Dark Angels - Ravenwing Bikes, Attack Bikes & Black Knights - Black highlights

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Ravenwing bikers. I finally broke out the Incubi Darkness to start the highlights and lest just say I hate it.

Oh my, this is about as tedious as it gets. I just have zero enjoyment in painting Space marines like this. These five riders is all I could manage in one sitting and I could tell I was getting lazy and clumsy the more I persevered.

The line highlights are super thick, but that's OK, if I'd made sure the paint was thinned so it blended more into the black as it feathered off. I can fix this with some thinned black, to help blend the transition. I do actually like that compared to adding the highlight, but it's another process and yet more work to do and I feel like I've lost my mojo at this point.

I made a little spreadsheet to keep track of [almost] everything that still needs doing to finish them off for #ArmiesOnParade The three sets of black highlights will be the hardest part but I think I need to find a way to split things up a bit. Batch painting is all well and good but sometimes you then need to sub-batch [chunk] things to get through it.

 

I'm also considering palette cleansers - mini tasks to do inbetween these processes to avoid being completely demoralised. As it stands I only have one Death Guard painted and if I aim to have my Ravenwing fighting the Death Guard I specifically expanded for #NewYearNewArmy I really should try and paint some of them. So I may just take a little break to get four Plague Marines done. And yes, the irony that I am taking a break from hated Space Marines by painting Plague Marines is not lost on me. But it's a very different process, one I enjoyed immensely last time and perhaps might be rewarding second time around.

Dark Angels - Ravenwing Bikes, Attack Bikes & Black Knights - Blessed Verdigris

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer but ever so slowly. Adding the three additional bike to the batch certainly sapped some motivation. Add in my evening tied up watching Attack on Titan in it's entirety with my son it's quite the challenge to pop into the shed to paint.

That said I decided to do all the Blessed Verdigris, which also means picking out the feather on the Ravenwing banners and cowling. I don't do them white and they're almost this colour in that classic Ravenwing image.

As garish as that turquoise is it should tone down after a black wash. I think I made a mistake with using AP Hydra Turquoise, as I think my other Ravenwing used my lighter craft acrylics. At least it looks that way now I scrutinise my my past models. I also find the WiP pics a hassle to take with the sprue handles, so I'm even less inclined to record the progress, which doesn't help with motivation.

There's so much to do here I think I need a checklist of elements to tick off as they're done. Obviously the black highlights are the biggest things left to do and I am still trying to hold onto the idea that that's not hard. But, there's no getting around the fact there is a lot to do.

And bikes are notoriously labour intensive because you have the marine and the bike itself, and with the Attack bikes you have another marine and the sidecar! Not mention deciding how to do the cloaks on the Black Knights. So the process is not a problem it's just the scale of the task and finding time to do it that's daunting.

Frustratingly though I really want them painted. I can foresee them complete and it already fills me with a huge sense of satisfaction. I've also got Liam cracking on with his Adeptus Titanicus titans which are on my To Do List but I had no intention of tackling them anytime soon...

And this guy is only cropping up for convenience [but is more like an inconvenience].

So, we find ourselves in that situation where if it feels like a chore then it's not fun and not a hobby. And yet I desperately want to do it but can't find the time or the motivation. In which case - don't worry about it! Watch anime with your son, play Middle Earth with your mates, go to bed early if you're tired. These will get done when they get done, either this Hobby Season or the next, life's too short.

Dark Angels - Ravenwing Attack Bikes & Black Knights

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer #DarkAngles #Ravenwing Attack Bikes & Black Knights... I know it seems like I haven't been hobbying and that's partly true, but I have done some things, just haven't written about them yet. Anyway, this is the metallics on all the bikes.

There were some slight changes to the recipe - Army Painter Rough Iron > VGC Hammered Copper > Citadel  Retributor Armour > Citadel Runelord Brass. The Runelord is'.t as light as the mix of gold and silver I usually do but the further sepia wash blends [obscures] it all anyway.

Having drybrushed and sponged the metallics on I then touched up all the back to make it tidy. Although bikes can be labour intensive, and attack bikes doubly so,

the Black Knights were also coming along. I even regret not getting my last 3 bikes 'Raven-blinged' up and to this stage too. The thought of tackling them further down the line and doing all this again is a little off-putting.

The Primaris Chaplain has kept pace though, even though I didn't want my Primaris force to have bronze as feature - they'll be silver as a significant counter-point to all my other armies.

That said, although I don't want Primaris in my Dark Angels, I have the Redemptor because it's a solo unit and would be a centrepiece. For that reason I think this as a HQ choice can sit along old school figures because it's a standout model.

I do have 2 other old skool Chaplains on bikes though so I can have them consistent if I want.

Question: I need to put a Ravenwing banner on the back of this bike, don't I?

With these ready for their Blessed Verdigris I ran out of momentum and switched to some terrain...

Dark Angels - Ravenwing Talonmaster - White Pics

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer my Ravenwing Talonmaster. Really I should have taken these pics against black, given their colour scheme 😉 but white will do.

Monkeychuka will be most pleased with these unadulterated images, he's right they do show off the painting a bit more, even though they're a little less atmospheric.

It's weird seeing some of the finish as the weathering in particular looked over the top when I first did it [so long ago]. However, now I think it's fine and fascinating to see how the Turquoise pooled.

The glow FX aren't exactly my best on the jets, but again I think the overall look is worth more than the effort I put in. I'm getting a lot of satisfaction from the 'cost/benefit' ratio out of this, the cost being my effort in achieving an effect.

I mean this angle makes those jets look really good, framed with the aged bronze and then the BLESSED VERDIGRIS. I've loved that effect since I first did it on my Dark Vengeance Plasma guys 8 years ago! 

It's often a bit hit and miss, like my purity seals but for the most part the result works out OK.

I also added my 'Bear Claw' tribal stripes, both on the crew and the top of the Land Speeder.

I did the ones on the top both diagonally left and right, the existing Speeders ones is angled right and one is angled left, so it had to be both, as the 'tip of the spear'. But you can just make out the angles aren't quite mirrored perfectly, which is annoying. I'll stick to one set in future.

Close-up of the 'lava' sword and the Talonmaster's tribal stripes.

The Gunner's tribal stripes and the now obvious simplicity of the highlights. I think the eye lenses were even simpler than usual, with a few less steps but I don't see much of a difference.

That BLESSED VERDIGRIS tho! And to think I wasn't going to add the hood ornament, but what was I going to do with it otherwise?

And here we are swapping out the radar dish and honour badge for the Typhoon Launchers.

The orange missiles are a bit more vibrant than my previous too, thanks to Trollslayer ORange.

And I love how that ties in with the Power Sword colours, something a silver blade with blue highlights would have introduced more colours to the palette.

There were still some bits of Tamiya Clear colours to add and I do need to glue some of my Speeder bases together but I really, really love a Speeder squadron.

That's one of those items I think I'd just keep buying more of, unnecessarily! Anyway, since this I didn't quite capitalise on the momentum with my Attack Bikes, just some metallics added. That's because my son is back from university and we've been watching the Expanse. 🚀  Which if you haven't watched it you should as it's possibly the closest thing we have to a 40k TV show right now. The final season in particular has some excellent space battles.

Dark Angels - Ravenwing Talonmaster - TO DONE!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer my Ravenwing Talonmaster. This feels like ages ago. I think it's about 2 weeks since I finished the Talonmaster. I've since picked up the eldest from uni, so my hobby time has been reduced and it feels odd to be writing this post [I;ve a Blood Bowl tournament to report on too and that was like 3 weeks ago!]

Anyway, with my epiphany regarding the simplicity of my black highlights I cracked on no bother. All the red's got highlighted, parchments and purity seals and any additional glow or lense effects.

It was only two or three sessions after the last update to get it finished and I was really chuffed as it's a big deal. Unfortunately I hadn't got any of my attack bikes or other Ravenwing up to speed so it's a retrograde step to be starting them from the beginning of the metallic stage.

But back to the Talonmaster and you can see I opted for the currently en vogue molten lava/red hot power sword. I watched a number of tutorials from the likes of Artis Opus, the one and only Duncan Rhodes, Vince Neturella and 2brushes1cup.

Given the wealth of research one might expect better results but I'm really pleased with it. It totally does not stand up to close scrutiny and there are so many subtleties from those tutorials that I just didn't do. BUT, from a tabletop perspective I thinks it's perfect.

I really can't see what difference hours of additional blending and glazing would have added to the sword. Even the quick and dirty additional glow FX feel bob on. It's amazing how some rough stippling hast achieved this. That's nto say I might not try to be more careful next time, that is practice afterall, but I'm over the moon with the end result.

I also got the Typhoon Launchers finished, I'd forgotten to do all the orange missiles for so long, so that was a last minute thing.

I do like a Squadron of these.

I don't think these can be armed with Power Swords, but I wasn't going to magnetise his weapon, not everything has to be 100% W.Y.S.I.W.Y.G.

I do like how the blade echoes the missiles though.

That trophy banner will inevitably get snapped off.

This will at least be something new for my #ArmiesOnParade2022 Ravenwing Vs Death Guard, so that's another bonus.

But I also envisage if I ever play with my Dark Angels the Talonmaster will be an essential choice to support the rest of the Ravenwing. So it's a major achievement [even though I don't always differentiate that in my stamps of approval...).

So, here's my Great Big BLESSED VERDIGRIS Stamps of Approval! White pics to follow.

Dark Angels - Ravenwing Talonmaster - Highlights

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer my Ravenwing Talonmaster. And so it comes to edge highlighting black, a task I have been avoiding like the plague and I can't seem to figure why. Having committed to finally finishing this Talonmaster I learned something:

Black highlights are nothing to be afraid of!

The recipe is quite simple really:

• Incubi Darkness
• Dark Reaper
• Fenrisian Grey•

I do have an Anita's Baby Blue craft acrylic that is an alternative to the Fenrisian Grey, it's paler and naturally more blue, but it's thinner so I stuck with the Citadel paint.

Eventually when I'd done all the highlights I like to go back in with some more AP Matt Black, to try and tidy up the highlights, particularly the chunky Incubi Darkness ones. Whether it adds the occasional 'tide mar' that you see in matt black on flat surfaces is somewhat of a gamble.

But really, there's mothing to be afraid of. Is it the greatest black highlight ever painted? No. Will it do? Absolutely, and far from something I should fear it's relatively simple and easy to do.

Fingers crossed I can hold onto this knowledge and power through the 3 Attack Bikes and 3 Ravenwing Black Knights too. They're a bit behind, I haven't even done their metallics, but it'd be nice to ride this crest. With them done it'll be a nice set of nids and Dark Angels that will have been done on the bounce. Then it's new challenges?

The highlights on the front of their helmets need a bit of tidying up, red areas need highlighted and I've still to decide on what colour to do the power sword.

But I am back in the saddle and I am going to get this done, mark my words!