Brother Christopher's Purple Marines Project

[Dr_Ruminahui]

I really like the plasma coils - they have so much nuance to them.  They are definitely way better than mine.

 

As for the tiny aquila, its a not bad try - the only issue with it is that the "heads" stick up above the wings, rather than being even.  As someone who has painted a number of small aquila (though, admittedly, never that small) for terrain and when doing my guard, I would suggest doing the head portion first, then the top "flats" of the wings so they are even with the head, then fill in the wings from top to bottom and lastly the body/tail.

[Kurgan the Lurker]

Purple work just keeps getting better!

[bloodhound23]

Purple, plasma, and hazard stripes all looking exceptional. The purple, especially though. You've got the layering down and it's a very nice effect.

 

[space wolf]

Yeah the plasma turned out great. I also really like your tiny aquilla/writing etc. It really adds a layer of martial technology realism. I wish I had that kind of patience.

[gaurdian31]

Not much to add, love the plasma coils and all the extra details you added. Great work!

[Brother Christopher]

First of all, thank you for all the amazing and kind words that I've left hanging without a reply, at least until now. My forum time is quite limited by other chores and activities, so I'm around on and off more than I'd like. It has been an absolute pleasure seeing how much interest the last update has generated.

 

The massively positive feedback also reassures me that my 'new approach' to painting Primaris not only works on a personal level (i.e. is more enjoyable than the more traditional technique), but also produces eye-pleasing results. The time savings from painting armour and being able to focus more on tiny details and freehands, instead of paying attention to hitting all the edges, are well worth it.

 

Speaking of time, I've decided that these guys are 'good enough.' Ideally, I think I'd like to do some more work on them BUT, at the same time, I think I want to focus on the bigger picture and paint infantry with an army-scale in mind. As such, I've declared these guys complete for the Call to Arms and 12 Months of Hobby challenges.

 

For years, I've been promising myself (and mentioning it here) that I'll buy a softbox to take proper photos of my minis. I still haven't gotten around to doing this, but I figured I'd try a different setup for photographing my Plasma Support Squad. I must say — I'm surprised by how cool the photos turned out! And the photo session wasn't particularly time-consuming either. The 'new' aspects to taking these photos were:

 

• not rushing things, remembering the important settings (white balance!) and using a tripod;
• using the board from the DoW: Onslaught game for the 'base';
• using a piece of 40k artwork displayed on my monitor as the backdrop (quite a lazy but ingenious trick).

 

How do you like style of these photos? Do you think a solid background is better?

 

 

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On 9/9/2026 at 12:48 AM, Dr_Ruminahui said:

As for the tiny aquila, its a not bad try - the only issue with it is that the "heads" stick up above the wings, rather than being even.  As someone who has painted a number of small aquila (though, admittedly, never that small) for terrain and when doing my guard, I would suggest doing the head portion first, then the top "flats" of the wings so they are even with the head, then fill in the wings from top to bottom and lastly the body/tail.

 

Wow, yeah. Thank you for pointing this out. It seems that I haven't given this any thought and just had a rough image of the aquila (i.e. two heads, wings, tail) without consciously realising what it ought to be. You're absolutely right. I mean, it's embarrassingly now. I'll make sure to pay attention to the position of the heads and wings in the future. And to receive such a tip from a heretic, huh... 

 

On 9/9/2026 at 2:46 PM, space wolf said:

I wish I had that kind of patience.

 

You have all other kinds of patience, though! And ingenuity, too. I've just had the time to take a short glimpse at your recent updates, but I've noticed some crazy-good stuff there (a wicked trike, IIRC)!

[gaurdian31]

The marines and the photos came out lovely. I think the background you used adds a bunch of atmosphere to the photos but doesn't distract from the minis. 

[Brother Christopher]

Thank you!

 

6 hours ago, gaurdian31 said:

I think the background you used adds a bunch of atmosphere to the photos but doesn't distract from the minis. 

 

This was my goal. I think that in the future, when I'll try to up my painting game, I'll perhaps experiment more with photo sessions. I think I might find a lot of fun in that.