Brother Christopher's Purple Marines Project

[Brother Christopher]

@TheArtilleryman I'm not really doubting my my work. I'm more of a 34-year-old child nitpicking at my own shortcomings and comparing what I do to pro-level painters. But I'm almost over this stage. I can't stress it enough how illuminating it is to work on these models and actually consider what I'm doing for a change.

 

@Firedrake Cordova Thanks for the suggestion with the glaze. Luckily I have a glaze medium and try to mix it with some red. I wouldn't have thought of that, too, but if wxecuted correctly, it should help with making the lips more distinct.

 

@gaurdian31 Oh, I intend to mix older helmets into all my squads. Even though I've limited the planned extent of conversions, I still want that oldschool mishmash for my units. As for the eyes, for the first time I followed some piece of ancient advice that I've always found to be counter-intuitive: first I painted the entire eyeball black and then, I added spots of white on the sides of the 'eyeball,' leaving a black pupil inside. This is a somewhat reverse approach to what I used to do for years: paint the eye white and then struggle with adding a speck of black in the middle.

 

I must say... the 'new' approach makes it way easier to get a better-looking eye. After doing these two faces, I regret being so forgetful and stubborn in the bast.

 

Overall, that's some overwhelmingly good feedback. Thank you! Now I have no doubts that I'm on the right track. You guys made my day and gave me an amazing boost of morale. Having said that, I must confess that I haven't done anything today.

 

I've just realised that I messed up the the chest plate on the sergeant while gluing on the arms; I'll need to rework that.

[TheArtilleryman]

 

As for the eyes, for the first time I followed some piece of ancient advice that I've always found to be counter-intuitive: first I painted the entire eyeball black and then, I added spots of white on the sides of the 'eyeball,' leaving a black pupil inside.

Thanks for the tip! I’m gonna give this a go next time I have to paint something bare-headed.

[Firedrake Cordova]

 

Luckily I have a glaze medium and try to mix it with some red. I wouldn't have thought of that, too, but if executed correctly, it should help with making the lips more distinct.

I think GW use thinned Carroburg Crimson, but my memory could be playing tricks on me  

[gaurdian31]

 

As for the eyes, for the first time I followed some piece of ancient advice that I've always found to be counter-intuitive: first I painted the entire eyeball black and then, I added spots of white on the sides of the 'eyeball,' leaving a black pupil inside. This is a somewhat reverse approach to what I used to do for years: paint the eye white and then struggle with adding a speck of black in the middle.

 

I must say... the 'new' approach makes it way easier to get a better-looking eye. After doing these two faces, I regret being so forgetful and stubborn in the bast.

Like @TheArtilleryman said I will have to give that try the next time I muster up the courage to paint a bare head. I'm excited to see this current group of marines all decked out and to see what you come up with next. Glad you are going to be mixing in the old school helmets on these.

[Grotsmasha]

 

I think GW use thinned Carroburg Crimson, but my memory could be playing tricks on me  

Was also going to suggest thinned Carroburg Crimson

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks for the tip! I've tried something to the line of your recommendation and it didn't work well, but that's probably me not having the right paint. I'll revisit the face and fix that and use your tip for the future - I think, if executed correctly, it's a fix to a problem I had with faces.

 

I've also made progress on the shoulder pads and the squad is almost ready.

 

Conceptually, I'm loving the white arms. Realistically, I'm not that sure. Painting the white bits was draining and, even though I spent probably too much time on these, I failed to avoid some mistakes with the consistency of the paint. Don't get me wrong: I feel that these are the best white bits I've painted but, at the same time, I see that they are inferior to how I paint other colours on a 'technical level.'

 

So unfortunately, I'm mostly stuck where I were 1-2 weeks ago: I kind of want the whites but am hesitant to do another 10-15 models. For now, I'll pivot to painting regular troops too see how an all-purple Marine actually looks. Later, though, I'll have to decide.

 

Right now I'm pondering the options: 1. the original idea, i.e. whites arms and helmets; 2. the 'Standard Space Marine' approach, i.e. white helmets for the veteran infantry; 3. stick to the paint scheme, i.e. purple body and arms+pads+helmets in a different colour but paint something that's more forgiving (maybe silver/gold) or something that I'm batter at (black should work well with my colour choices).

 

Enough talk: some photos of the models:

 

 

 

 

For the Chapter icon, in the end, after feedback from me family, I opted for a Maltese cross. I almost went with transfers but I figured that doing free hand symbols is a bit cooler ;)

 

Also, I think it's a nice homage for my life-long 40k love and a nice link between my pre-primaris and primaris collections.

[TheArtilleryman]

They look ace! The white is done really well from what I can see and works great on these guys.

[gaurdian31]

Can't believe I missed this last week. These came out great! See where you are after painting the next squad, but I think option 2 might be the best. No point burning out if you are not enjoying painting white. Also I think if you go option 3 silver or black would look best. My vote would be silver.

[SvenIronhand]

As someone who is whole-hog for Primaris, it's interesting seeing someone come to modern SM from the opposite and doing something about it. That said, distinctions will probably disappear, and a Space Marine will once again just be a Space Marine. However, I greatly like the scheme you've put together here. 

[Brother Christopher]

After just the smaaaaalest of hiatuses, I'm restarting this project.

 

I need a good break from painting black and/or large models so I'm ready to pick up on this.

 

What's new? Nothing much; probably some more 'complaining', mixed with some more broken dreams and disappointments, i.e. curbing down the scope of conversions. In the end, I've decided to limit the modifications to changing some breast plates and knees. The rest of the models will remain more or less vanilla.

 

In the end, being new to the Primaris range, I don't feel like doing too much converting. Especially since even kitbashing it surprisingly difficult due to the availability of bits and the way models are laid out on sprues. A case in point: I struggled to get my power sword sergeant right: I couldn't find the right combination of legs/torso and struggled to get a matching boltgun. Kitbashing old marines was way easier, even without taking into account the width of available bits. The way arms and weapons connected was way more hobbyist-friendly.

 

Being a slightly smarter man, in the end, I figured that I'd rather focus on painting some models than converting them. This shouldn't be an issue since I plan to keep my collection limited in size so I won't have to deal with doubles of models with the same pose.

 

The current plan is to:

- modify 'knees' of models;

- modify chests;

- modify belt buckles;

- kitbash models, e.g. mix weapons and bodies between kits;

- use firstborn helmets;

- modify gorgets;

- add greebles (rivets, green stuff ornaments)

- add some wires/cables here and there.

 

I'm still on the fence with regard to modifying:

- power plants on backpacks;

- the piece of fabric/cloth covering the abdomen on 'elite Marines,' e.g. Sternguards, Bladeguards, HQ (I'm considering replacing them with oldschool power cables).

 

I decided not to:

- modify the chest plates extensively (i.e. by shaving off the 'extra plate' on the breasts);

- remove the spherical ankle joint armour;

- add firstborn backpacks for variety;

- use firstborn weapons. 

 

As an experiment, I decided to assemble the six proper models and paint them in that form, rather than do the torso and hands separately. I just hope this decision won't bite me... The rationale is that I want to keep this project cheap and cheerful... No, scratch that: I want to get t his moving at a reasonable pace and focus on the big picture.

 

Hopefully reaching spots that are too difficult to reach with a brush won't spoil the overall planned fun of not obsessing about parts of modes that are not visible on a fully-assembled model. However, I'm very much apprehensive about this. It's silly since at this point in the hobby I should have a clear stance on the matter.

 

***

 

I'm very much excited to (re)start this and I hope to prime the first batch of models tomorrow. 

 

Here's a photo of the first tactical squad:

 

Hopefully, you can see the modification in the high-resolution group shot. Speaking about being hopeful about things: I do hope that the green stuff work won't affect the paint too much; I tried to get a smooth transition between the GS and plastic but with modifications so small and layers of GS as thin as they are, it's a bit tricky.

 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Looking good!  Personally, I fully assemble models before painting them, finding that while the painting of arms may lead to some loss of detail in the portions of the model obscured by the arms/guns, those parts are obscured and not readily visible, so I don't find it detracts from the overall quality of the paint job.  That said, my skill level is definitely middle of the road, so its not like I'm trying to pull off display worthy models.

 

You might want to consider not putting anything more than primer on them until this weekend, that way you can vow them on June 15 for Call to Arms.

[Brother Christopher]

12 hours ago, Dr_Ruminahui said:

Personally, I fully assemble models before painting them, finding that while the painting of arms may lead to some loss of detail in the portions of the model obscured by the arms/guns, those parts are obscured and not readily visible, so I don't find it detracts from the overall quality of the paint job.  That said, my skill level is definitely middle of the road, so its not like I'm trying to pull off display worthy models.

 

That's my reasoning here, too. Although, I will probably pay more attention to some more detailed/centrepiece models and might do some sub-assemblies there.

 

12 hours ago, Dr_Ruminahui said:

You might want to consider not putting anything more than primer on them until this weekend, that way you can vow them on June 15 for Call to Arms.

 

Oh, that's tempting. But I think that for once I'm too impatient to wait these 4 days. I am swamped with real-life matters and I greatly appreciate my 40k time now and I've been waiting to get these guys on the painting table for months. I might limit the scope of work to one or two models, though, and keep the remaining as-is. However, I'll make sure to join with the next batch of models later.

 

I'm so impatient and giddy that during a coffee break, I primed the models:

 

 

For the first time in my life, I attempted doing zenithal highlighting with a rattle can. At this stage, I'm not sure if I like it to be honest. Even though I thought I was being careful, I might have been a bit too generous with the white. Or the white spray was more 'aggressive' than I've anticipated. But I'll reserve my judgment until I slap some paint on the models - the iffy feeling might just be from trying out something new. 

 

I'm also very happy how the coat of primer helped with the GS work; The only faults I can see are on the power sword guy and the first model on the left in the secod photo. But, overall, they are good enough for sure!

[ZeroWolf]

I've often thought about trying zenithal via rattle can, especially with my airbrush troubles (I need to take it apart again). Looks like yours worked out pretty well.

[gaurdian31]

Glad to see you back on this project. Your Thunderhawk came out amazingly and I understand wanting the break form painting both big models and painting black. The zenithal looks like it came out well, never actually done that myself. I also do what Dr Ruminahui does and I paint my models fully assembled so as to not lose parts or forget which parts go where.  Anyway, can't wait to see how this progresses! 

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks for the feedback! So far, so good on the front of painting assembled models. The obscured parts of the models aren't that hard to reach for a minimalistic paint job and I'm discovering that it saves a lot of time not having to bother with some sections of the models. I've discovered and grown to accept the fact that I don't have too much of an imagination. I distinctly remember that I spent a lot of time converting and painting the torsos of my initial batch of marines only to later discover that it was 70% in vain because of the placement of the arms. I can't seem to properly visualise which parts are skippable so to speak. Having the models assembled saves me the bother.

 

Given my work schedule and hobby-related track record, I'm making great progress. I've managed to get 4 models painted to a decent extend and - what I hope to eventually be - a good standard. I would have managed more but I ran a half-marathon this week (for the Emperor, obviously) and that took a better chunk of the weekend (getting to the event and back).

 

Also, since these are my first proper Primaris Marines, I'm doing more soul searching, thinking and planning.

 

1. I think I've managed to adjust the final aesthetic of the models by adding a bit more pink/magenta to the highlights; even though I'm using the same 'base' paints, this marginal 'fix' made the purple a bit warmer and I think I like it a lot.

 

2. Since I've limited the scope and time needed to convert the models, I decided to try and up my painting game and pursue a style similar to GW's box art style for 40k.

2.1 I'm still a bit hesitant about this decision since it's time consuming. However, working with colours is still fun enough to try out and it doesn't seem as tedious as doing blacks with a similar method. A small voice in the back of my mind still makes me want to try some contrast-paint solutions, slap chop and whatnot but I'm not sure I really like the output of I've seen online. Oh, and there's the matter of replicating that output, too; something that might be worth noting - the quick and easy contrast methods might turn out to be similarly time-consuming. 

 

3. I'm not sure about the modified legs and chests; I think adding more variety is definitely something that the Primaris range needed, the shoddy GS work is visible even when painted. However, eventually, I suppose I'll stick to these changes as the bare minimum of personalisation, even if it means that some texture will be visible under the paint.

 

4. No trusting myself with the hobby, I'm trying to smart and I'm taking notes to document the painting process. After all, memory is fallible and I'm expecting for this project to take some time, especially with the breaks for my Firstborn Black Templars and other side things. Writing stuff down also makes it easier for me to slow down and think; as a result, I suppose I've found a way to streamline the process so that I'll save both time and should get better results with the armour. It's still conceptually a work in progress but I'm excited to see how it pans out. The 'way' is simple: don't bother too much with the edge highlights - paint them as quick as possible and refine them at the end. Given that I want to paint models (almost) fully assembled, I'll also be leaving the highlights for the very end, after I've painted the details. With my Templars, I first did the thing in reverse order: first the highlights, then all the other colours; however, the black armour seems easier to fix; here, with the added tones/depth to the purples, fixing mistakes can be trickier, especially if I slap a completely different colour by accident.

 

While I'm very much excited to share my work with you, I'll try to save photo updates for later - after I finish the first four (headless) models.

[ZeroWolf]

Looking forward to seeing the progress