+ What's this? Painting? +
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| + WIP, but getting there + |
+ Oof. It's been months since I've managed to put brush to model, and what better way to come back than with some utterly unrelated projects – a pair of Red Fish marines for +Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten+ and paint on Ferratus Tertius for my Iron Skulls (Legio Metalica) maniple, for The Ashes of Armageddon. +
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| + Ferratus Tertius – pleased to meet you. + |
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+ War of the False Primarch +
+ Dealing with each of these in turn, let's kick off with the news that new articles are going up on +Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten+, so go check 'em out – and there's also a painting challenge event, if you'd like to have a go. +
+ I even worked up a little infographic for it ... and a noospheric link for quick response: [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] +
+ I don't know about anyone else, but I find these challenges a periodic nudge to dig out models and just put a bit of paint on things. No great plans, no big army, no expectations. A lovely palate/palette cleanser (ho ho) that you can just lean into. +
+ Contributors have been so generous with their ideas and models and enthusiasm for the project over the past few years, I really want to make sure that I do my part and paint up as many of the various factions as possible. For that reason I've got a handful of unpainted Space Marines lurking in boxes – and yesterday I was seized with the urge to paint up a pair of Red Fish. +
+ Will this be my entry for the challenge? I don't know – and happily, it doesn't really matter. The point is just to enjoy painting! +
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| + 'Sword, Plough, Trowel, Quill!' + |
+ You can read the Index Astates for the Red Fish, or Marines Orcinus, here [
+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], and they're a beautifully imagined group. Very nicely developed, they rather resist a quick summary descriptions, but if you don't have the time to inload the link above, they can be seen as generalist marines with a pocket-empire modelled after Macragge. +
+ The creation of @eatdrinkdeath, they're also refreshingly diverse, taking their recruits from hundreds of worlds with very different cultural traditions, and alloying them into making flexibility a key strength of the Chapter. They've got a particular subtle appeal, and I'd love to see more hobbyists made aware of them. +
+ In terms of painting, they're worked up from a white undercoat. I've used Seraphim Sepia on the legs, followed by Balor Brown(?) highlighted up to Mummy Robes. The upper body is a base of Vallejo Red Black, highlighted up with Screamer Pink and Vallejo Cold White... but I'm not quite sure it's captured the vibrancy I was after – hence why they're still WIP. +
+ I sat back and realised I was spending far too long going back and forth over them, trying to get the red right, so decided to call it a night. I think coming back with fresh eyes and properly dried layers should mean these polish up relatively quickly. +
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+ The Chapter also offered an unusual modelling opportunity, to tackle a female Space Marine – on the left here. I've used smaller hands, by using a Black Templars scout boltgun (the hands are in gloves, rather than gauntlets) and also reduced the size of the feet by trimming down the soles, which also reduces the figure's height a fraction. The helmet and chestplate have been reshaped – to soften the 'jawline' and to reduce the width of the upper chest respectively – though not particularly strikingly: as with the height, I figure that you wouldn't need a great deal of modification to accommodate the physical differences in power armour. +
+ The most complex change was to cut off the legs and reattach them at a slightly inward-turning angle. In concert with shaving down the groin plate and narrowing the thighs at the outer knee, this gives a slightly different posture, with broader hips. The final change was to shave down the shoulders, pinching in the arms and making them slightly narrower than the hips. +
+ The overall result, I hope, reads 'Space Marine' first and foremost – compare the two figures above – I think it's a nice quirk of the Chapter, but I wouldn't want the presence of female marines to overshadow the rest of the great development work of the Red Fish. +
+ The bold yellow band that runs down the arm is the company colour. Still to go are the other markings (not least the sockjaw salmon Chapter icon on the other arm), and then polishing and cleaning things up. The base is a stand-in for the moment, but I'm rather liking the semi-diorama effect of the two alongside one another. +
+ ...and a minor note to finish; I'm quite pleased with the eyes – I went with an amber approach. It's surprising how much adding the eyes can turnaround a frustrating painting experience; the model suddenly seems to pull in around them, and I find I can then better see what needs work. +
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+ And speaking of cool Chapters +
+ Here are some of the other War of the False Primarch WIPs, which I thought I'd share (in some cases again, in some cases for the first time). +
+ Headhunting jungle specialists, the Jade Talons , creation of @adam_james_creates end up making some rather dubious decisions late in the war... You can check out Adam's latest works on Instagram if you'd like a preview of their eventual fate. +
+ The Firebreak: Desert-walking ronin space monks who lost their homeworld (and most of their Chapter) early on. @dizzyeye.01 has come up with a really charismatic take on these Dark Angels successors. +
+ Cryptic, atomic, mystic. The Wormwood Sons of @K0rdhal are a fan favourite – a result, I suspect, of his awesome modelling and mastery of esoteric lore-writing in equal measure. +
+ ...and finally my own Silver Stars – and you'll not have long to wait to read their (sort of) Index Astartes. +
***
+ Ferratus Tertius +
+ ... and at the other end of the scale from very instinct-driven, relatively fast painting on the fly, I spent a very enjoyable evening starting the paint on this Engine in a very leisurely, pre-prepared (arguably too pre-prepared!) way. +
+ Lots of layers, close focus on just a couple of areas – the head and making a start on the upper carapace. +
+ Very pleased indeed with how he's turning out. I'm toying with bringing in some oil washes for this projects, but I'll see how they work out with pure acrylics before making the decision. +
+ The name plate is from Battle Builder – they're running a competition on Instagram (@battle.builder) for some free plates until the 17th, so go give it a try. +
