Solid work, fin. The gold has come up really well.

The gold looks really nice fin, I might have to have a look at the rest of the liquid gold paints, I only have one.

That is incredible and totally inspiring. I want one of those!

A bit more work on the gold - highlighted up with White Gold, and then the next set of feathers based with White Gold ready to be highlighted up to white. I think I need to lighten up the feathers around the tail a bit.

Really like the gold looking effect you done on the phoenix, looks stunning man! Looking forward to see it taking shape.

Btw what you feel about the big snowflakes on the model? I really dont get it.............sigh

Fin that is a really rich gold mate! how did you find the paints? and do you have any tips for using that particular metallic? flawless coverage and it's as warm as an Aussie summer!

I just ordered it offline - can't remember where exactly - it's the Vallejo Liquid Gold line, search for that and it should come up fairly easily. That's the Rich Gold and the White Gold.

Tips... dunno actually as I'm still finding my way with them myself! They do go on pretty easily, but they're not the easiest to work with. They're alcohol based, so they can be quite thick, but when you thin then down with alcohol, it's a little hit and miss whether you're just getting alcohol or a lump of pigment! I'm not finding them super-easy to blend with. I just tried putting thinned down Ceramite White over the top of the White Gold and it didn't sit too well, so what I might have to do (thinking about it now!) is put a wash of Lahmia Medium over it first to basecoat it and give something for the water-based paints to stick to... Washes seem to go on fine over them.
If you're using smaller quantities of it, the alcohol evaporates VERY quickly, so you have to keep diluting it (you have to use 96% alcohol, so the evaporation rate is QUICK).

As you know Dakka chums, I don't particularly like to blow my own trumpet, but the shots aren't doing the gold justice - they're a lot richer in person, and the light reflects off them really well.
As for as warm as an Aussie summer, just wait until I get going on the fire phoenix!

Charky - I don't mind the snowflakes all that much... it fits with the fluff. I do think they're WAY too big, but I think that's a painting and modelling necessity rather than an aesthetic one.

screw the phoenix (minimal work done to it since the last update), looks like it's time to get my Eldar on! Actually excited about the new releases now, despite no new Aspects... and I really quite like the Crimson Latios... er, Hunters...
Bring it on!

Poor phoenix

The Eldar is an interesting one I've got a few models that I've been picking up off ebay ready for some paint, I'm sure their going to be good, not sure about the huge knight thing but plastic wraith guard oh yes please. I'm going down the Biel Tan route with mine.

the phoenix will get finished up, have no doubt about that... : )

All the new Eldar goodies will be painted you in my Craftworld yellow and black/red... I have a plan for the flyer, and maybe the wraithknight if I get one

 GiraffeX wrote:
Poor phoenix

The Eldar is an interesting one I've got a few models that I've been picking up off ebay ready for some paint, I'm sure their going to be good, not sure about the huge knight thing but plastic wraith guard oh yes please. I'm going down the Biel Tan route with mine.

Haha! I just posted in the Warseer rumour thread that I thought the new flier looked like said Pokemon. I'm hoping to pick one of those flier kits up soon.

love those gold paints you're using, shame they sound so awkward to work with really. It'll be good to see how your Phoenix duo turn out. :-)

okay - Wraithguard actually look pretty sweet, and I'll be picking some of them up - lots of bitz on the sprues which is cool, shame the weapons will be over-sized for regular-sized models, but I'm sure a use will be found for them.
Spiritseer is a bit clunky and lazy, but I'll get one and do a hand swap on the staff-arm, maybe for the Farseer's spear? I like the idea of an axe, but like I said, the wraithaxe might be a bit too big.
Farseer, I'll get - pretty nice and lots of flat areas for freehanding, and as you all know, I'm a sucker for flowing fabric.
Flyers - nice actually, but I doubt I'll pick one up straight away.
Wraithknight - I'm becoming more sold on it now I've seen decent pix, and it looks like the legs are probably poseable, so I will pick one up, just not immediately. Some thought and planning needs to go into that sucker to do it justice. I think it'll work, but I'm already planning a head swap from the spare head of my Revenant (which is still languishing in its box), so that might solve the tiny-head problem... I think they might actually be fairly similar in size, and if it looks goofy, hey, nothing lost. : )

despite being a weak, weak man, I think I've done fairly well, and I haven't gone beserk on the pre-ordering! Codex, Wraithguard and the single models only : ) (that's pretty tame for me ... I'm semi-proud of myself! lol)
To counter balance that, I have set myself a painting target and I want to get most of, if not all of a squad of Guardians done this week (I'm off work, so I can focus on painting and not be too knackered from work). It's unit-painting which as we all know is phenomenonally dull, but it has to be done. Apart from the arms, I've basecoated 8 of them (already got three done), and washed with black, tidied up the orange bits, and am now in the process of doing the yellow highlighting. Three done so far, and I should be able to do another one tonight.

Looking forward to the pretty pics Fin and the new models done to your high standards.

Thanks Doc
Here's a shot of the Guardians as they are at the moment. I'm actually fairly pleased with myself at the rate of progress. I've changed my method somewhat and I think that's having an impact on my speed (plus the fact that I'm not doing these anywhere near as carefully as the DEldar...). I'm starting off the first level of highlight a little bit darker than usual, so it doesn't take as long to build up, and after that, the other highlights are fairly quick to go on. Seems to be working so far!

Big group shot so you can see the comparison between the basecoats and the finished, highlighted yellow, and a complete Guardian up the top for a colour reference while I'm working!

How happy are you about some of the new eldar that are coming out?

this happy:
/opens arms VERY wide



But it's also served to give me a healthy dollop of Eldar motivation too, so it's all good.

That's some serious quality your pumping out there, fin!

Squad painting - You're doing It right

Can't wait to see your take on the new models

I'd like to see a finn style Wraith Knight, looking at the studio pics they didn't paint the gems so much potential wasted.

I agree Giraffe - the studio examples, and the ones in private armies, were all a bit dull and rushed to my mind. The Ulthwe one had some really nice bright spot colours, but the highlighting was very lazy.
Because it's so big, I think it'd take me an age to paint one (not necessarily a bad thing), either that or I need to figure out a new method - possibly time to invest in an airbrush, at least for the basecoating?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Two more Guardians yellowed-up this morning, plus a batch of cookies made AND the hoovering done! I'm a domestic and hobbying god!

Only one Guardian left to do the yellow on - a little behind schedule... However, I have cleaned up, glued together, undercoated and basecoated the orange on all the arms/weapons, so time well spent I think. I can get the last one highlighted tomorrow morning, and then it's onwards and upward.

So, when do you want me to buy and donate a WraithKnight to the 'Lets see Finnan paint it fund'? 'cos seriously dude it's what I need to survive as soon as i saw it the only words echoing through my head were....'Fin......Finnan......Fin......Fiiiiin'

I really don't need any extra temptation Nerd lol I will be getting one, to say otherwise would be a blatant lie! But I want to do the characters, and get the Wraithguard done up first... I still haven't even decided whether I'm going to make the 'guard up with the guns or blades yet.
I also have a little idea that would require at least another box (if not two) of 'guard... >coughBright Stallionscough<

A Bright Stallion rearing up like the epic scale one would look very nice finn

I was think more along the lines of it stretched out in a gallop-pose, but if it's an easy enough conversion, a rearing one as part of a squad could also be done ; )
I need to have a look at the sprue, and do some sketching first though : )

If it helps This Conversion seems pretty effective, and something I will draw inspiration from when I come to make my own Bright Stallion.

I looked at that the other day too Ovion - it's a nice job. Obviously, the legs are more animal-like on the Warwalker, so that helps. I'm just thinking out loud about doing it with Wraithguard... I think some hacking into the legs will be needed to pull it off well! Potentially it'd work...

I'm a little behind schedule with my targets, but that's okay. I was feeling somewhat rough yesterday, and was up in London anyway, and today I'm definitely feeling ill, so I don't think any painting will get done. Still - progress has been made. All the yellow has been done on the bodies, so just the few bits on the forearms and the weapons to go. The guns are proving to be very fiddly, and I lost my patience with them a bit on Tuesday, so it's probably not a bad thing that I'm taking a (forced) break. Just the final bit of basecoating to do, then I'll wash them and then tidy up the orange, and then full steam ahead : )
I also did the gem and their eyes on Tuesday : )

Still looking amazing Fin!!!

I so wana pinch your colour scheme, it's just beautiful!

thanks guys : )
Still feeling rough - definitely in the midst of a man-cold that's on the verge of man-flu. All I've done today is read and rest up whilst wheezing, sneezing and dripping from either my nose or eyes. All very attractive ; )
Kitch - steal away!

*gets biohazard suit and hands you chicken noodle soup* there all better now get back to work

hope you feel better man

Picked up some new Eldar goodies this morning - yey!

Codex - meh. Bit dull if you ask me, but there you go. I think the best bits for me were the incidental illustrations which are really quite nice, and quite Egyptian in a way that fits rather well with the Eldar aesthetic.

Farseer - not the easiest build in the world, and I'm going to paint and then do the final assembly, but other than that, very nice.
Spiritseer - what an awful, awful model. It's reminded me why I don't by Finecast as it's a horrible cast medium and that the GW plastics are far superior. It's also a rubbish sculpt. But hey ho, I'll deal with it. I've already chopped off his staff and hand and swapped it for a Dire Avengers Exarch spear-thingy. It already looks a lot better. On round 2 of greenstuffing now as the joins were horrible.
Haven't attempted illic or the Wraithguard yet...

Look forward to seeing you work you magic with these models.
I'm really not impressed with GW's releases especially the Wraithknight. It does not seem to fit in aesthetically, the head is too small, the chest is too puffed out. It really does look like it was designed with too much of a Tau influence. I hope this doesn't start to show in all future designs. It's all going a bit anime.
I'm so sorry I have picked on your blog to vent this moan, hope you don't mind.
Keep up the good work!

of course I don't mind Reeno - rant away!

not very much progress to show really, but I thought I'd put something up.
Farseer: just done the yellow on the back of the cloak/coat. It's pretty much there, but I can see in the shots where I want to go in and smooth it out a bit more. You can also see the outline of the phoenix I want on the back - the top half of the cloak is going to be black - an homage to Revenant form Age of X, who in turn was an homage to the original (and best) Phoenix, Jean Grey.

Spiritseer: I originally wanted him to be quite different from the rest of my seers, and have his robes bone-white to represent him dealing with the dead of the Craftworld. Even though I didn't get very far, it looked horrible though, so he's going to fit in with the rest of the seers!
Still on the fence about it as a model. It's done in a different style to the Farseer, and the fabric is treated in a different way (less realistically I think), so the black may be a better choice because it's more forgiving.

The leading foot on the Spiritseer is really annoying me in the shots - it looks really wooden and dumb, so I've heated it up and bent it down so that it looks as if it's gripping the rock now.

Nice start. Looking forward to the phoenix on the cloak.

Looks promising! Interested to see more progress.

ooo finn well done. I like the conversion work too

if only i could choose a paint scheme.

urgh... first week back of term survived, whist still trying to shake off this cold. No time for painting (as usual), so I want to get some done this weekend, but Saturday morning is wiped out because I have to take the car to be serviced. Damn having the be a responsible adult and member of society!

I was also alerted to this:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/530361.page
yesterday by a Dakka chum, so I'm tempted to give it a go...


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Right - slight snag in the competition plan. Local gaming store doesn't stock Infinity stuff!
So... I guess I'll have to order offline, but in doing so, I'll lose a week of painting time! Dilemma!

minor (post afternoon snooze) update ; )
little bits of work done on most of the models on the workdesk: weapons all blocked in and then washed, so I need to do the yellow now.
Spiritseer: next layer of highlighting on the robe done - this with a 1;1 mix of Blood:Mephiston Red
Farseer: linework done on the inside of the cloak, and on the sash which has been worked up. Also done is the blocking on the back of his cloak, so you can see the phoenix.
Onwards and upwards.

Spiritseer's robe is looking very nice so far and the phoenix is looking cool. Interesting that you're doing the front and back (well rest) of the Farseer separate.

I wanted to be able to get into the inside fairly easily - if I'd glued them together, I wouldn't be able to get to the inside of the cloak or both sides of the sash.

Fair enough. I can see that they would be quite close.

That'll teach me to try and be too clever! Tried to assemble the Farseer just now and realised that I couldn't as the sleeve couldn't go through the gap made by the edge of the cloak! What a moron! On second examination, it looks like you have to paint it totally in pieces or, just assemble the bugger and work with what access and angles you have! Buggeration!
So, time to start again!

Your phoenixes are incredible, both the bird and the symbol on the Farseer.

Keep it up mate!

Oh dear. I've had it happen to be when I've tried to be too clever with a model. Hope it works out ok.

just have to strip and carefully disassemble, then reassemble... >sigh<

wow thats really clever with the pheonix on the back of his robes good job sir!

Aw! Gutted you are having to strip it, the motif on the back was really wonderful. Don't make that mistake on the Infinity Challenge!

Keep up the great work, your making sweet progress!

Finn, those guardians are epic. I also really love the bird on the cape. Excellent choice.

Amazing paintjobs - Mind If I ask you how you paint your orange with the new GW paints?

@Viv - I'm still holding on to some of the old paints! Although, my Blazing Orange is very nearly out of steam : ( I think that the equivalents are pretty close, but Ido prefer the old formulas though. I have noticed that when the new paints are watered down, they tend to separate out very quickly, and need stirring regularly. Not a huge deal, but slightly annoying nonetheless.

@Casey - haven't even made a start on my Infinity model yet! I have yet to get my hands on one! : (

Ahh no! Have you ordered yet or are you looking for someone who sells in your area?

I think I'll have to order one...

It'll be worth it your style of painting will work really well on Infinity minis. Try Shae_Konnit he sells from the UK and he's one of the Challenge sponsors. Quick, well priced and reliable service, I've ordered from him a few times and the stuff always arrives really quickly.

It's great for the occasional miniature in particular since I can just drop him a message and PayPal him the cost of the mini plus 90p postage and bam, it's on my doormat a few days later.

Sad i didn't read about the farseer deal. Hope it works out with you fin, i dont think you need to strip it, but best of luck.

You continue to amaze Fin! I love that farseer.

For what it's worth, thanks for the inspiration:

Hi mate,

I've just got back into painting and 40k after about 12 years out. I've purchased some new Eldar and came across your posts here. Amazing, amazing work! Loved it all!

I was wondering if you'd mind me trying to mimic your blue colour scheme near the start of your posts and whether or not you had any tips for me in trying to do so?

Cheers,

Gary
London

Welcome aboard karmantis - glad you like what's on here : )

Blue Guardians: start off with a basecoat of Hawks Turquoise ( I think Temple Guard Blue is the new version of it), and then two generous washes of blue wash/ink/glaze to knock it back.
Then start highlighting with a 2:3 mix of your bascoat colour and what was Enchanted Blue. Next highlight with pure basecoat colour, and then last highlight with 1:1 mix of your basecoat and what was Scorpion Green.

I'm still working with a lot of the old paints, so I don't know the new names which is a bit of a pain for you, but there are conversion charts from when the new paints were released knocking around online, and hopefully GW still have them in store too.

As ever, my top tip is to always thin down your paints so that they go on in lots of thin layers and you build up smooth transitions and blends - takes a while, but worth it.
Good luck!

Perfect, thank you! I'll be starting the painting this weekend coming up! I'll let you know how I get on!

Thanks again!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Perfect, thank you! I'll be starting the painting this weekend coming up! I'll let you know how I get on!

Thanks again!

I've been somewhat slack with posting lately, so apologies for that. Still going on the Guardians, but not too much visible progress to show. Spiritseer is ongoing too, but every time I work on it I seethe with resentment because it's such an awful model.
Farseer Mark II has seen some progress though. Disassembled, stripped, cleaned up, reassembled (correctly this time!), undercoated, and all the yellow areas done. Charadon blocked in and washed - although I can see in some places where I was a bit too careful and didn't go right up to the yellow. I've made a start on the bone, but need to do the final highlights in white.

Also (because I don't have enough unfinished stuff to do), because I was somewhat disappointed that no new jetbikes were released (I think they'll come out in a subsequent wave, followed shortly by a Saim-Hann codex supplement), and inspired by someone's jetbike conversions on here (I forget who exactly - abject apologies!), I decided to have a go at my own - the sleac-nea ag soilsiu (butchered Irish Gaelic for 'shining spear-cut')... still have some of the greenstuffing to finish off, and the rider to do as well.

Farseer looking good so far. Hope it goes smoothly this time.

Liking the jet bike so far. I like the lance sticking out between the front sections.

The spiritseer's cloak! The shading is brilliant very well done. Again beautifully vibrant, always an inspiration

Young Logan

Wonderful mate. Keep it coming.

Great work Finn! love the blend up on the folds of the lower robe seriously some of my fave blending you have done! and I love the look of that bike! wow you've pushed yourself with that and it's paying off big time!

That bike is interesting and epic at the same time. Farseer looks excellent

Keep it coming, you've almost inspired me to do my own P&M blog, almost

almost isn't good enough!

Well I do have about 4 weeks free time after a tournament thi weekend...

okay, so after much deliberation, I *think* I've decided that I'm NOT going to go to Games Day this year. £60+ for the ticket and round trip. It's an expensive art competition entry fee, and I'm still worried that the UK competition will be totally blown out of the water by French and Spanish competitors coming here because their Games Days have been cancelled. The ex-Beloved agrees, and points out that £60 could be well spent elsewhere...

That's a shame buddy but it sounds like an intelligent decision. Still, you come up with an almighty awesome idea for the one after that and start working now...

that was also part of my thinking Casey It'd probably take that long for me to do a Wraithknight... ; )

I also wanted to have a proper break this summer - it's been a hard year what with one thing and another, and as much as I like painting, I don't want that to consume the whole break.

 finnan wrote:
that was also part of my thinking Casey It'd probably take that long for me to do a Wraithknight... ; )

I also wanted to have a proper break this summer - it's been a hard year what with one thing and another, and as much as I like painting, I don't want that to consume the whole break.

This quite a bit! Yeah sometimes warhammer can become to life consuming.

You know what they say about great minds!

I think a break is a good idea too, you don't want to have a hobby deadline on your mind while your relaxing. Even if you enjoy painting, a deadline is a deadline.

Enjoy your time, rest and recuperate. Then we can get you chained back up to that workbench!

maybe just lengthen the chain a bit so I can *almost* reach the sunlight?

No! Sunlight is not conducive to creating a soul shattering sweat shop environment!

Good thing I live in England then, where sunlight is a rare thing!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
How did I miss these?!

http://sciborminiatures.com/en_,shop.php?art=1518#i/reniata_2013/big/sf_elves_25_1.jpg

Just spend time near a "sun lamp"

Haha, true but at least it's brighter than Scotland!

Those bases are rather lovely, good find.

Nice find Finnan!

 finnan wrote:
almost isn't good enough!

Well, while I hate to shamelessy self promote fin, I did make a start, I would really appreciate the tips of an accomplished painter such as yourself
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/537317.page#5802432

Finally got the Guardians finished after powering through yesterday and finishing them up this morning.
For once, I'm actually pretty happy with my work. Not saying that I couldn't list many, many things that I wouldn't want to improve upon, but I'm satisfied. Onwards and upwards.

Aaaaaaand the winner for the most strikingly simple Eldar paint scheme that only one or two of us could possibly pull off goes too........ FINNAN! well done Finnan, you have successfully shown us how a good choice of colours and a lot of patience and insane brush skill can produce something so beautiful! :-)

/stands to do acceptance speech
I'm overwhelmed!
/blubbers
I had nothing prepared!
/pulls out ten-page speech

I'd like to start by thanking...


high praise indeed Nerd, thank you. I think I'd just go with insane and patient. I did once win the Insanity Award for a Uni project because of the stupidly (and frankly unnecessary) detailed technique I used. If it ain't broke etc

Simple is as simple does as a wise man once said.

Just found your blog. I will be going through it soon.

These guys are beautiful. As eldar should look.

Beautiful work as always Finnan.

Striking squad!
Grat job Finnan

The great thing about looking at finnan's work is that I have absolutely no jealousy. There is no 'I should wok a little harder so my models will look like that' going through my head when I look at his stuff.

I know my elves will never look like that. It is like watching Kevin Durant play basketball or U. Bolt run, I KNOW I could never do it. It makes the artistry of it much easier to appreciate.

-K

@serathnal /thunk - jaw on the floor. Thank you very much, I'm pretty sure I don't deserve that.

 finnan wrote:
@serathnal /thunk - jaw on the floor. Thank you very much, I'm pretty sure I don't deserve that.

Modesty goes far, but your work is aspiring to see.
You have a clear skill and nothing is hidden by that. Those guardians are simply awesome!

So I just noticed that in your group of finished Guardians, you have one with an Eldar missile launcher, and one with a Shuriken Cannon. Are those to represent the weapon platform?

@Insacrum - they sure are. I was just itching to use the heavy weapons options from the Corsairs kit... makes sense that those cunning Eldar could make heavy weapons light enough to carry around with them : )

Holy mother of Batman Fin, those are some amazing guardians, good to see you give them some love again!

Outstanding, fin! They are soo pretty it's crazy, your brush-fu is mighty indeed.

Look what I got through the post the other day ; )
Assembled tonight as I got back from a short break away, but I'm waiting for some flying bases to come through so I can get some other stuff done before I make a proper start on them.
I have to say, I'm remarkably impressed with them - very well done and cleanly produced. A couple of the footrests were too fragile and snapped of, so I replaced them, but I think that's a minor price to pay.

I also finished off five Rangers today - nothing too great, but I wanted to get them done; I'll try and get a shot of them tomorrow when I have some decent light. I need to get one more from somewhere, and then when he and Illic are done I'll have a squad of ten done (my magic number it seems).

Are they the reaver bikes? what's the special with them Finn? :-)

no, they're 'new' Eldar jetbikes... from a completely legitimate eBay source... /looks gulty

They're a third party 'knock off' of the one-engine Eldar Jetbike design that was floated a while ago, which looks a lot better than the one currently available.


Where did you get them from finnan?

lol like I said: completely legit! ; )
I couldn't help myself, so I took a chance, and they came through. Glad I did; I have a feeling we'll be waiting a while for for new ones from Gee Dub despite how much everyone wants them (still wonder if they'd be released with a Saim-Hann codex). The riders are pretty nice too, a nice take on the standard Guardian helm, almost a Guardian/Corsair mix.

That color scheme on the guardians is awesome! Great job with the orange

Nice jet bikes. I would love to see your rangers. As far as where you bought those bikes. Do you mind telling me?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Nice jet bikes. I would love to see your rangers. As far as where you bought those bikes. Do you mind telling me?

looks nice

as ever, thanks guys. With some time off work, hopefully I can get a decent amount of painting done!

I'll get a semi-decent shot of the Rangers tomorrow panda; they're not amazing, but they'll do : )

I've sent you a private message with the link to the 'bikes.

Hate to ask, but could I get that link as well? Need to differentiate my soon to be shining spears from the rest of my host and those look mint.

I would like the link as well. And I am dying to see the rangers

-S

Oooh, link me as well?

links sent guys : )

I asked first and no message for me. :(

sorry Ovion! I didn't see the request, snuck under the bottom of the picture! Abject apologies; just sent it to you.

Who knew a little bit of yellow/orange highlight could go such a long way. Now do a dark grey to light grey hightlight on the black armour and you're on the way to Pompeii, Jose.

Cool paint scheme also, black goes just asosmwe with orange/green. My paint scheme is blue and white with purple spirit stones and light grey, dark grey or black guns and details. My second choice would've been black and something, but jet black can ruin the detail a lot, that's why if you get hold of the hightlighting the black like in the ultwe colour scheme your models will look EVEN BETTER. I know. Impossibru!

What I like is that you aren't even a pro painter but you can pull off something that we all can. We just need patience + determination. Sadly I have little of that....

there's a red highlight on the dark grey; it doesn't pick up very well in the shots.

patience + determination + insanity + love of repetitive tasks

*waits for ranger pics*

patience, Grasshopper!

here they are : )

nothing amazing, I just wanted them done and out of the way, so they're pretty rough in places. The aim for the coats was for them to be matching the rock on the base. They'll do. I should be finishing up the Farseer, but I'm not feeling the love from him at the moment.

Great painting, but hate the old models

I don't mind the old models, I got them cheap, so it's all good. They're not going to be the centrepiece of the growing army, so I'm not too worried about them sticking out like a sore thumb

Thanks for clearing that up for me Fin!I looked at the bikes and just couldn't quite work out what wasn't sitting right with me! how long until we see some more shots of them with a little paint? i'd like to see them with a rider on one :-)

and no need to look guilty, I myself have become accustomed to buying mini's from legitimate ebay sources and then exclaiming loudly when they arrive " Oh dear! it appears as if i have been taken for a ride and purchased a superior and cleaner cast! what ever will i do!"

yeah, haven't assembled the riders yet, so that's a job to do; also waiting for some flying bases to come through the post (they didn't come supplied with bases) so I won't be manhandling them with my grubby fingers while I paint. I'm thinking Craftworld colours, and in my head I want to similar things to the Farseer's cloak with pos/neg images of phoenixes on the canopy. They're pretty narrow though, so we'll see about that.

I think I'd be exclaiming that more if there were more eldar pieces available - this is the best one I've seen, and too good to pass up - other than the Chapterhouse stuff, and I'm not completely sold on their bits.

 finnan wrote:
yeah, haven't assembled the riders yet, so that's a job to do; also waiting for some flying bases to come through the post (they didn't come supplied with bases) so I won't be manhandling them with my grubby fingers while I paint. I'm thinking Craftworld colours, and in my head I want to similar things to the Farseer's cloak with pos/neg images of phoenixes on the canopy. They're pretty narrow though, so we'll see about that.

I think I'd be exclaiming that more if there were more eldar pieces available - this is the best one I've seen, and too good to pass up - other than the Chapterhouse stuff, and I'm not completely sold on their bits.

I am not a huge fan of chapter house bits either sadly.

And those rangers are neat and simple. Really enjoy their paint job. I also like the look of the old models. The head and hood deal looks cool.

Some ideas for the canopy on the 'bikes. The ones based on the Phoenix (Jean Grey) and Nightwing logos make me chuckle ; )

Well not to be a band wagoner but I would love that link aswell.

They'll look dyno, bud!

Finn, PM me and I will ship you out one of those old rangers. I have a box full!

Also, send me the link to those jetbikes. Although, I don't see why you don't post it in-thread. They are not re-casts.

I like the bird cover a lot!

Just a little update really - I've been working on the jetbikes and the Farseer today. I got pretty much all of the first red highlight done on him, but seeing the shots I took of him, it didn't show too well, so I'll post photos when more progress is visible. Onto the second (and third) highlights of red for him tomorrow.

Jetbikes: I undercoated them and drew on the designs, using some masking tape for the straight lines and the angles. A different approach for them to my usual technique of an orange basecoat and then highlighting up to yellow. Because of the large flat areas, doing it that way around would take AN AGE, so I decided to flip it, and do a yellow basecoat and then do some lowlighting with the orange. It seems to be working so far, but I still want to beef it up a bit more. Seeing the shots though are misleading - the yellow is much brighter in the flesh, it's pure Golden Yellow, and the shots are much, much darker. As with the Farseer, I'll try and get better shots tomorrow in some natural light.

I also undercoated the Spear and drew on some linework. I'm thinking bright red and grey for this bad boy.

Those look sweet. Difficult to tell on colours, but they look great in the shots.

Oh wow! I really like that second bike, finnan. Fid you post that before? I think I missed it. Great use of bits.

Yeah, I posed a wip of the greenstuffing on the Spear bike 'beard, not a whole lot to see yet though

More accurate pictures - these are MUCH better colour representations.

That farseer is incredible and I can't wait to see what you do with the bikes!

Really nice work Fin. The bikes will look awesome in a group.

Masterful, fin. This army is going to look the business.

I may be pointing out the obvious here but you drew a phallus on your jetbike.

I guess you're really good at...

*sunglasses*

cockfighting

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

But no really don't drew a penis shape on your jetbike please.

No, you're not pointing out the obvious, and while I guess I can see, at a push, that it might look vaguely penis-like, if you think that's what a penis looks like, you need to go and see a doctor fairly quickly.
What do sunglasses have to do with anything?
If you see a penis there, that's your problem, not mine. If you're genuinely trying to make a comment and suggestion, thanks, but I don't get the impression that you were. If you were trying to make a joke, it fell flat.

I'm not a one for eldar usually, but these are very nice! I really love the bold color scheme of black and orange, similar to my Tyranid scheme of red and black. Lovely colours, and nice freehand on the farseers cloak. Also, well said in reply to FireKnights comment

Those bikes are going to have me drolling finnan. Better place a protective layer. Are you going to do an engine flame color?

thanks Big Mek, much appreciated.

I hadn't really thought beyond the canopy 'panda! I want a couple of yellow highlights just to balance things out, but haven't got there yet. My initial thoughts are to either have the engine a metallic gold, or to keep it dark grey and have the recessed lines yellow (Tron-like). As for flame colour... I don't know, the same white/blue that I do for my sword blades seems like an obvious choice...?
The riders are going to be a slightly adapted version of my Guardian scheme - they don't have chest armour to do yellow, but they do have a jacket, so I need to decide whether that's going to be yellow or grey... Decisions decisions!

Lovely orange you've got going on.Great freehands too!
Those jetbikes are so much pretttier ... Mind sharing your dealer with a poor dude?

 finnan wrote:
thanks Big Mek, much appreciated.

I hadn't really thought beyond the canopy 'panda! I want a couple of yellow highlights just to balance things out, but haven't got there yet. My initial thoughts are to either have the engine a metallic gold, or to keep it dark grey and have the recessed lines yellow (Tron-like). As for flame colour... I don't know, the same white/blue that I do for my sword blades seems like an obvious choice...?
The riders are going to be a slightly adapted version of my Guardian scheme - they don't have chest armor to do yellow, but they do have a jacket, so I need to decide whether that's going to be yellow or grey... Decisions decisions!

a blue white always works well. Hmmm... I am going to leave you up to pick out the yellow and grey areas. I would have to leave the engines grey to avoid an over flamboyant color spree. It could work you have the skill for sure, but its about if it would be nice to have a dark and neutral middle to anchor the eye to.

having a look at the engines today, I think the recesses might be a bit too thin to pick out in yellow, so I might give the metallic gold a go... if it looks a bit rubbish, I can always go over it with the grey

Thanks for the link. Those look awesome cant wait to see your freehand on them.

Alright....I got owned.

Sorry for that finnan really I like you ._. please don't hurt me.

I used some of the ideas from your jetbike plans, for my own 3 jetbikes, I used the second one from the top, third from the left. That's my favourite one out of the lot.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
PS: Did you consider the third one from the left on the bottom line? That one looks epic too.

Wait, so you say that you think there's a penis on some of my work, and then admit to taking some of the other ideas for your own - that's pretty poor form there. While I'm always happy for people to use and adapt my ideas, it's also polite to ask first, especially if you've disparaged some of them.

How can you 'really like' me - you don't know me, only what I put up on here, which is my work and some of my opinions, not me.

If you'd taken the time to actually look at the initial ideas, you will see which five ideas I'm using.

some progress on the jetbikes - all the canopies are yellowed up, and the engine blocks done. I think I like the engine blocks, but I'm not convinced yet.

I couldn't resist blocking in the grey on one of them yesterday, and, as you know, I'm generally fairly cautious about my work, but even I think that this looks fairly bad@$$ Just basecoated and then washed with black, so I've got the red highlights to do. There's also some tidying up I need to do on some of the yellow areas - I already had to correct some mistakes yesterday, so I need to put the shading and highlighting back in on the canopy.

Thats looking really nice finn. Did you do the black wash straight over the white undercoat as it looks really nice, never thought of trying that I wouldnt have thought it would cover as well as it has.

no, I did a basecoat of Charadon Granite, and then the wash of black

Very nice, loving the eagle on the front.

Absolutely gorgeous! Love your style, mate.

Bad to the bone finn! that really does look excellent so far! very sinister and fast.... real fast!

Really cool Fin. Good work. I like how you kept the colour on the seat as well.

 finnan wrote:
Wait, so you say that you think there's a penis on some of my work, and then admit to taking some of the other ideas for your own - that's pretty poor form there.

Don't feed the trolls...
But on topic, nice free-handing on the jetbike. I find it difficult to get a very solid outline on shapes when freehanding, are there any methods you would suggest without going for a solid black line?

I wouldn't say that I have the steadiest hand in the world either!

These days I do a light pencil outline on the white undercoat as I know I'm steadier with a pencil than with a brush. I use a .35 clutch pencil, so it's pretty fine. I then do the light colours over the top and get them highlighted and finished, certainly with the oranges and yellows, the paints are translucent enough that I can still see the pencil line. I then block in the dark colours, trying to be as careful as possible and following the line as much as I can... I try and do the 'line' first, and then block in the rest.
I invariably make mistakes, and I 'rub out' by getting rid of the bump, slip or wobble by painting over in white, then building back up the yellow - which is why I have to do some reshading and rehighlighting!

I guess it depends what colours you're using... I have done all the light shading and highlighting and then drawn on with pencil, but it's harder to rub out mistakes, and some of the paint comes off too. I've also tried masking tape, but with a brush, there's too much paint loaded and it sneaks under the tape giving wobbly lines - best for airbrushing I think.

Hope that helps at least a little!

I tried to make it up to you but ok. Of course, I was in poor form but I was just trying to make a joke, and yeah, you didn't take it very well so I said sorry. But you still didn't accept my apology? ok.

Finn, that bike looks so awesome... i just ruined my keyboard with droll. Excellent color choices. Still going to watch for the final product.

 finnan wrote:

Hope that helps at least a little!

Very helpful, thanks!

I have been through your log once or twice finnan, its just excellent work all around! your minis look delicious! I must say tonight you have inspired me to start an elder army! cannot resist any longer, minis to awesome, must have! MUST!

Absolutely beautiful.

I do really love the orange black combo.

The engine? Thought you were going for a bright gold! Looks brilliant as is. Not sure I would change it.

yeah, the engines didn't come out as bright as I thought, which isn't a bad thing, I may give them a black wash to darken them a bit more.

Jimbo - welcome aboard It's all about the Elves (and Eldar )


Automatically Appended Next Post:
200,000 views!
I'm blown away - thank you all for continuing to look at what I'm doing, it really does humble me. Thank you
W

First jetbike done - I couldn't resist getting one finished instead of unit-painting all five.
I'm pretty pleased with it, and lessons learned for the next one - I think I'll leave the arms off and paint them separately then glue them on - it was tricky getting the rider in the right place with everything assembled.

Very cool Fin. Lovely job.

You should offer the picture to the manufacturer in exchange for another unit of bikes. They would do wonders for his sales I think. (What can I say, I am a lawyer)

Beautiful work.

Hope you forget about everything in the past.

The jetbike looks clean-cut, but straight black and orange seems lacking. Needs more decoration imo. Otherwise it's a great start.

Looks wicked Finn, the scheme you use seems to work on everything like a boss! I do tend to agree it may need just a little 'something' extra? after gazing lovingly at that jetbike the only thing I can suggest is some contrasting gems painted onto the round knobby bits on the cowl? other than that, WOW it's cool! :-)

its got a great neutral feel. I enjoy that bike much.

Love it! That red hint on the black is really sexy.

OK, now I have to pull the trigger on getting a squad of those sexy, sexy bikes!

Looks aces, Fin!

thanks guys

Nerd - I'd be a fool to argue with a Master like you! I agree though (having that second, third or fourth pair of eyes is always a good thing), and I shall correct forthwith!

Having said that: I've done my sodding back in - it's annual seize-up to remind me cheerfully that it's still there - so I am somewhat incapacitated at the moment. I'm (slowly) mobile, moving with the grace and athleticism of a 700 year old, but I don't trust myself with a brush at the moment!

Ooft, hope that eases up for you soon.

I'm going slightly overboard on the Deep Heat and the Biofreeze!

Gods that's so beautiful. I don't mean that in any way badly. It's a bit like the first time I saw a Lambo in the flesh, just gives you shivers at how cool it looks.

New design for Lobo in the New 52 at DC. Looking suspiciously Dark Eldar! Really like it.

http://www.newsarama.com/18756-dc-reveals-new-look-for-lobo-s-first-new-52-appearance-in-what-s-new.html

That is so not LOBO, he is supposed to be a hulking grungy biker archetype. Preferably voiced by Brad Garrett.

No no no no no, that is NOT LOBO! I shall not accept that i'm afraid! looks like I'll have to stay true and just re read all the PITT comics instead and leave the main man to others :-(

I agree it's not Lobo, but ignoring that, he is a pretty cool Dark Eldar.
I have to say that I've ignored all of the New 52 - I'm still angry and upset about what they did to Wally West. Stupid Barry Allen!
I'm not even that interested in Marvel at the moment either. It seems to be going back to the bad days of the 90s where there were a billion X books out.

No posts for a while, so abject apologies for that. The start of a new school year is always slightly hectic, and this one even more so as I've picked up a few extra responsibilities that are keeping my hands more than full. Added to that my new timetable only lets me get home early-ish one day a week, so I've been pretty tired. My back it pretty much better, but it's not really comfortable sitting hunched over a desk for any length of time. Yes I should go and get it seen to. No, I won't because: I'm stubborn, English, a bloke and all that adds up to a Stiff Upper Lip that really should know better. Minimal hobby work has been done.

The jet bikes are still on the go - they're all blocked in and ready for their washes of black, and then tidying up and highlighting.

Heap onto this hobbying guilt the shame and emotional filth of really, really liking the new Dark Elf throne thingy - but only for the really quite beautiful Khaine statue on it, which just screams Eldar Avatar. The Medusa is pretty cool too. I can already feel my willpower crumbling...

No rush mate, shed that hobby guilt and take your time. Oh and go march yourself to the docs, sir! A real man gets his injuries sorted out so he doesn't end up the idiot in surgery who let something simple get out of hand!

Btw, what is it you teach?

Sir, yes sir!
; )

I teach Design & Technology - Graphics mostly, but a little Product Design on the side.

 finnan wrote:
Sir, yes sir!
; )

I teach Design & Technology - Graphics mostly, but a little Product Design on the side.

neat, hope to see you soon with pretties.

Glad your back is better, and I can't wait for you to settle in to new schedule and give us some more beautiful work.

I think I was miss read before, I meant your bike (which I still can't stop looking at.) reminds me of a Lamborghini..... as in really beautiful, powerful, over the top, totally awesome car, not some nut from a comic book. (I love comics too BTW) Just wanted to clarify that.

i know this sounds wierd but am i the only person who wants to draw a smily face on a wraith lord?

 finnan wrote:
Sir, yes sir!
; )

I teach Design & Technology - Graphics mostly, but a little Product Design on the side.

Oh lol when I first read your previous post about school starting I thought you were a school student.
I seriously freaked out about how good your painting was then...

 Gutsnagga wrote:

 finnan wrote:
Sir, yes sir!
; )

I teach Design & Technology - Graphics mostly, but a little Product Design on the side.

Oh lol when I first read your previous post about school starting I thought you were a school student.
I seriously freaked out about how good your painting was then...

Can people in school not paint? Or did you think he wasn't in college. I am amazed at the amount of teachers you see places that you just wouldn't think are teachers. A good friend of mine teaches drama and he is not the kind of guy I would think would ever be a teacher.

@flibjibchaoscookie - I'm fighting the urge to paint smily faces (of a sinister sort) onto the DEldar... ; )

@ Gutsnagga and Nafarious - we teacher-folk are curious types! You never know where we'll pop up! (having said that, we're easy to spot: just look for the really grumpy person with hate in their eyes whenever children are too loud)

^ and the vacant stare when around large groups of people younger than them, and the curiously missing patches of hair from the sides of their head, and the tendancy to daydream about sealing themselves in a room with nothing but cushions and entertainment!

I'd say the vacant stare is barely-concealed seething resentment at lost youth, and that it is wasted on the young

Most teachers I know daydream about winning millions so that they can retire as fast as possible

(or maybe that's just me... )

Is that a Train lyric I caught there

 Nafarious wrote:

 Gutsnagga wrote:

 finnan wrote:
Sir, yes sir!
; )

I teach Design & Technology - Graphics mostly, but a little Product Design on the side.

Oh lol when I first read your previous post about school starting I thought you were a school student.
I seriously freaked out about how good your painting was then...

Can people in school not paint? Or did you think he wasn't in college. I am amazed at the amount of teachers you see places that you just wouldn't think are teachers. A good friend of mine teaches drama and he is not the kind of guy I would think would ever be a teacher.

Originally I didn't think he was a school student, but with that post I thought he was just a high school student.
I'm the best (miniature) painter in my school and I'm no way near this level of painting.

 Gutsnagga wrote:

 Nafarious wrote:

 Gutsnagga wrote:

 finnan wrote:
Sir, yes sir!
; )

I teach Design & Technology - Graphics mostly, but a little Product Design on the side.

Oh lol when I first read your previous post about school starting I thought you were a school student.
I seriously freaked out about how good your painting was then...

Can people in school not paint? Or did you think he wasn't in college. I am amazed at the amount of teachers you see places that you just wouldn't think are teachers. A good friend of mine teaches drama and he is not the kind of guy I would think would ever be a teacher.

Originally I didn't think he was a school student, but with that post I thought he was just a high school student.
I'm the best (miniature) painter in my school and I'm no way near this level of painting.

I am probably the second best, the best is my good friend who also plays and paints.

it's been far, far too long since I've done any painting or posted, so abject apologies Dakka chums.

I'm back in the painting saddle, and continuing work on the DEldar. All I've focused on at the moment is the yellow undersuit, but the armour is base coated and washed with black, so I'll start on that tomorrow. As ever, I can see all the flaws in the photos, so I might go and smooth out some of the transitions on the spine plate.

Welcome back! I always loved seeing your work! I know the pain of leaving your blog for long periods of time and losing your audience:( But, im still here! Keep showing us more
cheers!

BB

At last..Welcome back, and with a bang, that orange just goes POP!

Yay! Welcome back. Nice to see those orange/yellow tones again.

Welcome back, Finnan! DEldar work continues to impress.

Welcome back! Awesome stuff!

That orange is stunning! Really intense. And clashes beautifully with the black. Looking forward to more progress.

Beautiful as always

Gorgeous, of course! Great to have you back

Stoked to have such inspirational painting back. Good to see you

Finnan?..... Hmmmmmm...... Finnan?... I dunno the name 'seems' familiar, but,............ I think i remember a mate from what seems an age ago who likes Oranges, named Finnan?



Good to see ya dude!

Great to see you back!

I read through all 67 pages and holy cow the painting is AMAZING!! I can't want to see more!

Thank god! I thought you quit painting or something! I can't wait to see more.

latest DEldar Wych/Corsair done... well, not really, there are still a few things I'd like to do, but he's done enough.

group shot : )

Whip it. Whip it good.


Seriously awesome looking little group

Back with a vengeance! and looking mean and acrobatic :-)..... VERY mean and acrobatic!

Mean and acrobatic are my middle names

Thanks for all the encouragement guys, very much appreciated, as always.

Well, we're just glad to have you back Fin!

Too right NF.

Latest looks great Fin.
I like the colours on the whip and sword.

Not a fan of the foot outside the bounds of the base but a minor quibble.
The orange is (per usual) beautiful.

Wow...that is a lovely orange.

next one on the go.
(first shot taken at my desk, with my lamp on, next to the window and with the flash. Second shot in my bookcase, just with the flash - I always think that the colours come out a lot darker in my photos... need to find better lighting, clearly!)

So cool.So pretty.

don't cry Cam!

onwards and upwards : )

Very nice, Fin. Liking the red freehand on the base thing.

next one on the go. I can tell he's going to be tricky to take photos of because of the position of his arms...

That's beautiful! I love the banner. I'm not sure about the size of the blade on Trinity's base, but I think they look great (as all your stuff does).

funnily enough, that was the only blade/spiky thing that I don't make myself - it's from a Raider. I think if I remember rightly, I wanted something big enough that would mean Trin would have to be jumping over it... possibly lol

The banner was a very early idea, and not what I'd intended to do at all! I'd wanted to put a phoenix on it to tie the squad into my Craftworld, but the folds on the banner are so deep that a lot of the detail would be lost/make it look odd, so another plan was needed! I may chuck a DEldarish rune in the circle...

I'm really loving that orange, it looks amazing on the dark eldar.

What colors did you use for the orange suits by the way I'm curious.

Blazing Orange basecoat, then Golden Yellow highlight, followed by Sunburst Yellow and a final highlight of Sunburst with some white mixed in.

Some progress made on the latest DEldar, and he's coming along pretty well I guess. Looking at the shots - as ever, I seem to notice stuff on them rather than when the actual mini is right in front of me - the highlighting on the banner looks a bit patchy so I might go and smooth it out. I tried highlighting it in red like with my Craftworld Guardian armour, but it just looked a bit too out of place as I hadn't done that anywhere else, so I started again with grey, and it worked much better.

I also needed to do some black wash on the banner pole, but disaster! My Badab Black had just about dried up : (
Then I remembered I'd bought some more, and I have two full pots of the lovely stuff - hurrah!

Working on the swords at the moment, waiting for the Gryphs Sepia to dry, then I can go in with the highlights. I'm thinking purple swords to clash nicely with the yellow, but I'm not 100% decided yet.

So pretty. awesome as always.

 Camkierhi wrote:
So pretty. awesome as always.

I think Cam is saying what i'm thinking! 'Pretty Awesome!' that banner flag is really something else and looks cool on the model, I can see what you mean about taking decent shots with the arms like that but you've done well so far :-) and I think a really subtle purple would work on the blades too if you wanted an opinion? if not.... tough luck :-)

Good work Fin'. The flag is particularly nice.

Purple swords would definitely work.

Banner guy done : ) Slow and steady wins the race apparently...

[deletia]

Amazing. Honestly stunning.

thanks Cam, very much appreciated : )

Excellent job. You really do make these guys look astounding

And I've only just noticed the subtle overlap of colour you do on the bases, that works really well, but somehow hadn't registered until I saw the group shot.

er, yeah... I TOTALLY planned that monkeytroll... /nervous laugh

(I really didn't - happy accident!) ; )

Oh well, it's a good effect anyway

Just spent about 15 minutes looking through your stuff, seriously nice work and loads of improvement from your first posts [not that they weren't great too!] Also good to see a fellow teacher finding time to get some stuff painted. I find I get loads done over the holidays and then painting becomes very limited during term time, I'll keep chipping away at my Sisters, no rush!

Nice work Fin'. The purple swords look good.

thanks Dr H

Tell me about it tyrannosaurus, painting in term time is basically an extreme luxury. I'm so knackered when I get home that I wouldn't even attempt to pick up a brush because I know that whatever I did would be rubbish. Multiply that by about a thousand at this time of the year what with coursework marking and I know enough to not even bother. The weekends and the holidays cannot come soon enough!
Technically I have two more of the DEldar to do, but I'm tempted to have a bit of a break from them now that I have a sold squad of them...

So... Wood Elf release. I can't say I'm blown away, the releases just seem a bit too bland to me, although there's nothing I can quite put my finger on to identify something that's totally awful. I wanted some really beautiful Wardancers, in the same style as the Scourges - lots of movement and really pushing the plastic in what it's capable of doing. What have we got? Some fairly standard Eternal Guard, some guys with ridiculously huge blades (which is fine, because their hands and arms are equally huge), and some slightly dodgy deer and over the top riders... Do they focus group their designs? If not, they really need to because they need a bit of customer feedback and direction. (one of the rumours said that they were all in dynamic poses! Ha! Dynamic is not a word I'd use to describe what we have!)

I feel disappointed that some of the rumours haven't panned out. The idea of warhawk riders seems clever and interesting, and a new sculpt could have pushed that concept further. The owl-monster rumour was at best a long shot, I know, but it was a cool idea, and would have made the Warhammer Wood Elves into an even more distinct property, which is what GW seems to be pushing for isn't it? The masked Wardancer with claws would have been brilliant. Who comes up with these rumours? Some of the ideas are pretty cool and interesting, and I'd like to see models of them! Even some of the Eldar rumours that proved to be false were interesting.

I feel a bit of a traitor admitting that GW is boring me at the moment, where are the new concepts? I just remember the buzz around the Dark Eldar release, and it was really exciting and it drew you in... I wanted that for the Wood Elves! I can't remember when I was excited about a release that made me want to go into a store and get the miniatures. I haven't set foot in a GW store in almost year because there's no real need for me to.
I want leaping, tumbling plastic Wardancers! I want lithe Banshees, graceful Swooping Hawks and menacing Scorpions and Dragons! This is the thing, I want to throw my money at GW, if they bring out the products I want! Don't they want my cash?? At best, I'm vaguely thinking about buying some Dark Elf Witches with an idea of converting them into Wardancers...

rant over...

As a break from all the black and orange, I've resumed work on my Irillyth, and I've remembered that doing white is worse than doing yellow for sheer tedium! Consequently, slow progress, but progress nonetheless. I've done all the white I want to do for now on his body/head/shoulders, and I've blocked in the gems, but I need to go in and do their final highlight on them. I also need to do a couple more gems.
Also done most of the white on his weapon, but I could definitely beef some of it up in places. The crystals are just basecoated at the moment, and I'm not entirely sure how to highlight them... But he's getting there. Not sure about the lenses - I'm not very good at green generally and they're just not standing out very much, but I can't quite think what colour to do them - not red, that would be a bit too much.

Well, now you are just showing off, that is dreamilly beautiful, if the orange was hot this is seriously cool.

Really beautiful Eldar.

Why not a dark blue for the gems, it'd match the crystal in the weapon at any rate, otherwise I would go for a pale orange.

I really need to make time to try the watered down paint over white method of painting

Nice work Fin'. Looks great.

For the lenses; He's already blue, You "can't" do green, You don't want red and the gems are yellow/orange... Purple then? Possibly on the warmer, red, side of the world of purple.

Thanks guys it did pass through my head to try gold lenses last night... at least that would pick up on the gold on his armour...?
Because he's mostly cool colours, I should be going for something warm really. I tried green because I really liked the illustration of a Shadow Spectre in the Imperial Armour book, and that had green lenses (but, it also has to be said that the eyes were large in comparison to those on the mini, so there was just more surface area for the colour to shine through).

In my head, he's cold colours because of being trapped in the ice for so long. When I get around to it, the normal Shadow Spectres are going to be a warm white instead of a cool white.

Whoah! Finn that is just BEAUTIFUL! like really gorgeous mate, I like the subtlety of the hues of white and blue you did and cannot wait to see more of this style from you, the tabbard is perfect especially with the gold banding!

I had another go at the lenses before I try something different. I went over them with white so I had a bright undercoat, and then went straight in with some of the green fluorescent pigment I got a while ago, and did a bit of over-painting so I could have a bit of glow from them. Then a tiny bit of shading with thinned down Dark Angels Green and Waywatchers wash/glaze. Not the best shot in the world, but they're certainly brighter this time around! Too much?

Irillyth is looking very nice I preferred the original colour for the eyes as they are Shadow Spectres I envisioned they wouldn't be so bold.

I do like the new version but find the pic a bit too much of a close up, finding it a bit hard to see how the mini would look at a more normal distance but that could just be my screaming migraine I have today.

better shot?

I love it, just looks ethereal. Brilliant.

The green works well. See, you can do green.
Good job.

lol I can do it, just not well! I don't know what it is, I just have this real block with greens, I come all over cack-handed with it! I'll be getting some practise in when I finally get around to starting on the Scorpions

Nah, I know what you mean. Everyone has something that turns out well easily and something else that always seems to be a struggle.

Look forward to the Scorpions.

I'm still vaguely hoping for some new plastic Aspect kits will be released, but I have enough metal Aspect Warriors for a respectable force

That's better, those eyes look really nice.

okay, so both arms stuck on (how solid a stick, I'm not entirely sure), and I'm working on the ribbons - a quick highlight of the gold and now I'm blocking in the Baharroth Blue for the white to sit on top of. I also have the armband on his left arm to block in with gold. I think that this is definitely the most challenging mini I've ever attempted - the Avatar was big and detailed, but in comparison was a fairly straightforward job (it's quite possible I'm forgetting how tricky he was to do!).
Also progress made on the first of the normal Spectres, and you can see how I'm going for a warm white on these guys. I need to figure out what to do with his trousers... either a wash of Gryphs or black I'm thinking.

Nice work Fin'. The squad will look nice like that.

That gold work is fantastic. Looks awesome.

After some feet-dragging (got totally addicted to Orange Is The New Black), and a holiday in Iceland (amazing place, one of the hikes we went on was like walking through middle Earth), Irillyth is done - at last!
Definitely the most challenging model I've done, just for the sheer intricacy of it. If you're thinking of picking this bad boy up, don't even attempt to do it fully assembled!
Hopefully the shots are okay and do him justice.
Onwards and upwards!

Well, the break has certainly done no harm to your ability to paint Excellent job, nice spectral feel to the paint-job to match the mini. And I know it's not the focal point, but I love that rock

Totally brilliant. One of the most beautiful models I have seen in a while.

Glad you had a nice break. Welcome back.

thanks guys : ) I'm really pleased with how he came out

Great job on that model, nice ghostly color choice. I got home from work and my wife was watching orange is the new black....... guess what sort of scene I heard/walked in on .

Smashing job on him Fin'.
and I second the nice rock.

Glad everyone's digging the rock lol Nothing too special going on there really, just a wash of Devlan Mud, then two of Badab Black, and a soft drybrush of Dheneb Stone.

Yeah, there seem to be quite a few of those scenes Theophony our timing was going to be off whatever time you came home lol

Time for something different - fed up of white and yellow! In an attempt to improve my green skills, here we have Scorpion 1, and I have to admit that he's coming along fairly well, so no complaints for once. Also for once, the green highlights on the dark grey armour are showing up much more than they do in the flesh. Not an awful lot done on him at this stage, the chest and sword arm highlighted, a start on some of the dark grey armour and the faceplate.

I've just started reading this blog (well, I read the last 2 pages... will read 1-67 soon, promise ) and it's great!

That Irillyth is just so damn good!
I know what you mean about having a weak dark green. My VGC Dark Green has to have 2 layers at least over black to even be (barely) perceptible.

Thanks Zambro
my Dark Angels Green seems to be quite a thin pigment, which is nice because I can get some nice smooth transitions with it, but it does take some work to get it visible!

You're back! Horrah.
Beautiful work man.

The green's looking good there Fin. Good job on the Scorpion so far.

 Zambro wrote:
I've just started reading this blog (well, I read the last 2 pages... will read 1-67 soon, promise ) and it's great!

Ok, so I did it. I went back and read the other 67 pages...

Hot damn, that Avatar is good. And those Harlequins... Awesome!

Oh look page 69 and Nerdfest turns up! you knew that would happen didn't you Fin? that scorpion is brilliant dude! I can't wait for you to do more on him, the faceplate is classic Finnan and that green, Oh that green is loverlyyyy

you're never too far away Nerd, which a comforting thing : )
Cheers matey - slow going as always, I'm gobsmacked at how quickly you're working these days

As ever, very slow progress, despite the holidays; usual excuses: loss of painting mojo etc

However, have finally managed to finish off the Farseer, and the first of the Shadow Spectre troops. Not the best I've ever done, but they'll do. Also I did a shot of the Spectre and Irillyth to show the difference in the whites between the two, and to show that Irillyth really is a beast of a model!

"Not the best I've ever done, but they'll do."

I hate you.

Seriously, these are fantastic. Absolutely lovely. How long do you spend on each model?

Good job on both, Fin. That farseer's cloak is soooooo pretty.

Thanks guys : )

I spent far, far too long on them mars! I'm honestly astonished how quickly some people on here, especially nerdfest, can paint models, and the quality of them - I'm frankly jealous of that level.
I'm not actually sure how long for each, but we're talking hours for each, five, maybe six? Possibly more? I just keep chugging away at them until they're done. It doesn't help that the layering technique that I use takes a while to build up, and doing white just takes ages!

Always have loved your oranges...

Actual progress for a change! All jet bikes highlighted, and fiddly details done. I've even done the gems on the carapace, and I think it's made a huge difference, so I think thanks goes to nerdfest for suggesting that. Riders are being undercoated as we speak, so hopefully it won't be too long before they're all finished up : )

Those look spectacular. I especially like the middle 2 (from the left).

Nice work.

-j

Remarkable as always!

thanks guys, much appreciated, it's been a long road to get them this far!
Mars, the one on the end on the right is the same as no.2, just flipped horizontally (I was running out of ideas! lol)

Beautiful work as always. Only come here to drool!!

lol drool away Cam

Lovely work again, Fin. They look excellent.

I've really missed seeing updates on this blog, your painting is really inspiring!

Oh wow Finnan is back. Excellent return. Excellent paint work as always Fin. You really do put in a great aspiring amount of work. Keep on dakka this time. I need past time these days.

thank you guys - I'll try my best to live up to your (and my) expectations.
In a feat of speed painting for me, I've blocked, washed, and highlighted all the yellow areas on the riders, and basecoated and washed the red sashes, which are drying now. I'll take a shot of them tomorrow morning when the light's better.
So, on the agenda next is to block in all the dark grey, give it a wash and then the red highlights.
I haven't attached the arms yet as they were really awkward to fit around the handlebars on the first 'bike, so I'm doing them separately and then glue them on when the rider's on the 'bike... at least, that's the plan anyway!

The riders as promised.

Good start on those riders.

Oh wow, love the deep burgindy-orange combo. Looks slick, especially in comination with those S.H.I.E.L.D. eagles

lol
wrong comic book publisher - I ripped off Nightwing's logo for the one on the left ; )

Next stage done, just waiting for the black wash to dry.

Looking good, though very much like a certain character from Mortal Combat! Your oranges are always so impressive.

Mortal Kombat!.... Scorpion! "get over here!"....................

well, I am a Scorpio, so maybe that explains things? Although, I have to say that I was always a Virtua Fighter fan. I'm not sure that I've ever played Mortal Kombat...

Jetbikes done Only took about a year to get the whole squad done from start to finish!
The shots are a bit dark, so I might try and get some better ones done later.

Been meaning to do this for a little while, but here's the growing Craftworld forces

Nice work Finnan. Great looking squad.

Is it the photo, or does the middle one have a reddish tint to the black of it's nose?

they all have red highlighting on the, that one's just more noticeable : )

Wow, your army is beautiful.

Awesome collection

If you are ever up in Oxfordshire I am sure a lot of people at my local club would love to get a game or two against you

they'd have to teach me how to play first Silver!