Customer: Matthew Knight

Project Outline: 10 Sternguard Marines, 5 Terminators and a Dreadnought painted up in Blood Ravens colors. They don't make any waterslide decals for the Blood Ravens iconography, so there's going to be quite a bit of freehand work in this one!

Here is the whole stack of models as they arrived in the mail. I'll be re-basing all of them onto some custom resin bases from my Store.

I'm also going to be coming up with a special resin kit to convert the bolters on the Sternguard squad to have box magazines instead of the typical 'banana clip'.

Here's the first color test model for the Blood Ravens. The armor areas are Mechrite Red, shaded with a black wash, with highlights of Blood Red.

The customer wants these guys to look the part of an elite group that have seen some action, hence the weathering and chipped armor.

Since the Blood Ravens don't have any waterslide transfers for their chapter iconography, it's freehand time :)

At this point, the color scheme is up for customer approval, then I'll get cranking on the rest of them.

Update 9/29/11

This project illustrates why it's so vital to post pictures for customer review. I often will get so engrossed while painting that I may miss certain flaws. A fresh pair of eyes is needed to catch them.

I laughed out loud when the customer said the freehand chapter symbol made the marines look less like the Blood Ravens and more like the Blood Ducks!

Needless to say, I went back and made the beak a little sharper :)

Here's another shot of a basic Sternguard Marine showing the freehand shoulder pad.

The 'banana clip' magazines on the bolters have also been replaced with a box style magazine that more closely matches the style of the Sternguard.

Here's a shot of the Sarge with Plasma Pistol and Power Sword. I went for a green glow to the weapons. I think it contrasts well with the deep red of the marine's armor.

Here's agroup shot of all the Sternguard Marines.

Up next, the Dreadnought.

Update 10/11/11

Here's the Dreadnought all painted up and good to go.

The arms are magnetized, and the banner is removable, for storage/transport purposes, or to field him as a regular Dreadnought as opposed to Venerable.

Here's a shot from the side, showing the battle damage on the Close Combat arm.

Here's a close-up of the right Close Combat arm, for use when fielding this guy as a Furioso Dreadnought using the Blood Angels rules.

The Blood Ravens chapter icon has a nice big bullet hole right through it, that should piss him off pretty good :)

Here's a close-up of the freehand banner. The colors are a bit washed out in this shot.

Still working with the color settings on the camera.

Terminators are next on the block for these guys...

Update 11/3/11

Here are the Terminators, all painted up and ready to roll.

I scuffed up their armor pretty good and gave the sarge a nice slas across the front of the helmet to make these guys look like they've been to hell and back.

The sarge also has some freehand heraldry on the small shoulder shield.

Here they are from the side, showing the freehand chapter symbols.

Once the customer approves the design, it's time for dullcoat and static grass on all the models.

Update 11/15/11

Here are all the models, posed for one final 'glamor shot' before I pack them up and get them ready to ship.