"....guard it well." A ----- ------ patrol log.

[hd3]

"Knowledge is power..." And if you recognized which faction this was for before opening this thread, well done to you!  

 

Yes, it's the Blood Ravens! 

 

This was born out of the way I started 40k. I bought the recruit and command sets because I needed something to practice doing a metallic paint job on to learn how to do the basics before I moved onto the Alpha Legion. The problem was, afterwards I had this huge pile of adeptus astartes with nothing to do with them. I had originally intended to sell them but then I realized with a little kitbashing, I had almost the entire kill team for astartes here. So I grabbed some bolt rifle parts off eBay to convert my second squad of assault intercessors and started.

 

 

I primed in Tamiya ts-6 matt black spray for a nice satin. The real challenge was finding the right red. Most painting guides get the blood ravens scheme from dawn of war wrong, either way too purple like in the GW video or end up just copying the blood angels bright red. I needed a really dull red that isn't burgundy. My prayers finally being answered when I found pro acrylic burnt red which is the exact right shade.

 

Then black legion for ribbing and connection seals on the armour and Zandri dust in the shoulder pads and sergeant's helmet

 

Edited December 5 by hd3

[Firedrake Cordova]

Ah ... I remember when Dawn of War came out ... the opening cinematic was something else! *nostalgic sniffs*

 

Looks like you're off to a good start.  

[hd3]

Because I already started kit bashing two if the original assault intercessors, I needed replacements for a full squad. So I grabbed these two from an issue of imperium I won at auction. These guys had a raised Ultima emblem on the shoulder pads, so I had to scrape it off. It doesn't look terrible but admittedly it doesn't look good either. 

 

The outriders were the thing that finally convinced me to build these models instead of flogging them off. Some if the internal connections got bent rather badly. Reasoning I couldn't sell a damaged product on ebay, I decided to build them via Tamiya plastic cement instead. I'm pretty happy with how the repairs came out and I already have ideas about how to do the bike bases.

[Firedrake Cordova]

5 hours ago, hd3 said:

These guys had a raised Ultima emblem on the shoulder pads, so I had to scrape it off. It doesn't look terrible but admittedly it doesn't look good either

Getting a perfect finish on a curved surface isn't easy. I imagine that the raised edge to the shoulder-pad also made it a bit difficult to fully use a file or sanding block.

[hd3]

I'm starting assembly on the primaris captain. I want this guy for my kill team though and the kill team captain has a plasma pistol and power fist, while my guy has a power sword and storm shield. I really like the elaborate shoulder pauldron on the Captain's arm though. So I'm torn between cutting off the blade and trying to affix the plasma pistol to the wrist or just flat attaching the plasma pistol ark to the captain and just layering extra gold paint onto the sergeant's shoulder. Then I'd grab a primaris power fist off eBay. 

 

I'm worried because the vambrace extends slightly farther out on one side and I'd like the wrist and plasma pistol to fit nicely...or at least securely. 

 

I've also assembled the primaris lieutenant. I can't decide if he should get the helmet with the old fashioned knightly visor flipped up or a regular unhelmeted head. I don't think any of the provided heads fit the officers though. I really want the blood ravens to have hair since my alpha legion are uniformly bald. Ideally, I'd like the captain to look like the force commander from dawn of war 2.

 

I'm not sure what to do with the storm shield yet. Might kitbash it onto something.

 

For the blood ravens bases, I was thinking a snow and brown dirt base to contrast the blood red armour. Maybe the ganergrass pre made bases? Though I guess I'd have to use super glue to attach the models to those. Does anyone if there is a good technical paint for snow and ice? Or paintable snowy glacier bases. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

I think for the plasma pistol, possibly the best bet is to remove the "hand" from the model leaving the vambrace in place, and then removing the plasma pistol hand and trimming it to fit, so you've got some of the bionic hand visible? It'd be a bit more intricate in terms of the cutting and shaping, but might give a better result?

 

For snow, Valhallan Blizzard isn't cheap, but it is very good and has pretty good availability.

[hd3]

2 hours ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

I think for the plasma pistol, possibly the best bet is to remove the "hand" from the model leaving the vambrace in place, and then removing the plasma pistol hand and trimming it to fit, so you've got some of the bionic hand visible? It'd be a bit more intricate in terms of the cutting and shaping, but might give a better result?

 

For snow, Valhallan Blizzard isn't cheap, but it is very good and has pretty good availability.

 

Yeah, I was thinking something similar. Just leave cut the augmented arm off at the wrist and painted the augmented hand and wrist as if its part of the armour and leave the vambrace in tact. What would be the firmest way to attach it though? Sprue goo? Green stuff? Tamiya putty?

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204704460861?_skw=gamergrass+winter+base&itmmeta=01JEGS9D1PSMNS3EM5432M800R&hash=item2fa956303d:g:oRwAAOSwuqdl-21o&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKkSkkmgYDht8QbV3rGadN4ZtP4GSfO7a9Kwib8LFD6GfsuzJeagnYKfQvffo9iX0hBbKW3ZcE58yxUI3rn4bZVqDA%2B4c8zcZv6P8jZLP0hey%2F0sbKQ%2FlWaTBin%2FXTZKNC5yaDpaLm0dBQiGjLm7dHbU2ItCRyQJTkJFsnYd0VANWO2hrZzYSgie6YsFX%2BjEb3Wj%2BWXGq%2F6C359T3YEKsyN0Y4j2fMWOOd1kobrkyJxl%2BO79dgm9e2lVBayIdr7cnAoFlZPUw7VZwzznv5leM%2FDN2B6UF7wEsVuOaWKcRZU4SQ%3D%3D|tkp%3ABFBMiNGlmfRk

 

For the bases, I was thinking something like this. Which is more expensive but admittedly, I'm keen to get back to my main army too. Would valhallan blizzard match up with that for the larger bases? The officers and eliminator, the bikes etc.

[Firedrake Cordova]

Personally, I'd just use polystyrene cement - assuming you can get a flat join, it should be fine. Otherwise, pin it if it's not too small/fiddly?

 

I've not seen the Gamers Grass bases "in the flesh" but the snow effect does look somewhat similar to Valhallan Blizzard in the e-Bay image.

[hd3]

Adding the shadows took a really long time. The pro acrylic burnt red is the perfect shade but it is so so matte that it just sort of absorbs the nuln oil and it doesn't flow into the recess details right. So instead I just used a fine detail brush to line black templar in contrast and only used nuln oil on the armour ribbing and the tiny armour helm vox grill. Im always amazed every time by how much more definition the shading adds after the base coat. For some reason, I always expect it to be a less stark difference. 

 

I've also done the leather holsters, pouches and belts in rhinox hide, which I'm going to wash with agrax, then highlight with gorthor brown. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Looks like you're making good progress!  

Edited December 8 by Firedrake Cordova