So for my 20th birthday, I got about 200 dollars or so of Imperial Guard troops and such: about 30 guardsmen, a command squad, a sentinel, a few heavy weapons teams and a Leman Russ.
I've only done a sergeant, a regular Guardsman and a grenade launcher guardsman so far.
It's a blurry picture because I'm taking it with my crummy Samsung camera phone, but that's the basic color scheme. I'm going for the colors of the Spanish flag (red and yellow), so that's why they're red and yellow like that instead of actual army colors. Plus, I got the Citadel starter paint set so I haven't had a lot to work with right now.
I'll confess that I didn't use any real painting techniques here: I literally put paint on the plastic, so that's why it doesn't look that great. The guns are plated silver because I don't have Boltgun Metal (yet). But I will have it soon!
Fluff-wise, this regiment is called the 728th Mesnada (a
mesnada was the term given to a Spanish king's army during Middle Ages Spain). The planet of Mesnada provides lots of raw materials for the Imperium's many manufactorums, and the regiments raised on the planet are drawn from mercenary troops that worked for the various moguls that rule the planet and harvest its resources. Individuals of rank will have their weapons plated silver thanks to the planet's considerable wealth, while veterans are also designated by the silver plating on their weapons. (It's also my excuse for going to paint before I had Boltgun Metal
)
I got the idea for those kinds of designs while reading the IG Codex, as every planet has its own little quirks for the uniforms and gear of its regiments. I figured I'd do something beyond Cadian green and khaki camouflage, and I'm not a big fan of an army of Rambos (Catachans do look cool though).
Anyway, color scheme critiques are welcome (I can get better shots if needed, although with college exams, I haven't been able to do much), as well as basic painting techniques to make my Guardsmen look better. I realize that with a blurry camera, there's not much to work with, but any basic painting advice (for reference, I just learned about using black undercoats and I have no idea what primers are, lol) to make my guys look cooler would be invaluable.
NOTE: Yes, my Sergeant is leaning forwards very un-naturally. I didn't glue him on the base right, so I just attributed it to him posing as though he's ready to disembowel someone with his chainsword. From that angle, it looks neat, but from other angles he looks like he's doing the Michael Jackson lean.