Hello fellow hobbyists ~

I haven't posted much here since finishing my Grey Knights last year. That's because I was bored out of my mind without a painting project so I started another army lol.

My Dark Eldar army would primarily be a hobby army to try new techniques (airbrushing), and play with more conversions and kit bashing. They would represent one of the twilight kabals that steal entire stars into the webway, dooming entire sectors. Their color scheme represents the twilight's edge and all the colors you would find in a sunset. The actual theme of the army is a traveling circus of sorts featuring freaks, monsters, and troupes of performers.

Progress on the army from the beginning can be found HERE

Kabalite Warrior


Kabalite Treuborn w/ Blaster


Grotesque - The army will feature 10 of these as a centerpiece unit.



Clawed Fiend - (counts as) A goal of this army project was to avoid metal, finecast, and minimize costs. It features a bunch of plastic fantasy models converted into grotesques and beasts.



Khymera


Hope you like 'em!

The army is actually fully assembled and base coated, these are just the first of many to be finished and based.

Very colorful and unique scheme I must say the Grotesque is my Favorite.

Lovely models, but Pain means Bread in french. So, you've named your army Circus Of Bread.

The Grotesques are wonderful, though.

LOL, thanks for the head's up. What's french for pain? ^-^

Mmmmmmmm bread I appreciate your unique theme to your paint scheme, and the blending color is very well done.

I think its "peine".

But "Pain" just sounds better

Vendetta 476 wrote:I think its "peine".

That sadness

Pain is ''Douleur'' so Cirque de la Douleur

Is "Douleur" femine?

It seems more like a masculine word.

As in "Circque du Douleur"

Cirque de la douleur, I confirm.

You did not choose a simple scheme. Will every armour bear the blend between metal, violet and red?

Hmm... Only "Cirque de la douleur" is bit of a mouthful to say.

Seb wrote:Cirque de la douleur, I confirm.

You did not choose a simple scheme. Will every armour bear the blend between metal, violet and red?

Yes, here's a group shot of the kabalite units of the army.

I must say, I really like the ideas of ogres? as grotesques and the new VC plastics as beasts. Good job, Aaron. If I were doing a DE army, I would've done something similar. Are those Talos/Cronos helms that they're wearing? How many of those come in a box?

Yeah talos helms. Each talos kit comes with 6 heads and plenty of tentacles. It took two boxes of ogres and two talos kits to make 10 grotesques and 2 talos. Ends up being about 40% cheaper than buying 10 finecast grotesques and 2 talos.

Here's a grotesque teaser pic. Just ignore the unfinished bases.

Did you free hand the tatoos?

Phenominal!

Yeah buddy.

My GK's placed 4th out of 98 at DaBoyz GT in appearance, missing only conversions and freehand. This army will be loaded with both to see if I can do even better.

Incredible work mate. Inspiring.

Such a gorgeous looking army

Cant wait to see more

hyv3mynd wrote:buying 10 finecast grotesques

Yeah, not gonna happen.

puma713 wrote:

hyv3mynd wrote:buying 10 finecast grotesques

Yeah, not gonna happen.

Yes, I don't think you want a bunch of dancing, topless gorillas in your army.

Great work. I like the airbrushing, and the color schemes... but especially the name.

Why do the Ogres have holes in their stomachs? Not a WHFB player.

Regular ogres have a belly plate that goes there. Instead, I sculpted some organs and plan to fill it with water effects. Some sort of portal so the haemonculi can fiddle with their innards.

Looks awesome, my only complaint is with those bellyholes in the ogres/grotesques. Those pants that suddenly stop right at the edge of the holes don't seem right. I would have gs'ed them a little more natural.

Alternately, you could lay them on their backs, fill the holes with clear resin, do rivets around the rim, and paint the rims of the bellies to give them "windows"/portholes into those innards. That would be pretty... grotesque.

That's what I have in mind with the water effects. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to use the ogre plates and cut out the centers or scupt the rims.

hyv3mynd wrote:

Seb wrote:Cirque de la douleur, I confirm.

You did not choose a simple scheme. Will every armour bear the blend between metal, violet and red?

Yes, here's a group shot of the kabalite units of the army.

Spoiler:

Side by side, these are just gorgeous.
/awe.

They look fantastic. Really nice colour scheme and the freehand on the grotesques is very good.

Ouze wrote:Alternately, you could lay them on their backs, fill the holes with clear resin, do rivets around the rim, and paint the rims of the bellies to give them "windows"/portholes into those innards. That would be pretty... grotesque.

Very beautiful work!

If you can find some way to turn those perfectly-edged circles in their abdomen into portholes, that would be completely F'd up and awesome.

That is so nastily cool!

Thanks for posting this. I've been looking for Grotesque conversions my self, and had considered using Ogre's from WHFB range, but wasn't sure. Having seen yours, I am pretty sure I'll go with that idea. The other one I considered were the Crypt horrors, which you seem to prefer to uses as Clawed fiends. Question, ;Were the Talos/ Cronos parts as easily workable with the Crypt horrors as they were with the Grotesques, or were there some Major problems that would prevent me from using them together, ( Iam focusing on the Helmet/ facial region) Where I am right now, I don't have a gaming store to inspect them, just Online info and pics. So rather than order a box only to find out they were'nt at all compatable, thought I'd ask you. Second Question: Your Tattoos on the Grotesques is spectacular! I was just awe struck. Do you free hand them or draft them on the body with pencil first? Or do you have a better technique you'd care to share? Thanks again, very inspiring an dI am sure I am going to follow the path you set out on, (As I too wish to avoid Finecast as much as possible).

Very Beautiful models. Your paint job is wonderful.

azazel the cat wrote:If you can find some way to turn those perfectly-edged circles in their abdomen into portholes, that would be completely F'd up and awesome.

I was going to say something similar. Can you add something around the circles to make them look rougher or uneven? They stand out and weaken the look of the model.

First, thanks everyone for the kind words.

worldwarme wrote:Thanks for posting this. I've been looking for Grotesque conversions my self, and had considered using Ogre's from WHFB range, but wasn't sure. Having seen yours, I am pretty sure I'll go with that idea. The other one I considered were the Crypt horrors, which you seem to prefer to uses as Clawed fiends. Question, ;Were the Talos/ Cronos parts as easily workable with the Crypt horrors as they were with the Grotesques, or were there some Major problems that would prevent me from using them together, ( Iam focusing on the Helmet/ facial region) Where I am right now, I don't have a gaming store to inspect them, just Online info and pics. So rather than order a box only to find out they were'nt at all compatable, thought I'd ask you. Second Question: Your Tattoos on the Grotesques is spectacular! I was just awe struck. Do you free hand them or draft them on the body with pencil first? Or do you have a better technique you'd care to share? Thanks again, very inspiring an dI am sure I am going to follow the path you set out on, (As I too wish to avoid Finecast as much as possible).

The clawed fiend is a bit larger than the ogres, check out the vargheist in this pic. I use them for razorwings.



You can probably see the talos helm and weapons would fit, but the amount of modelling and sculpting would be immense in comparison. Go for it if you want to, I bet grotesques made with crypt fiends would be even more epic than mine. The tattoos are freehand. I look at the DE codex when I'm doing them, but there's no sketching or planning. I just mix some black and blue and hope I don't botch it up.

@ AdeptSister ~ Yeah I'm planning on working on that area as a finishing touch, but I want to get the army painted and based first.

Amazing...

Simply amazing...

Very nice color use and blending them all!

that is some great airbrush work! Nice choice of colors.

Ashton

Come on, show us some bases!

These really need bases to finish them off

You Sir can paint.

Truly inspiring work

I don't think it can be overstated just how good your flesh tone & muscle shading it on the ogrotesques.

The gray to red on kabalites, I really don't like the scheme but it is painted very nicely, I will give you credit on that. But I love and plan to steal your ogre conversion idea. Thanks alot.

They look so good dude!

Just on a side note, that translates from french to circus of bread... not a very scary DE name

Anyway, love the painting and the models !

Nice :-) Excellent selection of colour and the sort of "muted" look work brilliantly bring your models to life. Like!

This is excellent.

Great looking conversions ! and paint job.

I love your miniatures. They look really cool. They are perfectly painted and the color scheme is very nice. Top Notch.

UnCool Villain wrote:Very colorful and unique scheme I must say the Grotesque is my Favorite.

Agreed, the grotesque is truly awesome

hyv3mynd wrote:Yeah talos helms. Each talos kit comes with 6 heads and plenty of tentacles. It took two boxes of ogres and two talos kits to make 10 grotesques and 2 talos. Ends up being about 40% cheaper than buying 10 finecast grotesques and 2 talos.

That is brilliant! I like your army a lot - the colours are very appropriate for the DE faction and the finish is flawless!

I hope to see more of this fantastic troupe!

So cool. Great use of the airbrush!

The skin tone on the Grotesque is very realistic. I love it. The paint application is also very smooth and the color transition well done.

Any chance we could get a tutorial, because I'm sorry if I missed it but I didn't see it on the website

Looks nice and......colorful

Those grotesques are absolutely bitchin.

Thanks everyone. I have a lot more coming but I do bases last so it'll be a bit longer before I do another batch and "finish" more models.

@ theangrysquig - tutorial on what exactly? I can find one or write one.

Oh sorry, on that Vargheist, the blue is stunning beyond belief

purty colours.........

Very purty...

Awesome airbrush work. I love all the custom units but mostly the ogre grotesques. The open gut and limb modifications(not to mention the awesome masks) are by far my favorite.

Hey Hyvemynd, loving the army and my only suggestion is maybe to add some harlequins, what kind of circus doesn't have killer clowns?! Ha ha, I realized it after reading your reports, I also think they would make a great unit to drop a webway portal with if you ever decide to portal out the grotesques

Like the the 40k and fantasy miss.
Keep up the great work.

Personally, I would love to fight the "circus of bread" ..

FEAR the Croissant!

OT: Damn.. that is some nice pain'ing.. but I find the nice circular holes in the center of the grotestques to be off putting.. ragged holes, or triangular, etc.. would be a bit better and more "artiste".. but the "porthole" concept is pretty good.

Thanks for the kind words and constructive criticism.

@ redcorsair ~ Harlequins were my original delivery method for webways, but are too fragile against an early rush and I need the haemi's alive to make the groteqsues fearless. I do have the models, but haven't figured out a way to work them in yet.

@ everyone about the gut portals ~ I will put more work into the gut portals once all 10 grotesques are done so don't worry. In the meantime, you'll just have to enjoy their suckyness hah.

mayfist wrote:Just on a side note, that translates from french to circus of bread... not a very scary DE name

Anyway, love the painting and the models !

Already made that point

So I took your tip and made my Grotesques up extremely similar to yours. I'll be posting them when They are painted up. Thanks ever so much for sharing good intel. I have one thought on the Gut portals, which I see nothing wrong with by the way. Seeins as you've put the effort in to making Guts and such on them, why not pick up water effects to fill it in with. The gap is filed, the guts are showing and we can all see what they eat!( I filled minewith tin foil and greenstuff.)

4oursword wrote:

mayfist wrote:Just on a side note, that translates from french to circus of bread... not a very scary DE name

Anyway, love the painting and the models !

Already made that point

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is no french.

@ worldwarme - Can't wait to see yours. My plan is to cut out the centers of the ogre plates and paint them up. I'll glue them in place and fill in the hole with water effects.

FEAR THE WHOLE GRAIN! FEAR IT!!!

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is no french.

LOL. Yay!!!!! (sorry to all my friends in Quebec, but still: Yayyyyyy!!!!)

Wow these models are fantastic, i love the blending you have done with the armor. i strive to blend that well one day.

The blending on your models is superb and i really like the Ogre/Grotesques. Keep it up!

That's the most original take on the DE I've see - really outstanding! Great work sticking to the overall army theme while being unique.

Really nice work...

...Bread...snigger...

Love it still any work on the bases ?

Love the colors you've chosen to go with. The blend looks great. Generally im not a fan of tribal tattoos on people, but they look fantastic on the grotesques. I also really like the ruined bases, great grey tones used. Finally I like that you are one of the only painters ive seen that adorned the DE with gems. I think its only right if they are from the Eldar branch that gems should be found somewhere in their armory. Amazing start to your army.

I really love the color transition on the Kabolites/wychs! Well done sir.

Nice color scheme

It's been a while since I put work into this army. I was running my other armies at the end of 5th and 6th initially killed my DE with the new reserve rules and inability to assault out of a WWP.

After much playtesting and soul searching, I returned to this project in hopes to finish it for DaBoyz GT 2012 in November. I worked in some allies and changed the build of the army a bit to account for the new rules.

Over the past couple weeks, I've been working on HQ's and basing.



Above are Lady Malys, Baron Sathonyx, and Maugan Ra. My three evil ringleaders of this twisted circus.

More pics coming soon as I attempt to finish the army over the next 6 weeks.

I adore all of these HQ guys. I'm surprised how well the purple on Maugan Ra works. Love your conversion of the Baron, too.

Wow!!! Just Wow!!!
How did you get the blue-tinge to the flesh? that's what I've been trying for with my "Kabal of the Empty Threat" (I call them that, because I have yet to win with them )

Those grotesques are amazing, love the freehand tattoos.

How are you doing your bases, by the way? They look great. What materials are you using, and would you mind shooting a couple of WiP shots next time you make one?

Thanks everyone.

@ Kvlt ~ Basing tutorial is here:
http://synaps3.blogspot.com/2012/09/batching-bases.html

@ Skipphag ~ Can you expand on "blue tinge"? I'm not sure what you mean.

I'm trying for an elven skin tone, but with a slightly blue-ish tinge, like they aren't quite getting enough oxygen... It could be the lighting, or the camera... But the skin tone on your model, is exactly what I've been trying to get.

I started with a base of bronzed flesh, with a blue ink wash (very old paints), and then drybushing with lighter and lighter shades of elf flesh... But it's just not coming out quite right...

Ahh, I have a salt water reef aquarium not far from my hobby area and it's possible the blue actinic light is showing on some models. There's no blue in the flesh mix. I use (FolkArt) Dark Brown, then Honeycomb, Tapioca, and Ivory White for the flesh tones.

Where did you get that helmet on the Baron?

This paint job really gives you an appreciation for the newish models. These certainly aren't your grandfather's dark eldar models.

Your army is amazing, and embodies so many things I intended to do (10 Ogre Grotesques (to go with my Dryad Grotesques as Urien Boosted versions'), Vargheist kits for things, same beasts I intend to use. xD) and shows just how amazingly it can turn out.

I love the models and the paintjob, and will be interestd in seeing what you do next.

Been following your blog as Synaps3 ever since I found a picture of an airbrushed venom of yours on a google search. These HQs are looking excellent. Even more amazing when you consider that you're using regular art shop acrylic paints.

 TheAngrySquig wrote:
Where did you get that helmet on the Baron?

I used this model for Lady Malys:
http://www.ragingheroes.com/collections/complete-collection/products/asharah-sf-28mm

It comes with 2 heads so I used the one with a helmet on the Baron which is just a hellion with the special helm and a cloak from a plastic fantasy model.

 hyv3mynd wrote:
@ Kvlt ~ Basing tutorial is here:
http://synaps3.blogspot.com/2012/09/batching-bases.html

Thanks! That plaster trick is great, going to have to try that.

 hyv3mynd wrote:

 TheAngrySquig wrote:
Where did you get that helmet on the Baron?

I used this model for Lady Malys:
http://www.ragingheroes.com/collections/complete-collection/products/asharah-sf-28mm

It comes with 2 heads so I used the one with a helmet on the Baron which is just a hellion with the special helm and a cloak from a plastic fantasy model.

Thanks!

looks great dude, did you consider using the crypt horrors as grotesque? I thought about that a few months back and cannot wait to try it out. At one point I will have the money and time to do that.

cheers

Wow! Great painting. I love the colour scheme, and all the little (and big) conversions in your force!
Beautiful airbrushing! (It is airbrushed isn't it?)

Amazing art style. Will a paint comp, let you use a non-gw model?

@ Gutsnagga ~ Yup, airbrushed basecoats with hand painted highlights and shadows.

@ Spaz ~ Not sure. Never entered a painting competition before. My GK took 4th overall in appearance at DaBoyz GT 2011 so my only goal for this army was to beat my own personal best.

Spaz431 wrote:
Amazing art style. Will a paint comp, let you use a non-gw model?

I highly doubt anyone cares. He should be fine.

Those paint jobs are great

Brill. They look very nice.

I like the colors for the beasts, and the grotesques are awesome.

Did some work on the jetfighter this week. It still needs some highlights on the cockpit and someday some glyphs, but time is short so this is it for now.

That is some nice blending! Did you use an airbrush?

I really dig this army, your colors are so vibrant yet muted, it has mega visual appeal. Your conversion work is also top notch. I really love your blues, they are so eye-catching. You're gonna have one hell of an army when you're done!

After much debate and waffling over which army to take to DaBoyz GT 2013, I decided to revisit this army. This time though, it will be Eldar + Dark Eldar thanks to the new codex.

Here are the first models I've finished for the addition.



Everything else is in various stages of completion so new pics will be trickling in over the next 8 weeks.

When you shoot your boys with color, what steps do you take?

do you start with white or black primed models , and do you shoot the arms seperately?

What color do you start with and then finish with...

Thanks !!

BTW-- fantastic blending on your jet bro!!

 FarseerAndyMan wrote:
When you shoot your boys with color, what steps do you take?

do you start with white or black primed models , and do you shoot the arms seperately?

What color do you start with and then finish with...

Thanks !!

BTW-- fantastic blending on your jet bro!!

Thanks man.

I start with white primer. Some models are airbrushed red -> purple -> black -> orange. Some are orange, red, purple, black. If you want to see every single boring step, I'm documenting the entire Eldar process here:
http://thegrandstrategery.proboards.com/thread/76/gt-eldar-wip

Very nice army, keep up the great work.

 hyv3mynd wrote:
After much debate and waffling over which army to take to DaBoyz GT 2013, I decided to revisit this army. This time though, it will be Eldar + Dark Eldar thanks to the new codex.

Here are the first models I've finished for the addition.



Everything else is in various stages of completion so new pics will be trickling in over the next 8 weeks.

your colour scheme is awsome it works better with your eldar
good idea of the eldar + dark eldar get some pykers

 rhino-40-000 wrote:

 hyv3mynd wrote:
After much debate and waffling over which army to take to DaBoyz GT 2013, I decided to revisit this army. This time though, it will be Eldar + Dark Eldar thanks to the new codex.

Here are the first models I've finished for the addition.



Everything else is in various stages of completion so new pics will be trickling in over the next 8 weeks.

your colour scheme is awsome it works better with your eldar
good idea of the eldar + dark eldar get some pykers

Thanks man. Psykers are WIP and nearly finished. I'll hide them in spoilers as they aren't 100% finished.

Spiritseer


Farseer

For the farseer, if it were me, I would paint that recessed faceplate in the bone colour you've used for the detailing. I just think the helmet needs breaking up a little. Other than that, everything is absolutely gorgeous!

those pykers are wicked the colour scheme makes them so cool
your colour would look awsome on ghost warriors like wraith guard

I love the Eldar color scheme , great work!

Awesome work, these are some bright Eldar/dakr Eldar, I love the converted creatures as well, very different

Young Logan

 WAAAAGGHH-god wrote:
For the farseer, if it were me, I would paint that recessed faceplate in the bone colour you've used for the detailing. I just think the helmet needs breaking up a little. Other than that, everything is absolutely gorgeous!

yeah that would look cool

The color scheme is great. I'm assuming you've blended them with an airbrush. Also, I'm glad you chose grey bases with the 'yellow-brown' grass because your color scheme just pops against the grey, but the grass ties them back to the ground.

Well done.

These are great, but your first 2 pages are incomplete with no basing, and this is really more of a p and m blog anyhow, I'm going to move it over there. By all means keep it coming though great stuff!

Thanks Tom. I was thinking the same thing. It's hard to discuss WIPs and resist posting unfinished pics, so now I won't have to worry!

@ Grugknuckle ~ Thanks for the compliment. The base colors are airbrushed with shading, highlighting, and gems painted by hand. You nailed my thoughts on the bases. The models are so colorful I wanted something more muted for the bases so it wasn't a visual overload.

@ Waaagh-god, rhino ~ Repainted the face plate on the farseer last night. I agree it looks better now. Will post a pic later.

@ rhino-40-000 ~ Wraithguard and Wraithknight are WIP. Here's some teasers:

Wraithguard WIP. The one on the left has some gems and detailing done.



Wraithknight WIP. Decided to paint every gem which is no small task. This guy has dozens just by himself. Really dreading the wave serpents too.



Here's a shot of the whole 1850pt list prior to our local September tournament.

loving that army and they look so cool , the ghost warriors even better . that wraith knight is awsome

10/10

This weeks work.

Did the head and some more gems on the big guy.



Finished the farseer with a new face plate.



And finished my first wraithguard.

Good execution of the gem technique!

Spent some quality time with the WK tonight. Not much, just and hour or so. Still it's cool to see how much some black and white highlights bring life to an airbrushed model.

Looking awsome as always but dont glue the wraith knight ,get some magnets so you can put it in diffrent poses

Awesome looking colour scheme!

Did some freehand tonight.

You sir are one bad mfer. How much of this is done with an airbrush?

Thanks man. Only the basecoat is airbrushed so black-purple-red-orange. The shading/lining, highlights, gems, and freehand is all with a traditional brush. Here's a shot of the airbrushed basecoat before I started detailing by hand.

That's just fantastic!! I've tried using an airbrush in the past mainly for large tanks etc, but my airbrush is a total pos with the replaceable plastic tips and a junk compressor. I assume that it's not even in the same realm as what you're using. That being said, I'm a strict brush painter but your work and ideas strike a delicious chord for me. On another note, it seemed there was some discrepancy earlier in your blog about the open holes to the stomachs of the grotesques and whether you should cover them?? Please, do not!! It's so creepy I can believe it!! Grotesque beyond belief! Thanks mate.
Bebop

brilliant ,love the way you blend the diffrent colours together

Haven't updated in a while. Combination of real life dramas, painting burnout, starting a terrain project, and tackling two tedious models.

Finally I finished these bastards. Gems and all. The blended line work and gems took too long and probably pushed me beyond finishing the army, but I tackled these guys with a drive and I couldn't set them down until they were done. No freehand like the WK and venom, but that prolly won't happen before the GT.







Also did some shading, highlighting, and basing on the wraithguard. Basically everything except gems.

Started building a new display board this week.



Finished airbrushing the new board with highlights and then a brown wash applied with the airbrush as well.



With models to match the bases.



Laid out the whole army on the new board so I can see where to add grass and shrubs.



Random close ups I snapped while the army was laid out.





Still a few unfinished models but now that I've finished the smokin boots table and display board I can spend the next 4 days finishing up.

With the encouragement of my wife I decided to have a go at the theme awards since DaBoyz award theme separate from painting and appearance. I commissioned Goatboy to do some artwork for tshirts my wife and I will wear at the GT.



That's her as a Dark eldar.



The back will promote our club and blog.



And a name plate to go on the display board.

4 days left for finishing touches.

Sometimes dakka is criminal. This is without a doubt one of the better blogs here, incredible painting and design and yet youve very little traffic. Well i for one am a big fan. Keep posting, chances are people lurk but dont comment. I hope.
Thanks for the update. Incredible work. You make me want to buy an airbrush!! And then properly learn how to use it! lol

BB

Thanks for the kind comment and taking the time to speak out. It's not just a Dakka thing, I follow many of the top painting blogs and guys like Wappellious and C'Tan produce far superior models and don't receive enough comments either.

Added grasses and bushes to the display board. Looking at it now makes me want to do some pigment dirt and drybrushing. Took more close ups under the LED painting light this time. If you aren't painting under one of these yet, you'll see your models like you're painting on a bright winter day.



Hard to believe I started this army for the painting league at the end of 2011. This venom was one of my first airbrushed models.



It's a lot of pics of the same army but documenting the little steps like this is important to me. It's good therapy to look back at how everything progressed. It's also really helpful to me to put the whole army on display once in a while so I can see the progress. It really helps fighting the potential burn out to take down the painting lineup when it starts to look more like homework.



I hope to get more mileage out of the army tho I think some of the locals are getting sick of seeing it. Sad to say if I played one game a week with it, it would take more than a year to get game time equal to what I spent painting it.

Still... I have 3 really cool army ideas that have been on the drawing board a good while and a stack of store credit calling to me. Part of me can't wait for the next army.