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NicholasKay β Iron-Commander Vaarkul 01
Published: 2011-05-16 04:30:12 +0000 UTC; Views: 14398; Favourites: 303; Downloads: 200
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Description
This is Iron-Commander Vaarkul, the leader of my Iron Hands space marines. He counts as Vulkan He'Stan.This model is pretty scratch built, mostly using space marine bits, guitar wire, metal wire, electrical wire, brass etchings, and watch pieces.
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Comments: 99
Try using other colors in that 'warmth' range. Rather than using white, try fading from orange to yellow to bleached bone to white.
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Hopefully I can present an aceptable result in some time.
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that is pretty dang epic.... vry nice work on the glow effect on the lance and shields outer ring.
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Spectacular, especially love the servitor tentacles
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Amazing conversion work!!
I'm trying to build a "count as" Vulkan myself and I will not steal your ideas, which would not fit in my army's them, but damn I cannot help but take some inspiration here and there for it!
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Cool! Let me know if you need any technical advice/ are interested in commissioning him as I am willing to do either.
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wow im really digging this guy... really one of your best! i love the shield and the shoulder pads... the paint job really gives that ordo mechanicus feel
and that CCW... omg... that is freaking amazing! great job converting!
(what is that tubing you used to attach the servo skulls?
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Sweet thanks!
The smaller tube is guitar wire (E string) and the thicker bit is hollow out defiler ccw bits.
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Wow! Thanks for all the kind words- I honestly never expected such a great reaction!
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Finaly some great models, great workman.
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That is some damned fine conversion work there!!
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He looks taller than regular marines, is he?
Either way he looks amazing along with all the dreadnoughts, the amount of detail in the painting and converting is superb! I especially love the spear/flamethrower you gave him, well done ^^
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Thanks!
He is actually 'true scale,' as are many of the characters for this army. True scale works well with this army as their augmented size can be attributed to their pervasive bionic implants. Also, it just makes them stand out
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You've got teh skillz, sir 
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For Omnissiah !! That is a real tech warrior! 
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The Iron Hands are quite real- they are actually one of the original first founding chapters. Unfortunately, they don't get much recognition or their own codex... like Dark Angels, Black Templars, Blood Angels, or Space Wolves. Also, they don't get any named characters, like the Ultramarines, Crimson Fists, White Scars, or Imperial Fists....
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>_< THAT'S TOTALLY UNFAIR!!!!!!! I will help you in this quest , my first army would be Iron Hands! 
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Sweet! I feel where you are coming from on the $$$ issue...
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dude,, if you can make models like this? money should be no problem for you.
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Finding people to hand out that kind of money isn't easy :-p
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I don't see why.
current asking price of a space marine commander is 22 dollars (that unasembled and unpainted) Vulkan He'stan costs 21.50. (unpainted) as compared to this wounderful model.
Put on ebay i think maybe 25 dollars would be fair, expesive i am sure but compared to GM products fair.
alternetly and perhapes better: you could run a simple model painting service. people could sent you model boxes and you put them together and paint them as per there requests. GM painst are three dollars each so if you run 5 dollars a model for this kind of work a SM tac squad some 50 dolalrs right there.
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Ya that's not the price range I'm interested in- if I spend a day or so converting a model, that like 8 hours. Without including cost of materials, that's only $3 an hour for work.
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I just put a wild rang of numbers out. But it seems to me rather easiy to make a profit.
In the tactical marine examlpe that would be you only assembling and painting as they send you the box. one bottle of plastic glue good for, i don't know how many model,, 30? 6.60 dollars, added with paint (3.00 a pot as per GM prices) and assumeing no convesion work thats (and a generic ultrmarine style paint job of ait all being one colour and a 5 doller per model price) 40.40 profit.
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Sure, but it's the hourly rate that's important. If I spend a 2 days painting that unit then I've made $40.40 for a 2 days work. At that rate, I'd rather work on my own projects.
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does painting ten guys really takes that long? (this is just me asking nothing to do with the above)
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I take my sweet time, lol.
For example, the paint process on my Iron Hands:
1. Basing: The models for this army were extremely complex and detailed, not the easiest things to prime. Every model was sprayed while still in multiple pieces, ensuring that every inch of the model was evenly coated in black primer.
2. Blocking: This is the step where I applied the βblockβ colors for each model. I painted in this order:
a. Armor: The models were based black, so there wasnβt much to do here. In reality, I just drybrushed the models with a dark grey to bring out the edges and details.
b. Armor Details: I find white is nearly impossible to paint directly onto black, but light grey is another story! Rather than paint white directly onto the models, I used a light grey which would be highlighted with white later on. Some models also received a little TLC and were given cog patterns or Clan symbols. These were achieved using a black micro pen to create the tiny details.
c. Flesh: Any exposed skin was given the same treatment as the white armor details.
d. Metal: The metal surfaces of the models were painted in Boltgun Metal and the rare gold bits were painted with Shining Gold. Shining Gold is tough to apply evenly over black, so generally I use several watered-down coats to evenly block the color in.
e. Parchment: All the pieces of parchment were blocked in with khaki, also achieved through many watered down coats.
f. Wax: The wax purity seals were painted with a dark red.
3. Stain: To achieve a grim-dark, stained, worn, and realistic look, I devised a concoction which I would douse each model in. This concoction was half Mop-Glo (a readily available floor cleaner), a quarter water, and a quarter ink. The ink quarter was generally 3 parts black ink, 5 parts brown ink, and 1 part blue ink. On most of the infantry, this was painted on with a large brush. However, I also made use of my airbrush (purchased just for this army) for some of the larger models.
4. Highlights and Inking: Once the stain had dried (this can be hastened with a hair dryer) I began highlighting and inking.
a. Armor: In this stage, the armor received a highlight of grey along the most raised edges.
b. Armor Details: Any of the white (grey details) were given a highlight of light grey, followed by an extreme highlight of white.
c. Flesh: The flesh in this stage received a lot of attention. The flesh was reblocked in light grey, paying close attention to leave the recesses dark. This was then given multiple layers of ink mixed with Mop-Glo, ensuring nice, thin, even coats. The inks used here were red, blue, brown, black, purple, and even some paints (dark red and brown). The goal was to create a pallid, sickly look which is characteristic to the Adeptus Mechanicus. I then highlighted the skin once more with Pallid Flesh and a second highlight of white. I then re-inked the nose and cheeks with a little bit of red ink/ Mop βGlo to represent the blood vessels which lie close to the skin. Next, I inked the eye sockets with a mix of purple ink/ Mop-Glo to add a sunken look. After the eyes, I inked the lips and mouth area with a mix of red ink, purple ink, dark red paint, and Mop-Glo to create the ruddy look of human lips. To add some veins around the temples and implants, I used thin wiggles of blue ink/ Mop-Glo and a fine detail brush. Lastly, I added some lesions and discolorations with watered down dark red and brown paint.
d. Metal: I highlighted both the steel and gold parts with Mithril Silver. Some metal parts, however, received some additional attention. Any parts of the model which would have βtheoreticallyβ received exposure to intense heat were given several layers of ink to represent heat discoloration. Moving from further from the heat source to closer, I used yellow ink, brown ink, red ink, purple ink, and blue ink. This inked area was then rehighlighted in Mithril Silver.
e. Parchment: Here, the parchment was painted with a khaki color, leaving the inked recesses alone. I then highlighted with a lighter khaki, followed by Bleached Bone, and heavily watered down Skull White.
f. Wax: The wax seals were repainted with dark red, leaving the inked recesses alone. These were then highlighted with Dwarf Flesh. Lastly, the wax seals were reinked with a mix of red ink, brown ink, and Mop-Glo.
Detailing: In this phase, I went back and filled in all the little details on each model:
a. Armor: I made sure to go around with a little bit of Mithril Silver and add paint chips to the edges of armor and heavily used areas. I also lightly patted a piece of foam from a blister pack, which had been dabbed in Mithril Silver, across the open areas of my model to add additional paint chips. Some areas of the armor also were given little squiggles of watered down light grey paint to represent scrawled writing.
b. Armor Details: In addition to adding paint chips with Boltgun Metal, I also rubbed the side of a graphite pencil along the edges of any βwhite surfaces.β Graphite is insanely useful as it can quickly create a very convincing βexposed metalβ look. These areas also received the βblister pack foamβ treatment.
c. Flesh: With the actual skin completed, I painted each exposed eye the same way. First, they were painted light grey, and then given a touch of red ink. Red ink is far more saturated and bright then Blood Red when applied over a light color, so it is useful to really make an area βpop.β The teeth of the marines were painted first in khaki, then Rotting Flesh, and finally in white.
d: Metal: At this step, the metal was left aloneβ¦for now.
e: Parchment: Using black ink and a very fine brush, I added little squiggles to my parchment to represent tiny writing.
f: Wax: No work here.
g: Lenses and Lights: All ocular lenses were painted black, then given a small crescent of dark red along their bottoms. A smaller line of red was painted within this crescent, followed by a dot of dwarf flesh. In the top corner of each lens, a small white dot was painted to represent the specular highlight from an overhead light source. The various lights on the models were painted in various colors, but always started with a based coat of the main color, followed by smaller circles of progressively lighter colors.
Weathering: In this step, I added rust, dirt, and grime to the models.
a. Rust: To make a convincing rust look, I scraped off a pile of dust from a red ochre conte crayon and mixed it with some enamel thinner. I then dabbed this onto areas of the model which might rust (exposed metal) with a low quality brush. After this had dried, I went in with the same brush, this time using only enamel thinner, and removed any hard edges or unsightly clumps.
b. Grime: To add a nasty, brown grime or oil to my models, I chose to use burnt umber oil paint with some paint thinner. In a ratio of 1:3, I carefully painted in some areas of grease around the hydraulics, armor recesses, and other random patches.
c. Dirt: I added dirt and dust in two ways. The first method was giving a light drybrush of khaki and bleached bone to the legs and feet of each model, representing some of the dirt which may have built up there over time. The second method was similar to how I added rust, except I used a premixed pigment set instead of red ochre conte crayon. This pigment was added around the base of the feet and on the treads of my vehicles.
Sealing and Protection: Lastly, I had to protect my models and get them tabletop ready. Thereβs no point in spending this much time on an army that will be ruined when touched.
a. Gloss Varnish: A coat of sprayed gloss varnish seals the models and creates a hard, shiny finish.
b. Matte Varnish: Sprayed matte varnish will add another layer of protection to the models and will also removed the artificial sheen from the gloss varnish.
c. Gloss Varnish: I went back and painted on some gloss varnish on the areas I wanted to remain glassy, reflective, wet, or otherwise shiny. This included lenses, wax, and some areas of flesh.
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Also, on the subject of characters and codex, I actually quite like the lack of attention Iron Hands get. As someone who loves creating his own fluff and stories for his armies, a lack of founded lore gives you an awful amount of leeway to create a whole host of characters and ideas.
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When I next come in to some money, I think I'm going to start an Iron Warriors army. I currently play Space Wolves so it'd be awesome to have an army that serve as their complete opposites.
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That's an awesome mini! Great conversion and painting bud! Amazing work
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WOW! That is one hell of a model, how long did that take you to put together/paint?
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hmmmm... good question. I think he took like 2-3 evenings to make and then part of a day to paint.
If I had to guess, I'd say he took like 9-12 hours maybe? It's hard to figure it out because I usually work on multiple models at a time- while one dries/sets I'll be working on someone else.
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He counts as Vulkan He'Stan?
Vulkan He'Stan should count as him!
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I don't care WHAT your avatar says, you're awesome!!!
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Best. Comment. Ever.
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i wish i could like this like on facebook......
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