WIP Deathwing Apothecary

I wish I had produced a few more hooded deathwing models, since I really like the way this guy is turning out. I know people complain all the time about terminators not wearing helmets, but I really like the character that can be head by painting an actual face. It gives the terminator a sense of scale that is really cool. The model still needs to have some cleanup, as well as censor ball, lenses and heraldry. I am not sure if I should paint the vials on the chainfist or just leave them bone colored. This guy represents 5 out of 11, so I am almost at the half way mark!

More Deathwing WIP

I just finished an AOBR terminator painted up as part of my deathwing, which gives me 4 out of the 11 I am painting. I was not as patient with this guy, which stands out to me, but I am pleased with how he turned out. I tried to paint a little heraldry the knee pad. What is clear to me from attempting it is that I need to buy new brushes.

One of the things that was better than expected.... The red dark angel transfer on the lightening claws guy. I used micro-set and micro-sol, and am really happy with how it turned out. I almost wish I had another bare shoulder pad so I could use another transfer on another guy.

Deathwing WIP

I am churning through deathwing at the moment. Now that I know not to put red and green so closely together on the miniatures I think things are working out. These are really getting an old school clean look to them that I like one moment, and then am irritated by the second. I think I have just gotten used to the idea of mud covered guardsmen that cleanish armor looks weird. The photos do not capture the shading very well, but the I think you get the idea. I met a couple of cool guys named rob at the GW store who were interested in some narrative wargaming, so these DA are being painted up for some hard hitting variety.

The lightning claw guy on the right shows off the inking done with graveyard earth and paint thinner. Once it is dry I paint all of the details, and then go back and clean up the armor.

Now on to basing..would it be weird to base these guys differently than the raven wing they will be supporting?

Deathwing Terminator Done

I finished my first deathwing terminator! I think I may go with a dark brown dried earth for my basing, since that would work well with the raven wing that go along with these guys. The red and the green look a bit christmassy to me, but so be it. I want these guys to be pure bone white angels of death. The fact that they have a bit of holiday spirit should not detract.

While painting this guy I learned an invaluable lesson. Do not finish the armor first. I know it seems weird, but I made so many mistakes while painting the little bits on this guy that I ended up having to go back and cover up brush strokes that accidentally hit the blended armor.

So one is done. If I were to assembly line it I think I could have these done by Sunday, but I think I need to slow down and think about some heraldry for a few of the guys. Now that the whole native americas in space background is gone, I think I will focus on medieval heraldry for the guys with knee pads.

dark Angles Paint Spree Part 3: Land Raider and Terminator

The red on the land raider looks a little pink to me, so I was thinking about lining it with a blood red/orange shade to try to pull out the red tones. I love the way the bone it turning out, both on the raider and on the terminators. The land raider is not shaded yet other than the lining and the natural shading an airbrush produces. It is a little hard to see in the photos, but the terminator is cleanly shaded from bone to white with graveyard earth in the shadows. I really like the clean look of them both, and am looking forward to using powders on the lower halves of both models. I am not sure how to base these guys, since they are part of a raven wing detachment. I really want to paint the rhino that is sometimes part of the force, since I have a hankering for painting something green.

Dark Angles Paint Spree Part 2: Land Raider

I've been having a lot of fun with painting today. As promised here are WIP shots of my land raider as well as three of my terminators. I have a ways to go on them all, but the land raider is pretty close...which begs a question..... Why all the interior detail? I spent all that time painting the inside and without some kind of interior lighting it is all lost! I hope to finish the raider tomorrow so I can have some fun with decals and weathering, but we'll see.

Dark Angles Paint Spree Part 1: Bone Painting Tests

After posting my potential lists last night, and talking to Bill at the local GW store I decided to paint. The list is good enough, and It has so much variety I that I am really looking forward to completing some units and seeing how they turn out. Once Bill said the crusader was a good choice, I knew I had to start painting. Of course, how does one paint bone? For that matter, how is a nice black achieved? As usual this led me to some experiments, which is why you see and eldar model in a DA post.

The first image is my 10 terminators lead by belial. I used a thinned down bleached bone and an air brush to get them base coated. As usual I used white primer. I did get smart this time and use plastic cups with packing tape as stands so I did not totally coat my hands with paint. The base coat is even, but very thin.

How to paint bone?

I posted a while back how to paint my chaos terminators, and decided if they were going to use devlan mud and be dirty, that these not fallen angels would need a cleaner approach. I really like the approach taken by Ron over at FTW, but I am going for a different feeling.

Bone Test 1 Banshee: White undercoat, followed by sepia wash, and then bleached bone to white highlights. I think the banshee looks pretty good, and the recipe is dirt simple.

Bone Test 2 Power Fist Arm: White undercoat, bleached bone base, followed by graveyard earth wash just into the crevices and then a sepia wash all over.

Bone Test 3 Storm Bolter Arm: White undercoat, bleached bone base, followed by a graveyard earth wash carefully placed into the crevices. I then shaded the model with bleached bone up through a 50/50 bone/white color. It does not photography well, but the shading is pretty subtle, and I think battle damage or designs will contrast really well. I think this is my recipe.

Land Raider:

I have never painted one of these, so once I knew it would fit in the army I could not resist laying down some color last night. I really should have gotten some sleep, since I painted areas that are never going to be seen, but here they are regardless. I used a gull grey enamel paint, followed by chardon granite and bolt gun metal sponge chipping. Once dry I let a wash of blazing orange run into the crevices. I painted the screens and a few other bits, but am not even sure what is visible.

Overall I wanted a dark grey/blue interior in order to contrast with the bone white with green highlights exterior. The inside will have the most battle damage, with the exception of hatches and the bottom edge of the tank. Will it look weird to have more damage inside than out?

Paint to Play: Plus Terminator Apothecary Conversion

Jawaballs posted an article about whether one paints to play or plays to paint. I use list building as a motivational force in order to direct my painting. Often, my lack of gaming ability keeps me from building or painting the 40k material I have bought. I have the hobby gene, but I also want to be able to take my miniatures to the store, plunk them down, and enjoy a game. It is important for me to build lists that are legal and interesting to paint. The dark Angles have caught my fancy, and I have constructed my belial and one squad of terminators at this point. At this point I need to actually know the list so I can build a legal 1750 pt list with the remaining models. I love the idea of a dual wing or a tri-wing list just because I get to use all of the special bits that come with dark angels, in addition to having three main colors. Here are my preposed lists. I could really use some help to make sure I don't produce an unplayable army.

So both lists have a small amount of each Dark Angels faction. What do you guys think? Do I need to add a thunder hammer to one of my terminators? In one list I get to paint a dark angels rhino which I look forward to, but in the other I get to paint up a Master of the Raven Wing land speeder.

List 1: Death Wing,Raven Wing, Green-Wing 1750

HQ: Belial, Master of the Deathwing (1#, 130 pts)

Deathwing Terminator Squad (Chain Fist (x2); Lightning Claws (pair) (x1); Heavy Flamer)

Upgraded Deathwing Terminator Squad (Lightning Claws (pair) (x1); Cyclone Missile Launcher; Apothecary)

Land Raider Crusader

Ravenwing Attack Squadron (Meltagun (x1); Plasmagun (x1); Power Weapon;Melta Bombs ;full squad)

• Attack Bike (multi-melta)
• Land Speeder ( Assault Cannon; Heavy Bolter)

Dreadnought (Twin Linked Lascannon; Missile Launcher)

Tactical Squad (10 man, rhino, melta bombs; las cannon)

Ravenwing Support Squadron (Heavy Bolter (x1); Typhoon Multiple Missile Launcher

OR

List 2: Death Wing,Raven Wing 1750

Same list as above, but replace the red items with:

Tactical Squad (5 man)

Sammael, Master of the Ravenwing (landspeeder)