Command Squads
Infantry Squads
Chimeras
Leman Russ Battle Tanks
2 More Chimeras
Demolisher Battle Tank
Kasrkin Storm Troopers
Techpriest Engineseer
Heavy Weapon Teams
Basilisk Tank
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| Keith Rankin's Imperial Guard Army | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12/11/06 - Since deciding recently to get back into painting and collecting miniatures, the issue comes up. What about those damn Imperial Guard you've been working on for like 3 years. Well, they are almost complete, as they have been for about the entire time that I've had them. But I'm on a mission to finish up the last few squads and vehicles for my Tournament-buster IG list and then move on to some other projects. My painting has improved steadily over the time that I began working on the IG so at times I have to kind of regress so that the army matches lol. Below, before the links to the IG gallery, I am going to go over some things I have improved on during the course of the IG project, as well as some things that you don't have to point out about the miniatures because I know where they are flawed and what to improve on during my next project. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Nitty-gritty of the IG Project | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highlighting | Skin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skin is very difficult to do right. It is something I have struggled with since I started collecting and painting and I struggled with it at times during the IG project. I can say though, that the switch (after most of the IG were completed) from GW/Citadel paints to Vallejo has made a dramatic difference as well as the use of a wet pallete for my stuff. Smoothness of the paint is one of the most difficult things to accomplish and it is the most effective part of making skin look realistic. Can't wait to try out some new things. My Dwarfs are looking much better than my IG in the integumentary department. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Something I hadn't done well during my early painting years is highlight miniatures. Staying mostly inside our small group, I was not exposed to some of the cool miniatures and techniques that the rest of the non-Valley Stationer's were doing. After making my first trip to Games Day in 2003, I started to kind of study painting and do some research on techniques. My old ork army was blah to say the least but with them I was able to experiment with drybrushing and shading techniques. WIth the IG, i reached out and began to use contrasting colors on shoulder pads and smaller details on the miniatures to really bring out the color. While the paint scheme on my IG are the basic Cadian pattern (Green and Khaki), you'll notice that there are some experimental things going on with some of the miniatures in that some are inked and some are not. Some are highlighted a little more heavily than others. This was because these techniques were fairly new to me and I was trying different things. One thing the IG did though was improve my painting skills dramatically. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bases | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| One of the things that really helps make a model complete is thier baseplate. You'll notice that the bases on the IG are very basic. Although they don't look horrible (i.e my orks), they could use some help. I had finished most of the IG before realizing this, so this is the way the bases are going to look. Sorry ; ; | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Model Details (Backpacks, etc.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eyes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This was a tournament army that at one point I was trying to rush together. Therefore I am afraid that some of the details were kind of slopped. No excuse but laziness and sloppiness for this. Apologies!~ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Didn't do a lot of eye work on the IG. For one reason, I don't have much experience with models that actually do have human-esque eyes. (Orks, Chaos). So, in a way, I did the army on purpose like this. Most of the Codex art from the IG book shows the guardsmen in a very rugged portrayal. The absence of big white splotches on their faces kinda helps with that feel I think. But eyes are something that I do plan to improve on in the near future as I try some different IG/Human projects. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rubbing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Some of the miniatures in the gallery are suffering from the rubbing off of paint. I used these miniatures all the time a while back for tourneys and such and the damage increased over time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Squad Colors | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unfinished Business | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| After playing in a few tournaments, it became quite tedious to differentiate between my 90+ models on the field that were all the same color/type. Thats when the Squad colors were born. I painted a small stripe on the back of each squads bases in different color. This is also a tool i'm using for organizing the gallery. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Like I've stated before, the IG project is very close to being completed, but there are a few things that I haven't painted yet, so you may notice in the gallery that some of the heavy weapons teams are featured twice in other squads :). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Camera Noob | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I just got a new camera which is completely awesome. However, I'm not a photography expert as of yet and I really don't know how to access all of the camera's features. So I'm trying to get the minies in focus and everything but sometimes the pics may suck.. Sorry. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Gallery | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Command HQ Command Squads Infantry Squads Chimeras Leman Russ Battle Tanks |
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| IG - Coming Soon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Armored Fist Squad 2 More Chimeras Demolisher Battle Tank Kasrkin Storm Troopers Techpriest Engineseer Heavy Weapon Teams Basilisk Tank |
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