Need Help with Start Collecting! Space Wolves Set

[TheDiabolic13]

Fellow pack mates, as a new 40k player who has no prior experience to the game, I'm having a a hard time with my slightly painted Space Wolves army that I got from the Start Collecting! Space Wolves boxed set. I have assembled the 10-man Space Wolves pack as a 5-man Grey Hunter pack and a 5-man Blood Claws pack. I got them all slightly painted and am currently having difficulties with the shoulder pad markings and knee markings. Any help regarding this issue would be great.

 

FOR RUSS AND THE ALL-FATHER!

 

* It would be ideal if I could learn how and where to use transfer sheets too.  

[Jackalwolf]

Welcome mate! Pack markings always in the right shoulder, company symbol on the left shoulder.

 

I'll post later some links to heraldry since I'm out of home.

[Melete]

I've got a page on SW markings that I think is from a previous edition's codex, can I post that here?

[jerrys]

I'm pretty new at this as well, and don't know what the right way is. But, for whatever it's worth...

 

I tried the transfers once and screwed them up (they were sort of wrinkled / not flush with the shoulder). So I gave up on that.

 

What I do now with the shoulder pads is something like:

- prime it black

- paint it yellow (maybe couple coats)

- let it dry

- draw the ragnar wolf head symbol on with a fine-tipped sharpie marker (i stipple the tip on a piece of paper or cardboard to get the ink flowing again when it stops)

- this has a sort of shiny finish that I don't like, so I paint over it the ink as best I can with black paint using a tiny brush. It doesn't have to be perfect.

- let it dry

- then I wash the whole shoulder with a brown wash (argax earthshade). This sort of blends it in and gets rid of the rest of that shiny finish.

 

I do a similar thing for the pack markings. But I make mine simplistic, like, a couple of slashes (like claw marks) or something like that. For grey hunters (black on red) I can use the sharpie again. For blood claws (red and yellow) I paint them yellow and then paint the red markings over it (I am way worse with the brush than with the marker, so these are crude), then wash it with the argax earthshade again.

 

I don't have any artistic ability, but these look good on the table (i.e. when you're not looking at them too closely).

 

If you really want to get into it, you can blue-tac the shoulderpad onto the back of a brush, and paint it before gluing it onto the rest of the guy. That prevents the arms and chainswords and stuff from getting in the way.

 

I usually paint the (unhelmeted, blue-tac'd to a brush) heads separate from the rest of the guy. The shoulders aren't as important. Put the head on after the shoulders, I think, because sometimes the braids and stuff get in the way.

 

The knees ... I guess I just paint them on with a tiny brush. Sometimes the kneepads have relief in the plastic that makes this easier. If it's just a flat kneepad, I paint on a slash / tooth looking line. Or use the sharpie for grey hunters. And wash over it when done. Again, they look fine when they are on the table.

 

some crappy pictures:

http://www.aurumvorax.com/files/wlwip/wolfheads.jpg

http://www.aurumvorax.com/files/wlwip/squad-marks.jpg

Edited March 4, 2018 by jerrys

[Leif Bearclaw]

Don't bother with the pack markings? That's what I did (especially as they were virtually absent from the 3rd ed dex anyway). I just paint the edges of the pad a different colour (bronze in my case) to break up the grey, then apply the appropriate transfer.

 

It took me a while to get transfers working. For best results you need a few additional bits. Gloss varnish, matt varnish, 'decal fix' and something called 'microsol' (amazon should have the latter 2). First, gloss varnish the area you want to apply the transfer to, this will give a more even surface for the transfer to adhere to. Next, instead of using water to lift and apply the transfer, use the decal fix. Not 100% sure what it's meant to do, but it does make a difference. Now it's time for the microsol (most important bit). This stuff's a solvent that makes the transfer floppy and translucent again, repeated coats will help obscure the edges of the transfer and will let it bend around curved surfaces so it sits flush properly, which is a godsend, especially for shoulder pads. Just make sure it's fully dry between each coat, and be patient, it can take a good few coats to get a proper flush finish. Lastly, matt varnish the entire thing to cover up an remaining gloss, and to fix the transfer in place. Even if you intend to spray varnish the entire finished model, it's still worth painting varnish over the transfers.

[Melete]

What I'd do with markings is just pick easy geometric designs, like triangles (fangs/mountains) or rectangles/bars, and just paint those on the right shoulder pad. Red and black for Grey Hunters, red and yellow for Blood Claws, white/grey and black for Long Fangs, yellow and black for Wolf Guard, blue (or your base armor color) and black for Wolf Scouts. You can do something similar on their left knee pad.

 

The left shoulder pad being your chosen Great Company's colors. Again don't think I can post copyrighted material, but most people just do yellow for Ragnar's Great Company.

 

Definitely no need to do something crazy like free-hand a wolf skull in pack colors, imo.

[Karhedron]

Even if you intend to spray varnish the entire finished model, it's still worth painting varnish over the transfers.

Yes, this is very important because some spray varnishes contain solvents that can attack the transfer film. A coat of brush varnish first will seal the transfer and ensure that it is safe from anything stronger.

[Kasper_Hawser]

If i may advise, unless you are diligent and really want to "mark" your space wolves as a particular Great Company, I suggest the following:

 

1) Left Shoulder pad - Always yellow. No matter if you are Wolf Guard, Long Fang, Grey Hunter or BC, the color is always yellow. 

 

2) right shoulder pad - Just do simple patterns like stripes or "teeth triangles", but color depends on the "type", I always refer to the normal Space Wovles marking scheme as per the 5th edition codex as per below:

 

   a) Blood Claw - Red and Yellow

   b) Grey Hunter - Red and Black

   c) Wolf Guard - Black and Yellow

   d) Long Fang - White and Black

 

3) Knee markings - anything you want but follow color scheme as per item (2).

 

Hope this helps.

[TiguriusX]

Don't paint all your left shoulders yellow just yet.

 

Google "space wolves company markings" and the images you need will be obvious

 

*cant paste it here bc copyrighted material and we dont want our lovely b&c crew getting in trouble.

 

Read some of the space wolf fluff and pick whatever you want.

 

Yellow is default in all the GW material and represents ragnar blackmane.

 

I prefer the great wolf and have black shoulder pads.

 

These are your toys you decide what you want

[TheDiabolic13]

Fellow pack-mates, all your replies have been useful and I would give it a try when i have the time. Thank you all for your willingness to help a fellow pack-mate. :)