Brother Hesdiel's 2nd Tac, 3rd Co.

The second tactical squad of the 3rd Company is complete.

I used pretty much the same technique as with the first squad, with minor tweaks. This time around I spent more time highlighting each marine's power armour contours to bring out the shape. I then ended up going back to the 1st squad and adding those same highlights.  Without them, the dipped green was just too flat looking.

The big differences were with my painting equipment.  Two major improvements: new paint brush and the P3 Wet Palette.

I pained these guys mostly with a Winsor & Newton Minature Series 7 Nr. 3 brush. Yes, that brush does cost more than twice what a normal brush costs, however, so far I am very happy with the results. It provides a perfect balance between area coverage and clean lines. 

I also tried using the Privateer Press P3 Wet Palette for the first time and I am very impressed. I think it is essential for anyone paining larger groups of figures with the same colour, because it makes the paint last forever on the palette. Especially if you have to custom blend a shade, having it dry on the palette within 10 minutes is very frustrating. With the wet palette, you can keep on painting and painting.  One word of caution, it is very easy to get thin paints overly watery, so be careful when using thin colours. 

With my core Troops done, it's time to move on to Elites.  One squad of Deathwing is coming next. 

Brother Ramiel's 1st Tac, 3rd Co.

The 1st Tactical squad of the 3rd Company is complete.

For the rank and file Dark Angels I used a DA Green spray primer. Priming in the base colour is the fastest way to get squads painted. 

Then I undercoated the guns, robes and insignia in white which allowed the red and bone colours to nicely stand out. 

As always, it is critical to have all lines extremely clean so I took a bit longer fixing up all the little paint overruns.

For the metals, I used a single coat of silver or brass and washed with the P3 armour wash.

Given that this army is considerably darker than my Orcs, I switched to the Dark Tone of the Army Painter Quickshade.  After the shade was applied, I sprayed matt varnish before adding highlights. 

Two things I learned: 

1) Red can be effectively highlighted with bone+red mixture. This was a pro-tip from a visiting painter at my local game store Strategies. (thanks!)

2) The Dark Tone still gets pretty much lost in the DA green armour so the effect is subtler than I would have liked. However with some highlighting the power-armour came out reasonably well.

3) Brother Ramiel's bald head is very shiny.  I may have to touch it up with some hair effect...

The finished product is definitely good enough for the table!  And with only 10 troops per squad, I can put in a bit more time than I did with my Orc grunts.

Next up: Brother Hesdiel's 2nd Tac, 3rd Co. squad.  

The Descent Begins

It has happened. I picked up the Dark Vengeance box, exchanged the Chaos minis and doubled up on the Dark Angels.  Fantasy Battles is still my number one game, however, I have been impressed with the 40k 6th rules. Fun, simple and with a massive following.

So as my orcs would say: 'Ere we go 'Ere we go!

• 2 Tactical squads
• 2 Deathwing Squads
• 2 small Raven wing squads (which can be combined into one  big squad) 
• Chapter Master
• Librarian
• Chaplain

This is not a competitive army but it is a great core of an army.  

My plan is to paint both the Tacticals first, then a squad of Deathwing, then a character or two, then the bikes and finish with the last Deathwing squad. 

Let the dipping begin!