Ultramarines 2nd Company - Guardians of the Temple

[Flint13]

Haha, wow. 

 

Those bluey-black highlights are suspiciously sharp. Are you perhaps some sort of robot?

 

Awesome work :D

[ShVagYeR]

Asamodai - Thank you!

Flint - Yes I am and I've taken a lot of time to recharge my batteries... But now I'm back on this project.

Major reorganisation

This army spent months untouched, until the day I got inspired by Augustus' 1250 list that had a batle company of 5-man squads and dedicated transports. So I decided to shuffle some stuff around, reorganise, and go back to painting these guys. I also became a fan of drybrushing, which helped me paint some minis pretty quickly to a decent tabletop standard. Without further ado allow me to present 7 squads from the 2nd Company:

Tactical Squad Solinus "The Indomitables" I

Not much to see here. The 2nd guy from the left is I believe an AoBR model and has Mk4 legs. There's some bits from Citadel basing kit on some of bases. These are mostly Altdorf Guard Blue, Nuln Oil, and Hoeth Blue highlights except for the Sergeant who was drybrushed with Altdorf Guard Blue, Teclis Blue, and Fenrisian Grey, and then covered with Guilliman Blue.

Tactical Squad Manorian "The Shield Bearers" II

Again a pretty standard squad with my old colour scheme. I really like the pose on the Mk6 helmet marine, I believe he's from Dark Vengeance.

Tactical Squad Vorolanus "The Thunderbolts" III

Just like in the 1st squad, the Sergeant being a recently painted model is drybrushed, the rest is layered. In accordance with the 6th edition Codex page that shows the 2nd Company, he has a FW Mark II helmet.

Tactical Squad Fennion "The Immortals" IV

This squad has a completely different paint scheme which follows the official GW guidelines: Macragge Blue, Drakenhof Nightshade, Calgar Blue, and Fenrisian Grey. Now the paintjob is not the only thing that sets this unit apart from the rest. It contains the three most recent Space Marine models from the new paint set. I can't tell you how much I love these sculpts. They are truly the first truescale marines officially produced. Even though these dudes don't stand in a straight line, you can tell the height difference just by looking at the picture above. The guy on the left and the Sarge were assembled from the 2013 Tactical Squad and 2015 Ultramarine upgrade bits. Basically all the other squads in this army are your everyday underwear. This particular squad is your best pair of boxers that you wear to a date. I'm really putting as much effort and thoroughness into them as I can. Currently I'm painting the 6th model and planning to buy a Devastator kit so that I can make magnetized heavy weapons (full set) for the heavy weapon dude, so that I have all the options available. Same goes for the special weapons guy, as well as optional weaponry for the Sarge. I'm ranting here, but these models and this unit reminded me how much joy and fun this hobby can be. Oh and I almost forgot about the bases - the picture doesn't really do them justice, but it's Agrellan Earth which is a very nice effect.

Tactical Squad Vandar "The Victors" V

The sarge has a few Mk II parts which is always nice. Other than that nothing special.

Tactical Squad Octavian "Swords of Judgement" VI

Not started.

Assault Squad Ixion "Macragge's Avengers" VII

Not started.

Assault Squad Strabo "The Heroes of Selenopolis" VIII

Only one model painted so far. The backpack is magnetized because most of the time they'll be rolling in free transports, but who knows. The next codex may take that away or something.

Devastator Squad Tirian "Guilliman's Honour" IX

Two Missile Launchers, two meatshields, and a Signum guy. Move along.

Devastator Squad Atavian "The Titan Slayers" X

Again: Lascannons, meatshields, Signum. To be expanded in the future just like all the rest.

Thanks for reading and hopefully see you soon!

[DaBoiKyknos]

Close-up of the door:

http://i59.tinypic.com/10wo5yw.jpg

Based on this artwork by Adrian Smith: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/File:Roboute_Guilliman.jpg

How did make that freehand !?

[Flint13]

Dang dude, that update was worth the wait.

 

I also love that Gulliman mini-mural. That is a spectacular amount of detail on such a tiny space. 

[DistroyA]

These are beautiful Ultramarines. Definitely gonna be keeping my eye on this thread to get some inspiration for my own Ultras. :)

 

Love that mural by the way. Fantastic detail. :)

[ShVagYeR]

LordVelype - It was quite simple really. In Paint Shop Pro (because I'm oldschool and prefer it to Photoshop) I took the Adrian Smith artwork, decreased the colour pallette to 5 colors, then moved each color to a separate layer. And then the only thing left to do was copy that over to the model which wasn't that demanding. All you need is a small sharp brush and patience. ;)

 

Flint - Thanks! I'll try to update more often though.

 

DistroyA - Thank you! Always glad to provide some inspiration for others, as this is one of the things I'm always on the lookout for here in B&C. And I find it quite often, so it's good to give back. :)

 

 

Without further ado I present another finished squad. Well, almost finished. It will be 10-man strong someday, but for now:

 

 

Assault Squad Strabo "The Heroes of Selenopolis" VIII

 

 

All drybrushed and ready to take on the Emperor's foes!

 

Next up: Tactical Squad Octavian (VI) with a Razorback, which will be my first ETL vow this year. Also almost done with the second half of Tactical Squad Fennion (IV), so pictures coming up later on (possibly next week).

 

As always thanks for reading!

[DaBoiKyknos]

Thanks for the explanation.

Apart from practicality I guess, the color-reduction works very well there.

I think it wouldn´t have looked as  good as a 1:1 copy.

[ShVagYeR]

LordVelype - glad to be of help.

 

E Tenebrae Lux is now on and I pledged for Codex, with the intention of expanding this Ultramarine army. I decided to leave my Thousand Sons for Call of Chaos.

 

My first vow consists of 5 tactical marines and a Razorback. Link: click

 

 

 

 

I've already made some progress: painted one marine and assembled another one.

 

 

 

Meanwhile I've also finished this unit:

 

Tactical Squad Fennion "The Immortals" IV

 

Here's the second half of the unit:

 

 

And all 10 marines together:

 

 

Also some individual shots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's all for today, thank you for reading. Next time there will be some more ETL progress.

[ShVagYeR]

My first ETL V vow is finished:

 

Tactical Squad Octavian "Swords of Judgement" VI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the Razorback/Rhino:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ShVagYeR]

After another long break here's a new update:

Assault Squad Ixion "Macragge's Avengers" VII

Individual shots with jump packs and regular power packs (they're magnetized along with flamers and sergeant's arms):

This actually means that all 10 squads of the Ultramarines 2nd Company are represented by at least 5 models per unit in my army.

Next goal: metal boxes for everyone!

[Brother Callidan]

I love your Ultras. Not a big fan of dry brushing but your other marines are amazing good work dude

[ShVagYeR]

Thank you Brother Callidan!

 

I'm currently working on two Razorbacks, will update soon.

 

[Dosjetka]

Agreed, your Ultramarines look spot-on. Do you use the GW recipe for the blue armour (ie. Macragge Blue basecoat, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Altdorf Guard & Calgar Blue highlights?

[ShVagYeR]

Agreed, your Ultramarines look spot-on. Do you use the GW recipe for the blue armour (ie. Macragge Blue basecoat, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Altdorf Guard & Calgar Blue highlights?

Thanks Dos! I do use the GW recipe, however not the one you mentioned. I found the one from the digital release Space Marine painting guide (released along with the 6ed codex in 2013 iirc) to be the best one:

1. prime with Chaos Black

2. spray with Macragge Blue

3. wash recesses with Drakenhof Nightshade

4. first edge highlight: Calgar Blue

5. second edge highlight: Fenrisian Grey

6. glaze with Guilliman Blue

I used Altdorf Guard Blue on some older models you'll find on page one of this thread. But once Macragge Blue was released as spray, it became my favorite base color.

The color scheme on Razorbacks is slightly different: the wash is Agrax Earthshade (to make the shade a bit warmer) and also steps 4-5 are replaced with drybrushes: Teclis Blue (to make it a bit more blue rather than purple which shows on Macragge Blue when used on larger surfaces) and then Fenrisian Grey.

[ShVagYeR]

Time for some armoured transports...

 

Razorback Sidereus

 

1st vehicle of 2nd Company, assigned to Tactical Squad Octavian

 

 

 

Also available in Rhino variant. ;)

 

 

 

 

Razorback Strenuus

 

2nd vehicle of 2nd Company, assigned to Tactical Squad Fennion

 

 

 

As a Rhino:

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting. :)

 

 

[Brother Argent]

Awesome work as always mate.  Any chance we can get a whole army shot at some stage.  I think it would be quite impressive to see is all.  Keep up the good work.  Must say this is quite the inspiring log.

[Dosjetka]

I second the request for an army picture. It'll look great to see all the UM's you've painted so far together in one shot. :tu:

[ShVagYeR]

Thank you! I totally agree and I've arranged a photo session on Saturday, with a battle mat and buildings in the background. Will post pictures when done. :)

 

Meanwhile I'm waiting for my FLGS to order some magnets so that I can continue assembling and painting.

[ShVagYeR]

Just a small addition for tomorrow's session. It's not playable but hey, a company needs a banner. ;)

 

[Brother Callidan]

That's awesome dude. I wished I had your free hand skills

[MagicMan]

These look brilliant!

 

Ive always wanted to recreate that2nd company picture, and you're doing an awesome job.

 

I wish theyd do more of those organisation picturea for other chapters...

[That Guy Matt]

More awesomeness. I really like your conversion of the DW:OK Ultra. It's simple but makes a striking veteran.

[ShVagYeR]

Brother Callidan - Thanks! It's a cliche but I'm gonna say it anyway: it's just a matter of practice.

MagicMan - Thank you! I agree those charts should be available for other companies and chapters as well. The 7th edition codex doesn't even have that one if I'm not mistaken.

Asamodai - Thanks! It's a lovely model and the moment I saw him I knew he'd have to be part of this army.

This took a while, but yesterday I finally managed to visit Grot Orderly (otherwise known as Zigmunth here on B&C) and through the magic of his camera and steady hands some pretty nice pictures have been produced.

The whole army:

(click the picture to enlarge)

I don't want to spam the thread with all the pictures, so I created an imgur album with descriptions. Please feel free to visit and have a look: link to imgur

He also shot and edited this awesome video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmap9PsTkXs

Thanks for looking and till the next update!