120 replies to this topic

[SickSix]

I am building and painting an army of Silver Skulls space marines. My skills aren't the best but we'll see how things go. I will also be using custom bits (mostly from Poland, those guys make some cool stuff) to make my army special.

The first set of tactical marines was done by airbrushing GW boltgun over black primer then spraying again with chainmail to try and achieve a highlight. But they turned out mostly chainmail.



The second set of troops (devastators) is a base coat of Vallejo Air Gun over black primer with a Vallejo Air Steel highlight. You can see how much darker these guys are. And you can tell that one plasma cannon and one Lascannon troopers didn't get the Steel highlight.



Next are pictures of my Commander and Dev squad leader and tactical squad leader with Maxmini.eu Skull Tribe heads.







You'll notice the recessed metal skull in the shoulderpads on the SQ LDR. That skull is from the GW Silver Skulls shoulder pads. I hacked them off the metal shoulder pad then hacked up a plastic shoulder pad. The metal pads stick way out, so by removing the 3D skull and recessing it into a plastic pad, it's looks a lot better. HOWEVER it is a HUGE PITA! So I gave up and now am using the GW pads as is. I will have at least 30 tactical troops, and there was no way I was doing that hack job 30+ times. You can see the GW pads on the Devastators. I will keep this updated as I progress. Constructive Criticism welcome.

*Please note all models depicted so far are WIP, I have yet to completely finish a single one haha*

Edited by SickSix, 27 November 2012 - 04:02 AM.

[WholeHazelNuts]

Love the idea to use the Skull Tribe heads... now why didn't I think of that!

[Mr.Malevolent]

I second WholeHazelNuts in saying that those heads are perfect for your Silver Skulls. Keep up the good work!

[chaplain belisarius]

nice-are they easy to paint?

[SickSix]

nice-are they easy to paint?

Well compared to some paint schemes I would say yes. The combination of using one base color and having an airbrush makes it very nice and easy. At least in the beginning. I can apply the base coat and an overall highlight to a squad in minutes. And getting to the stage where my test squad is took no time at all really. I should be able to get all the troops to the 3 color level in no time at all. Beyond that I don't know. I guess I need to do one model all the way and see how long it takes.

Thanks for the comments. I think they are going to look pretty good once done. I also have some zombie heads and random skulls to add trophies to some of the troops. I think the custom heads will really make the leaders and selected troopers POP. I envision the heads as representing ceremonial masks instead of helmets. They are not quite big enough to be armored helmets with a contained electronics and sensory package.

[Andrew J]

Are you spraying the highlight metal from directly above? It will end up highlighting them very easily and look like the light is coming from above.

Obviously if you are already doing it go ahead and ignore me. Just my 2 cents

[SickSix]

Are you spraying the highlight metal from directly above? It will end up highlighting them very easily and look like the light is coming from above.

Obviously if you are already doing it go ahead and ignore me. Just my 2 cents

I sprayed them from a 45 degree angle from the front but the back was way to dark so I hit them from the back at a 45 as well. I will probably try the overhead approach on the next batch of tacticals.

[Pyroriffic]

I am liking the way these are going! Very impressed.

And jealous. Very jealous.

[SickSix]

Thanks Pyro!

UPDATE:

I have mostly been working on vehicles. I am trying to get this army at least assembled before the tournament in August. It's slow going.

So the following pictures are of two Rhino chassis'. One will be a rhino/razor and the other can be a Pred or rhino/razor. I failed to glue in a key metal plate prior to assembly on the Rhino/Razor so most likely I will end up gluing in it's two crew hatches.

First up, Rhino/Razor with Bitspudlo dozer blade, gatling cannon turret and double flamer turret.







Next is the Predator. Heavy use of metal plates that I got from BlueTablePainting.com







Minor Update to Captain and Squad Leaders: added skull trophies. I think the captain may need another one, what do you think? (skulls from maxmini)



And Testing the Bitspudlo pre-heresy jump pack on an assault marine.





Considering the Silver Skulls are a second founding chapter. I plan to exploit that and add in some Heresy era stuff here and there. The S.Skulls are working out to be my dream chapter. I can adorn them with skulls and Heresy era stuff!

[SickSix]

Update: I have my assault marines assembled. Just need to magnetize their backpacks.... Or not. Anyways, here are picks of the Squad leader, and team leader, both with magnetized arms. Also I did a little test with dynamic posing. I have one assault marine about to finish off a Dark Eldar guy.

Edited by SickSix, 18 July 2011 - 05:11 AM.

[daismith906]

Love the work so far, glad to see another Silver Skulls player too .

Just received my Skull helmets from maximini to use on my sternguard.

Will have to start a log up now, lol!!

[SickSix]

Love the work so far, glad to see another Silver Skulls player too .

Just received my Skull helmets from maximini to use on my sternguard.

Will have to start a log up now, lol!!

Thanks! I actually made a lot more progress than just these guys. I also got two more rhinos put together, got 80% of a tactical squad done, and about halfway done with my assembling my first Land Raider!

Also do you have pictures of your army? And I would definitely like to see how you make your Sternguard!

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

What is the sergeant with the power fist supposed to be doing?

Those assault marines are awesome though

[SickSix]

What is the sergeant with the power fist supposed to be doing?

Those assault marines are awesome though

He is showing his enemy how they are about to end up as his trophies

(I just thought it was interesting to make it like that. A lot of the skulls from Maxmini have bits of spine on them. So I thought it would be cool to make it look like he just took a fresh trophy.)

Thanks for the compliment! As soon as I get the rest of the army assembled, I will start in heavy with the painting.

I have some more Maxmini bits awaiting me at the post office, so I can finish my infantry and customize a new set of dakka Terminators. I have 1.5 Land Raiders to finish, and one more Razorback I just got today. So when I get everything assembled enough to field it, I'll start painting.

[fawx]

One word.

--> EPIC <--

FAWX

[Mutters]

This is super awesome. I became a fan of the Silver Skulls after I read their part in the Soul Drinkers Phalanx novel.

Silly bunch of decapitating prognosticators!

[SickSix]

Minor Update:

So got some more goodies from Maxmini today. As I said before, being that it is widely believed that the Silver Skulls are a 2nd founding chapter, I wanted to mix in a little Heresy Era feel. So I have outfitted a couple tactical marines with Steam Knight Helmets. There will be some much more tasty pictures coming in the next few days when I utilize the other bits I received with these helmets. (the two marines without arms are going to be magnetized. Sergeant and special/heavy weapon trooper)

[SickSix]

This is what I'm thinking for the Terminators. Rough idea.
Terminator Paint Scheme

Edited by SickSix, 22 July 2011 - 12:51 AM.

[Terminatorinhell]

Where did you get the gatling turret from?

[SickSix]

Where did you get the gatling turret from?

www.bitspudlo.com

They are a Polish casting company. They are fairly new and small so supply is something they are working on. One of the staff said they were going to have a major restock this coming Monday. I highly recommend their stuff. It's not perfect casting, but I think for the unique things they offer it's worth it. And they are getting better with every batch. Check out Bitspudlo Dakka Thread for more of their stuff and updates on products and restocks.

[SickSix]

Check out my new terminators:



Shoulder pads and helmets from Maxmini. Some of the shoulder pads required removing some material from the arm to get them to fit. Also a couple of the heads required some minor trimming to the head itself to get them to squeeze in there. Arms are magnetized.

[One-eye]

Wow, those razorback turrets look great, I didn't know this bitz provider ^^
Apart from that, very good looking army so far. Need to see them painted now !

[Marius Perdo]

SickSix asked if I had ever actualy done any Silver Skulls complete in a PM and yes I did but most have been transmuted into Doom Fists (and partly rebuilt in most cases). However I did do a single 3rd company test miniature veteran sergeant. So as SickSix asked here he is (was*):





*he is currently sat in a bucket of water outside with all the other "I have started stripping you but I haven't finished" miniatures. I envisage he will be in that watery gulag for some time.

[SickSix]

Progress!!

Ok, Firstly: I am having trouble deciding on what company color(if any) to put on my Silver Skulls! So the first pick is a test of green, gold, and no shoulder trim.
Please let me know what you think!(even if that includes suggesting a different color than I have tried!)



Next two pictures are tests with helmet color effects. The first may be hard to see but there is a little thrakka green wash under his eyes for a subtle glow effect and the second is using GAR's blue tinted silver helmets to make the marines stand out. What do you think?



Any and all feedback welcome! I love the simple base paint scheme of the Silver Skulls but I feel I need to find a way to put a little more color on them, so if you think any of the things I did here in these pictures works, please let me know. If you have another idea please let me know that as well.

[SickSix]

SickSix asked if I had ever actualy done any Silver Skulls complete in a PM and yes I did but most have been transmuted into Doom Fists (and partly rebuilt in most cases). However I did do a single 3rd company test miniature veteran sergeant. So as SickSix asked here he is (was*):





*he is currently sat in a bucket of water outside with all the other "I have started stripping you but I haven't finished" miniatures. I envisage he will be in that watery gulag for some time.

Wow, that is a great mini! Such a shame to send him to a watery grave! I hope mine turn out that nice when done!