Space Wolves Rhino

It's been a long, long time since I've had a chance to sit down and paint something for my armies.  Things have been extremely busy for the last nine months and have started to finally calm down for a few weeks.  It won't last of course, but it's nice to finish a new model when I can!

The Rhino I've had on hand since I started my Space Wolves force a while back now.  I just never got around to it unfortunately.  Now with some maneuverability my Wolves might stand a chance on the battlefield!

I added some green stuff pelts to the rhino along with a few minor wolf details from the old sprue set.

Primed grey, I used my airbrush to give it a coat of Shadow Grey.  I added a light modulated highlight to the upper half using my airbrush and a 25/75 mix of Shadow Grey/Space Wolves Grey.  If you're not airbrushing tanks yet, you're really missing out on some very subtle but great effects!  The tone change might not show up that well in the photo, but in person it is just enough to add some interest to otherwise flat panels.

Armor lines and joins were then given a line wash of Devlan Mud.  After that was dry the model was given line highlights of Space Wolves Grey on upward and forward facing edges.  Not all edges need to be highlighted, just important ones to help with depth and shape.

The details were all picked out in Chaos Black and followed the standard for my Wolves from prior posts.

The decals were added after everything was painted and finally the model was given a coat of Matt Varnish to help it hold up to game use!

Simple and clean, the model fits in nicely with the rest of the army.  It's also made me very keen to add more vehicles to the army as this paint took just around a single day to complete!   

Art: XVIII

XVIII

20"x16"Acrylic on Canvas

Some of you might remember the last space marine painting that I posted a while back.  This painting was started soon after finishing that first piece and was to be in the same vein.  The background went in quickly enough, but with life getting in the way, I couldn't find the time to settle in and work in the marine. 

With a long break through winter, I was able to get back to the easel and broke out the paints again and in a single sitting, I finished the painting off, all while preparing a dinner! 

I'm really quite happy with this piece and feel it as a natural evolution from the first marine.  Future iterations would see much this same sort of evolution and a push toward more dynamic compositions. 

If you're interested in seeing more of my work outside of the hobby, feel free to browse my art website/blog here.  Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy my work!

Reinforcements: Shadowseer

After warming up the old painting hands with some space marines, I felt this model come together a little more naturally.  The model is a commission for a friend of mine and is actually a gift for another friend who has just recently gotten into wargaming.  Mutual friends from countless hours of MMO's and FPS's, I have 'known' this friend for some years now and hung out on more than a handful of occasions.  Having a personal relationship with people who will end up owning models I work on makes it a little more special when I do a commission.  While I'm sure every person that commissions me to do a piece appreciates what I do, you get to really know that appreciation more-so when you get to see those models in play against you!

Reinforcements: Falcon Guard

In an effort to get my painting hands back before I dive into a slightly more involved commission project, I thought I might start out with some simple tactical marines.  The other reason for this squad is that I wasn't aware that my friend and I were going to be swapping gifts and when he told me my gift was being worked on, I had an instant flash of what I should do for a return gift!

The color scheme is that of his Falcon Guard Chapter.  This faction is one of the many he has started developing for his Battle for the Malina System blog and campaign setting.  I've been helping with color choices and even did a single marine for him some time back.  I have a ton of tacticals waiting for paint and these guys make a great start for his force, which as of this squad totals 6!

The modeling went quickly as all of these are starter set marines from either AoBR or the old BFM sets.  Each was based with a simple sand/ballast mix.  For more on basing check out our basic basing tutorial.

The armor was painted with Iyaden Darksun, washed with Devlan Mud, cleaned up with Iyaden Darksun again, and highlighted with Bleached Bone.  To speed things up, for the initial base color, I used my airbrush.

For the green shoulder trim, it's simply a painted metallic and then washed with Thraka Green.

Hopefully they keep him excited to hobby and kick start him army well when he gets to them!  Now, on to the next piece...