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Um, thats a LOT of awesome stuff

I'm really sorry to hear about your illness and loss.
The Athena is looking amazing, give it time I look forward to seeing your return.

I am so sorry about your Jojo, when pets become family and are with you for so long it can be a great wrench.

I will keep tabs on this thread and rejoice when you come back to dakka, as your modelling work is truly inspiring.

Have you considered to name one of the stryx after jojo in honour of her? Mybe a latin name for cat or something. Just a thought.

Take care and keep well.

Respects
Dantay

So sorry to hear of your loss Klaus.
Loss of motivation is only to be expected at times like that, hopefully we'll see you again when you feel you can continue.

Keep up the work. My feelings out to you, my girlfriend is a vet, I can relate.

Thank you guys.
This helps a lot.

Well, usually I have no business with the Eldar or Dark Eldar, but my nephew Florian raised his Christmas whish:
"A character by Klaus - I want Kheradruakh"
Ough!
A Dark Eldar :(

Since I don't know anything about DE or their codex I conducted a Google search, but it didn't reveal much:

[*]Mandrake champion and master assasin
[*]4 arms
[*]enormous sword "Decapitor"
[*]Splinter pistol
[*]Dark Energy (or flames?)

Like all Mandrakes he's perfectly camouflaged, infiltrates and attacks out of the shadows. He's canibalistic and cornivorous and lives outside any social restrictions. He collects the skulls of his enemies and he's adorned with trophies.
A nice and friendly character

After checking the GW website and looking at their new Mandrakes, I realized I'll have to scratch build (or rather sculpt) him.
The intended pose is a surprise attack out of the shadows and over a rock. Firing the pistol at one target while he raises his sword over his head to attack another target (and maybe even firing off a ball of fire at yet another target).

Unfortunately I have no images of how I started, but here's an early image.


Here I added the ragged pants and you can see his twin chest.

I have to admit that if I'd have seen LuckyNo5's Haemonculi ( http://z11.invisionfree.com/Work_In_Progress/index.php?showtopic=17044&st=0 ) I would have used rather that option than my "double chest"

Then I continued by mounting the pistol hand and sculpting the arm


From what I understand, his skin is all broken up and covered with runes, so I tried to sculpt it that way


Once I was through with the basic sculpt, I realized the head I had initially planed to use was way to small. So I had to start sculpting that too.
Here you can see the early face and a crude belt


Last night I mounted the sword, added a bracelet, as well as a necklace, which will have a chopped human hand at its end

There's still a lot of cleanup to do, as well as adding a million of details. I'll have to complete the legs and his feet and after that it will be all the details... more bracelets, skulls, a spiked necklace, and insignias.
Also I'm thinking about adding some seams and stitches to the pants, so that it looks more like skin patchwork...

As said, I never did anything with Dark Eldar, so please let me know what you think.
Cheers
Klaus

hello klaus, nice having you back,

so this is the old: the family brought me back to business business...
also:
i never saw you do well grey stuffing too...
nice idea and that will be a great model. will you paint it too or will that be the part of your nephew then...

have fun modeling and best wishes oin these cold times...

vik

Wow, your work with grey stuff is impressive TOO...

Nice one!!

Damn Klaus, it's not just plasticard you're great with. Nice work.

Good to see something from you too.

This is all Freaking amazing...i am completely speachless.

Hey guys,
thanks for the feedback.

Sorry if I'm coming off a bit rude, that's not the intention. I just think it would be sad if your hard work doesn't meet your nephew's expectations because of a stylistic misunderstanding.

Don't worry, if I couldn't stand the heat, I wouldn't be in the kitchen *lol*

perhaps it's kind of nitpicky on my side, but it kinda bothers me to see "Decapitator" consistently misspelled.

Well, at least I am consistent - thanks for pointing it out though

OK, I had a chat with my nephew, who *completely* forgot to tell me about the Splinter pistol...oh well...but anyhow, I pointed him to the image of the Codex and he told me that he did not want that dull Urang Utan style dude simply croutching on the skulls.
He wants a dynamic pose

So, with your feedback and Florians "guidance" in mind, I removed the head and the pistol hand, but kept the rest


Then I added the torn remnants of shirt and some other stuff, like the torn IG arm hanging from his side


Then I started to work on his base



Gave him more accessories, like the DkoK head :-P


And started another head.
Please bear in mind this is still Work in Progress!
I know he's a Mandrake, but I don't really like their faces without mouth. And from the official image, though quite shadowy, you can he he has more ape-like features and a big upper lip, like a Neanderthal.
To support the attacking pose I wanted to sculpt him with an open, snarling mouth.

So, still a lot to do, and I'm sure not everyone will like the head
Cheers
Klaus

He looks really Simian indeed...

As you said, I don't really like that head... I think the featureless ones work nicely...

Awesome work though uh!

Very nice work indeed it was looking a little sketchy and rough to begin with but it looks very nice now, are you keeping the sword?

Hello all,

as said, I was expecting this reaction about his head
I really apreciate your feedback and I like what you wrote. Eventhough I have quite a different image in my mind (apparently), but I guess that's just free imagination.

Anyhow, I did continue and first he received some hair - I was quite afraid he's look emo...


After several detail steps I mounted him on the base and remounted the sword


You may realize the additional details on the base, like the maggots and stuff


And here he is, primed and ready for painting

Cheers
Klaus

The head looks better with hair... Good luck on the painting!!

Thanks guys.

So, I started to paint this little killermachine.
Here you can see all the base colors applied


Then I toned everything down with several coats of washes


Then i experimented with the lights to see about the atmosphere setting.
I started off with lights from below

Which looks good, but I decided to rather go with lights from above


Several steps later I painted the sword with an energy flash pattern


And this is how for I got over the last two days:


I hope you like it so far
Cheers
Klaus

I am flabbergasted. Your works are simply superb.

He's come along quite well. I agree that he looked kinda emo when he was primed black but he no longer has that same effect. Good job on this sculpt and paintjob.

Thanks guys

Well since Christmas is aproaching fast and I have a few days off, I was able to complete the mini.









Well, this was quite a differnet project for me, but it was fun.
Thanks for your patience while acompanying me on the little trip into the world of the Dark Eldar. I'm glad when I'm back home with my Imperial Guard and Orks

I wish you all a Merry Christmas or Happy Hollidays and I hope you can enjoy some days off with the family. Time for a good book, good food with the family and friends, and maybe even some hobby time.
Enjoy the season.
See you soon
Klaus

Merry Christmas to you, and congratulations on that mini, it's really awesome...

You did an amazing job on that mini. Respect.

That is awesome. Some superb sculpting and excellent details. Nice paint job to compliment a cool sculpt.

sir, i do not approve of your awesomeness, it puts my best conversions to shame. i am left with no choice but to offer my eternal gratitude for exploding my brains in such a bombardment of awesome.

seriously though, great work, looking forward to more

Klaus, silly question... what name brand of sculpting medium did you use?

It it Epoxy or somethng else?

Thanks guys

@wolfshadow, it's called ProCreate from Kraftmark and it's a two-component stuff, like Green Stuff. I prefer it, as I can mix it it smaller amounts and it's less sticky (which turns some people down).

Cheers
klaus

The airship is amazing! Can't wait to see it finished. Keep it up.

I wanted to thank you all for your patience and participation in 2010

2010 - what a year!

Thanks for your time, your comments, your feedback and suggestions.
I wish you all a very Happy New Year! Health and Success and may all your wishes come true!
CHEERS!
Klaus

Happy new year Klaus. Prosperity in 2011!

Thanks and Happy New Year to all of you!
I hope you had a good start and I wish you all the best for 2011.
Health, Good Luck, Love, and Success.

Here's my very own personal Christmas gift - the 75 colors set from Vallejo. It arrived in my postbox on the 31st


And since I still have so many unfinished projects on my shelf, I decided to do some painting rather than building.
So I'm starting the year with the painting of the SPIDA tank from the Defense of Xantinum diorama (well actually I started after Chrismas).
The idea is to apply something like a WWII "Flecktarn" pattern to the SPIDA.
Applying the camouflage dots ruined two brushes


Then I started to add little details, like metal for the leg joints, blue for the cables, and silver for the hydraulic pistons.


I added some Ork markings, bits of brass and rust.
"Evil Eyez"


Da Trigga - unplugged


And this is as far as I got over the last few days:


Once I have all the details I will give it some washes and after that it's time for weathering and damages. The crew will be last.
I hope you like it
Cheers
Klaus

WOW im really impressed with your skills.i love the look and feel of your miniatures.
keep up the good work.