Sanguinary Guard - Part V (Showcase)

 

Have to wonder if he sculpted his own armour.

Sanguinary Guard are now considered complete. The bases are very simple, I could do an awful lot more there, but they're not the focus. The skulls are there purely to put skulls on bases (the pack of skulls was a gift) and to basically mark a model as done.

There's not too much not already covered from a painting perspective, so I'll be brief about that: the swords. The hilts are a mix of Warplock Bronze, Balthasar Gold, and Screaming Bell. Nothing fancy, just mix and layer. The blades are another matter, and I'm still not sure they worked how I wanted - but I definitely feel like there's potential to be had. I wanted the blades to be darker; bright blades would clash with the reflective armour and break the framing of the core of the model by unbalancing it. I also couldn't just leave them black. NMM might work, but I'd need to keep it very dark, which doesn't sell that technique too well, and I also wanted something to give them a hint of energy or inner power. And red. Ultimately this went something along the lines of:

• Black along the length of the blade.
• Corvus Black / Mechanicus Standard Grey to highlight the end, but also the base of the blade.
• Mechanicus Standard Grey / Ulthuan Grey to edge highlight the end and tip of the blade.
• Flesh Tearer's Red (Contrast) in multiple thin coats at the base of the blade, feathering it out into the middle.
• Stormshield varnish for extra protection and to unify the finish.

The second last step gives red because Blood Angels, but also darkens the base of the blade again. This kind of colour transition is an idea I used on Nekima and Mephiston to give that semi-mystical energy feel to the sword without relying on traditional power weapon effects. Note that because I don't give a unifying matt varnish to these models on account of the heavy use of metallics, I gave the sword blade a standalone varnish. These are the parts likely to come into contact with other surfaces and chip or have paint rub off.

His temper isn't a problem. For him.

I tried to give lettering a glow on the third sword, but silly me went and tried it over white. That just made everything pink. I should have gone for white, then yellow, and then red. I did play around with darkening metallics with whatever blacks and greys were on my palette, and that worked to a degree - enough that it's viable when the hilt is silver and the blade shouldn't match.

Not a whole lot more to say about the painting - it's all quite apparent, already covered, or nearly inconsequential (e.g "just use whatever is on the palette to make it semi-interesting"). So instead I'll mention some reflection on how the kitbashing, custom parts, and sculpting turned out.

First point is the 3d printed parts. This was the most obvious choice to give the models wings. There are other options I could have explored, but none would have looked half as good and taken twice as long. They fit with the model well, are a nice design, and with that I'm generally pleased. The print quality however shows that more traditional approaches with plastic or cast resin still reign supreme. Plastic cement is pretty damned useful too. Tidy up from supports is still needed on 3d printed parts, layer lines are very obvious in multiple places, and a multitude of artefacts are all around the place. I've done my best to cover up some of this, but it could've used some putty and sanding to improve on it all. This is just something to consider: unless dialling in your own 3d printer and spending a long time getting everything just right, imperfections from third party sellers are going to happen. Most of the problems aren't visible at the distance seen on a tabletop, but I wouldn't approve in a painting competition.

Sculpting little pieces on worked great. I could seem myself improving the more I played with it, and it's a skill I think I could master very quickly if I wanted and had the time for. It's the latter which is a problem, but I do want to continue to customise models in this way. Blood drop gemstones ended up being one of the easier things to sculpt as it turns out, however trying to make an impression of a larger detail and later glue it to the model wasn't as effective. Better to just sculpt directly onto a surface. Also, roughening up the surface really helps the putty stick.

Helmet is in the workshop.

The kitbashing itself I think worked well enough. Obviously the poses don't quite fit a model in flight or attacking with a jump pack, but the official models don't do that well either. It's really hard to have a dynamic pose with a flight capable model, despite some obvious designer best efforts, and I obviously can't do any better - but let it be known that I think some of the models from GW do execute such poses very well. Despite all of that, kitbashing was necessary to bring back the feel of Sanguinary Guard, and I really like the great range of options available to do just that. Each model has a unique pose, an individual look, and a sense of personality. There's stories that each one can tell, hints that their armour is still a work in progress by each of them, and yet they're elite warriors upholding the history and legends of those that came before.

Sure, the results aren't perfect, but the kitbashing was a good choice, and ultimately a cheaper one for me given that I already had a lot of spare parts to work with.

Finally, the paper under the bases is there to help remove the models. I magnetise the bases and they're otherwise hard up against steel washers. That could damage the magnets, but also the strength of the magnet might be more than the glue holding them to the base, so the bit of paper is just there to help slide the model of the washer.

-- silly painter.