Wednesday 4 November 2015

Strike One, Strike Two...

Welcome back to another episode of "did I really need to buy these?" this time featuring the iconic Space Marines Strike Cruisers.

I love the way Strike Cruisers look. The tall spires combined with the really flat prow is really distinctive and looks sufficiently different from other Imperial vessels to stand out. Even though Strike Cruisers are individually unimpressive I'm hoping that squadroned as a pair they'll prove to be effective.

As I mentioned last time I was planning on going for Imperial Fists unless I could come up with anything better and... I couldn't come up with anything better. So bright yellow it is then.

Two Imperial Fist Strike Cruisers deploying for battle.
The cruisers were painted Averland Sunset over a white undercoat. They were then lightly washed with Agrax Earthshade and given two drybrushes using Averland Sunset/white mixes. 

The red was an initial coat of Red Gore and a highlight of Blood Red and the silver was a simple Mithril Silver as always. I tried to pick out slightly different details in red on each ship to give them a bit of individuality.

Strike II - Conquest

Speaking of individuality, the two cruisers are unfortunately not complete models. Strike II (above) is missing the bombardment cannon and has had it replaced by a, slightly trimmed, Nova Cannon.

Strike IV (below) is missing the side 'fins' instead, giving it a bit of a sleeker look. Initially Strike IV was going to be converted into an Arbites Strike Cruiser with an Imperial prow, but I wasn't keen on the way the conversion was looking so I decided to hold that off until another time.

I actually don't mind the differences though as it makes them easier to distinguish during a game.

Strike IV - Gladiator

Overall, I'm not sure I'm keen on the colour scheme.

The yellow came out really nicely after shading, but I felt like it didn't take drybrushing particularly well. The models just haven't really ended up with enough contrast and the silver of the guns and engines doesn't stand out particularly well. The one defence I will give them is that they look a bit better in person.

One thing I'll probably do is go back and paint the Imperial Eagles on the prow. I didn't do it so far as I couldn't decide on a suitable spot colour for them and I didn't want to re-use the red as it would just cause them to blend in too much. Any suggestions?

3 comments:

  1. A dark grey or black would work really well, as would a gun metal.

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  2. Pretty nice! Maybe you are right and they could benefit of a little more contrast, that would also make them blend in better with the rest of your lovely fleet; but anyway, they look great! I may suggest some black for the eagles, or maybe painting that whole panel black and leave the eagle as it is. Anyway, you're doing great!!

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  3. That's some mighty fine suggestions.

    I've ended up going for a dark, stony grey that I'm actually quite pleased with and I'll snap some more pics during my game this weekend. Cheers. :D

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