Ultramarines 2nd Company

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Hello there one and all. Long-time lurker, now poster. I have a bunch of Ultramarines I've been painting since the dawn of 5th edition, although I didn't manage to play any games during that whole time. (I've played two in 6th, though! It's a lot of fun, but I've got a long way to go!). I started with Eldar at the very, very end of 2nd edition. I still have some of those old minis, they have far, far too much orange on them. I still like the Eldar very much, and one day I might well try again with them (now that I'm not ten years old). When I came back to this in 2008, though, the lure of power armour was far too much to resist - I saw the new Sicarius, and I thought: yes. Ultramarines. It's on. (I since discovered I'm one of about maybe five people in existence who likes Ultramarines and thinks they're cool).

Flash forward to now and I have over 3,000 fully-painted points. This scares me.

I'm still fairly new to this painting lark - my theory at the moment is very much: take your time, don't worry too much about mistakes because you can go over them later. Anyway, I've got a few compliments in my local store about them, so I thought I'd share a few here for comments and advice. I'll apologise, these are terrible iPhone pictures. It was also a sunny day, so the light has washed out some of the subtler shades and details, but oh well.

And yes, if you spot any mistakes, I assure you I've seen them too, and each one cuts a knife into my heart. Oh well!

Characters first.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v738/Lyckantropen/Sicarius.jpg

Sicarius is such a nice mini. I painted this one by following the 'Eavy Metal guide as closely as I could. Those tend to look intimidating, but honestly, it's like cooking. Follow the recipe. You don't have to do all the fancy stuff the guy who is infinitely better than you does, but you can get a very decent result with the basic principles they use.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v738/Lyckantropen/Captain.jpg

I think the Emperor's Champion is another of the best miniatures GW produce. It's a very simple, effective sculpt. There isn't much iconography on him, either, so he's very easy to paint up in your own colours! I run him as a Captain with a Relic Blade and Artificer Armour when I leave Sicarius in his box.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v738/Lyckantropen/Chaplain.jpg

The Jumpacklain! He was the first finecast I got, to try it out. I like Finecast, although, yeah, this one was slightly rough (on his shoulderpad). I don't mind. He's probably the least good of the characters I've done, but I'm still pretty happy with him. He hasn't seen any tabletop action yet, but he'll go soaring through the skies making a 10 man assault squad a little more dangerous. While yelling prayers and conking heads with a big mace. Yes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v738/Lyckantropen/Librarian.jpg

I'd never seen this guy with a combi-plasma before, so I put it on there. I'm running him as a Biomancer anyway, so he can use that as his shooting attack while buffing/debuffing and other shenanigans. I usually hate helmetless marines (in the grim darkness of the far future... probably best to protect your head) but I think Librarians get a pass. They're magic.

Thanks for looking! I'll try and upload more!

[Cap'nSmurfs]

And also, not an Ultramarine, but...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v738/Lyckantropen/DeadMarine.jpg

I painted up all the Space Hulk marines a while back. It was a nice break and a little painting exercise. I'm really pleased with how they all came out. I have a tin of unpainted Genestealers that I will get to eventually, too. Probably. Maybe.

[SotonShades]

Nice job. Deffinitely looking forward to seeing the rest of your 3k :)

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Lovely models ser, always had a soft spot for the 2nd. :D

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Thanks, guys, much appreciated! As I said, I've got a lot of compliments, but they're sometimes amusingly backhanded because they're Ultras. ;)

Pictures of the rest may take some time. :D I'll try and get a big shot of the whole lot of them this week, though!

For now, here's a venerable dreadnought:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v738/Lyckantropen/Dread2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v738/Lyckantropen/Dread1.jpg

First time I'd done armour chipping of any kind, I think it came out quite well.

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

I agree! Very pretty Dread, does he have a name?

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Venerable Brother Heraclius! His hobbies include long walks, meditation, and purging the unclean with the purifying heat of a thousand suns.

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Venerable Brother Heraclius! His hobbies include long walks, meditation, and purging the unclean with the purifying heat of a thousand suns.

HERETIC! Oh, wait, I read that wrong. :p

[Calgar33]

Your Chapter Master approves of these models. Nice work.

[SotonShades]

Venerable Brother Heraclius! His hobbies include long walks, meditation, and purging the unclean with the purifying heat of a thousand suns.

I can just imagine a Dreanought's idea of a long walk; dissappearing for a century or two at a time and just randomly strolling up to the Fortress gates at Macragge, completely unaware of the pilgrims around him with their jaws dropped to the floor, the gate guard asking where he has been "Oh, you know. Just popped out for a walk to clear my head. Why? Was I gone long?"

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

I can just imagine a Dreanought's idea of a long walk; dissappearing for a century or two at a time and just randomly strolling up to the Fortress gates at Macragge, completely unaware of the pilgrims around him with their jaws dropped to the floor, the gate guard asking where he has been "Oh, you know. Just popped out for a walk to clear my head. Why? Was I gone long?"

Except of course that he'd sound like William Shatner, according to Know No Fear all Ultramarines Dreadnoughts do. :p

[Chris*ta]

Except of course that he'd sound like William Shatner, according to Know No Fear all Ultramarines Dreadnoughts do. :p

Thanks for ruining like, every dreadnought model for me for, like, forever :(

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

No problem. :D

[Cap'nSmurfs]

No more pictures for now, but for those who are interested/in the area, my Ultramarines will be on display in the store cabinet in GW Oxford for the next month or so. :) So if you want to drop in and coo over my stuff, you can!

Currently I'm working on some sergeants with fun weapon options (two with combiweapons and power swords, two with power fists), some more special weapons (because my tactical squads aren't killy enough) and a couple more heavies. Always keep bitz. Always beg bitz which friends/family aren't using. Bitz are the key to ultimate victory.

(Also that Finecast Sternguard weapon pack people were moaning about? I have it, and it's a really nice cast. People are weird.)

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Not the world's greatest picture, but here they are in the cabinet:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v738/Lyckantropen/061.jpg

*pride*

[Tzeentch's Dark Agent]

Good job matey!
They look tasty!

[Cap'nSmurfs]

I'll get around to photographing them all properly when I have them back, promise. They need more tanks and then I'm ready to call them done (insofar as armies are ever done)~

[Meph]

Ooh, decent pics! Can't wait :D

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Talk of Space Marines recently reminds me that I've painted and taken (crappy) pictures of some other stuff since I last updated this. So here we go. Apologies for quality; most of these are quick iPhone photos I took to text to my brother.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v738/Lyckantropen/040_zps32e7eda5.jpg

Your Spiritual Liege.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v738/Lyckantropen/042_zps93749aea.jpg

And he brought friends! (Pre-basing, sorry! They were finished off a bit after that).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v738/Lyckantropen/035_zpsd15719b7.jpg

The book explains in excruciating detail how he's going to kill you with his mind.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v738/Lyckantropen/034_zps8e23526b.jpg

The Best Space Marine Miniature (TM).

I'm working on my Eldar at the moment, so this thread is going to sleep again. When the Eldar are done, though...

[Dave Fothergill]

Very cool good work ! And you must be very proud to have your army on display in GW.

[ElectricPaladin]

This is some excellent stuff. The Ultramarines get a lot of flack, but I think you've brought out a lot of the character of the minis in this force. You really express the pride, glory, and ritual of the Ultramarines with your crisp and precise colors. I think I've done the same thing with a few of my projects, but this is really excellent - way better than mine. Good job!

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Have an awful picture of an awesome (overpriced, but awesome) model!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v738/Lyckantropen/006_zps5d6a381c.jpg

I'm going to try and get some better photographs of my stuff some day, but until then, we'll make do. :)

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Here's a much better one of the Captain.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v738/Lyckantropen/003_zps9700a527.jpg

[SotonShades]

Great stuff. The highlights especially; subtle, but still strong enough to make the model pop :)