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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Well, after some time out I have decided to return with an Alaitoc Eldar build and a blog to keep it going!
I've painted a ranger/Pathfinder squad already. It took 5-6hours from primed to finish and it was my first time using Vallejo paints. So far so good.
I let myself down with a couple of mouldlines though..... must do better! (and pay more attention to the building part of it)
Next up is a guardian squad which i'll do as a bit of a WIP pics-wise as i'm using a few new techniques via an airbrush and during blending.
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Post by: Arran235
Nice painting.
How did you do the blue?
Arran
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
QFT. Blue is definitely striking. The camo is superb as well, you certeinly have some skills dude!!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks guys.
I used a blue similar to UM blue and used really thinned down washes of that colour plus a lighter shade for 2 layers of progressively lighter highlights. I then did the same the other way for the shadows, two progressively darker washes which were a bit wetter to flow into the recesses a bit better.
The camo was done from a bleached bone all over basecoat adding 3 more colours each one darker than the last. I then added shadows using washes of thrakka green and devlan mud where shadows would be. I added a drop of varnish into the washes to help to avoid any nasty puddles forming.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thats the guardians basecoated now then its onto shading/highlighting the blue. I've primed the helmets seperately so I can paint them with having to deal with overspray. I'll have a yellow contrasting panel on the 'face' part of the helmet with the remainder in blue.
I love airbrushes. It took 20 mins to basecoat the minis and i used a 3rd of one of those pots of pre-mixed/thinnned paint (50% paint / 10% alcohol / 40% distilled water). Basecoating is a joy and good practise on the airbrush for the next project (I'll be doing all my blending on my 2 Wraithlords using the airbrush).
I'll post up a couple of before and after shots tonight showing the basecoat and blended difference. Until then.....then.
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Post by: ~UnDeAd~
Could i ask where you got that airbrush , i have been looking for a high quality one for quite some time now.
Thanks ~UnDeAd~
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Post by: Flashman
Looks pretty cool so far.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
~UnDeAd~ wrote:Could i ask where you got that airbrush , i have been looking for a high quality one for quite some time now.
Thanks ~UnDeAd~
Its an Iwata Eclipse with a quick release connector for the hose to make life easy. Its really easy to use and strip for cleaning
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Well, I did the highlighting and shading and found i brought the highlight up too high. I then decided to wash the model in Citadel Asurmen Blue wash to shadow the detail and tone everything down a bit. I'm not 100% happy with it but its hard to tell at this stage without any contrasting colours to compare. Once I paint up the weapons and details I'll consider whether or not to re-do the highlights.
I basecoated, roughly, the face plated with Iyanden yellow foundation paint also. I'll go back and re-touch the edges with a fine brush later. Thats all I got done today but I'll hopefully get finished up tomorrow.
I've already started building one of the Wraithlords so they'll be next.....
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Post by: ~UnDeAd~
Thank you for replying about the airbrush , and may i say great job on your eldar so far.
Keep up the great work
~UnDeAd~
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Post by: Son Of Horus
Great rangers.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Well, didn't get as much done during the weekend as I'd hoped but that's life (6 week old daughter being 'life').
I did manage to start on the bases of the Guardians and tidy the helmets a bit. i think I'll be ok with the blue scheme as it is, once I got the base painted my previous fears of dumbing the colours done faded. Most of my time was taken up prepping the Wraithlord. Off on a bit of tangent with that one and got carried away while waiting for PVA and paint to dry......
Here's a pic of my work area also, note complete lack of window nearby. I'll be moving it into another room soon with much better lighting which is good. I would've been stumped without my daylight lamp thats for sure.
Next time I'll have a pic of the finished Guardian squad. That'll be my target for this week, then it's Wraithlord time.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Well that's the Guardian squad finished. I'll have a few more of them to do and probably won't post any more Guardian pics up unless i do a group shot of all the squads.
I changed the colour contrast on the mask part of the helmets from the original yellow to black. I just wasn't happy with the yellow as it was a bit much (cartoony even). I'm happy with the black as it ties in with the rangers too. I did the black on the Rangers as they're supposed to be stealthy, not much point in a camo cloak and a yellow face! Mind you blue isn't exactly disruptive either
I'm currently prepping 2x Falcon Grav Tanks for priming and then airbrushing. I've decided to paint the upper parts of the hull in blue and the underside in black. I've also decided to paint these seperately using an airbrush to shade/highlight the panels for the upper hull. The bottom hull will be metallic black. I'm also using the Forge World Falcon type 2 hull extensions and vehicle upgrades as they look better IMO.
And while all this is going on I'll make the most of the airbrush being set to 'blue' and prep my Farseer squad, Dire Avengers and the 2nd Wraithlord. My first Wraithlord is already built and primed ready for paint.
One thing that's a pain is the FW falcon parts. I'll have to warm them up in hottish water to flex some of the components into the correct profile to match the hull. Not a big deal really but a pain none the less. I also had to remove a fair bit of resin to get them to fit squarely too, cue Dremel !
I SHOULD get everything prepped for priming and painting the blue base by next weekend. Fingers crossed........
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
QUICK UPDATE:
Got a lot more done than I expected to today. Weather was pants which helped The seperate hull bits on the left will be getting black airbrushed onto them ASAP (I ran out of black rpimer to do those bits!)
I'll get the Dire Avengers, Guardians and Farseer squad prepped during the wekk. Pressure's off now so i don't need to rush them
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Post by: funksobeefy
What did you use to create the shading on the guardians? you have the air brush but did you do anything else to it?
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
I brushed on with a medium sized brush heavily thinned layers (6-ish parts water to 1 part paint) of 2x shades first then 2x highlights concentrating more highlights on the upper body. In fact i don't think i highlighted the bottom half apart from the top of the feet. I suppose it would be termed as Zenithal highlighting. I prefer this method to the traditional GW fine-line-on-the-edges highlights as it looks more 'realistic'. It's also quicker.
I also used some red to darken the deepest shadows with out going towards black too much. The blue highlights can end up slightly chalky so I've been glazing the entire mini with Asurmen Blue from the Citadel washes. I also always use a white primer unless the object is going to be pure, or close to, black anyway.
The layers dry really fast so I do one mini at a time painting on a thin highlight/shade layer then moving on to the next. By the time I'm on the last one the first is done and i can crack on again. It takes time to build up a few successive layers for each stage but not as much as you'd think. I do the same for weapons and any other non-metallic part of the mini. I'm sure plenty of mini painters use this method already......
As for the airbrush, I will only use it for shading/highlighting on bigger minis and vehicles for now.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
A quick hours airbrushing for tonight and pretty pleased so far. I put black on the Falcons lower hulls and underside of the turret, black on the crew chairs, brown basecoat on the weapons including the Wraithlord weapons and base coated the bases on the Wraithlords and some Death Company guys I happened to have handy when i still had paint left in the airbrush.
Saved a lot of time yet again. Its time to do the blue next so I'll need to mask off the upper hull panels individually and mask bits of the weapons and Wraithlords. Should be good though. looking forward to it and the paints mixed and ready for the mid tones/ basecoat.
I was going to build up my Dire Avengers , Farseer squad and another Guardian squad this week but I think I'll wait til I've done the Grav tanks and Wraithlord first. I'm off on monday (woohoo!) so i can do those squads then.
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Cool work Ezekiel, i love my airbrush as well, it just speeds so much up!
Some good progress at the moment, well done!
And btw, aren't we all off on monday?!
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Post by: Flashman
Keep it up. What are the Space Marines in the bottom right going to be? Are you doing Flesh Tearers as a side project?
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks !
Alas, I am not off during most of the public holidays during the year but this one I am. I'll no doubt be given tasks by the other half to fill my day when I'd rather be painting !
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Post by: Flashman
Vet Sgt Ezekiel wrote:I'll no doubt be given tasks by the other half to fill my day when I'd rather be painting !
Nobody sympathises more than me on this point! I have to earn Warhammer time. Managed to negotiate four hours the other day in exchange for a non-grumbling (on my part) shopping trip for a pushchair.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Flashman wrote:Keep it up. What are the Space Marines in the bottom right going to be? Are you doing Flesh Tearers as a side project?
I'm planning on doing a Blood Angel army once my Eldar army is at a reasonable size (2000pts). The minus are the old Death Company ones that I've had for a couple of years and never painted. I ordered Sanguinary Guard and the new DC to use mostly for bits for the army as a whole. I've got a decent red recipe and some conversion ideas so I'm keen to get started soon (although I am considering buying a Revenant Titan first).
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Post by: Flashman
Lol, should have just looked at your sig really. Were you inspired by WD in the early 1990s? They used to focus heavily on Blood Angel and Alaitoc armies around that period (they had 'sister' armies for Epic too). It was a common match up for battle reports.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Yes, indeed that's the theme I suppose. I started out with Space Marine back in the day based on an epic battle report in WD which I still read from time to time even now!
I've got some interesting plans for terrain and making apocalypse sized forces for my Alaitoc Eldar and Ba/Imperial. Watch this space or blog even!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Blue is down (an hour of airbrushing the blue onto everything) and so's the masking tape for some highlighting and shading. Each panel will get done in turn.
The falcons were easy enough to do as the panels have very prominent gaps around them. 30 mins start to finish for both masked to what you see. I'll get started on saturday and should get all the panels done. I'll also shade some areas free hand.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Got the guts of the airbrushing done today and pretty pleased so far. I've still got a lot to do but stage one is done. A few mistakes that I can see but they're not that noticable really, fine for gaming.
More tomorrow ( 2x Falcons finished and the shading airbrushed onto the Wraithlords)
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Post by: StubbyGB
Wow ! they look great. A step by step on the airbrushing would be amazingly useful.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks !
1: Spray the basecoat on.
2: Mask the panels so each one you are about to spray isn't going to overspray onto another.
3: Mix your darker shade and spary each masked panel from the bottom using less paint towards the top to highlight. Sometimes the bit you've masked will be shaped in a way that the highlight will be in the middle and you have to darken from top and bottom. Common sense prevails, if i make a mistake or it looks odd I can go back later and sort it using my base colour.
4: Once all the panels are done some of them looked 'offset' I basically had to freehand some shading to tie some panels into one another i.e one that were bent over a highlighted edge, the highlight would naturally continue along the edge rather than where you finish on an individual panel.
5: Spray black onto vents, exhausts etc.
6: Spray some varnish on ready for picking out the panel lines using diluted oil paint (brown usually). I've still to do this by the way !
Thats all I've done for the Falcons. You can do a highlight spray doing the opposite edges in from the shaded side (duh). I didn't do this as my base colour was a lot brighter than i expected and i used the shade colour to do all the work.
Points to note:
1: Paint dilution should be 10 water (distilled) to 1 part iso alcohol. This mix is then mixed with your paint of choice at least 50/50 with GW or P3 paints. This is really important.
2: Just put a small amount (10ml) at a time in the airbrush and flush it regularly with alcohol to ensure the needle doesn't get clogged. if this happens you'll use more air, nothing will happen then SPLAT! nasty mess of paint.
3: Gently build up the layers and take your time.
This man here inspired me to use an airbrush : http://akaranseth.over-blog.com/
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Well, apart from highlighting the targeting crystal, applying decals and picking out one or two details in tinbitz the Falcons are done.
Should get the Wraithlords done or close to done tomorrow
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Post by: Munch Munch!
Holy crap! This is the best eldar army I've ever seen. The blue is deep and rich and that's what makes these guys so amazing. I always hated the stock blues gw had.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks !
Vallejo Magic blue basecoat/midtone and Imperial blue for shading. There's lots of very vivid shades in the Vallejo range as well as GW equivalents.
The only downside with them is that the paint seperates on the pallet. i can live with it though as the paint is in dropper bottle which is way better than the GW ones.
I'm looking forward to starting my Farseer / Warlock HQ. It'll take a while to paint but it'll showcase my best painting to date (to see where I'm at ability wise more than anything).
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Post by: Cosmic
I'm very impressed with the airbrush work on the falcons - Keep it up!
I also remember seeing a .pdf document for using "zenital" highlights on Ultramarine Sternguard with an airbrush not so long ago. Here's the link to the Dakka Tutorial page:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/291554.page
It's something that you could try out, me thinks.
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Post by: quietus86
dey look great .
and ist my favo craftworld
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks guys lots more to come......
Thats the shading done on the Wraithlords. The pics don't do them justice. i've yet to put a paintbrush near them.
I also managed to prep and prime my Farseer/Warlock HQ unit too. I'l basecoat them this week and finish the Wraithlords and some final touch ups on the Falcons.
EDIT: BETTER PICS UP !
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Post by: Cosmic
The way the light "reflects" off the wraithbone makes them look incredibly realistic. It's almost as if they're life-size scale! Keep it rollin'! EDIT: Don't forget the second "f" in "off" folks!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Realism is something I aim for with mini's but its hard with Eldar as GW always paints them kind of cartoony, but....
I also didn't want to go the military modellers style like I will for my 2nd Army (BA) so I found myself going for a happy medium.
Getting rid of the bright yellows and bone colours helps. So does taking the piss with the blue blending ! I've still been keeping it 'real' though with exhaust stains etc.
I took pics of the Wraithlords at the basecoat stage with a powerful light from above at various angles (front/side/rear). Then I blew them up on my computer screen and used them as a guide to shadow with. Zenithal highlighting the hard way!
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Post by: Scherdy
This is looking fantastic. It's really helping me to see where you put the highlights and seeing it done with an airbrush may even inspire me to tackle my grav tanks that are sitting there instead of just the foot troopers!
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Post by: captain.gordino
Scherdy, you're triggering my anatidaephobia. OP, this is amazing. I'm McLoving the richness of this, and the blending is out of sight.
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Post by: Leone
you have a very nice and clean workspace , i like that
cool airbrushing... have to try that out myself
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Post by: Lynx0193
Lol, anytime you want to repaint mine just feel free. seriously though, how much did your airbrush cost you?
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks for the kind words guys.
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Post by: Flying Pooo
THESE ARE ALL AWESOME ESSPECIALY THE RANGERS AND FALCONS!!!!!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Lynx0193 wrote:Lol, anytime you want to repaint mine just feel free. seriously though, how much did your airbrush cost you?
I bought an Iwata Eclipse and Iwata jet compressor as a set for about £200 from memory. Iwata also do a good brush for detail work which I might also buy for doing minis as it has a finer needle and a limiter that you can adjust to control the paint flow you can apply. It's called high performance B and is worth a look at.
There seems to be a fair amount of second hand airbrushes on the go but I wouldn't buy a used compressor personally as the warranty might be invalid after the first user.
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Post by: Munch Munch!
The first wraithlord is in an awesome pose. it's like he's saying "gimme props, home dawg"
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Post by: CountTheSeven
These all look phenomenal. Great work, can't wait to see wht you do with the Wraithlords.
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Post by: Sarigar
Great work so far. I've used an airbrush, but mainly as a basecoat for vehicles. This thread's gotten me interested in learning to mask off areas of the tank for highlights. You've gotten a great start, looking forward to more.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks guys, more on its way soon
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Well, a busy week this week but I got the Wraithlords pretty much done.
I'm not 100% happy with them, mainly minor details and having to correct stuff then messing it up a few times. Ho hum, the way it goes sometimes.... They are certainly table top worthy and the end goal is for an Apocalypse sized force anyhoo.
I've basecoated my Seer council too so i'll do them bit by bit over the next couple of weeks. Its onto Dire Avengers and the 2nd Guardian squad this week ,however i may put off painting one of them to do a Striking Scorpion squad to give me some time off the blue paint! I'm also considering doing a Baal Predator for the BoLS competition for 21st of May. That'll no doubt kick off my BA WIP
More soon.....
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
That looks so fething amazing its not even funny! Seriously, you've got some mad skills with an airbrush!
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Post by: Flashman
So very cool
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Post by: MeanGreenStompa
Beautifully done so far.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks guys.
I think I'll go back to them at a later date and make some of the bumps into red gemstones.
I think the sword needs a bit more work also and i was originally going to make the brown upper half of the blade bleached bone. The metal could also do with a NMM technique using metallics too.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Update: I decided to work on Striking Scorpion next to get a break form the blue. I'll post pics up tomorrow night.
As a side note , I've abandoned my plans to build a BA army and I've decided to do a Raptors army AND Death Korps of Kreig Armoured Unit over the coming months. My reasoning behind this is simple; I want to work on a force for Apocalypse which is the opposite in style and look to my Eldar. This'll keep things fresh and means i can go between projects. There'll also be a strong military modelling painting and conversion process making the most of weathering, detail and realism.
It'll be a month or so before i start the 2nd army so I'd better get cracking to finish a decent sized playable Alaitoc army
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Post by: CountTheSeven
That blue on the WLs looks unreal. I could totally see it on a battlefield, slaying the enemies of the Eldar, and doing it in style
Can't wait to see your next pictures! Great stuff man!
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Post by: Jihallah
holy crap if i ever had to play you i wouldn't get as far as deployment, i would pack my army away in shame for soiling the same table as those D:!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks guys!!
Been a bit busy this week but the Striking scorpions are ready for paint. Should get some pics up in the next day or two.....
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Work begins on the Striking Scorpions and Farseer/Warlock unit.
Scorpions: Vallejo Model Air Russian Green was airbrushed on as a base coat and Beasty Brown for the base (as per all the armies bases). Black basecoats brushed on normally.
Psykers: Vallejo blue basecoat was sprayed on as per the rest of the blue basecoats in the army, bases done in the same brown and black brushed on normally.
From opening the packet and prepping/assembling to this stage took 3 hours work for both units.
As I use a certain colour for the Scorpions I'll do the Psykers basecoats for that colour at the same time. I won't do any blending etc yet though but concentrate instead on the Scorpions squad to get them finished for tomorrow night.
More soon
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Post by: Munch Munch!
Is it going to be a regular striking scorpion schme?
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
I'm going to tone down the original scheme you normally see in the codex etc.
More drab colouring and less of the bright colours. They're supposed to be stealthy and stick to the shadows so I'm going to play on this aspect (ahem). Hopefully they'll look a bit more unrefined and brutal which as aspect warriors go they are the most heavily armoured and nasty.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Well, after a busy week or so I've finally managed to finish the Striking Scorpion squad. They're actually a bit more drab/olive green than in the pics but its the best one I can get for now.
Tomorrow I'm going to start on the Farseer and Warlocks HQ. During next week I'll also build up and start work on the Dire Avengers and another Guardian squad, I'll also build and prep my FW Avatar. My aim is to get all 3 units (Seer Council, Dire Avengers and Guardians) done by the end of June. I reckon that'll be easy to achieve but realistic. My motivation is the fact I'm looking forward to painting the Avatar.
I'll also be buying a few wave Serpents and at least one of the new Fire Prism kits (i'll be modifying the FPrisms as the are a bit long in the barrel dept. for my tastes). Time for more airbrushing.....
A few people posted threads asking questions about my technique for painting the Falcons so if there's enough interest I'd be happy to do a more comprehensive how-to.
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Post by: Vlad Von Carstien
very nice stuff keep it up
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Post by: Munch Munch!
I love the your scorpions! Alot better than the strikingly bright scorpions you always see.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks guys. Hopefully my Seer council works out as planned. Should be my best painting so far....
I'll sort some better pics of the Scorpions during the week.
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Post by: Young_Logan
These are really looking good
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Tes, I am still alive.
I've been a bit busy of late but here's my latest WIP's...
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Post by: ~UnDeAd~
Wow looking great , cannot wait to see the avatar painted
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Well, i had major problems painting the Farseer and Warlocks
Really annoying mistake after really annoying mistake resulted in well below my usual standard. I was also trying a few different things with the blending and it didn't work out. I decided to finish them enough to game with them and repaint or buy another unit and start again.
So its Fire Dragons next, hopefully I can get back to normal
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Post by: Flinty
The seer council look fine. Hell just put your tanks and scorpions on the table and no-one will even notice anything else
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks, it just so happens i've recently bought a couple of Wave Serpents and the new Fire Prism kit so that'll help
Here's some WIP pics of some more infantry units namely Dire Avengers and more Guardians w/ support wpn. You'll also notice barrels off of a near future project that i've been straightening out (damn resin!)
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Post by: Rose_Mountainz
Oh god, pulsars! titan or scorpion?
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
In a word........both!
Scorpion first, can't wait.
I'll be starting on it once i've done my 2x Wave Serpents and Fire Prism. I'll be painting the smaller vehicles all at the same time as its mainly airbrushing so it won't be long.....
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Post by: Rose_Mountainz
I can't wait for progress pics!
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Post by: Turalon
Wow, this stuff is really great man, everything is top quality and you should be really proud. If only I could do something half as good...
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Post by: Tyrolean
Amazing stuff! All the shading is beautifully done and adds alot of realism
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Well, I'm at it again with a Wave Serpent for my Fire Dragons. I want to get the FD's and the WS done for the weekend to use them in a game. Should be able to make it no probs as its only taken a couple of hours to get to the stage pictured below.
I've made some custom stands for the WS and my falcons. Much sturdier than the GW offerings. Just need to pin a bit of piano wire in the top and paint em (airbrush too!)
Must dash as i need to paint the metals and mask up the upper hull before the end of play this evening
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Ok, so thats the Wave Serpent and Fire Dragons ready for gaming with tomorrow. Bit of an effort getting the Fire Dragons up to speed and still some final highlights and details to pick out. Good enough for gaming with though thats for sure.
I found it insanely difficult to photograph the orange for osme reason even with different light sources etc
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Post by: Wolf
Oh ! Oh my. What a stunning Wave serpent you have there, your painting skills are very good indeed and this blog was pleasure to flick through again !
Can't wait for more chop chop.
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Post by: Munch Munch!
Stunningly beautiful!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks chaps, more on the way:
1x Wave Serpent and Dire Avenger squad.
1x Fire prism (new kit)
1x Guardian squad
Giving myself a fortnight for completion. I've assembled and primed the DA's and Guardians and assembled the skimmers ready for priming today.
I tried out my new improved bases for my skimmers but they weren't that good so i've ordered some magnets to mount them rather than piano wire. Should be way better......
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Post by: Magos Explorator
All looks good, the blues on that Wave Serpent are fantastic. I look forward to more vehicles.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Well, that's 2 more vehicles done namely another Wave Serpent and one of the new Fire Prisms. i had major problems with the 'Ardcoat spray frosting them both severely. I tried some Klear floor polish on them and its got rid of most of it.
I'll be making some custom decals soon for my vehicles in yellow and white to help with the whole Alaitoc colour scheme and add extra detail.
Once i've got a new printer i'll get started.
Next up is a Dire Avengers squad, the 2nd guardian squad and some more building. Building wise its 2x Wave Serpents, 2x Fire Prisms and a Howling banshee squad!!
Also on my list is some built and primed IC's/ MC's in the form of a converted Autarch, a Farseer that'll count as Eldrad, another warlock to help bolster another squad and of course the FW Avatar.
Lots to do!
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Post by: Sarigar
Thanks for the updates. I'm really liking how your army is progressing. I'll be home in a few weeks and can't wait to get my airbrush back out.
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Post by: Pennywise
Awesome work on the painting. You did a great job on the new wave serpent.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Well, after some holidays, work schedule and house DIY nonsense I've managed to get some painting done on my Eldar.
I'm already on to the next lot which consists of another Fire Prism and 2 more Wave Serpents. I've put the Avatar on hold as my current list is mech based. I'll be sorting out a foot based list too though in the near future (the Autarch below for example will be part of it).
I've also gathered together some 2nd hand Warlocks and chopped up a Farseer to convert a 6 warlock with Farseer Jetbike squad to go with my mech army. Should be good but its going to involve a lot of sculpting........
During all this and more painting (re-visitng the vehicles to do the undersides and painting more DA, Howling Banshees and vehicles) i'll be creating my own custom transfers as mentioned previously. This'll give the army a much more finshed look and something i'm really looking forward to getting out the way!
Lots more soon
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Post by: Pennywise
Nice job on FD and the striking scorpions are amazing, I love the scorpion Models.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
I've managed to knock out another 2 wave Serpents this time fitted with EML's. They're exactly the same paint style etc as the other ones pictured earlier so i'll skip pics of them for now.
I'm in the process of re-painting my Farseer/Warlock squad and I'm using a 'counts as' Eldrad seer with a sword across his back. Hardly a tech conversion but its WYSIWYG if I want to use the Eldrad rules in 2kpts plus games.
I'll post pics up soon of these once they're done. I reckon they could take a fortnight to do all together (Farseer & 6 Warlocks).
I've also got another Fire Dragon trooper to paint to round out the squad so I can split them into 2 groups of 5.
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Post by: sum1thtdiesalot
Love your eldar! Im jealous of your avatar.. How do you get the white on your Wraithlords to come out so smooth?
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks,
The bone ish colour on the Wraithlords was done over an airbrushed white base for maximum smoothness. I then took a bleached bone colour (Vallejo I think) and thinned it down with water. This was applied as a glaze working more into the shadows. I then painted a layer of klear floor polish.
They look real White in the pics but they're not quite as bright really.
Airbrushing is the way forward for painting whites and yellows with an even finish.
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Post by: Alpharius
Subscribed!
You're an inspiration to my long planned Eldar army...
You've even made me consider Alaitoc as a Craftworld, though I know I wouldn't do as good a job as you!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks, Eldar for the win!
I'm really pleased FW is coming out with more stuff for my little army. Should be good.
As for my painting skill it was pretty much learned, airbrush wise, a few months before this blog started. There's some really good tutorials out there that make it sooooo easy.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Over the weekend I managed to re-do the Farseer. By re-do I mean cut the original in half to use for a Farseer on jetbike conversion and buy a new one to paint!
I'm pleased with the result and the time taken to do it (6hrs all in). Much better than my first effort IMO.
I'm now onto building another Dire Avenger squad but when i paint this one I'm going to use my airbrush to do all the highlights/shadows blending (i've got a primed Guardian squad that'll be getting done at the same time also).
More on that later.....
EDIT: Here's the back view also:
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Post by: Munch Munch!
I like it alot! But, IDK, I feel like there's something missing from it. Maybe, the black needs a highlight?
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Yeah, I thought about that but I'm not keen on the old grey line technique. I might give it a coat of satin varnish but it looks fine on the tabletop. Automatically Appended Next Post: I think I'll also have to do a bit more work on the shrunken pistol. maybe a wee gem and some highlights.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
As planned I've started work on another Dire Avenger squad and Guardian squad. I also managed to start painting an Autarch. It made sense to do multiple models at the same time as I was trying something new with the airbrush.
I was watching a video tutorial on speed painting recently and it involved using an airbrush on minis. Most of the things covered I was doing already but there were a couple of things mentioned that i wanted to try. First was doing zenithal highlights but a lot more contrast than I have done before. Then to tone everything down and help blend the shades a wash was applied.
Here's how I did it. Bear in mind it was a bit of a gamble as if it went wrong or i wasn't happy then 2 squads and an Autarch were potentially going to have to be re-done!!
Step 1: I undercoated all the models white using GW white spray. Just a light dusting to help key the following coats and no more (you can see it on the plastic as a drizzle and some plastic shows through slightly).
Step 2: I then applied, using the airbrush, a very dark blue into the shadows. I turned the mini upside down and sprayed up the way making sure i also got the chest etc. It doesn't matter if you do the whole mini but i decided to leave some white through to help the highlights later.
Step 3: I then held each mini and sprayed from above with a lighter blue similar to what i was using as a basecoat on this armies mini previously. I made sure the tops of the calfs, knees and tops of the feet got a light dusting as well.
Step 4: By this point the mins were the same shade of blue as the rest of my army but I continued on spraying using a much brighter blue this time, paying attention to the tops of the arms, shoulders, helmets and leaving the lower body alone.
Step 5: Ok, so now the mins are way too highlighted on top and the shadows are mega deep. I then mixed blue ink (darker than my base colour) with a bit of the brightest highlight to provide a more opaque coating. I also added some Klear floor polish to help the ink flow in a more controlled manner. This mix was then applied twice leaving ample time to dry (with help from a hair dryer) in between coats.
Step 6: I then gave all the minis a coat of 'Ardcoat spray varnish to seal the inks in.
And thats all i got done today but the whole process took about 1.5 hours and I managed to get 21 minis painted with a decent blended blue. The Autarch in the flesh looks stunning under normal daylight and thanks to the ink blending the minis still match my previously painted minis
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Tomorrow I'll be touching up the shadows on the Dire Avengers a bit then getting them finished. I've already pre-painting them with white using the airbrush again for a solid smooth finish. So now i'm off to stick the heads onto the bodies and go and have a beer!
More up soon....
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Post by: Alpharius
Very nice!
I wish I had the money/space/ambition for an airbrush!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks!
There is a way without the airbrush to do the same technique though.
Black undercoat then dust from above the mini with White spray. Then it's ink plus some paint and glaze on a few coats. After that you're left with a base colour, shadows and the perfect guide to where your highlights and further shadows should go.
Providing of course you like zenithal highlighting!
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Post by: Popsicle
Fascinating Thread, and one that I'm watching with interest! The last 4 Pages are a perfect example of why each of us should go out, now, and invest in an Airbrush. Great work, can't wait to see more!
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Post by: Alpharius
Vet Sgt Ezekiel wrote:Thanks!
There is a way without the airbrush to do the same technique though.
Black undercoat then dust from above the mini with White spray. Then it's ink plus some paint and glaze on a few coats. After that you're left with a base colour, shadows and the perfect guide to where your highlights and further shadows should go.
Providing of course you like zenithal highlighting!
Good point, and thanks for reminding me!
I do like that look, and it is a technique I can try out...
But, back to your stuff, which is amazing, and more pics please!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks guys for the kind words.
It didn't go quite as well as i thought though!
Upon checking over my handiwork it seems the dark 1st spray was too thin and just ran into the recesses and left a patchy coat. I reckon its just that i've not shaken the paint up enough to get a good mix
Live and learn!
I'll just go back to that 'phase' and repeat the shading process only. I'll need to be careful not to spray any over my lighter coats though.
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Post by: Cosmic
Your airbrushing experiments are most interesting...
Unlucky about the paint being too thin! At least you probably won't make the same mistake again, though.
I like following this blog as you seem to just keep it progressing quietly forwards. Keep up the good work!
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Post by: Lennysmash
Fantastic stuff, are you going to be doing anymore/ re-doing the fire dragons with the zenithal highlights? Not that they need them of course.
Tanks look ace as well, I really should get my airbrush out soon, I've had it for almost three months but I'm still not playing with it, terrible isn't it
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
The Fire Dragons were done with the zenithal shading/highlighting but I had some difficulty getting a decent photo. In the flesh they have a lot more contrast.
Still working on the Dire Avenger squad at the mo which seems to be taking forever for some reason.
Thanks guys, more soon.
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Post by: Hawkfang556
Very, very nice.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Well I've been working away on my army as usual since my last post and have managed the following in between home improvements and family duties:
Built and primed 1x Wave Serpent with Bright Lances.
Built and primed 1x Fire Prism
Built (adding detail with FW bits and some minor tweaking) 1x Ultramarines Rhino APC
I've also done my 2nd Dire Avengers squad to about 90% completion. I paused for now as i'm going to re-visit the first squad I did and add some more details to all 20. Oh, and i'm building up another 5 of them too. With the freshly added 5 DA I'm going to tweak my zenithal airbrushing technique prior to doing a similar thing in grey tones for a squad of Howling Banshees.
So..
This weekend if I can't get time enough to airbrush the vehicles i'll paint the DA's, prep the HB's, add more detail to the Farseer and keep working on some custom transfers on the Mac.
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Post by: Punisher91090
I like your details on the farseer's robe edge. If you dont mind my asking what do you use to get lines that crisp? Because i'm going to need to do that eventually.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
The black eldar symbols were copied out of a wee side net in the codex using a technical drawing pen. The borders themselves were done by applying thin layers of colour as they're easier to correct.
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Post by: Punisher91090
thanks for that ill have to check out my codex for sybol ideas and such.
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Post by: DX3
Airbrushed goodness..
Your Eldar look amazing!
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Post by: Punisher91090
Wish my Maugen Ra would end up looking as good as yours but hes not hes gonna look like crap.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks guys
I'm pleased how things have gone barring some minor mishaps but thats part of the learning experience.
The thing i'm exited about right now is that the army can be improved on and I will be going back to previously painted units and perfecting them to the best quality i can do. Once I've built enough options for 2000pts plus lists I'll start going back over stuff. The redux work will probably begin around Xmas time and I'm looking forward to it as there'll be no pressure to get units finished for army list reasons.
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Post by: Xenon
Looking good man!
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Post by: Red Corsair
Very nice! Can't wait to see the avatar done up.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
A quick WIP on what I'm on right now:
Thats 1x WSerpent and 1x Fire prism at the final stages. I should get them finished by the end of the week. I'm pleased with them so far and i reckon the blending is better on these two than on the previous Grav-Tanks.
Also pictured is a WIP Ultra Marines Rhino that i've added some extra detail to liven it up a bit. I'm planning on airbrushing some different tones onto some spare platicard this week to get the blue i'm looking for. Its not going to be as vibrant as the Alaitoc thats for sure.
Next weekend though its Howling Banshees which i'm adding to my army list for anti-MEQ close combat. I found the Striking Scorpions to be average against Vanilla Marines considering the amount of hits they can deliver on the charge. So for all you fans of grey shading you'll like the next WIP !
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Post by: Lennysmash
That is perhaps the single greatest description for a Ultramarine rhino I have ever heard.
Is the Rhino yours or is it for a commission?
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Post by: Trilobite
lol bus... You really like your blues eh?
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Post by: Brother Bartius
Nice work Vet Sgt Ezekiel.
I'm looking forward to seeing your Eldar in the flesh one day.
I also run Alaitoc Eldar and am a member of the 40k for Glaswegians group on FB.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Lennysmash wrote:That is perhaps the single greatest description for a Ultramarine rhino I have ever heard.
Is the Rhino yours or is it for a commission?
Commission? No, I'm a way off making money painting skills wise. My 2nd army is going to be a UM 3rd company theme. Lots of realism and converting. All the units will look like they are fighting in an ongoing urban campaign. Automatically Appended Next Post: Trilobite wrote:lol bus... You really like your blues eh?
Indeed I've painted loads of reds, metals,black and green in the past though. I think with the UM scheme I'll learn a lot with tone variation. You'll see what i mean when it's a wip.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Brother Bartius wrote:Nice work Vet Sgt Ezekiel.
I'm looking forward to seeing your Eldar in the flesh one day.
I also run Alaitoc Eldar and am a member of the 40k for Glaswegians group on FB.
Cool. Once my daughters in her own room I'll be able to paint and game in a given week rather than sacrificing one for the other due to time. We should maybe arrange a doubles match against some non Eldar scum.
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Post by: Lennysmash
Vet Sgt Ezekiel wrote:We should maybe arrange a doubles match against some non Eldar scum. Don't forget you're half Mon-keigh yourself now you've picked up the marine bug.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Lennysmash wrote:Vet Sgt Ezekiel wrote:We should maybe arrange a doubles match against some non Eldar scum.
Don't forget you're half Mon-keigh yourself now you've picked up the marine bug.
I prefer to think of it as a 'know thine enemy' style experiment
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Post by: Lennysmash
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Yeah, I agree. They are popular for good reason. In the past I've had Iron Warriors, Dark Angels (both over 5k points) and Black Templars all during 3rd edition.
Last time I had an Eldar army was during 2nd edition. One of my pals reminded me if this and some if the rules recently. I had totally forgotten that Eldar were in fact my first 40k army.
Who knew?
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Post by: Popsicle
Interesting about them being your first army; do you sniff the scent of nostalgia yet?
Check your Inbox, by the way.
And... Ultrasmurfs? Well, not quiet to my taste, but if that's your thing, then... I suppose it'll be interesting to see what you can come up with.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Well, i completed the 2 Grav-Tanks from earlier to about 90% complete (same as all the others) and have moved on to the Howling Banshees. I decided to mount these onto resin cast bases i bought online. They are urban themed but i'll be adding grass and doing some weathering on the girders etc to help them blend in with the rest of the army. I really enjoyed prepping the HB's for some reason and i'm looking forward to painting them as i like the concept of the minis in general. I just need to figure out the shades of grey i'm going to use for the armour.
I also prepped and undercoated yet another Wave Serpent and a Fire Prism (the 3rd) and thats all my grav-tanks off the shelf and built now ( thats now 6x wave serpents / 3x fire prisms / 2x falcons).
You'll also see I've prepped and undercoated 5 Dire Avengers (incl Exarch) and 4 more Striking Scorpions. I've made these guys up so i can field some more options which will help with a couple of 2k pts lists I want to try in the future.
All in all I've got a fair bit to be cracking on with over the next week or so and i should have more painting time during the week now as well as still getting some family time (in other words i won't get nagged by the Mrs as all the DIY/decorating is done!). I've also made a start on the Avatar. I'll post up WIP pics of it later.
As i mentioned earlier I'm planning on building a Jetseer Council from scratch. The thing is i can't figure out if i want to do exactly that or model Harlequins on jetbikes and make them 'counts as' with the Farseer being a Shadowseer etc etc. What do you guys reckon?
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Post by: Popsicle
Harlies on Jetbikes could be very interesting to Paint, and would certainly 'pop' more on the Tabletop, or in a Display Cabinet, than a normal Seer Council. I think they could be really interesting to see, so they have my vote.
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Post by: Brother Bartius
I went the opposite way.
Starting back with Space marines then realising my true calling from RT days and picking Eldar up when their 4th Edition codex was released.
Since then my BT army hasn't received much love at all.
Looking forward to the tag team Vet Sgt Ezekiel. I run Footdar so I recon we'd get the best of both worlds in our combined force.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
That would be good.
What do you use in a standard all comers 1500 pt Footdar list?
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Post by: Brother Bartius
I tend to run:
Farseer with doom and fortune (I prefer Eldrad when I have the points to spare)
Avatar
Outflanking scorpians
10 Dire avengers
5 Pathfinders
2 squads of guardians with EML + Warlock with embolden.
3 War walkers with shuricans that also outflank
2 Wraithlords with EML and bright lance
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Post by: Red Corsair
Definitely go with:
Avatar and lots and lots of guardians, fearless guardians is crazy good, thats what my bro runs and its a super pain to get rid of those, meanwhile he shreds me with guided dual scatter laser war walkers and EML from gurdian platforms.
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Post by: Grakmar
I am loving the way your tanks turn out! That shading is perfect!!!
I can't wait to see your Council on Jetbikes. I'd prefer the classic look to converted Harlies, but that's just me
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Post by: space_elf5996
I know I'm not the first to say this, but your tanks are AMAZING! The blending looks really good. I play alaitoc too, and I always use a stipeling effect, which looks pretty cool but messy compared to yours.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks guys! I'll post up a how-to for the airbrushing as its very easy to do. Hopefully it'll encourage some of you who are thinking about getting an airbrush in the future.
I'll need to have a think about the jetbike HQ. I like the idea of creating my own Seer Council on bikes but I also like the idea of converting the new DE jetbikes to Harlequin bikers.
I might do both! I'm aiming to have a JetSeer council done for xmas in any case.
I haven't done much this week as i've been under the weather and busy at work. A week best forgotten really. I hate having to work when i'm feeling ill. I'll be back to work on the army this week though.
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Post by: migsula
Nice Blog sir.
I'm in the process of trying out my brad new airbrush - or have been for 6 months.
Thanks for inspiration!
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Post by: wolfshadow
Indeed, awsome work. Lots of inspiration for when I get re-started in a couple of months.
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Post by: troy_tempest
very impressive.. if I can find another Tau to tag team with, I'd be happy to face off against the Eldar!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
troy_tempest wrote:very impressive.. if I can find another Tau to tag team with, I'd be happy to face off against the Eldar!
Sounds like a plan
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Post by: syanticraven
*Tags in* Do you accept non WYSIWYG opponents? (I dont mean using a brick as a hammerhead, but my stuff is 2nd hand and I never got to arm my suits and tanks in the way I wanted. Specifically my Tanks/Transports have drones when they should have SMS and they may not have the upgrades on them and some of my suits will have the wrong weapons/no upgrade)
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Yeah, as long as we know what's what I'm fine with that.
I take it you're on the Face Book Warhammer 40k for Glaswegians also?
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Post by: syanticraven
Vet Sgt Ezekiel wrote:Yeah, as long as we know what's what I'm fine with that.
I take it you're on the Face Book Warhammer 40k for Glaswegians also?
Indeed so ma man. I'm Francis. And Yes I will make it very clear what is what and try my best to make it simple, no one likes a cheat, ruins the night.
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Post by: l33tninj4
Not the biggest fan of airbrushed armies, but your grav-tanks look sweet.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Just a quick update for now chaps.....
I've completed a 5 man Dire Avenger squad to run as a DAVU for a Falcon. I added more silver metal colouring to these ones and prefer it so I'll be doing the previously painted ones the same.
I'm about 90% on the 3rd Fire Prism and Wave Serpent no 6. I'm going to try out some ideas for them to spice them up a bit. If it works out I'll apply the same effects to the rest of the fleet. More on this soon........
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Post by: Newt-Of-Death
Thats a really nice consistantly well painted army there!
Any army pics yet? Would be great to see it all together.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks!
Its funny you mention that as i was thinking of doing an army shot. I've assembled almost 4000pts worth now with most of it painted. I think I'll take a big pic once i've finished the vehicles properly and painted the HB's and Seer council.
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Post by: malfred
Wave Serpent number six? Sounds awesome
I approve of your collecting ways.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Ta !
There's another 2 pencilled in for the future too!
JetSeer Council first though. Not sure whether to wait and see if GW release the new Eldar Jetbikes first or just convert using the current (?) jetbikes.
If i wait that long I'll probably do a Saim-Hann army based around jetbikes. Yum. Automatically Appended Next Post: So, the grav count so far is:
6 Wave Serpents
3 Fire Prisms
2 Falcons
Once the other 2 WS are done that'll be a total of 13 in an army of 4000pts. Unlucky for some.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Tonight I have been working on my Wave Serpent and Fire prism focussing on getting an effect i like down on the Serpent. Its still very much a WIP i just wanted to see what you folks think.
I've gone for green as an accent colour to show the energy field at work and still goes with the overall blue. I'll be doing the black painted gem bits in the hull in blue-violet purple which'll also go with the overall scheme.
I'll be picking out more details with metallics and adding transfers last. That'll pretty much wrap up the scheme for the grav tanks. It shouldn't take me too long to apply this to all the tanks.
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Post by: troy_tempest
the green effects are stunning
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Post by: Munch Munch!
Can you do a tutorial for the gems?
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Yeah, will do. I've only recently sussed them out myself!
I'll do one for the upcoming purple gens on the WS above.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
I think this link describes the gems painting well :
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?catId=&pageMode=multi&categoryId=400035§ion=&pIndex=1&aId=1100010&start=2
Working from the dark colour up with 50% water (i prefer flow improver) and 50% paint you should work the brush from the dark part leaving the majority of the paint where it'lll be lightest. Wherever you lift the brush off is where the most paint will be left. It'll take a few coats to get it solid but if you keep the thin paint when you gradually go lighter it blends better as the paint/water mix is transparent. it'll take 3 stages (minimum) of highlights built up this way getting light towards the bottom edge of the gem.
The key things to note are leaving a black area at the highest part, leaving a black outline round the entire gem and a thin (lightest shade) highlight line going round the lightest sections right next to the black outline.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
And here's with the purple gems.
I'm still figuring out the best way to do gems and purple seems to be quite tricky!
I'll have to re-do a few of them but at least i know the colours work now.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Quick update.
Gems are done. i went for red gems for the weapons. Purple for the hull and green for the WS energy field emitter thingies.
Just need to do the last of the metallics and highlight the browns. Pretty happy with the results.
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Post by: Cosmic
Awesome.
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Post by: Element206
Looks great
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Post by: Lennysmash
You realise that every time I see your thread I want to start work on my own Eldar, its not helpful for me. I have enough to do as it is
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Cheers, guys!
Lennysmash: Go for it. The thing that appealed to me most was the variety of paint schemes available through the aspect warriors etc. I wanted an army that would help me learn to paint in different ways and in different colours.
Plus the background to them is pretty good.
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Post by: Brother Bartius
Agreed.
You don't get bored painting the 50 bloke in the same colour scheme as the first.
Your work, as always, is amazing.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Quick update.
Tonight I'm applying the same effects to all my Wave Serpents and so far I've done the basecoats ready for finishing tomorrow assembly line style. I'm aiming to have them all done for the weekend including the Fire Prisms. After that it's the 2 Falcons and the grav tanks are all done. Woohoo!
Apart from the transfers. I'll do them one night next week using the standard sheets supplied by GW.
On Saturday I'd like to get my Howling Banshees basecoated and hopefully finish the extra 4 Striking Scorpions I started earlier. At least that's the plan......
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Post by: Brother Bartius
If you are at Troy's on Sunday I'll look forward to seeing them.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Yes, I'll be there.
See you Sunday.
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Post by: Lennysmash
I wish I could but at the moment the decision to return to learning is hampering my time. I have 8 Eldar grav-tanks that I'll be refurbishing plus weapons platforms and jetbikes too, so its going to be a rather large commitment for me.
But as every your thread gives me hope that one day soon I'll be able to set up my airbrush and give it all a go, lol.
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Post by: Wrexasaur
Yet again I am convinced that an airbrush is something I really, really need.
Nice work.
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Post by: Brother Bartius
I'm actually hoping in a strange sort of way Vet Sgt Ezekiel that we get to face each other as mechdar vrs footdar would be an interesting matchup.
I won't be disappointed though if we don't. If we don't that would mean that Eldar could carry the day 2 from 3 battles on the day.
A win win situation! :-)
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Here;s some WIP pics of my latest. 2 hours painting time on the Avatar so far and still chipping away at the vehicle details..... Automatically Appended Next Post: Vet Sgt Ezekiel wrote:Quick update.
Tonight I'm applying the same effects to all my Wave Serpents and so far I've done the basecoats ready for finishing tomorrow assembly line style. I'm aiming to have them all done for the weekend including the Fire Prisms. After that it's the 2 Falcons and the grav tanks are all done. Woohoo!
Apart from the transfers. I'll do them one night next week using the standard sheets supplied by GW.
On Saturday I'd like to get my Howling Banshees basecoated and hopefully finish the extra 4 Striking Scorpions I started earlier. At least that's the plan......
This , by the way, was never completed. I was pretty tired on the weekend but at least managed to get a game in. I'll have another go to get all the vehicles finished including transfers this weekend and hopefully the S.Scorpions and the final details on my Farseer.
We shall see.........
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Post by: Remos
That lava glowing effect is actually reallly nice. Wasn't actually a surprise when I checked out your other models too : D I really like your paintwork!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks
Tonight i painted some gold onto the mini and applied a couple of washes to the metallics. Automatically Appended Next Post: Here's my to-do list for my Alaitoc army so i can field a 'Foot'dar army as well as my 'Mech'dar' fleet.
Howling Banshees x 10.
15 Guardians and support weapon.
6 Warlocks.
Harlequin unit.
Wraithlord number 3 (Pathfinder conversion theme).
A Super-Heavy tank (prob a Cobra instead of a Scorpion).
A Farseer and 6-8 Warlocks on Jetbikes. All heavily converted.
Yikes!!
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Post by: Alpharius
That Avatar is one of the best I've seen - nice job indeed, and the step by step is much appreciated!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks!
Here's what I've got so far. Metallics are pretty much done and I highlighted the armour using some metallic pigment mixed in. All zenithal in terms of placement of course. I shadowed with black. I wanted a dark iron look and that appears to be it.
Just got the gems and some details to pick out and I'm happy to move on to the loincloth and hair peice. The base will get done last and should be fairly easy.
Next pics will be the finished article
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Post by: poipo32
The avatar looks great so far and your whole army is very well painted.
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Post by: Rose_Mountainz
That thing is beast, and even more awesome with your painting skills! Good job!
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Post by: Tek
Really great work. Awesome stuff man. Looking forward to those Banshees and Scorpions
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks for the kind words guys. More up tomorrow hopefully once I've completed a few tasks for work next week. If all goes well i should have some time on sunday too.
I've got some minor detailing to do on my already painted to 80% vehicles. i'll get that sorted this weekend and do some more on the Avatar.
This months tasks shall be (in order of importance):
Finish last 4 Striking Scorpions for a 10man total squad.
Finishing details on my farseer which was shown earlier.
Paint my prepped and based Howling Banshee squad.
Finish Avatar.
Start sculpting the JetSeer Council which should be interesting to say the least.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Here's some more WIP Avatar pics. Spent about 2 hours this morning to get to this stage.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Avatar is finshed apart from an Alaitoc transfer on the loincloth. i may adjust the burnt section slightly also with a more random burn pattern.
Just waiting for the PVA to dry on the base and thats that. About 15hours to finish including building/prep.
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Post by: wolfshadow
Awsome work. Thats one scary looking Avatar.
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Post by: Cosmic
The orange/yellow against the almost black of the armour screams "danger!" in a very natural and realistic way. A very good job sir!
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Post by: Fexor
Nice paint jobs, they look amazing.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks guys. Got some final detailing on my grav tanks to do later today and then its Howling Banshees time.
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Post by: mattyrm
I am stunned how good some of your work is mate. Well done.
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Post by: Punisher91090
one thing that I can think of that would look sweet is if you could make it looks as though he is scorching the ground hes walking on.
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Post by: joshoftheforest
I would love to see a full army shot of everything you have done so far... any chance? Automatically Appended Next Post: Sorry to post again, I was just wondering where you got your paint from?
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Post by: troy_tempest
Scary.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
joshoftheforest wrote:I would love to see a full army shot of everything you have done so far... any chance?
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Sorry to post again, I was just wondering where you got your paint from?
I'll do a full army shot the next time I've got them out for a game and post up on here.
I bought my Reaper paints direct from their site. I used other paints for the Avatar also though. For example I painted the highlights on the armour mixing black, characin granite GW foundation and some silver metallic pigment from MIG productions sci fi range. For most airbrushed colours I use Vallejo Model Air paint thinned a 3:1 paint to distilled water/isopropyl alcohol.
Thanks too for the kind words guys.
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Post by: Brother Bartius
You almost make me want to branch out from GW paints.
Loving your Avatar, just like the rest of your work.
It was nice to finally see your army in the flesh the other week. It's even nicer than the photo's look.
I would like to see how our Eldar armies would fare against each other.
One day! :-)
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Post by: Commander Cain
That is a very good looking avatar! Great work on the glowing effect.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Brother Bartius wrote:You almost make me want to branch out from GW paints.
Loving your Avatar, just like the rest of your work.
It was nice to finally see your army in the flesh the other week. It's even nicer than the photo's look.
I would like to see how our Eldar armies would fare against each other.
One day! :-)
We should arrange something fairly soon as I'm planning on trying some Foot'dar army builds soon. It'll give me a good idea about tactics playing your Foot'dar.
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Post by: Brother Bartius
Cool. I'm going to arrange a day through at mines shortly.
we can hopefully get a game then.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Just a quick pic of the early stages on my Howling Banshees.
The pic is after basecoat and 2 levels of highlights have been done. Once I airbrushed on the base I added some white straight into the grey paint already in the airbrush. I sprayed directly and at slight angles from above. I repeated the process once more adding more white and spraying at the same angles but focussed on the head and shoulders and didn't add quite as much. I then gave them a badab black wash mixed 50/50 with flow improver so it didn't sit on the flat raised areas.
From primed to the pic took 30mins. Highlights are done and the shading will be applied with a brush and will take about 20 mins to do the squad with one darker tone. I may add an even darker shade in the deepest recesses if required.
Basically the main highlights and shading using this technique will take an hour altogether using this method of speed painting. Not bad for a squad of 10 minis.
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Post by: Popsicle
Looking absolutely solid so far!
What Flow Improver do you use? How much do you mix it with Badab Black?
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks! I'm tweaking my speed painting method used before on my 2nd guardian squad (a couple of pages back). It wasn't that successful before but I've sussed it now i think. Good thing about the airbrush coats being so light is i can go back to the guardians later and apply my new method without losing too much details on the mins from paint build up.
50% GW Badab Black and 50% Winsor & newton Flow Improver for acrylic colour.
I've got something special planned for the swords on the HB's too. Another experiment but based on a scale modelling technique. The swords will be chromed. Downside is I'll probably need to sideline the squad until I get the paints. Watch this space
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Post by: Brother Bartius
Looking forward to seeing the results!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Just a quick update for now.
Howling Banshees are still a WIP. Ignore the metallics on the swords as this will be redone with Alclad 2 chrome effect airbrush laquer Bit of an experiment but one that should hopefully pay off.
More up soon (weekend probably).
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Post by: Ghostgod482
Gorgeous army and models I'm painting my Guardians atm and came across your work. just to sweet for words lol keep up the great work and I'd love to see full roster shot when completed
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks
Here's a quick WIP pic of my Howling Banshee squad. Slow progress on them as I'm working on the 'Smurf Bus' and I've also started work on converting a Seer Council on Jetbikes. I've now chromed the HB swords with Alclad 2 chrome for plastic airbrush paint. I'm pretty pleased with the result.
More up soon.
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Post by: Popsicle
Lovely stuff!
As usual, your painting is making me so envious of your skill.
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Post by: troy_tempest
Looks fantastic
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Post by: space_elf5996
So far, so good. Diggin the Avatar
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks guys, got the Banshees done last night so I'll post some pics up tonight. If I've got time I'll do the army pic as promised earlier.
I've got a super heavy coming my way for Xmas this year but I can't decide which one to get. I had a Titan and scorpion earlier in the year but had to sell them to get some funds together. This time I can only get one but can't decide on whether to buy a Revenant Titan or a Cobra grav tank.
What do you guys reckon gaming wise would be the most fun? I'm happy to paint either.
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Post by: Lennysmash
Personally given the choice I would go for a Void dragon (or Vampire if you had the cash) but between your choices I would have to put a tick against the R.Titan with sonic lances. No idea how any of them play but Cobras just don't do it for me.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Here's a pic of the completed Howling Banshees unit:
I've been picking away at these for a while as I've been busy doing other things in my free time (work related) so they are speed painted as far as overall time spent on them. I'm pleased how they turned out as they are a reasonable table top quality.
Next jobs on my list are:
Vehicle transfers.
Finish the Guardians I have (Some are on sprues, some are semi painted etc.).
Finish the Warlock squad I started.
Paint my objective markers.
I'm also considering doing a bit of chop chop on my vehicles so I can magnetise the weapons. I'll have a think about that one. Might just wait a year or so til the new codex comes out.
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Post by: Calibanite Lion
they look really good, i think that they are better than table top quality! the bases are nice aswell. you getting a revanant titan at all??
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks! The bases were an experiment (most of the minis were an experiment really!). I used weathering powders from MIG Productions for the rust effect.
I'm seriously considering a Revenant as i like the idea of a 36'' jump into a 'stomp' move then waste the infantry I've scattered with Sonic thingies! We'll see. I also like the idea of the Cobras 10'' pie plate, AP2, Destroyer and avoids shields cannon!!
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Post by: troy_tempest
Played a game with the 'Sarge yesterday, the banshees are beautiful in the flesh (they look like apparitions). Though the fire warriors were happy to admire from a distance (>18 inches!).
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Post by: Element206
Your work really inspires me to stop being such a cheap-ass and start working with an airbrush! Great effects on the Falcons!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks guys!
Just ordered 2 FW Eldar Hornets today and a slack handful of jetbikes. Ooh yeah!
I'll put some pics of my WIP Seer Council on jetbikes once I've got them sculpted up. I've got about halfway through the actual building so far. It's been ok so far as I have a large Eldar bits box!
The super heavy idea is on hold for now until I figure out what to get. Prob order something in the new year. Ordered the Dark Eldar codex and DE warriors, Archon, Ravager etc today instead! Decided to keep the fast pointy ear thing going after a lot of mind changing and faffing about trying to decide what to run for my second army. I went for DE as they look like fun!
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Post by: Flashman
I can think of no better use for my 3100th post to complement you on your unique but highly effective painting technique.
You sir, can paint
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Post by: troy_tempest
DE, so cool! I love the fact that you didn't go for marines!!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
troy_tempest wrote:DE, so cool! I love the fact that you didn't go for marines!!
Yeah, I thought long and hard about that one. I've painted up 4 marine armies all told so I figured sticking with the pointy eared Xenos was a winner. Plus I've got some ideas for my own Kabal..........
Really excited. The new stuff is well overdue because of the crappy weather of late.
In the meantime I've done some work on the Jetseer Council. Very difficult sculpting these robes.......
I've also done some simple conversion work on an Autarch on foot and added more Warlocks on foot to my collection. I'm going to try running a Seer Council (Farseer & 8 Warlocks) on foot with an Autarch in a Wave Serpent. I rolled some dice to see how they would fair against a strong CC unit and they held their own nicely (enemy being Death Company) Learned some tactics online (thanks to listening to 11th coy podcast, thanks) for deploying troops out of WS's and keep them safe using other WS's as blockers (star engines help). I'll be running this uber-unit in big games only though!
Very keen on doing some Apocalypse sized games in 2011. Just need to keep getting the games in to tweak my tactics and get the rules sussed enough to be able to complete a large game relatively quickly
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
As some of you may have noticed I've added Dark Eldar to my blog as I've selected them as my 2nd army. Pointy ears for the win.
I'll be doing the colour scheme different from the GW norm. Pics and WIP's up soon.
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Post by: wolfshadow
Ohhh pointy ears and spikes. :-)
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
I've been having computer issues this last month so updates have been difficult. I've managed to get a replacement laptop organised so i should be back to my regular updating nonsense.
Since my last post I've went a bit pointy eared. I've began a DE army, bought some more Eldar stuff and High Elves for WFB!! I'll be building the HE stuff and undercoating the models and playing them like that for a while so I can get my DE up and running. I'm aiming to be running a fully painted 1500 pt DE army for april/may depending on the 2nd wave release and Venoms being available. Expect a surge of painting/updates from me around that release!
Here's some pics of what I've been up to:
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Post by: wolfshadow
Nice start on the DE.
What color scheme will you be using for your DE
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks, they'll be black with gold armour segments on the Wyches using dark green tones to highlight the black.
The warriors and skimmers will be very dark purple with zenithal highlighting and fading like my Eldar vehicles rather than the outlined style seen in the codex. They will be very dark though, almost black using gloss to help with contrast on the clothing.
The Eldar Hornets will be done like my other grav tanks, the markers need based and my Seer Council is a re-paint with newly added minis. These were basecoated yesterday with the blue i normally use (Vallejo Magic Blue).
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Post by: Newt-Of-Death
Nice Colour scheme for the DE!
The soft grey hair colour is much nicer than the fat goth looking red in the GW pics.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Yeah, I'm trying to avoid the GW style. I'm not really a fan of the red hair even if it does go with green!
The hair on the Wyches still needs highlighted and will finish up being white. i figured they're in dark/twilight in the webway so their hair would be white. I may add bits of colour but that'll get done last if it needs it.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Got the airbrush out today on the Eldar Hornets. Just gave them a coat of Klear in preparation for adding oil paint to the details.
Also continued on with the Wyches which are about halfway now.
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Post by: Elowyn
Awesome stuff, man
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Post by: MajorTom11
Bigger better pics please, that looks too good not to see up close!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks guys, I'll have better pics up once I've solved my computer issues. Automatically Appended Next Post: Slightly better pics have now replaced the Wyches group shot. They're still very much a WIP so I'll get decent pics sorted for when they're finished.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Some more progress on the Wyches. Just some details to do and finish the bases
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Post by: sum1thtdiesalot
Very Cool. I thought you going to stay away from the GW Dark colors on these models? Care to share how you got the skin tones? i tried to get pallid flesh but it Kinda looks like they have make-up on....
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Post by: p14tinum
All looking awesome, particularly the Eldar grav-tanks. I like the effect the drybrush gives.
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Post by: Savnock
Scatterlasers on the Hornets, huh? That'll certainly pump out a high rate of fire. I'm a bit perplexed by the use of the unit, as they seem good for two roles:
1- Getting into a good hull-down position quicklythen sitting tight and sniping
2- Getting side/rear shots on armor.
Given that they can only fire one of their weapons per turn while moving, it's tempting to use them as move, sit, shoot... but they won't survive that. I'd been thinking EMLs would go well with both the above uses, but now that you mention it maybe scatterlasers are better just by virtue of throwing more dice. Hmmm. Your thoughts?
And the DE are looking good so far. Will you be sticking with just black and white?
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
sum1thtdiesalot wrote:Very Cool. I thought you going to stay away from the GW Dark colors on these models? Care to share how you got the skin tones? i tried to get pallid flesh but it Kinda looks like they have make-up on....
I was staying away from the GW schemes in that I'll not be fine lining round everything with a colour. I've stuck to my zenithal highlighting technique.You'll see it more pronounced on the Wyches raiders soon.....
The Wyches black/dark areas are shaded and highlighted in green this evening thus the pics.
The skin tones were done pretty much the same as the 'Eavy metal section in WD a couple of months ago when the mins were released.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Savnock wrote:Scatterlasers on the Hornets, huh? That'll certainly pump out a high rate of fire. I'm a bit perplexed by the use of the unit, as they seem good for two roles:
1- Getting into a good hull-down position quicklythen sitting tight and sniping
2- Getting side/rear shots on armor.
Given that they can only fire one of their weapons per turn while moving, it's tempting to use them as move, sit, shoot... but they won't survive that. I'd been thinking EMLs would go well with both the above uses, but now that you mention it maybe scatterlasers are better just by virtue of throwing more dice. Hmmm. Your thoughts?
And the DE are looking good so far. Will you be sticking with just black and white?
The Scatters won't be permanent as the weapon options will be magnetised This'll allow me freedom to experiment. As a unit they're really just a bit if fun for bigger 2500pts plus games.
Thanks, guys!
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Post by: sum1thtdiesalot
Hmmm. I guess I just need to practice that Skin tone because that is the same thing I use. The 'eavy metal sections skin tones that is
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Post by: PerilsoftheBrush
Vet Sgt Ezekiel wrote:Some more progress on the Wyches. Just some details to do and finish the bases
This is wonderful. The hardlining around the eyes is fantastic. Great job.
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Post by: MagickalMemories
The skin tones were done pretty much the same as the 'Eavy metal section in WD a couple of months ago when the mins were released.
Any love for those of us who don't get the $9 catalog?
Puh-leeeeeeze?
: )
Eric
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Post by: Imperial Monkey
Those DE look fantastic, the black and gold really stands out. Looks good and regal, fitting IMO. I'm hoping that the "Bytches" caption was intentional, if not it is a rather awkward mistake
Imp. Monkey
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Post by: MajorTom11
Super clean paint job, loves it. (Thanks for the bigger pics too btw!)
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
PerilsoftheBrush wrote:Vet Sgt Ezekiel wrote:Some more progress on the Wyches. Just some details to do and finish the bases
This is wonderful. The hardlining around the eyes is fantastic. Great job.
Thanks
I painted the eye area black, then white and then black in the pupils. Makes a difference i think and its another tip straight from 'Eavy Metal. Its kind of like leaving a black lin round gems to help define them.
I have painted skin on minis rarely in the past so it was a interesting looking into the theory on it. After all the reading though it was already covered in WD. At least I know why they use the combinations of tones.
The GW Space Hulk Terminator Captain how-to has a great skin step-by-step for a more tanned and normal skin tone which has worked for me in the past. I reckon a lot of the skin tones work because of the Tallarn Flesh Foundation paint being a good start point. Just add space wolves grey for DE and Dwarf Flesh for SM's or other healthier looking subjects.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
MagickalMemories wrote:The skin tones were done pretty much the same as the 'Eavy metal section in WD a couple of months ago when the mins were released.
Any love for those of us who don't get the $9 catalog?
Puh-leeeeeeze?
: )
Eric
Yep, Tallarn flesh with Space Wolves grey 1:1 for the base. Devlan mud poked into the deepest parts around the nose, bottom lip, ears etc. Keep adding SW grey for a coiuple of highlight passes with skull white as a final highlight. Then a purple wash into the recesses. I diluted all the steps apart from the washes with 1;1 paint to flow improver. I added Klear to the washes 1;1 also. it helps it seep into the areas better and the flow improver in the paint helps me as the paint stays where I left it!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Imperial Monkey wrote:Those DE look fantastic, the black and gold really stands out. Looks good and regal, fitting IMO. I'm hoping that the "Bytches" caption was intentional, if not it is a rather awkward mistake
Imp. Monkey
No, it was quite intentional. Them's me Byches.
On a ridiculous side note I can't think of a name for my Wych Cult but in the meantime I'm going for 'Cult of the Gammon Dagger' which for those not used to Glaswegian euphemisms is fairly rude.
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Post by: Imperial Monkey
Oh dear. I will have to resign my account for old adverity reasons. Can't talk to a Weegie on here
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Imperial Monkey wrote:Oh dear. I will have to resign my account for old adverity reasons. Can't talk to a Weegie on here
Don't you mean inferiority reasons?
I'm sure the phrase 'Gammon Dagger' is used by even you posh people over there in Edinburgh
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Post by: Skartooth
Very nice painting, it's good to see another guy using an airbrush, the way you painted those Eldar tanks it awesome, I shall have to try out your colour scheme someday. Keep up the awesome Dark Eldar stuff too, do you plan you airbrush the raiders?
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Yeah, I'll be doing a black to dark green fade on the panels and I'll also be trying something new with the old oil paints.
Fingers crossed it works like i think it will......
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Post by: poontangler
Looks awesome.
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Post by: vishra
You sir make me feel embarrassed to field my DE, as they don't look even CLOSE to that beautiful. You have an amazing gift sir, and I look forward to seeing anything you paint in the future.
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Post by: Newt-Of-Death
Those wyches are damn awesome!
The shading and blending and stuff on the gold is done brilliantly.
And the eyes... And the flesh..... And the bases!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
That's the Wyches squad done now. Not bad for a basic troop choice. I'll be buying another squad to spread out the extra special weapon.
Not sure what to do for Bloodbrides but I'll think of something!
More up soon......
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Post by: Brother Bartius
Very nice.
Looking forward to seeing them in the flesh.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Can't wait to get 1500pts together and start playing them! I suspect I'll be getting tabled a lot to begin with similar to my Eldar early exploits. They're very fragile gaming wise but they look like immense fun in cc.
I think the colours of my Wyches are close enough to the Cult of Strife so I'll go with that and get a Lelith Hesperax ordered up.
I think I'll paint a Raider for the squad next. I'm working on my Hornets now and I'll hopefully have them done for a game later in the month.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Quick Update:
Still working on the Hornets. I've given them the oil paint treatment in all the recesses. Def the most defined result yet as i refine the technique. Just need to wait for it to dry (tomorrow) fully before I put matt varnish on it with the airbrush.
Here's how i did it for those interested:
1:Airbrush/Brush on a decent layer of Klear floor polish or a thin layer of gloss varnish. This will aid the capillary action which will cut down on mess.
2: Dilute some of your chosen colour of oil paint for the recesses in question (i use standard art turpentine). i used burnt umber paint to kind of match the weapons I paint up for my Grav Tanks. It should to be very runny. You can always go back and add more to the model in layers.
3:Load a basecoat sized brush with the thinned oil paint and dab the point into a section of the recess you want to fill. The capillary action of the paint coming off the brush will flow round the details.
4: Once you've got all the recesses you want filled with enough oil paint leave it to dry for an hour (or hairdryer it to dry off the thinner for 5 mins).
5: Repeat applications as neccessary for an even line/detail. Once your happy and most of the thinners has dried wipe the model with a cloth soaked in a little tuprentine and wipe off the excess oil paint. This will leave the paint in the recesses where its supposed to be.
6: Leave to dry for a day or two and then varnish the model to seal it in like you would do after applying inks.
I got this technique from reading lots of military modelling magazines. Its pretty much routine when painting those kinds of models.
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Post by: sum1thtdiesalot
First the hornets look great! Second you double posted that last update
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
So I did!
How do you delete a post?
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Hrrrmmm, dont think you can tbh.
The hornets are looking very nice indeed, so are the DEldar, that really is an aesome scheme!
Have you got any advice on zenithal highlighting, i just want to try it out see if i can get my airbrush in use for more than basecoats!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Vitruvian XVII wrote:Hrrrmmm, dont think you can tbh.
The hornets are looking very nice indeed, so are the DEldar, that really is an aesome scheme!
Have you got any advice on zenithal highlighting, i just want to try it out see if i can get my airbrush in use for more than basecoats!
As far as airbrush zenithal highlighting goes I do this:
During all these steps you want to be spraying very lightly from above and a bit to the front from 100mm/4" away roughly unless specified otherwise. Dust some paint on a few time and have a look at it before you add more, this'll help keep a decent transition between tones.
Don't worry if you go very light on the upper surfaces as this will be dealt with later. Just make sure all the minis are consistent.
1: Spray the mini with the colour you want in the deepest shadows all over. (I use a very dark blue on my Guardians).
2: Spray the mini with a mid tone.
3: Add the colour you want at the brightest highlights gradually and build up the layers adding in more each time. Add in 2-3 time to build up to the brightest points. (I just added a grey white directly into the airbrush a few drops at a time). At the latter stages like this you want to be spraying less and a fine spray concentrating more on the head and shoulders.
The whole process of this on a squad of 10 minis can be done in minutes as the paint should be dry within seconds of each application!
Once you've airbrushed all the layers you need a wash to help blend it all together. I mix ink (blue in my case) with Klear floor polish 1:1. Then I add in a drop or two of my mid tone. This is then thinly washed over the mini. This stage ties all the layers together and blends everything perfectly. If you don't have Klear then put a little gloss varnish in the ink to help provide even coverage. You can apply more washes to help tone down any areas you think are too bright.
Let it dry then airbrush matt varnish onto the minis so you can brush paint the details without moving the ink around underneath later.
That should be 10 minis highhight to 2-3 stage, shaded to 2-3 shades and fully blended in about 30 mins tops. I learned this technique from the Miniature Mentor speed painting download. I recommend it as they show some other neat ways of doing zenithal with an airbrush.
The DE Wyches I've just done were highlighting using a normal brush and an overhead lamp. Harder and takes longer but thats life. It was just small areas anyway and didn't take that long.
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Post by: Vitruvian XVII
Thanks, thats a great tut. I shall have a go very soon!
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Post by: bunnygurl
I really love how everything's looking. That blue is so vibrant and beautiful!
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Post by: Anon052
I really love your wyches. WOW. The best I have seen so far.
How did you paint the gold? I have problems painting this color and I never get it right.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
I mixed burnished gold with a bit of scorched brown (not too much) & painted that mix on as a base.
I then applied two washes. One of badab black into the deepest recesses and the deepest parts of where the armour looks like it's overlapping and then a wash of devlan mud over all the gold.
This was then drybrushed with burnished gold and finally mithril silver on the raised edges. I did go back and forth with the washes if I had removed them accidentally during the drybrushing.
Thanks.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Are you selling them?? I saw a squad just like it on ebay??
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Yes, i am. Just an experiment really to see if its worthwhile painting the odd unit to sell on.
I can always paint another one up as i keep notes on the colours etc.
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Post by: MajorTom11
I'm sure it will go, it's a great looking squad! Sad to see it go though, I wanted to see them stacked up with an equally pretty DE army
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Well, I'm working on 2 Warriors squads, and Raider and a Ravager. They'll be done a bit different to GW to say the least.
I'll post up pics soon.
The Wyches , if sold, will return in a slightly different incarnation.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Awesome man can't wait to see more! I adore the GW scheme but something different is always good. Have you seen the DE Chronos thread on here? That guy did a really interesting tri -color blend scheme.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
No, sounds interesting. Can you post a link?
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Post by: MajorTom11
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/30/330485.page
Not the cleanest jobs, but very interesting in terms that most people only think of blending shades of 1 color, or 2 colors into each other at best. I think he pulled off 3 pretty well!
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Post by: CMDante
Don't know how I've missed this log until now...
A fellow Glasgow man...using an airbrush to paint his figs beautifully.... It ticks all the right boxes for me!
I've had my airbrush for over a year now and keep meaning to try something like what you are doing here to speed up some of the typically more boring aspects of painting - this is providing great inspiration for me to do so!
Cheers,
Dante
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Nice blog Dante. Where do you go gaming?
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Post by: CMDante
Don't game, just painting and modelling for me I'm afraid mate. Though even then, not enough of that these days (only painted 2 models last year...:()
Heading to Conflict Scotland this year with those lovely Eldar?
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Nah, not really into tourneys. I like playing bigger games occasionally and weekly at St Aidans or with some local chaps on here.
More of a painter type myself but I recently got back into gaming so I'm more 50/50 now. Thus the blog.
I'll be sure to check out your blog as there's some very nice work there.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Update time again.
I've been on the airbrush again doing some Kabal Warriors (1 Shredder/Splinter squad and 2 MSU Blaster squads). I've also been working on a Raider and a Ravager.
Everythings been done with zenithal highlighting and its all very much an early WIP. So if you're thinking WTF?, just bear with me for a few days.....
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Post by: MajorTom11
I think this is gonna be good! Glasgow lads eh? Lol I assume you can both take down a pint in less than three seconds and immediately turn around and nut a 1 quid coin off the top of a toddlers head without touching the toddler?
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Nah, Its a bottle of Buckfast that we'll down! washed down by a pint of kebab sauce and the blood of a ned.
Not sure about being that accurate with the 'heed' either. Years of substance abuse makes us indiscriminate and prone to the rage special rule. We always pass Ld tests for counter-attack though cause we're pure mental n that.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Lol that sounds about right! Mom is from Northumbria, spent many a youthful day driving up and getting into all kinds of gak with you hooligans lol.... Mmmm kebab, with extra spice.... Can't get those here, not the same way anyhow!
What kind of scheme are you planning with that sienna zenithal coat btw???
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Well, the lines in the hull etc will be bright, almost neon, green. A bit of weathering also. Then its appropriate detailing with a few metallics etc.
They'll look very different to the Alaitoc!
The Warriors will be given a wash of black ink mixed with a bit of the hull red mid tone I've used. This will tone it down and make the details pop as it'll shade the recesses. The eyes and helmet grills etc will also be done in the neon green.
The neons and some of the washes I'll be doing on the vehicles will be done in oil paints.
I'm going to make decent custom flying bases also to match the rest of the army. I like the new ball joint stems on the GW ones so I'll keep them for a while and see if they slacken off with wear. If so its the trusty magnet bases i made for the Alaitoc vehicles.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Doing the neon effect using oil paints today. Turned out as well as I'd hoped. Total experiment that paid off (again).
Still lots more to do once the oil paints dried......
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Post by: sum1thtdiesalot
It is certainly different from the GW dark green. I like it. Can't wait to see the whole army done. Keep up the good work!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks!
One thing i will say though is that they are much darker under normal lighting. The pics were taken under a twin-tubed flo daylight lamp. The darker colour under normal daylight or any normal indoor lighting helps the neon effect pop more.
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Post by: Lennysmash
Vet Sgt Ezekiel + Warp Hunters and Shadow Spectres, Discuss.
Any chance you'll be picking up some of these puppies.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Mmmmmmm, yes.
Warp Hunters first though, naturally. I'm not sure about the Sectres TBH but the release of the Lynx will probably put them on the back burner.
I will own an insane amount of Eldar stuff this year. Maybe next year a new codex will be in the pipeline. Then i will own an mental patient sized army with the releases around that.
Oh, and the Phantom Titan. If its around the price of the Reaver I will be very tempted.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Also started my HE army while at work last sunday (I was opening up for some re-decorating to get done):
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Post by: Lennysmash
Is your real name Haldir? You seem to have an affinity for all things even mildly eldritch
Oh if you need any aspects ever give me a shout. I have an Eldar army looking for a new home in the webway, lol. Its almost all unpainted.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Yeah, went a bit pointy eared recently!
PM me with the stuff you've got unpainted.I'm always on the lookout for stuff.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Work continues with the FW Eldar Hornets.
I've loosely fitted the Scatter Lasers until they're finished. Still got to do the gems on the hull also and some smoke/heat effects.
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Post by: Lennysmash
Simply stunning. How are you going to get the smoke effects on spray or brush on pigments? Oh PM sent aswell chap.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Airbrush all the way for the smokey bits. I should get them completely finished tomorrow afternoon. Just in time to use them in a game tomorrow night!
Yay!!
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Post by: Matt.Kingsley
Holy those hornets are good!
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Post by: p14tinum
Really nice stuff, I need to get me one of those airbrushes
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Post by: Brother Bartius
You make me want to get an airbrush!
Nice update.
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Post by: Perkustin
Sweet Hornets Bro! I hope you haven't really been on the 'wreck the hoos joos' last time i had buckfast i became an impromptu nudist....
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Post by: Brother Bartius
Perkustin wrote:Sweet Hornets Bro! I hope you haven't really been on the 'wreck the hoos joos' last time i had buckfast i became an impromptu nudist....
Aint nothing wrong with the purple groat juice.
I do my best work under the influence of it.
I don't run about in the buff though.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
I've danced on a roof on Bucky. Me and a pal used to knock lumps out each other at his flat on a regular basis on the stuff.
More than once some heavy DIY had to be done due to a destroyed breakfast bar and holes in the walls from ramming his head in. Had to re-hang a few doors in that flat too. Oh, and once the toilet got shattered!
Tis the drink of champions I tell ye.
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Post by: Sarigar
Been awhile since I checked this blog. Fantastic progress. Still looking forward to a full army shot. Very clean work and the metallics on the Banshees were very well done. It's a great blog to follow.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks!
I'll be doing a full army shot at the next big game. If I remember......
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Post by: taffiarti
lol, tie a piece of string round your finger. That full army shot will be worth the wait.
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Post by: Newt-Of-Death
Really nice Dark Eldar stuff!
Cant wait to get painting mine.
How do you find the new models to paint? Are they awkward or are they pretty nice to paint? Automatically Appended Next Post: Itl probably take me months!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Quick update:
Finished building and priming the 2x 10 man (Elf?) Swordmasters of Hoeth i started a week or two ago. I also made movement trays for them like the other dudes. I've started a Dragon Princes of Caledor unit this week.
On the 40k front I went off on a bit of a tangent. I've started building up some BA Death Company. I've built up a ten man squad out of one of the new DC boxes, the old DC metal minis I happened to have in my bits box and other marine bits including FW older armour bits and bolters etc. I've got some bits and boxes coming to build up another 10 soon.
One thing I decided on with the plastic minis was to make them magnetic with Infernus pistol options and jump pack/ normal pack options.
I'll most likely paint them up soon and put them up for sale on eBay in 2x ten man squads (one squad will only have 5 dudes with switchable options an the others metal and permanent). A bit random i know but I just fancied making some marine stuff for some reason although i have no plans to build an army based on them. I've sold a couple of things recently I painted which paid for the bits.
Speaking of which my Wyches are up for sale on eBay too.
Eldar-wise I've begun painting up my 2nd Farseer plus a council of 9 Warlocks. In addition i will be finishing two Autarchs i started a while back.
I will be ordering a Warp Hunter from FW in the next week !!! Should be good. Got some ideas for this one based on what i've learned doing the DE.
The Dark Eldar have been put on hold for now but I managed to do a fair bit of the mundane basecoats on them (metallics and bases etc.) I'm still trying to work out what kind of list i want to do with these guys......
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Post by: TheRavenWolf
Wow your stuff is awesome! I especially love the hornets.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Bit more done on the DE i was going to put on the back burner for a bit! Typical mind changing for me really but i just paint what I feel like at the time which helps productivity!
Also 80% through doing the BA Death Coy. Made magnetic jump/standard back packs and weapon arm options. Don't think i'll be selling these boys now though as I like the idea of a few units with a Chaplain and Sanguinary Priest for some deathstar army antics.
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Post by: Newt-Of-Death
Really good!
The schemes making me think of some highly pollished and very sharp futuristic metal that constantly moves with a wierd spacey sound somewhere between a lightsabre and running your finger round a glass, but I suppose thats what it is!
Get em stabbed mate.
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Post by: bunnygurl
Those DE are fantastic. Love the color!
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Post by: Stretch
Wow DE look BA! Nice work!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks folks!
I'll hopefully be finished these guys in the next week. I've got this afternoon booked in with my better half for some more painting time.
I'll post better pics up when they're done.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thats me now finished a DE Ravager, Raider, 10 man Warrior squad with splinter cannon & shredder and 2 5 man squads with blasters.
They could be taken a bit further but i've got more stuff to paint yet and they're at a decent gaming standard for my tastes.
Archon, Incubi & another raider up next. Also planning on finishing the minor details on my Hornets in time for saturday (I'll be using them in a game).
The DC squad is ticking along when it takes my fancy and is looking good. They're now 90% done with details i missed needing sorted. Pics of them up soon...
Apologies for the iffy pics. I've been struggling with a new camera! EDIT : new/better ones added
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Post by: sum1thtdiesalot
Lookin good! I was kinda surprise to see no freehand designs or honeycomb pattern in the aethersails though. Regardless great work!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks!
Easier said than done for the freehand stuff! I'll make some transfers at some point in the future though.
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Post by: MajorTom11
Great stuff bud!
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Thanks!
Not too sure what Kabal these guys will be. They could be the Obsidian Rose Kabal or maybe Flayed Skulls.
Answers on some Farseer buttock skin to:
Mr. Nasty-Point-Ears
372 Jagged Spire
Commorragh
Webway
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Post by: Newt-Of-Death
Dear Mr. Nasty-Point-Ears,
Your boats are mighty shiny and cracker!
Automatically Appended Next Post: p.s. Did they take you long to paint? Ive got 3 looming over me for the near future.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
I reckon they are just as quick as the Wave Serpents to paint. I used an airbrush even for the metallic undersides.
I think 4 hours painting time each is about right including preparing the parts & undercoating.
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Post by: Vet Sgt Ezekiel
Quick update:
After some thought I decided to sell my Alaitoc army to make way for more future painting projects.
I fired it all on ebay and got more than I expected which is nice and now i have room for painting more stuff!!!
Woohoo!
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Post by: Lennysmash
Fair enough, you have to keep it interesting after all. Any ideas how you will be proceeding? Dark Eldar expansions or something completely new?
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