Friday 13 February 2015

'The Jokers' chimera with squad marking for my praetorian vets squad.

One more chimera for my Praetorians. Its pretty standard for my army, the usual army painter leather brown and bone sprayed cammo. Copious weathering in the form of fresh scratches, old corroded chips and drips of sepia from nus bolts and joints for the main body. Rust and dust for metal and tracks. Some squad markings on the left side help break up the fairly monotonous colour scheme that's made worse by the track guards. and a few kill count markings add a touch of character.


Which led me to the right side of the tank, A friend of mine had a drop trooper army commissioned and each sentinal had its own little marking like a classic WW2 plane or similar and they looked awesome. I also wanted something to add just a spot of colour to break up the side of the tank and stop the eye just being drawn to the underslung barrel so I thought I'd give a squad marking a go. I thought a playing card might make a good filler, having a little colour but not being too large. I'd also done the weathering first so wanted something small to fit at an odd angle between my work as I couldn't really be bothered to redo it! I felt a joker with a droopy multi coloured hat could be easier to do and more recognizable without looking to closely. Also it made quite a good sounding squad name 'the jokers'. I'm not convinced its amazing but is a start.

At some point I'd like to go back and add other markings to my older tanks to try and break up the wall of identical looking units. I'm thinking the classic swimsuit lady should probably feature, maybe a snake eyes dice roll, a raptor head and a top hat. I've got seven chimera's, three leman russ and three basilisk painted. My Vendetta has the angry eyes and teeth. I've got another two leman russ, three medusa mortas, three hellhounds, a manticore, two hydra, two more vendetta, three valkyrie and four more chimeras to do so um... could do with some more ideas please! What makes a good tank squad marking?

If I manage to get a few more done and like them enough I might match some banners to some of the designs and do something with the six or so pointless banner bearers I've got sitting around.

4 comments:

  1. Looks good, a nice tabletop tank. The scheme reminds me of some of the German camo from WW2 with the tan and dark brown spray pattern.

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    1. Thanks mate, I wanted it to feel Desert warfare, North Africa korps esque, so glad you think so!

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  2. So much character on a standard stock Chimera. Wonderful work.

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    1. Thanks mate, its a tough balance to get things to look like a line tank and yet be a bit more, while at the same time not be a complete pain or feel too time consuming to paint!

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