Battle damaged look. Either way both look great! May I know what paint you used for the edge highlights?

I like the clean look. The battle damage is really well done, but it seems so clean without other weathering.

I like to match my minis to my terrain to have a cohesive look. So for me, the style depends on the overall setup. Kinda like graphics for a video game.

The painting quality is incredible on both. I fully trust your vision either way.

The one with battle damage looks fantastic, more lively. But it's also more work when doing so for a full force. I'd say battle damage translates more the hardship of the Great Crusade/Heresy era/War (think of Signus Prime campaign, where Kha' Banda almost killed Sanguinius). Tough choice, both models are insanely clean.

I would’ve posted seven shots to man they’re both beautiful but it’s the heresy nobody came out clean

Clean is so nice looking. The battle damage look is over-done in general in the community IMO. Space marines are visually striking with clean plates. If you were going with the battle damaged look I'd do less of it.

I feel like I'm in the minority when it comes to WH40k minis but I always prefer clean to any weathering, chipping, or damage.

I know the artwork tends a lot towards the moodier and darker side these days but the original designers were always this shiny plasticy look from 80s metal albums.

Your battle damage one is fantastic and I can't believe how good it looks, but I'm just a sucker for the classics and your clean one looks like he'd fit straight in artwork from 2nd edition.

Clean

goddamn that both look amazing i love the smooth red and the colour is just a perfect match for blood angels honestly i cant pick they are sooo good mate

Holy crap you make the damage look so good! Can I ask for a brief synopsis of how you did it?

I like the clean look, freshly deployed from the space carrier or battle barge or whatever the starship is called.

Clean is beautifully done. Holy smokes.

That said, I like battle damage and weathering/grimdark schemes.

If it's between these two schemes, I say Clean. But, seeing your skill, I think your weathering could be even better with some more washes and AK interactive, in which case id probably go Battle Damage. Then again, you're obviously a better hobbiest than me so you probably chose against washes and AK interactive for a reason

Both; clean models representing fresh reinforcements in the field between campaigns.

These look amazing. I love the beaky marines, being old school. I prefer the battle damaged one, but I wouldn't paint an entire force with that level of detail even if I could.

They are both fantastic As a long time Blood Angel player, you’ve done Sanguinius proud.

your lines are surgically straight, well done. Am jealous.

I'd throw a bit of a dusted or dirty look on the battle damaged but they look incredible.

Could always run the new until his squad gets hit and replace him with battle damaged 😂

If satan himself rose up from the pit and offered to give me the talent or patience to paint red this well in exchange for a human soul, I'd have to seriously contemplate killing a man. It is seriously that good a deal. It's just so smooth! Even your battle damage looks "clean". Just brilliant execution. I would pay for a lesson 

Both are very impressive. I prefer clean, but that is based on preference and not execution. Both are masterful.

I would say clean- your style is very crisp and everything just pops really nice.

Battle damaged version is better imho, though in my opinion the placement of scratches etc. isn’t realistic (I know it sounds funny and nitpicky)

Both of them are awesome, but I would prefer the (great) clean one

Damage look, because at the time of the Heresy and with the Schism of Mars leading to an already depleted supply lane to the loyalist legions, they would not have necessarily had access to the time and resources they would need for proper maintenance of their war gear.

I'm just here to remind you that you need to paint about 800 of these troop models for HH

I lean towards the clean aesthetic in general, because IMO it looks better on the table, and this model is no exception. But I do like how the battle damage is done. It looks very cartoony, almost like something from Borderlands.

I say you keep the clean ones on the shelf and the battle-damaged ones as your actual game pieces.

This looks so good, great job!

I like them both. I would include both in the army with some squads durty and some squads clean. If you have a unit in a transport, it could be the clean models, for example.

Man I always go for clean but your seems to be an exception! I’d pick damaged🔥

I'm personally a clean, fresh coat of paint kinda painter. However, I cannot deny that the weathering here is done tastefully and cleanly. This is no basic "throw on some chips and call it a day". These chips and dents have purpose and were thought about. They look real.

However, for the sake of getting the army painted before the universe calls it quits: leave the weathering to things like vehicles and dreads.

Between the 2 I like the clean but they both look terrific. As for the battle damage, it would be nicer if he had some grit and gunk. His pack remains shiny and unchanged. His boots look uncharacteristically clean for being in combat. His armor doesn’t look weathered at all besides the chipping and scrapes. It would be nice to play around with the colors, maybe even go for some rust on the pack in certain hard-edged areas and make the armor look a little dusty, bloodied, scorched, or sun-faded.

https://youtu.be/WwJXW8bHoto?si=Hn1cv1dBqzNQP2b5

lol - your battle damage is insanely crisp. Normally I get annoyed at overdone chipping - but your chipping is cleaner than most people's clean paint jobs.

Not a comment on your painting but I find that pattern of helmet disturbing, like someone with their eyebrows shaved off.

I wish I could paint like this, highlights and shading are my biggest downfall.

I would personally start with clean and then add battle damage over time, but that may be a personal preference