Speedpainting Space Marines #9 - Librarian

Hey Guys!

Here's the librarian I was telling you about. I spent quite some time on this model (so this one doesn't really count as "speed painted"). I took the time to try and increase the contrast on the chipped armour by adding small beige lines to the dark brown spots I had made.

I found it to be more difficult than it looks. Manageable, but you need patience and a steady hand. I found it hard to get my white lines thin enough, but I suppose that one does get better at it over time.

I also tried out a non metallic metal (NMM) effect on the power sword. It is the first time I tried this and I think I was lucky because it turned out quite nicely. Actually, once you get it, NMM is pretty easy to do (I spent quite some time staring at NMM miniatures to figure out where to put the light and dark shades). However the name of the game here is patience: if you want to stick to speedpainting, forget about NMMs. So I won't be doing this for all models.

Turns out the only thing to remember for NMM swords is the following:

1. Pick a dark and a light side
2. On each, paint a gradient (*) of the same colour, but keep the overall hue darker on the dark side and lighter on the light side.
3. What makes the NMM look "metallic" is sharp contrast borders between the light and the dark bits. Try to get this as clean as possible.
4. Add a light edge everywhere to enhance this contrast (see 3)

(*) "How do I paint a gradient?" I hear you ask. One method is to build up layer by layer, darker and darker (or ligher and lighter) by classical layering. Of course, this is not perfectly seamless, but does look so at arm's length.

The other method is to use blending. This is done by painting successive layers on (like for layering) but while the paint is still wet, so that your different hues "merge" together somewhat, creating a more seamless gradient. Ideally, when blending, you should have several hues (dark --> light) mixed and ready (or as I do it: actually have a gradient on my wet-palette!) and then build up your gradient on the miniature.

WIP: The librarian was painted like all the other marines, with my "speedy" routine. I just spent more time fiddling with the details on this particualr miniature.

Speepainting Space Marines #8 - Devastators

Speedpainting Space Marines #7 - Dreadnought

Speedpainting Space Marines #6 - Tactical Squad

Aaaah... tactical marines. The backbone of any army. Jacks of all trades. The models that make every 12 year old go "I want to collect those!" and GW's most powerful tool for sucking 12 year olds dry of their pocket money.

Let's start with the flamethrower marine. The teeny tiny pepsi can of gasoline on the regular flamethrower model could never EVER hold enough flammable fluid to even light a cigarette. As if this wasn't ridiculous enough, GW thought it would look good idea to model a little skull&bones on the can. Go figure...

I wanted to have my flamethrowers (1) stand out as such (2) look like half-plausible weapons and not like super soakers.

So I devised these thingies that look somewhat like gas canisters, and added a little bit of greenstuff that looks like tubes feeding the flame-gun with flammable liquid.

The canisters are in fact a sawn paintbrush (the brush had the right diameter and was wasted anyway), the valves and stuff are from an old SM backpack, upside down.

Flamer #2

10 out of 20 painted marines total

Enjoy!

Speedpainting Space Marines #5 - Predator Tank (WIP)

Hey guys!

I hope you had nice holidays. Here are some pics of my predator tank. I decided to go for the max-out on lascannons option, to make him as big a threat as possible to ennemy armour (this made the most sense to an utter 40K noob like me).

It does come in cheaper than a devastator squad and he can move and shoot, which should be a plus.

I chose not to put an entry/exit point on top of the turret, but instead put a missile there, because the geometry of the turret is so awkward that no human being with an intact spine could squeeze through (as GW would have us believe).

Why WIP? Because the lights are still missing.

Speedpainting Space Marines #4 - Terminators

Merry Christmas & happy holidays everyone!

Okay, so here's my last post before Christmas, but there will be plenty more after, so keep checking back!

What could be more fitting for Christmas than a bunch of big fat Space Marine Terminators? Okay, admittedly, almost anything would be more fitting, but the point is that here are some pics of my assault terminator squad + captain in power armour, and I hope you guys will like them.

Enjoy!

I decided I wanted no bald heads in my space marines army and so I decided to give all baldies (the assault seargent is the only exception) berets. Green berets. That I sculpted with green stuff. Incredibly creative, isn't it?

The power sword is still not completely done. I need to work out the non-metallic (NMM) effect more. There will be a post with my librarian with a finished sword to give you an idea of what the final product should look like. And of course the captain wears a green robe, because beige and green are the chapter's colours... I have just decided.

"Is that arabic on the banner?" I hear you ask. Why yes it is! I decided that my marines would use the arabic alphabet (may be even speak some araboid language) because I was tired of this bullshit pseudo-latin that GW tosses around ("exterminus" here, "terminatum" there *gag*)

If there is sufficient demand, I will upload the banner files (.jpeg) that I made for my chapter, so that those of you interested in having their own marines join my chapter can print them out and do so if they wish. The more the merrier!

I have replaced the original terminator shields (see WIP shots below) with chaos warrior shields from WHFB from which I filed off the chaotic detail. Instead the shield now sport my chapter's symbol... a "Lambda". By the way, I still need a name for the chapter, so if you have ideas, don't keep them to yourselves!

The completed squad, ready to deal out 21 attacks, strength 4-8, ignoring armour saves. Yay.

WIP terminators, before the wash.

Speedpainting Space Marines #3 - Vindicator Tank