[ZMB]

Here I am playing around with speed painting some of those Black Reach space marines (the ones that look as though they might be playing the guitar if the bolter is not placed in it's hands) I am having fun using the Army Painter primers and chose to use desert yellow on the marine below. I then put on a brown wash and painted the mini khaki and highlighted a bit with bleached bone. a little bit of red here and there and I got a table top quality marine in maybe handful of minutes.

I kinda like the little guy and would love to come up with a chapter and insignia for if I ever decide to make a marine army. I was thinking of perhaps going with the desert theme and going with vultures as a sort of heraldic insignia. I was also thinking of coming up with a chapter name along the lines of "The Carrion of _________".

If any can think of a way to free hand a vulture for the shoulder-pad, that would be load of help. I am even thinking of making my own transfers as it would save me time and be more precise. Either way let me know what you think or give me any ideas that you may have.

Cheers,
ZMB

 

[thepete]

I like the paint. Blue eyes would look really good if you're into that.

I've had a really boring day so I threw some icons together. Vultures are some ugly creatures but they do have a pretty cool wingspan. I think the only way to get a silhouette to scream vulture is to do the old hunchback side view. I've labeled that as lame though and agree with that label. I can't decide which of the other three that I like best, but they could all have some promise with proper refinement. 1 and 2 don't have the same profile as the Aquila so that's a plus for them. You could use the orange from the shoulder pad to drop a little sun behind any of those to make them pop a bit more and get them further from a standard imperial eagle.

 

[ZMB]

Hey there thanks. I must admit I have pages of silhouettes not much unlike you added. I agree, that the one that screams vulture is the hunchback one. The thing is, I need to fit the insignia on the shoulder pad and as much as I would love to get a big o'll wingspan, well... space is tight. I have been trying to come up with vulture insignia that is more iconic but I really am not geting any where.

I am on the other hand not completely rooted into having a vulture as the insignia and am open to almost any desert theme people can come up with.

 

[MarxusTharin]

Tarantula
Coyote
Scorpion
Rattlesnake
Horned Lizard

 

[ShakaZulu]

you could do something like the Afrika Korps symbol just leave out the swastika

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pswastika.gif

you could put an imperial eagle instead or a fist.

 

[ZMB]

Well, instead of doing any work on my other armies like I should be working on I painted (mostly...just to get the idea of the colour scheme) another black reach marine...I still can't settle on any sort of design short of knowing that I like the whole desert theme.

Let me know what you think...I am playing around with the idea of a white bolter and am throwing around the idea be ghostly. The name "Desert Spectres" has a nice ring to it. I can't for the life of me think of any insignia that cold be possible portray a hauntingly vaporous visage. (Now I am sounding like V form V for Vendetta)

 

[Swamp_slug]

You could theme them around around Jackals or Coyotes and use Space Wolves bits/ transfers to embelish them.

 

[Seraphim_Guard]

I think a negative of a coyote's head over a moon, where the head is cut out and the moon is solid, would convey that pretty well. Not entirely sure how you would do that, but I am sure there are several pictures online that you could resize and turn into transfers.

 

[Canew]

Sorry, but I gotta say this: top left looks like Gonzo from the Muppet Show

Sorry, sorry... I doubt I could have done better. It just made me LOL

Seriously, first off, the paint job ROCKS. Nothing like good results fast! Woot!

I think "vulture" is a bad way to go, honestly. Vultures are carrion birds who wait for something to die, then move in to eat. Not quite fitting the angels of the Emperor, I think.

Now, tarantula makes more sense, as does some kind of lizard variety (dragon?).

 

[ChadMS]

I just had a thought. How about something to do with 'Sidewinders'? You find those snakes in deserts quite a lot.

@Canew
The Great Gonzo!
Where's Rizzo gone?

 

[ZMB]

I just had a thought. How about something to do with 'Sidewinders'? You find those snakes in deserts quite a lot.

@Canew
The Great Gonzo!
Where's Rizzo gone?

That's not bad at all. I can kinda see a two headed hospitaller double helix thing going on in my head already. At this point I am almost thinking of using the circle with the skull in it and going with "The Desert Spectres". The name sounds coll at any rate.