2ed Blood Angel Army & Ork Armies

Humby50

Member
Hi All,
Please humour me creating this topic to try and keep my enthusiasm for a project going so I remain motivated to finish what i start.

We moved house last year and in the process of unpacking i discovered my old White Dwarf back issues, one of which contained the battle report of Captain Tychos ill fated encounter with an Ork Weirdboy. Seeing this battle report again brought all of 12 year old me's memories flooding back like a french guys posh sponge cake. I'd loved the worlds of Games Workshop before that moment, but i think if i had to pick a moment that was the point of no return it was then: the new edition of 40k; the new Dreadnought model; and that issue of White Dwarf. My now 2 year old son has meant my hobby time has been severely curtailed, but if i'm honest he's not the real problem. As most of us probably do I've got far too many gaming miniatures packed up in storage, all seem like a good idea at the time, but my garage is grave yard of half finished projects. I've got the attention span of a gnat.

Flush with enthusiasm after my discovery of the back issues i resolved to change this and paint up both armies from that battle report, as close as my collection and the whims of eBay will allow. I want to try and make sure all the models are appropriate to the era, and all metal where possible (so no mono-pose starter set marines and Orks, even though I've got a lot of affection for the old guys!). IF i manage to stick with it i'll end up with 2 usable 40k armies, and i can then have a go at completing the terrain set from the battle report as well ( as near as the photographs will allow anyway). One of the advantages of being a massive hobby hoarder is that i've still got all the old rulebooks and myriad cards and counters from back in the day, so hopefully an actual re-fight can be re-fought.

So without further ado here are the first three (almost) finished Blood Angels. (Apologies for the pictures, perhaps the practice will improve my ability at miniature photography, I've never really developed much of a knack for it!)

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Tactical Marine
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Meltagun
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Sargeant

I'll finish the first combat squad and then move on to half a squad of Orks etc...etc...

I'm following the Blood Angels recipe from the old Space Marine Painting guide (as much as i'm able to). Although my copy of the guide is long ago lost to the mists of time, i got it with my first Citadel Paint set (prior to that having massacred some Grenedier fantasy models with Humbrol enamel paints). Some of the pots of paints from that set have survived in my collection to this day and are still good, god bless 'em!

As you no doubt notice i'm undecided whether to go full Goblin Green with the bases, as much as i love the old school aesthetic that may just be a step too far.

If anyone would like to weigh in with opinions on that or anything else about the paint jobs please do, comments and criticism very welcome. Hints and tips for improving the photography would be very welcome as well. I picked up a folding photography studio from amazon a few years back, and although it has improved the pictures i'm able to take I've never been completely satisfied with them. Camera is just my Android Smartphone, with the Open Camera App.

Thanks for listening to me ramble on, here's hoping i return with more to show!
Nick
 

Humby50

Member
After some mucking about i may have arrived at a more sucessful photograpy method!

Working on the other two members of the combat squad so may have more to show soon.

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twisted moon

Moderator
those look good; i hope you can maintain momentum.
personally, I would avoid green bases, but it's your project.
 

Orjetax

Member
Re: 2ed Blood Angel Army & Ork Armies

Great project. I finding posting here increases my own enthusiasm, so sound strategy.

Either way on the bases. I’m not a fan myself. But on the other hand you are doing so much in a period style why not carry it through to the bases?


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Plaiecivile

Member
Those are great, very clean style, in line with the originals.

And I am not impartial on this, but I vote goblin green base all the way! ;)

#VoteGreenBase2020 :lol:
 

Humby50

Member
Thanks for all the kind comments guys. I'm a coward so have made no further decisions re: the bases. I'm trying to think of a way to go with the goblin green bases with more of modern twist, so i can have my cake and eat it too!

I have however made more progress on the last two members of the combat squad.

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Just need to finish everyone's bolter and squad/chapter markings (and bases!) and these guys are done. I have slightly jumped the gun and started base coating the first of my Goff Ork Nobs. These guys will be more of a challenge as the number of Orks i've painted in the past is limited so there's less muscle memory to draw on!

I figured alternating between the two armies would make me less likely to burn out on repeating the same thing over and over! At least 3ed was more of skirmish sized game!
 

symphonicpoet

Moderator
You have put the red back in the red era. I'm on the verge of de-acquisitioning all my Space Wolves of that vintage. You're almost convincing me to hang onto them. I'm . . . thinking about it. Those are some very nicely painted blood pixies. I love what you've done with them. :)
 

Humby50

Member
So here's the first of my Goff Ork Nobz nearing completion, bit frustrated with the pictures because i think he looks nicer in person but i shouldn't think i'm the first to feel that!

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I'll have another futz around with the pictures and hopefully put some more of him up alongside the completed combat squad of marines soon.
 

Humby50

Member
Hi All,
Latest update, as you can see I've finally committed to basing them up. Apologies to those of you who voted against the green bases but i decided to try and remain true to the original models. Thanks is due to Orlygg and the Realm of Chaos 80s blog for sharing his method of basing his models in an old blog post i dug up. I quite like the look of them personally, but i can understand how people might feel they detract from the models. Hopefully i managed to strike a balance.

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Squad Sargeant- Fairly happy with how this guys turned out, although he looks a bit boss eyed from the wrong angles!

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MkVI Bolter Marine - Happy with this chap, you can't see very well but there's a little black freehand skull on his right shoulder pad in lieu of the squad marking on the kneepad.

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MkVII Bolter Marine A - Not completely happy with the freehand squad marking on his knee (or the special weapon guys) but decided to live with it rather than making it worse by fiddling with it.

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MkVII Bolter Marine B- Decided to go with honour markings on the right knee and count the moulded on skull as his squad marking. Seemed a little daft having double knee skulls!

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Special Weapon Marine- Rescued this guy from ebay and on stripping realised he was damaged and not the most fantastic mould. Did my best to repair him but subsequently this may have affected how happy i ended up being with him.

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Goff Ork Nob- This guys the test bed for my Goff Squad, I've tried not to lean too heavily into the whole black/white colour scheme because i think they have the danger of looking a little boring. Hopefully I've managed to hew to that line sucessfully!

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Goff Skar Boyz ready to join their boss

I'm getting happier with the photos, but the minis are coming up as very glossy for some reason. Anyone have any tips or tricks to dull that down, I've tried a layer of matt varnish since taking these photos but i'm not convinced it'll make that much of a difference. That and any other comments and criticisms are welcome,
Thanks,
Nick
 

Orjetax

Member
Re: 2ed Blood Angel Army & Ork Armies

Well, now I like the goblin green bases! Looks good.

I’m not very clever with photography. But maybe they are coming up glosses because there’s too much direct light?



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symphonicpoet

Moderator
Why apologize? Those look lovely and deeply 80s. I assure you, I based my miniatures green at the time just like everyone else. Not willing to go back to it as I'm too far into the black and sand look that I started in the 90s, but . . . if I'd based that well in the 80s I'd never have gone over. :) Your stuff looks fabulous and I'd let it on my table anytime. Might even go with a green board just to help it along. :)

. . . (That is as long as you'll let me use my desert world bases with your lovely green ones.)
 

Humby50

Member
Thanks for the encouragement all!

The next four Goffs are base coated so hopefully shouldn't be too long before they join their boss now. I'll have a punt at improving the photography further when they are, maybe with something to diffuse the light a bit.
 

symphonicpoet

Moderator
Actually, I really like your photography. You're taking good, well lit portrait shots of your gang. It's already pretty dang soft lighting. Seems about perfect. I'd worry that with more diffusion you'd lose the shadows too much and the photographs might become too flat. That said . . . it's always fun experimenting with photography, and given the quality of what you've thrown up so far I look forward to seeing more. :)
 

Humby50

Member
Thankyou, and don't get me wrong, I'm much happier with the most recent photos and well aware of the improvement!

They still seem to fall short of how the minis look in real life though! or potentially the photos are more efficiently high lighting short comings I'm able to otherwise ignore! Either way it'd be nice to improve further, especially with the gains I've seen from the small amount of time/effort thus far.
 

Humby50

Member
Just to prove this is still a thing, here's the current progress on the undercoated Skarboys shown above

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Lots still to do with them obviously though!
 
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