The Lichborne - Homebrew Warband - Icon Bearer Completed

[Volgon]

Thank you @Firedrake Cordova. I think technique wise the fire came out great. Color wise I made a subpar decision regarding color theory but an appropriate decision for my lore. Now that I've seen it first hand I may change my lore to be a different color fire though

[Firedrake Cordova]

Personally, I like the fire being blue - it stands out from the armour by virtue of being brighter, but it doesn't pull attention like, say, green would. There again, I may be biased in that I have always thought wytchfire looked better as blue...

[Volgon]

I am in a similar boat Firedrake. Personally I see different colors of warp magic/fire as representing different schools, like D&D or lores of magic in Fantasy/Sigmar. I tend to associate turquoises/purples/greens with necromantic/spectral magic which is why I went with turquoise on this first attempt. I know it quite similar in the photos but at least IRL the tone of the flames is noticeably different than the armor. It's still close as they are not far off on the color wheel after all but it's not as same-y as in the photos.

 

I was able to prime some bits that have a pretty similar look to flames that I am going to test a different recipe on. This time it will be similar to the Nighthaunt box art scheme from AoS, so a very pale white green, transitioning to darker blue-grey sections at the end of wisps. This was actually going to be my original color scheme for any spectral flames but I decided to pivot because I thought the pale colors weren't striking enough. We'll see how it works out.

[Volgon]

Here is a pretty quick result that I knocked out today. This is a method using a reverse zenithal (so lighter colors in the shadows rather than darker colors) and a few layers of thinned contrast paints. I used Briar Queen Chill for the light areas and Gryph Charger Grey for the darker spots.

 

This is pretty much the original method I was going to use to paint flames before pivoting to the turquoise. The effect is ok, my drybrushing is not great so it looks pretty dirty in some areas due to overbrushing. Also Contrast paints have a major flaw in that they want to pool in the recesses to darken those areas while leaving raised spots clearer which is completely opposite of how flames actually work. Now, we can write that off a bit by saying that it's the warp after all, it's not actual flame so things can function differently, but it's a little detail that I wanted to stick to.

 

All that being said, what I realized is that I think I can mimic pretty much 1 to 1 the colors of the end result of the Contrast method with layering instead if I used a few of the turquoise paints. I did some test bits on the arms you can see here:

 

I did the hands in my warband's armor color so you can see the difference between the tones. The color on the wrist (Marine Mist, basically an extremely pale/pastel green) seems almost exactly the same as the Briar Queen Chill on the raised areas. Above the wrist, I did two separate mixes of Marine Mist with the midtone I used on the turquoise flames of my sorcerer. Though I didn't paint a sample, I think the dark areas at the end of the wisps looks pretty spot on for Incubi Darkness (which, again, was a color I used on the sorcerer's flames to paint the tips). Lastly I did a small bit of Volupus Pink around the eyes as a potential contrasting color to add some interest. The next project I will use this color scheme on has spiritual/daemonic faces in the flames so I'd like to have a color I can paint in the eye sockets or mouth to provide some more visual interest. Let me know what you guys think of this scheme!

[KrautScientist]

Balefire Acolyte's looking fantastic! I will say that having the flames in blue when the armor is already electric blue does seem like a bit of a missed opportunity -- but that's me speaking from a purely visual standpoint, with zero regard for your army background and overarching concept, so feel free to completely ignore this criticism!

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

The witchfire effect looks brilliant mate.

[Volgon]

@KrautScientist @The Praetorian of Inwit Thank you both! He was one of my favorite conversion so it's nice to see him fully painted. And whether or not the color for the flames is the most optimal I am super proud of how they turned out, especially for it being my first time trying flames. I think it will be even better next time!

[Volgon]

I've been semi-reworking my Icon Bearer conversion recently. Standards are a pretty awesome and gothic part of the 40k universe but, admittedly, they've never really been my cup of tea. After watching part of a painting stream I decided they are iconic enough that I should probably make one for my own warband. I have a handful of decent banners but things didn't really click for me until I found the one from the Katakros kit from AoS. I managed to snag just the standard bearer to use. The design on it looks like a stylized version of the warband's badge (skull + crown) so I thought it was perfect. I also managed to kitbash the collar of a Primaris Sword Brother onto this Chaos Chosen torso. I adore raised gorgets like on the Sword Brothers and Chaos Havocs so I wanted to try to add one and I think it came out well.

 

Lastly I kept feeling like he was lacking a bit of "presence"; his rear half felt bland and made him look a bit shorter than I wanted with a normal backpack. He is supposed to be a character level conversion; blinged out and imposing. He's bearing the warband's banner and is part of the warlord's closest cadre. He needed to look the part to fit in with the rest of the bespoke operatives. I put together this backpack using the trophy racks from the Chaos Terminator Lord kit and a Plague Marine backpack. The bars on the backpack should help to support the trophy racks in place as power armored packs don't have enough surface area to glue the entire attachment bar of the trophy rack. I am quite happy with it and I think this pack added exactly what I felt he was missing.

 

Edited September 10 by Volgon

[KrautScientist]

I'm a huge icon bearer aficionado, as I do think they offer this amazing opportunity to convert yet more imposig characters -- and in that respect, this guy is fantastic! He's regal and imposing enough, seems to tie into your warband's look and feel extremely well, and you have even manage to make the most of that particular head. I am not a great fan of it, but it just *works* here -- brilliant!

 

The only thing I am not sold on are those repurposed Terminator trophy racks: I get what you are going for there, but I would say it kinda falls apart when seen from the side. Meanwhile, the Plague Marine backpack is definitely an inspired touch -- I would maybe try going for some kind of trophy rack/decorative crest kind of setup that frames the head and works almost like an iron halo. I think that might work even better than what you have now, plus it would be fairly easy to perfectly integrate such an element with the existing look of the backpack. Just my two cents.

[Tallarn Commander]

Thank you for the detailed explanation of how you painted the Flames!

 

I look forward to watching you banner bearer come to life. He certainly looks the part of a Chaosy battle standard bearer! You attention to detail is amazing.

 

This spring I started going back and giving each of my Night Lords and Blood Wolves units a banner with the army name, unit name, and a free-handed symbol. It's a lot of work but very rewarding.

[Volgon]

@KrautScientist Thanks! Your Iron Halo comment was something I had considered before, though not quite in the same way. I thought about incorporating a normal one like you would see on a Captain or some such. However, perhaps I could make one by flipping the trophy racks horizontally while mounted on the bars of the backpack. I am not sure if that's what you were getting at but it's nice inspiration. Alternatively I could maybe flip them around 180 degrees so that they don't overhang the backpack but perhaps "attach" to the collar/shoulders/plastron somehow. I'll try working on it.

 

@Tallarn Commander Happy to help! The flames were a big breakthrough for me and I think what I learned working on them is going to help my blending a lot in the future. Very excited to see if that actually pans out. I also did notice your new banners in your thread. I can't remember if I commented on them but a few of the recent freehand ones you've posted were pretty cool!

[KrautScientist]

@Volgon I think it comes down to a combination of things: One thing I don't quite like about the setup you have there is how much "overhang", if that is a word, it creates in profile. I am also not too fond of those particular trophy racks, either, mostly due to the somewhat wacky design of the spikes on top (they seem like a "safe" toy version where the designers tried to avoid any sharp points). That being said, if you do want to keep them that way, I would probably at least shave off the part at the bottom that normally marks the front of the bit, so as to obscure the fact that you have simply turned around some termie bitz.

 

Just off the top of my head, because that would be a completely different bit, but the AoS Blood Warriors come with these weird shield-like gauntlets, right? But if you cut them apart, they make for some pretty awesome crests to go behind a character's head (I've used one of them on my Angron kitbash below, for instance). Maybe that would be worth a look?

 

 

[Volgon]

@KrautScientist Good shout on the Blood Warriors cestus usage. Unfortunately I don't have any so I can't test the look, but I have been thinking about using things like shoulder pads to function as hoods recently and those blood warrior pieces look like they would work really well. I took some time to iterate on your Iron Halo suggestion a bit and also tweaking my original idea.

 

To start, I don't think I have any halo-esque bits so trying to "complete" an Iron Halo using the two curved bars on the top of the Plague Marine backpack is going to require more work. I think I could make a bridge section out of a piece of sprue or something so the idea is not completely out of the picture yet. Regardless, I wanted to see what it looked like with any sort of Halo and I remembered that I have a Black Templars Marshal that I used as the basis for a separate conversion. I had the backpack leftover and threw the Iron Halo topper onto the Plague Marine backpack:

 

I think it looks pretty good! The fit isn't perfect as I didn't want to shave down the area until I finalized the design. Also I now notice in the picture that the skeletal body is falling off the attachment points so a little imagination is in order.

 

The second iteration I did was an evolution of my original design:

 

I flipped the trophy racks 180 degrees and set them further apart. They overhang on the front side of the mini not instead of the back which looks better IMO as it seems they could be resting on the shoulder pads rather than on nothing at all.

 

I am not sure which I prefer right now, I like them both. I think the Templars version is better designed; less busy, less hodgepodge, and it shows off everything there is to see. It also encroaches on an aesthetic space that I already have reserved for a different backpack that will be used for a different character (essentially both are skeletons mounted on top of the backpack) which I try to avoid. The trophy rack version is more bombastic, more outlandish, and I do really like the symmetrical trophy rack look used by Terminators. It does obscure a lot of what makes that particular backpack cool though (the arched spike bars). As always let me know what you think.

Edited September 12 by Volgon

[Firedrake Cordova]

Personally, I prefer the "iron halo" version. I can't say why, just gut reaction.

[KrautScientist]

Okay, Disclaimer: I am so predisposed against that Chaos Terminator spike thingy that you should probably take my comments with a grain of salt That being said, yeah, maybe the new arrangement would work better. Even so, I still prefer the Templar bit, both because it's a cooler part, but also because it actually mirrors the banner pole to a certain degree. And even if you didn't want to have two models with skeletons on their backpacks, you could even just cut off and use that sunray-like top part?! Personally speaking, I probably wouldn't cut it up, but the option's there.

 

Also, I could probably send one or two of those Blood Warrior fists your way if that would help.

[Volgon]

@Firedrake Cordova @KrautScientist I did end up going with the Templar bits. While I did like the spikes to an extent, the cleaner design combined with the semi-Iron Halo look of the skeleton pillory convinced me to use that instead.

 

Primed and ready for paint! I added a cloak from the 40k Chaos Chosen kit and swapped his Chainsword scabbard for a kitbashed gladius/power sword-esque one. Not sold on which scabbard to use so it's not glued on.

[KrautScientist]

Looking really cool now! As for the scabbard, both could work well -- this seems less like a bitz selection issue (although I kinda prefer the kitbashed one) and more like an issue of finding a great angle for it to sit/a good position. As it is, it seems to stick out rather awkwardly from the model's hip.

[Volgon]

Quick WIP I wanted to share, just about finished with the banner. Still need to do the pole but everything else I would consider done. I went with the same set of colors I used on the previous Balefire Acolyte's fire. This picture is a more accurate representation of the color IRL, not particularly close to the vibrant cerulean blue of the armor. If it's still too hard to picture, it's fairly close to the banner/cloth colors on things like Mortarch Katakros and and the Mortek Guard from the Ossiarch Bonereapers in AoS.

 

Comments on the banner itself: Couldn't quite get the runes to glow like I wanted. Very happy with the blending at the bottom of the cloth. Also I mixed up a few colors for the stone obelisk at the top that I like a lot. I've considered adding some light scratching for weathering but unsure if I will go through with it. I do feel the cloth is missing a bit extra pizzazz but I don't really know what I could do.

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

That looks great - the gradient towards the bottom is really nice, and the design just "pops". Is the white part of the design freehand, or sculpted on?

 

For the glowing runes, I wonder if a glaze of one of Vallejo Game Colour's fluorescent paints might give them a bit more "pop" (magenta or violet, I assume)? I've never used them - just guessing.  

[KrautScientist]

Loving the banner! As for the runes, I think the problem here might be that the glow surrounding them works well enough, but as the colour blends together with the actual runes, you lose some distinctness and definition -- I think I'd think down a *really* bright pink/purple (essentially the brighter version of the colour you've used so fat) and carefully add it to the actual runes, i.e. the recesses. Just make sure to use a thin brush, don't load it up with paint too much and just ever so carefully let it run into those recesses. I bet that would give you a rather convincing effect.

[Volgon]

@Firedrake Cordova@KrautScientist Thanks for the comments! The banner is not free handed; all of the design is sculpted on (it's from the Mortarch Katakros kit from Sigmar). I think I repainted the runes like the day after I posted the picture, they just weren't doing it for me. I went with a much more vibrant red rather than magenta and just went sans glow. Looks much more ominous now. It reminds me of runes from something like Doom Eternal. I like it a lot.

 

 

Still a lot to do, haven't been painting as much as I'd like. I think the blending on this guy is by far the best I've ever done. In particular I am extremely happy with how the banner and shin armor blending went. It is pretty faint thanks to the color choice but that is the effect I was going for so I suppose it works. All of the blue (minus the belt I suppose) has glazing/blending but some of it is hard to tell. Oh well, at least I know it's there

[Terminatorinhell]

I love the blue

[Volgon]

@Terminatorinhell Thanks! It is mostly the same blue I've been using for the whole project just improved as I have learned new techniques. What I did on this guy was base in Andrea Blue (this is the vibrant blue), block in my shading with Vallejo Magic Blue, and then glaze the gradient until decently smooth. On certain areas I have, in the past, glazed Vallejo Deep Sky Blue as a brighter highlight but for this guy I have gone with only two colors with the Andrea functioning as both the midtone and highlight. Not too late to change that so I might glaze the highlight later.

 

Andrea and Magic Blue are pretty close in hue so the gradient can be difficult to see in the photos but there is a difference. I've done darker blues before like Kantor for more contrast but I like that these two colors maintain the overall color of blue I have in my mind.

[Volgon]

Another operative in the books! This marks the completion of all non-leader members of the kill team. For the kill team specifically, that leaves the warband's leader, a power fist champion, and a power sword champion. I have a handful of other characters and models to work on as well so as much as I'd like to dive right in to doing the lord next, I continue to bide my time gathering experience and techniques to make the end result as awesome as possible.

 

 

Let's talk the present, though. The Icon Bearer! I am thoroughly pleased with the result. I love the banner; I think it's easily my favorite aspect, but also the cloak kind of came out of nowhere. I posted a WIP recently and went back to work on the cloak as I wasn't pleased with the result. I initially tried to stipple some highlights to add texture which came out ok but not great, but then I had to idea to drybrush instead and that gave me exactly what I was looking for. I knocked back the highlight areas with a glaze (they were far too bright for my tastes) and reinforced the midtone purple. I love the way it looks now! I ended up using drybrushing again on the scabbard for easy texture/scratching.

 

Other than that, it was mostly business as usual. I continue to work on blending despite how temperamental it can be. I think that I have come to the conclusion that glazing is just a lot of back and forth; there is no set recipe for success. It's not like painting 2 or 3 coats to get coverage over a primer; some glazes do essentially nothing, some glazes may completely overpower a transition if you move the brush the wrong way or with the wrong paint.

 

One thing tangentially related to blending is my weathering. I've always liked the weathering look and specifically for the blue I felt it added some complexity to the color that didn't really exist. These days though I feel like the weathering masks some of the work I do when blending. I think the weathering is fine for the black as I don't do any sort of volumetric painting for it (though I may try that very soon), but sponging a bit of brown directly over a blend I worked hard on smarts a bit. I had some blends I was really happy with on the shin armor (they may be hard to see in the photos). They are still noticeable especially in hand but they lose a bit of the effect once I slap on some weathering. I may try going no sponging (at least on the blue areas, or far more minimal if I can) on blended areas next time to see how it turns out.

 

As always let me know what you think!

[Firedrake Cordova]

Looks great to me!