Mechanicum Jon's Dark Eldar (Cardhunter Caused Hiatus Ends! Vyper Progress!)

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**Gitsplitta**

Those are looking good Jon. Much more in-proportion.

**KrautScientist**

Great work on the next Grotesque models! It's really nice how you make all of them look so different, even though they're using the same two base models over and over!

Mechanicum Jon wrote:

What color should I paint the Tyranid parts?

I guess it depends upon how much you want to lampshade the fact that they are Tyranid parts. You could go with established Tyranid colour schemes, as suggested, to show how the Haemonculi had been grafting on Tyranid limbs. Or you could use your usual paints (i.e. Turquoise for the parts that are recognisably carapace/armour, fleshy colours for - well - the fleshy parts and bone or black or metal for the actual "blades"). That way, the Tyranid parts would look more like something the Haemonculi had genetically engineered themselves. I think I would prefer that option to introducing completely unrelated colour schemes into your models.

Hope this helps! Keep up the great work!

**nerdfest09**

The Grots are looking great jon, the way you have managed to vary the poses from such static models is testamount to your skills! and they each look fantastic and very nasty! if you want my 2cents then I would like to see the nid bits in muted natural colours akin to what you would see on crabs usually found on or near the beach in rock pools etc.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, and i tried the vein technique on my mates Hellbrute! worked out pretty different to what yours looks like but still not bad, he's now named the HellScrote! for obvious reasons if you see him!

**Mechanicum Jon**

It feels really satisfying to get back to painting after some time off

! Being busy at work meant that I hadn't been able to get much hobby time for over a week!

Here are the Grots with the basecoats done and ready for all the fun detail work to begin. Except for the mask on the first Grot which I painted a few stages ahead first. I wanted to see whether the Cronos mask worked and whether I needed to switch it out for a Talos mask to be consistent with the rest of the squad. After seeing it painted, I like the way it ties in with the various glass vials on the model so it's staying

.

@Gitsplitta: Thanks!

@KrautScientist: Converting the same models multiple times has been interesting because I've started getting familiar enough with the models to have a good idea what will and won't look right before actually do it.

@nerdfest09: Your Hellbrute is an unnatural fleshy monstrosity! Looks great

!

**Gitsplitta**

Wonderful to see some paint on those!

**Urien_Rakarth**

So you are alive! Grots looking great, look forward to more progress!

**undead flesh addict**

WOW, just flicked through your entire blog and have teal spots in my eyes.
Great work, keep it up.

**Mechanicum Jon**

Small bits of progress this weekend. I painted and weathered the copper parts of the models over the brown basecoat and also put some time into the fur. No pics yet since these aren't huge changes.

I would have done more but succumbed to XCOM: Enemy Unknown

.

@Gitsplitta: I've been putting these two in the same box with the other three I've painted to keep the dust off them. They already look pretty good together as a squad despite the varying stages of painting and basing.

@Urien_Rakarth: My free time is under serious strain right now being stretched between wanting to see these Grots done and saving the world in XCOM

.

@undead flesh addict: Welcome to the blog

!

**Squigsquasher**

Another idea for the Tyranid claw: how about painting it the same colours as the Rippers in your army?

**Dahlberg66**

Mechanicum Jon wrote:
Quick Christmas Eve update before the festivities. I ordered a PACK Air case from Battlefoam during the Black Friday Sale (shipping fees for bulky items to Hong Kong are pretty rough otherwise) but it''s taken me a month to settle on exactly what I wanted. I've heard that you can just send them your model traces and that they would take case of it but playing with the tray creator was kind of fun.

I just sent an email with the details of my order in, so fingers crossed that they can do this. If it works I'll have managed to fit a whole 2000 point tournament army, plus an extra 200 points or so to swap out, into a case that can be carried onto a plane. That's including 12 vehicles (3 Venoms, 6 Raiders and 3 Ravagers)! It doesn't hold everything I've got but sometime down the line I'll be getting separate trays for my Hellions and Reavers to swap in and out.

Thought some of you might find these tray designs to be useful references, keeping in mind that I've gone for larger cutouts than is usual because of my bulkier bases.

Merry Christmas!

Hey Jon could you post a pic of your beastmaster units in the foam? I'm doing something very similar to what you did. Thanks

**Urien_Rakarth**

Wow that's pretty cool!

**Mechanicum Jon**

Finished up these two Grots! Well actually they still need a matt spray varnish and some gloss on the glass parts, but close enough to done for a post

! I'll base these two guys as well as the winged one before I take some better photos of the squad of five all together.

The fur was the most time consuming area to paint, but the back shot shows that the effect came out nicely! I'm thinking about giving the glass mask a bit of a bolder green highlight.

@Squigsquasher: That was my first thought, but the problem is that the flesh on my Rippers is blue and it would get confused with the armoured bits.

@Dahlberg66: I think there's a zoomed out shot of all the trays with mini's in them a bit later in the thread. My mini's are in the FLGS and my trays are at home so no promises for a better photo yet.

@Urien_Rakarth: I messed around playing tray tetris for way too long

.

**Dr H**

I really like the skin you've done there.

I don't think I've commented here before, so I'll also say I like the beat-up blue you've done on all your DE and the metals are also good.

**SlaveToDorkness**

um...nice pair!

**Gitsplitta**

Those look tremendous Jon. Something about the way you've done the fur... the very crisp black edges against the skin color... then brought up to white (or nearly so). Very nice.

**Two Spartan**

Oohhh Grot as in Grotesques not the little 40K gretchin

Fantastic work buddy, great colour scheme! Love the interesting skaven and tyranid conversions on the grots!

**Urien_Rakarth**

AWESOME! those things are bruisy and mangled. Horrible. Awesome!

**Mechanicum Jon**

"Look! It's moving. It's alive. It's alive... It's alive, it's moving, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, IT'S ALIVE!"
-Frankenstein (1931)

Replace "alive" with "painted" and dub some echoing evil overlord laughter in and you'll have a pretty accurate representation of what I was thinking while I was lining up the Grotesques for the photos

. I've put more time into this squad than I have into any other five models, but I really think it's been worth the effort! Can't wait to get them on the table smashing things to bits

!

**nerdfest09**

WOW just WOW Jon, freakin' amazing dude! that shot of them all together is brilliant!

if you need any more cash for more pics hit me up!

i'd love to have a pic of them like that with front and back in poster size hanging in the Nerd Bunker!

you have done an outstanding job on all of them! with such static poses you have changed them so dynamically and honestly they look better than the GW Grots by about 600% my favorite is the tentacle grot! man if he came after me I'd shoot myself!

**Two Spartan**

Ooft! Those look deadly!

Didn't realise before but your wings half cover up the skaven scar in the winged one. It looks much better now, doesn't look like a scaven symbol, but still nice and gory =)

**Foo**

GROSS!

**Gitsplitta**

Phenomenal! Really fantastic work Jon. A fitting addition to your spectacular army.

**Boss Salvage**

Lovely stuff, have been following the whole process intently. You've combined two of my favorite models from the last couple years - talos + BfSP rogres - and come up with some fantastic results

- Salvage

**SlaveToDorkness**

That's just....Grotesque!

::sigh::

**monkeyh**

They look great!

**Mechanicum Jon**

Brought the Grots down to the game store today to put in the display cabinet and they got a really good response

! Didn't manage to get a game in since I hadn't scheduled one and there wasn't anyone up for a pickup, but I'll hopefully get one in soon.

@nerdfest09: Thanks, I obviously prefer these to the GW one as well. I've heard rumors that we're going to get a box with different poses but I'm pretty confident that I'll still be happy with mine

! If you'd like some higher-res copies of these photos send me a PM with the email you'd like them sent to. Of course any contributions to the Drowned Gardens will be much appreciated as well!

@Two Spartan: That was an unexpected benefit.

@Foo: GREAT!

@Gitsplitta: Got a few more coming up!

@Boss Salvage: Thanks, the Talos and Rogres (love that contraction) are some of my favorite models as well!

@SlaveToDorkness: *laugh track*

@monkeyh: Thanks!

**ArchaonSon**

Super amazing matey bloody awesome work cant wait to see what you have planned next.

Much inspiration for my Talos scratch build now.

**Urien_Rakarth**

ASSAM! HORRIBLE! Oh god which should I use? I agree grotesques on the battle field are SCARY!

**Mechanicum Jon**

Sometimes getting into character as a narcissistic Dark Eldar Archon prone to occasionally searching for his forum handle on Google really pays off! In this case, I found this extremely complementary article Old School Terminator wrote about this army on Dark Future Games which instantly made my day:

http://darkfuturegaming.blogspot.hk/2012/11/it-came-from-forums-mechanicum-jons.html?showComment=1352723145735#c9212239184677961042

Aside from the copious amounts of praise, what I found to be really motivating was the fact that he had clearly taken a good look at the miniatures and appreciated all the work that I had put into the details. Anyway I'd better quit gloating before I get even more of a swelled head, so that's it for today

!

Just so this isn't entirely self-congratulatory, a quick note on the grots. I've converted the final member of the squad who is armed with a liquifier gun. I'm currently working on the greenstuffing for that Grot as well as the two others (The Crab and The Cleaver). Photos soon!

**Yggdrasil**

Hey, how does it feel to be a star ?!?

When people start writing blogs about / reviewing your work, I guess you're more than halfway there !!!

Congrats

(But it's deserved anyway...)