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My Blood Angels Painting Blog!


Fahlnor

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Hello, everyone!  This is my first ever painting blog and, as with a good number of the blogs I see here, the aim is to provide motivation and inspiration for myself to get some building and painting done with a bit more regularity!

 

My main focus on starting off is to work towards a 1,650 Tale of Gamers event that I'm doing with a couple of mates (army list here).  I'll be providing links to my friends' Tale of Gamers plogs in my signature below.  Beyond that, I'd love to build a full Blood Angels Company (thread for that here).  Beyond that...?  Well, the sky's the limit!

 

Something maybe worth mentioning is that I'm still in the process of setting up a building and painting area having recently moved country.  I'm extremely limited in terms of what I have available for tools, models and paints - so my collection is basically starting from zero!  It's quite refreshing getting to start over, but it means I have no access to my previously substantial bitz collection.

 

Photos, WiP and pleas for help are all due to follow!

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I've started off with building up a unit of Death Company, mixing the Death Company kit and the tame-by-comparison Assault Squad kit.  My plan is to build ten models, six of whom will have chainsword and bolt pistol, two of whom will have power sword and bolt pistol and two of whom will  have power fist and boltgun.  The backpacks will be magnetised to allow me to switch out between running them in vehicles or with jump packs.

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/AbdwBAkl.jpg

 

Up above, you can see the growing piles of components with mould lines removed.  It seriously took me about two weeks to get round to cleaning up all the pieces I needed to get building.  The plan is to build the models so that they alternate between Death Company and Assault Squad along their core - legs, torso, head, backpack.

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/A7UeuNzl.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/jnudcgRl.jpg

 

I'm a fan of dual-weapon poses.  Playing around with poses on models is one of my favourite parts of building units.  These guys were BluTacked together to check how I might eventually glue them.

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/ZsG2HXdl.jpg

 

This was the first group shot of my newly-glued models.  The only thing missing here was the backpacks, which I was planning to magnetise...

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/ocmmYTkl.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/i8gwzZKl.jpg

 

... like so!

 

Now, another five guys to go.  The components are largely cleaned and ready for assembly - it's just a question of playing with poses and sticking 'em together!  The jump packs will be magnetised when I get some green stuff - I can't fit my magnets to them as they come, which is a little frustrating.  But, hey-ho, on we go!

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Only a tiny update this morning: got the remaining five backpacks magnetised.  They're slightly trickier to do than the Death Company ones.  The DC backpacks actually have a hole near enough exactly where I wanted to drill - it was just a question of widening it for the magnets.  These guys have a similar hole, but higher up than I want it to be.  That's left them looking a little more scrappy than the DC ones:

 

http://i.imgur.com/eD4wovol.jpg

 

Still, progress is progress!

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Looking good brother.

Starting a blog is a great way to get motivated, just make sure to update regularly, otherwise (like my WIP blog) it quickly falls pages behind. Lol.

 

What colour scheme you going for?

Thanks for the reply, brother! Yup, I'm hoping for updates at least daily. Hopefully I'll have at least something new to share each day, even if it's only minor!

 

Colour scheme will be totally standard with the classic black trim on shoulder pads. I haven't painted anything for nearly a year, so I'm hoping to get the basics back fairly quickly.

 

I think I'll be glazing (or "juicing"?) the highlights rather than doing sharp edge highlights. It'll force a step forward in the quality of my painting but I figure why bother doing a project like this if I'm not pushing what I'm capable of doing?

 

Have you a link to your own blog? Maybe it's time to revive it!

 

:D

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Excellent stuff! Welcome to the best part of the bolter and chainsword forum! loving the poses and the dual weapon loadout looks awesome.

 

Many thanks, brother!

 

I found five minutes earlier today and took the opportunity to work on this fellah...:

 

http://i.imgur.com/o0Ai95hl.jpg

 

... or, rather, on his backpack.  I figured that chalice on the top really shouldn't be solid, so I got my trusty drill out and hollowed the blighter out!

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/mRAN3wKl.jpg

 

This is my final five Death Company in their BluTacked stage.  You may notice the two power fist models are currently equipped with bolt pistols - they will change to bolters before I get the glue involved!  In terms of poses, though, this is about it.  Tomorrow should see them glued up and details such as drilling the gun barrels will hopefully all get done, too.  Then the painting can begin!

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Looking good brother.

Starting a blog is a great way to get motivated, just make sure to update regularly, otherwise (like my WIP blog) it quickly falls pages behind. Lol.

What colour scheme you going for?

Have you a link to your own blog? Maybe it's time to revive it!

biggrin.png

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/302989-the-redeemers-black-marus-order-of-redemption/

You know, I think you're right. :)

I'll update tonight when I get back from work.

Thanks for the much needed push brother.

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He has that effect on people. I see your spiffing death company and must get back to my squad. Can't have you outnumbering/out producing me!

 

Get on it!

 

I've finally finished building my ten Death Company!  Except the jump packs, that is.  Still, they're looking pretty danged good, if I do say so myself!

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/mDtD8GNl.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/7VXSQJfl.jpg

 

Here you can see the progress on the two power fist guys.  The bolters weren't all that bad to convert - just a case of switching them over for the left-handed bolt pistols from the Assault Squad kit.

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/JauDO3Ul.jpg

 

This is the final group shot.  All ten Death Company built and glued, backpacks magnetised and just waiting for the jump packs to be done.  I have to say, I'm delighted with them.  There are a few details here and there I don't like and a couple of build issues where, for example, the backpacks don't quite sit flush against the shoulder pads, but all in all I'm thrilled with them.  So happy to be building and painting again after such a long time!  Next step is to get the paints out and hopefully start making them look even more gorgeous!

 

In related news, these arrived for me in the post today:

 

http://i.imgur.com/5kpdLjnl.jpg

 

As much as they may look really tasty, they're not actually white chocolate buttons.  That there is one hundred 32mm resin bases which I ordered from a new studio in the UK called BrushKnights.  The guy running it is my friend who's doing the Iron Warriors blog that's linked in my sig.  I have to say, I'm absolutely delighted with the quality of these bases.  I wanted them plain so I could do my own designs, but I know he's got some nicely detailed scenic bases, too.  No way I was paying Games Workshop to replace the bases that had come in my (old) Death Company boxes!

 

(I'm not getting into the debate of 25mm vs. 32mm, but because I'm starting this army entirely from scratch, I decided to go for the larger bases for a more cinematic feel to my army.  The models are currently superglued lightly to the 25mm bases, but they come off easily enough and will eventually be placed on these lovely big bases instead!)

 

Anyhoo, that's all from me for now.  Busy weekend ahead with family visiting, but I may get a chance to do some painting!

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The only saving grace I have regarding re-basing is that I still have my first marines when I started back in 99 and the bases are atrocious. Gives me a reason to rip their shoddy bases off and make them match my army better.

As much as I would love to have an army I can play games with, starting everything from scratch is meaning that I can take the experience I gained over the years and make sure my entire army is consistent.

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing what quality of army I can put out if I'm really working hard on it.

 

No photos at the moment due to crazy weekend for me. I've managed to spray the models black, but that's the only progress I've made so far! Photos later this evening, hopefully!

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I have some photos of the models now that they're base-coated.  I haven't done anything in terms of setting up for my iPhone camera, so the quality of these pictures isn't fantastic, but still:

 

http://i.imgur.com/NiCVFiIl.jpg

 

The full group, shiny from the lighting and out of focus... :D

 

And a couple of my favourite models:

 

http://i.imgur.com/ZZDTCXRl.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/8DgdWcal.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/a7LAb4sl.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/8TKpLhml.jpg

 

Next step is obviously to put some colour on these guys.  I've ordered the green stuff I need to finish off the jump packs with magnets, so they'll get updated as soon as possible, too.

 

I'll also look into setting up some form of proper photography system.  I know that it's possible to take really good photos with the iPhone, so no excuses, really!

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I've started getting the red down - being as this is my first time back painting in nearly a year, I was a bit worried I would completely forget how to paint.  As it turns out, I kinda did and in the space of my first saltire, I went through three brushes: a Raphael Series 8404 No. 1 (too finely-pointed, bristles were too long), a GW Standard Brush (my one was dying on its legs and the point wasn't holding) and the GW Large Brush (which is perfect!  Lovely big belly, great point, everything pretty much as I would want a brush to be).

 

I'm making slow progress on the red basecoat, but literally this is as far as I've got in a few hours of painting.  I've been consciously watering my paints down waaaaaay thin and have literally needed ten or fifteen coats of paint to get a solid colour.  The end result is a process which is taking much longer than it used to, but which I'm enjoying more and which is creating a much smoother result than I was getting previously:

 

http://i.imgur.com/Hk87N6dl.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/wEhLdtyl.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/vZKQaidl.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/dXMcqgAl.jpg

 

The colours in my photos are coming out pretty badly: the lighting is very yellow (these were actually taken against a piece of white A4 paper) and I'm using cheap bulbs (which, I think, are causing the strobe effect across the photos?) - I'll be buying some daylight bulbs anyway so will pick some up for painting and photos in the future.

 

You may notice a few spots of mess on the models - I'll be tidying them up once the red is done fully.

 

Question, though, for those of you who have painted Death Company before: I'm finding that there's a lot less red on these models than I was expecting.  The details (gems, blood drops, wax seals and such) will probably be done in purple rather than red and that'll add some to the colour across the model, but I do wonder if I'm missing something.  Any thoughts or experiences here, folks?

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No, there really isn't a ton of red.  It's mostly in the shoulders, jump packs and crosses on their hands/knees.  The trick with doing black death company is either in blending grey to black or line highlighting...a lot.  The black/red death company is a really subdued look.  Check out LutherMax's stuff; his death company look simply stunning.

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No, there really isn't a ton of red. It's mostly in the shoulders, jump packs and crosses on their hands/knees. The trick with doing black death company is either in blending grey to black or line highlighting...a lot. The black/red death company is a really subdued look. Check out LutherMax's stuff; his death company look simply stunning.

Hey, thanks for the reply!

 

I'm trying to stay away from hard edge highlighting if possible. Which said, LutherMax's Death Company (on Dakka, right?) are utterly gorgeous!

 

My own inspiration for these guys is actually Garfy's Death Company Dreadnought over on Tale of Painters. He glazes up to a blue-grey highlight to create a gorgeous, blended/layered highlight.

 

Mind you, I've never actually tried this technique myself and I've only seen Garfy doing it on a Dreadnought, but I'm pretty sure glazing highlights on Space Marines is pretty common?

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Itsy-bitsy update today, largely to remind myself that I should be updating regularly!:

 

Although I'm well on the way to finishing my red basecoat across the models (it turns out there's significantly more red on these guys than I first thought!), I plan on waiting until they're done before sharing.  In the meantime, this arrived through my door today:

 

http://i.imgur.com/lCeSijhl.jpg

 

Which means I can now make a start on magnetising and priming the jump packs for my models!

 

As a slight teaser, here's a shot with them in the background:

 

http://i.imgur.com/kT2UkFrl.jpg

 

Hope everyone is well and life is being good to you all.  Watch this space for magnetised jump packs and those ten Death Company having their first basecoat completed!

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