Ongoing Space Marine Projects - Deathwing, Wolves, ??

[Deakor]

EDIT 6/1/11:

Given that this log has grown beyond its original scope, I've changed the title (ty to the awesome mod who helped me out with that) and will be updating on multiple projects here. The first page is all my Guardians of the Covenant progress. The second page of the log shows the completed army and then begins my adventure with the Sons of Russ. As the log grows, I'll add to this introduction. Hopefully I keep it going long enough to have to update this multiple times.

Thanks for reading!

Greetings!

After bouncing around from army to army, collecting models, building some of them, and generally painting none of them, I have finally managed to bring myself as close to a "finished" army as I have ever been.

This project has been ongoing for the better part of three years but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and I wanted to post some shots up here to help motivate me to see this through to the end.

The army is meant to represent the 1st Company of the Guardians of the Covenant; a DA Successor chapter mentioned briefly in the DA Codex. The only photos of the Guardians in the 'dex were of standard marines, so I had free reign in designing my "CrimsonWing" (lame, I know - but I had to call them something, right?).

I ended up settling on dark metallic armor with crimson accents (aquillas, etc.). As I was moving along, I found that the army wasn't terribly interesting to look at, so I tried adding a few elements to it to break things up a bit. I decided to make the right pauldrons of each Terminator dark (angels) green as an homage to the Dark Angels. I mixed in various other green and gold accents throughout the force to add a bit of variety. I also tried for a lightning effect on the claws and the swords...it turned out OK I guess.

I know that my painting leaves a lot to be desired and I know that I really should do some freehand work (particularly on the right shoulders). I considered doing some heraldry on the pads, but ultimately chickened out. The closest I came to doing that was on the small chest/shoulder shields where I did a half-and-half crimson/black scheme (like my banner). If I get up enough courage, I may try and do some freehand one day.

About all I have left on the Terminators is the bases and some scribbling on the purity seals. I still have two land raiders (one normal, one crusader) as well as two dreadnaughts to finish up. So the army really isn't "done" but I'll be damned if I'm not pleased with having gotten this far.

Anyway, enough jibber-jabber, on to the photos, eh?

Army Shot:



HQ (my "Belial" and a Chaplain [quite possibly my favorite model in the army])



Iso-shot of my HQ



A "very" WIP Land Raider



Pics of each squad in the next post(s)

[Deakor]

As promised, pictures of my squads:

Squad 1 (including Banner Bearer and Apothecary) - these guys will ride in one of the Land Raiders



Squad 2 - they'll ride in the other LR



Squad 3 - footsloggers; mixed unit



Squad 4 - footsloggers; shooty



Squad 5 - footsloggers; shooty



Feedback and comments welcome and appreciated. I'll add photos as I complete the Land Raiders and Dreadnaughts (and possibly Drop Pods...we'll see).

Thanks for taking the time to give it a look-see!

EDIT: sorry for the somewhat crappy pictures - trying to get used to photographing minis again. If anyone wants to see something more close-up let me know.

[PostinDirty]

this is probably the last thing you want to hear, but all the green makes the models look very christmas-sy. i think it'd all look much better by being replaced with black, to keep in theme with the original colour scheme.

otherwise a tidy paint job all up

[Deakor]

this is probably the last thing you want to hear, but all the green makes the models look very christmas-sy. i think it'd all look much better by being replaced with black, to keep in theme with the original colour scheme.

otherwise a tidy paint job all up

Thanks for the feedback - I see what you mean. I had them all black originally and that was part of what made them look somewhat flat I thought. Still, something to think about.

Thanks for taking the time to give 'em a look! I'll keep your idea in mind.

[Deakor]

Quick update:

Been working on the Land Raider the last couple of nights and have learned some valuable lessons to apply to the LRC that is sitting in my queue. I'm not thrilled with how the standard LR is turning out but I'm going to muddle through and get it wrapped up (hopefully this weekend) and move on.

Also have two Dreads that are basecoated and need some love, but they are secondary to getting the LRs finished.

Hopefully have some pictures up later this weekend of a completed LR and perhaps a start on the LRC.

Thanks for reading!

[Sork21]

Very nice! I started a guardians of the covenant army myself a couple of months back, only to change to BA. Nice to see something a bit different and good luck with your LR and dreads.

[Deakor]

Thanks, much appreciated!

I've got a shelf full of partially finished tactical marines, a bike squadron, and several Rhinos to add to the army as well, but I think I'm getting tired of silver and red...may move on and try something else once the LRs and Dreads are done.

[Deakor]

First Land Raider done.

Not terribly thrilled with how this turned out. My weathering leaves a great deal to be desired. The chipped paint areas are much too large and uniform (need to go with a smaller sponge I guess) and I think I went overboard on the mud/dirt drybrushing.

I guess I'll chalk it up as a lesson learned (one of several on this model)...this is the first tank I've ever done, so I suppose for a first swipe at something, it isn't horrible.

Sorry for the bad pics - I'm an atrocious photographer:

[Deakor]

Lessons learned from LR #1

1. I don't like metallic paints on large surfaces - will do my second LR nearly all red/crimson with black panels. I'll leave silver as a spot color.

2. Weathering: how does it work? Need to make my weathering look more natural.

I'm pleased with how the red turned out and I think the details are reasonably good. Just really disappointed w/ the last few steps.

thanks for reading!

[Sork21]

I think it looks pretty damn good for your first tank. One thing to help the darker colours like the green and black stand out a little more would be a subtle highlight. Other than that i think it looks great, i especially like the areas of red that have been chipped away. The weathering is also good but i think it should be a little more intense at the bottom of the tank (on the silver areas). Keep up the good work!

[FarseerBeilTan]

I once thought about starting an army like this, nice scheme

[Deakor]

Got some work done on my LRC last night - experimenting with a different method for doing the basecoat. Did a progressive drybrush of Mechrite Red, Red Gore, and Blood Red.

Very different look than my first LR. Will work on more of the detail work tonight and hopefully get a picture or two up.

[Deakor]

Made good progress on my LRC. Hull is finished, metals have been basecoated and washed along with other details (decorations, etc.).

All that is left is a bit of highlighting, small fiddly things like lenses, etc., and weathering and it'll be done.

Here are a couple of shots:





I went with a lot more red on this compared to my first LR. The silver hull portions on my earlier tank gave me fits so I tried to avoid that here, just using silver as an accent color. I also cut back on the black areas as well. Going to try and make the weathering on this one better.

Once this is done, I think I'll be well over 2000 points, so the Dreads are probably redundant...not sure if I'll move to finish them next or go back and do the bases on all of the termies. My son's birthday is this Saturday, so I probably won't have a ton of time for painting on Friday/Saturday but hopefully with a long weekend I can get some stuff done on Sunday and Monday.

Once this stuff is finished, I've got a Space Wolves army that I'm planning and really looking forward getting started on.

C&C welcome as always - thanks for taking the time to check my work out!

EDIT: Damn, just noticed that black spot on the top of the hull...a drip of Badab Black that I missed. Oh well, guess I'll be doing some chipped paint/weathering there, lol.

[Lebensform]

Looks good. I think varying the patterns on the landraider's (one silver, one not) makes for a more visually interesting force.

Oh, and I sent you a PM, don't know if you read it.

[Deakor]

Looks good. I think varying the patterns on the landraider's (one silver, one not) makes for a more visually interesting force.

Oh, and I sent you a PM, don't know if you read it.

Thanks! I did get your PM, just hadn't had a chance to respond yet.

Well, the LRC is finally done! Overall I'm pretty happy with it (happier than I was with the LR at any rate).

Pictures:











A detail shot (slightly out of focus, unfortunately) of the tank name.



Pictures brought to attention a couple of things to improve on - I need to be more careful with my washes as I slopped a bit around one of the skulls. I need to keep working with my paint chipping/weathering. Also, my highlighting (particularly on the black areas) leaves a lot to be desired. Just need to be more patient I think. Also somewhat concerned by the streakiness on the black parts - It isn't really visible to the eye, but the brush marks from where I applied the wash are quite apparent via photo.

On the other hand, I'm pleased with the detail work and the mud/dirt on the bottom of the tank. I think overall this one turned out better than the LR before it and that indicates (to me at least) that I'm making some progress.

Alright, next up will either be a Dread or some finished termies (just gotta base 'em).

Getting close to the end here!

Thanks for reading!

[Deakor]

Also just realized there is a damn cat hair in some of the pictures...

Rest assured that has been removed.

[drear]

Very cool work, love the colou scheme!
i like the way youve done all the powerclaws like lights rippling off them.

why the colour change from with the new landraider?

[Deakor]

Very cool work, love the colou scheme!
i like the way youve done all the powerclaws like lights rippling off them.

why the colour change from with the new landraider?

Thanks! I'm happy with how the lightning claws and power swords turned out. I had never tried that technique before and was a bit apprehensive, but I more or less was able to achieve the look I was going for.

I changed up the LR scheme for a couple of reasons:

1. I find working with metallic paints difficult on large areas and I wasn't particularly pleased with how the silver parts of the LR body came out.

2. I wanted to experiment with straight drybrushing a tank up from the black primer coat.

These two things led me to the scheme on the LRC. I was pretty happy with how the drybrushing came out and I think the whole tank benefits from not having as much silver on it. Plus it gives a contrast to the Terminators, who are predominantly silver.

Thanks for reading!

[Deakor]

Emperor be praised, the models are all painted!

All that is left is basing and scribbling on purity seals.

Finished the two dreads this evening when I found a couple of hours.

One dread turned out pretty well. The other is a complete abomination that I am ashamed to post pictures of. But, honesty compels me to put them both up to bear the harsh light of the forum.

Here's the two of them together:



Here is the hideous dread:



And here is his much more handsome younger brother:



Clearly, the paint is much too thick on the first dread - further reinforcing how much I hate doing metallic paint over flat surfaces. The dread was in rough shape even before tonight as it had a thickish layer of paint on it and a truly heavy wash that I had to work around (both my doing). The red turned out ok and some of the details are alright, but the silver areas are just wretched. For what it is worth, it looks ok (sort of) in person and at tabletop distance.

The second dread I'm much happier with. As I found with my second Land Raider, I prefer working with regular colors over metallics.

Anyway, hope I didn't blind anyone with Mr. Ugly Dread. As always, thanks for taking the time to check my log out. This is going to be the first army I've ever completed and I appreciate the folks who have taken the time to look at my work. Once I get everyone based I'll give an army shot and then this plog will likely transition over to my next project!

Have a good weekend (and for those of you in the States, a good holiday).

[Deakor]

Quick update - 1st step of basing done. I laid down a Bestial Brown coat on the bases. Going to leave this to dry overnight before I drybrush it up tomorrow (hopefully).

Also have a few areas of rock/stone I'm going to paint and drybrush grey.

With a bit of luck this crew will be done by the end of the long weekend. I may actually try and take them out tomorrow and get a game in. Only ever played once or twice before, so not sure how it will go. Wish me luck!