Armies on Parade. Blood Angels of the Andromache Sector

[ZeroWolf]

Nice to see things moving on 

For me, Outriders are probably the 2nd worst model ive built. Flayed Ones are far worst sadly.

[gideon stargreave]

Death company WIP. 
I undercoated these with matte and satin black and a spatter of white. Then I dry brushed them heavily with a blue grey and a pink grey to add tonal detail. Next step will be a black / sepia wash to darken them down again

[ZeroWolf]

I really like the head you've used, what's it off?

[gideon stargreave]

It’s from a plague marine sprue I got from the conquest magazine. I used loads of parts from them to represent different armour marks 

[gideon stargreave]

Painting in earnest. Black wash and metallics and beginning to sketch in some saltires. Next will be classic RT elements like graffiti.

so far I’m really happy with how the black came out. They remind me of Roose  Bolton’s men. Red needs touching up. I’m torn about using some thin black to edge the saltires

[gideon stargreave]

Here’s another of the undercoated death company to show the speckling. 
it settles down considerably after it’s fully dry, but I was scared it was ruined for a while 

[gideon stargreave]

I’ve added all the purity seals and mini pennants and things now. Next step will be gold and some final details. I’ve left all the pouches and so on black to keep the silhouette from breaking up, and to emphasize the final touches 

[gideon stargreave]

To break up painting the death company, I got some red on my outriders. Dark colours sometimes look flat, so to avoid that, I painted these with a lot of different reds. I used a pointillist technique and then washed over them with reikland and agrax shades. Next will be another couple of passes like this until I get the visual interest I want, before a final layer with red and black oils and enamels to darken them down. 

[ZeroWolf]

What's a pointilist technique if I may ask?

[gideon stargreave]

1 hour ago, ZeroWolf said:

What's a pointilist technique if I may ask?

Pointillism is using the brush to make dots (sort of like monet). It’s a fancy word for how I do it to be honest. I guess you could get a similar effect using sponges too. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

I suppose you could also refer to it as "stippling"?

[gideon stargreave]

43 minutes ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

I suppose you could also refer to it as "stippling"?

I could indeed! I probably will in the future, but I’d forgotten the hobby word. Although I will always use grisaille rather than slap chop hahaha

[gideon stargreave]

Death company WIP. Metallics going on. Like everything else this takes a few layers of washes and stippling (thanks @Firedrake Cordova) with acrylics, then a final pass with liquid metals from Vallejo. I’m thinking about getting a true chrome for extra contrast but don’t know yet. Any recommendations from anyone?

this guy is made from all sorts of bits. Death guard legs, cataphracti torso, bretonnian head, a chaos marauder shoulder pad for the belly and more. I think it’s a good representation of mk3 armour in art scale 

Edited May 20, 2023 by gideon stargreave

[gideon stargreave]

Some more progress on the bikers. They’re almost there now, besides heraldry and some creative decisions on details (pouches etc) 

[gideon stargreave]

And a productive Sunday painting some heraldry. Ive got a way to go, but happy with the concepts 

[gideon stargreave]

Death company approaching the end. I’m torn about giving them some more colour. Perhaps a spot of gold here and there. The minis themselves have some heraldry and bling that so far is black with a spot of red, but I can’t tell if they look thematic and brutal or unfinished. Final step is basing and weathering anyway. I’d love some opinions 

[ZeroWolf]

It's certainly a thin line to cross, but they do look really brutal 

[gideon stargreave]

4 hours ago, ZeroWolf said:

It's certainly a thin line to cross, but they do look really brutal 

Cheers. I think I might add a gold spot colour on the ‘sergeant’ as a test, and then leave it if it doesn’t work. The chaplain longboard guy will get some heraldry anyway

[Firedrake Cordova]

Is some subtle silver chipping on the prominent edges an option? It might add a little "oomph" to them, without changing the general tone of the model much?

[gideon stargreave]

1 hour ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

Is some subtle silver chipping on the prominent edges an option? It might add a little "oomph" to them, without changing the general tone of the model much?

I’ve been thinking about that too. I’m torn between having the actual metals the only silver but I might try it on a test model to see. Thanks for your suggestion 

[gideon stargreave]

While I decide some painting conundrums I started work on a sanguinary priest in mk3. Im not entirely happy with the silhouette so will probably change it in the next few days. I think the narthecium might be on the wrong side.

[gideon stargreave]

I think I fixed the silhouette. I swapped the chainsword arm out for a cleaver from the beastman box and opened up the posture a little. I tilted the backpack with the narthecium a little too. The result is much better and looks much less like he is slipping or taking a dainty step 

[gideon stargreave]

I picked up some mechanicus thing from imperium yesterday and build another ‘tactical’ marine as for some reason I’m missing one. An inductee into the sacred rights of the machine cult

[gideon stargreave]

I’ve been in this hobby for a long time now, and wanted to pay homage to the 2000ad vibe of the minis I used to gawk at as a kid. I’d take my one thick coat high elves and while I slaughtered green skins I’d see these lead space wolves or eldar or whatever that just looked so METAL. With the new sculpts I get the best of both worlds. Excellent minis and conversion potential, and plenty of space to add kill markings and graffiti and mottos. 

[ZeroWolf]

These are all fantastic