Dark Angels - Ravenwing - Shade to black

Quick one, I'm currently shading again. All the less than stellar initial black highlights and Dark Reaper secondary highlights need to shaded to tone them down. It's taking between 15 and 25 minutes per bike but I'm committing to getting four done a night [3 nights work]. Surprisingly it's not an unpleasant process as it's not fine detail so feels more relaxed, less confined. it also helps that by adding black I'm creating smoother transitions and making the black more dominant instead of the lighter highlights. Here you can see the 'before', in particular note the staged highlights on the shoulder pad, elbow pads and wheel arches.

Here's the 'after shot. Immediately the shoulder pad looks almost black but I assure you some of the highlights are still there and a final line highlight will be added so it will still look OK. You can also see the elbow and wheel arches highlights are much more defined, perhaps too much but again I think the final highlight will mitigate this, not to mention the additional tribal markings and litany scripts to break up the flat areas.

I'm progressing now though and although there is that significant task list to complete these 13 Ravenwing, I actually think there's sufficient momentum to get these done. The only obstacle is an upcoming family holiday at the end of the month but I'm confident they'll either be completed by then or so close to completion that the hiatus won't stall their finish upon my return. Either way they've turned a corner and although not on the final straight, the final lap may be imminent.