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Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Thanks for the comments, Vermis! I'm looking forward to your progress on your Elves as well. Multiple thin coats there, gobert. The sepia shading on the bows really did turn out well. It's not that there are no real bows that use laminated layers to increase durability and force, but those layers are not in the shape of fancy designs. I'm really glad the shading worked.

Archers are finished. All sixteen of them, which provides extra models if I want a larger unit. I need to get a better camera than the one on my phone - there's some very noticeable fish-eye going on.






Some thoughts: The white cloth was not brought to full white. I left it at GW's Ulthuan Grey, built up from GW's Celestra Grey with targetted shading of 1:1 mix of GW Drakenhof Nightshade and Vallejo Glaze Medium. When doing units I don't usually bring them up to full white as it attracts too much attention. I did the same with my Phoenix Guard, but the Phoenix Guard characters do have full white. The leather bits didn't turn out how I'd like. I tried more of a grey-brown look to them and I think they are just washed out among everything else. Perhaps next time I'll make them a bit darker. Otherwise, for 2.5 weeks of work I'm quite pleased with how these came out. They were all very pleasant to paint.

The only command I included was the Hawkeye (unit champion). Do archers need a banner or musician? Time will tell.

My brother that joined me on a journey through 15mm Ancient China completed his Imperial Chinese force. Historical battles to commence soon. Also, an image of the entire project. Nice to have this project wrapped up. We already have some ideas (and spare models) for additions to these armies. A very elite Imperial force versus a rabble of skilled horse-archers and unskilled foot warriors.



Next up, a High Elf Wizard to help lead the army, primed and ready for paint. This is one of the mid-2000s High Elf Mages on Elemental Base. I really enjoy this sculpt and am looking forward to painting it. Especially since it's just one model rather than sixteen. Comments and criticism always welcome. Enjoy the hobby.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/07/07 03:46:10


   
Made in hk
Krazed Killa Kan





USA

The archers look nice, and it's really enjoyable seeing that big force complete. I hope you get to enjoy some battles with them soon.

   
Made in gb
Posts with Authority






Norn Iron

The archers look excellent. My eyes are drawn to those gems. The robes look very clean and bright - I would've assumed they were full white if you hadn't said.

The chinese chariots look intimidating! Good looking forces overall. And that's the elf wizard I would've used as an Everqueen stand-in, if I could have got one for a reasonable (i.e. stingy) price on ebay! If that's painted up like the others, but with extra character attention, it'll look spectacular.

I'm sooo, sooo sorry.

Plog - Random sculpts and OW Helves 9/3/23 
   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Thanks for the compliment, Syro. We're hoping to get a historical game in soon. I might take some photos and give a battle narration. It'll be a couple guys bumbling about the rules.

Vermis, thanks to you as well. I do take some pride in my gems. It doesn't matter how many are in a unit, I paint them all and I find the process very relaxing. Gem painting is, I think, a simple series of steps that quickly leads to a very pleasing result.

Regarding Ulthuan Grey, it is a deceptive sort of white. Things that are actually white rarely appear fully white to us unless in direct sunlight. That's why the slightly blue-grey off-white Ulthuan Grey looks like white (white in shadow is usually a bluish-grey). An example of this phenomenon is a recent photo of my Phoenix Guard with Anointed and Caradryan. Most, if not all the Phoenix Guard are brought only up to Ulthuan Grey. Caradryan on the far left and the Anointed on the far right are brought to full white. At a glance they look similar, but the character's whites are much more pronounced after a closer look.

I am very glad I checked this before blocking in colors on the wizard, Vermis. Your idea of using her as a potential stand-in for Alarielle is a great one. I think I'm going to go for more greens on her just for that purpose. Prices for Alarielle on ebay are ridiculous. The older sculpt looks fine, but is never sold for a reasonable price. The very brief, newer run of Alarielle rarely shows up. When it does, a bidding war begins and sends the final price into the multiple hundreds. Ridiculous. I'd love to get an actual Alarielle model, but I'm just a humble guy with a young, growing family. There's no way I'd get one of those at the current prices. One can dream.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/07/08 02:38:46


   
Made in gb
Posts with Authority






Norn Iron

 CaptainWaffle wrote:
I do take some pride in my gems.


It shows!

I see what you mean about grey vs white (nicely painted). And still looking forward to see the wizard painted, but more so.

I'm sooo, sooo sorry.

Plog - Random sculpts and OW Helves 9/3/23 
   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Another week, roughly, another High Elf finished. Here is Alarielle's lesser known twin sister Balarielle. She's in the lore, I swear. If you look really close between the lines you'll see mention of her.



I really need to source a better image capture device. My phone's lack of image quality and capture options are really starting to show. It certainly won't keep me from this project, though.

I decided not to paint this wizard as Alarielle 100% (no blonde hair). My initial plan was to roughly capture my wife's look. I ho-hummed about the cloth colors until Vermis mentioned an "Alarielle stand-in", which sealed it as green. The elemental base was a fun thing to paint. I had initially painted it with a select few GW Contrast paints, but I didn't like how they turned out. My thoughts on those paints are that they work for some things - mostly fur - but they don't work at all on most other things. At best, they give a quick base to work from, which is how I ended up using them. There is actually a bit of light pink on her lips, cheeks, and above the eyes, but I don't think the phone camera captured that color very well.

Since I had the backdrop set up I had some fun and took a few unit glamor shots with the archers and Phoenix Guard.



Painting this wizard was a nice way to relax hobby time after those 16 archers and was a joy. If any of you have those old metal casts laying around I recommend dusting them off and taking some time with them. There's a character to them that I think is difficult to find in more recent miniatures.

Up next, an Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower to provide some heavy supporting ranged fire. Comments and criticism always welcome. Enjoy the hobby.

   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Hobby time has largely been taken up with non-hobby things this past week and a half. Progress has been made on the bolt thrower. If this were a home blog I'd have tons of family and home maintenance/improvement things to talk about. Since it's not, here's an image of the Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower war engine complete. The two crew members are in progress.


Dakka's auto-correct really cranks the contrast, but my phone really washes it all out. There's no winning! The image is servicable, at least. This is sort of a ho-hum unit. War engines are cool, but they don't have much going for them model-wise other than their static representation. They look nice on the battlefield and are very useful, but they are nowhere near as interesting to paint as other things. So, I have the engine out of the way first and the two crew will follow soon. Then I can move on to some cavalry for the High Elf army. That will be interesting.

What is interesting about this bolt thrower model is how it functions. I can't tell. The main representational components of a ballista-type war engine are present, such as the arms, the bolt rest, the lock/release levers, but it's not clear at all how they combine to function. A little silly to think about.

Comments and criticism always welcome. Enjoy the hobby.

   
Made in gb
Ancient Venerable Dreadnought






It must work by elven magic, obvs! Either way it looks cool all painted up, particularly with the autumn base. Hopefully real life gives you a bit of hobby time soon!

Goberts Gubbins - P&M Blog, started with Oldhammer, often Blackstone Fortress and Void Panther Marines, with side projects along the way 
   
Made in gb
Renegade Kan Killin Orks






Northern Ireland

The loader offers a theme or a subject for each bolt he lays on the machine. The shooter then has to sing a song of release weaving each theme into the melody, often incorporating words of power and swiftness into the rhyme scheme. The weapon is triggered when, moved by the tragic and unsurpassed beauty of the song, the first tear falls upon the mechanism and the bolts fly in the order in which they were sung of. Accuracy largely depends on the amount of poetic lisence employed by the singer.

   
Made in gb
Posts with Authority






Norn Iron

 CaptainWaffle wrote:
Another week, roughly, another High Elf finished. Here is Alarielle's lesser known twin sister Balarielle.


Man, sorry I missed this. The painting is great. I especially like the particular shade of green, the complementary purple, and as ever, the gems.

The units and bolt thrower are the same: bright and clean but not garish or too busy. Just nice.

I really need to source a better image capture device. My phone's lack of image quality and capture options are really starting to show. It certainly won't keep me from this project, though.


I got a Lumix GX80 a few years ago, with more settings and boosts than I know what to do with; and while it's a big improvement, I still have to run contrast and colours through GIMP and worry about blowing the whites out.

I'm sooo, sooo sorry.

Plog - Random sculpts and OW Helves 9/3/23 
   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






I often wonder if my painting and basing are too busy, Vermis. They're fantasy High Elves, so in my mind they need lots of color and brightness. Good to know I'm not going overboard in someone else's eyes.

theCrowe and gobert, you both must be correct. There must be High Elf magic as an integral component to the function of the bolt thrower. As usual, Crowe, your wonderful story telling has affected (positively) how I perceive my elves. I used to see the pointing crew member as just shouting. Now I see him as singing whilst his crewmate contemplates the words for the next bolt. Here they are all finished:


A little out of focus as the bolt thrower is so big. No fancy background this time. I'll set that up after the next unit and get some fancy images then. These, like many of my High Elves (and other miniatures), are ebay rescues. There is a lot about the plastic that is off, or were built strangely. Can't complain when I paid $10 or less for this unit, though. I painted the robes blue because I am a little tired of painting white - it takes a lot of work and so many of my previous models are mainly white. I'd like to mix in more greens and blues in future High Elves.

Up next: Silver Helms. This will be a small unit of five to get started, with full command. I learned from those sixteen archers. I only need five Silver Helms for the starting 1,000 points. Even though I have enough for ten of them, I'll leave the rest for the future. These elves are still on the sprue, mostly, so it's not much to look at. The horses will be white and/or grey, and the main cloth color will be green for this batch, similar to the wizard I recently completed. Comments and criticism always welcome. Enjoy the hobby.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2020/07/31 15:22:33


   
Made in hk
Krazed Killa Kan





USA

I agree that the bases aren't too busy as well, especially since you keep them consistent which is more important. Since your high elf archers are on square bases where the edges meet the bases flows together and looks great. I don't want to give you anymore work, but I would love to see some custom movement trays that the round base guys slot into, which are flocked in the same way. I don't know how practical this is for the game though...

   
Made in gb
Posts with Authority






Norn Iron

Syro_ wrote:I agree that the bases aren't too busy as well, especially since you keep them consistent which is more important. Since your high elf archers are on square bases where the edges meet the bases flows together and looks great.


Yup. The bases are noticeable, but not too distracting. (Sort of 'I'm here too' rather than 'me me me') I think it helps that they're not straight-up lemon yellows and blood reds. In my eyes they help ground the elves, maybe more than a simple layer of static grass or sand, with a kind of slightly-otherworldly sylvan autumn feel. Which is all appropriate for elves, IMO.

Tempted to pick up one or two of those leaf punches from Green Stuff World and do something similar for my own.

CaptainWaffle wrote:These, like many of my High Elves (and other miniatures), are ebay rescues. There is a lot about the plastic that is off, or were built strangely. Can't complain when I paid $10 or less for this unit, though.


You're more patient or more fortunate than I am, or both. I've just about sworn off rescuing plastics from ebay because they're often more styrene cement than styrene.

I painted the robes blue because I am a little tired of painting white


There are worse reasons for going off the beaten track.

Up next: Silver Helms... These elves are still on the sprue, mostly, so it's not much to look at.


Are those another ebay rescue? If so, nice!

I'm sooo, sooo sorry.

Plog - Random sculpts and OW Helves 9/3/23 
   
Made in us
Slaanesh Havoc with Blastmaster






Some good looking High Elves going on here
   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Good to see you around Fluid_Fox. Keep up the great work on your daemons. It's always nice to see something you created from scratch come to life.

Vermis and Syro_, it took me a good year of miniatures to settle on the current autumn fantasy base style. It came about only because I would collect the remnants of all my previous methods in the same container with the result being roughly what you see now. Probably six months ago I realized that I can create my own basing mix from various sources and throw that in one step on top of the grass. Glad it's working out. The more I look at those round 25mm bases that a bunch of my models are on the more I loathe them. Based on your suggestions I tested some movement tray designs, but I don't currently have the proper tool to make holes in MDF/HDF. The one I do have just tears the material to shreds. In doing that, though, I realized that creating a movement tray with one-inch diameter holes would create more problems. What would I do if I wanted a character to join the unit? Rest their square base awkwardly on top of the custom movement tray?

At the end of the movement tray tests, I decided that I'll end up re-basing those models that are currently on 25mm circles to 25mm squares. It will provide the opportunity to re-base them with my current basing scheme as well, rather than the older autumn methods. Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I might need to revisit those big models that I have on ovals as well.

Vermis wrote:Are those another ebay rescue? If so, nice!

They are from ebay, although I don't think I'd call these particular Silver Helms as "rescues". It looks like someone considered building them, but stopped after clipping and cleaning the horses. All the Silver Helm knights are still on the original sprues and all the horses are loose. Everything is there though. Two additional Silver Helms, that are not part of this batch of five I am working on, are true ebay rescues. They are going to need a lot of work. I have the time to clean ebay rescues up, but not the funds to purchase new usually. That's how I can get away with dealing with poor builds and bad paint jobs while saving money.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2020/08/02 03:58:30


   
Made in hk
Krazed Killa Kan





USA

Sorry to be suggesting extra work for you. I normally prefer round bases for all things, but that ordered rank on the square bases looks really good together. The round bases look very nice on their own, I just think they stand out on the movement trays. It seems a shame to waste your nicely flocked round bases. Do you think it would look good enough to flock the interior of one of your movement trays with the same color scheme but keep it flat? Or do you think the base edges would stand out too much? If you really want to go down the rabbit hole, I wonder if there are clear acrylic movement trays?

   
Made in gb
Posts with Authority






Norn Iron

 Syro_ wrote:
Sorry to be suggesting extra work for you. I normally prefer round bases for all things, but that ordered rank on the square bases looks really good together. The round bases look very nice on their own, I just think they stand out on the movement trays. It seems a shame to waste your nicely flocked round bases.


Pretty much this. Looking at the number of minis you've based already, I don't want to say 'yes you should definitely rebase', but you and Syro are vocalising some thoughts that I've also had about my own stuff. Round bases look nice, but when you need to form them up...

I'm sooo, sooo sorry.

Plog - Random sculpts and OW Helves 9/3/23 
   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






To me, the bases are just plastic or MDF. They are so cheap that I don't mind rebasing. It also doesn't take all that much time to rebase. There is the risk of destroying feet and other parts, though. After considering it more today I realized that there is a problem: my current circular-based models have either metal tabs that hold them up (the old school Phoenix Guard) or have solid Milliput at the feet to help hold them up (the Lothern Sea Guard and White Lions). Milliput is basically impervious unless you cut at it with a power tool or sturdy saw. That leaves my choices to either flock the movement trays, which is the easiest option but will leave the model base rims showing, or glue the circle bases right to squares and Milliput the corners into small hills. That isn't much work, but it would make them all look like they are standing on their own earth mound. If I try to remove them from their circle bases I'd likely end up destroying parts and would definitely need to use Milliput to hold them all up again. No winning.

You might be right, Syro_. The best option, given all the pros and cons, might be to just flock some of the movement trays for the circle bases. I'll add some of my current autumn fantasy mix to the older bases as well so they blend in better. This, to me, strikes the best balance between additional work, aesthetics, and risk of destroying my finished models' feet. Going forward, all new models will be on 25mm squares, so this trouble won't come up again!

   
Made in hk
Krazed Killa Kan





USA

Best of luck
Keep us posted.

   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






The previous week resulted in built Silver Helms and some rebasing. The Silver Helm horses had quite a few gaps due to their design. Nothing that some Milliput couldn't handle. Hopefully the banners on the lances stay put. If they come off during painting I'll replace them with printed designs. Might do that anyway. We'll see. Here they are ready for priming.


As Syro_ and Vermis suggested, I modified the bases of my other finished High Elves so everything matches better and added grass to some movement trays so the round bases wouldn't stand out so much. Here are the before images:



Here are links to my gallery images on the before models on the before movement trays.

The after images:



While messing with the bases I thought more about my current and future White Lion Chariots. The ovals they are on are huge. The Phoenix and Lord on Griffon base ovals neatly fit my appropriately-sized "adapter" rectangle bases, but the huge ovals on the chariots look ridiculous. More importantly, they could have a strange affect during gameplay, getting too many opposing models in melee with them or blocking too much room. I think I'm going to (gently) pry the chariot off its base, or cut it off, and get it on a rectangle. Something for the future. This is what happens when you leave AoS.

As always, comments and criticism welcome. Enjoy the hobby.

   
Made in gb
Posts with Authority






Norn Iron

 CaptainWaffle wrote:
While messing with the bases I thought more about my current and future White Lion Chariots. The ovals they are on are huge. The Phoenix and Lord on Griffon base ovals neatly fit my appropriately-sized "adapter" rectangle bases, but the huge ovals on the chariots look ridiculous. More importantly, they could have a strange affect during gameplay, getting too many opposing models in melee with them or blocking too much room. I think I'm going to (gently) pry the chariot off its base, or cut it off, and get it on a rectangle. Something for the future. This is what happens when you leave AoS.


This is another basing problem similar to one of mine. Funny, it ended up by deciding on a rectangle too.

The movement trays are looking great. The grass underneath looks novel and interesting. Bad luck on the SHelm gaps, but looking forward to see them painted - and based, too!

I'm sooo, sooo sorry.

Plog - Random sculpts and OW Helves 9/3/23 
   
Made in gb
Renegade Kan Killin Orks






Northern Ireland

Props for putting so much thought and time into your basing. It's hard to be excited about bases when the minis are where it's at and especially when there are new and more exciting projects waiting in the wings. But the work you're putting in is paying dividends. I really like your bright autumnal bases. (And any opportunity to use the word autumnal) Great fantasy look to them.

   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




Hey man, I love the thread.

Can I ask the exact process of how you applied milliput to the horses? I've been trying to do a few of the same horses but been having some difficulty with the gaps.

Also I'm kind of curious on the order in which you assembled the horse. You know how awkward these models are with the tabs on the tail and head.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also I'm kind of curious on the order in which you assembled the horse. You know how awkward these models are with the tabs on the tail and head.

This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2020/11/29 14:59:24


 
   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Thanks Anathir! Been busy with family lately, so I haven't posted anything for a time. Still have all the hobby stuff, though, so I plan to have more up sometime.

The old horses are very fidly. I dry-fit all the components after cleaning from mold lines and such. If the tabs on the tail and head were too thick for a proper seating in the body I cut at them or sanded them to shape. Once I have a pose I sort of loosely glued the head and tail to one side of the body using just a few tacks of glue to hold them in place. Then, I kind of quickly spread a layer of super glue on all the meeting surfaces of the other side of the body and used a toothpick to get more glue on the "tacked" side, and pressed the two sides tight together. That's the only way I found that works.

If the pressing of the sides together goes well there will be a minimal gap between the halves. Otherwise, the gap will be larger. Minimal gaps need only one layer of Milliput, larger gaps will need two or more. After mixing the Milliput, I rolled it out into thin cylinders and pressed those in the gaps. Using a small sculp tool, or a small metal spoon or butter knife would work, moistened with water I smoothed out the Milliput and removed excess. If another layer is needed wait until the previous layer is dry. It's just a matter of giving the stuff time to work.

   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




Thanks for the response.

I've had all sorts of issues including excess superglue from the body joint overflowing onto the top of the horse and looking quite bad and conspicuous.

I may clean all the mold lines, then cut the tab from the head entirely, then dry fit and glue the body parts/tail like you described and add the head at the end.

When you press the miliput into the gap, do you use fingers? Any fingerprint issues?
   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Cutting the tab might work. It's all just plastic. Cut away and make it your own! If it comes down to it you can always pin things if you remove too much. For Milliput, use moistened fingers and/or sculpting tools. A little water keeps the putty from sticking so much to the finger/tool. Get the putty in place first, then use a little more water and rub your finger/tool across the putty to smooth it out.

   
Made in be
Liberated Grot Land Raida






Belgium

Nice! Almost makes me revisit my High Elves. I'm loving both the painting and the basing on these!

A Squeaky Waaagh!!

Camkhieri: "And another very cool thing, my phones predictive text actually gave me chicken as an option after typing robot, how cool is that."'

Meercat: "All eyes turned to the horizon and beheld, in lonely and menacing grandeur, the silhouette of a single Grot robot chicken; a portent of evil days to come."
From 'The Plucking of Gindoo Phlem' 
   
Made in us
Nimble Ellyrian Reaver






Thank you for the kind words, CommissarKhaine! I encourage you to revisit your High Elves. They are well done miniatures with great old fashioned lore and art. No school like the old school.

It's taken me only about a year to get these swords and shields for the Silver Helms done. Interesting how the rest of life can so easily place the hobby on hold. All is well, and I'm back to painting. Really, this was a few hours spread over a few days. Little bits are done, next up are the Silver Helm riders, High Elf princes and nobles fulfilling their duties and/or seeking glory. Their trusty steeds will come after. Enjoy the hobby.



   
Made in ca
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






Those shields and matching swords are gorgeous, can't wait to see them on the units! Are you gonna also vary the heraldry on their coats, or are you gonna keep those consistent and let the shields and swords be the distinguishing parts?

See what's on my painting table Now painting: Necron Warriors 
   
Made in gb
Mad Gyrocopter Pilot





Northumberland

High Elves were my first army and still my favourite. Nice use of colour on the models and I love the forest bases. Good luck with the silver helms!

One and a half feet in the hobby


My Painting Log of various minis:
# Olthannon's Oscillating Orchard of Opportunity #

 
   
 
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