Angels of Vigilance - 7-5-13 Dread/Razor update

[Deathwing70]

Hey, been a while since I actually made any contributions of my own.
I can say I've been "clean" of MMO's for 3-4 months now, off course you can't give up 1 hobby without taking up another (older) one

Some readers here might remember my old project thread on the Angels of Vigilance, which I created over 2 years ago... I figured 2 years was a bit too much to pull it back up here...
The first (and only) finished squad I created was:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/tac1/CIMG6536.jpg
I have recently taken up interest in the hobby again and pulled out the paints, managing to revive most of them.


http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/total.jpg
Here are some concepts I made with the wonderfull tool called "SM Painter". This would basically be the color scheme I have in mind for whatever Im going to paint. Basically I have added more black colored pieces of armor to resemble some sort of command structure. I'm still not sure between the Commander/Veteran/1st Company PArmor marines. The Terminator is set. I originally had the "1st company marine" in mind for company veteran. But then I couldnt make up my mind about what colors to use for the Leadership of the company, I want there to be a noticable difference without making the armor completely black. So I changed the veteran back to a yellow helmet, but with a black stripe to still create some sort of difference between them and the sergeants.
If you think about it, all these Veterans are up to a level that they could also function as a sergeant. By adding the stripe my intention was to tie it together with the command color scheme, basically to show they are with the Captain (as they would likely make up the command squad / personal bodyguards of the company captain).

Color wise, brown up to sandy yellow, black, bone or stone whitish and silver are the main colors that I will use. From previous experiments, gold just doesnt fit (except some bronze on the weapons). Green and red will just be reserved for the purity seals and grenades. Excluding banner images off course.


Now I need some advice on 'accessories'. I'm trying to uncover (or make up) a nice matching background for these guys. Off course they are 2nd founding successors of the Dark Angels. A very short discription of what I believe is that their origin lies in being the first Dark Angel battlegroup after the fall of Caliban to come across a (group of) Fallen, on the world of Pervigilium. Not really knowing how to handle the situation as the Fallen were hiding behind the military might of the ('loyal') planet. Well... we know the Dark Angels took care of things there.
For the rest we know, they never leave this place undefended (are they guarding something ON it or staying in range to be the first to act to something?).
We know whenever the Eye of Terror allows it, they often send in a raiding party (to sabotage something or "look for something/someone?")...

Keeping these sort of details in mind, plus trying to set a "dark" mood to tie them in with Dark Angels, so far I have come up with adding chains and books (history is important to them!). A robe/tabard here or there... I have even thought about adding "keys" (to prison doors! ) Basically I want them to be bright on the field but with a dark feeling without actually making you think they are Chaos. And off course I want to try and make every marine come across as an individual. Here I will try to reposition them according to their rank/age, for example I want to make the Veterans walk up more straight, more confident, having more faith in their abilities and their love for the Emperor to protect them.

My question to you is, do you have any suggestions? anything at all?
Any thoughts on other accessories to throw around for more character, maybe an idea for a modern 'key'? Any other comments are also welcome off course!

ps. when I get my hands on a camera again I'll try and make some pictures of the progress I've made on a 2nd tactical (combat) squad and perhaps my assault squad aswell (which I might enter in the Golden Bolter if I can speed things up a little...). Hopefully this weekend.

-Scott

[Khrangar]

Good to see another Angels of Vigilance player. I had one for a while, but got rid of it. If you're looking for ideas, you can check it out: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...amp;hl=khrangar

 

In any case, they're looking good and I'll be watching this closely.

 

Khrangar

[nurglespuss]

looking great! lovely strong colour! :D

 

The only thing for me (personally) is that the terminators might look better with black shoulder pads? or black quartered sholder pads, something to break up the colour, otherwise, the head looks tiny and the shoulders huge (In my opinion). Great job!!

[DirtySteve]

I agree the terminator could use more black, That squad looks great though.

[Deathwing70]

Hey Khranger, nice seeing you here again ;)

I do remember your army from back then, we started around the same time I believe only I got distracted by some other time consuming activities... Shame you gave up yours though.

 

As for the Terminator, in my old thread I already made a start on a Terminator:

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/CIMG6544.jpg

 

I have changed a few things on him based on some advice in that thread so this picture isn't the state he currently is in.

Adding a big Chapter symbol on one of the shoulders (currently black instead of stone-white) and the Crux still in stone. Some parts I somehow made gold have also been changed and the skull/laurels on his fist I've also made stone-white.

Overal they won't be as bright as the concept picture. Also wanting to add accessories to them, I've started modelling the remainder of the squad, green-stuffing chains around their waist etc.

These are the heroes of the Chapter, they should look like it :lol:

[Havokas]

that sargents banner is fantastic, clean crisp work of a tallented painter, keep up the great work

[AngryJohnny]

Deathwing70, I really like the squad you've got & the Terminator looks great - I wouldn't change anything about the color scheme & keep it as is it looks really nice. (I'm also partial to yellow, being a Son of Dorn :lol: )

 

I was wondering though, the tabards you have on your Sergeant & on the Marine w/a Grenade - are they bits or did you create them with GS?

[Iacton Qruze]

Nice. I really like the direction of this.

 

More yellow marines!

[Deathwing70]

thanks for the compliments :D

 

I was wondering though, the tabards you have on your Sergeant & on the Marine w/a Grenade - are they bits or did you create them with GS?

 

Those are actually green stuff... I made them a long long time ago. I'm pretty sure there is a old tutorial on it somewhere. I'll see if I can find it...

Basically it came down to pressing a blob of green stuff into the robes of one of the old robed metal dark angels (after adding some oil or other lubricant offcourse), pulling it out and cutting it to size. Voila, instant 1 sided tabard piece...

 

Maybe any thoughts on trinkets to add/sprinkle around or other elements to add?

 

edit: I found the article on the tabards here. There are some other interesting articles on this site aswell ;) Thanks to The Shadow Guard for collecting them.

[Deathwing70]

- double post :P

[Deathwing70]

So I just remembered my phone is actually build around a camera. It should make decent enough shots for a WIP progress :P

I still have to play/learn the settings though so hopefully it will improve in time...

 

Here some shots of the 2nd Tactical combat squad. A small update on the Terminator, my Company commander and a picture of my up and coming assault squad.

 

First the 1st Tactical squad of the 4th Company:

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/tac2/P211109_11371.jpg

 

Still to do: the Sergeants Banner. Finish the bases. Clean up the symbols and maybe smooth out a few highlights which I find a little sharp right now.

Here is how they looked 2 years ago:

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/tac2/squad1.jpg

 

 

Next up: the Terminator update.

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/terminator/P211109_1212.jpg

 

this is a pretty zoomed in picture so some stuff looks a little rough. Not to mention the filters I had to throw over it in paint.net..

To do: the base ofc. The tabard / belt Im not really happy with. Also I'm not so sure about the checker blocks on the fist fingers. I might make it black again and add checkers somewhere else.

 

 

Next up the Commander: (Azrael count-as)

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/captain/P211109_1214.jpg

 

His weapons will be: power weapon (Sword of secrets) and combi plasma. Recycled from Azrael.

I'm not sure about his necklace (example taken out of codex Dark Angels page: 36 - Company Masters). And the book on the chain needs some work...

I also might replace the Iron Halo with a banner pole (I like banners :))

 

 

Last but not least:

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/assault/P211109_1217.jpg

 

As you can imagine, none of the Marines are stuck on their bases atm. So they look a little wobbly ;)

The guy on the left will stand up a little more straight, at least his pistol will be aiming forward instead of up.

Basically the impression I wanted to give this squad is that they just 'landed' and are now switching over to running the last few meters to chase the target down...

the guy on the left is actually still landing and crashing one boot through the floor...

Funny detail is I lost my jump-pack torso's, I searched through all my bits boxes before I gave up and decidd to use an older torso variant to have the straps on their chests.

Off course right after I finished glueing the last guy together, I found the torso's... Either way, I'm liking having some variants ;)

 

Well, please let me know what you think!

 

-Scott

[kanan]

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/total.jpg

 

i really like the attention to detail here and the overall slightly paler yellow youved achieved is very nice. to be honest and as fellow Dark Angel player/gamer/sometimes painter i like the scheme alot, its original and well executed! bravo! i hope you manage to paint up a fair sized army in this scheme and i wish you the best of luck with that. ~smiles~

 

great stuff man 10/10

 

peace

[Deathwing70]

So another week has passed and I figured I would update this thread with some of my progress...

I don't have too much free time during the week so don't expect the leaps to be too great :P

Still painting half an hour here and an hour there does add up in the end...

 

on to the progress! Sorry for the crappy closeups.

 

Finished stuff first! The Sergeant is proof of my lack of social life... i finished him yesterday night (saterday night...)

I wanted the Sergeant to look more individual. A very short bit of background would come down to: He's the oldest Marine in the company, he has been the companies champion. Eventually he has been appointed Sergeant of the first so he could pass on his knowledge, skill and inspire "regular" Marines...

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/tac2/P291109_113401.jpg

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/tac2/P291109_1135.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/tac2/P291109_113501.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/tac2/P291109_113502.jpg

 

Anyway I plan in sprinkling more small handpainted bits around on the 'regular' Marines as soon as I can think of some cool stuff :)

 

 

Group shot!

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/P291109_1137.jpg

 

 

Next WIP to paint:

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/assault/P291109_1141.jpg

 

 

I'm not really happy with the "small" flamers. But I do like Flamers! Therefor since I'm also not a big fan of MultiMelta's, but I did have one lieing around...

I'm sure you can use your imagination to think of a nice nozzle, some greenstuff and a backback right? :)

(this guy would be for my company veterans or command squad...)

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/P291109_1138.jpg

 

Also some old guy thats been standing on my desk for far too long:

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Dreadnought/P291109_1140.jpg

I'm still thinking about how to make the Dark Angel look less Dark Angel Dark Angel but more general Dark Angel ;)

Ie. one that could be used by any chapter (Angel of Death). Any thoughts?

[Kable]

They look amazing Deathwing70. I've always been a fan of the chapter and i will definitely be keeping track of this thread. Awesome stuff!

[Master Toddius]

Wow. Clean, Themed and well executed. Love the extra badges and company signature. Nice freehand work on the icons as well. I do want to suggest possibly doing black shoulders for the terminators. But otherwise keep on keepin on. Is it Bubonic Brown with Yellow blends highlighted with 50/50 Yellow & White?

 

 

Will be watching in earnest for more completed models,.. from the shadows of course. :ph34r:

 

 

:)

[Deathwing70]

thanks :ph34r:

 

I base them black, few layers of thinned down foundation Tausept Ochre. Then I have a few (3) pre-mixed bottles which are basically a mix of bubonic brown, sunburst yellow, bleached bone and skull white. As you guessed, the first layer is more heavy on the bubonic brown and the last layer is a high dosage of sunburst yellow and bleached bone. I do use a very thinned down bubonic brown / scorched brown as a wash to darken certain parts and provide the 'blended' look.

 

I actually have a few pots of other yellows (golden yellow, yellow wash), but I can't remember if I ever actually touched them :)

 

I'll definately keep the more blackness in mind for the Terminators. First I'll actually have to paint a squad though, I'll start with the yellow shoulderpads and see how it fits as a squad... It's easier to paint them black afterwards ;)

[Arsenal]

Beautiful army. Can't wait to see it as it progresses. Love it.

 

More than anything, I endorse your use of banners. I really miss them and it is frustrating that they seem to have gradually died out in SM forces.

[Terminatorinhell]

I like the areazel counts as, the helmet is one of my favorites. What is your yellow recipe?

[Midas]

nice work. your gs fu is strong I see on account of that Azrael counts-as and the paint jobs are gorgeous I love the pale sun worn look to them. You are watched.

[Deathwing70]

Beautiful army. Can't wait to see it as it progresses. Love it.

 

More than anything, I endorse your use of banners. I really miss them and it is frustrating that they seem to have gradually died out in SM forces.

 

I agree, some of my favorite artworks of Marines are where theres basically a whole wave of them into the distance fighting off some invading army. Tons of banners scattered around sticking out of the crowd.

I'm actually thinking of adding banners to the "squad leaders" aswell, just like good old 2nd edition. I havent actually thought about squad leaders yet... Maybe I'll give them a black outer rim on the shoulderpad... Either way I'll have to come up with a way to build my own banner poles as I seem to be lacking those bits...

 

I like the areazel counts as, the helmet is one of my favorites. What is your yellow recipe?

Thanks :D I'm not quite finished with him, I feel there is something missing (besides finishing the book hanging from the chain).

 

Yellow...

I base them black, few layers of thinned down foundation Tausept Ochre. Then I have a few (3) pre-mixed bottles which are basically a mix of bubonic brown, sunburst yellow, bleached bone and skull white. As you guessed, the first layer is more heavy on the bubonic brown and the last layer is a high dosage of sunburst yellow and bleached bone. I do use a very thinned down bubonic brown / scorched brown as a wash to darken certain parts and provide the 'blended' look.

Thats basically it. As I wanted a 'sand' colored yellow I stuck to the brown --> bone/white colors and added yellow for the tint.

I haven't yet experimented with adding the foundation paints to these mixes to see if I can get a better coverage. It's working for me so far and I've accepted the fact I'll have to add layer on layer to get a nice consistent color :)

 

I have noticed it's a wise thing to add the dark undercoats in between the first few layers of un-highlighted 'yellow' (for weapons, pouches, 'soft armor', etc). You're bound to make booboo's might aswell make them before you just created your perfect highlighted yellow armour ;)

 

 

it's amazing how a few compliments can motivate a person ...

*continues with the assault squad*

[Deathwing70]

Well been a while...

haven't had too much time to play with these guys. No WIP shots of the assault squad (I've done most the yellow, just doing the highlighting and shading on it now. After which I can start work on the detailing).

 

I did discover ebay and finally decided to get me some nice little trinkets for some tricks I picked up on on these forums ^_^

 

Using some bits I had lieing around I managed to build a banner pole for one of my dreadnoughts. I'll try to replicate it when I finally start on the 2nd dreadnought. It just needs a little greenstuff to fill up some holes and off course make a nice banner...

From Ebay I ordered microbeads to use as studs and 0.5mm plasticard to play around with.

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Dreadnought/P121209_121401.jpg

 

Not to mention MAGNETS! ;)

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/Dreadnought/P121209_1216.jpg

 

I have a few tiny linked chains still in the mail which should finish the model. I'll probably add some of it on the banner or on his DCCW... or around the chest... I guess I'll have to see when I get it.

 

I would also like to show off my Captain now that I've added magnets and he can actually pose without his arms falling off.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/captain/P121209_1218.jpg

 

I'm thinking of adding studs to his left greave and replacing the halo with a banner. He still needs some green stuff to finish off some parts ofc.

 

 

 

After seeing Slaine's tutorial on digital artwork, he made it look so easy... I couldn't resist trying to sketch a mental image I had of my Company Champion. All I can say is... long live the blur function since I just don't have the precision to make the mouse move as I'd want to...

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w221/deathwing70/champion/champion2.png

 

I did find this piece of art on the net which should hopefully give you an idea where I want to take him: click here

 

 

I'll be working on the assault squad today so hopefully I'll actually get some work done on them and can show you progress tomorrow!

 

what do you think?

[AngryJohnny]

Looks good. I really like the Captain you've done. Can't wait to see it painted.

[ephrael]

Looks good. I really like the Captain you've done. Can't wait to see it painted.

 

Your paining and sculpting skills are very impressive. I like the yellow color you are using though I would agree that black shoulders on the terminators would look better. It denotes veteran status on the marines you are painting anyway and all terminators are usually veterans so it makes sense background wise anyway.

[jlmb_123]

I love, love, love your flamers! I'm going out in a minute, so have just browsed the photos, so apologies if it's been asked already, but how did you make them?

 

I've never been into banners, but seeing your nice ones is inspirational. I'd definitely go with them on squad leaders, I agree that in the artwork they look great poking up out of a mass of bodies. I think if you had enough they'd translate onto the battlefield well.

 

For you Azrael, why not get a Plague Monk and chop of its hand, feet and face to make a Watcher in the Dark?

[Master Toddius]

Are you running a count as dark angel codex? Because if so I really like the captain or Azrael, if I'm correct :D