As pointed out in the Dakka Discussions "So what are you doing today? Hobbywise only." it is probably time to show off the repainting of my old metal Eldar. After finishing four armies I should revive my Eldar, who has mostly sat on the shelf since 3rd edition. I liked the fast moving, hard hitting style and was a very early adopter Wave Serpents (mainly due to the Forge World models), but I digress, the history of my Eldar models.
I first came across the Eldar with White Dwarf 105 in late 1988, although as an opponent…Harlequins were not really my thing and did not capture my imagination. They were one of the lists in Rogue Trader, and other than their Shuriken Catapults being really inexpensive and making mince-meat of my Imperial Guard there were mostly a non-entity as our Eldar player never really painted his models and eventually moved away.
It was not until July or August 1990 when White Dwarf 127 made it’s way to the hobby shops out here that my interest was piqued. After reading the background I became convinced this was the next army for me and immediately sought out some Eldar models…sadly it was the same time as everyone else and almost no Eldar were available in Canada.
In the fall I found a few blisters (this is back when it was 5 lead models to a blister) so a small army of 5 Guardians, 5 Dire Avengers, 5 Howling Banshees, 5 Fire Dragons, a War Walker, a Farseer and a Warlock...you could say I started dabbling.
My Eldar army really started in the fall of 1991 with the White Dwarf articles on the Alaitoc Craftworld and a posting in a message board on GW figures. I found someone in Richmond who wanted to sell off their male Eldar figures. So a visit out and at prices of fifty-cents a figure I picked up a whole load of them…I think my Dreadnought was $5. Then came the task of painting them. They were an army that took longer in some respects due to the vibrant colors, and simpler as there were so few faces. However, when I pulled them out for 8th edition after not playing them since 3rd...they did look a sorry lot. So a refresh was required and now the pictures I am going to upload are the repainted figures as I slowly upgrade to a level I am happy with today and not the 27+ years ago me. Over time some of the new releases i have picked up those from time to time to keep the army somewhat current (and by current I mean about 8-10 years ago current).
In 1992 or 93 when Mark Dance was winning Golden Daemon awards he showed me some of the Phoenix Lords he was going to paint (he had received the early releases due to his painting success on a trip to the UK) and as soon as they were released I picked up several of them.
Later I added a Falcon (which later was converted into a Wave Serpent) and updated my weapon’s platform and several of the FW Wave Serpents…if you look closely at them you will see a fusion of several editions of models.
So first up an Avatar of the Bloody Handed God. As good a place as any to start a PLOG about an Eldar War host.
Almost every model in the army is metal, except for the vehicles and bikes which are plastic (although some of those have resin or metal parts). I did make one one five figure unit of plastic Dire Avengers to make some alternative Exarchs.
The long painting war continues…
CB
PS: Photo of the army as of early February 2018.
Dakkadakka gallery
Spoiler:
Photo of the army as of July 2019.
Dakkadakka gallery
Spoiler:
A third photo of the army as of 2024 is to be taken still.
Again several head swaps (one moving from one model to another and a plastic helm replacing that one). I did the sniper rifles in a bone colour to lighten the otherwise dark models as my War Host is fairly bright through out.
amazingturtles wrote:I like that approach to the weapons too! They do stand out nicely against the cloaks.
Thank you amazingturtles.
Dysartes wrote:They're looking good, Captain - I take it you're on the posting-past-progress phase of your blog?
Other than the Avatar these are all newly painted, I will post some of the historic shots of early paint jobs if you would like (some models like several Rangers have been painted and striped multiple times over the years).
Cosmic wrote:Really ace looking Eldar, Captain! I love the backstory, too. Lovely old-school models, and beautiful paint work on everything.
Thank you Cosmic.
Another five Eldar Rangers.
One more head swap in this group from the Eldar plastic Guardian sprue.
Between the two units there is every Dire Avenger pose a few times, although most are the standing pose that was the first iteration and some of those are lead.
Lovely stuff (as a fellow metal Eldar player). I do think some paint on the gems would work. I didn't do my Fire Dragons with gems exactly, but some brass along the helmet studs.
I’ll agree that the dragons could use a little spot color on the helms. I’m not sure I’d go full gem on them, but maybe the same orange as the armor.
I’ve got some odds and ends of ancient lead eldar kicking around if you need something to round out a unit. Although most of my collection is from either 3rd or 6-8th.
This thread makes me happy. I may play marines these days, but I still have 18,000 points of Eldar in my parents' loft that often calls to me. The vast majority of it is from the original Jes Goodwin Aspect Warriors era.
I’ll agree that the dragons could use a little spot color on the helms. I’m not sure I’d go full gem on them, but maybe the same orange as the armor.
I’ve got some odds and ends of ancient lead eldar kicking around if you need something to round out a unit. Although most of my collection is from either 3rd or 6-8th.
Thanks Nevelon,
I have been looking for a few Harlequins to make a small force, and always for looking for Rogue Trader War Walkers.
Fifty wrote:*sigh*
This thread makes me happy. I may play marines these days, but I still have 18,000 points of Eldar in my parents' loft that often calls to me. The vast majority of it is from the original Jes Goodwin Aspect Warriors era.
Bring them back to life Fifty.
bebopdrums2424 wrote:GReat STuff Captain Brown! I love the striking blue against the muddy tones. A real treat to see all these old eldar painted up nicely
Cheers
Bebop
Thank you Bebop.
youwashock wrote:I am so in love with the primary colors scheme on Eldrad. The runes on the cloak, too.
Thank you youwashock.
A very old Eldar Dreadnought...that is now referred to as a Wraith Lord. With the addition of some newer Star Cannons.
Replaced the old square base with a large round one, but I think it might be a little too large. Recently obtained some smaller ones that I might use.
Here is a Forge World Wave Serpent (from the first flight). Striped and repainted after being purchased on eBay.
The hard to see Shuriken Cannon on the hull was a regular one converted to hang below the bridge between the two sides, it is magnetized like the turret.
Wave Serpent number two. Also a classic first edition version from Forge World. Again armed with twin-linked Shuriken Cannon and a third under the fuselage.
Odd how things come back into style. IMHO shuriken cannons are probably one of the better options for serpents these days, but I can’t think of if they were ever viable before.
Nice looking tanks. I always admired the dappled look, but decided to go with a simpler scheme myself. If younger me wasn’t quite the painting cowered, I’d probably have tanks in that pattern today.
More great work. I never much loved the FW wave serpent front ends, but I liked the turrets really well.
Fifty - if you have a ton of old Eldar, definitely consider reviving them --- or sell them on eBay. Certain units are going for really really good money. (read: more than I'm willing to spend).
You can make $40-50 for a squad of Dark Reapers at the moment. I'd rather see them revived, but you could be sitting on a decent chunk o' change there if you're not going to bring the fellas back into action.
Nevelon wrote:Odd how things come back into style. IMHO shuriken cannons are probably one of the better options for serpents these days, but I can’t think of if they were ever viable before.
Nice looking tanks. I always admired the dappled look, but decided to go with a simpler scheme myself. If younger me wasn’t quite the painting cowered, I’d probably have tanks in that pattern today.
Thanks Nevelon.
I actually replaced the original turrets with the Shuriken Cannon ones this year (although the parts I snagged on eBay a few years ago, not realizing that the Cannons would be better than the Scatter Laser I ordered from FW).
Elbows wrote:More great work. I never much loved the FW wave serpent front ends, but I liked the turrets really well.
Fifty - if you have a ton of old Eldar, definitely consider reviving them --- or sell them on eBay. Certain units are going for really really good money. (read: more than I'm willing to spend).
You can make $40-50 for a squad of Dark Reapers at the moment. I'd rather see them revived, but you could be sitting on a decent chunk o' change there if you're not going to bring the fellas back into action.
Thanks Elbows.
If anyone has some old Rogue Trader Eldar, I have a list of wants in the Swap Shop.
youwashock wrote:Nice effects on the Wave Serpents.
Thank you youwashock.
Now a third Serpent, just finished, this one just painted and you might see the very slight change in colour tone from the hull of the first two (or maybe you cannot and that was the desired effect).
This one with a twin-linked Bright Lance and a hull mounted Shuriken Cannon.
You are both probably correct, it was one of the last figures added.
Another unit finally painted:
Warp Spiders
I had three of these fellows years ago and foolishly sold them on eBay after painting them up. Had to use eBay for find some more and after striping them have returned them to a painted state.
Now this is a unit of 10 Guardian Defenders, while the bulk of the models were painted years ago, I did give them some better highlights and changed some of the yellow to wraithbone.
They have a Support Weapon with swap-able weapons, but the Scatter Laser in this shot is not from the era when they were first painted (the Scatter Laser is a later version as I replaced all the originals in 3rd Edition).
youwashock wrote:Twenty chainmail-mesh Guardians. A beautiful sight.
Thanks youwashock,
Yes, models from an era when chain mail was a perfectly acceptable part of advanced civilizations armour.
Dysartes wrote:The old school Guardians are looking good, Captain - do you have more of them to do?
Thanks Dysartes, I do have three old Guardian models left, but two are Storm Guardians whom I cut to make more Guardian Defenders (thinking of changing them back with Chainwords and Shuriken pistols once I am done all the other Aspects and Walker). The other is missing a head, but I have an idea on what I am going to do with it. In the meantime here is the original FarSeer I just repaired (note the Shuriken pistol instead of the pointing arm). I had converted this model with the original Avatar spear, but never liked the change and replaced it with this arm.
Now this is a unit of 10 Guardian Defenders, while the bulk of the models were painted years ago, I did give them some better highlights and changed some of the yellow to wraithbone.
They have a Support Weapon with swap-able weapons, but the Scatter Laser in this shot is not from the era when they were first painted (the Scatter Laser is a later version as I replaced all the originals in 3rd Edition).
The long painting war continues...
CB
Those Guardians looks sweet. I especially like the Eldar with the freaky haircut on the left rear.
I will see what I can do about an in-progress army shot. In the meantime I did six Striking Scorpions that I have added to those I painted a few years ago to make two units.
This first unit has an Exarch I converted to have a Scorpion's Claw vice the original Shuriken pistol.
youwashock wrote:Oh, yeah. That's the stuff. Classic and awesome. Thanks!
Thank you youwashock.
Cosmic wrote:Beautiful warhost, so colourful, characterful and old school. Really top-notch stuff, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the feedback Cosmic.
Dysartes wrote:Looking great, Captain - how much more of the old Eldar do you have kicking around?
Thank you Dysartes, I have to paint 4 more Dark Reapers, a War Walker, a Jetbike, a Wave Serpent (unless some one wants to buy an old style WS first), Asurman...and 19 Harlequins (although painting these is a maybe)
Nevelon wrote:That is a beautiful picture of retro-goodness!
Thanks Nevelon.
Elbows wrote:This makes me want to take more 2nd-ed inspired White Dwarf photos...very cool. (may go take an army pic or two myself!)
Do it and let us know where you post them Elbows.
Here are 5 painted Dark Reapers, I think I need to go back and redo one or two of their face-plates.
As I am moving and have packed up my paints (and a whole lot of family items over the last couple of months) I have not been able to add to this Painting Log. I have been able to play some games, so posting them here to entertain you with more images.
So a battle between Space Marines and Craftworld Eldar - 100 Force Points.
6 Objectives scattered across the battlefield. My opponent set up his army is a broad gunline making certain he was occupying or close to all the objectives. While I concentrated on my right flank and by the time my opponent realized this and placed some heavier units to stop this, he was pretty strung out.
This was his counter to my heavy right hook. In a way I influenced his placement and had almost my entire army facing only half of his.
My main concentration. I am pretty certain that the Space Marines were certain they would be able to collect several objectives without much of a fight...they have not fought Eldar and their speed before.
The Space Marine response. (Look, the Dreadnought is not painted so it is doomed!)
Ahh, the classic “cower in the corner” eldar deployment strategy, I know it well. When you have the speed to get wherever you need to be, why strung yourself out and dilute your forces more then you need to?
Nevelon wrote: Ahh, the classic “cower in the corner” eldar deployment strategy, I know it well. When you have the speed to get wherever you need to be, why strung yourself out and dilute your forces more then you need to?
Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
Thanks Nevelon,
So I sent the first turn stationary, surrendering the initiative to the Space Marine player. My forces fired longer ranged weapons, inflicting damage on the Land Raider and Dreadnought. You should have seen the face of my opponent when at the end of the first turn he had suffered some superficial damage on only two of his models...and my army was passively waiting in front of him.
I collected a VP for holding one objective matching my cards and that was it.
As expected on his turn the Marine's pushed forward. Focusing their firepower on destroying the Transports on my right and seizing objectives on my left.
He did severe damage to one Wave Serpent and serious damage to the other. His fire on my Dire Avengers was much less successful with the Alaitoc cover save for long range and Asurmen's bonus protection. However he seized three objectives (he had four at one point, but decided to abandon one to get within shooting range with his Terminator squad).
First the Wave Serpents empty their contents and the Banshees, Fire Dragons, Farseer and least damaged Wave Serpent move forward.
My now depleted Dire Avengers and Asurman advance from my center and the most damaged Wave Serpent moves to assist with my left flank. I brought on my Rangers to shore up the left and stiffen my defense against the Terminators.
Fire rained down on the Dreadnought and Land Raider. It was so intense that the Dreadnought blew up and the Land Raider was severely damaged.
The Land Raider was so damaged that in the follow Assault phase it was shredded by close combat that it was almost a hulk. My fire elsewhere was less impressive and even work I self inflicted a wound on the Farseer with a failed power.
*** edit : I have to admit i am a huge fan of Dark Reapers; last i remembered playing with them, their missile launchers slaughtered power-armour clad Space Marines ...
*** edit : I have to admit i am a huge fan of Dark Reapers; last i remembered playing with them, their missile launchers slaughtered power-armour clad Space Marines ...
Thanks Private Benjamin.
Cap'n Facebeard wrote:Very pretty old Eldar, CB. Jes Goodwin's sculpts seem to get better with age.
Thanks Cap'n Facebeard, they do still look like the current range and much of the art.
Report continued.
With a damaged Wave Serpent and the Banshee's tying up the Land Raider the Space Marine Assault Squad and Chaplain bailed out.
However the Banshees and Wave Serpent did no damage and the Farseer inflicted one wound, so the Land Raider survived.
The Land Raider would back out of close combat and the Terminators continued to close. Other Marine Squads either moved to get line of sight or remained stationary and they all let loose with as much firepower as they could. Most of the Dire Avengers fell to this maelstrom, as they were the primary target of almost everything. What was not focused on the Dire Avengers was aimed at the heavily damaged Wave Serpent and it succumbed to accumulated damage.
The Assault Squad and Chaplin charged one of the much reduced Dire Avenger Squads and Guardians in the woods rather than take on Banshees.
This assault would likely decide the outcome as if the Marines were victorious they could control most objectives and have eliminated most of the Eldar troop choices.
So, the Land Raider backing out of close combat actually sealed the fate of the Marine Assault Squad. Clear for any friendly fire, the Fire Dragons made short work of the heavily damaged Land Raider and it freed up the Banshees to go after the Assault Squad.
It also meant that I was not worried about those Marines getting into my backfield and the Wraith Lord and Dark Reapers could focus their fire on the Terminators.
The Striking Scorpions finally reached the Marine Devastator Squad in the tower and the result was only a matter of time before they were eliminated and the objective in Eldar hands.
So all that was left was the mop-up.
There were still a few Marine squads and the odd lone model or character, fate was now firmly in the Eldar forces hands.
Next turn saw Fire Dragons get back in the Wave Serpent, the last of the Devastator squad fall, the Chaplin met Asurmen with the expected result, another tactical squad was eliminated as well as the last Terminator. The Marine player conceded defeat at that point.
Great batrep, and looks nice with all those classic models. Your Striking Scorpions look amazing, and they did their sneaky? job. I haven't found a decent source for those old Striking Scorpions that you have and am envious. I'm stuck with the ugly curled helmet guys that all lean forward or back too much.
Fifty wrote:Still loving this thread. And now my own have come back to life like you told me to! (Check my blog)
I think the Rangers and Avengers are my favourites.
Thanks Fifty, visited you blog and ironically had already given a rating to some of your models in the gallery without seeing the thread.
Tyranid Horde wrote:Looked like a fun game! Really enjoy those older Eldar models, makes me want to pick up some more for myself!
Thanks Tyranid Horde, if you ever want some old Eldar, I have a few in the Swap Shop.
Thank you amazingturtles, Elbows, Cap'n Facebeard, and SirStudent.
Really appreciate your comments.
CaptainWaffle wrote:Great batrep, and looks nice with all those classic models. Your Striking Scorpions look amazing, and they did their sneaky? job. I haven't found a decent source for those old Striking Scorpions that you have and am envious. I'm stuck with the ugly curled helmet guys that all lean forward or back too much.
CaptainWaffle, I had kept many of mine from Rogue Trader, but I did obtain some in the Swap Shop from two members who have some for sale. The member pretre has quite a few of the older models for sale, I have used him to fill in the gaps I had...speaking of which I have some War Walkers coming.
A break from Battle Reports with photos of my army in action.
Need to get back to painting.
Here is a work in progress on an OOP Eldar War Walker. This is the first edition - Rogue Trader version where the pilot was standing upright. This model was probably the one that interested me most in the Eldar army at the time...it was just so different from other walkers.
Now the base and weapons are obviously not the original square base or weapons as I am trying to integrate the model with my vehicles and support weapons. This models original weapons were a Las Cannon and Scatter Laser...now they will be two Shuriken Cannons with the option to swap them out with other Eldar hardware in the future.
Asurmen also has taken a Simple Green bath in preparation for a complete repainting.
youwashock wrote: I agree. That original WW has a certain something. Keep the classics coming.
Thanks youwashock,
So I have pretty well finished the painting...had something happen with my blue and so far I have not done additional highlights as I ended up with this swirling pattern. What do people think, should I leave it as is?
Captain Brown wrote: As pointed out in the Dakka Discussions "So what are you doing today? Hobbywise only." it is probably time to show off some of the Eldar I have been painting. After finishing four armies I should revive my Eldar, who has mostly sat on the shelf since 3rd edition. I liked the fast moving, hard hitting style and was a very early adopter Wave Serpents (mainly due to the Forge World models), but I digress, the history of my Eldar models.
I first came across the Eldar with White Dwarf 105 in late 1988, although as an opponent…Harlequins were not really my thing and did not capture my imagination. They were one of the lists in Rogue Trader, and other than their Shuriken Catapults being really inexpensive and making mince-meat of my Imperial Guard there were mostly a non-entity as our Eldar player never really painted his models and eventually moved away.
I was not until July or August 1990 when White Dwarf 127 made it’s way to the hobby shops out here that my interest was piqued. After reading the background I became convinced this was the next army for me and immediately sought out some Eldar models…sadly it was the same time as everyone else and almost no Eldar were available in Canada.
In the fall I found a few blisters (this is back when it was 5 lead models to a blister) so a small army of 5 Guardians, 5 Dire Avengers, 5 Howling Banshees, 5 Fire Dragons, a War Walker, a Farseer and a Warlock...you could say I started dabbling.
My Eldar army really started in the fall of 1991 with the White Dwarf articles on the Alaitoc Craftworld and a posting in a message board on GW figures. I found someone in Richmond who wanted to sell off their Eldar army. So a visit out and at prices of fifty-cents a figure I picked up a whole load of them…I think my Dreadnought was $5. Then came the task of painting them, now the pictures I am going to upload are a mixture of old and new schemes (mostly new as the old are pretty bad) as I slowly change from their original schemes to something I am happy with now. Over time some of the new releases came out I have picked up those from time to time to keep the army somewhat current (and by current I mean about 8-10 years ago current).
In 1992 or 93 when Mark Dance was winning Golden Daemon awards he showed me some of the Phoenix Lords he was going to paint (he had received the early releases due to his painting success on a trip to the UK) and as soon as they were released I picked up several of them.
Later I added a Falcon and updated my weapon’s platform and several of the FW Wave Serpents…if you look closely at them you will see a fusion of several editions of models.
So first up an Avatar of the Bloody Handed God. As good a place as any to start a PLOG about an Eldar War host.
I think that every model in the army is metal, except for the vehicles and bikes ShowBoxMobdroTutuApp which are plastic (although some of those have resin or metal parts).
The long painting war continues…
CB
PS: Photo of the army as of early February 2018.
I adore the old Avatar. He may be antiquated, yet at the same time evokes genuine emotion. Appears to be odd to see him on a round base however
I adore the old Avatar. He may be antiquated, yet at the same time evokes genuine emotion. Appears to be odd to see him on a round base however
Thanks pauloyozikko,
I have replaced the square bases of several of the older models I have to match the current ranges. So Avatar, Wraith Lord, Jet Bikes and the War Walker above. I guess part of the reason was that the mix of round and square was less visually appealing to me as the bases in 40K moved to all round. I also recycled the square bases to my WFB armies large monsters.
I love those old walkers. I have a bunch of them ready to assemble, though only one is painted. I think you should keep the weird blue swirls. Will you be painting any more? Even if you are, this one could be their leader.
I am also putting all of my old models on round bases. The square ones look really odd to me now.
Fifty wrote:I love those old walkers. I have a bunch of them ready to assemble, though only one is painted. I think you should keep the weird blue swirls. Will you be painting any more? Even if you are, this one could be their leader.
I am also putting all of my old models on round bases. The square ones look really odd to me now.
Thank Fifty, the round bases just make the army feel more uniform and complete.
Now I mentioned that my Asurmen had gone to have a bath is Simple Green. Here he is after coming out and being repainted. Still a work in progress as I need to do a back banner, do base work and add some runes.
Here is the WIP at about 2x normal size.
In his previous painted form I had streamers rather than a back-banner, due to regular breakage in transporting him I think I will go with the classic banner this time.
_Very_ nice! I've a fair bunch of Eldar (very old, somewhat old and some very new ranges), but haven't gotten the gumption to get stuck in painting them yet. This is highly motivating!
Elbows wrote:Gorgeous work. My Asurmen was one of my less successful Phoenix Lord paintjobs - once I occasionally consider re-doing. Love your job so far.
Thank you Elbows.
This is what he used to look like:
Spoiler:
So I am happy with the change.
youwashock wrote:Gotta agree. He looks great so far.
Thank you youwashock.
Meer_Cat wrote:_Very_ nice! I've a fair bunch of Eldar (very old, somewhat old and some very new ranges), but haven't gotten the gumption to get stuck in painting them yet. This is highly motivating!
Thank you Meer_Cat. If you decide to start them, send me a link and I will follow your progress.
I picked up two more of the Rogue Trader Eldar War Walkers. Gave them a bath of Simple Green and took them apart. They had been assembled and repaired and repainted several times before I acquired them.
If you use super glue to build your models and you find yourself using it as filler...just please do not do it. There are batter and stronger ways to fill gaps.
This one was actually lead and still had 20 year old flash in places.
Going to replace the Rogue Trader weapons with more current Eldar weapons so that my opponent knows what they are facing and will remount them on round bases.
amazingturtles wrote: Those old metal pieces look so neat laid out like that. I'm sure they'll be amazing when painted
Thanks amazingturtles,
One thing that is a pain is assembling them with 5 minute epoxy, as the pieces fit each other quite well once I removed all the old super glue. Blue tac (now White tac) is a must. I also pinned all the joints and for the lead one, the feet as well...because at some time in it's life it lost the lead foot tab.
The brass pins also really helped holding the model upright.
Knowing how the pilot sits in on the body was critical to getting the angle the legs join right.
I only semi-recently put together an old metal wraithlord. Tiny contact points, massively top heavy. The walkers will probably be the same. Good luck!
I’ll also vote to keep the classic weapons. Even though the scatter laser looks more like an assault cannon. The era appropriate ML is vastly different than the modern one, but still distinctly identifiable. I think all the rest are close enough not to cause problems.
Of course, going plastic would help keep the top heavy thing from falling apart, a major plus.
Thank you youwashock, Fifty, Bellerophon and Nevelon,
Well, I still have the old weapons (although most of them are Las Cannons and Scatter Lasers). Since I used a pin system to mount weapons I could just drill holes in the bottoms of the old weapons to swap them in and out.
Once the three War Walkers are completed and painted I might drill and paint the older weapons and post them up.
OK, Walkers two and three are assembled and primed.
I do not think they will have any trouble holding up the old metal weapons (I build to last with pinning and epoxy)...it is more a case of the old weapons drooping as the new ones I am adding as options I have custom made to fit the mounts as I will not be gluing them in, but keeping them swappable.
Tyranid Horde wrote:You've done a good job on Asurmen, really need to pick up the model even if I never use him. The banner is a good job too and adds a lot to the model.
Thank you Tyranid Horde
youwashock wrote:Nice finish on Asurmen. Is that one of the old decal banners or did you print and paint, or is it all from scratch?
Thanks youwashock, I made a copy of the banner and tried several sizes until I found the one I liked. Printed it and then did the touch-up painting.
amazingturtles wrote:That's a really nice mohawk hat he's got going on there! i mean, They're always nice, but I really like how you painted that one.
Finished a second War Walker.
Did the same dark blue "lava lamp" pattern that worked on the first one. Only seems to work with an old Ral Partha Blue as a base.
Again the weapons are just held in with long brass pins, so I am painting up some alternatives.
The blue really does look great. Handy thing about the old walkers is that all you need is a brass rod to swap them out, the newer ones are looking a bit more fiddly.
If I could get my hands on a RT Avatar, I'd be tempted to build an Eldar army similar to the Captain's, just to see people's reactions when I pulled him out of the case.
I mean, ideally he'd have an Epic Avatar on the base as a Mini Me, but...
I love everything!!!, those old Jess Goodwin aspect warrior designs are the best.
And although I do not like the warwalker design (the legs look off), you make it look better.
I have decided not to highlight them further as there is a lot of bone white on the models already
Thanks Scythern and Dysartes,
I used to have that Avatar, but used him for parts as soon as they released the next model.
Thanks Cap'n Facebeard.
sjofels wrote:I love everything!!!, those old Jess Goodwin aspect warrior designs are the best.
And although I do not like the warwalker design (the legs look off), you make it look better.
Thank you sjofels.
So one more addition, the third and final Rogue Trader War Walker. Your posts have spurred on yet more activity.
More of the blue effects from the sides.
Next I will get them in a group shot, and then some weapon swaps. After that I will show you the original weapons painted up and mounted on them.
Thank you Dysartes, Nevelon, CommissarKhaine, youwashock and Briancj for the comments.
Here is the group shot with Shuriken Cannons.
Here they are with three alternate weapons - Bright Lances and Star Cannon (including a Rogue Trader weapon Heavy Plasma Gun serving as the Star Cannon).
Next up I will put in the Rogue Trader Weapons for nostalgic purposes.
I do enjoy a good War Walker squadron, and those classic models are really taking me back to when I first got interested in 40K, which is always a fun nostalgia trip. Good job sir.
(...now off back to bouncing between the various Eldar threads!)
Tyranid Horde wrote:Great looking War Walkers and a great group shot, they look really cool as a squadron.
Thank you Tyranid Horde
youwashock wrote:Awesome! Love seeing that old HPG.
Thank you youwashock, I have it paired with the original Scatter Laser below.
CommissarKhaine wrote:Nice squadron, and I like those old weapons; I think I preffered their esthetic to the newer ones.
Thank you CommissarKhaine, I agree the newer weapons fit better with similar models of 2nd Edition and it is the new ones I will be fielding with my gaming group so there is no confusion on weapon load outs.
Bellerophon wrote:I do enjoy a good War Walker squadron, and those classic models are really taking me back to when I first got interested in 40K, which is always a fun nostalgia trip. Good job sir.
(...now off back to bouncing between the various Eldar threads!)
Nevelon wrote:Retro-goodness!
Thank you Bellerophon and Nevelon
Well you guys asked for it. I have delivered. I painted up all the original Rogue Trader weapons. Here they are on the three Walkers for your viewing pleasure.
Scatter Lasers, Lascannons and Heavy Plasma Gun oh my!
Thanks amazingturtles, youwashock and CommissarKhaine,
Another addition, not quite as old, but a time when Eldar and other folks rode into battle rather than hunching over their bikes like models do today.
I had five Jet Bikes and only one of them had a Canon, so I picked up a partial painted one and stripped it down. Now painted to match my other five...was a challenge as the paints from 20 years ago have changed.
I'll take some group shots as I seal this one and eliminate the silvering around the sword transfer.
Liking the jetbikes, especially when you've painted up the displays, very cool. All of my jetbikes are the old style with bits from Dire Avengers to "modernise" them. Part of me wishes that I'd kept them stock.
What do you use to seal your models on another note?
kestral wrote:I like those jet bikes - good balance between "crisp" and "blended" painting styles in my opinion.
Thanks kestral.
Tyranid Horde wrote:Liking the jetbikes, especially when you've painted up the displays, very cool. All of my jetbikes are the old style with bits from Dire Avengers to "modernise" them. Part of me wishes that I'd kept them stock.
What do you use to seal your models on another note?
Thanks Tyranid Horde.
I use Testors Matt for sealing, but when I have a transfer I add a layer of GW 'Ardcoat to reduce the 'silvering'.
youwashock wrote:Makes me want to grab mine and fly them around making wooshing and shooting noises. They look really good. Many fond memories.
Absolutely loving it. Your War Walkers are my favourite. I've been through three iterations of War Walkers and can't find one I like. I just suck with the damn metal ones.
I need to find a suitable way to create a plastic/metal hybrid of the original War Walker. They're like some kind of curse for me...
Dysartes wrote: If I could get my hands on a RT Avatar, I'd be tempted to build an Eldar army similar to the Captain's, just to see people's reactions when I pulled him out of the case.
I mean, ideally he'd have an Epic Avatar on the base as a Mini Me, but...
Very happy today as my Asurmen came in second in the highly contested 40K Single Model category at the GW store.
Not a Golden Daemon competition, but still showing that old school is still the best school as there were loads of new models on display. Although it was a metal Canoness that took the top spot.
I like those Dark Reapers, but I am not sure the missile launcher conversion works. It is reeeeaaally big! I think it might be better to have a regular reaper launcher and paint the white sections in a different colour. Not a big enough issue no to be worth it though, I suspect.
Fifty wrote:I like those Dark Reapers, but I am not sure the missile launcher conversion works. It is reeeeaaally big! I think it might be better to have a regular reaper launcher and paint the white sections in a different colour. Not a big enough issue no to be worth it though, I suspect.
For some reason, I really like the feet on them!
Thank you youwashock and Fifty.
Fifty, if I had another old metal reaper launcher I might do that...but the model came from a trade so I have no spare.
Another unit refurbished.
Howling Banshees...made from lead as the power swords are almost soft. These were from the early Eldar blister packs that came with five mono-pose models.
youwashock wrote:Awww, yeah. I like the combo of the red with the blue on the swords. Those original blisters were great. You got a squad for under 10 bucks.
Thanks youwashock, that was a lot of money when I bought them.
The Riddle of Steel wrote:I love these old models, painted in the old styles. The banshees, jetbikes, Asurmen all look great. The scorpions are so nostalgic. Very cool project.
Thank you The Riddle of Steel
Fifty wrote:I love those Banshees. Nice work making the armour plates stand out from the underarmour. I especially love the swords.
Thanks Fifty
More old Eldar getting some final attention, this time getting the waterslide transfers of their aspect. When these models came out I do not think there was a transfer sheet for Eldar...but I could be wrong.
It's lovely seeing all these old Aspect sculpts - good job Captain! I particularly like the scheme on those banshees and that rich red you've got on the tabards.
First is a standard Scorpions and Exarch with a Biting Blade.
Second has the Exarch I converted to have a Scorpion's Claw.
One more unit of Swooping Hawks to go. I was going to do my Fire Dragons as well, however the transfer sheet only has their aspect symbol in Yellow or White and my helmets are Yellow, so they will not show up.
That's a great green on those scorpions. Love seeing all these old Eldar, takes me backk to my first ever purchase - a blister of 5 hawks for £2.99, so really excited to see what you do with those
Last model to paint, a Forge World Wave Serpent...with resin jewels and bridge (none of these weathervanes). When this model was in it's heyday it was way too powerful and wildly out of step with it's intended role...I mean it was like a main battle tank that flew and carried troops. I painted several up over the years, but they only started seeing the field in 7th and now 8th Edition. This is the last of them and has been sitting waiting for painting for a very long time.
Including two turrets for alternate weapons. The troop compartment is a blend of the original resin FW top and a plastic bottom from the current kit as this one was missing the part (among other things) and was a steal on eBay because it was missing so many parts. I also had to replace the shield jewels as the model was also missing those and it their place the previous owner had glued on some plastic gem stones.
Yeah, this was a glorious tank. I remember building several using the plastic spoon turret hack and plastic pen barrel holofield generator...and some plasticard. Because it was that or the FW turret.
Nice. Of the three Serpents I own, one is Armourcast, one is legit, and one is a DIY with the spoon turret from days when you did that or didn't have a Wave Serpent.
Briancj wrote:Yeah, this was a glorious tank. I remember building several using the plastic spoon turret hack and plastic pen barrel holofield generator...and some plasticard. Because it was that or the FW turret.
10 troops and a Twin-Linked Brightlance.
Briancj,
Thanks for the comment. You just had to wait out FW as once GW released the kit in plastic suddenly there were loads of the FW ones on eBay for less than a new plastic one.
youwashock wrote:Nice. Of the three Serpents I own, one is Armourcast, one is legit, and one is a DIY with the spoon turret from days when you did that or didn't have a Wave Serpent.
youwashock,
That is quite the collection.
So I started with the scatter camouflage pattern, but found that my edging highlight was too bright, so here is the Wave Serpent in mid-correction (with the overly bright blue at the rear).
Do you have a system for what colour gem goes where, or just do what takes your fancy? I ask, as I notice it matches port/starboard colours at the front at the moment.
Found your thread! That’s a spectacular array of nostalgia you've got going on there! The bright coloured aspect Warriors look amazing, I never delved in to eldar back in the day, but they really hit the nostalgia button of late! The port and starboard colours are a great touch too, though after 2 years of working with ships I could never remember which side is which! Looking forward to seeing the array of heavy metal in your final army shot
amazingturtles wrote:I really love those patterns and that blue!
Thank you amazingturtles.
gobert wrote:Found your thread! That’s a spectacular array of nostalgia you've got going on there! The bright coloured aspect Warriors look amazing, I never delved in to eldar back in the day, but they really hit the nostalgia button of late! The port and starboard colours are a great touch too, though after 2 years of working with ships I could never remember which side is which! Looking forward to seeing the array of heavy metal in your final army shot
Thank you gobert.
Alright the last Wave Serpent is finished.
Starcannons and shuriken cannon
Starcannons and shuriken cannon
Starcannons and shuriken cannon
Starcannons and shuriken cannon
Scatter Lasers and shuriken catapults
Scatter Lasers and shuriken catapults
Scatter Lasers and shuriken catapults
Scatter Lasers and shuriken cannon
Scatter Lasers and shuriken cannon
Now I have to select five for the (unofficial) Monthly Painting Challenge.
So I obtained the other Eldar waterslide transfer sheet I had been looking for and started with my unit of Wraith Guard.
Now the original transfer sheets I felt that the eternity symbol of the Wraith Lord and Wraith Guard were too small. With the new transfer sheet they all seemed too large (they were meant for the newer models which are larger and for the Hemlock Wraithfighter).
In the end I used the larger transfers and turned them 90 degrees.
What do people think, is that heresy? I just figured that the infinity symbol is more of a human image (well it is a real mathematical symbol).
Thanks guys...I think I had a nightmare about possibly redoing them by sanding off the varnish layers above and below and starting again (which would have meant repainting all the heads).
Now another squad that benefited from the transfer sheet purchased from InquisitorMack.
Finally some Fire Dragon transfers in black!
Also took the opportunity to add the icon for Dire Avengers to Asurmen.
youwashock, I have not forgotten your request and will get a shot of all four Wave Serpents together. Then I think it will be time for an army shot.
LavuranGuard wrote:Looking really good, love seeing older models still be used.
Thank you LavuranGuard and youwashock.
And as requested a page or so ago:
youwashock wrote: You need to get all the grav-tanks together for a family portrait when it is done.
All four.
Slight variation between the three eras of painting (or really two as one was a conversion from an old Falcon). Debating whether I will do transfers on the three that do not have any...if I do it will mean having to mask of canopies.
Thank you youwashock, Theophony, Briancj], slave.entity, squall018 and BadOrk.
Now an army shot.
Spolier tags added for larger shots.
Spoiler:
Looking down for depth.
Spoiler:
All metal except for the bikes and Serpents. I did leave out the extra Guardian, Dire Avenger and weapon swaps for the Serpents, War Walkers, Support weapons, Wraith Lord, etc. But the rest is all in there. Ove 100 space elves from Rogue Trader or 2nd Edition.
The long painting war continues...but for my Eldar I think it might (for now) be finished.
These older models bring some memories.
Even though I started collecting Eldar after the new models had come out, I remember seeing these in the old White Dwarf magazines I borrowed from library as I was a kid. One of my friends also had some of these guys. Don't quite remember which, but I remember grooling after them and hoping to get enough allowance to buy a box or two.
Incredibly beautiful Eldar Warhost there. Truly worthy of a 90’s White Dwarf, with classic models and colours superbly executed. Sad that they’re finished though, surely there’s a few more hiding in your collection somewhere ?!?
Wow, this army could easily have been in White Dwarf in the 90s! It is beautiful. So impressive to see such a large army all painted consistently well all together. Congratulations on a job well done.
Thank you Briancj, Ezki, youwashock, Meer_Cat, Cosmic, Nevelon, slave.entity, and The Riddle of Steel.
Theophony wrote:Now that those are all done they can redo the entire range .
Great work and a lovely collection there.
Thanks I think they have redone a large portion of it, just a few Phoenix Lords and some of the Warlocks are the same (and they are not in metal anymore are they?).
gobert wrote:Incredibly beautiful Eldar Warhost there. Truly worthy of a 90’s White Dwarf, with classic models and colours superbly executed. Sad that they’re finished though, surely there’s a few more hiding in your collection somewhere ?!?
Thanks gobert, there are no more, I do have one plastic Autarch in a blister pack that I think I might sell as he just does not look like he will fit in.
Fifty wrote:It deserves an army report. I was just skimming through this:
The phoenix lord models do show their age a bit don't they. Odd as most of the old aspects still look good. MR was one of my favourites too and you've painted him up well.
although with current GW his gun would change to that off a Riptide or Warlord Titan.
Maharg wrote:The phoenix lord models do show their age a bit don't they. Odd as most of the old aspects still look good. MR was one of my favourites too and you've painted him up well.
Thank you Maharg. The Jes Goodwin sculpts have held up really well and I still feel they set the tone for all the models that have followed. I wish I remembered everything Mark Dance said about the history of the Exarch models when he first showed them to me up on Denman Island. He had some of the first casts to paint up before they were released and I remember being a bit disappointed myself in several of them.
He looks great. Really darkening down the red like that gives him a grimy sooty kind of a look. (Now I'm thinking of Sooty the puppet, he doesn't remind of Sooty at all, I promise)
Love to see some Phoenix Lord love. Jain Zar looks great in those colours. The black and bone on Maugan Ra is a classic, of course. I wonder if he needs one or two bright spot coloured points to contrast with the dull bits, but I don't know what to suggest for location. Fuegan has a lovely deep red.
There was a discussion on Facebook I saw yesterday about the oldest sculpts in the range. We reckon that Njal is older han the Phoenix Lords, as are two of the current three Warlocks, but Phoenix Lords are pretty damn close to the oldest thing available. Not surprising as Jes Goodwin is amazing. I maintain that most of his Aspect Warrior sculpts are better than the ones that have followed later. His original Howling Banshees are still the best, in my opinion.
Fantastic collection. What a triumph. Lots of nice individual choices but they still recap some of the original Evy Metal schemes. And they look great together too.
The original DA exarch is an Iconic sculpt. I got one and few original avengers for a little squad of my own. I just always loved them. What's the plan? What are you needing plural exarchs for?
Thank you youwashock, CaptainWaffle, theCrowe, amazingturtles, Briancj, gobert, Viterbi, and Meer_Cat.
theCrowe wrote:The original DA exarch is an Iconic sculpt. I got one and few original avengers for a little squad of my own. I just always loved them. What's the plan? What are you needing plural exarchs for?
I have some spare Dire Avengers and wanted to make at least one more squad or add the option of smaller units for 9th.
Briancj wrote:The 90's are strong with this one...
I should sig that.
So the Jetseer kit is pretty simple.
As I was building it I noticed something was missing from the model...the large robes or cloaks that the Farseer wears. So I made my own to billow out from underneath the sash. Impractical...very likely, but this is 40K and I have a space elf riding a flying motorbike.
Jetbike is getting the attention first.
So loads of work still to do, but now he has a very long cloak flapping behind him.
Any future universe that has tanks with rivets can have elves riding flying motorcycles with flowing cloaks and robes; excellent start to this build, Cap'n!
Meer_Cat wrote:Any future universe that has tanks with rivets can have elves riding flying motorcycles with flowing cloaks and robes; excellent start to this build, Cap'n!
Thank you Meer_Cat.
youwashock wrote:Nice cape. Soda can? Looks thin and metal. Nice vivid blue, too.
Thanks youwashock.
It is actually 0.10 mm plastic styrene, which made it a real (deleted) pain to shape, that flaking you see is having to do additional curling to make it fit between the rear upper fins.
416_SpaceWolves wrote:As always, and unsurprisingly, some terrific work in here CB. The uniformity of quality is something we should all aspire to.
Would love to see your process on shaping a cape out of styrene.
Thank you 416_SpaceWolves. The process was simply cut out a cape shape, using the round cylinder of a small file handle start to curl the styrene with an emphasis on the curved end that was going to join under the waist sash. Continue folding and compressing that end until it is as wide as the waist width. Do another cut with a craft knife to match the curve of the lower torso/waist, as some polystyrene cement and crimp with a small clamp.
gobert wrote:I agree more with the rationale for a cape, it at least doubles the level of 40k!
Hey Captain, the farseer is looking really cool, good work on that cape. I've greenstuffed a few capes in the last few years and it's not easy... looks like you've got a good technique there.
Every eldar collection needs more pskyers!
I also love that squad of Phoenix Lords, they look fantastic together.
Love the nostalgia hit with all of those Phoenix Lords, the odd thing is they do not even feel that old to me but I assume they are the best part of 20+ years old. Anyway, great to see them painted so well and together.
The Farseer on jetbike is looking a perfect shade of Alaitoc blue and the added cape really adds to the model. Nice.
I'm also impressed by the photography of late. Do you use a lightbox? My photo's invariably let the models down.
Rinkydink, thanks. I use the blue cloth from a cheap light box that I have, but it is really small and I do not use the box portion. I also do not have a camera with MACRO and instead I am just using an old phone. So I cannot touch-up my photos...other than to crop/resize them with Microsoft 2010.
youwashock wrote:Nice painting on those robes. Slick work with the decal on the cape, too.
Thank you youwashock. I cut down the transfers to make the nice bands.
Bellerophon wrote:Hey Captain, the farseer is looking really cool, good work on that cape. I've greenstuffed a few capes in the last few years and it's not easy... looks like you've got a good technique there.
Every eldar collection needs more pskyers!
I also love that squad of Phoenix Lords, they look fantastic together.
Thank you Bellerophon.
ListenToMeWarriors wrote:Love the nostalgia hit with all of those Phoenix Lords, the odd thing is they do not even feel that old to me but I assume they are the best part of 20+ years old. Anyway, great to see them painted so well and together.
The Farseer on jetbike is looking a perfect shade of Alaitoc blue and the added cape really adds to the model. Nice.
Thanks ListenToMeWarriors.
Finished. Couple of things I wanted to achieve: the wraith bone look of the bike other than the canopy and fins to create a contrast between the Farseer and the bike, and to have the blue of the Farseer be distinct from the bike blue.
Like all my other bikes and Wave Serpents I have port and starboard running lights.
Oh man, that is beautiful!
Great idea changing the tone of the blue and bone color on the farseer compared to the bike.
It's really easy to blend things together when using similar colors, but you managed to make them stand out perfectly!
I "finished" this fellow by removing the overly large Eldar Missile Launcher and replaced it with a standard Reaper Launcher.
Still debating if I want to use the extra Reaper Launchers I acquired to turn three into Exarchs with Tempest Launchers.
Now for the resin turrets I have had sitting in a bin for quite a long time. With the sudden increase in wounds on Marines I figured I needed a few more paired Starcannons and Scatter Lasers as they will no longer be -1 to hit mounted on moving Vehicles.
Turrets painted.
On a pair of Wave Serpents to show them off.
The Scatter Laser on the bottom right was the one I finished before and you can see it has a slightly different shape/style to the Turret
youwashock wrote:Impressive work, Cap'n. There's a surprising amount of color on those turrets.
Thank you youwashock.
Viterbi wrote:Amazing work painting all those gemstones. The marines will die by being blinded by all that bling!
Thanks Viterbi, there must be some blindness as my Marine opponents always pour a tremendous amount of firepower at them, even if they have dropped of their cargo.
Dysartes wrote:Looking good, Captain - much else to paint for the Pointy-Ears?
Thanks Dysartes. I have a pair of Scatter Lasers that I am doing for two of my old War Walkers...perhaps I might try and craft some Star Canons for them as well. No models unless I can get my hands of a few old metal Dire Avenger Exarchs.
Old metal Guardians and their chainmail leggings. Too good. Portal looks fantastic. Neat choice, going with the overgrown look. Gives it extra character.
Just been back to sniff through the entire blog and your army is incredible. Such wonderful nostalgia, my old Eldar army looked no where near as good. But those models are divine. That webway portal with all the flora looks awesome!
Brilliant work here mate. Old Eldar are just fantastically characterful sculpts and you do a great job on them. Love the step by step pics on the web way portal - a fitting background to the army. Thank you for sharing!
As a little bonus (as I only like to post when I have something to show), some more Eldar weapons for a Wave Serpent, Wraithlord, and War Walkers (again just using time to catch up on all those secondary or tertiary options that have not been painted yet:
Nicely done Captain Brown, I have many of those old eldar models. In some way I like them better than the new ones. Seems to me the older figs where based on a more space pirate look. Keep up the battle against the tide of unpainted models.
Lovely work as ever CB. Those platform crew are some of my favourite OG Eldar models - I always pictured them as roadies/techies for a Space David Bowie concert with their shades, earpieces, leather jackets and hairstyles...
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So I am happy with the change.
