The Angel's Talon

Progress report: 3rd Tactical Squad

2011-02-03T16:25:00.000+01:00

Wow... First post since july.... And the first post of 2011! Let's see if I can breathe som life back into this blog, eh?

The good news is that I'm feeling a lot of motivation coming back, so I've actually picked up my Dark Angels project again, right where I left it: the three marines from 3rd Tactical Squad, 3rd Company.

And here they are:

As you can see, they're almost done. So, what prompted this activity? Well, recently, there's been a lot of hobby activity in the local 40k community, and it's really inspiring! I decided to organize a painting night and invited some friends, and it was great fun! We were six people, talking, laughing and painting. Hopefully, we're doing this again soon.

These guys just need some minor highlighting done, and of course the chapter symbol on their left shoulder pads. That's next session, and then I get to finally cross out some more men on my goal sheet!

/S

The mechanical undead are taking over...

2010-07-19T22:10:00.003+02:00

I didn't paint or build anything last week. Frankly, it was just too damn hot, my brain was boiling in my skull. :)

Today, I've assembled the first model in my Cryx army for Warmachine, so no Dark Angels this week.

If anyone's interested in the Cryx project, you can follow it here:
The Millenium Gate / 10 points of mechanical undead

EDIT: The thread on the 'Gate is dead, so the above link does not work.

Another monday, another painting session

2010-07-05T21:36:00.002+02:00

Honestly, I didn't really feel like painting today, but I did anyway. Again, it was just a little, but I did finish all the skulls and chest eagles on the three marines I'm working on. Sorry, no picture.

I do feel that I'm getting closer, though. Another session, or two, and these marines will be done. Only three models done in several months may seem like nothing, but compared to zero, it's actually quite a lot!

See you next week!

/S

Progress report: 3rd Tactical Squad

2010-06-28T20:32:00.004+02:00

Last monday, I decided to start painting at least a little bit each week. So, for today I continued painting the three marines from last week.

Today's grand total: Metal bits

That's it. Not much, but a hell of a lot more than nothing. :)

And here they are:

I'm really glad the project is moving forwards again.

See you next week!

/S

Painting again

2010-06-21T19:04:00.003+02:00

(Wow, I just realized this blog has been dead for eight months... That is sad. I haven't even been building or painting anything for those eight months, either, which is even more sad...)

Today, I finally dug out some Space Marines that I started painting months ago, and took the time to sit down and dip some brushes. It felt really good. The new plan is to do what I did last year, paint at least a little every week, but on mondays.

So, what did I do tonight?

Three marines, two with bolters and one with missile launcher, got a touch up on their Orkhide Shade base coats, and also got a brand spanking new base coat of Mechrite Red on their shooty bits.

Not much, but it does bring me that much closer to my goal of a complete Battle Company.

I'm really glad I did this tutorial a couple of years ago, because it's now been so long since I painted, I need it to remember what to do!

3rd Co. Command Squad - DONE!

2009-10-17T01:40:00.005+02:00

Yes! Tonight, I finished the Company Master and his Command Squad, and it feels really good!

Pictures? Coming up!

That means six more boxes crossed on my 1000pt army Goal Sheet...

...but it also means six more crosses on my Battle Company goal sheet!

The command Razorback is about 35% done, as is the Predator. The second Rhino, though, got some more paint tonight, as well, and is at about 65-70%. I'm hoping to finish it next painting session.

See ya later!

/Stitch

Progress Report: Company Master & Command Squad

2009-10-10T13:30:00.000+02:00

I'm feeling pretty good after last night's painting session. I got more work done than I'd planned, which is really nice. I can definitely believe this squad will be finished in another session, or two, max.

Here are some pictures:

The Master and the Sergeant (powerfist) are completely done, except for the bases.

I decided to paint the Company badge on their right shoulder pads, to mark them out as the Command Squad and connect them to the company.

And here's a close-up of the Chapter Badge on the Sergeant:

Already looking forwards to next Friday, when I'll sit down for another painting session!

/Stitch

New pictures! (Command Squad WIP + Rhino)

2009-10-06T01:54:00.003+02:00

Yep, I'm finally going to show you what's been going on lately! :)

First up, here are the Company Master and his Command Squad, as of yesterday. Actually, I discovered that I lied in my last post. I listed what was left to do, but I forgot about highlighting the red bits, so add that to the list. Here they are, work in progress, remember: (click for bigger picture)

And here's the finished Rhino of 1st Tactical Squad 3rd Company: (click for bigger pictures)

There are a couple of details I'm not 100% happy with: the "1" on the front should be centered, and I think the Chapter Badge on the left door is a bit wonky. But I decided right away that I won't re-do them. It would just waste time, as I think they're "good enough". I honestly think I won't even think about it when the tank is on the table with a bunch of other painted minis. On the whole, I'm just so darned pleased that I'm making progress, and I can't wait to field a completely painted army!

I want to thank Drathmere for his comment on my last post, and encourage everyone to visit his blog: http://40khobbyblog.blogspot.com/ (Great stuff!)

See you soon!

/Stitch

Progress! I'm painting again!

2009-10-03T15:31:00.004+02:00

Yes, you read it correctly. I'm painting again, and making good progress. A major motivating factor was this comment on my original Dark Angels Painting Tutorial, so thanks Andrew for the positive feedback!

For the past two months, I've been painting every friday night, and I've actually got som progress to show for it. Unfortunately, I don't have my camera with me right now, so pictures will come later. The camera in my iPhone is worthless for taking pictures of miniatures, but here's a picture of my updated Goal Sheet:

As you can see, both Tactical Squads and one Rhino are now completely done. What you can't see is that everything else is base coated. I didn't finish the army for the Deffcup, of course, but I managed to cover everything in the minimum three colours so I could play in the tournament.

As I said above, I'm now painting every friday night and my Company Master and Command Squad are almost done. The only things left to paint are the wings on the Master's helmet and the squad/company markings on all six marines. Oh, and the bases. I'm expecting to complete them all in two or three more sessions.

Pictures will follow soon, I hope. I also hope to get back into updating the blog more often, but I'm still not going to make any promises I don't know I can keep. :)

/Stitch

The rumours of my death...

2009-08-08T02:10:00.003+02:00

...have been greatly exaggerated... :)

Yes, good people, finally I return to the Angel's Talon. It's been weeks and weeks, and it's great to be back.

I'm not prepared to start promising regular updates yet. I'd feel bad if I couldn't keep those promises. I'd rather under promise and over deliver, than the other way around, so to speak.

Here's the promised tutorial on how to make a Scratch built mount for Hunter Killer Missile.

Hopefully, I'll see you again soon.

Best regards,

Stitch

Tutorial: Scratch built mount for Hunter Killer Missile

2009-08-07T00:53:00.006+02:00

I came up with this conversion because I needed more Hunter Killer Missiles to put on my tanks. Well, I had all the missiles I needed, but I didn't have any mounts for them, because I'd used them for the storm bolters.

So I decided to make some on my own, and here's how you can make yours.

The Parts

These are the parts needed:

As you can see, except for the actual missile, you only need a couple of bits. The conversion is dead easy to do.

Cut and Paste

First you take the mount for the "scanner", or small "radar" thingamajig, and cut off the diagonal bit. Make sure you cut it straight, so you'll get one clean edge. Clean it with a knife if needed.

Next, you separate the mount bit from the hatch bit.

Now, clean up the mount bit with a knife. I made a straight edge, and then I trimmed this as I fitted it to the scanner mount. It'll make a lot more sense later on, so keep reading. Or look at the first photo again, and I think you'll see what I mean.

Take the mount bit and do a dry fit on the missile, don't glue it in place.

Now you need to trim away some plastic to make the mount sit at the correct angle.

Keep trimming away plastic until it looks right. Then you glue the missile bits in place around the mount bit.

Now you just need to glue the mounted missile onto the scanner mount, and you're almost done.

Leave it on its back for a while, to let the glue set.

I want my Hunter Killer Missiles to be removable, for two reasons. One is that it's handy to be able to remove them as you fire them. The other is transportation. If I remove them before packing the tanks in the army transport, I don't risk breaking them off. So, I drill into the mount and glue a pin in place. The pin is just a piece of a metal paper clip.

Next, I drill a hole in a suitable place on the tank...

And there you go!

I'm sure there are a million other ways to do this, and if you've got links to tutorials, please share them! For now, though, this is what I'm doing. I think it looks pretty good.

I hope you liked this small tutorial. Please take a minute to leave a comment, it's highly appreciated!

Best regards,

Stitch

Downgrading the Update Frequency

2009-06-11T23:35:00.000+02:00

What?

Yeah, about that update... Because of other stuff going on in my life, one notable example being my bad back, I'm hereby downgrading from regular updates once a month to basically whenever I feel like it.

I think it sucks, but I don't feel I can live up to my goal of updating on the first of every month, so I'm changing it. I feel it's more honest that way.

Much to do this weekend, so the planned updates will have to wait until next week.

/Stitch

Comments & Answers

2009-06-05T18:55:00.004+02:00

Hi all!

Thanks to everyone who took the time to leave comments. It's much appreciated. Keep 'em coming!

RonSaikowski said:

>>> Great tutorial.
I would have never thought to do the shoulder pads themselves.

Thanks! Yeah, the shoulder pads are a bit of a bother, since you often just get exactly the amount you need. With Tactical marines, you always have more than enough...

Another way to do it is to glue the shoulders (with shoulder pads) in place on the torso, and cut the arms just below the shoulders and put the magnets there. I plan on trying this for a future project.

Oh, and thanks for accepting me into the From the Warp blogger group!

Gurf said:

>>> You have inspired me to make my own Goal Sheet as I prepare for Deffcup.

Cool!

And by the way, what are you planning to use as objectives for Deffcup(if any)?

We built and painted some Dark Angels themed objectives for the Apocalypse battle and I'll be borrowing them.

your Master looks awesome, and I really like the command squad so far.

Thanks! Yeah, I'm pretty pleased with how the whole squad turned out.

However I think that the cloak on the sergeant of the 2nd Tactical Squad looks a little too brown.

Yeah, I changed my painting method for the robes for the 2nd Vet. Sergeant. I wanted the robes to look a bit more like heavy leather instead of cloth. I imagine they have two different sets of robes. Let me explain... I'm thinking it makes sense to have a set of nice ceremonial robes, or "dress robes", like in Harry Potter. :) On the battlefield, I'm thinking the robes needs to be heavier and tougher, hence the cracked leather look. So that's my reasoning behind the new look.

By the way, thanks for the game last week, it was great fun! And thanks for catching the typo, too!

And thanks for the positive comments on my latest magnetic tutorial, Special Weapon Swaps made Easy with Magnets!

the black templar said:

>>> great looking minis ;)

Thanks! And I'm really impressed with your Black Templars as well!

Everyone: Make sure you check out Jocke's blog: A Templar's Quest

See you soon!

/Stitch

New updates this week

2009-06-01T01:21:00.001+02:00

Hi all!

I'm not quite done with the June updates, but they will be online later this week. And, I'm having trouble posting using Firefox. Anyone else experiencing this?

Anyway, here's what's coming:

Comments and answers
Tutorial: Custom mount for Hunter-Killer Missile
DeffCup update
WIP pictures

See you soon!

/Stitch

Special Weapon Swaps made Easy with Magnets

2009-05-01T00:20:00.002+02:00

If you read my blog last month, you'll already know that I like magnets. If you haven't read about magnetizing Terminator arms, you can find the posts here:

Here's a tutorial on how you can magnetize your special weapons on ordinary Space Marines to make it easy to swap them out between battles!

Stuff you need

You need a couple of small drills, I use a 1.5mm and a 2mm. And of course, you need some magnets.

This one is from K&J Magnetics and is 1/16" x 1/32".

Let's go!

First, drill a small guide "pit", using a small drill. The reason I do this is because it is easier to hit the spot you want. I find that I often miss the spot when I go for the bigger drill right away, without the guide.

Now you expand the pit and make it deeper, using a 2mm drill. Try to fit a magnet in the hole now and then, and just keep expanding the hole until the magnet fits. You want it sunk deep enough to be level with the edge of the hand, you don't want it sticking up. When the hole is big enough, you glue a magnet in place.

NOTE! You need to watch the polarities of the magnets so they actually attract each other. For the very first magnet you glue in place, this doesn't mean a thing. But after the first, this gets VERY important.

Now we do the same thing with the chosen weapon. Drill a guide...

And expand the hole...

Now, here's a tip on how to keep the polarities correct. Use a stack of magnets as a sort of handle.

When you glue the magnet in place in the weapon, you'll know that the polarities are correct.

After the glue is dry, you just remove the excess magnets and you're done! The left hand doesn't need a magnet, the weapon will stay in place anyway.

So, you just glue the arms in place on the model as you normally would. But now, with a few more weapons and magnets, you have the option of switching special weapons between games.

Again, remember what I said about polarities, or you may end up with weapons that attach to some figures and not to others. Whenever I glue a magnet into a new arm, I use a weapon as a handle. That way, I know all my weapons will fit all my figures!

Here are a couple of Veterans from a Command Squad I'm currently working on:

As you can see, switching special weapons is a piece of cake!

I hope you found this tutorial helpful. Even if you didn't, comments are always welcome, so keep 'em coming! :)

/Stitch

Progress Report: DeffCup 2009 1000pt Army

2009-05-01T00:15:00.001+02:00

Time for a progress report. The tournament is about six weeks away and I'm a bit nervous! I haven't gotten any painting done in quite a while, but all the models are assembled. Is six weeks going to be enough for me to paint four tanks and 14 infantry? I think so, but I really need to get cracking!

So, here's what my Goal Sheet looks like as of 29 April:

Here are some photos:

Master of the 3rd Company. Ready for primer.

Command Squad of the 3rd Company. Ready for primer.

2nd Tactical Squad of the 3rd Company. Two marines done. One primed, four ready for primer. Three almost done.

Predator, Command Razorback and two Rhinos. These have all been scavenged from one of my unfinished projects, the DIY Space Marine Chapter the Knights Repentant. They will all be re-primed in black. I have added Hunter Killer Missiles to them all. The one on the Predator is held in place with magnets and the others are pinned, but not glued, in place, so they can all be removed for easy storage without breaking them. You probably can't see it in this picture, but three of the HKM's have custom made mounts, and these will be the topic of one of next month's updates!

Six weeks.... I better get painting!

/Stitch

Tip: Goal Sheets

2009-05-01T00:10:00.003+02:00

I'm one of those people that start a hundred projects for every one that I finish. To help me focus on actually finishing a project, I've started using what I call "Goal Sheets".

So, what is a goal sheet?

A goal sheet is a piece of paper that helps you visualize the finished project. Here is my goal sheet for my 1000pt army for the DeffCup, a small tournament coming up in june:

Every box represents a model that needs to be assembled and painted. A small box is a single infantry figure, and a big box is a tank. This particular sheet represents my 1000pt army, consisting of a Company Master with a 5-man Command Squad in a Razorback, two 10-man Tactical Squads in Rhinos and a Predator.

When I have assembled (and based) a model, I circle the corresponding box on the goal sheet. When the model is painted, I cross out the box. Here's a close up:

As you can see, when this picture was taken on 23 april, the first Tactical Squad is finished, their Rhino assembled but unpainted. The Command Razorback and one of the Veterans in the Commmand Squad is assembled and based.

Here's a work-in-progress shot of the Company Master and the Command Squad:
Even though the Company Master is fully assembled, he's not based yet, so doesn't get a circle on the goal sheet just yet.

Why bother with a Goal Sheet at all?

I find it motivates me to look at the sheet and see what's left to do. It helps me focus on the right things. It's also very satisfying to cross out boxes on the sheet, indicating finished models. It's not always practical to have an entire army standing on display, so the sheet is a handy way to "see" the whole army and especially seeing the progress made after each session.

You'll see more of this particular goal sheet in other updates, as I will post progress reports on the army up until the DeffCup.

I have a bigger goal sheet, which is simply a copy of the Battle Company data sheet from Apocalypse. In a future update, I'll show you this as well.

Hope you find this useful. I'd love to see other people's goal sheets!

See you later!

/Stitch

Terminator Weapon Swaps made Easy with Magnets, Part 3

2009-04-05T21:33:00.000+02:00

Finally, here's the last part of my first tutorial with magnets.

If you haven't read Parts 1 & 2, you can find them here:

Terminator Weapon Swaps made Easy with Magnets, Part 1

Terminator Weapon Swaps made Easy with Magnets, Part 2

The Shoulder Pad

This is how I attach the should pads with magnets.

First you slice off a bit of the shoulder.

You then drill a hole as a guide, as I explained in Part 2.

Expand the hole a bit, so that a nail will fit, pretty much like we did in Part 2, except with a slightly smaller nail.

The nail I use for this step has a head that's about 2.5mm.

"Sink" the nail a bit, by carving away some material around the hole, like in Part 2, but it doesn't have to be as deep. It's ok if it sticks up a little bit. When you're happy, glue the nail in place.

Here comes the tricky part, because the shoulder pad is so thin.

Carefully drill another guide, about 3mm from the edge. Make sure you don't drill through the pad! You almost only want to make a small pit, not really a hole.

Expand the hole, again very carefully, with a 1.5mm drill. You just need enough to sink the magnet a bit.

When you're done, just glue a magnet in place. If you're careful not to glue any magnets together, it's handy to use the magnets themselves as a sort of handle to maneuver the magnet in place. After the glue sets, you can easily leave it to dry by sticking them somewhere. In this case, I just attached the stack of magnets to a can of Quick Shade.

When the glue has dried, you're done! Now all you need to do is prep some more arms and torsos and you'll have all the flexibility you want!

By being able to remove the shoulder pads seperately, you also get the added bonus of only having to paint each one once. Handy, if you freehand them like I do. :)

Thanks for reading. Keep those comments coming!

See you on 1 may, with an update on my army for Da DeffCup!

Best regards,

Stitch

Terminator Weapon Swaps made Easy with Magnets, Part 2

2009-04-05T16:59:00.006+02:00

Finally, it's time to magnetize some termies!

If you haven't read Part 1, you can find it here:

Terminator Weapon Swaps made Easy with Magnets, Part 1

The Arm

To let me swap the arms around, as described in Part 1, I'll put magnets in the shoulders of the arms, and put the head of a nail in the shoulder of the torso, for the magnets to stick to. Now, it's possible to save some magnets by doing it the other way around. But because the torso is hollow, I find it easier to get a nail in place instead of a magnet. You'll see why, later on.

Let's go. Here's the arm to be magnetized:

Using the model drill, I drill a hole to act as a guide. It doesn't matter that it's way too small, in fact I want it that way. That makes it easier to get it exactly where you want it, dead center.

Now, using the 3.2mm drill, I expand the hole. The magnet I'm using is 1/8", which is just a little bigger than 3mm, so a 3.2mm drill fits nicely. The plastic is soft enough to use your hands to turn the drill. Just try to make sure you stay in the center, and the drill doesn't "travel".

When you have expanded the hole a bit, try fitting the magnet in there. You want it flush against the torso of the terminator, so you don't want to drill too deep. Just keep drilling and trying until the magnet fits. When it does, glue it in place with super glue, or PVA glue. If you're operating on painted miniatures, you may want to use PVA glue, as it won't damage the paint job.

The Torso

While the glue is drying, you can get to work on the torso.

First, drill a small hole once again.

Now, using a proper cutter, cut the head off a nail. The nails I'm using have heads that are about 3mm, perfect for the job. Now, I know this is supposed to be obvious, but make sure to check that the nails are actually magnetic! :) I don't know if nails are ever made of non-magnetic metals, but it doesn't hurt to check.

As you cut, cup your other hand around the nail to catch the bits. Otherwise, they might go flying off in random directions, and you don't want that. :)

Now expand the hole a bit. I use a 1.5mm drill, about the same thickness as the nail. Then make sure the nail fits in the hole.

After you've made sure it fits, put the nail to one side. Now, using the bigger 3.2mm drill and/or a knife, cut away material around the hole to make the edges slope inwards, so the nail will go in without sticking out. (Here's where I think it's easier to "sink" a nail instead of drilling a larger hole for a magnet in the torso. Since the magnet is thicker than the head of the nail you can run into trouble when you drill deeper and wider into the torso, since it's hollow.)

When it fits, glue the nail in place.

When the glue is dry, you can attach the arm, and take it off, and attach it, and take it off again... You get the idea. :)

For a normal space marine minature, you probably have enough shoulder pads to glue one in place on each arm, so this would be the end of the tutorial. For terminators though, the shoulder pads are rarer, so you may need a way to switch these around as well. Since I'm a nut, I use magnets for this as well. :) And that's the subject of Part 3 that will be posted tonight.

/Stitch

DeffCup: Rules and Army List (and comments!)

2009-04-05T14:23:00.007+02:00

Hey all!

Da DeffCup is approaching, and I thought I'd post an update.

Equinox said:

>>> What are you planning to bring for it?

Hi Equinox! Thanks for leaving a comment! I'm bringing a small mechanized force of 26 infantry models plus 4 tanks. You can see a full army list below.

Any information on the Deffcup? I am curious to read the rules surrounding it.

It's a small tournament for a maximum of 12 participants. There are some special rules and restrictions:

Armies are a maximum of 1000 points.

Models must be painted to a minimum standard (3 colours + bases).

Most armies are allowed, incl. Lost and the Damned (with some changes), Kroot Mercenaries, Feral Orks and 13th Company.

Some units from the Imperial Armour books are allowed, but will be reviewed and apporoved on a case to case basis.

Named Characters are only allowed if you're playing a special list that requires them, for instance Dark Angels Deathwing or Ravenwing.

Lash of Submission is limited to 0-1 / army.

All wargear must be WYSIWYG, What You See is What You Get, apart from the normal exceptions, i.e. some knives, grenades, etc.

Prizes will be awarded for best sportsmanship and best painted army, voted on by the players.

My army list

Since I haven't got much time, I've decided to take the easy way out and go for a small, expensive force. I thought about including a Dreadnought (possibly a Mortis), and/or a Vindicator, and a bunch of scouts (because they're cool), but in the end I decided against them all. My overall goal is to paint a complete battle company, and painting the force listed below will bring me a lot closer to that goal. Plus, I already have all four tanks assembled, just waiting to be painted (or repainted), so it makes sense to use them. I'm also going for cool rather than effective, and in my mind there are few things cooler on the tabletop than a fully mechanized space marine force. :)

So, here's what I'm bringing to Da DeffCup:

HQ: Company Master and Command Squad (5) in a Razorback, 370pts
Company Master: power weapon, combi-plasma
Command Squad: 1 power fist, 1 flamer, 1 plasma gun
Razorback: Twin-linked lascannon, hunter-killer missile

Troops: Tactical Squad (10) in a Rhino, 260pts
Tactical Squad: 1 plasma pistol, 1 plasma gun, 1 plasma cannon
Rhino: Hunter-killer missile

Troops: Tactical Squad (10) in a Rhino, 260pts
Tactical Squad: 1 power weapon, 1 meltagun, 1 lascannon
Rhino: Hunter-killer missile

Heavy Support: Predator, 110pts
Heavy bolter sponsons, hunter-killer missile

I'll be outnumbered by pretty much everyone, but my army will look cool and fluffy. :)

Boondale said:

>>> I came across your blog/painting guide in a search on how to paint Space Marines. Im basing my army off the Space Wolves, but decided to use dark angel green as my base with shining gold marking like the Ultramarines.

Hi and welcome! And thanks for leaving a comment! Sounds interesting, the green and gold should look good together. Looking forwards to seeing the result!

Your guide is working out for me prity well so far, only problem I have is all my minis are together already so I have had to improvise on the eagels. I cant seem to get to the wings under the arms/weapons, but otherwise its looking good.

When I paint models like that, I just paint whatever sticks up over the bolter. There's no need for you to fret about parts of the model that you can't even see without picking it up and really studying it. My advise is just to poke a big brush full of black paint behind the bolter before you start painting. Then you just paint the bits of the chest eagle you can actually see.

I plan to post a few pics when im able to.

Like I said above, I'm looking forwards to it!

If you would like more info what im doing to my SM army please ask.

Consider yourself asked! :) I'm always interested in stuff like this.

I will post part 2 of the magnetic terminator tutorial later today, so stay tuned! :)

As always, thanks for reading.

Best regards,

Stitch

Da DeffCup - 1000pt Tournament

2009-04-02T23:29:00.002+02:00

I've got a new goal in sight: 1000pts painted by June 13!

I need to get a playable army together for the first annual (hopefully) DeffCup.

What did you say? June 13 is only 2 months away? I better get to it!

See you soon...

/Stitch

April update

2009-04-02T23:02:00.004+02:00

Wow... March just kinda sailed past me and I completely missed it... :)

Well, I'm almost back on track now. The april update will be split into several parts, though, until I catch up. The first update is already online here:

Terminator Weapon Swaps made Easy with Magnets, Part 1

Part 2 is coming up in a couple of days.

Now, comments. I love em! Here we go:

AaronB said:

>>> I just finished 1500pts of my Skull Bashers. I made a little back story where they try to follow the Legion of the Damned around. Their Chappie is able to "summon" them.

Here's where I am so far:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8424618@N02/sets/72157614067871510/

Great stuff! You've got a really nice looking army there! I particularly like the Terminator Chaplain, it looks awesome!

>>> *shakes fist* Com'n already! :D

Yeah, sorry about that... :) Well, like I said above, I'm basically back on track now.

The 25mm Warrior said:

>>> I really, really dig the wings on the helmet. An all around great and solid conversion... nice!

Thanks! Yeah, I'm kinda getting used to it, and I really like it. By the way, I checked out your blog. It looks like you've got a pretty solid Blood Angels army there, it looks good. Quick Shade is a great product. I've met Bo on several occasions, and he is a fantastic guy!

Thanks for commenting, guys! Please keep reading, and please keep commenting.

Best regards,

Stitch

Terminator Weapon Swaps made Easy with Magnets, Part 1

2009-04-02T00:10:00.002+02:00

Hi all!

Sorry for skipping a month. I didn't plan it like that, but stuff and things, and stuff, got in the way. :)

For april, though, I'm back with an in-depth article about how to let you swap weapons on your Space Marine Terminators. The new plastics are awesome, and you get a lot of options in the box. Why not make sure you can use all of them? (Or most of them, anyway...)

For this project (I'll tell you more about it later), I won't need to be able to swap both arms on every Terminator. So, I'll glue some of the arms, but magnetize some. For instance, I'll have two Terminators with Storm Bolters and the option to swap between Power Fists and Chain Fists. And of course I'll have one Terminator with Power Fist, but with the option of swapping between Storm Bolter, Heavy Flamer and Assault Cannon.

Let's get to it!

The Tools

You'll need some tools to make it all happen:

Hobby drill and knife.

Drill bits; these are 1.5mm, 2mm and 3.2mm.

You need a proper wire cutter. A small cutter like you use to cut bits from sprues just won't "cut it"... :)

Notice the difference? Later on in the tutorial, we'll be cutting nails. (Not finger or toe nails!) The smaller cutter would be ruined, and you risk hurting yourself when bits of it breaks off and flies towards your face at high velocity.

The Supplies

You'll also need some nails and magnets:

Flat headed nails in a couple of different sizes.

This is a Neodymium disc magnet from K&J Magnetics. It's tiny but strong! This one is 1/8" x 1/32", and will be used for the arms.

This one is even smaller! Also from K&J Magnetics. This one is 1/16" x 1/32", and will be used to hold the shoulder pads in place.

Right, unfortunately it's now past my bed time, and I will have to continue another day. Part 2 of this tutorial, where we actually magnetize the Terminators, will be online in a couple of days. No really, I promise!

I know it sucks that I couldn't finish it in time, but I thought it better to give you half a tutorial now, and show you that I still mean business, than waiting even longer before publishing anything at all.

See you soon!

/Stitch

Here's a taste of what's to come:

Swappable arms!

March update delayed even more...

2009-03-16T01:18:00.002+01:00

Hey all,

Sorry for the silence this month. A lot of stuff going on and I'm having trouble finding the time right now.

But, an update is on its way, I promise. I'm working on a special project right now, that includes Terminators and lots of small magnets. I'm not gonna promise a date for the update, but I'm aiming for this week.

Thanks for reading!

/Stitch

March update delayed

2009-03-01T00:10:00.000+01:00

Unfortunately, the march update have been delayed. I apologize for that.

Hopefully, it will be online no later than 7 march.

/Stitch

February Update

2009-02-01T00:20:00.001+01:00

Blimey, is it February already? I haven't had much time for sitting down and building and/or painting, but I have managed to scrape another update together. But first...

I want to thank everyone for reading, and especially I want to thank the guys who took the time to comment on last month's update!

AaronB said:

>>> Great blog, BTW. I use your method on my custom chapter.

Thanks for the positive feedback! I'm glad you enjoy it! So when do we get to see some pictures of your marines, then?

>>> I want the wings on helmet to be slightly tilted out. It's too straight for me.

I did try some different angles for the wings and in the end, I settled for the upright position. I just liked it best, but hey...we can't agree on everything all the time, right? :)

Thanks again, and keep those comments coming!

Gurf said:

>>> Personally I think the winged sword symbol on the chest looks great, I really like the beefy sword as well.

Thanks for commenting! Yeah, I like the winged sword on the chest, too. I wasn't sure about it, but now I think it looks good. Check out the pictures in part 3 of the Building my Company Master series!

>>> But (there's always one! Well almost...) I still think the wings on the helmet look way too big. From the front it kinda makes him look like a rabbit. Not exactly my picture of a heroic SM commander.

Well, see my answer to AaronB, above. ;)

>>> Unless of course it's something along the lines of The Holy grail.
I can imagine the enemies of the Imperium standing there laughing and pointing at the cute rabbit. Which then proceeds to cut their heads off!
Better stock up on some holy hand grenades...

Good thing there's an Orb of Antioch on the Black Templar sprue, then! :O

Looking forwards to hearing what you think of the, almost, finished result!

The Hammer said:

>>> Just want to chime and say Great Blog. Nice step by step on building the models and I really like the way the robes turned out. Well done.

Thanks! Yeah, I like how the robes ended up looking a bit like cracked leather, almost. That gives them a heavier, less dressy look. :)

>>> Almost makes me want to start a Dark Angels force.

No! Don't abandon your Crimson Fists yet! You don't want another unfinished project, right? :)

Yep, I've read your blog, and it looks like we have something in common when it comes to unfinished projects. Same as you, I'm using my blog to encourage me to get at least something done each month.

Your Crimson Fists look good, and I'm looking forwards to seeing more of them!

I encourage everyone to check out Hammer's blog at http://kantorbase.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading, and keep those comments coming!

As always, if you don't want to leave comments here, you're more than welcome to email me at stitch [at] roll2dice [dot] com.

Best regards,

Stitch

Work in progress: Veteran Sergeant

2009-02-01T00:15:00.001+01:00

I promised to show you more of this guy in January's update, but I didn't deliver, did I?

Unfortunately, he's still not finished... But, here are some more work in progress pictures of the Veteran Sergeant of 2nd Tactical Squad 3rd Company:

I thought I'd try letting the wings go up over the trim of the shoulder pad, and I'm unsure about the result, but from a distance it looks pretty good. And that's good enough for me. :)

The blade of the power sword didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it, so I may re-paint that, but I'm pretty happy with the gold.

Comments and critiques are welcome, as always!

/Stitch

Building my Company Master, part 3: Assembly

2009-02-01T00:10:00.000+01:00

Finally, it's time to glue all the bits together!

The first two parts of this series are here:

The right arm

If you've read the first two parts, you know I've been having trouble deciding what arm to use. Well, it's finally decided! This right arm comes from the Devastator sprue:

I hope you'll agree it's the "right" arm... Sorry... I had to...

Here it is with the combi-plasma attached:

Unfortunately, the arm comes with the shoulder pad already on it, so I'll lose the chance of using one of the Dark Angels shoulder pads. Unless I cut it up, and I don't want to do that. I'll try to find something else, or freehand a winged sword on there, or something.

The Assembly

The assembly went really smooth. Having done a "dry run" (trying the bits together without glue) really helped.

So, after a few dots of plastic glue, here is the result so far:

I find it difficult to get good shots of the miniature, but you'll get the idea.

I really think the helmet works, even though the wings are huge. I did fret a little about the icon on the backpack being obscured by them, but the more I look at it, the more I like the mini. He looks beefed up and imposing, and that's how it's supposed to be. I think he'll stand out on the battlefield.

The backpack wasn't glued in place permanently, so I still have the option of going in another direction with it, but I think I may keep it like it is. What do you think?

Building my Company Master, part 2: Cut and Paste

2009-01-01T00:10:00.003+01:00

Here's where I start cutting bits into smaller bits and assembling them into new bits. :)

The first part of this series is here:

Building my Company Master, part 1: The Bits

The Sword Arm

With a couple of straight cuts with my trusty scalpel, I ended up with these bits.

As you can see, I've removed the guard, from the original chainsword, that was covering the fingers. This was also easy with the scalpel.

And, after a small amount of plastic glue and some adjusting, here's the finished left arm:

And the outside:

The terminator sword is actually not that much bigger than the standard sword, but a bit beefier. I think it will look pretty good.

The Chest

Another couple of slashes with the scalpel freed the dangling winged sword symbol from its string. The plan is to glue it onto the chest, like this:

It's not glued in place yet, so if you want to protest, please go for it! I'm not entirely sold on the idea yet, myself, so if you have another idea, let me hear it.

The Helmet

No cutting needed here, except to remove some mould lines. If you remember from part 1, I was worried the wings would look weird on this particular helmet, but I'm starting to let go of the worries... I think it looks promising. Please let me know what you think.

Side view:

Here are a couple of full body pictures, minus the arms. (By the way, I still haven't settled on a right arm, but I'm getting closer. By the next update, I'll have one, I promise.)

Side view:

Don't be afraid to tell me what you think. All comments are greatly appreciated!

/Stitch

Next Update: January 1

2008-12-01T00:20:00.001+01:00

The next planned update will be on January 1 2009.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

See you on the other side! :)

Best regards,

Stitch

The Other Talon

2008-12-01T00:15:00.000+01:00

I've just started a second 40k blog, The Other Talon. It'll be sort of a sister site to my main blog, the Angel's Talon, to cover everything 40k that is not Dark Angels-related.

It won't be updated regularly, but basically whenever I feel like it. The first post is a mini-review, with pictures, of the new gameboard from GW. It's a fantastic piece of kit!

Please check it out and let me know what you think.

The Other Talon: http://theothertalon.blogspot.com

Building my Company Master, part 1: The Bits

2008-12-01T00:10:00.001+01:00

As I wrote in another post, I plan on building my own Company Master from the various plastic bits available. Here's a first look at what I'm going to use:

I haven't decided on a right arm yet, I'm still looking at options.

Two left arms? Well, as I'm sure you've noticed already, the bottom one is a terminator arm. I think that power sword looks awesome so I'm going to do a switch on the arm with the chain sword.

I'm not sure about the head. I think the Maximus pattern helmet (from the Black Templars upgrade sprue) will look great on a Company Master, but I'm not sure how it will look with wings on it.

We'll have to see if it works. Check out next month's update!

/Stitch

Painting Tutorial: Robes

2008-12-01T00:05:00.003+01:00

I'm currently painting my second squad of marines, and I thought this would be a good time to do a step-by-step tutorial on how I paint robes. I love the warrior monk theme of the Dark Angels, and I plan to have robes on most, if not all, of my veteran sergeants and other characters.

My usual painting disclaimer: Please note that this tutorial is about painting an army, not winning painting competitions. I'm not even close to a Golden Daemon standard miniatures painter, and neither do I aspire to be one. The important thing for me with my miniatures is that they look good on the table, and that means they only have to look good at arms length.

Dark Angels robes, step by step:

Basecoat
Shade, wash
First highlight, heavy drybrush
Final highlight, light drybrush
Rope: Wash

As usual, a note on brushes and paints. Unless otherwise noted, all paints and brushes used in this tutorial are from Citadel/Games Workshop. You are, of course, free to use whatever painting supplies you like, but it's worth mentioning for the purpose of brush size, for instance.

Right, here he is, the Veteran Sergeant of 2nd Tactical Squad, 3rd Company:

The armour, metal bits, markings and bone coloured details will be painted in exactly the same way as in my earlier tutorials, so I won't repeat every step here. You can check them out here:

Here we go...

1. Basecoat

First, paint the robe with Khemri Brown. Even though it is a Foundation Paint, two coats may be needed to get an even coat.

As you can see, I have just painted over the Dark Angels insignia on his chest. This will be painted red later on, to stand out and add some contrast.

2. Shade

Now splash on a generous wash of Devlan Mud, to provide some basic shading.

And from the back:

3. First highlight

Give the robe a heavy drybrushing of the base colour, Khemri Brown, for the first highlight. Ignore the piece of the robe showing between his legs. It's difficult to reach, and it'll look better shaded anyway.

And again, here's a view from the back:

4. Final highlight

For the final highlight, drybrush the robe lightly with Bleached Bone. Pay special attention to the edges. Again, never mind the piece of robe showing between his legs.

Back:

Almost done...

5. Rope

Now you just give the rope a wash of Badab Black, and you're done!

This last image is from a later stage of the painting process. You'll see more of this guy in next months update...

Of course, there's a million different ways of doing it, but this is how I paint the robes on my Dark Angels. It's quick, it's easy, and it looks good enough, I think. Please tell me what you think by leaving a comment, or emailing me.

/Stitch

The Tiger roars about the new Codex: Space Marines

2008-11-07T21:49:00.004+01:00

Mr Kilgore, over at The Jungle, has written an excellent review of the new Codex: Space Marines. If you're into Space Marines, head over and give it a read, then tell him what you think over at the Millenium Gate!

Assembling the Space Marine Drop Pod

2008-11-05T21:00:00.002+01:00

[This article was supposed to be a part of the october update. Unfortunately, my back broke in half (not really, but it felt like it did) and I was unable to sit at my computer for several weeks.]

Assembling our store's pre-release drop pod, I thought of some things that may help others. So, here are some hints for assembling your drop pods.

Center turbofan

Only glue the middle parts together. Then stick the pin through the hole and glue it to the bottom bit. This will let you twist the pin on top, to turn the Storm Bolter/Missile Launcher mounted on the bottom bit. Not only is it good clean nerdy fun to be able to turn it to face its target, but it also makes sure the weapon won't be aiming straight into one of the wings.

Tricky part

When I glued the restraint blocks in place, I found it easiest to start with the upper part. Then I slotted the block into place, while pushing the small protruding bit on the bottom down to force it into its own hole on the column. The plastic is quite flexible, and this worked like a charm.

Rubber bands

When the wings are in place, strap some rubber bands around the whole thing to keep them in the right position while the glue sets.

I hope you found this short article useful. See you next month!

/Stitch

[A very small, very late update, I know. My back is better now, though. That means that I will be able to put together something a bit more substantial for next month.]

October Update: Delayed

2008-10-01T18:28:00.003+02:00

Because of serious problems with my lower back, the october update will unfortunately be delayed, and I'm sorry about that.

When the update is ready and online, I will announce it on the Millenium Gate, in this thread.

See you soon,

Stitch

Painting Tutorial: Dark Angels markings, part 2: the Chapter Symbol

2008-09-01T00:15:00.002+02:00

Here's how I paint the Dark Angels chapter symbol on my models. I never thought I would be able to pull it off, but when I look at my finished models I think they look pretty damn good.

My usual painting disclaimer: Please note that this tutorial is about painting an army, not winning painting competitions. I'm not even close to a Golden Daemon standard miniatures painter, and neither do I aspire to be one. The important thing for me with my miniatures is that they look good on the table, and that means they only have to look good at arms length.

Dark Angels chapter symbol, step by step:

Paint a cross
Turn the cross into a sword
Paint the basic shapes of the wings
Fill in with white and clean up
Finish the wings
Clean up

1. Paint a cross

To begin with, I paint a thin cross. This will become the sword. Not completely straight? Never mind! It'll look great when it's finished!

For steps 1-3 I use thinned down Dheneb Stone, as it gives better coverage than Skull White.

2. Turn the cross into a sword

Now I flesh out the cross and turn it into a sword of sorts.

3. Paint the basic shapes of the wings

Now I paint the contours of the wings. Here's how I do it, step by step:

Now, I just mirror the design on the other side for the left wing:

When this is done, I fill in the wings with Dheneb Stone.

4. Fill in with white and clean up

Now it's time to fill in the entire design with Skull White. Skull White really needs to be thinned down, so I mix in plenty with water and paint several coats. It's important to let each coat dry before applying the next.

After the white paint is completely dry, I clean up the edges a bit with Orkhide Shade.

5. Finish the wings

To get the "feathers", I just paint Orkhide Shade over the Skull White, starting in the middle.

Two more strokes with Orkhide Shade finishes off the right wing.

Then I just do the same thing with the left wing, and I'm almost done!

6. Clean up

If I need it, I finish up with some more Skull White and Orkhide Shade to clean up the design. But, as I keep reminding you (and myself!), it doesn't have to be perfect!

Right! The anonymous green space marine from the first two tutorials is now a proper Dark Angel!

As always, thanks for reading.

If you like or dislike this article, please leave a comment and let me know!

You can also e-mail me at stitch [at] roll2dice [dot] com.

/Stitch

Painting Tutorial: Dark Angels markings, part 1: Squad Markings

2008-09-01T00:10:00.003+02:00

Like I told you last month, I paint all the unit markings and chapter symbols freehand. As promised, here's a step-by-step tutorial explaining how I do it.

Usual painting disclaimer: Please note that this tutorial is about painting an army, not winning painting competitions. I'm not even close to a Golden Daemon standard miniatures painter, and neither do I aspire to be one. The important thing for me with my miniatures is that they look good on the table, and that means they only have to look good at arms length.

Up close and personal my Dark Angels look a little messy. No two chapter symbols or numbers are exactly the same, for instance. But I believe that that's the secret to painting an army. I had to struggle in the beginning, because, like a lot of people, I would like my army to be perfect. But I also want it done this millennium, preferably within a year or so. So I had to let go of the dream of a perfect army, in favor of the much more reasonable goal of a completed army that looks good on the table.

Dark Angels 3rd Company and Tactical Squad markings, step by step:

3rd Co badge, left knee
Tactical symbol, right shoulder pad
Highlighting
Clean up
Squad number, right shoulder pad
Clean up

The Chapter symbol is handled in part 2!

As usual, a note on brushes and paints. Unless otherwise noted, all paints and brushes used in this tutorial are from Citadel/Games Workshop. You are, of course, free to use whatever painting supplies you like, but it's worth mentioning for the purpose of brush size, for instance.

Now, let's get painting!

1. 3rd Co badge, left knee

The 3rd company badge couldn't be easier. I just paint a line of Mechrite Red diagonally across the left knee. On marines with mk 6 legs, without knee pads, I paint the line across the entire lower leg. I think it adds to the variation, but in a way that still ties the miniatures together.

2. Tactical symbol, right shoulder pad

The secret to painting these kinds of symbols, at least for me, is to divide them into separate, simpler shapes.

I also thin my paint a bit, just to maintain a little better control over the point of the brush.

For the tactical double arrows, I start with a simple line in Mechrite Red:

Then I paint the basic arrows.

Then I flesh out the arrows.

After that, I just flesh out the original line. (Not pictured.)

3. Highlighting

I like to paint some Macharius Solar Orange along some of the edges, just to make the symbols pop out a bit. I deliberately pick out the edges that would be highlighted if the light source was up and to the right. It's not necessarily correct, but it makes the badges stand out more than with just the red, and that makes them more visible on the table.

Left knee:

And the right shoulder:

4. Clean up

If I've managed to get any paint where it doesn't belong, this is where I clean it up with more Mechrite Red and Orkhide Shade. But remember, it doesn't have to be perfect. No one will notice small mistakes on the gaming table!

5. Squad number, right shoulder pad

Now, this is the tricky part. I thin my paint at every step, as it's almost impossible to paint thin lines with paint straight from the pot.

As I'm currently painting the 2nd squad from 3rd Company, the numeral in this tutorial will be a 2. Other numerals may be the subjects for other tutorials in the future.

Again, to paint this complex numeral, I divide it into simpler shapes and just paint it a step at a time.

I start with Dheneb Stone, as it covers better than Skull White.

Here's the numeral, step by step:

Then I flesh the numeral out a bit with Skull White, adding any small detail that I may have forgotten. (Such as the small uppy-pointy-bit to the right.)

6. Clean up

Again, this is where I correct any big mistakes by painting over them with Orkhide Shade and Mechrite Red.

Here's the marine, with tactical badge and squad number:

Thanks for reading. Please check out Part 2, for a tutorial on painting the Dark Angels chapter symbol!

If you like or dislike this article, please leave a comment and let me know!

You can also e-mail me at stitch [at] roll2dice [dot] com.

/Stitch

Army-building: The List

2008-09-01T00:05:00.005+02:00

As I said in my first post, I'm currently building a 1750 points Dark Angels army. I thought I'd present my army list here, both so I can talk a little about my choices, but also so you can see what's coming in future updates.

I'll show you the list first, and then talk about each part, but I won't bore you with details right now. If anyone is interested in seeing the actual points value of each choice, I'll be happy to show them in a later update.

HQ:
Company Master, Command Squad (5), Razorback
TROOPS 1:
Tactical Squad (10), Rhino
TROOPS 2:
Tactical Squad (10), Rhino
TROOPS 3:
Tactical Squad (10), Rhino
ELITE:
Dreadnought
FAST ATTACK:
Ravenwing Support Squadron (2)
HEAVY SUPPORT 1:
Predator
HEAVY SUPPORT 2:
Vindicator

HQ:
I decided on a Company Master with a Command Squad as HQ. The Chaplains and Librarian are all cool character choices, and awesome models, but I want to use some of the cool Dark Angels upgrade bits to build my own plastic Master.

The Command Squad will include an Apothecary, Standard Bearer and a Company Champion. With a total of four power weapons and two flamers, I'm hoping this unit will be able to dish out some serious hurt and clear objectives for my Tactical Squads to hold. The Razorback will hopefully get them to where they need to be, without them being shot to pieces on the way.

TROOPS 1, 2 & 3:
I think Tactical Squads should always be the core of a Space Marine army, and with 5th Edition, you really need them. The option to split them into five-man combat squads makes them extremely versatile, and gives me a potential six Troops units with which to hold objectives.

I'm hoping to paint up the entire 3rd Company, eventually, and three full Tactical Squads with Rhinos will not only be a solid core for the force, but will also provide a good start for the bigger project.

The Tactical Squads will have a Plasma Cannon, Missile Launcher and Lascannon, respectively. The special weapons slots will be filled with two Plasma guns and a Meltagun. However, the special weapons are not glued, but are held in place by magnets. This way, I can swap them around. I will paint up a whole bunch of Flamers, Meltaguns and Plasma guns with magnets, so I'll always have options when I build my lists in the future. This will be the topic of a future tutorial, if anyone is interested.

ELITE:
I don't think I could ever play a 1000+ points game without at least one Dreadnought, as it is one of my absolute favourite models. I've got both a right and a left arm Twin-linked Autocannon, so in some games I'll be able to field him as a Mortis Dread. For this list, though, the left arm will be a close combat weapon with a heavy flamer.

The Dreadnought will be held together with magnets at three points: both arms and the waist. This will allow me to take it apart for easy storage and transport, as well as allowing me to change the armament between games.

FAST ATTACK:
Land Speeders are fragile on the table, but they look really cool and they can fill the air with screaming bullets before they go down. I will have one regular speeder and one Typhoon variant. I would like to have an Assault Cannon as well, but I don't have the points for it.

If they survive long enough, they may even be able to deny the enemy an objective by flying in on top of it in the last turn.

HEAVY SUPPORT 1 & 2:
A Predator with Twin-linked Lascannon and two Heavy Bolters should work well against both enemy armour and infantry. And a Vindicator can make anyone worry about where they move their units to.

I thought about taking a Devastator Squad, to tie in with the Battle Company plans, but I already have a Predator that just needs a new paint job, and the new Vindicator model is just too damn sweet to leave out.

That's it! That's 1750 points of angels of death in green armour.

Comments and e-mails are always welcome, so if there's anything you'd like to say to me, don't hold back!

Next update: September 1st

2008-08-05T22:10:00.001+02:00

The next update will be posted on monday, 1 september.

It will include a step by step tutorial explaining how I paint the Dark Angels chapter symbol and squad / company markings on my miniatures.

See you then!

/Stitch

In the mean time, please leave a comment, or e-mail me at stitch [at] roll2dice [dot] com.

Tip: Lean the paint pots, avoid messy spills

2008-08-05T22:00:00.002+02:00

To avoid messy spills, when I open a pot to lock the lid in place, I tip it forward to make the paint drop into the pot, instead of outside the rim of the pot. This is especially common with the new paint pots from Games Workshop, such as the Foundation Paints, when you open them all the way.

Similarly, I always lean the open paint pot on a brush when I'm painting, to keep the paint inside the pot.

Painting Tutorial: Dark Angel Space Marine

2008-08-05T21:50:00.026+02:00

[7 Aug: I found out the pictures were much too dark on CRT monitors, and some people (including me, on another computer!) couldn't see the difference between the black and the green... Ooops... :) Anyway! Now I've tweaked the brightness and contrast and uploaded new pictures, so hopefully they will make a little more sense for those of you with darker displays. Please let me know if you still have problems with the pictures!

Because of my love for the Dark Angels, I've always used their Codex. But I haven't painted my marines as Dark Angels. Instead, I've made up a few Successor Chapters during the years. Why? The paints! Both Dark Angels Green and Blood Red gives lousy coverage on a black undercoat, and I just couldn't be bothered with thinning the paint and painting 17 layers on each miniature.

Even so, with my own colour schemes, I've never finished an army. I've always tweaked the color scheme, or changed the chapter symbol, etc, etc... Now though, I've finally decided to paint actual Dark Angels, thanks to the Foundation Paints.

The Foundation Paints are awesome, and the two main colours I use are Orkhide Shade and Mechrite Red. Orkhide Shade covers black in one coat. Mechrite Red doesn't cover as good, but it still only needs two coats.

I won't go into detail on different techniques, as it is beyond the scope of this tutorial. If you do not already know what Drybrushing is, for example, I sincerely recommend the book How to Paint Citadel Miniatures from Games Workshop. It explains all these techniques better than I ever could.

Please note that this tutorial is about painting an army, not winning painting competitions. I'm not even close to a Golden Daemon standard miniatures painter, and neither do I aspire to be one. The important thing for me with my miniatures is that they look good on the table, and that means they only have to look good at arms length.

So, here is how I paint my Dark Angels, step by step:

Undercoat
Base coat
Bolter casing
Metal bits
Chest eagle + skulls
Purity seals
Eye-lenses
Touch-up
Highlighting
Shading metal bits + purity seals
Finishing touches on purity seals
The base

In this particular tutorial, I will not go through the chapter badge and company/unit markings. I paint all of these freehand, without any use of waterslide transfers, and they will get their own tutorial next month.

Just a note on brushes and paints. Unless otherwise noted, all paints and brushes used in this tutorial are from Citadel/Games Workshop. You are, of course, free to use whatever painting supplies you like, but it's worth mentioning for the purpose of brush size, for instance.

Now, let's get down to business!

1. Undercoat

I use a black undercoat for my Dark Angels. As you will see later on, this creates almost all the shading I need. Nowadays I almost exclusively use Matt Black Primer from The Army Painter, but Games Workshop's Chaos Black will work just as well.

I won't go into more detail, but I'll just mention that I always glue any basing material (sand, grit, etc) to the base before undercoating. The spray paint will help hold the material in place, so it doesn't come off during painting. After finishing the undercoat with some Chaos Back paint and a Standard brush from GW, filling in the areas missed by the spray, it's time for the base coat. Read on.

2. Base coat

Overbrushing is basically the same as drybrushing, but with more paint in the brush. By using this technique, you can still see the black in the recesses of the armour. The base coat is all Orkhide Shade, straight from the pot. I seldom thin my paints, and I almost never mix paints. For this step, I use a Standard brush.

Don't worry if you cover some of the detail up. When the marine is on the table with his brothers, no one will notice!

When finished, the marine should look something like this:

3. Bolter casing

For this step, I use a Detail brush. I paint the casing of the bolter with Mechrite Red. Two coats will do nicely. Take care to let the black show in the recesses. But, again, if you cover some of the detail, don't worry about it.

When the Bolter is not attached to the arm (such as with some of the Dark Angels Upgrade bits), I usually don't glue it in place until after painting. This makes it easier to paint the chest of the marine. Remember to use a water based glue when you glue the Bolter in place, as plastic glue (poly cement) can dissolve and smear the paint, and super glue can leave ugly traces if you get it in the wrong place.

4. Metal bits

Using a Detail brush, I paint all metal areas with Boltgun Metal. This means most of the joints of the armour, plus exhausts on the backpack, etc.

Back:

Front:

Overbrushing is great for the Bolter as well, leaving some black showing for the deeper shading:

Don't worry if you get some Boltgun Metal in the wrong place. We will take care of that in Step 8: Touch-up.

5. Chest eagle + skulls

Overbrush the chest eagle and any skulls, etc, with Calthan Brown, again leaving some black showing.

Back:

Now, drybrush the same details with Bleached Bone. A few thinner coats is better than a thick one. You want some of the brown and black to show through:

And the back again:

6. Purity seals

Paint the wax Mechrite Red. It's ok to leave some black showing along the inner edge. Paint the parchment Bleached Bone. You may need to apply two or even three coats.

7. Eye lenses

The eye-lenses get a thin coat of Mechrite Red with a Fine Detail brush. Take care to leave some black around the edges. This is usually one of the few steps where I thin the paint slightly, taking care to only use the very tip of the brush.

8. Touch-up

This is where I fix the base coat by covering up all the little mistakes I've made along the way, such as the backpack shown under Step 4: Metal, and the eye shown just above this paragraph.

After Step 8, this is what we've got so far:

Not bad, if I say so myself. In fact, if you're happy with this, just skip the rest of the steps. Together with an army painted in the same way, this guy would look good on a table as he is.

I'm not entirely satisfied, though.

9. Highlighting

Using a large brush, I now lightly drybrush almost the entire model with Gnarloc Green.

Now, when I say lightly, I mean it. I just want a hint of a lighter green on the edges of the armour. And, when I say almost the entire model, I mean you need to take care not to discolour the chest eagle and other non-green details.

The brush I use for this step is a cheap, but decent quality, brush with synthetic bristles. (The brush on the left is a Standard brush, shown for size comparison.)

I highlight the red areas, such as the Bolter casing, with Macharius Solar Orange. To do this, I thin the paint just a bit and carefully brush it along the edges of the areas to be highlighted. I also apply some Macharius Solar Orange on the raised rivets to make them pop out just a bit.

I carefully drybrush the chest eagle and other bone details with Skull White. Not all over, just a bit to give it a little extra highlight.

10. Shading metal bits + purity seals

In this step, all metal bits get a coat of Badab Black wash. I really like the new Citadel washes. You can see why in the picture below. That's the old Black Ink on the left Bolter, and Badab Black on the right.

After the metal bits, the entire purity seal gets the same treatment. Feel free to leave a little pool of Badab Black in the middle of the wax seal, to give it some extra depth.

11. Finishing touches on purity seals

After I am sure that the Badab Black wash is completely dry, I highlight the wax with some more Mechrite Red along the edge and in the middle. I then scribble some wavy lines and dots on the parchment with a black fineliner pen.

Almost done!

12. The base

Unfortunately, due to the blue light of the camera flash, the pictures of this step didn't come out so well, but I'm sure you get the idea.

I start with overbrushing the top of the base with Charadon Granite.

I then apply a heavy drybrushing of Adeptus Battlegrey, followed by a lighter drybrushing with Codex Grey, and finally a light drybrushing with Fortress Grey.

If, during any of these stages, I get any grey paint on the marine's feet, I just let it be, unless I really make a mess. After all, he's walking around in it, it's only reasonable that some of it is going to stick to his boots.

After this, all that is left is the edge. Using a Standard brush, I apply a generous coat of Charadon Granite all along the edge, taking care to leave the drybrushed top edge.

That's it!

Thanks for reading. Please join me next month for a step by step tutorial on how I paint the Chapter symbol and squad markings!

If you like or dislike this article, please leave a comment and let me know!

You can also e-mail me at stitch [at] roll2dice [dot] com.

/Stitch

Humble beginnings

2008-08-04T00:40:00.000+02:00

I bought my first Games Workshop game in the beginning of the first half of the 1990's when I was in my early teens. I was in a local toy store and I saw a big box with "Space Marine" written on it in big letters. Turning it over in my hands, I saw that it was full of tiny plastic miniatures in three different colours, cardboard buildings, and more. I was mesmerized. I brought it home and quickly began spreading the tiny space marines, eldar and orks all over the floor.

After reading some of the background material, I immediately fell for the space marines. And since these particular space marines were of a dark green plastic, I decided they would have to be Dark Angels. (The eldar were gray, and the orks were dark blue, by the way.) I still have most, if not all, of those miniatures, actually. Unpainted...

I did try my hand at painting some of the miniatures, but I never got far. And as you can imagine, the ones I did paint looked pretty horrible. :)

I played a few games with my best friend, but we never really got into the finer points of the game. I was hooked on the whole 41st millennium thing, though. A couple of years later, it turned out some other friends of ours were getting into Warhammer 40,000, and we joined in.

I knew right away that I was going to collect space marines, and that they would be Dark Angels. In '95, the toy store closed, and we could no longer buy GW product anywhere in town. In '96, though, I got a flyer in my mailbox saying a local hobby store had begun stocking Warhammer. The rest, as they say, is history.

I'm now in charge of the games department of that same store, and has been for several years. And I'm still in love with the GW hobby, particularly Warhammer 40,000. And I still like the Dark Angels space marines most of all...

Welcome to the Angel's Talon

2008-08-03T00:25:00.008+02:00

Does the world need another Warhammer 40,000 blog? I don't know, but I do know I need to write it. Why? Again, I don't know, but I've just got this feeling that I might enjoy it. And I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading it.

I love 40k. And I love Space Marines. And, as I will explain in another post, I've always had a soft spot for the Dark Angels.

So, will the Talon be all about Dark Angels? Yep! Occasionally, I may present some other material as well, but if it's not directly related to Dark Angels in 40k, I'll put it in a separate blog. The Angel's Talon is all about the Dark Angels.

What about updates?

Oooh, magic word: Updates

Does the world need another poorly updated 40k site? Certainly not!

The Angel's Talon will be updated on a monthly basis. A lot of the updates will be aimed at beginner players, with some more advanced stuff coming later. Here are some examples of what will be included:

Army-building blog
I'm currently building a 1750pt Dark Angels force. I will present my army list and explain my choices.
Modelling
Those Dark Angels will need assembling. Expect some step-by-step tutorials for easy conversions you can try yourself.
Painting
Those miniatures will need some paint as well. I'll show you how I paint my Dark Angels to a decent gaming standard. Again, with step-by-step instructions.

So, will I be able to live up to my own expectations? Come back and see!

I hope you'll enjoy it!

Best regards,

Stitch