weapon as war009 suggested. After a lot of thought and playing around with the marine painter app I couldn't settle on anything I liked. As I got to thinking about assassins it would make sense that a skilled and experienced one might have a special weapon that they cherished. Perhaps a rifle with a specially engraved receiver or maybe a knife that had the hilt inlaid with jewels taken from a slain target.

 

I decided to try out the gunmetal blue on one of the minis for my kids. This will probably be the main colors on rifles. Steel magazine and receiver, blue top cover, and gold for any skull/wings/inlay that are on the rifles. How do you think the colors look with my overall scheme in mind?

 

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

I love the color and concept.

 

That being said: In my experience trying to denote status by weapon coloring is only ever successful with Astartes when picking bold and contrasting colors. Bolters (and chainswords) just simply don't have enough surface area to make it work.

 

Now for the above statement to have meaning, we need to define "make it work". Will it look good and personally for you do what you want? Probably. Will it be easy aesthetically for someone unfamiliar with the scheme to pick out or notice (especially at arms length)? Highly unlikely.

 

Basically I say go for it, but if you get raised eyebrows from the unwashed masses, don't feel saddened or surprised (in my experience).

[Race Bannon]

I agree. Go for it :tu:

 

What game is that for again?

[thewarriorhunter]

Thanks guys. I think I will. It'll be subtle but distinct. If my opponent doesn't see it then good, my veterans did their job of blending in :D

 

Race, the game is Stuffed Fables. The models have been a lot of fun to paint up and a great pallet cleanser from grim dark. That robot was done in a couple hours and a chunk of that time was waiting for the wash to dry.

[thewarriorhunter]

I finished my non 40k stuff! putting the final touches on a foam insert to keep everything organized and protected. I probably won't paint anything until the new year since I spent so much of Nov/Dec painting the drop pod and the kid's game. My wife was understanding but I need to back off a bit now. However, that doesn't mean no hobby!

 

I constantly have the entire scope of my end-game army in mind which is my Spectral Sicarii and a Knight army working together for support. I'm also looking at the homebrew chapter area of the boards to get ideas on how to frame and present my lore. Today I started to work on putting names together for my kill team and other roles within the chapter. I think some of the high level ideas that I will stick with are:

 

Spectral Sicarii:

• Non codex compliant as far as company markings (still run as RG)
• "Under strength" because of their founding and operational status
• Fleet based
• Names will have Germanic and Russian influence to honor my real life genealogy (father's side)

Knight House (Name TBD)

• House will be comprised completely of female pilots
• Will be run as Auxiliary detachments with SS
• Will only be brought in as Spectral Sicarii story/lore is written and created
• Names will have Irish and Scottish influence to honor my real life genealogy (mother's side)

Some of the names I've come up with will be used in a role based on the names meaning. I'm also not sure how heavily authentic I want the surnames to be because I feel like they detract a little with how different they all are. Time will tell.

 

Some names I like but may change a little:

 

Name / Meaning / Role / Origin:

 

Demyan / To subdue / KT Leader / Russian

Lothar / Loud Warrior / KT Heavy Weapons / Germanic

 

Faramond / Journey Protection / Fleet Captain / Germanic

 

Duana Greer / Watchful / Armiger Pilot / Irish (Armiger Name: Dark Maiden)

 

I'm not married to any of these names but it's a start. On my list I have surnames for the SS but in this list I only put the first names. I already like them more after dropping the surnames. I'll have to mull this over and figure out how I want to handle surnames. I've toyed with the idea that in the Spectral Sicarii there are no surnames as all members because family within the brotherhood of assassins... If any of you have ideas feel free to throw them at me!

[thewarriorhunter]

Taking the plunge into airbrushing. I purchased a compressor yesterday and should have it first or second week of January. I've already got the brush and will pick up other supplies after the new year. I'll play around with water for a bit to get a feel for the gun and then start spraying paint at some cardboard. I found some great sheets that I can print out to practice patterns and techniques on.

[Dracos]

Props for making sure your priorities are straight with the family my friend. Respect for your values as much as your mad hobby skills

[thewarriorhunter]

Thanks Dracos! I've always said my priorities are Family -> Work -> Hobby. It's unfortunate (for me) sometimes but I'd rather focus on my family and be selfless than put my plastic crack addition before them.

[thewarriorhunter]

Got a batch of 5 tactical marines ready to be lightly re-primed and then painted. Originally these were going to be Raven Guard but now they'll be Spectral Sicarii. I'll give them a light zenithal-esque gray prime and they should be good to go for painting after that. Unfortunately these were some of the first models I assembled so I know the bolters are going to get in the way and cause me a little grief but I'll have to deal with it.

 

[thewarriorhunter]

Original post has been edited and title changed to reflect the new direction of this thread.

 

I also accepted delivery of my air compressor today      

 

I plugged it in at work to see how loud it was and it puuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs. It's not loud at all, I was talking across the desk to a co-worker and could hear everything. It's not ideal to talk over, but I have no worries about late night air brushing sessions now. Everyone sleeps upstairs so there is no way they're going to hear me downstairs.

 

I plan on starting with distilled water and practicing on some cardboard to get the hang of everything and how it work. Then I've got some vallejo air paints that a friend gave me that I'll probably never use. I plan on practicing with them on more cardboard/junk models to get an idea of how paint flows through, hits models, how to thin, clean, etc.

 

Very excited to start learning this skill!

[duz_]

Yay airbrush!

 

I wouldn't worry too much about distilled vs regular water unless yours is super hard. Its not gonna hurt the airbrush.

 

Id graduate to trying on plastic models fairly quick because it behaves different than paper and cardboard.

Id spend more time learning correct thinning and cleaning methods. The painting part is probably the easiest to get the hang of.

[thewarriorhunter]

I hear the biggest issue for newbs is thinning/cleaning/clogs/etc. I have a bunch of old models that a friend gave me that are pretty beat up. I plan on using some of them to test with. I am going to get some of the badger primer and start by priming and base coating. I think being able to spray by gray base coat will be worth the time savings alone.

 

What I'm trying to figure out right now is how do I spray two colors that are adjacent. Taking the drop pod for example I want to spray the blue because I do the recess shading. It will look a lot better with the airbrush but how to I protect the gray. Do I go blue first, then mask and spray gray? Or do I go gray, mask and spray blue? Does it depend on the model? I'm sure I have many hours of youtube ahead of me as I try and figure this stuff out.