Wow Wolfs, back with a vengeance and an energy I see! Sorry for interrupting you, jeeze!

The Terminators look awesome—the dynamism of the Space Hulk sergeant is great. For the cape... I dunno. I'm feeling either complimentary—red/purple—or just blue. Maybe a maroon colour? Or a burgundy?

That's some nice progress Wolfs16 and reminds me that I have to post some pictures from my IG soon ...

Those 'Arabic-ish-Blades' look great, where did you get those from? (one of those would fit perfectly for a 'Farsight-on-Foot' conversion.

The storm shield does look very familiar ... but surely good!

Theambit:
I purchased them from a guy on eBay and I am very pleased with the quality. There is only one little mold dimple on each handle where the molds gate was. But other than that, only one of then had a mold line on the inside of the blades curve. Very good quality! The steam knight heads are also very cool (I might have some extras; I'll let you guys know).

Didi:
Yeah, it's good to be back! I too was thinking of a burgundy; maybe something similar to my Shaper:


I think it would compliment well.

Che:
Just type in "Khopesh" in the 40k section of eBay and you should find them. As for the shields, Null created something that had the look of strength and utility that I wanted; so I'm very happy with them. 

As for updating the background, I think I'm going to release one section at a time so as to keep me motivated and to avoid wall of text posts. Check back soon!

Now I know where I have seen a similar shield:



Not the same, but similar.

You can buy all of those items from maxmini so I wonder if it is just his ebay store. I need to purchase ten of the steam warrior helmets but need him to sort them so they all match. I may take up your two toned approach to armour on one of my many projects. I'm not sure if the shields are too big. I know they look like they may actually work but from a modelling view they may block out the pretty.model hidden behind.

Hey Wolfs16

So the shields made it! Good to hear.

Ha ha, yeah. I would go for a tan or light brown to give the impression of rough cloth........That or burgundy like Didi said.

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As per usual, it looks awesome man. I'm really loving the curved power swords .

- Null

Che:
Haha, I don't think I can top that shield! But I have always liked the little Target Lock view slot.

Null:
Yeah, the shields arrived nice and safe! Thanks again! You will be seeing your character soon...

Theambit:
Well I say pick up those parts if you can; they are very nice! However, the new Tomb King stuff seems to have a lot of Khopesh-like weapons in them, so maybe give that a look.

As for the shield, I thought the same thing the first time I saw them. But here is where I am going with the Assault Termies. They are part of the Chapters 7th Company who specialize in infiltration and hand to hand combat. Game wise, they will be paired up with Shirke to take advantage of his Infiltration ability. So I was thinking about how I can make them fit this theme of infiltration better. With the exception of the two Space Hulk Termies I have in there, the other eight are pretty plain. They don't really have Aquilla's on their chests and they will generally lack any flashy bitz. These guys are the type that don't really laugh or smile. They are detached; almost robotic. And since they specialize in infiltration, why not use this as an opportunity to change up my color scheme a bit? Here are some examples I liked from IA:9


This is the Red Scorpions Ash Infiltration Camo (yeah, Red Scorpions in camo doesn't make sense). Anyway, I like the obvious stealthy colors and the almost "cloudy" color the armor has. My reservations with this is that it might be too dull of a color and it might cloud out the details of the model.


This is the Raptors tundra camo. I like it since it is achieves the look of camo, but still shows details on the model. My only reservation is that I have a grey army already and I have some Stealth suits that are very gray, so I don't know if I want to do it again.

Now, these next two are what I am leaning towards a bit more.


How awesome is that Terminator!? I really like the one shoulder pad colored and the powerfist. The colors would of course be yellow. My only issue with this is that these guys will not have a power fist in the group, so I guess there would only be one part with color (the shoulder pad).


Now this might be the winner for me. It includes the yellow of my chapter, but has the black to give it a stealthy look. I honestly see no down side to this one!

So what do you guys think?


Now let's briefly talk about the shields themselves. Null did a great job making a simple, modular shield. It comes in 3 parts, the center and then the two ends. So I always have the option of removing the top plate section and leaving that open so you could see the Termies face. But trust me when I say that I will be repositioning the arms to give them more life; so they won't be blocking the model entirely like you saw in the one picture.

Now, what can I do about painting them?

1.) Freehand some large heraldry or tribal symbols on them. I'm hesitant to do this since I suck at freehand and I think it might be a bit too ostentatious for my Chapter. Plus if I want to do the guys in stealth patterns, then a colorful mural seems out of place.

2.) Subtle, with the Chapter symbol in the center. The exact color of the shield would depend on what color I pick for the Termies.

3.) Armor color, with a glow effect on the inner armor panel lines (chapter symbol optional). This option sounds cool and may give some life to a potentially plain looking colors.

2&3 have to be tied for what I think works. I'm not sure though. A lot depends on what color I pick!

Hey Wolfs16

If you are going for a stealth look to complement your 'detached' feel for these guys, I'd go with the first example. If they were painted like this and I saw these guys on the table with the rest of an army, it would be pretty obvious they were a stealth unit..........IMHO anyway.

Option three has some potential like you said. Instead of a colored powerfist, you could paint the opposite boot yellow. Or a section of the shield could be painted to tie the model together.

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Based on the little bit of background for the unit I would say go with the second option. Like you said, I think anything too flashy would be a little bit out of place.

- Null

Wolfs

In regards to your paint scheme for the Terminators and the lack of powerfists...why not replicate the brighter color on the knee pad/joint? For any of the Terminators not carrying that beastly Storm Shield, they would totally offset a brightly colored shoulder pad on the opposite side of the body.

The concept of "stealthing" your Marines, especially with the final color scheme, seems like it could be a daunting challenge. You can either get away with airbrushing the limbs, or will need to go through several drybrushing strokes to give the appearance of a bright color fading to black. Definitely a cool effect and more than an ample challenge for the likes of you. I especially like the fact that it does incorporate the colors of your Chapter. While FW's IA does showcase armor schemes for different terrains/weather, I think it'd be more in line with SM thinking to not deviate too much from your Chapter colors...hell, even the Deathwatch still carry their Chapter colors when wearing Deathwatch armor. So there is a sense of pride in who you are.

As for the design on the shield...options 2&3 definitely work quite well and will allow you to hammer out some impressive Termie shields in no time. Another option that would be a nice touch, could be the incorporation of tribal symbols on the shield...combining their heritage with that of the Imperium...they could also be scripts of valor written in their own tongue - kinda like how the Adeptus Custodes write names on the inside of their armor, which they receive depending on their campaign actions. It's a mark of pride.

It would definitely add some "human" flavor to the Marines.

And that's all I can think of right now...but the Chapter is progressing nicely. I cannot wait to see what's next in line for these guys.

OKay, so it looks like #2 is the best option for my shields:


I'll be getting into the culture of these guys soon, Ar'ka, don't worry.

As for the color scheme to use on my Termies themselves (and the Shrike conversion), it seems like most are leaning toward one of these two:

1.) This seems like a winner for pure camo/stealth look.


3.) This scheme, with the addition of maybe a colored knee pad or something.


Is the general consensus between these two?

As for number 4:

4.) Know that I don't intend for this to be a Stealth field type of thing. It is simply a type of camo pattern. I find myself leaning toward it since it keeps the colors of my chapter in it.


I know the final decision is of course mine, but any other input would be helpful!

Hey Wolfs16
I'm still going for #1. If you like #4 go for it though!

- Null

Out of your two options...you've pretty much got your Power Armor and Terminator Armor displayed right there. The Power Armor is simple and discreet, while the Terminator Armor is adding some stereotypical personal heraldry to their armor. The nice thing about option 2 is the minimalist nature, which as far as I know, is still what you want.

If the Shadow Guardians are all about the dark look, then I really do think options 1 & 2 are the way to go. But as Null said, if you really like option 4, the very least you can do is create a mock mini and see what you think.

Personally, I think the Tiger Claw marine heraldry is the best because it is, in some ways, the least realistic. One of the perennial issues with camouflage and disruption patterns is that they actually work. The level of detail that the artist is able to achieve on the ash pattern of #1 is beyond what's achievable on a miniature (unless you're really good), and so the unit would end up looking like black lumps if you went with the Red Scorpion ash camo. The grey of #2 is too plain, and I agree with you about the lack of colour without a powerfist on #3. The last guy has colour and from a distance it'll look kinda like camo. Maybe a duller version of the regular yellow will help the effect?

As for shields, I actually side with the first option: Freehand. I think that a large colourful symbol of any kind would be out of place, but I like the idea of something like the tattoos the studio puts on the Dark Eldar Reavers and Hellions. If you're frightened of the freehand, you could try taping the shields, drawing on the design, and then cutting it out with a hobby knife? The scale may be too small to do that—I've never tried something like it—but with a large(er) surface like the shield's might be able to handle it? I think it would be cool to push your boundaries a bit. Of course, it's just my opinion though, and that much freehand might be pushing your boundaries too far into hostile territory, so to speak.

After some thought, I think I agree with you Didi. The Tiger Claws pattern allows me to keep my original paint scheme color, thus tying it in with the rest of my yellow army. I plan on painting the black areas grey, then giving them several washes of Badab Black or some other dark washes I've picked up. That will hopefully give the black some depth and avoid it from looking like primer.

As for the shield, I agree that subtle tattoo like symbols would be best. In fact, I think I'm going to apply this on all my Chapters wargear. They will resemble tribal tattoos, but will be done in grey and printed on a black background. I can try to find and print out a transfer, but I think I might try and freehand it. Gotta push myself, I guess. I think I will try drawing it in pencil, on the model and then filling it in with paint. Sounds good?

I have returned! Unfortunately, real life made it difficult for me to update. Anyway, here is the first Terminator in the proposed color scheme I posted about earlier….ya know, this one?



Well here it is!




Instead of doing black, I painted it grey and then used a black wash several times to darken it. Then I did a grey drybrush on the black armor to give it some definition. Now, this guy is not finished, but I like the idea of it. I feel like it is still missing something though….
Question:
Does anyone know how the guy painted the power weapons on these models? I really like the look.

Okay guys, that’s all for now. Hopefully more soon!

Good to see you back. As a wise man once said to me:


I don't even have the skills I'm purporting to identify, but it looks to me like acrylic wet-blending? Or even just regular blending. Check out this sort-of-tutorial on Santa Cruz Warhammer. If you're really into it, apparently the way to go is oil, rather than acrylic paints. You have to thin it with white spirit rather than water, but the drying time (48hrs) and intense pigmentation of oils means that you can mix them really easily without the muddiness problems of acrylics. Where was that tutorial... Ah! Here's the video from Awesome Paint Job.

If I were to throw down my thoughts on the painting, I'd have to say the guy either has an airbrush, or he's blending/drybrushing the colors to the point of perfection in regards to light reflecting off the steel. Not quite what you were looking for, but since he's mentioned to be "one of the studio book design team." he may have access to an airbrush with a fine tip.

And for the paint scheme. I truly love the look; its well replicated from what you pulled from the pages of IA. The only thing I would mention, and this of course comes from whether or not its capable with drybrushing, but to me it seems the parts on the leg armor fade into the darker color. But why should I point that out when the thing looks simply amazing with the brighter color stopping at the knee? I shouldn't.

And good call on the washed grey, makes the whole thing a bit more dynamic and lifelike since black is a *BAD WORD DELETED* to highlight adequately. At least now you've got a lighter base coat to work back on.

I'm actually pretty sure that the gradient was done by paintbrush, rather than by airbrush. Especially on the head of the axe, you can see that the shading isn't as steady as it would be with an airbrush. I'm actually also pretty sure that it was acrylics, rather than oils, but I'm not 100% sure.

Glad to see an update! And I like the selection, the terminator just looks plain great!

Will all the terminators be like that?

An update at last!


I think it's missing color in that huge grey area. The tiny little eye slits of terminators just aren't enough to break it up, even when painted bright green. Perhaps making the hood around his head yellow as well would help. You may also want to try the green used for the lenses on the pipes/wires of the thunder claws as well.