+++REDACTED+++ Space Marines army is now READY

This army is now ready and painted. Didn't finish the Land Speeder though, otherwise this would be exactly 2000 points worth of Warhammer 40k 9th edition Space Marines batch painted. Since the last post I've done quite a lot of touch ups, weathering, fine highlighting and details here and there. Forgot to take notes and pics of most steps since there were many. I might try to memorize and write down some of the key things. I think I learnt a lot about batch painting routines, fine detailing (and sometimes deciding NOT to do it), retarder mediums, oil washes and pigment powders this time around. And I'll take better pics of everything later on, also focusing on some of the nice details here and there. But now I'll start working on some TERRAIN for a change. Just bought fake plastic plants and polystyrene balls (you remember the old school green cacti with bright red spikes from the White Dwarfs, RIGHT!?). 

Anyways, here's a few WIP shots and then some of the finished ones.  Praise the Emperor.

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+++REDACTED+++ Space Marines oil washed and pigment powdered

Last Friday evening (and night) was spent oil washing the whole army (except for the Land Speeder that I still need to built a base for). I slapped some diluted black (with a hint of brown and blue) on everything, and then touched all the white and bone areas (including shoulder pads and robes) as well as the lower parts of the legs with Yellow Ochre kind of a mix. Then cleaned most off with cotton buds. 

To accompany the traditionally crappy group shot, here's a closeup from a few chosen Marine brothers. And all the cotton buds.

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Today I did some hasty work on the bases. They're not done by any means, but it was a good start! Wasn't exactly sure how to do them, so tried something a bit different for each and every unit. Mainly there's just heaps of Burnt Umber pigment powder, followed by something that says "Kymin Okra" on the little jar. It's that orangey tone that can be seen best on the upmost row of Marines. On some squads I sealed these down with Vallejo's Pigment Binder, and others with cheap fixative spray. After a few squads I felt a bit more brown was needed, so I decided to paint the rest of the bases brown (with a mix roughly close to the Burnt Umber). I mixed in a few drops of the Pigment Binder and random pigments to that brown paint. It was then easy to clean / stain the legs when needed, since the Binder slows down the drying time. Didn't need to worry about getting brown on wrong places. 

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+++REDACTED+++ Space Marines - still painting the army

Haven't had much hobby time recently, but managed to add a bunch of important details to the army. If I counted correctly, there's now 198 transfers/decals on these guys. Most are from the new & old Space Marine transfer sheets (including upside-down Ultramarine ones), with a few Skitarii & Necromunda Enforcer ones thrown in. I also scribbled in hundreds of tiny lines and +++ symbols everywhere. These guys like to take notes! Still have to do similar scrawls on most of the purity seals. 

All this little line work was super fun to do even though the amount of it seemed overwhelming at first. I found an unused brush (Army Painters Regiment size) with a very sharp point and used that. It's big enough to keep quite a bit of fresh paint on it, so no need to go back to the palette that much. I also mixed in a tiny drop of Vallejo's Retarder Medium (and water) to keep the blacks and whites from drying too quick. Pure joy. I recommend trying that medium if you haven't. 

I still have to retouch some of the golden areas (can be seen through in places), maybe block in a few steely parts and see if there's anything else I'd like to emphasize before covering everything with some oil washes and pigment powders. It's likely I'll do some fine edge highlights on a few important spots (helmets, details on characters, around bullet holes etc.) later on. 

Here's the whole group of +++REDACTED+++ Space Marines, and a closer shot of a few more detailed ones. 

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+++REDACTED+++ Continue painting the army

I'm in the middle of adding Old Gold on the gun barrels and a few other choice details. Tried to mix in a little drop of Retarder Medium (and water) to the gold paint so I didn't need to rush so much or worry about the paint drying on the brushes. Works out nice. Before the golds I put down some Black Wash on the gun casings and other major weapon parts. I feel that these two steps have already made a huge improvement to the overall look of this army. They just seem to add so much definition to the models. Still need to do the golds on the Chaplain, Company Veterans & Vanguard Veterans (with jump packs). Then pay some attention to the Rhino & the Land Speeder. Maybe I'll do some big black/white/red lines as markings, while the Land Speeder still needs a base. And oh, what about putting some differentiating colors on the helmets of the characters and unit leaders? After that I guess it'll be time to do some serious transfer work. 

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