vonny's Order of the Sacred Rose

[vonny]

Well, I finally got my ass into gear and finished painting some models that I'd like to share with you.

 

When I went to build my space marines, I always wanted to do that from a story perspective: a full battle company drop-podding and deep striking, the true angels of death descending to the battlefield. Back then I thought it would be fun to have them come to the aid of some beleagered guardsmen, having just read a story about Malvolion.

 

I've always felt that the once the Lamenters had their chapter banner so lovingly repaired by the adepta sororitas though, that they and our beloved sisters had some kind of connection. And so, when it finally dawned on me that I could just repaint those beautiful models that were wandering about in boxes in storage, that they'd be the perfect allies for my Lamenters to assist. Because man, did I ever so love the Sister's models!

And so it came to be that I now have 10 models painted, some seraphim waiting to be paint stripped, a newly bought (ok, few months ago. I'm slow) Celestine having some slight amendments made, and a whole extra squad of sisters including special weapons.

 

So, without further ado,

 

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab205/vonny83/Order%20of%20the%20Sacred%20Rose/Sistersquad_zps745b8e4a.jpg~original

 

Yes, I am aware that's 2 heavy bolters in one squad. Bear with me, these are all the models I could find digging through my old stuff (though there's a grenade throwing one hiding somewhere).

 

I went for natural and varied hair and skin colors all around the squad, attempted to paint tattoos of fleurs de lys on faces, did some more free-hands on bolter cases, and even added an elderly sister and a freckled face. Because I could. I also have only unhelmeted sisters. Back when I bought these models the helmeted versions hadn't been made yet, and I actually quite like the contrast with the marines: they come from space, are removed from humanity, and, if not wearing a helmet, at the very least carrying one. The sisters are landbound, but more importantly, still human, and an inspiration to those around them. That inspiration seems to me to be much easier to do if the scared guardsmen and civilians actually see your face. Hence, my love for helmetless sisters.

Plus, painting tattoos on cheeks is a nice challenge.

 

There's one thing I'm not made my mind up about yet. Allow me to illustrate:

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab205/vonny83/Order%20of%20the%20Sacred%20Rose/SisterEleanor_zps8099cf4d.jpg

This Sister Superior has a sword at her hip, and most people miss it the first time they look at the model. I would really like the scabbard to pop out a bit more, but preferably without breaking the color consistency that the army has built up so far. Any suggestions?

 

Anyway, hope you like 'm.

[greggles]

Love the white.  It's very well done.

 

As to the sword.  I assume the scabbard is black, with metal adornments?  Is any part of the sword coming out?  Is that sister superior armed with a power sword?

 

The problem here is working with existing color palettes.  If it was a power sword, and the sword was sliding out (as if being drawn), I'd simply do a blue power sword with light blue/white edge highlights.  That would make it pop extremely well vs the red.

 

If not, maybe trying a brown/light brown on the scabbard to pull it out from the surrounding black.    

[WarriorFish]

They look great, I especially like the variety of natural hair colours. Until now I've never liked names on bases but that is a brilliant way of doing it!

 

For the scabbard, what about some gold lining? It wouldn't be too outrageous and wouldn't be out of the blue either as you could use the same colour as the bolt rounds, maybe even a little pattern if you're feeling really fancy :)

 

Excellent stuff vonny, I'm looking forward to seeing more :D

[*Furyou Miko]

I'd say that your best bet on the scabbard would be edge highlighting, either in white or silver. That, or possibly pure midnight.

[Yale]

Vonny, your sisters are beautiful! My first thoughts were how well the hair and faces turned out. That alone makes ranks them among the best Soriatas squads I've seen.
 

[Aqui]

Very nice and good to see variety in hair colour

Is the "headband" the red head heavy weapon Sister is sporting, part of the model, or a conversion?

[Fibonacci]

That's part of the model, Aquilanus.  The Heavy Bolter models have those and their TEDT* is attached to it.

 

 

 

*Targeting Eye Device Thingy

 

[edit to add]

Heavy Flamers have breather masks and Multi-Melta models have full helmets.

[Vigrid Of Asgaror]

Awesome looking models. I think subtle highlighting would probably be best, much like Miko said.

 

Nothing to drastic.

 

Can't wait to see more painted models.

[Aqui]

That's part of the model, Aquilanus. The Heavy Bolter models have those and their TEDT* is attached to it.

*Targeting Eye Device Thingy

[edit to add]

Heavy Flamers have breather masks and Multi-Melta models have full helmets.

Ta!

Seeing those models close up has made me realise that they aren't as...hideous as some make them out to be.

[Fibonacci]

They were some of the best metal models Citadel ever made long before 3D sculpting and printing were even possible.  They are just showing their age is all.

[tvih]

Hideous? HIDEOUS? The only hideous model is the Dialogus, it's giving me nightmares with it's extreme creepiness. Most of the range is made of awesome.

[vonny]

@greggles: no, sword is secured firmly inside the scabbard, I'm afraid, but yes, at the moment the scabbard is black with metal adornments. So no light from a power sword showing through :( Thanks for the compliments on the white :)

 

@WarriorFish: Thanks for the compliment about the name banner on the base. I'm not completely sold on it yet. As I want my sisters to be able to join my Lamenters (and vice versa), I wanted to create some similarities to pull them together, yet at the same time some differences to keep them apart. I could go on about different whites and stuff like that, but what's relevant to this particular topic is the name banners on the base. I had them on the Lamenters, and wanted them here as well. However, I wanted them a different design than those of my space marines, and I'm not quite sold on this design yet, as I think the marine ones are easier to do and more powerful in their visual image (check here for how the marine's base banners look). Luckily, for when I do come up with a better design, this one should be fairly easy to remove.

As for looking forward to seeing more: So am I, but I'm really rather slow in painting and building and stuff.

 

@Yale: Thanks. Those faces took some time to get right, in some cases.

 

@Aquilanus & fibonacci: Yes, the models are some of the finest I own. I love the sculpts! I feel bad for covering up the beautifully sculpted abdomen areas of the heavy weapon sisters with that heavy bolter, because it just looked so pretty. However, as fibonacci said, they are showing their age. Some of the lines aren't as smooth as we're used to from newer models, and some of the faces needed some creative painting to get right. I remember painting one face and finding out that the eyes weren't evenly placed in the face, with one much higher than the other. Some new black paint and a differently painted eye, and noone's the wiser.They've aged, but with a bit of care they're just SO awesome.

 

As for the scabbard, I have pondered various browns, as well as adding gold to it. Currently I'm leaning more towards adding some kind of pattern to it, perhaps suggesting something like a cloth weave, similar to the cording found on many katana handles. Or maybe some white fleurs de lys or sacred roses stacked above one another, captured in some red filligree. I'm just on the fence about it all :)

[Fibonacci]

Hideous? HIDEOUS? The only hideous model is the Dialogus, it's giving me nightmares with it's extreme creepiness. Most of the range is made of awesome.

Yeah, well, that's a re-purposed Inquisition model that used to teach the Inquisitor how to point a gun at the enemy.

[*Furyou Miko]

Yeah, the Dialogous model... isn't actually a Dialogous, it's a Sage.

[Dread]

AH I remember the days when I would try to get all the detail in the faces, thank the Emperor for helmets. That being said, your face work is great as well as the detail in the rest of the models. I've become older and less stressed to do that anymore, just a quick paint of flesh, a flesh wash and then lighter flesh high lights and done, table ready. So keep it up, I love to see the hard work and do know what you went thru to achieve it. And yup, the Dialogus/sage model is horrible, I made my own.

[vonny]

heh, Dread. All the detail in the faces (and elsewhere) is half the fun for me. Although that might be more obvious on my marines, if you check out their shoulder pads.

 

As I'm getting ready to paint strip the next part of my force, some seraphim, I've come to another conundrum. Those stilts! I was never happy with them when I first painted them, and with my increased attention to detail, I'm liking them even less now. They're big and obvious, their placement at the tip of the toes makes them stand out even more, and they make for quite a bendable weakpoint in most of the models to boot. All of the alternatives I see online though mostly either build up a ton of stuff on the bases and/or put pins into the robes, which I'm not to keen on either. They don't have to fly a mile high for me (that usually only makes them look worse, in my oppinion), but something else than these stilts must be possible!

 

Did any of you replace them, and how'd you do it?

[Dread]

I drilled a hole the size of the flying stand end in between the legs (okay get your jokes out now) and glue that to the same size base. If you'd like I can take a pic and show you how it looks.

 

Yeah, I still get a lot of detail in some of my paint work but mostly characters or large models, eyes get strained to much anymore.

[*Furyou Miko]

Some of my Seraphim walk now. ^^; The other alternative is to put a pin into the bottom of the shoe, where the stilt used to be.

 

As for attachment points for acrylic rods, the little gap where the backpack meets the torso isn't bad.

[Inquisitor Fox]

Glad to see more Sacred Rose Sisters!  Your white turned out very nicely.  I'm of the brown leather camp myself, I've found it helps things to pop a bit as opposed to blend into the robes.  Your models look really nice though, so it'll work out I'm sure :)

[vonny]

despite distraction left and right, I'm still working on my sisters, this time an HQ. I love jump packs, and who better to run with my seraphim to be than saint Celestine?

The turqoise and gold are colors that should remain rare throughout my army - only meant for holy relics. I might use the colors for simulacrum imperialis, as I don't want to have the 'banner bearers' and instead plan to have a sister carrying a book with images or writings of a saint (in these colors) or some other smaller token which can then be easily identified by the color.

However, as you can't get much more holy than a living saint, they colors fit here as well.

Originally I had planned to do some freehand pattern on the robes and cloak, something with red similar to the simple red line at the normal sister's robes. about halfway through the project I was really happy with the color balance though and decided against it, and now I'm not sure again. What do you guys think?

Obviously, the saint isn't finished yet as I still need to do skin and hair colors, the base, some small detail work and a large white order of the sacred rose symbol on the back of the cloak. Nevertheless, what do you guys think of it so far?

[WarriorFish]

Looking very nice, the white is great and I love the little birditors! For the robe I'd stick to a fancier version of the normal one and put some freehand on it to make it different. Celestine's armour isn't that different from normal Sororita power armour so I reckon she shouldn't be made to look too different. It's the Emperor's favour that makes her stand out from her peers, not so much her equipment ;)

[Smurfben]

Looking good Vonny, I really like the white and red armour! Where did you get the idea for those creepy bird cherubs? It's brilliant! :)

[Fibonacci]

Celestine's armour isn't that different from normal Sororita power armour so I reckon she shouldn't be made to look too different. It's the Emperor's favour that makes her stand out from her peers, not so much her equipment

I wondered a lot about how to paint her, too. How would the Armour of Saint Kathrine be colored? It is described as golden armor, was originally used by the Daughters of the Emperor, Saint Celestine recoved it while a member of the Order of Our Martyred Lady (the "Martyred Lady" being Saint Kat and all) ... that's a lot of color choices it "could" have been painted. Add to that the question of how she fits in your army. Is she THE living saint or A living saint? In other words, if your chapter is the Order of Merciful Slaughter founded by the living Saint Jezabel, she would have a different story and not be wearing the Armour of Saint Kathrine at all ...

I eventually went with a light grey (what I think of as cerimite) with burnished gold trim.

[*Furyou Miko]

My 'Celestine' is wearing Martyred Lady colours - but that's because she's Ephrael Stern.

[WarriorFish]

I've never fielded a unique character as the "original", I always create my own :) Plus I don't like to have models stand out too much, embellishment and fancy bits are fine but not anything too different from the core troopers.