Hello everyone!

Thanks for looking. I live in Japan and the recent nonsense has cramped my style. I made a full army order from maelstrom before the embargo fiasco and I have not cracked open a box from that order until now. I'm blogging the progress of my army and I have already calculated many details from paint choices to conversions. I have been planning to record this blog for as long as I have been planning this project.

Also, I'm waaaay out of practice in terms of both painting and modelling. To make matters more complicated I seem to have a complusion towards trying new and difficult things, granted I research like a fiend beforehand. I invite you to learn from my ... unique ... approach to the hobby, and what will no doubt be a adventure filled with many hobby challenges.

Right. First off, where the magic happens:



You should note that setting yourself up in the hobby we love is no small feat in Japan. Everything is expensive and tiny, and I am basically illiterate. This workstation is a friggin beast and I'm set to enjoy many seasons happily pursuing my projects. A good foundation is a must! It took a lot of time to get it just so.

I have a planned army that I can scale up or down. I like 1750 because its a pain in the ass point level and tests list building skills.

Haemonculous @ 60
Liquifier

3x Kabalite Trueborn w/ 3x Blasters
Venom w/ 2 Splinter Cannons @ 146

3x Kabalite Trueborn w/ 3x Blasters
Venom w/ 2 Splinter Cannons @ 146

3x Kabalite Trueborn w/ 3x Blasters
Venom w/ 2 Splinter Cannons @ 146

5x Kabalite Warriors w/ 1x Blaster @ 125
Venom w/ 2 Splinter Cannons

5x Kabalite Warriors w/ 1x Blaster @ 125
Venom w/ 2 Splinter Cannons

5x Kabalite Warriors w/ 1x Blaster @ 125
Venom w/ 2 Splinter Cannons

5x Kabalite Warriors w/ 1x Blaster @ 125
Venom w/ 2 Splinter Cannons

9 Wyches w/Haywire grenades @ 178
Raider w/Flickerfield

4x Beast Masters @ 228
10 Khymerae, 4 Razorwing Flocks

1x Ravager w/ 3x Dark Lances @ 115
w/Flickerfield

1x Ravager w/ 3x Dark Lances @ 115
w/Flickerfield

1x Ravager w/ 3x Dark Lances @ 115
w/Flickerfield

Lots of vehicles. Nothing wrong with venom spam; its very much in keeping with the fluff of a hit and run raiding force. People that say venom spam is boring, bore me.

Okay, so that's where I'm going with this project. I decided to start with the venoms. Something you should note is that I bought an airbrush last year and after turning it on to see how noisy it would be, I boxed it and never touched it again until this week. Holy feth, the airbrush is amazing! I'll write a post in P and M about my experiences with it. There is a learning curve to be sure, but I don't think anyone should be without one if they can afford it.

So...venoms...

My list has 7 of these gunships. My plans for this vehicle are as follows.

*had to do something eye catching with the canopy. I think the half windscreen looks stupid so that was out. I want to hide the pilot entirely, too. I wanted the venoms to scream "futuristic, advanced beyond your comprehension, sleek and deadly"
*I don't use wyches in my venoms, so I am replacing the gunner with a kabalite gunner.
*I want to include some bad ass kabal markings on the fusilage.
*The venom kit has a lot of bits, frankly I don't know what to do with all of them. I am planning for transportability so things like chain snares while awesome looking, will be left on the sprue.
*All bases replaced with resin bases with a strong rare earth magnet embedded in the drilled out center. All flight stands will be fully magnetized for maximum convenience.

On to the pics:



Seven venoms cut, cleaned, and assembled. Even the prep stage is time consuming. I'm methodical with this stage, moldlines etc. Good thing I multi-task by listening to audiobooks or lectures to pass the time.



I spent an afternoon shooting primer though my airbrush. I learned how this tool works by priming every base in the army and then I felt ready to hit a model. OMFG, amazing! Excuse me, but I've been into miniatures since the early to mid 90's and using an airbrush to prime after using GW spraycans for nearly 20 years was like... eating bowls of cereal with orange juice for 20 years and having someone tell you "hey man, have you ever tried it with milk?" Smooth thin coat but with good tooth. I used Vallejo black AB primer thinned with Vallejo AB thinner.



Next up, I wanted to get started on the canopies. I had a good idea kicking around my head for the past few months, but as usual I'd never seen it done, have never tried it myself, and didn't know at all what the results would be.

First, I would need to fill in the venom's windscreen. I was totally unsure how to do this. Then I remembered the tape I had squirreled away months ago from when I whould bust out the AB. Worked like a charm (hobby tools are a hobby all their own, I'm beginning to see).



Seperated the "glass" pieces



Then to work with fingers crossed!





There was a bit of clean up work which resulted in some primer lifting off as well.



I knew I would be going over the de-primed areas again with primer applied via brush.

Here they are as I left them, trimmed and touched up.



Here is something to give you a rough idea of the effect. This is a canopy BEFORE touch ups...I just wanted to check out the effect and whether the idea worked.

A last picture for what comes next to leave you with...



I would like to read what you have to say, don't be shy. This is the style of the blog.

Cheers, happy hobbying!

How did you do those windscreens?
They look incredible.

HOLY WOW what Ninja said. If thats not some crazy stencil then I can't even begin to fathom how much work that was or what steps you took to make that. Amazing looking venoms!

Thanks guys

I used a kind of adhesive decal (non water slide). Process was just as it appears in the photos.

I'm just having a really hard time figuring out what you did in between picture 5 and 6 where it goes from looking plain to having crazy detail, is picture 5 just the opposite side of the decal?

I was beginning to think it was freehand but i didn't know how someone could be so uniform like that.

Anyways I'll be tracking this blog really good job on the venom I'd love to do something like it on my own as I just painted the symbol and the inside and then painted the opposite edges and windshield cradle.

@ Helixfire: Thanks for the kind words. Picture 5 is just low adhesion masking tape. Picture 6 is the applied adhesive decal I mentioned in my last post. Look at the top right corner of photo 6 and the top left corner of photo 7; you'll notice bits left over from the process.

Seriously nice work on that base coat.
Wow.
I actually dropped an F-bomb OUT LOUD when I saw how good it turned out.

Eric

Haha, thanks Eric

I have applied a base color to the primed models and it came out a bit darker than I was expecting. I'll take some shots and update my progress today.

This looks really promising.

Looking forward to more.

Thanks, Speedfreak. I'll be keeping it interesting I think. Also, my updates should be fairly regular, so check back soon.

Those decals on the windscreen look great! How did you cut them out so neatly and how long did it take you?

I'm also interested in what company the decals are from. The hobby shops here in Hong Kong stock a lot of Japanese products (if those are actually Japanese decals) and I'd like to try them out in a future project. They might work well for Raider sails too.

Are you going to go over the basecoat with a lighter airbrushed highlight or are you planning some other method? I'll be watching this space!

Thanks for commenting on my stuff too!

That is a lot of venoms, and those are brilliant looking windows. I too would like to know where you acquired this

Thanks, Jon.

The windscreens took patience, which in turn produced a result that I'm happy with. I didn't really know if it would work until I was finished about 3 hours later. I believe Hasegawa produces the decal. I have something MUCH better planned for aethersails.

The color after the basecoat is somewhat problematic. I'm using a mixture of colors to get my basecoat. It came out darker than I had planned (green:blue:black) and more blue. The problem is that I want to reach a Jade green for my highlights and I'm going to have to mess around tweeking paint ratios the get the right color for the next step. I'm going to airbrush it over most of the nose and wings, leaving the recessed areas darker. Totally new territory for me though. I have been enjoying your stuff all month, so I'm happy to return the favor!



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Thanks, Kenshin!

I laugh at the fact that i can sort of understand the news papers!


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Oh and nise army Looks good!!!!

Lol, thanks Tech Guard! I can't read it myself

Update:

So I have managed to apply a base color to my venoms. The color is a custom mix of green, blue, and black as previously mentioned. I have come to rather like it. I think once I work up the highlights (if I can even figure THAT out), I think it will look pretty good. The wind screens aren't glued in yet for AB purposes.



At this point I really need some advice from advanced airbrushers. How do I break up the flatness of this base color? Where should the next coat be? I am feeling out of my league here.





I keep my WIP stuff in the display case because it is safe, out of the way, and dust proofed.

While I let the issue of how to proceed with the venoms marinate in my brain and out here for you all in my blog, I decided to proceed with some wyches. I have a concept for how I want to model the squad, but no idea how to apply the paint scheme from the venoms to an infantry model. All I know is that I want them to look sinister and deadly. I absolutely hate the Flinstones bones-in-the-ponytail wych heads. A soon as I saw the venom kit, I had a Eureka! moment. Stay tuned for that in a couple days. Also, I could really use some how to paint a palid skintone.

Here is the start of some infantry (basically an excuse for me to use the airbrush again). Those are cork rectangles and the bits are pinned using a .5mm pinvice bit and .5mm brass rod. A .5mm pinvice/brass rod is in my top 10 hobby tools for a successful project. I pin everything. Every joint and the foot/feet to the base. With plastic there is less need, but it's a habit. The one foot down, running wyches will all get the pinning treatment.



Comments, advice, and support are most welcome!

Thanks for looking!

Love the color scheme on the venoms.
How much was the airbrush you got for that?

It was around Y17000 with the compressor and other stuff, package deal.

Thanks for the compliment!

Stunning result on those windshields. I am literally in awe.

Looks great. Where did you find those decal sheets for the windows?

Thanks guys. I bought the decal sheets at the local neighborhood gundam shop (gotta love Japan sometimes...), which is actually a tiny family run shop, a stones throw from my house.

I have seen similar products many times at other model shops. All of the big Japanese names produce a range of decals.

It's always nice when you try something new and it works out. I hope my plan for the raider/ravager sails turns out as well.

epic work on this already, and barely past the base coat!! Looking forward to seeing more - what do you have planned for the sails? I struggled with these...

As for the raider/ravager aether sails, I figure they aren't fabric so why paint them like a sailing vessel from the 16th century? I have seen some cool ideas on the net and on dakka using decals or trying to create an effect mimicing futuristic technology. I'm going to try and simulate the effect of an "energy field" based sail. I can't really explain it better at this point but I have a idea of what I want it to look like.


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P.S. Thanks for the compliment

For gaming and transporting purposes, I recommend you not to glue the flying base to the Venom.
I think the best solution is to use magnetic bases.
I cut a plain wood nail to the right height and glue it in my base with the head upwards.
A rare earth magnet in the hull of the vehicle and it's all done.

Wow, brilliant windshields on those!

@ Speedfreak-- I totally agree with you. I have embedded a magnet into each skimmer base and have modified each flight stand to include another magnet. The ball joint seems okay though. The first time anything bad happens involving the ball-and-socket, off they will come.



@ Foxtale-- Thanks man! Your DE army is loaded with character and creativity, and is one of the crop of DE blogs I'm really enjoying. Keep it up!

JUST TO FOREWARN YOU--ALL PICTURES ARE TAKEN WITH A CELL PHONE, PHOTO QUALITY IS VERY POOR, BAD LIGHTING/BAD CAMERA, IT IS A CRIME

Here is the first of my wyches. The paintjob is much better in real life. The whole squad will have the same style of head. The head of this model is blue tacked. This is the first model I have painted in five years and it is good to finally be painting again! (my hobby had become largely collecting miniatures, browsing dakka, and the odd bit of modelling for the past 5 years)





I really need to get some advice on a good way to take pictures. Comments welcome!

A great start! Especially for not having painted for so long. I especially like the detail in the utility belt.

Using a white paper or two as a background usually helps.
And using two or even three laps at the same time.
Holding your camera against a flat surface to keep it still.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/The_Weazle/Tutorial%20Foto/01-1.jpg
Nowadays I usually take most pictures with my iPhone4,
and using these tips, the pictures turn out great.
(and sometimes the free photoshop-application)

edited (iPhone4)

@ Ysclyth-- Thanks very much for the kind words and the continued interest, it's appreciated.

@ Speedfreak-- So you use an iphone too, huh? Iphone 3 or 4? I hear 4 has a better camera. I will definately start using a white background and more light sources as per your advice. Thanks a lot for the feedback and helpful comments

Hey Everyone,

It's been a long time since I updated my Dark Eldar army blog. I have been busy with various things, but nevertheless I have found an hour or two, here or there, to chip away at the project. Recently, I reached two milestones which prompted the update: (1) all airbrush work is was completed and (2) everything has been based. So without further ado, I give you the Kabal of the Twisting Abyss. Please note the everything is still very much WIP (except for a single fully painted wyche)

Raider and 3 Ravagers. Note that they have been fully magnetized.



Lots of warriors in stage 1 painting (basecoated in my creepy Commorogh kabal green)



First few kabalite warriors painted up but still rough/WIP. Should give you an Idea of the color scheme.



The best ride for the discerning slaver.



A proper beastly unit.



My wyche unit in the foreground, Urien chilling in the back.



There is still lots to come. They army has a long way to go but things are moving forward. Thanks for looking, feel free to comment.






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Sorry, I missed a photo of my true born. Here they are:



Thanks!

Good to see you posting again, I was wondering where you had gone.

That customized glass display case of yours is really a great way of presenting the miniatures. In particular, the beast unit is looking very promising. I like the silhouette created by having the flying rippers at such different heights. I thought about doing mine that way but decided against it for ease of transport reasons.

It's amusing how Flying Rippers seem to have become almost the default choice of model for Razorwing Flocks over the official "seagull" minis.

Thanks for the support, Jon.

The razorwing flocks are by far my least favorite models in the DE range. Flyings rippers make a great stand in. I'm a little stuck on a color scheme for them though.

Maybe paint the rippers as the converse of the beasts, mostly bone with a little red? It'd tie the unit together nicely.

Maybe paint the rippers as the converse of the beasts, mostly bone with a little red? It'd tie the unit together nicely

You know, I am digging this advice. Personally, I was thinking bodies in orange with a mottled/striped effect and wings light (membrane) but really ??

Orange sounds like it could work out really well, too.

I just finished my first of three dark eldar ravagers. I'm resurrecting my paint blog too. Please leave comments and feel free to follow the blog for future process. Everything on the model (base, turrets, sail, trophies, banner) has been magnetized.

I like it! Nice vibrant blue-green you have, I can't help but feel some kind of markings on the hull would help it though.

Thanks

I think you're right, but I'm not confident in my ability to freehand a nice big kabal symbol, ideally pink and evil-looking.

The sails are great! How did you made them?

It looks like all sorts of fun in here!

I very much share your approch to the hobby and never really like to do anything the *easy way*

Keep up the great work and I will keep watching while my work keeps me from my hobby

Oh my - that teal/green looks so damn nice! Haha seriously makes me want to reassess my paint scheme. Great looking force!

Lovely colour choice! I'm a big fan of the glossy helmets on the wytches too, I do it aswell and it looks great and adds more eye candy, also loving the idea for those gold cockpits on the venoms!

The Ravager looks very nice, the sail looks very pearlescent, does it change colours?

holy crap, you're alive! good to see you painting again, mate. welcome back

The sails are actually made from a translucent film which I trimmed and adhered to the sail. I painted it grey underneath to get the intended effect you see.

The teal green is a custom blend of green, blue, and black.

Thanks for the comments guys!

I just discovered this blog as I'm just beginning a DE army. The color scheme is one of my hardest decision points. The other is how to paint the Ravagers.

When you used the airbrush, how many pieces was your Ravager? Did you paint all the pieces separate, then assemble. The flooring and all the masts/misc. decorations appear to take a large amount of time to paint if they were on the Ravager when airbrushing.

Great blog so far. Looking forward to seeing more progress. Great inspiration.

Thanks, Sarigar.

Color scheme are really tough for DE. Which schemes are on your short list?

FYI, I airbrushed everything together with the basecoat. They were actually my first attempt at airbrushing. The coat is so thin you can paint right over it with virtually no downside. Happy you're enjoying this blog!

Also, I just finished the third of three Dark Eldar Ravagers. All pieces magnetized. Please let me know what you think. Also, the pictures are basic: I don't have boxes, good lighting or fancy backgrounds :(

Incredible army and painting. I'm in the middle of a DE blog as well, but yours has just blown me away. The list itself for 1750 looks good and competitive too, I just can't bring myself to take 3 man blaster trueborn units- too fragile!

I am in awe of your skills!

The ravager sails and venom screens are amazing.

I am going to be buying a dark eldar army off a friend soon with a similar list to yours.

My 1500pt list will have 5 squads in venoms, 1 in a raider, plus 1 ravager and 2 razorwings (my first time at using fliers even though I also have eldar and chaos armies).

Not sure on the mix of units I will be taking yet. I am thinking mostly kabalites, with possibly a small unit or two of wracks and a larger unit of wyches in the raider (or incubi perhaps?).

Thanks Scoundrel13, Rohansoldier.

To be honest, that list was a 5th edition list. These days I'm thinking eldar allies are needed to make dark eldar competitive. What do you think?


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Total Roster Cost: 1996

HQ: Baron Sathonyx (105 pts)

HQ: Farseer (120 pts)
Singing Spear, Jetbike

Elite: Wraithguard (290 pts)
5 Wraithguard
Wave Serpent, TL Scatter Lasers + Shuriken Cannon

Troops: Kabalite Warriors (120 pts)
5 Kabalite Warriors
Venom, Splinter Cannon + Night Shields

Troops: Kabalite Warriors (120 pts)
5 Kabalite Warriors
Venom, Splinter Cannon + Night Shields

Troops: Guardian Defenders (220 pts)
10 Guardian Defenders
Wave Serpent, TL Scatter Lasers + Shuriken Cannon

Troops: Guardian Defenders (220 pts)
10 Guardian Defenders
Wave Serpent, TL Scatter Lasers + Shuriken Cannon

Fast Attack: 3 Beastmasters (156 pts)
5 Khymerae, 4 Razorwing Flocks

Heavy Support: Ravager (120 pts)
Night Shields

Heavy Support: Ravager (115 pts)
Night Shields

Heavy Support: Ravager (115 pts)
Night Shields

Heavy Support: Wraithknight (300 pts)
Wraithknight
Suncannon, Scattershield, Scatterlaser

Hey all,

Started getting some work in detailing my first venom. Let me know what you think.

Still looking great man what 3 years on?

How do you do the cockpits I gathered it was a decal but where from?

Thanks, Desert Raider.

I dropped DE mid 5th to work on a Tyranid army. However, the new nid codex really blows so I resumed my DE project that had been on hold.

As for the decal used for the windscreens... It's a Japanese decal company thats widely available here, but I cant remember the name. I believe the product was "carbon fibre something".

Looks like you really had a change of pace with the colours from your early work 'till now, though I do have to say I am liking the brighter blue. The glass for the cockpits is just incredibly groovy as well, really well done on that one.

Ahh yeah I've found it its from hasegawa ill post a link for people
http://www.hasegawausa.com/product-pages/hsgs7817.html

Lovely looking models, as always

Makes me want to dig my DE out and give them a splatter!

Thanks guys!

@Desert Raider: that's the one!

Hey guys,

Here are two Dark Eldar venoms I finished recently. I wanted to have kabalite gunners instead of wych gunners because I like the aesthetic of warriors more. The gunners are magnetized, as are the bases and flying stands. It's just way easier to magnetize things, especially for transport. They are basically set, except for a black wash on the metal for one and some small pouch detailing and eyes, etc.

Let me know what you think!

Those look great, AesSedai! I really like how you can see more of the bases with these venoms.

@ Moltar: Thanks Yeah, I'm enjoying how the bases are turning out, too.

So I wanted to make a customized Baron Sathonyx to lead my soon-to-be converted beast pack. Because he and the beast masters are converted from the hellion kit, I wanted to make him stand out as an HQ level character should. I took some ideas from other cool Sathonyx conversions and bashed up my own version. Be aware he is not attached to the board yet.

To convert the sky board to boss size I chopped up two extra rudders from from the ravager kit and attached them to the hellion sky board using a technique I learned a while ago; basically, you gather some plastic shavings and fine plastic dust and mix it into plastic glue to create a "slurry". You then use the slurry as a 2-in-1 adhesive gap filler. Lastly, you just sand it smooth. I find its easier and faster than using green stuff for a job like this.

The Baron himself is a kit bash of a raider hanger-on with bits shaved off and the cape is from the IoB mage shaved and filed to fit. Severed head flail, spear, and impaled skull ornaments are all from the ravager kit, I think. The arms have been chopped up and repositioned with pins and epoxy.

Happy hobbying!

This stuff is looking pretty frickin' amazing, that baron is by far one of the best I've seen in a while. Keep up the good work

There's two things I really appreciate. One is Dark Eldar by default and the other is extensive conversion work. This thread has both! I really like the custom Baron Sathonyx model you're working on. And your army's color scheme is beautiful in its simplicity. Keep at it! I want to see more!

Epic thread. Consider me subbed.

Thanks, guys. Your support helps to motivate me!

Up next are 5 kymerae. You can see the models earlier in this thread, but I wasn't satisfied with the red studio scheme I had done originally, so I re-primed them (by hand; 10 vallejo grey primer: 5 acrylic thinner: 5 VMC white) and started a new scheme. I wanted to try a multiple layer approach to see the effect. So far I've done 2 layers of: 7 parts VGC fleshtone shade: 7 parts "AesSedai thinning blend" (9 parts Future/1 part water): 1 park violet ink. I pleased with the effect so far.

I am wondering using a metallic like oily steel, washed and dulled down would look good. I don't think bone is the way forward here. Any thoughts?

I wanted something more suggestive of another dimension rather than the gruesome, but ultimately organic, inside out scheme. Also, I had the idea to try a completely new technique that I had heard about many times: glazing. I re-primed the models by hand with a custom very light grey and then painted them using successive layers of glazes. I feel it was a great learning experience, I'm happy with the results, and they will look more cohesive with the whole army, I think. Also, these metal models are really nice...been a while since I've painted metal.

Please let me know what you think, thanks.

Wow, blasted to page 2 without comment...

No love for khymerae?

They look brilliant, love the colour!
The basing is also top notch

Thanks, Hoe!

I think maybe I'll push through the whole pack now. So, I guess that will be 4x "razorwing" swarms (using FW flying rippers), 3x beastmasters, and the Baron.

Anyone have any thoughts on a good scheme for the "razorwings"?

Dark grey would look nice on the Razorwings and really fleshy looking wings that are sort of like bat wings with veins and tissue visable, I think that would look pretty cool
And It would contrast with the brightness of your other models.

Was wondering if I should go contrasting or complimentary. I also have a Tyranid army, but I doubt I'll every use flying rippers. Even so, I wonder if I should just use that scheme on these razorwings.

Dark grey with which other color do you think?

A vibrant pinkish colour? I think it would go with the turquoise colour of your army and also with the khymerae.
Or even a more organic colour like bone or brown?

Yeah, a strong vibrant pink is the way forward, I think.

Hi, I just finished 4 bases of count as razorwings for my dark eldar. Let's face it, the original models are terrible and FW flying rippers are pretty much the default choice for most players. I don't really enjoy resin models, but I found them to be the best choice here. You can see more of my dark eldar in my painting blog. Comments welcome.

It's been on the shelf for too long...

Found myself a bit burnt out on painting, so I decided to switch up my project to get the juices flowing again. I had planned to convert 8 grotesques a couple years ago and even bought the bits, but it got shelved and I moved on to other things. Anyway, I had a lot of fun with the models and I'm really happy with how they turned out. Please share your opinions.











Then there were two converted from the screaming bell rat ogre, which had a ridiculous pose and a weird open hand, but based suitably and reposed, look like a psychotic Beast from Xmen







Notice i ground down the base to just the ____ worm that he's "floating" on. I wanted him to have a hex-rifle slung across his back just for any future wysiwyg players and also for the coolness factor. I took it from the wrack kit, agonizer from wyches, skull trophies from hellions kit, I think...and the little talos arms of course!







I will eliminate the mold lines on the mini arms, fyi!

New house, new country, new hobby space, and oh Yeah, new edition of 40K! Dark Eldar-ahem Drukhari-are back in the table! Here is that haemy now painted, grots to follow!

This was a finecast model and the first time I've picked up a brush in over 6 months, so two strikes right away lol. Anyway, I still have some small touch ups here and there and the base needs to be painted, but this HQ is looking close to complete.

No comments :( Oh well...

Here are some super zoomed in sneak peeks of what I've been working on. Check out that skin! Really like it.

Absolutely amazing blog - just logged in to comment!

Love the beast pack and the amount of work you've put into everything.

these dark eldar are superb! will be following!

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the support! Got a bunch more Drukhari coming down the pipe.

The grots are coming along, not done yet, but getting there. I made a new rule for myself that I will paint everything to completion before moving on to the next project. That means following through on all details then gloss/matte sealing. I have a bad habit of leaving the last 5% unfinished. Anyway, very happy with how they have turned out! Some weathering and highlights as well as vials still missing. Please comment and/or critique, it is appreciated! More pics will be coming once they have been fully completed.

Damn! They look really good. Rat Ogres with Talos parts, correct?

Dude! How have I missed this? Those rat-ogre Grotesques look absolutely perfect really, really nice work

 Azazelx wrote:
Damn! They look really good. Rat Ogres with Talos parts, correct?

Yessir. Thank you!

@ Ynneadwraith: Stop by again, lots more coming

Those guys are just a success all around. Conversions, color choice, paint. Love 'em.

 youwashock wrote:
Those guys are just a success all around. Conversions, color choice, paint. Love 'em.

Thank you!

Since my mother is visiting I haven't had time to paint anything this week. But here is a mini-update that got like no reaction in the fiction forum:

The thought just occurred to me earlier this week that writing a small fiction to complement my painting might be fun. I banged it out in just under two hours and it was a nice little exercise. I like how it turned out.. Curious what others think--anyone care to comment? If you enjoy it, I might do something similar for each model or unit I paint.

"Delicious" grinned Kelzarel, wizened lips parting in crooked smile as he admired his refection gleaming in the motionless onyx visors of his newest creations. Like an evil thought, severed and given form, he floated down their assembled ranks. How many souls had he sacrificed to get here, he mused. Thousands. Tens of thousands. A small price to pay to give his vision form. He was an artist. A sculptor of bone and tissue. He mind drifted back to the day he saw the Arch Haemonculous Rakarth unveil his newest creations. "Grotesques" the master had named them, and throughout the covens the name was whispered like a thunderclap. A personal challenge to every would-be sculptor. Kelzarel would have tasted bile, had he the internal organs to produce it, at the thought.

He drew first upon those most readily available: his rivals. By means most foul he began to cull the unlucky. Bargaining with the promise pain and power, the very currency of the Dark City, the haemonculous gained the support of the archon of the Kabal of the Twisting Abyss. Immediately, Kelzarel's underground workshops began to scream and shudder with activity. Two hundred cloning vats held his prizes, like an ungodly nest filled with monstrous eggs. With a malefic chuckle, he thought back on his foolishness in those early days. He remembered how his dolls twitched at the dissolving of their existing bone tissue and and how they contorted as he filled the resulting cavities with new, enhanced bones. Perhaps it was haste that caused the miscalculation. As the growth began to escalate, the dolls began to pop audibly in their vats. It was not a total loss, however, as it did provide Kelzarel and his apprentices a welcome diversion from their labours. The failures would of course be liquified and used a nutrients for the next batch; Kelzaral would not tolerate waste. It would set a bad example, after all.

And so it went, year after year, failure after failure. Green-skin, pink-skin, and grey-skin, all were transformed under his loving touch. His fevered mind would not be denied. Perched on his platform high above chamber, Kelzarel would conduct them all with a gesture from one of his appendages--an elegant custom he had grafted for just this purpose-- and his minions would set to work. Great symphonies of blood he lead. The shriek of drills and dermatomes, the solid crack of retractors, and the gentle song of the harmonic scalpels. Such music he made!

It was only on the Hive world of Lastrati, that the Kelzarel made the breakthrough he had been seeking. The inhabitants, in their primitive quest to find genetic perfection, sought out all manner of ritual. Perhaps it was the touch of the ruinous powers or something native to their homeworld that altered them. Regardless of the cause, the cults of Lastrati had come under the most unpleasant gaze of the master himself, Urien Rakarth. The great haemonculous unceasingly scoured the galaxy for samples to add to his genetic library and to this end, he dispatched one of his lieutenants, the Croniarch Sekh, to raid Lastrati. Kelzarel had long ago placed agents in the coven of the master. Dutifully, Kelzarel's spy, a wretched little apprentice by the name of Crehndera, brought the details to Kelzarel in exchange for the antidote to a rather horrific concoction that rendered her genetic material useless for alteration. After hearing of the plan and liquifying Crehndera, Kelzarel immediately dispatched his Kabal allies to seize the prize. The lightning raid took only eleven of the crude monkeigh minutes, and the entire cult was removed from the face of Lastrati.

Such beautiful flesh he found. Slowly, he crafted their bones. Gently, he layered sheet after sheet of dark muscle. Lovingly, he pulled and repositioned organ after organ. Finally, he anointed them will the blend of compounds he named after himself, for like him, the cocktail was perfect. And thus tens of thousands of deaths were distilled into these eight. Towering above even an astartes, Kelzarel's grotesques would drag untold thousands back to the Dark City. The thought warmed Kelzarel as he drifted away from the uniformly motionless, upturned visors of his creations.

Harmonic scalpels. I heartily approve.

Hell yeah! I'm a sucker for well written fluff, and you've certainly delivered on that front

Those grotesques are amazing!!!

EDC

Thanks for the extra motivation, guys!

Continuing to work on my Dark Eldar and I realized that rather than keeping all Aeldari completely seperate visually across the subfactions, I'll treat them with the same color scheme and try to make use of a variety of bits to blur the distinctions a bit.

Im happy with the modeling on this Farseer. I think the result is an thematically intriguing character to lead the force. Looking forward to getting it painted and writing some fluff. Please let me know what you think.

Neat i like the idea of blurring together the aesthetics of DE amd CWE for Ynnari. Looking good so far too i like the sort of palanquin thing you've got going. Makes him look like a preacher

He's a cool piece. I like the way you have dressed up the weapons platform.

My goodness this army is awesome!!!

gasping aside, i love your colour scheme and the grotesque conversions keep it up Lad

Cheers

Those grotesques are gorgeous ( I realize how contradictory that sounds!). Great painting and palette.

Thanks so much for the motivation, guys! I just moved to the US, so I literally have no one to speak to about models. This really helps keep me from getting bored or unfocused.

I need to do a few touch ups and convert a 30mm base, but he's almost there. I'm happy with the way I've integrated an Eldar model fully into my Drukhari, as that was a big part of what I set out to achieve. Let me know what you think!

With the Farseer basically done (hobby ADD prevents anything from actually being completely finished), I decided to move on to some troops. I bought a box of wracks at the height of the finecast debacle and I remember thinking "these are SO bad" and getting another box sent out for free. Then the replacements were also subpar so I got a third box for free as replacements. Granted they were still usable, but they were basically the worst quality model that was commercially available and totally a massive facepalm. Anyway, i ended up chopping about 4 of them up for conversions (araby slave archers) a while back and so I still have 11 with plans to grab a couple boxes more. The models are riddled with bubbles, so I've swapped about half their hands with wych knife hands and I must say it helped. Hopefully, an attentive paintjob can render them to the same approximate standard as the rest of the force. All in all, for 1/3 the price and these being basic troops, I'm okay with it either way.

Assembled, converted, primed, and minor pinning:



A sample of how bad the quality is:

Slow going this week, but got in a bit of progress on the wracks:



And a little more progress:



Nothing too exciting, just trying to plow through some infanty. I expect to have them finished my Monday.

Wracks are coming along nicely, but I love that Farseer!