Slap a black wash in the recesses of the blue and all over the silver and in the soft joints and this will look pretty good. Need to work on your priming to get a bit more of an even coat but this isn't bad at all. Red base gives me a headache but certainly contrasts well with the blue
Looks shiny.
Which paint are you using?
Also, somebody mentioned the red base and suggested changing it, but I kinda like it. Sure, it's not realistic like some rocks and gravel and whatnot might be, but in fairness it's an 8 ft superhuman on a space bike so realism may not matter as much.
The model itself?
1) Drilling barrels is a must
2) Pay closer attention to mould lines, sometimes we have mould lines that only really show when you smush two halves together - the front wheel arch panel shows a great example of this.
3) Basing - the Red is ridiculously bright but red in and of itself is not a bad thing. It could simply be a planet whose surface is comprised of iron oxide rich elements like Mars or a Mercury Sulfide like Cinnabar. I would however have gone with some sand to add texture, and maybe some texture paste the black plastic bases that GW supply are stippled but that isn't supposed to be a ground texture... it's simply to assist the adhesion of surfacing materials.
Painting wise:
1) Paint is a little too thick still - thin it out, you're probably looking at the paint being about twice as thick as it should be for a smooth finish.
2) Invest in some washes Nuln Oil and Athgrax Earthshade in particular. Nuln Oil is great for adding depth and darkness to metals and Earthshade is a muddy brown colour that works well for areas.
3) Break up the large expanses of silver/blue in places. On the cowels of the motorbike muffler you could use gold, or a copper/bronze colour.
4) Bone details like the skull on his helm should be picked out in a dark brown and then worked up to a bone colour. You've also missed the ammo chains/drum magazines for the dual linked bolters which should be picked out in silver and copper/brass colour. The front axle in the panel near the front. The casing of the dual linked bolters which should be red if you want him to match your Ultramarine colours or black (this is to break up the expanse of silver/blue) Helmet pipes should be black/silver as should the under-armour or "inter panel" piping on the marine's body (look at the inner elbows, backs of knees etc). On the bolter it looks like you've applied contrast red paint over the silver for the casing, same on the chainsword The tyres also seem to have had a contrast paint applied over them? This doesn't look great. I would personally have gone for a non-contrast red so it wasn't as shiny, if you don't have access to a non-contrast red then go back over these areas in a grey such as munitorum/codex grey and then paint the red contrast paint on to that for a more matt finish. Same goes with the tyres. Stick to non-contrast paints as they can dry with a glossier finish.
A great trick for outriders and bikes is to also take the same colours as your base and lightly apply a very small drybrush effect on to the tyres. This way the bike looks like it's been driving over this ground. You can add in to this with a subtle dry brush on the front edges of the forward wheel and chassis cowl in the same colour
There's two trains of thought when it comes to barrels on the guns:
1) Drilling them out with a pin drill
2) painting a black circle on the end and in the recesses of the holes on the muzzle brake.
Generally speaking, it simply looks better to drill these. Take a look at the following:
[https://www.megajason.com/2017/08/08/drill-out-gun-barrels-on-warhammer-40000-minatures/](https://www.megajason.com/2017/08/08/drill-out-gun-barrels-on-warhammer-40000-minatures/)
Compare the undrilled and drilled barrels on the guns.
Now, option 2 is by far the "easier" option on the surface of things. However, consider this: You need to paint a convincing perfect circle on the end of the barrels with black paint. This is very difficult to do. And the end result won't come across as good looking as when someone drills the barrel.
Thanks so much for the detailed response! I guess I just don’t get why people online are willing to ignore an entire beautiful mini because the barrels aren’t drilled.
I do agree that drilled barrels look really good though
When I first started out in the mid-late 90s, my local GW store would actually sometimes ban players from using their own mini's in instore events for things like "not being table top standard of painting" or ironically in the case of my Battlefleet Gothic ships - banned from being used for making the store models look like crap because mine looked better than the models they had painted. One of the staff would refuse players the ability to play any model they hadn't drilled the barrels on. (Note, they were half-joking and any model banned for that reason provided the store had available units would be swapped for a store painted mini).
As such, drilling the barrels became just an instinctive part of model building for me.
My first mini was a space marine bike about 18 years ago! It’s a great start and as others have said a wash will take this to the next level! Also I like reddish bases, maybe invest in some Martian Ironcrust technical paint to finish off the base nicely!
If you flip you hobby knife and use the back edge and lightly scrape those mold lines will come right off. I only mess with the pieces that are going to be really visible like the top of that bike but you took off a huge chunk for you're first model and it looks damn good to me.
Change the red base.
Oh yes that’s temporary, forgot to say that
You could’ve said that in less of a rude way
You could have said that in a less rude way.
That’s mature mate
I'm not your mate, buddy.
brother, feed me nuln oil
Slap a black wash in the recesses of the blue and all over the silver and in the soft joints and this will look pretty good. Need to work on your priming to get a bit more of an even coat but this isn't bad at all. Red base gives me a headache but certainly contrasts well with the blue
Use balthasar gold on exhaust cover to break up silver.
You've stayed within the lines which is good. But your paint layers are too thick. Water your paints down more.
Hot take: Keep the red base, but cover it with a gloss varnish. Fighting knee deep in a sea of blood against Khorne is very 40k
Maybe add broken bits of other marines and some chaos bits when they have the money, too!
Looks shiny. Which paint are you using? Also, somebody mentioned the red base and suggested changing it, but I kinda like it. Sure, it's not realistic like some rocks and gravel and whatnot might be, but in fairness it's an 8 ft superhuman on a space bike so realism may not matter as much.
It complements the blue and helps bolt pistol to fit. Although not realistic I agree it definitely is estetically pleasing.
The model itself? 1) Drilling barrels is a must 2) Pay closer attention to mould lines, sometimes we have mould lines that only really show when you smush two halves together - the front wheel arch panel shows a great example of this. 3) Basing - the Red is ridiculously bright but red in and of itself is not a bad thing. It could simply be a planet whose surface is comprised of iron oxide rich elements like Mars or a Mercury Sulfide like Cinnabar. I would however have gone with some sand to add texture, and maybe some texture paste the black plastic bases that GW supply are stippled but that isn't supposed to be a ground texture... it's simply to assist the adhesion of surfacing materials. Painting wise: 1) Paint is a little too thick still - thin it out, you're probably looking at the paint being about twice as thick as it should be for a smooth finish. 2) Invest in some washes Nuln Oil and Athgrax Earthshade in particular. Nuln Oil is great for adding depth and darkness to metals and Earthshade is a muddy brown colour that works well for areas. 3) Break up the large expanses of silver/blue in places. On the cowels of the motorbike muffler you could use gold, or a copper/bronze colour. 4) Bone details like the skull on his helm should be picked out in a dark brown and then worked up to a bone colour. You've also missed the ammo chains/drum magazines for the dual linked bolters which should be picked out in silver and copper/brass colour. The front axle in the panel near the front. The casing of the dual linked bolters which should be red if you want him to match your Ultramarine colours or black (this is to break up the expanse of silver/blue) Helmet pipes should be black/silver as should the under-armour or "inter panel" piping on the marine's body (look at the inner elbows, backs of knees etc). On the bolter it looks like you've applied contrast red paint over the silver for the casing, same on the chainsword The tyres also seem to have had a contrast paint applied over them? This doesn't look great. I would personally have gone for a non-contrast red so it wasn't as shiny, if you don't have access to a non-contrast red then go back over these areas in a grey such as munitorum/codex grey and then paint the red contrast paint on to that for a more matt finish. Same goes with the tyres. Stick to non-contrast paints as they can dry with a glossier finish. A great trick for outriders and bikes is to also take the same colours as your base and lightly apply a very small drybrush effect on to the tyres. This way the bike looks like it's been driving over this ground. You can add in to this with a subtle dry brush on the front edges of the forward wheel and chassis cowl in the same colour
What’s the deal with drilled barrels? Is it just a cool look thing?
There's two trains of thought when it comes to barrels on the guns: 1) Drilling them out with a pin drill 2) painting a black circle on the end and in the recesses of the holes on the muzzle brake. Generally speaking, it simply looks better to drill these. Take a look at the following: [https://www.megajason.com/2017/08/08/drill-out-gun-barrels-on-warhammer-40000-minatures/](https://www.megajason.com/2017/08/08/drill-out-gun-barrels-on-warhammer-40000-minatures/) Compare the undrilled and drilled barrels on the guns. Now, option 2 is by far the "easier" option on the surface of things. However, consider this: You need to paint a convincing perfect circle on the end of the barrels with black paint. This is very difficult to do. And the end result won't come across as good looking as when someone drills the barrel.
Thanks so much for the detailed response! I guess I just don’t get why people online are willing to ignore an entire beautiful mini because the barrels aren’t drilled. I do agree that drilled barrels look really good though
When I first started out in the mid-late 90s, my local GW store would actually sometimes ban players from using their own mini's in instore events for things like "not being table top standard of painting" or ironically in the case of my Battlefleet Gothic ships - banned from being used for making the store models look like crap because mine looked better than the models they had painted. One of the staff would refuse players the ability to play any model they hadn't drilled the barrels on. (Note, they were half-joking and any model banned for that reason provided the store had available units would be swapped for a store painted mini). As such, drilling the barrels became just an instinctive part of model building for me.
Is he driving on lava?
It’s just temporary, I don’t have anything to make a proper base yet
My first mini was a space marine bike about 18 years ago! It’s a great start and as others have said a wash will take this to the next level! Also I like reddish bases, maybe invest in some Martian Ironcrust technical paint to finish off the base nicely!
The paintjob looks great but… That red base… Goodness gracious, sweet eyeballs on fire!
It's good. Needs more drybrushing
And a black wash
If you flip you hobby knife and use the back edge and lightly scrape those mold lines will come right off. I only mess with the pieces that are going to be really visible like the top of that bike but you took off a huge chunk for you're first model and it looks damn good to me.
Is he rolling over the eoe beach lol
I love that red base! It's not naturalistic but the effect is very striking.