Dark Angels - Ravenwing Black Knights - Big Build TO DONE!

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been converting some Ravenwing bikers into Ravenwing Black Knights, similar to what I did 4 years ago.

These are just the basic bikes, but with a Ravenwing upgrade sprue and some of the extra robed figures I was able to kit three bikes out as slightly more 'fancy' than the standard bikers.

Obviously the Plasma Talons are the hard part of the conversion. These are achieved using extra Plasma Pistols. I don't even worry about the bolter 'magazine' [or the fact those two pistols are actually slightly different sizes]. When it's painted and slightly canted over to the side it will hardly be noticeable.

I had one spare Corvus Hammer, shame I couldn't show it off a bit more in its pose. However, having sticky out bits is a recipe for it snapping off or not fitting in a figure case. I was actually going to mount back pack decorations on all three but scotched the idea for this very reason.

I also press-molded a Corvus Hammer. It is rough as hell, but I'm hoping paint will cover up some of the deficiencies. For some reason I thought as this one could be kept separate it would be easier to paint. We'll see if my theory is right

 

His bike, plus the Space Wolf Plasma Pistols, which look vaguely chaotic with their spikes. It's funny how that context is changed from the savage animalism of the Space Wolves, to the traitorous Fallen of the Dark Angels.

Anyway, I get Big Build Great Big Granite Base Stamp of Approval for this and I've some more Ravenwing to add soon.

Dark Angels - Ravenwing Talonmaster - basecolours

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity Alongside my Macragge Tactical Squad I've been #paintingwarhammer on my Ravenwing Talonmaster. The metals were finished in conjunction, that Army Painter Strong Tone taking that bronze to a proper aged look in places.

Perhaps too much? But the blessed verdigris will obfuscate things a bit - hide issues, fill in discrepancies. It's a great leveller, I'm not even too proud to suggest it isn't a crutch. But it is more than just that. It adds as well as hides for so little effort.

That relic banner will be a constant annoyance, I have no doubt. It's very fragile and precarious, I suspect it'll snap off repeatedly. I'll have to find a gentle way to transport it. All of the black has been recovered, reds and I'm going to work on the cockpit next.

The irony of doing this, is I wish I was doing more of them. I really like the little compactness of them - the new speeders are just too big. Saying that I'm certain to do more than just this one would probably kill my motivation dead.

What I could do is get those Ravenwing attack bikes ready to prime and then they could waiting in the wings should I still have a Ravenwing itch once this is complete.

It does annoy me that I tried really hard to keep this model as tight as possible, to prevent gaps in the kit, but those angled edges around the cockpit are awful! I should have tried a little harder to smooth them over...

I think I'm feeling the urge to try and rectify that somehow, even if it is a step back I should be happier with the finish before I go on and paint the rest of the model. We'll see.

Dark Angels - Macragge Tactical Squad - Shading

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer this Macragge tactical squad. A quick one, but not necessarily quick to get here. After the last post I added the next set of highlights on all the metallics. I also cleaned up some of the green and added red where it needed to be.

Now in most GW tutorials they might have advised and additional coat of Caliban green on all the respective areas but I was adding load of black shade wash so it didn't need to be perfect. I'll be cutting back in with green highlights anyway.

Once that's done I'll also be blending in the darkest areas with black. I say blend, it's just thinned down black that I can easily fade, with some drybrushing in places - did you ever notice you don't get the chalky effect drybrushing black? Worth thinking about for those ultra dark colours.

Note the additional purity seal on the back of the squad leader. The back pack has a load of glue on that banner and a lot of the detail has been obscured. I thought an extra purity seal might just cover up the mess. 

Unfortunately the worst of it is on the front of the backpack, but there just isn't room for another seal to hide things. Hopefully the banner itself will proved a better focus point and maybe the blessed verdigris will hide the rest of it...

Slow but steady progress. Green highlights will be a challenge. If I can set a goal four highlighted in a night that will help me reconcile the remaining tasks. Even so this is far quicker than I expected. I genuinely feared I wouldn't get these done but I'm about a third the way through, here's roughly what's left:

• Marines bronze
• Marines blessed verdigris
• Marines green
• Marines eyes
• Marines freehand symbol
• Marines freehand knees
• Marines leather pouches
• Marines purity seals
• Marines odds & sods
• Marine face
• Marine banner
• Marines bases
• Marines varnish

Dark Angels - Macragge Tactical Squad - Metallics

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer this Macragge tactical squad. It's funny how coming to the conclusion that these are my priority can overcome the perceived obstacles they face. I've gone on record numerous times about how I find my own brassy bronze recipe a challenge.

I don't know why that is and I don't know why I persist in following the same process knowing full well it can sap my motivation. Thankfully, this is not currently the case and coming to terms with the task had meant I've got the Army Painter Rough Iron [Warplock Bronze] on.

I would normally follow up with Balthasar Gold but it had run our and I used VGC Hammered Copper instead. It is indeed slightly more copper coloured [reddish] than the Citadel paint.

However, as you can see Retributor Gold on top and the forthcoming additional highlight, wash and blessed verdigris will blend/obscure the slightly warmer tone of the VGC paint.

While I was at it I started one of the Aegis Defence Line gun emplacements. It's missing the additional textures I've previously applied to the ADL, Bastions and other terrain elements

But I just wanted to get going and not faff about. I've actually got a couple more of these and the las-cannon turrets to do. If this goes well as is I'll follow up on them. If it feel lacking I'll ensure they get that extra texture.

As I was doing metals, it made sense to do the same on the Talonmaster

Can't wait to get onto tidying all these up. I have an overwhelming belief they'll take much less time than I imagine. I want to be pleasantly surprised, perhaps bottle that feeling and get some other Ravenwing built and prepped and jump onto them too. I have 3 attack bikes afterall and 3 bikes I was going to convert to be Black Knights too.

The extra weapons, master and gunner also got done, but I didn't take pictures. I have this feeling of absolute hobby satisfaction - my mojo is up, I'm motivated and willing I just need time to capitalise on that energy.

Blood Bowl - Halfling Team - Crackling

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've done a bit more #paintingwarhammer on my Halfling #BloodBowl team. I know I just said I had other stuff to focus on but that was a conclusion I came to as I was doing this. This was a big step - covering the red basecoat in white in readiness for the fluoro pink.

Weird in a way because I liked the red, but also the white looks pretty cool too.

And big jump here. The fluoro pink went on and it's been highlighted a couple of times [mixing in white]. The weather turned very warm so the paint was drying quite rapidly

I also added some Army Painter Skeleton bone pinstripes, but felt they need defining a bit more, hence the additional Khorne Red 'drop-shadow'. I've added some Bloodletter glaze in the recesses and highlighted all the tops of creases to get extra definition.

I added the criss-cross of the crackling pattern on the helmet and shoulder pads. It's frustrating in a way as when I did it on my original models decades ago I was actually neater. I tried adding the Skeleton Bone for more definition, still to add the cloves, although the helmet studs suffice there. That said the criss-cross pattern is all over the shop on the helmet, so I'm a little underwhelmed.

While I was at it I did some of the same crackling bits on this Hefty - shoulder pads, helmet, highlighted the skin and did the eye.

Cloves will be in the centre of the criss-cross I see examples where they're placed both in the centre of the square and at the juncture of the cuts.

This helmet is the most representative of a ham, but the shoulder pads - I'm kicking myself at the difference in size of the patterns :(

The catcher also got crackled and a first set of highlights, and his eyes, slightly skew-whiff but passable. I need to work out how to do a flushed complexion on a dark skintone next.

I also remembered to make his palms and soles of his feet lighter skinned. It's a small detail that I believe can be overlooked and as I continue to explore varied skintones it was worth doing. One thin coat on the palm of his hand already looks quite effective.

I have to admit I'm not quite as pleased as I hoped to be with the pink, or the crackling for that matter. I'm pretty sure that the varnish will tone things down, it's currently a bit glossy in places which makes it odd. I think the pinstripes really help the model, but overall it is very, very busy and the crackling pattern is all over the place - which is where most of my disappointment lies.

Half the team will have brown shoulder trim, the other half orange to make the crackling effect bolder. I want to get these three completed, perhaps do the orange basecoats on all the rest... but now I want to get all the metallics done on my tactical squad too - time and motivation [plus cooler working conditions] please!

Whats on my palette?

Bless me #warmongers for I have sinned, it's been almost six months since my last confession! I've known exactly what I needed to paint so it didn't really require an overview to keep track.

I was reasonably productive over this period and only have these 4 items still on my immediate palette:

• Adeptus Titanicus - at least one Warhound
• Adeptus Titanicus - weapons
• Blackstone Fortress - Amallyn Shadowguide [she was in my review last Feb!]
• Deathwing Land Raider

But most of those are either voluntarily or involuntarily on hiatus and I need to think about what I really should be focussing on. I know I just posted about the Halfling test model but that is interim 'busy work' to keep my momentum and won't be sustainable once it's complete. So, the thing that has popped into my head is #ArmiesOnParade2021. Early? True but these are what I might need.

• Dark Angel Macragge Tactical Squad
• Ravenwing Talon Master
• Aegis Defence Line weapon mount
• Munitorum Containers...
• And the Deathwing Land Raider

The Tactical Squad is a huge challenge - I'm just not into them. The Talon Master may not be needed for the AoP board, but certainly the metals can be done concurrently with the Tactical squad which puts me close to getting it done also. The weapon mount too is an extension to the tac squad and might look cool in the display. The Munitorum Containers may not be necessary, but might be interesting to throw up inbetween tasks.

I'll also be finishing off the Land Raider, it's just a little bit to do really, with the decals. And I'll continue with the odd Blood Bowl Halfling while I'm at it. But all these will give me something new to form part of my display. It'll predominantly be my existing armies, so I need something fresh to add, but I think it'll be an interesting new narrative display this time round. Part of me also wants a 22"x30" board as it will display better that way, but I don't have a 30" backdrop either. We'll see how it goes.  I'm hoping to get these things done as soon as possible so I can practice the display, we'll just have to see.

Importantly, it gives me focus and a goal. That deadline may not yet be set but I can get a headstart on it and feel motivated to get stuff done.

Blood Bowl - Halfling Team - Test Model

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've started #paintingwarhammer on my Halfling #BloodBowl team. The Land Raider is paused, while I try to resolve the decal situation and I didn't want to go back to the Titans, so it was test model. I wanted to get some practice on the face and the kit. The face was coming along really well and then I decided to add eyebrows...

 

Big mistake, I was not taken by them at all. he reminds me of an actor, but I can't place which one, actually is it Scorsese? Anyway, I wasn't having it. I added some orange to the armour plates.

And then yellow to make the 'crackling'. I did brown edging but I may mix that up - some with brown some with all yellow. As you can see I also painted over the eyebrows and despite it being a cheat I think he works much better. I added a little more purple round the nose to get a very flushed face. I also painted some belly fluff, which looks gross and cool and also makes me miss the plain belly I had originally - mixed emotions.

The feet are my least favourite element, I do love the knuckles and elbow though, I got some tips from the Art of War's painting tutorial.

Now I was focussing on one miniature as a test, but as I had excess paint in certain instances I used it on a couple of other players. So I've got the yellow done on this, although I've thinking an addition highlight might be needed. That might work our when I've done the crackling criss-cross.

 

This guy also got some yellow done. I maybe should have done his dinner plate number badge with the yellow. I may do one some different ones, like a camping plate - ceramic white with blue rim. A silver one etc. Just play around for a bit of fun.

 

I have to take the plunge and do the pure white highlight on the clothes next in preparation for the fluoro pink. I have to be brave and remember my Tyranid Void Shield Generator efforts and how well they came out.

Really pleased with the test so far. Need to move them along but I am feeling a little drained at the moment and given the pause in the Land Raider really need to focus on what's next...