Redmaws - Hunters in the Dark

[PeteySödes]

- The Hunters in the Dark -

Bran Redmaw, bloody-handed warrior,

He piles the skulls of his enemies,

He builds a mound of the fallen,

His foes weep rivers of blood.

Compared to my pace last year, this break I've been on has felt like forever. I haven't really made it a huge secret that the direction of late has been taxing so to speak but nothing is taking my wolves from me. I just need a direction shift.

My previous work was sort of conceptually "the best of the best". Space wolf special forces from Logans own Company of the great wolf. I used a lot of older armor marks to denote ranks with a lot of noble and heroic poses and characters. What i imagined the ideal Space wolf army is.

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/322036-the-storm-stalkers-wip-blog/

Im going a different way here...

One of my favorite things about the wolves is the duality, the way they are the best of the imperium but also seen as monsters by a lot of them. I did the first part, and now I'm going to do the second.

The Redmaws are at the top of the list for the inquisition for a reason. They have the highest appearance of the mark of the wulfen of all the great companies. Im going to take a crack at pushing the horror of that while keeping them "the good guys". It should be terrifying to face them on the field.

So far it's going to stay somewhat conceptual and narrative. Heavily infantry based, and tricksy with a lot of CC. Im going to be testing a new color pallet too that may be divisive, we'll see...

It's going to be a slow process (my last log started like 5 years ago or something) with lots of misses I'm sure but that why I like doing these. It's good to be properly back.

[GrFlur]

Skol!!!

[Guest Triszin]

aww lawd he coming~

 

petey's about to put everyones primaris to shame

[HvitrValdyr]

Fantastic so far. Very excited to see where this goes.

[Valerian]

Hey, Petey, what's going on with his knee?  I can't figure out what your plan is there.

[PeteySödes]

Hey, Petey, what's going on with his knee?  I can't figure out what your plan is there.

 

Little bone fetishes. I did the norse fourishy armor last time, and this time im going a bit more stark and grim. 

[Lord Blackwood]

Green stuff work is pretty awesome. Looking forward to seeing more. 

[PeteySödes]

Got a bit of painting done, nothing worth pics or anything. It was kind of a bust TBH and I had to get a new color so that will take another week to get. Figured i could articulate my plan though. I was always fascinated by the John Sullivan Battle for the fang art:

 

 

With the lighting it always looked almost white to me, which was always awesome with how gritty and severe it still looked while keeping the Chapter aesthetic. So i'm going to be shooting for a pretty pale grey with some deep deep red chapter markings on these. I think the benefit will be two fold, the pale armor should contrast super well with more intense weathering, blood, and some pelts darker than i'm used to painting. When i was incubating this idea around last winter or so i was having trouble replicating it in tests with oils and some other things and wouldn't you know one of our very own BnC masters, Anamnesis, basically nailed something close to the armor tone i imagined:

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/361576-order-of-the-ashen-veil/

 

My first test was pretty smooth but ended up a bit too warm and thus read more dirty white than pale grey. So ill be working on cooling that down a bit and getting my black armor technique a bit better for the super rad Redmaws style helms i wanna do (which i think will look pretty insane on the mk.X)

 

 

My previous black was pretty simple since on my CotGW it typically was just a shoulderpad so I leaned on weathering and pigments to define it since it also featured the sigil with was ideally the focus anyways. 

 

So thats what i'm thinking... Like i said previously I'm fairly certain my approach will be somewhat divisive but hopefully i've earned some benefit of the doubt over the years. (i did after all scrap those beaky Stormhawks eventually )

 

EDIT: Oh snap, colors coming Tuesday, support your local shops, they rule! Noble Knight Games if you're in the midwest.

Edited August 9, 2020 by PeteySödes

[CaptainStabby]

ooh man, now I gotta get in gear on my Redmaws if Im gonna keep up with you and the other folks working on them.

 

FWIW, I tend towards the darker slate grey for my guys, I found that its a nice offset for the bright white on the company shoulderpad and the red/yellow color points on the pack markings, so... kinda the inverse of what your'e heading for. Super excited to see what you come up with man,

[PeteySödes]

Yea I know what you mean about the GC icon bg color. I haven’t all together sorted it out. I figured maybe if I keep the lighter grey cool enough I could do a warmer shoulder which maybe would be enough of a difference. If I left it mono or in line with the amor color it would would only be tricky differentiating long fang and scout designations. It’s something I’m pondering though.

[Chazzmos]

I'm pretty excited to see your journey on this Petey, it's great to have you board for the next iteration of the Wolves.

 

For the colour scheme, a cold off-white with a deep red chapter flourish will look brilliant.  I'm not sure if you've seen this site to give you some ideas: http://convertorum.blogspot.com/.  The white on those SoB have warm browns in the shadows, but I'm sure a similar process with colder tones would look awesome.

If you're going for oils, shadows with Abteilung 502 Payne's Grey on a white would match that picture pretty well.

[TiguriusX]

Have you considered Grey Seer as your off white?

 

I only have some because I experimented with contrast paint.

 

Looks like foggy white when I compare to my pure white objects

[Bryan Blaire]

You could definitely layer up from Grey Seer base to Corax White, then highlights with 1:1 Corax White:Ulthuan Grey, and the Ulthuan Grey, with final spot highlights of Skull White.

 

Darker would be to go Celestra Grey base to Grey Seer, then highlights of 1:1 Grey Seer:Corax White, then Corax White, with Ulthuan Grey for the final spot highlights.

 

Midway between the two would be to do Administratum Grey as a base color to Grey Seer (these are close in color though), and then highlights of 1:1 Grey Seer:Corax White, then Corax White, with Ulthuan Grey for the final spot highlights. That one might be the most even overall between layers to not have too stark a set of transitions.

 

How were you thinking of doing the recesses? A purple or blue to enhance the colder tone?

[PeteySödes]

Thanks Brothers!

 

I'm pretty excited to see your journey on this Petey, it's great to have you board for the next iteration of the Wolves.

 

For the colour scheme, a cold off-white with a deep red chapter flourish will look brilliant.  I'm not sure if you've seen this site to give you some ideas: http://convertorum.blogspot.com/.  The white on those SoB have warm browns in the shadows, but I'm sure a similar process with colder tones would look awesome.

If you're going for oils, shadows with Abteilung 502 Payne's Grey on a white would match that picture pretty well.

 

Those are nice! They definitely read white which highlights the delicate balance im getting myself into since i do want a light grey 

 

Have you considered Grey Seer as your off white?

I only have some because I experimented with contrast paint.

Looks like foggy white when I compare to my pure white objects

 

I was actually going to mess around with the contrast medium to make my own glazes on these to see if it differs from regular medium. I likely wont be using any of the out of the bottle ones though.

 

You could definitely layer up from Grey Seer base to Corax White, then highlights with 1:1 Corax White:Ulthuan Grey, and the Ulthuan Grey, with final spot highlights of Skull White.

Darker would be to go Celestra Grey base to Grey Seer, then highlights of 1:1 Grey Seer:Corax White, then Corax White, with Ulthuan Grey for the final spot highlights.

Midway between the two would be to do Administratum Grey as a base color to Grey Seer (these are close in color though), and then highlights of 1:1 Grey Seer:Corax White, then Corax White, with Ulthuan Grey for the final spot highlights. That one might be the most even overall between layers to not have too stark a set of transitions.

How were you thinking of doing the recesses? A purple or blue to enhance the colder tone?

 

My approach is usually just to start with an interesting base color and blend up (wet or airbrush) to the main tone then the highlight. I do plan to try some purple tones in the red though. We'll see about the armor color when i get closer to where i want it. I should say i'm not necessarily doing a 1:1 recreation of the Sullivan art really its just the launching point.

[Wispy]

really excited to see you flex the noble savage spectrum, petey!

[Lord Ragnarok]

Petey, don't you dare change me from my recently changed Company! Don't do it!!! (peeks between closed eyes to upcoming goodness) Edited August 10, 2020 by Lord Ragnarok

[Chazzmos]

I've found the Contrast Medium is awesome when mixed with inks.  It works as a really good glazing medium or a wash that tints and settles nicely.  I think it's really close in functionality to the Army Painter Wash medium

[SvenIronhand]

In the darkest night, they come! Always loved the Redmaws. I feel they embody the patient, animalistic hunter aspect of the Wolves best.

[GrFlur]

F5,F5,F5,F5,F5,F5,F5,...

-- Hey you !!!

-- F5,F5,F5,F5,F5,....what me? F5,F5,F5,F5,F5,F5,...

--Yes. you! STOP doing that!!!

-- F5,F5,F5,F5,F5,....what? F5,F5,F5,F5,F5,F5,... I just got here...  F5,F5,F5,F5,F5,F5,... I'm merely pssing by F5,F5,F5,F5,F5,F5,... I'm not here anymore!!!! F5,F5,F5,F5,F5,F5,...

 

  

[PeteySödes]

Quick color test and even quicker pic :D:

I think I'm close, thats just the base colors laid down with a real simple edge highlight to check it. It's pretty washed out I think though so I'll be looking to fix that. I do want that grim look but its a bit too stark atm.

I think im going to continue and get some other base colors down to see how it interacts with the armor then start futzing with it again. Pic has bad lighting but that mask base color is Red Leather and it is a beautiful shade. Def doing something with it. My goal is to have this test model done this week for good or ill so fingers crossed!

[Lord Blackwood]

what is your gold / brass color ? 

[PeteySödes]

what is your gold / brass color ? 

 

I use ScaleColor for metallics primarily. In the shot above thats decayed metal, which ill typically shade with aggrax, overbrush with decayed again, then start highlighting with Viking Gold and dwarven gold.

[PeteySödes]

Testing 1..2..3...

Same guy as above with a little bit more color. I think i went to heavy on the glazings so this one got way too dark and its too close to my CotGW so its a no go for me.

This ones way closer to what i had in mind color wise. Hard thing is it just looks wrong without the grit and weathering which is like my last steps usually. This is why paint schemes take so long for me.....

Time to keep on going!

[Lord Blackwood]

i like the way it came out , I want to try decayed metal now , thank you. 

[PeteySödes]

Thanks, and you won’t regret it, their whole line is wonderful.