Mercay Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Hey ho! Very long time lurker here who finally has gathered enough courage (and finally have something worth sharing, hopefully) to start my own WIP blog! Making a long story short, since I bought my very first miniatures back in 2004, a space marine combat squad, I've lived and breathed Space Marines and IoM in general, having started but never finished more space marine armies than I can recall, I now feel that I for once should get something memorable going and completed. I knew wanted to create a force of one of the first founding chapters but that was about it, so I sat down for quite some time to see what my options were. I wanted to use the regular marine codex, so that left out the Space Wolves, the Blood Angels and the Dark Angels, I also knew that I did not want to go with something as popular as the Ultramarines, for example. In the past I had always gone for very... flamboyant color schemes, all the brightest of colors you could imagine, so I decided to go the opposite way this time which basically left me with either the Iron Hands or the Raven Guard. I was extremely tempted to go with the Iron Hands due to their affinity for all things mechanical, the conversion possibilities regarding bionics and techmarine-inspired captains and the like almost made me go with them... But then I got my hands on Deliverance Lost, and the deal was settled, I would depict the Raven Guard in all their sneaky-stealth glory! Oh and I've always liked assault marines, so there's that too. After spending some time practicing painting black armor, as well as the white that goes with it, I'll hereby unveil my very first completed test model: http://i.imgur.com/ZPqIrg7.jpg Do note that he hasn't had his matte coat applied yet, so there is a bit of a glare on certain areas! At first this model was actually destined to lead the force as 5th company's Shadow Captain Corvane Valar, but I have since ordered some more goodies from forgeworld which should arrive any day now. This will allow me to add a bit more detailed bling as befits a captain of the adeptus astartes. I'll get around to setting up a proper lightbox soon as well. Well that about rounds my very first post up, any constructive criticism is always very welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Aiwass Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Simple, arrogant, fierce, deadly looking. Kudos Mercay, very neat job. I really want to see more of this project! And welcome to the forum EDIT: Criticism: It looks great as is, I wouldn't add much more bling. The colors and subtle weathering are very well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrannicide Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Flawless man. Agree that a dullcoat will certainly help, but I love the minor weathering and pigments on the "raven's black". Â Can't wait to see what's next. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercay Posted October 27, 2013 Author Share Posted October 27, 2013 Thank you for the replies guys! @Maximvs I was at first going with this model as my captain but I simply felt that he will blend in a bit too much with the "regular" marines, but I agree I'm not going to go crazy with the bling factor, going to use korvydae's body and legs, and possibly jump pack for my captain 2.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entei Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Very nice. That's how a son of Corax should look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blindhamster Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 very nice painting, cool pose, look forward to seeing more :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Pheidias Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Awesome Son of Corax! Will keep tabs on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ovidius Incertus Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 That looks real great. Â What'd you use to do the weathering/dust effect on his boots? Â Did you put dirt on his helmet as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostMalone Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Please tell me your in for the heresy ;) Â Good old RG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercay Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 That looks real great. What'd you use to do the weathering/dust effect on his boots? Did you put dirt on his helmet as well? Thanks man, I used the forgeworld weathering powders for the dust effect, namely the light earth one as well as a very thin dusting of light rust. And yes, I did dab a tiny bit of it on his helmet to break up the white a bit. Please tell me your in for the heresy Good old RG This force will be 41st millennium I'm afraid, although I have been thinking about making a proper heresy/pre-heresy force some time in the future, if they are to be raven guard is yet to be decided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dosjetka Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 He looks excellent. I really like the subdued highlights, the wear on the boots and the restrained use of the weathering powders :tu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inquisitor Eisenhorn Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Insane!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapturowski Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Awesome! Great use of bitz. One thing I personally dislike about the Mk IV armour is the skinny thighs, I usually try to add bulk with ammo pouches, holsters, knives and such. Â I'm no expert on Raven Guard markings, but I think a black stripe on his helmet would look really cool, one like the veteran sergeants use to have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olis Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Crisp paintwork and subtle weathering. Nice job, brother - more of the same would be fantastic. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercay Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 Thank you very much for your kind words everyone, it means a lot to me! Awesome! Great use of bitz. One thing I personally dislike about the Mk IV armour is the skinny thighs, I usually try to add bulk with ammo pouches, holsters, knives and such. I'm no expert on Raven Guard markings, but I think a black stripe on his helmet would look really cool, one like the veteran sergeants use to have. I agree that the thighs do look a bit skinny, I should have gone with a pistol holster instead of the standard small pouches but oh well, its only a test model after all! Regarding the markings, I will stick pretty closely to their "official" markings, while making sure that I'm first and foremost happy with the look of the model. The markings I'm most likely going with for the helmets will be: Regular marines: all black. Regular Sergeants: all white. Veterans: one white stripe vertically down across the faceplate over the black. Veteran Sergeants: one black stripe vertically down across the faceplate over the white. So basically, veterancy is indicated by a vertical stripe, sergeants are indicated by an all white helmet. This does leave the issue of how the new captains helmet will be done... Alternatively I might just go with all white helmets for all sergeants and veterans, since that will give them a more simplistic look. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inquisitor Eisenhorn Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Whatever you do don't change a thing on this fellow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olis Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Any ideas? Â White helm, red stripe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercay Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 Whatever you do don't change a thing on this fellow. He will remain untouched, don't worry White helm, red stripe? That's a good idea, will fit well with the red spot-colors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrus Manus Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Great pose and nice paint job, looking forward to more.  How'd you paint your black? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercay Posted October 29, 2013 Author Share Posted October 29, 2013 Great pose and nice paint job, looking forward to more.  How'd you paint your black?  Thanks!  I was aiming toward having a simple but effective way of painting the "ravens" black. The trick as I discovered was to have quite a dark highlight, darker than you usually see with black models such as the black templars.   This is how I do it:  1. After basecoating it black I paint the whole model with watered down abaddon black to cover any areas missed by the spray. It also gives the model a better finish compared to only having the basecoat.  2. Mix up some "RG black", around 2/3 abaddon black and 1/3 eshin gray and make sure to water it down quite a bit. Apply this as the first highlight quite liberally.  2.2 For the fancier models I add more gray to the mix here and start doing the finer highlighting, for the basic models I skip this step.  3. Pure, slightly watered down eshin gray in very thin lines as an extreme highlight.  4. Nuln oil wash in all the panel gaps that you feel need it, it gives them a bit more shadow/depth.   If I wasn't going with the weathered look I would most likely have to add more steps to the highlighting process to give the model the depth I'm looking for.  I'll soon have the first 5 man combat squad done, will post 'em up here as soon as they are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercay Posted October 29, 2013 Author Share Posted October 29, 2013 Anyone have some fancy trick for applying decals? The raven guard ones are quite large so getting them to sit flat on the shoulderplates feels almost impossible. Right now I'm just going with gloss varnish on the shoulder, apply decal and more varnish to seal it in, are there any better ways of getting it done neatly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrotherCaptainArkhan Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Microset and Microsol will work wonders on the decal front. You can get them off eBay and tutorials are all over the web. They made my decals look like they'd been painted on so I really can't say enough good things about them, just try them out! Â I'm a huge fan of that model. 100% how Raven Guard should look in my opinion. Love the subtle weathering, the minimal use of white, the crispness - really nice. Looking forward to seeing more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Aiwass Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Usually Microsol & Microset do the trick. EDIT: Ninja'd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goosey_j Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 I'd like to chime in and say this guy is great. Your has a depth and oiliness to it which is fantastic, and your white is gorgeously crisp. I'm a fan of the Raven Guard and I can't wait to see more if this is the standard they'll be at. Really lovely job on this guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retributis Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Great looking Raven Guard, I adore the slight off white you got for the helmet. Any special tricks you'd care to share for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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