The Great Repaintening (Lots of Pics)

[Brother Casman]

+++Vox transmission begins+++

+++Transcript follows+++

+++General Broadcast to all elements of Task Force Cognitione: closing a successful campaign in the Havennesse Spiral, we are preparing for the final jump to the Chapter Fleet. There, we will rearm and resupply, and pick up some new recruits for the 4th Company. We also expect to gain some supporting elements from the Reserve Companies

***vox distortion***

Battle Brothers - take your positions for Warp Translation.

None shall find us wanting!+++

+++Vox transmission ends+++

Hello, and welcome to my army painting blog/thread/thingy! Veterans of the boards probably know that I have a collection of Blood Ravens; there's a few pics of them floating about. Anyway, I've been "away" painting up my Orks, and they're finally done, so I've returned to my primary army with fresh eyes.

...

Boy, do they look old now... and I can totally do better. So I've made the decision to strip, rebuild, rebase, and repaint the entire army. Madness, I know.

One of the reasons for the repaint is due to the fact that GW went and changed their paint line on me... yes, these marines are *that* old. I found a scheme with the new paints that better fits my original vision, too. To illustrate:

Here are the first marines I ever painted:

They're kind of basic, and I've got better brush control (and better brushes!) but the color is pretty close to correct.

Later marines:

My skills have gotten a little better, and I'm working from a primer coat now. The color is wrong, but close enough for tabletop distances. That's around 8-9 years ago.

Fast forward to just a couple years ago:

These have the new scheme in the new paints, and it's much more in-line with what I originally wanted. My skills are much higher than before (though I still see some mistakes to touch up).

I'm enough of a perfectionist that I want to have my marines in a consistent color scheme, and the brighter marines are "wrong" to my eyes.

Where does the madness start, you may be wondering?

Well, here's the army as it stands:

I have a Battle Company, half the First Company, a couple Scout Squads, selected units from the various Headquarters Organizations, and an extensive vehicle pool!

Quite daunting, when looked at as a whole. That said, I have a plan. I'm going to work on it squad-by-squad: a squad, their transport, a character, and something else (like a predator or a dreadnought). Since I really only get a few hours of hobby time per week, I'm well aware that this will take a long time, but no worries.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the long, slow ride it's going to be!

Edited March 12, 2019 by Brother Casman
Updating tags

[Brother Casman]

Of course, the army pics aren't quite the full picture, either. I've accumulated a large backlog as well (everyone does, right?). These are in various stages of assembly and painting.

And my brother decided to downsize his collection, so I got his drop pods, dreadnoughts, and Imperial Knights... *sigh*

Edited February 27, 2018 by Brother Casman

[WarriorFish]

I know well the pain of a full repaint, but I also know that it's worth the effort in the end - good luck! In a few years you'll be looking back to this wondering how you did it

[deathspectersgt7]

The Great repaint I know that song but it will be worth it in the end. I have some Blood Raven Decals if interested.

[NiceGuyAdi]

Have my like, you brave lunatic!

 

I think you're definitely right in breaking this down into bite-sized chunks. Definitely makes it less daunting.

[Honda]

That's a lot of witches.

 

I get the feeling that things are going to warm up soon. :)

[Brother Casman]

Okay, got a squad stripped and re-assembled. So far my method for stripping paint is soak in Super Clean for 24 hours to get most of the paint off, then a longer soak of a week to get the more stubborn patches. Works pretty well, I think.

I've got a battle-brother re-assembled, though he's on his old base temporarily:

(I'm holding him together, that right arm isn't attached.)

Also you can see the icons I got from Pop Goes the Monkey on the shoulder pad - these are really cool:

I also took the time to move this captain to a new fancy base:

(From Dragon Forge Designs!)

My initial force, for those interested is going to be a captain, two lieutenants (based on the sternguard kit), an apothecary, two veterans (former command squad members), two tactical squads, two rhinos, and a lascannon razorback. Aiming for 50 power, if I remember rightly.

[deathspectersgt7]

Blood Raven PGTMBs I approve  

[WarriorFish]

Looks like it came out well, I can recommend a sonic cleaner especially on older models as it really makes a difference to the amount of effort. They're not too expensive and will be well worth it for so many models (also makes 2nd hand purchases better) :tu:

[Brother Casman]

Yeah, I'll keep a sonic cleaner in mind, WF. I might need it on some of these other models, we'll see.

[9x19 Parabellum]

Holy crap, dude. I thought i was an addict but some of you people are full on bat:cuss crazy.  :-D

 

(I mean this in a good way...)

Edited March 12, 2018 by 9x19 Parabellum

[MillionsSons]

it's nice to have like, a full chapter :D

[Ray_K]

Blood Ravens! Nice! I recently went through a paint stripping battle myself. I couldn't find a paint stripper that would remove paint from eBay models. Even WEEKS in Simple Green and other cleaners would not work. I ended up using 92% rubbing alcohol. It takes the paint off in 20 minutes and does not damage the model. If you leave it in long enough (a few days) it will also denature super glue so that you can actually pull your model apart into its basic components and reassemble. It's much cheaper and quicker than soaking in simple green or any of the other cleaners. Try it on a test model and see. One word of caution I have heard that it might eat green stuff or finecast models.

[Brother Casman]

Alright, it's been a while, but I've committed to the ETL, so we're going to see some movement here again. I've had some adventures in stripping paint, and I've picked up an ultrasonic cleaner to help. I have got to say: Super Clean + Ultrasonic Cleaner = amazing results. 99%(!) of the paint and primer(!!) came off my Razorback with just one session.

You can see my complete vow here, but I'm also going to put my pics here as well:

This is going to be my captain, lieutenants (simple kitbashes based on Sternguard), rhinos, and razorback.

(The razorback is in the top-right corner: it got a short hour-long soak, then a 6 minute cleaning cycle. Compare to the rhinos, which both soaked for a week to get to the same point!)

This has my two tactical squads, apothecary, and company veterans.

Two months(ish)... gonna be interesting. Deep breaths, matey, deep breaths.

[WarriorFish]

Those are good results, should make your repaintening a lot less hassle :) Good luck for your vow :tu:

[Brother Casman]

So, it's been a while, but I've some progress to share on my first tactical squad. I've been working on these guys in sub-assemblies, like so:

Today, I've really pushed myself to paint, and they're effectively done. This is the completed sergeant:

Here's a quick shot of the whole squad (though with camera flash):

[WarriorFish]

I was only wondering where you had got to the other day, great progress the squad works nicely together :tu: I like the helmet stripe and bone colour :)

[Brother Casman]

I've got a quick update this evening - my first squad's transport is coming along nicely:

The interior is effectively done, too:

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job.

[WarriorFish]

Good progress, are you breaking it down into units e.g. Tac + transport? If so that seems like a good way to get a working force up quicker :tu:

[Brother Casman]

Yep, that's the general plan: squad + transport + "something else" (like a captain, or a predator, say). This first round should give me a nice little starter for an army.

[Brother Casman]

So, I've completed a few squads for my vow (been on a vacation, so lots of free time )

My second tactical squad:

My kitbased lieutenants:

My veterans:

My first rhino:

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work.

[WarriorFish]

You have been busy! Great work the Blood Raven scheme looks very nice all together, when do we get a group shot of the completed models for the full experience?

[Brother Casman]

Once I get my photo box thingy set up again, I intend on taking some better shots.