Ashen Sentinels - my Primaris Space Marine army

[firestorm40k]

Pouch progress  Base-coated Screamer Pink then washed Basilicanum Grey, tonight I've been highlighting - instead of a 'normal' highlight, I'm going for that slightly scratched and worn leather look:

 

This'll get followed up by a further 'highlight' of tiny Pink Horror scratches.

 

After that, before anything else it looks like I'll be doing a little bit of touching up to the armour, as there's one or two places where the odd dot or splash of another colour has accidentally left its mark!  Not too many thankfully - but in places where they are pretty obvious, unfortunately. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

They look good. Adding the highlight to the undersuit definitely helps!  

[firestorm40k]

Thank you @Firedrake Cordova

 

Finished the pouches and holsters - here's an example:

 

You may have noticed that the trim of the shoulder pad has been painted - I changed my mind about touching up the armour at this stage, I figured there'd probably be more after painting the rest of the details!   So straight on to the Company colours on the shoulder trims:

[Firedrake Cordova]

That leather looks great with the wear marks 

 

(also bonus points for the retro painting handles )

Edited August 9, 2023 by Firedrake Cordova

[firestorm40k]

Back with an update - shoulder trims are done; I used a Vallejo green (can't remember which one), wash of Vallejo green ink, highlight with Warboss Green then 50/50 Warboss Green/White Scar. Now I'm on to the weapons:

[Firedrake Cordova]

They're really coming along nicely  

[Pearson73]

I really like the red leather for the holsters and pouches.

[firestorm40k]

Thank you @Firedrake Cordova and @Pearson73 

 

Update time - still working on the weapons, and I've found highlighting the casing of the chainsword to be a bit of a headache to be honest. 

 

 

I've just not been able to get the edge highlights as straight as I want - I've been touching them up repeatedly, but can't get them to a standard I'm happy with. Example of the patchiness:

 

In retrospect, I think I'd have been better off drybrushing them, then washing nuln oil (or contrast) to tidy up. Think I'll do that with the next squads I paint - it's all a learning process 

[Wormwoods]

1 hour ago, firestorm40k said:

In retrospect, I think I'd have been better off drybrushing them, then washing nuln oil (or contrast) to tidy up. Think I'll do that with the next squads I paint - it's all a learning process 

 

Careful, or you'll end up like me, and just use drybrushing for everything and never edge highlight again! 

 

Which would be a shame, because this honestly looks great, highlighting wise. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

The edge highlighting on the shoulder pad trim looks good to me  

 

The highlights on the chainsword are not as nice as the those on the shoulder pad, but there again, I suspect that the edge isn't as sharp - I assume the angle is too shallow to be able to trace it with the side of the brush, thus needing the tip to be used? As a way of sidestepping that issue, could you "highlight" it by adding chipping/battle damage along that edge, if you found that easier?

Edited August 25, 2023 by Firedrake Cordova

[firestorm40k]

Thank you both  When I was talking about the edge highlights, it was on the Chainsword - I'm happy enough with the highlighting on the rest of the model for the most part!

 

@Firedrake Cordova has got it right I think - the edges on the rear of the chainsword aren't as sharp as on other parts of the model, making it a challenge to get sharp highlights. I decided I couldn't leave the highlights as they were, so I've gone back to them tonight - this time a drybrush of Mechanicus Standard Grey followed by Black Legion Contrast to tidy. I'm happier with the results this time! 

 

 

So onwards with these - I'll do the gold parts before moving on to the helmets. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

That's a definite improvement to the highlights on the chainswords  

[firestorm40k]

Thanks @Firedrake Cordova, I certainly thought so! 

 

Last night I reached one of my favourite milestones when it comes to painting miniatures - when the primer colour is no longer visible because every part is done or at least has a base coat 

 

So tonight I have been highlighting and shading the helmets; just one more highlight to pick out corners and upper raised edges, and they're done. Pictures don't really do these justice! 

 

As well as this, over at my Blog I have posted some fiction that sets out some of the background details of this army. It is almost 2000 words(!)  but there are illustrative images - I've been messing around with AI art and, uh, Visio  Here's one such image, of the Chapter's home world Fortress:

 

Once I've done the helmets, and lenses, I'll be messing around with some Plasma... 

[nilsh]

They look very crisp and well painted, great work!

[Firedrake Cordova]

Looking good.  The highlight on the helmet is nice and subtle.  

 

I like the chapter monastery illustration - the first thing I thought was it looks like something from Lord of the Rings  

[Pearson73]

Aye that's some nice highlighting going on. Red's a right bugger to photograph nicely, but the variations and shading show up well on the close ups.

[firestorm40k]

Thank you @nilsh, @Firedrake Cordovaand @Pearson73! 

 

On 9/2/2023 at 8:52 AM, Firedrake Cordova said:

I like the chapter monastery illustration - the first thing I thought was it looks like something from Lord of the Rings  

Yeah, I made several with the same prompt, that was certainly the most epic version that the AI generator came up with; it's fun playing about with these AI art generators, but it can take quote a few attempts before they generate something that looks like what you were trying to create 

 

On 9/7/2023 at 10:25 AM, Pearson73 said:

Red's a right bugger to photograph nicely, but the variations and shading show up well on the close ups.

You're not kidding - after I'd done these I looked at a picture I'd taken, and had a bit of a panic when I thought I'd have to re-do the recess shading, as it was barely visible on the photo!  Thankfully I realised it's fine when looked at in reality 

 

So I did the lenses this week - they have come out a bit patchy to be honest, and I've found the results a mixed bag. Right lenses seem to bey forte  but for some reason left ones don't come out so well. On a couple of miniatures that's down to the positioning of the head, making it tricky to get in to do them, which doesn't help. But otherwise, there's no reason why the left lense seemed to be my weakness! 

 

Anyway, these are, thankfully, mostly done  Come back for next week'ss post: fun with decals, and painting Plasma glow! 

[Pearson73]

I have exactly the same struggle with lenses, even if I paint the heads separately to the rest of the marine.... Makes no sense!

[firestorm40k]

On 9/11/2023 at 7:17 AM, Pearson73 said:

I have exactly the same struggle with lenses, even if I paint the heads separately to the rest of the marine.... Makes no sense!

Thanks, glad it's not just me then  Hopefully it'll improve with a bit of practice - meaning by the time I've finished this force, I should be just about perfect with both sides 

 

In the meantime, squad markings are done 

 

Next... How about the Chapter insignia..? 

Edited September 14, 2023 by firestorm40k

[Firedrake Cordova]

Nice work - they're looking great!  

[firestorm40k]

Thank you @Firedrake Cordova

 

More decals - here's the Chapter Insignia:

 

I'll probably post about the 'in-universe' rationale for this over on my Blog in the next couple of days - but from a real-world perspective, I saw these decals from The Mighty Brush and I liked them. I thought they were a good choice and fit what I had in mind. 

 

So these aren't far from being done - just a couple details to finish, then it's bases and backpacks. It's looking good to get these done before the Call to Arms deadline! 

[Brother Christopher]

I like your colour scheme a lot. It's also fascinating to follow the progress you're making.

[Grotsmasha]

Honestly I wasn't "on-board" when you first introduced the colour scheme, but now as they near completion my opinion has changed and I quite like it, nicely done

[firestorm40k]

22 hours ago, Brother Christopher said:

I like your colour scheme a lot. It's also fascinating to follow the progress you're making.

Thanks very much  I know I make quite slow progress (partly because I usually have 2-3 projects on the go at once ) but I tend to follow a planned out process which helps me get through multiple models. Hopefully it might help other people develop a process/processes with painting that will help them to get their own miniatures done. 

 

9 hours ago, Grotsmasha said:

Honestly I wasn't "on-board" when you first introduced the colour scheme, but now as they near completion my opinion has changed and I quite like it, nicely done

Thank you  I think grey is not used very often for that reason, it's hard to get it to look 'right' - I definitely think preparation and testing helped to get these results. 

 

Tonight I've been trying out Juan Hidalgo's glowing plasma recipe on the Sergeant's pistol. It was difficult to follow exactly, as I was doing it on a much smaller model than he used for the tutorial  but it's okay for a first attempt..! 

[firestorm40k]

So... Wanna see some Marines with their Backpacks? Well, you're in luck

 

 

Had a moment of thinking I might have made a big mistake with the way I stuck the backpacks to the wire so I could paint them seperately; after removing them from the mount there was some residue of the glue in the recess, and paint on the peg that stopped the first one fitting on to the Marine; I ended up cutting the peg off and trying to scrape the sides of the recess. I realised after doing the second and third one that I don't need to do that - just trim the peg slightly and carefully scrape some of the paint off it with a mold-line remover. 

 

Anyway, I've just got to finish the purity seal on the Sgt's backpack so I can get that one stuck on - then add some rust weathering on the bases, and they're done 

 

...so I can start the next squads