Hi everyone, Eldrad Vect here, crazy Christmas has passed and I thought it had been a tad too long since I last posted on the blog, anyhow I have been busy re-painting my Dark Eldar lately and to break up the monotony of painting thin glowing lines on segmented armour plates and pale flesh (well that one not so much) I began work on my Carcharodons Chapter.
It is by far one of my best paint jobs I've done, I'm not sure how it stacks up to other peoples works since I quite often think other peoples are way better but this is the standard I'm going to paint my Carcharodons from lowly Scouts to mighty Centurions.
The Carcharodon's iconography is by far one of my favourites as it incorporates my favourite animal in it, the shark, don't know what that says about my personality but all I can say is painting this free hand was extremely fun and very rewarding to see it play off. It also stands out, on the dark grey of the armour and black of the shoulder and knee pads it works well, catching the eye and adding a spark of brightness on an otherwise dark colour scheme.
I chose to use silver as the predominant metal colour on my Carcharodons, not sure if it is canon, but I always change colour schemes slightly to make my models a little different and stand out in their own unique way. I also used the Blood for the Blood God technical paint, it works so well and I think we can all agree, a blood spattered shield is pretty wicked looking.
I use glow effects quite a bit and on a dull scheme like this it was imperative that I have bursts of colour to break up the sea of grey. The eyes, wires and sensors on the model were done up with glow effects and came up quite well.
There are tribal markings on his knee pad as Carcharodons have shunned the Adeptus Astartes squad marking for their own, this also looks good when allied with my Space Wolves as they both use different squad markings. This is a first attempt so it does look a bit rough, I'm sure they will get better as I go. The Purity Seal is not blank because I'm lazy but left blank so that when this marine performs a heroic act or the likes of which, I will write it down, it adds more character to the model which I find is quite nice like naming models too. The base is done snowy, not only does it look cool but it contrasts the dark model on top making both the model and base stand out that little bit more. The snow effect (for anyone wanting to try it) was achieved by applying PVA glue to the base then adding Bi-Carb Soda to it, this also was a first attempt, so I did screw up a little and don't really know the exact way to pull of the technique, I'm still working on it, I apologise for that, but still it looks great and you just have to work out the best way for you to do it.
Once again, Blood for the Blood God works incredibly well and gives the Thunder Hammer that 'I've just pulverized so poor xeno/heretic' look. I usually paint weapons clean, as if ready for battle or hasn't yet reached the fray, but with the Carcharodons I wanted all their weapons to look worn out and blood soaked as if the were in the thick of it and hadn't bothered to clean their ancient (yet very effective) weapons.
Well that's it, my first fully painted Carcharodons Assault Terminator. Tell me what you think of it, I'm always open to some good constructive criticism.
Alright, Carcharodons!
ReplyDeleteI've got the same dark grey on my Sharks as you do, because I used a wash which darkened the grey that I was using. I was worried that it would blend the black and grey too much but in the end it wasn't too big a deal. I think the darker grey we're both using works well and actually looks BETTER than the brighter greys some painters choose, though I will say the brighter grey makes the models easier to see and is closer to a real shark's grey.
I also did the same as you for basing, I chose a bright yellow desert base to create some contrast.
The "canon" trim color for Carcharodons is bronze or black, but I chose bright gold to add some color. I didn't do pure silver on any of them like you did, but I like it, it's very utilitarian and feels like something the Carcharodons would do: bare metal, ceramite, and plasteel, no need for gaudy gold.
I didn't use freehand for the decals though, I used the FW ones because I definitely do not want to try freehanding it. They recently ran out and I was a bit stumped as I needed some more but thankfully they offer them again now. I picked up one of those Sakura Micron pens with the needle tips for fine detailing like doing black tattoos on the armor, but I really wish there was a white version so I could do white details. The white tattoo over the black kneepad is very attractive and in line with the official artwork.
Maybe for the next squad members you could do some tattoos that incorporate dot patterns? You don't want all your tattoos to be the exact same stripes and shapes after all.
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ReplyDeleteLooks great! Good work on the shark itself and the glow effects. Really look forward to seeing more!
ReplyDeleteI've loved seeing your Carcharodons come along! Pity I won't be playing against them for a while!
ReplyDeleteHi Red, thank you, I do also think dark grey looks better it made them look darker almost evil and untrustworthy (but not cause they are super loyal) and not that horrid light grey every one does. I like the sound of the yellow desert base. I have tried dots before but they didn't come out very well, however I've gotten better at it (free hand tattoos on my Cronos) so I'll try the next one like you said. :D
ReplyDeleteThank you Sonsoftaurus, I will hopefully be a bit more fluid in my Carcharodons posts, I've begun Green Stuffing too, with a Shark Mouth Lascannon.
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