Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Ovion wrote:I know what you mean...I've got a selection of the classic splinter pistol holsters that I guard jealously, and am always on the hunt for more. I tend to angle them on the hip like a sword, or horizontally across the small of the back / waist. Still looking good though.

I totally forgot about those! I bought the 3rd Edition 40k Boxset years ago when the Dark Eldar were first introduced and still have sprues of the old Warriors. I dug them up today and spent some time rooting around the internet for ways to make them look better. I was not successful. They really show their age when compared with the new minis and are basically just a bit goofy looking unfortunately... A lot of classic models have their own unique charms but these old warriors just don't appeal to me. Any ideas? I've got a bunch and so do some of my friends.

Casey's Law wrote:Great new pictures, Jon, it really does them justice. Heroic scale kicks up a lot of problems, it's even more noticeable when you've worked on Infinity miniatures then gone back to Heroic scale. Not fun!

I generally don't have any issues with heroic scale. My main grip with scale in 40k is that I wish Marines were bigger, like many of the amazing truescale conversions people do. I flirt with buying some Infinity models occasionally, but what always stops me is that no one around here plays.

Not big on the truescale Space Marines that i've seen but i'd like to see what GW could do with the idea.

Infinity models are worth buying just to have their mind boggling beauty on your shelf. I'm using my first batch for making a Necromunda gang. Maybe you could proxy them for something? I converted a couple into Tau for my gang too.

Mechanicum Jon wrote:

Ovion wrote:I know what you mean...I've got a selection of the classic splinter pistol holsters that I guard jealously, and am always on the hunt for more. I tend to angle them on the hip like a sword, or horizontally across the small of the back / waist. Still looking good though.

I totally forgot about those! I bought the 3rd Edition 40k Boxset years ago when the Dark Eldar were first introduced and still have sprues of the old Warriors. I dug them up today and spent some time rooting around the internet for ways to make them look better. I was not successful. They really show their age when compared with the new minis and are basically just a bit goofy looking unfortunately... A lot of classic models have their own unique charms but these old warriors just don't appeal to me. Any ideas? I've got a bunch and so do some of my friends.

I use them as Kabalite Warriors, with the new casts being my Kabalite Trueborn.
I feel that it fits that only those of stature would get cooler armour

I'm not sure of anything inparticular you can really make them look cooler though...

But if you have a bunch on their sprues you don't want, my next goal is to make a DE Horde foot force with 120 Warriors and 30 Trueborn, and I currently only have 20 Warriors
Meaning I'm about 140 short (120 base, 12 w/ Cannons, 12 w/ Lances, 6 w/ Blasters 6 Sybarites...), so I'd be happy to take them off your hands.

So terribly sorry Ovion.

Round file = garbage can.

And that was 2 weeks ago.

Funny that you should mention the Classic Dark Eldar Warriors. I had a box sitting on my shelf for about a year after it was given to me for free. The original was that I detail them up as Wracks since they're already so bulky. Compared to the new line of minis though, as you say, they just look so goofy rather than elegant and lithe. Looking at the kit it became clear to me why some people held the belief that prior to their extreme makeover, Dark Eldar were the most hideous model line produced by GW. Ended up round filing them as they just were too different and kooky looking.

Truescale marines on the other hand are truly golden models and it's a shame that the standard models don't match their proportions. Not only do they better represent what an Armoured 8-foot tall genetically engineered super soldier might look like, but with the extra surface area, think about how much more detail one could sculpt in or paint on. You could veritable frescos on the shin plates alone!

While on the subject of other inspiring models, I had the chance to see some Dystopian Wars aircraft carriers this week These suckers are fist-sized hunks of resin with an incredibly smooth base and they're just stuffed with detail! Crisp, hard-resined, 90% flash-free & bubble-free detail. How I wish the Wracks were produced in that resin...

Been sick with a cold for the past five days (or else my Haemonculi's new bioweapon has gotten a little out of hand...). It did mean I was able to get in a few brief sessions of painting a day when the medicines were working, these were in between the periods of lying shivering in bed. So the positive side of all of this is that I've proved that my painting techniques work for invalids! This is the final transport I'll be painting for the Drowned Gardens in the foreseeable future. With six Raiders and three Venoms, everyone who wants a ride can get one. I went for a simpler and curlier look to the runes this time, just for something a bit different (and easy to paint, since I didn't have the steadiest hands)!



@Dark_Gear & Casey's Law: Funny you guys should mention the two miniature lines I was just considering purchasing today since Maelstrom Games has a big sale. For Dystopian Wars I might spring for a few of their flying battleships, while for Infinity some of the Yu Jing mini's have caught my eye (the Oniwaban is particularly badass).

@Ovion: I'm up for a trade on the classic DE. We can discuss via PM. I can ask my friend too since he doesn't play 40k anymore (I know he's got at least a couple blisters of the old style blasters and dark lances) as well as the Warriors.

I really like the new style of runes, dude. Even the man flu cannot hinder your creative output!

You might want to consider buying a nice Infinity mini and planking it for a couple of days before you start on it. <cough>dakkapaintingcompetition</cough>

What? I didn't say anything.

The Dystopian Wars models look sweet, thanks for the heads up Dark_Gear!

The eyes on this pilot were somehow really easy to paint. I painted them black, put two dots of white in each eye to define the pupil and he was done. The was in contrast to some of the Wyches where I had to touch up the eyes and surrounding skin multiple times to get them looking right! I also finished the weathering on the main chassis, just missing the canopy and guns now.



@Casey's Law: Any suggestions on where to buy Infinity mini's online? Keeping in mind I'm in Hong Kong. Unfortunately I didn't get to Maelstrom Games fast enough, people have almost completely cleaned them out due to their big sale. The War Store's also out of a lot of stuff. I've heard Wayland Games recommended and they have stock but they don't have free shipping. Any other sites you'd recommend?

Another great model and a love the angle of the photograph.

As for buying Infinity miniatures, i've bought straight from Corvus Belli before and everything went well. I'm not sure how that would work for you in Hong Kong though.
http://www.corvusbelli.com/en/02_tienda.asp
I now buy from a local seller which means i can get what i need quite quickly and i get to support his business. Hmm, he might ship internationally actually.

Yeah, he splits the boxes up too which means you can get specific models only available in sets. Because he opens the boxes he ships very cheaply:

ChoKonnit wrote:Postage to the US and A is £2, Europe is £1.50 and for uk is 75p (so long as I can fit it in a padded envelope). Anywhere else, I'll need to check (though usually it is £2).

http://www.infinitythegame.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=6513

Awesome venom you got there! How long does it take you to paint one of these to this standard?

@Casey's Law: Thanks for the tips. I looked on CB's site but they don't seem to list Hong Kong on their address drop down. They've got China but I've had problems getting orders delivered correctly to "Hong Kong, China"before so I'm a bit iffy on ordering from them. The outdated and somewhat nonsensical "Hong Kong, Hong Kong" address still works the best it seems. You local guy is offering a really cool service but for now I'm not looking for anything that specific out of a box.

I've mostly decided on an Aleph Sophotect as a first mini, just have to settle on where to get it!

@MrMerlin: At my usual leisurely pace it takes me about a week and a half to paint a Venom. That's of course not a count of hours spent because I don't keep track of that. If I had to guess I'd say about five to six hours or so.

Ah i see the problem. Cho sells the boxes too, if you get in touch with him hes pretty open to getting whatever you need. I'm sure he'd send it in the box if you didn't mind paying the higher postage price or he could take it out if you wanted to keep costs down.

It's amazing how quickly you paint these models considering the finished quality. Have any other projects taken your interest recently? Can we expect this blog to continue thrilling us for a long time?

So you paint the eyes black then add the white later? Why didn't I think of that?

Dude, great work again! don't you ever get sick of painting such beautiful mini's? that Venom is looking excellent as per your usual work and the Wyches look amazing all together like that!

you honestly have one of the nicest and most striking looking armies I've ever had the pleasure of seeing on Dakka!

I was sticking the splinter cannons on this Venom when I suddenly was sort of surprised that it was almost done! You've probably all seen those amazing guys who can solve Rubik's cubes super quickly because they know exactly what combination of twists they need for certain color combinations. I feel like I'm almost working at that level with this color scheme and the techniques needed to paint it. It still took time, effort and patience, but thinking back I don't think I experienced even a moment of stress or frustration with this Venom, which hasn't ever happened for me while painting a model. So in short, I had a moment of Zen while painting a poison dart spewing killing machine.

That being said, I'm done with Venoms for now. Unless someone wants to take advantage of my skill in painting this exact specific color scheme and commission me to paint up a bunch for them ! I'm sort of morbidly curious to see if I've gotten good enough with the process to do nine in a month (while keeping my day job of course and sleeping regular hours) .

Regarding these photos. I bought a large piece of black construction paper as an alternate backdrop for photos and I'm liking the effects. The blue shows up nicely.













@Casey's Law: There may be a bit of a lull when I get the Infinity mini's I've ordered and before 6th edition 40k comes out. I still plan on building slate bases for all the skimmers however so I can take a proper picture of the whole army.

@Swordwind: I didn't think of it either. Read it on the internet years ago!

@nerdfest09: Thank you, kind sir, for the complements .

Whoa, zen painting! Or should i say turquoise enlightenment?

The venom really is a testament to the time you've been practicing this scheme, it's perfectly executed.

Oh and when you get your Infinity models come down to the sub-forum and get involved, we have a load of cool stuff going on and your input would be sweet!

Nice choice on the backdrop, makes the blue "pop" more and the bases stand out more as well. The army is coming together nicely! This thread has made me visit Dakka more than any other.

Wow. That Venom looks like a boss, Jon! Another amazing addition to your gorgeous army!

Can fourteen year old miniatures, that have recently been superseded by what are widely regarded as some of the best sculpts GW has ever produced, be revived with modern painting techniques? After spending the day working with some of the old Dark Eldar miniatures, I'm beginning to think that the answer is a tentative yes. To be fair I still far prefer the new shiny Dark Eldar miniatures, but I don't think that this Warrior would look out of place on the tabletop with the rest of my army, a truly ancient warrior .

Despite my earlier misgivings about these models stated at the beginning of the thread, I've realized that that they do hold some nostalgic value to me. in particular, it's kind of neat to see how a lot of the design details from these old models got updated an incorporated into the new sculpts. I don't think I'll be painting many of these guys but I've decided that it would be kind of cool to have one small squad in the army (Ovion still probably gets everything minus one sprue!).

I'd be very interested in hearing what everyone thinks about this exercise!



@Casey's Law: I'll be sure to check in once the models arrive!

@asmodai650: Thanks for the complement! It always motivates me to post more when someone new lets me know they're following the thread.

@Moltar: Following on from the response above, it also motivates me to post more when someone lets me know they're liking my miniatures.

Oh my... How the hell did you make those models look good?!

You've made one of the worst models GW ever produced into something really amazing. These models would make a wonderful squad in your army they look amazing.

I never thought i'd say that...

I need a shower now i feel dirty.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Sooo good!

Beautiful work there MJ. Don't get me wrong, I be buying any myself, but then I know that I can't paint to your standard, which is the real appeal to these models and what really brings them to life. Would really like to see how a squad turns out!

MJ. Thank you. I recently gave a buddy of mine 30 bucks and he gave me an old Urien Rakarth, 4 warp beasts , 2 old raiders (Parts of the Dias of destruction),some old Mandrakes, Wyches, Incubi and about 100 old Kabalites.
I was just after the Urien and the beasts, but hey, a deals a deal. I 've been painting up the Kab's non-stop and I'm thinkin' to myself : "No one else would try and salvage this junk".Yet, I keep going at it. Then today, I see you are doing the same thing and I feel COMPLETELY justified. Thanks again for continued inspiration.

Wow, I don't remember ever seeing an old DE mini look that good. Keep working that magic.

That old school model will fit in seemlessley with the rest. Great work as always Jon.

Moltar wrote:Wow, I don't remember ever seeing an old DE mini look that good. Keep working that magic.

Thats because it has literally never happened before.

I really is amazing what a decent paintjob will do to a gak model. Casey's Law is one hundred percent correct. The old DE models are ugly as sin with a paintjob to boot. With some TLC in the form of paint, the improvement is stunning.

I think he turned out great as well. I think you should paint up a couple more, that way when the squishy Dark Eldar get killed you can remove them from play first. Leaving your newer, way cooler models on the battlefield.

Of course, if that's the mentality, It'd simply be better to play a DE army of only the old models, leaving the new ones at home for display...

So, it's very cool seeing the positive response to this test model! As happens to me a with a lot of miniatures, my opinion of this old Dark Eldar model improved markedly once I painted it. I think this is because when I look at a miniature that is new to me, meaning I haven't painted anything generally similar to it before, I judge it mainly based on the sculpt. Does the model project a strong personality? Is the pose or silhouette interesting? Is the detail crisp? etc. Seeing what other people have done with a model can definitely improve my impression of it (I was not moved to buy the new DE mini's until I saw some alternate color schemes). Yet, once I've painted a miniature, my value judgement shifts from "is this a good sculpt" towards "what can I do with this sculpt." If I end up with a paintjob I'm happy with I start to think "what else can I do with this sculpt," and start to like the miniature a lot more.

That end's today's moment of self reflection. On a related note, while this first test Warrior model turned out well, I'm working on a second Warrior (female this time with a standard splinter rifle) that I'm genuinely pleased with. To the point that I actually prefer the way she looks over some of my newer Warriors. A couple minor conversions (without using any modern bits) really made the model work for me. Stay tuned for pictures!

At this rate there's not going to be any left