Ultramarines Army Blog and Converted Uriel Ventris

[CMDante]

Well, after posting a couple of the UM's I've painted so far since my return to the hobby, I thought it would make more sense to just start posting them all in a blog rather than have a seperate thread for every mini I complete, so here we go!

I haven't really worked out a solid list for the army yet, more just building and painting what I like since I don't game all that much anyway.

Here are a few pics of what I have already posted on here and elsewhere, as well as the latest mini I've finished for the scout squad in the form of the heavy bolter scout.







I'll be updating this blog with my progress fairly regularly so keep checking back.

Cheers,

Dante

[KayvaanShrike]

They are nice UM there Dante. I think Sicarius looks really good, I love the pose of that model, it just says "Come get some!"

[the dark angel]

WOW those are really good i like sicarius, but my fav has to be the heavy bolter scout he looks like a vet who needs a shave

culd you please tell us how you did the blue?

[Animerik]

They look great and I´m not a fan of smurfs but yours! The heavy bolter scout look great and have that "are you talking to me?" look XD the
Nice blending and the skin is top noch! great and keep it up. the first guy is lovely painted but the sculpt looks ankward IMO great job on that mini

[WillFightForFood]

How did you achieve the stubble effect on that one Marine's beard?

[CMDante]

Cheers guys.

The stubble was done by applying a couple of really thin washes of codex grey over the chin once the skin was done.

Cheers,

Dante

[KnightofUltramar]

Looking good CMDante. I'm gonna start painting sicarius tomorrow I think. It's such a nice model IMO. The scouts look cool, but I'm not really sure if I like the mohawk scout. Keep up the good work.

KoU

[CMDante]

Four down, one to go!

Finished this guy off tonight and still quite annoyed about how difficult the scout bolter arms are to line up and attach since they don't seem to fit without pinning and greenstuff. The right arm looks a little funny when viewed from some angles as a result. While still being anatomically viable, having the top of the shoulderpad as far from the torso armour as it is just doesn't look quite right to my eye. Anyway, here's the pics:



Also, here's a quick pic of the squad so far, sorry about the lighting:



Hopefully I'll have the last member of the squad finished this weekend and be able to finish off the squad fully once I order some decals and setting solutions from griffon games.

Cheers,

Dante

[Steel_Legion]

looking ace, the scouts look very well done indeed and keep up the excelent work

[Deadleyheadley]

They look sweet ,They look like the one of the boxes ,Looking forward to seing more stuff from you.

[CMDante]

Well I finally finished these guys today (with the exception of chapter logo and squad markings, waiting on decals coming). It took alot longer than I had hoped to finish the squad due to having very little time to work on them since the first model was finished. In all I would estimate about 16 hours work for the whole unit.

Anyway, here's the pic of the finished squad, no pics of the final member on his own because none of the ones I took turned out any good and the battery has died on the camera so I'll maybe add some of him later.



Next up I'm considering some true-scale marines I've been messing about with.

Cheers,

Dante

[Frans]

That's a very impressive unit, personally I wouldn't toy around with true-scale as you've allready got a commander painted up. Don't want the fearless leader looking like a midget myself though..

[Animerik]

great stuff the squad looks ace, also every mini looks great on it´s own so A+ for you Dante keep em coming

[CMDante]

Recently I've been toying with true-scale marines as I prefer the fact that they tower over regular humans as in the artwork. To test out the best way for making marines true-scale, I knocked together a first test mini using green stuff and pinning to add a few extra mm to the legs. Here's how he looked without paint next to sicarius for scale comparison (I won't be using sicarius in the army as I plan to either make them 4th company or to create my own version of a true-scale sicarius).



And here's how he looks after a little work:





At the moment he is still very WIP with the only parts anywhere near completion being the blue of the armour on his right leg (left in the pic) and the helmet, though both still need the highlights blended in a bit more.

I'm quite pleased with how he's coming along though. The main reason I gave him a helmet and not a bare head was because I wanted to paint the veteran SGT helmet depicted on page 69 of the codex as the white laurals on the red seemed very striking.

I've been considering giving him some personal heraldry on his left kneepad (such as the cheques etc that used to be painted on in the 1st and 2nd editions of 40k) though I'm not entirely sure what to do for it yet, ideas are welcome!

Comments appreciated.

Cheers,

Dante

[no-use4a-name]

...must resist..the temp...tation...to do...ultras!


Great stuff. You make it look easy. I know it wasn't. Your skill at painting makes it appear as such.

As for the heraldry, I personally would put the Company Badge there instead. Good luck with the army.

Couple of quick questions, what blues did you use? And, what was your mixing ratios?

[Bluesabre]

Very nice so far, look forward too seeing more.

[CMDante]

The blues used were all citadel colours:

Midnight Blue
Regal Blue
Ultramarines Blue
Blue Grey (an old 1980- early 90's round top pot, I believe its name later became shadow grey)

The blue is done as follows:

- Black Primer
- Midnight Blue (to provide a better base for regal to cover)
- Regal Blue (Leaving Midnight Blue in the recesses of armour joints)
- Regal Blue : Ultramarines Blue (50:50 mix) Applied over pretty much all the armour.
- Ultramarines Blue
- Blue Grey (only on the very edges and applied quite thinly).

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Dante

[ExoCowboy]

Looks excellent!

Are you going to make the arms longer for the true-scales? Often people leave the arms as they are, which ends up looking odd as they will be too short compared to the legs.

[no-use4a-name]

Looks excellent!

Are you going to make the arms longer for the true-scales? Often people leave the arms as they are, which ends up looking odd as they will be too short compared to the legs.

I don't find that that's the case unless the chest is bulked out as well. It doesn't look like he's done that here.

@CMDante, thanks for the paint scheme. I never would have quessed shadow grey was used. I can see it now that it's been pointed out. I aslo thought you had a bit of enchanted mixed in there somewhere.

[KnightofUltramar]

That's the best true scale marine I've ever seen. If you've got the time to do it could you please make a tutorial? I really like the looks of the vet serg. The freehand is on the kneepad is so smooth.

KoU