Relictors! (updated 5/26/10 -Army finished! Captain pics)

[Schmapdi]

Following my thread from last week (thank for the input there) I decided to strip my old color scheme that I was unhappy with and repaint them as Relictors following this excellent tutorial I found on Bolter & Chainsword.

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/i...howarticle=449

I painted up my test Marine last night to see how it'd go and I'm pretty pleased with the results. Obviously it's not quite as good as the one linked above (and yes I painted the exact same Marine so I could best compare) but I think he's pretty close, and is nigh excellent by my own standards.
(Oh, and I didn't do the weathering of 15 layers of glaze of three different colors - screw that)

Here he is - what do you think?

Front

Back

[Deathwolf]

Nice looking mini. Would be great to see an army of them. Cant really see any painting improvements because that guide is great and all you could need.


keep it up !

[Skrzyp]

You might want to clean up some of the thicker highlights (for example on the helmet's side vents, and the black on the shoulder pads), but overall it looks good.
In the future, you could try adding a simple lens effect to the eyes, as they look a bit flat right now.

[Schmapdi]

Yeah - I could use the touchups on highlights - I'm still not very good at them. I had already touched up the shoulders for instance :P (or so I thought...)

What do you mean about the lenses though? Are you talking about the "drop of white" in the corner - because I haven't had much luck pulling that off in the past.

I agree though they do looka bit dull now that you mention it. They are two tone - blood/scab red, but it's not very noticeable.

[Kampvarg]

"The drop of white" is a funny new way of making up new rants of bad language, but it does make helmet lenses pop out more.

Otherwise, kudos on the marine. He looks good. Make more!!
BTW, have you thought of colorscheme on vehicles?

[Skrzyp]

You could try going with lighter colors. Have Blood Red be the main color, and then use a Red/Orange mix for a small highlight. You can then also try the white reflection dot (I have problems with that too, I never know how it's going to turn out when I'm doing it).

Kind of similar to this picture (note not mine)

Alternatively you could do a three tone, by just adding an orangish red highlight to what you already have (opposite from the darker scab red). You could also use a reddish brown (like Dark Flesh) for your shade instead of Scab Red

[Fightingfirst]

The model looks really good and I aggree with skrzyp that the only bit left to improve on is the thickness of the highlights and the eye lense. But other wise good work.
FF

[Tinweasel]

Guess I've decided on another scheme to add to my Chaos warband!

On the topic of fixing your highlights, you can always go back with thinned paint in the color of the main armor panels and cut into any overly thick highlights. The only true way to "fix" them right from the outset is either to use a narrower point brush, maintain a steadier application, or thin down your paints a bit more so it takes multiple passes to work up to a final highlight.

I think he turned out just fine, though, and like I said, you can always cut into them with a thinned-down basecoat to narrow them if you like. (That's how I do it, anyways.)


For the light glints on the eye lenses, you can either use a very narrow brush and slightly thinned paints, or do what I've done in the past and try applying your paint with something like a whittled-down toothpick point or the head of a pin.

As to the multiple glazes, yeah, it looks just fine having skipped them. The color change is noticeable, though, and they'd also have the side benefit of muddling the transitions between your colors (so the highlight edges wouldn't look as stark compared to the underlying layer, same as cutting back in).

[SocietySoldier]

One of my favorite chapters, good to see some justice done to them, consider me subscribed

[Xenith]

Looking great, for a test marine, cant wait to see more.

Just chiming in on tidying the highlights, the one on his left leg around the...box...thing on the armour, its not really square, ruins the effect of the highlight. That, and add another highlight to the lenses, youll be amazed at how much more they 'pop' with that little extra work!

[Schmapdi]

Here's this week's progress. Two grueling painting sessions resulting in the completion of ... 4 guys. Even assembly line style they took me ~ 2 hours a pop. I hate being so slow!

2nd Batch

Making for a grand total of ... 5 guys.

Combat Squad Done!

Now with updated gleam-y eyes. (Very hard to get a decent shot of this)

Gleam!

[Kampvarg]

Slow and purposeful! Take your time, the end result always benefits.
These guys are looking really good! Better highlights too

[Evil-Termite]

They look really nice. Good pick on the scheme!

[Schmapdi]

Another weeks(ish) progress. Another triumphant .... 4 guys finished. :/ Ah well.

The last of the "plain" tac marines - now with basing! I'm shooting for an alien winter planet.

3 Marines

The Missle Marine.

Launcher

Progress so far.

Progress!

Up next will be the Sgt of course, which will bring me back up to where I was in late March. Then 5 Assault Marines, 5 Terminators, a Dread and the Captain remain. Small squad sizes and one-ofs should make it pretty fun painting from here on out.

[n0z3k1ll3r]

Very nice. I'm rather fond of the simple but effective Relictor colour scheme, and it's been implemented here without coming across as bland (which I imagine is a risk you can run with a palette of fairly dark colours). The basing helps a lot too.

[redemptor_40k]

I like them, your painting style is very neat and overall I would say the models look quite crisp.

Looking forward to seeing more.

[Kampvarg]

I second redemptor on that one. Even though it's a pretty simple scheme, you make it look really nice. Can't wait for the dread...

[[MaGiC]]

Nice crisp standard TT quality.. I like

[Schmapdi]

Sgt.

Been a busy week or so, but I did manage to finish the Tac Squad Sgt, finishing the squad completely. Woot.

Though I think his head turned out a little better in his previous incarnation.

10/22 done. Hopefully will be able to get them all finished by the end of the month.

[Danustar]

You're on fire!

I want to echo the comments here. You've done this chapter total justice.
It's such a great scheme but has the potential to be terribly bland.
In particular, your suble use of metallic features make the models sing.
Love it

[seaglen]

great use of colours!

im working on a grey/black/white chapter at the mo, and this has encouraged me to keep the current scheme!
good job!

[Galorn2]

nice job there. very crisp and clean looking.

[Schmapdi]

Another week and another update of a startling lack of progress. I finished my Terminator Sgt!

He took forever to paint as he had several areas of time consuming details that really bogged me down.

Tada:

Terminator Sgt (front)

Power Sword & Crux

[Galorn2]

Looking good so far.

[Gabriel Angelos]

yEAH! It is definitely looking very solid! I am really liking it! BTW how about some relictors fluff to spice up the threat?

Will you be adding Legionaries of the Damnation lateR?

[Schmapdi]

Here's the finished Terminator Squad, woot for progress!

Termies!

More Termies!

Group shot of the whole squad.

Next I think I'll work on the Dreadnaught, which I've been looking forward too for a long time. (I've had him for over a year now!)

[Kampvarg]

Lookin' goooood! I like this paint scheme more and more. No flamboyant colors, no extra bullcrap, just simple and easy. It's looks more "realistic" than say, Howling Griffons, if you know what I mean...
Are you gonna leave those "shouldershields" like that, or are they gonna get some markings or sumfin'?

[Nikephoros]

No heavy weapon in the terminator squad?!

[Schmapdi]

inre: markings - I dunno, staying blank for now at least. I have had back luck with transfers in the past, and am not confident enough to try to freehand anything.

inre: heavy weapons - they are just the Aobr Termies, I didn't get to arm them

Thanks for all the nice comments guys!

[Gabriel Angelos]

Looking good! The ice enviorment that you are giving them will indeed suit them well!
They are all turning really good! I love your terminators.

[Schmapdi]

When I started the dread a few days ago I hated how it was looking - but once I got him all done I'm actually really happy with how he turned out.

It was my first real go at weathering and I may have been a bit heavy on it - but it looks nice overall I think.

Also I did a lot of little tiny freehand details that I normally am too afraid to attempt - like the number on his leg, the kill markings, a little bit of typography on the purity seal.

And bonus points to anyone who can make out his name! I'm not sure how I managed to get it so tiny.

Here's the pics! (Too many really, but I'm all proud)

Dread Front

Sarcophagus close up

Dread Back

A better shot of the powerfist

Melta, Kill marks.

I can't decide to paint the captain next, and call it project done for a while (saving the Assault Marines for a future expansion - I'm eager to get to Ogres) or do the assault marines then captain so I can be "done" done with SM for the forseeable future, wiping a project from my bloated backlog.

Decisions Decisions...

[Col Von Barring]

Would that name be " Cantrell"? Well impressed with your Dreadnought. Love the attential to detail on the pipes leading into the side of the sarcophagus. Now I'll have to paint them on my Dreads! Thats the trouble with looking at all the skill you guys put into your minis. Lots of the time you're painting details I haven't even noticed!

[Schmapdi]

I decided to go ahead and finish all my Marines to get them done, done.

So here's my test marine - I wasn't too sure what to do about the jump pack, I didn't want to hit the point of grey overload, so I left it black to contrast with the marine. Though that's left it looking a little on the plain side. Though I figure Relictors are a bit on the practical side and all...

Assault Marine Front

Assault Marine Back

And the colonel was right on the Dread name - I'm surprised it was legible to anyone but me. My handwriting with a pen is terrible, let alone a tiny brush.

[Galorn2]

is the Jump pack highlighted at all?

[Schmapdi]

It is, but only around the sharp edges - I didn't want to do the whole thing only to decide to change the pack later.

[Galorn2]

Fair enough.

[Schmapdi]

Another two weeks and some progress - I've finished the Assault Squad! Leaving only my Captain to go - and good news, he's already 80% done, so I should be all finished with my Relictors by the weekend.

Here they be:

Group (clustered)

Group (line)

Jump Packs

Sgt (front)

You can see why I don't do more freehand.

Sgt (shield)

Marines 1

Marines 2

Thanks for looking!

[Kampvarg]

Lookin' good!

Freehand tip: "Dot out" the image you want to paint first, so it's more like connect-the-dots. If ya know waddamean?

[Schmapdi]

Well, since he was almost finished anyway - I went ahead and painted the head and sword of the captain last night, completing the army. Woot! Right around 2 months to the day to finish.

Here's some shots of the captain, and an army shot:

The darn light washed out his face - but without it the room was just too dark to get a good shot. But it's not actually that bright.

Captain, front

Captain, back

I tried several times to get a nicely scripted "Relictors" on that banner before I valiantly gave up and went with squigglies.

A non-cropped banner shot

Power Sword

Completed Army Shot!

Thanks a lot to everyone who added helpful comments or gave some nice praise along the way! Maybe I'll ressurect this post at some point if I ever add to the army.

[Evil-Termite]

Those models look good! Congrats on finishing. You really powered through the painting and it's paid off now that you have a fully painted and based set of models.

I really hope you add to the army because some more tanks and some speeders would look really cool in this army.

[LordAba]

Yeah, it really looks amazing. Plain gray armies are usually tough to get looking good, but it works very well. I love the simple bases as well... it looks really interesting as it's almost 2D without a bunch of flock on it.

[Kampvarg]

Congrats indeed!
The boyz are lookin' good.

I second Evil-Termite on the coming back.
Something about this colorscheme tells me it needs land speeder at least.
And some bikes.
And some Rhinos for transport.
And a Land Raider for the Termies.
And so forth....