Category Archives: Space Marines

Dark Angel Commission – Ravenwing Template

Ravenwing Attack BikeRavenwing Attack Bike

This bike came out really well. I love the way black looks glossed, but I think this is a little too much. I intended to only place a satin varnish on it and used the gloss accidentally. I’ll touch it up with a 2/1 matt/satin varnish via airbrush here once the original coat is dried (I can still smell it).

Now that I have the template hammered out, I can focus on fine-tuning my method so I can replicate it efficiently. I have 12 bikes, 3 more attack bikes, and a Master of the Ravenwing to do for this phase of the commission.

Shawn G.

Daemons and Resin bases – Why do you hate me so?

Well I’m still trying to pin down what I want to do next. I wanted to do daemons. Not because they are really good ATM, I don’t bandwagon armies. In fact I have a full Tzeentch Daemon horde for fantasy that I could just use in 40K if I wanted to bandwagon. No, I wanted to paint a whole new daemon army using all the new sexy plastics. I even picked up some new resin bases from Dragon Forge to mount them on. Those plans may be dashed…

Daemonic troops, as a whole, have delicate little ankles and pinning them is difficult to say the least. If you are not careful you can end up drilling through the leg or, if using a dremel, melting the plastic from friction. Even if you get them mounted, the ever-present fear of breakages is a serious concern. When the do break, they will break above the pin section leaving the whole leg, ankle and some of the shin still attached to the resin base. So irritating!

While I try to figure out what to do with my commission payment (2000pts of Tzeentch Daemons), I dug up some of my old CSM from my Iron Warrior days and started to kick around the idea of painting CSM again with a new scheme. I have not abandoned the Tzeentch daemos, but the idea of mounting 30+ horrors that I know are going to break and piss me off just seems unwise. If this army takes root, and it looks like it will, I’ll splice the daemons in via allies and still get to paint some of the new stuff.

Dragon Forge Bases

First up, here are the bases I got from Dragon Forge. They are from Jeff’s Desecrated Lands line and they are sexy as hell. I first tried painting them black with a orange glow, but that ended up looking like crap. These are airbrushed using the same colors I used for Dave’s Vet Contemptor (Deathwing colors) and the cracks are filled with Tamiya gore. I’ll post a tutorial on this technique later. I gave the bases a black trim to accentuate the detail.

CSM Template WiPCSM Template WiP

Here’s my template model. This guy kind of painted himself on Saturday. I especially like how the eyes turned out. I’ll have to experiment more with that look. This scheme looks good but needed polish. That’s where the 2nd marine came in.

CSM ChosenCSM ChosenCSM Chosen

This is the same scheme with more bone color and red as a contrast. The red is highlighted strangely (elf flesh) and I love it! Looks good on the base as well. And easy to pin…

I’ll be working on these as well while I work on Dave’s Dark Angel commission; I think the next two will be a sorcerer and a dark apostle.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Dark Angel Commission – Vet Contemptor Dread Done

Vet ContemptorVet ContemptorVet ContemptorVet ContemptorVet Contemptor

The first major component of my Dark Angel commission for Dave is done. Since I had no experience painting DA let alone Deathwing models, I had to turn to the internet for guidance. And I have to say, I like the results.

Moving forward I’ll have to make some modifications to this method to match my visual requirements. I’m not too happy with the results of the oil-washes. I will need some more practice to get it to behave as it should.

Time to hammer out some bikers!

Shawn G. (SoI)

Dark Angel Commission – First Rifleman Dread done

Rifleman Contemptor IRifleman Contemptor I
Rifleman Contemptor IRifleman Contemptor I

Here’s the first of the pair of riflemen contemptors I’m doing for Dave. I went ahead and knocked out one dread completely as I’m pretty unfamiliar with the Dark Angel scheme and wanted to build some experience since I’ll be doing so many for him soon.

I have to say the DA scheme is pretty boring. They don’t have any additional colors to add some contrast. That being the case I tried to add some visual interest by adding some red lenses here and there and some glowing sections on the abdomen and back furnace. I also did the base in lighter colors to add a little contrast.

Not bad. Four more to go.

Shawn G.

Dark Angel Commission – Yo Dawg, I heard you like Dreads…

Sorry for my lack of content lately. After getting back from the NOVA Open, I went 5/3 for the weekend (100th place), I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to do next. Since I don’t have anything pinned down yet, I’m filling my time with commission work.

My first commission is for 5 Dreads for my pal Dave G. He wants to finish out his Dark Angel army not that a new rulebook is en route.

Here they are:

  • 1 pair of Riflemen Contemptors
  • 1 pair Chaplain Dreadnoughts
  • 1 Veteran Contemptor

Riflemen Contemptors WIPChaplain Dread WIPVet Contemptor WiP

The three Contemptor pattern dreads were built by resident assembly Swami Michael F. (Chewie) for Dave, while the chaplain dreads were built and magnetized by me last year.

I’ll be doing the Vet Contemptor last as Dave wants him done in 1st company (Deathwing) bone white. God help me…

Shawn G. (SoI)

I’m Back Baby!

Sorry I’ve been so quiet people! I’ve been fairly busy these last few weeks and I’ve had little time to post.

I’ll be making that up today!

Inquisitor Karamazov

Inquisitor Karamazov

First is the final piece to my friend Dave’s commission; Inquisitor Karamazov. Years ago a good friend of mine Jeff painted this piece for his guard army. I hated that model then and I hate it still.

For clarification it’s not the model or it’s design I hate, it’s the excessive detail that gives me fits. This bastard has over 30 purity seals! Seriously?

Anyway, Dave knew that this model would give me fits and gave me all the time in the world to get him done. He then proceeded to use him on me in a game upon delivery. Jerk…

I received 2 additional units commissions from Dave, but they’ll have to wait a while, I’ve a Necron army to finish for NOVA! (More on this below)

Necron Night/Doom Scythe
Necron Night/Doom Scythe

Necron Night/Doom Scythe

After finishing Dave’s commission, I took a swing at the new scythe kit for the ‘Crons. I have to tell you, this was the EASIEST kit to put together. It’s like it was designed for the paint-then-assemble method that I use for this scheme.

Necron Night/Doom Scythe

Necron Night/Doom Scythe

And here’s the best part, the portal/Doom gun fit snugly in place with no need for magnets. So sweet.

Now if only those bases I ordered from Dragon Forge last night would arrive today so I can finish his base…

Finally, it’s time I stopped mucking around and geared up for NOVA. With my local hobby shop closed, I’m going to focus on getting this army and it’s display finished for NOVA.

Here’s a pic on what I’m bringing:

Necron Army Project for NOVA Open
NOVA Open here I come!

I’ll expand on this in a later post today.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Watch the Skies, Coming At You!

It seems like, in the two weeks since the new Space Marine Stormtalon has come out, everybody’s got a conversion; whether that be an attack helicoptor, mechanised walker, or just a kitbash to make it look slightly less goofy.

After recently finishing the Forge World Stormeagle, which is in and of itself a phenomenal kit, I found myself in possession of a whole box worth of leftover Stormraven bits with which to repurpose the Stormtalon.

It didn’t take long to realize that the single biggest problem was the overall length, or lack thereof, of the Stormtalon’s fuselage. The tail boom was far too short and wound up giving the box-standard build a very compressed, almost cartoonish appearance.

I can only imagine that this was as a result of aesthetic limitations, rather than technical ones, since both the Ork Bommer and Necron Doomscythe are satisfyingly massive. Matters weren’t helped by the conspicuously underslung assault cannon turret and the weapon pods to either side. It would require a trip to the drawing board, for sure!

Re-envisioned Stormtalon

The first order of business was to tighten up the profile.  Although the overall appearance is of a gunship, the Stormtalon is indisputably written as a dogfighter and it desperately needed to look more agile.  This was accomplished by cutting down the turret and slinging the assault cannons directly under the chin, whilst simultaneously swapping the position of the wings, now canards, and missile pods.

Re-envisioned Stormtalon

In retrospect, I don’t think that swapping those components was strictly necessary, but it I’m satisfied with the outcome.  If I had it to do over again, I may have tried to omit the wings, entirely, but the molded-on hardpoints on either side of the cockpit would then need to be cut down and smoothed over, instead.

Re-envisioned Stormtalon

The biggest change is to the tail boom, which was cut down at the panel line and removed, entirely.  In its place is almost the entire tail from the aforementioned, orphan Stormraven, with some slight modifications to fit.  The shape of the tail isn’t an exact match and, unfortunately, does give the appearance of having come from a significantly larger aircraft – but, on the whole, I’d say that it gives the Stormtalon just the right amount of displacement.  If I had it to do over again, I’d probably spend more time trying to tie it more cleanly into the fuselage.

Re-envisioned Stormtalon

Also worth pointing out are the landing gear, originally integrated into the turret housing, now give the appearance of extending directly from the fuselage.  I think this tends to be a bit more believable, since from an engineering perspective you’d want them tied in directly to the airframe.  Having them come off the turret just seems silly, since it would effectively be supporting the weight of the entire aircraft when it’s on the ground – and, for that matter, how would it land after suffering a Weapon Destroyed result?

Re-envisioned Stormtalon

It’s fair to say that it’s the weakest of all three new flyers, this month, but that being said, I’m pretty pleased with the Stormtalon.  Aesthetic considerations aside, t’s a well-engineered kit that fits together well out of the box.  The studio has clearly learned a number of valuable lessons from its predecessors, the Valkyrie, Stormraven and Razorwing and has incorporated these lessons into the sprue.

-Chewie