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I am torn between using a paint scheme that is fluffy and something that looks good. Too me an all black space marine is dull and I doubt I would have much fun painting it. Still unsure of my paint scheme but I am still assembling my force so have a bit before I need to lock it in.

right I hate and i don't say it lightly, but hate the idea of marines with multi coloured shoulder pads, why? it breaks up the coherency of the force.

So what jasp has done, is mix all of the markings to create his own, its as follows

Helmet crest is painted to suit the individuals role, Green for tacticals, red for assualt etc. beakie helms have the beak painted in this colour. Veterans have a white band through the middle.

I have red right shoulder pad trims instead of the changeable colours ( as these are already shown on the crest.... and well reds my favourite colour ) and red partitions on the backpack.

Red Knee pad on the left leg ( reasons as above.

Company markings on the right knee pad.

Squad markings ( post heresy as theirs no point dwelling on the past) on the right shoulder pad

Chapter symbol on the left shoulder pad.

My approach is to assume all sources have a bit of the truth, so I mixed them.

I use two color types on an all-black marine. 1st is the Codex-standard chapter color, trimmed on the right pauldron only. I assumed that virtually all images of RG from the codex were representative of 3rd company, except a couple veterans and a stray 4th co marine on a bike.

The second colors came from Index Astartes, and were used to determine unit type. The icons used were generally the Dark Angels types (twin arrows for tactical, flameburst for devastator).

When looking at the army, I determined that most squad/composition data should be displayed on the marine's right side, where troops reinforcing from the rear would have the best chance to see it. An army marching in swift line-advance would primarily be firing their weapons with a left-side forward movement, right side seen clearest from rear.

The knee pad (sometimes left, sometimes right, depending on overall color balance and posture of the figure) displays both unit color and the roman numeral for the company. This was usually done in a colored pad with a black number, or a colored pad with a white number and black borders. In the cases of Mk VI armor, the left leg was exclusively used to display chapter symbol.

The right side displays squad number and colors using a variety of patterns. Generally the more veteran the unit, the more varied the patterns. Some squads use a tightly structured pattern while others are more individualized, based on the personality of the sergeant.

The idea was that from the friendly side of the gaming table, the individual markings are clearly visible.

From the enemy's table edge, all you see is the Chapter symbol, a pair of red eyes, and the business end of a boltgun.

At least thats the plan

I used standard blood red for assault marines, Tamiya Dark Green 2 (JN) for tactical, usually edged in white to make the transitions crisper, and Iyanden Darksun for the devastators.

I like the look of the army so far, but have only about 20 marines fully painted, so I've a ways to go yet. I am planning to make the Sternguard use subdued patterns as befits a "black ops" shooting unit, and am tinkering with ways to replace the chapter symbol's white with either white borders or an offset Shadow Grey/Fortress Grey mix.

Thoughts a critcisms welcome.

Hello all. I made a "Greetings" post in the newguy thread, so I'd like to make a post here now. I haven't been into the hobby long, and recently thought I'd go with Marines Exemplar as my chapter of choice. Now, thanks in part to this site, I've decided to dedicate my SM's to the Raven Guard.
As far as painting goes: I freaking hate it. I've read this thread over and over and feel that it would be OK in the RG community if I took some liberties as far as paint schemes. Nothing radical, just a few notes for "ease of production" and my own personal use for battlefield recognition.
My notes:
The left shoulderpad inside will be bleached bone, with the RG eagle in black over it. Trim will remain black. Right shoulderpad will be painted the squad type color (green, red, yellow) with black arrow decal overtop. Trim remains black. Elite/veteran units get silver pads.
The chest aquila remains black/highlighted except on Sgts and officers, which would be silver or bleached bone.
Highlighting/drybrushing is done with gunmetal or silver, washed with purple. Bolters are washed with black.
Eyes are yellow or gold, like shooting glasses.
Squad numbers are done in bleached bone roman numerals at the rear of the model base (for me to see.)
I'm experimenting with technique as I write this, but getting them done. Pics to follow in the next few weeks as they meet my quality control. All I'm asking for now is some CC about my ideas considering fluff etc.
Thanks!

well, zomby.

ive pictured it in my head and the scheme you explained does look cool, but with the silver might start to stray into the iron hands area. if you're using bleached bone, and chose silver as it stands out more than it, i'd suggest going with white as it stand out just as well, and though its harder to get a good solid coat of white, it keeps the army looking RG-ish.

Also, if you want ease of production, there is a PDF of Raven guard transfers on the net, so google(or other search engine) it, and download it, and if you can get yourself some transfer paper, your good to go. if not, you could print it out on card and carefully cut it out to make a stencil, then dab thinned down paint onto it.

i myself am painting all black, with the right shoulder trim in blood red, a white raven on the left shoulder, a red right kneepad, and the roman numeral for 3 on the left. (im right now collecting the 3rd comapny(company colour is red).
i havent put any tactical markings on any marines so in addition to the 'masking your numbers' thing mentioned earlier in the thread, im my opinion, if youre facing an army that doesnt have any distinct ways of telling them apart, you might start attacking a low value squad, thinking its a high value one, or dismiss the threat of a squad, not knowing what it really is.
(I.E. you see a guy with a bolt pistol and chainsword walking towards you and think its a tac squad sergeant, and you look away and start shooting at something thats closer. then it turns out that the 'sergeant' was part of an assault squad, and now all your friends are dead...)

oh and btw. welcome to the shadows dude

Cfabre,
Thanks for the reply. I still have the scheme going in my head for now, hopefully now that I'm making public my plans I'll be motivated to follow through in a timely manner!
I was thinking of silver highlights/drybrushing to give the purple wash a bit more shine. I guess I'll find out how that works when I get to that step. After re-checking RG resourses, I'm going to dump the bleached bone idea for the traditional white. Same with the left shoulder eagle. I'm aware of the tranfer downloads, so if I can make it happen with my ham fists, the white eagle is the deal. The chest aquila I don't feel like dealing with unless it happens to be exposed on the model at hand, so we'll still see where that goes.
I like the idea of the masking numbers strategy, but on the table I don't think it really matters when most of the time your opponent can figure out or already knows what you have from the get-go. The squad type markings/colors etc are more for me to keep track of what I have going on. The bulk of my SM's right now are tac squads anyway.
Thanks again for the reply, and all the other brothers reading this tread.
Edit: Seijin Hawkes I like the way you think. Hope you don't think I'm stealing from you!