UltramarinesSo Far

I've finally added all of the transfers to the shoulder pads of my nascent Ultramarines army. For some reason the testers dull coat I used to dull down the transfers after applying them left the miniatures with a slight gloss of its own. Maybe I used too much dull coat? Whatever the case, I thought it would be fun to share a quick shot of the army so far. This the the first of the ground forces, as the army already air superiority covered. There is a lot of touch of work to do, which I just don't feel like doing. I like these guys, and if the armor repainting servitors were a little sloppy painting on the gold trim, then who am I to complain. :)

I am not sure I'll post any more photos before the new year. Happy holidays to everyone, and best wishes for the new year.

More Ultramarines Painting Progress

Another weird kit to cross off my list! I really like parts of the siege dread.  The dread is going to get all kinds of white ultramarines markings which will make it look less generic I hope. I have a slew of purity seals to add as well after the transfers are on.

Raiding my bits box produced enough marines for a weirdly spec'd out devastator squad as well. So long as I was going to get the airbrush all setup for the dread, I might as well paint a squad right? I think I might pull a couple of guys out and put tactical markings on them instead of devastator markings so I have some heavy weapons in my tac squads.  I really like the devastator marking more than the tac marking and since it is a transfer I have never used, I must abide by the try everything once rule for this army and officially make the remaining guys devastators.

I've been seen all kinds of checker patterns showing up on miniatures all over the place and am longing to do the same. Some white checkers would look kind of cool interspersed on these models. I am just not committed to ruining the paint jobs just yet!

Scout Bikers

All of the base colors and detail have been added to the scouts now. The weathering of the tires and chipping and weathering of the bikes has not been started. Despite this, I am really pleased with how these guys are turning out. Once all of the weathering is done and all the packs and extra gear are a added I think I will have a really stellar unit. I struggled with the cloth portions on the bikers, but in the end it is just nice to finally paint these guys.

A while back I painted up three ultra storm talons, and Last night I placed the talons up next to the bikers and my completed marines.  It was a blast just to see the models together.  I really do need to finish the basing and get all of the miniatures based. That will tie the whole army together and let me take one of those coveted whole army photos. I am not not sure how much further I should go in my painting before actually finishing something. Saving all the weathering and decals for last makes sense to me, but now I am itching to get these guys on the field. Just one more troops and an HQ unit and I can do it!

Ultramarines Dreadnought

I took a brief pause in my LS Storm painting in order to add some details to my first ultramarines dreadnought. (I also needed a break from that complex model!) At this point I am ready to add transfers. Once those are done and set, I'll add chipping and weathering. I changed the base out a bit on this guy to see how a flatter ruined street would look. I love the stepped base, but I really think I should have reposed the dread before painting. This model has sat unpainted but primed in a plastic baggy for so many years, it is a real joy to finally see it coming to life.

The last shot is a picture of my painting desk. for years now I have layered poster board on my work area in order to provide a disposable painting/modeling surface. It is such a small thing, but since I've never seen anyone else do it, I thought I would point it out. My work area consists of an ikea desktop sitting on elfa storage bins with three poster boards covering the top. When a board gets too dirty (or covered in mid-century modern home decor destroying weathering powders) I just cut up the board and throw it away. Replacing it from a stash in my closet. I've noticed that a clean work area encourages me to work on models, and my productivity goes up when there is a clean space to paint. having a near instantaneous way to restore my work area has really helped.

Land Speeder Storm: WIP

After a lot of work on my scout bikers, I decided to toss in a LS Storm, thinking it would be fun to paint up and get on the table. Maybe I am facing painting fatigue from the bikes or something, but the LS storm is turning into quite the painting challenge. Much like the scout bikes, the storm has so many neat little bits that really need to go on the model that it is almost a painting chore. In order to make it a bit easier I've decided to paint the storm's riders next, and then when they are done follow up with an all stowage painting-a-thon for both the bikes and the speeder.

I am not sure what I did different this time around with the modulation of the blue, but the storm is a much lighter less rich shade than my first squad and dreadnought. Maybe not enough regal blue? Either way, I like the color. It sets my scouts apart.

Anyone notice a theme for the army? Nope, not a scout army, but an army of all the stuff I have wanted to but never painted. You can see bits of the ironclade dreadnought on my table already. I don't know if I will do it before i hit the thunderfire or not.

Space Marine Scout Bikers WIP

In my quest to paint all the stuff that that I've never painted, I have two new units under the brush.

First I have a squad of scout bikers with magnetized weapons reporting for duty. These guys have been a blast to paint, though I am struggling a bit with the cloth on their pants. I was told to never field these guys, which moved them to the top of my painting queue! I can't wait to get decals on these guys and then do weathering. I think they will fit really well into the base. I am tempted to not use weathering powders but to instead airbrush graveyard earth along the tires and lower portions of the bikes. This way they would match my tanks. I had forgotten what a grind painting the actual SM bikes was.

The second unit in process is the Land Speeder Storm you can see in the background. The color is off a bit from my dread, but I am pretty happy with all of the shading none-the-less. The idea of having to paint up an identical non mounted squad to match the riders is a little daunting, but should be fun.

Casting Custom Bases With Outer Lip

 

Rather than paint up some more Ultras, I decided to experiment with casting a new style base for them. I've thought for some time that a band around the base, that was clearly not part of the scene would look nice. Rather than way for some bases from Secret Weapon Miniatures, I decided to create some base blanks that I could use as the basis for my custom bases. This involved using a dremel to grind off of the tops of each base, and then adding a sheet of plastic on the bottom to serve as the recessed area. Once this was done I decided to play around with three different styles.

1. Use the existing brick roadway base design, but surround it with an outer lip, making it a little wider than current bases on the top. (those pesky devastator legs still hang over the lip, though less so now)

2. Use the brick material to build a ruined cityscape base style.

3. Fill the center of each base with hydrocal (a lightweight plaster) and then crack it to produce a cracked earth style.

Unfortunately the silicone mold I made did not set well so the details are a little gloopy, but you can still get an idea how these could look. If I commit to make each of these sets I will use my pressure pot. Since these were just samples I did not want to spend the extra time setting the equipment up.

What do you think? Do lips around bases look better than the usual design? Casting these will definitely require more work, but it might be worth it.

First Full Ultramarines Squad

After a spell of uncertainty with regards to my painting, I am really happy with how my Ultramarines are turning out. As some know, I've been planning on this Ultramarines force for several years now, which has probably added a great deal of unnecessary pressure. All it took was a wash of weathering powders on the original bases, and I am excited again. I am especially excited to paint up some scout bikers to go on those biker bases in the last photo. (I know I need to actually finish painting the dread! first!)

This will be my first full SM force since my Blood Angels, and ti think it will play really differently with all of the weird SM codes goodies I've purchased. My rule for purchasing for this this army was to buy everything I have never painted and work it into the force. That means I have a thunderfire cannon, ls storm, scout bikers, and whatever the chunky dreadnought is on deck.