More Crimson Fists

The first Crimson Fist Space Marine that I painted here was by way of a test mini. Now I've got enough done for a squad of five plus Pedro Cantor, the Crimson Fist Chapter Master.

I used pretty much the same method as before, but I did add some extra shading with a mix of black and blue ink, slightly watered down, and carefully run into the shadows.  I also added some extra metallic detailing on the backpack, mostly to add a bit of colour interest. 

I've also applied transfers from an old sheet I found. I rarely use transfers, and have poor experience of them on Space Marines shoulder pads. Following YouTube suggestions I invested in some Microset and Microsol, recommended to get the best out of water slide transfers. 

Well, that helped, but after several coats of Microsol the transfers were a bit 'battle-scared'.  I wanted the symbol to be on a yellow background in any case, so out with the fine brushes and I ended up painting over the transfers.  Whilst not a great result, it'll do.  I suspect that if I ever get around to painting later versions of Space Marines with their larger shoulder pads, the transfers will go on better. 

Once done, the whole lot was sealed when I matt varnished the minis.

I chose yellow for the eyes rather than green, and added weapon glyphs on the shoulder pads too.  Back in the day, Marines had a smaller symbol below the chapter symbol to show what weapon they were equipped with (just in case you couldn't see).  This is a nice idea, but the symbols in the Rogue Trader book don't cover all options, egregiously they don't even cover the options available in the RTB01 box.  I did simplify things a bit, it's supposed to be a circle with a vertical line, I made do with just a dot.

I also added a bit of 'graffiti'.  The original illustrations of Space Marines show them with insignia, kill markings and mottos painted on their armour, so I went with a couple of examples.

Pedro Cantor with one third of his remaining chapter

.

Cantor with the infamous 'Cantor Crush' power fist

.

Once again, a fun project.  The faffing around with the transfers meant it took a lot longer than I wanted though, but at least I'll know what to do next time.  I may add some extra details; in particular, I'd like something fancy on Cantor's right shoulder pad.  The rulebook has a nice looking veteran mark, perhaps that would do?  I did try a wreath around the fist symbol, but it looked awful, so I painted over it.

BTW, I have a new phone, so the photos show truer colours, compare the marines above with the post of the original one.  I'm still learning how to get the best out of it, but it should improve the quality of the pictures.