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Thanks a ton guys! I'm glad you like them

Copy away SoaJ! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery if you've got any pics I'd love to see them

The Death Jester was actually fairly straight forward. The head, body and legs are all standard Harlequin (although to get the cloaked body on those legs you need to clip off one of the ribbons on the underside).

The gun is the rear half and arms of a Scourge Heat Lance, and the barrel from a Dire Avenger Shuriken Catapult. Originally planned to test it on some Corsair Balestrikes (never liked how bulky CWE hand-held heavy weapons are compared to DE, even the FW ones), but it seemed perfect for a Shrieker Cannon

 Inevitable_Faith wrote:
Since the original DJ is a mono-pose model on a decorative base having multiples in your army tends to look weird

/Pedantic correction mode on:

Once you start tossing the word “original” around, you might draw the attention of old grognards like myself. I’ve got 3 Death Jesters on my shelf, none of which are the same, and all are stock GW minis. One has a lascannon. RTB06

/PCM off

Love what you’ve done with the DJ here. Great kitbash. Spotlight pic is also very evocative, nice showcase pic of the mini there.

Thanks man! Glad you like it and I love how the spotlight thing turned out. Really want to try it with some other minis, but I'll need a camera you can adjust the white balance/exposure on. I think it worked for this one because the my phone used the white of the Harlie as the basis of the exposure, whereas on darker models the base is whited out...

Now a lascannon Death Jester sounds like exactly what Harlies need A/T-wise. BS5 S9 shot at 48" is nasty

Haha my apologies Nev, I'll be sure to correct my misnomers of models in the future

I perceive you as less of an old Grognard by the way and more of a wise battle veteran. Grognard to me implies a level of grumpiness I don't feel you've quite achieved

 Ynneadwraith wrote:


Copy away SoaJ! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery if you've got any pics I'd love to see them

Here you are!
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/650021.page#9167330

It's an active project of mine so there will be more pics in the future Again: I love your conversions^^

Prince Morrathillian sat at the helm of the listening-ship. The transparent dome surrounding him and his command crew offered an unparalleled view of the star-specked void, ghostly runes dancing across its surface. One in particular piqued his interest. A distant world-rune began to flicker almost imperceptibly and, to him, embarked upon an errant journey across the star-scape. Signalling his sister-ships through the aether, dozens of heavily cloaked vessels leapt through the open webway portal. He couldn't be sure what had occurred, but one of his listening posts had signaled for aid. What would cause one of his operatives to send such a coded message he couldn't fathom, but something was clearly awry. The Khaine's Ravens may be spies first and foremost, but the blood of the war god still flows through their veins. Whoever dared to encroach on their mission would feel the full force of his fleet.



Well, that fluff piece has been written for weeks awaiting a suitable painting milestone to roll it out! Much though I love the paint scheme for the Khaine's Ravens, they're by far the most time consuming of my Eldar to paint...

One of the things I've started on this lot is (steady now) actually highlighting the gold armour. Previously, I've just given it a liberal wash of ancient Flesh Wash and left it be. Not sure whether it comes across at all in these pics, but I've gone back over some of the higher patches with Gehennas Gold which makes for more of a glowing gold colour which I rather liked so much so that I've gone over all the rest of the Khaine's Ravens doing the same thing

Looks absolutely bashing.

I love that conversion and the paint job does it justice. The gold is quite lustrous

Great work Ynnead, the conversions are stunning and full of character, the way the red plays off the black is really nice and the bronze armour compliments it all well. Another stellar addition to your growing force. And don't worry about how long it takes you to paint something. The end result is always the goal and that is what's important. I have to keep telling myself that so my own glacial painting speed doesn't drive me nuts.

Thanks a bunch guys lustrous was what I was going for!

You're right as ever I_F. Very good attitude must remember that when I've got 22 more Corsairs looking up at me condescendingly

Nice. The gold is definitely better with a wash and highlight ovr just a wash from my experience. Gehennas Gold is such a godsend.

EDC

It really is! Beautiful gold with stunning coverage

I've been impressed by Warplock Bronze and Leadbelcher too (although it's no Chainmail).

Really most of the modern metallics I've tried have great coverage. Only one that doesn't really is Runelord Brass, but that makes it better as a highlight colour from my experience

I like those models a lot. Nice scheme, good execution, excellent converting and posing. This will be one to watch.

Good paint job! Can't say whether your painting skill or the foto qualitiy improved but the accentuated gold looks really nice (certainly both ) I tend to be lazy and shade mine once and don't touch it anymore...

Thanks Verveidi I'll endeavor to keep it up!

 SoaJ wrote:
Good paint job! Can't say whether your painting skill or the foto qualitiy improved but the accentuated gold looks really nice (certainly both ) I tend to be lazy and shade mine once and don't touch it anymore...

Haha you and me both I think these might be the first models that have more than a 2-step process for each colour...

I do plan on heading back to some of my older models and adding in a bit more depth with occasional highlights and selective Reikland Fleshshade/Nuln Oil washes. Glad to see it might be in some way effective

Morrathillian strode into the antechamber as only a Corsair Prince could, his guards unsheathing their blades purposefully. "You, Harlequin, how dare you encroa…", he began, but something felt…off. Hand instinctively bolting towards the grip of his pistol his gaze flitted around the room, settling on a figure loitering in the shadows, head cocked slightly, staring lidlessly at him. Something about that particular harlequin engendered a primordial unease within him. Compared to the other inhabitants of the room its mind felt familiar, but somehow disconcerting. A symphony of souls, with one haphazard instrument playing off-key.

"That's a Solitaire, isn't it" Morrathillian stated, meeting the fell creature's gaze. He could sense his guards tense as the words left his mouth.

"Correct, my Prince! You are a sharp one," the lead Harlequin acknowledged jovially, "We have need of your services, Friend-of-Ravens. I trust there's no quarrel between us..."

Morrathillian noted that the Solitaire still hadn't blinked. Mind racing, hand still hovering over his pistol, the Corsair Prince calculated his odds...



Been waiting to roll out that fluff piece for a while now! Love the idea of Solitaires being thoroughly disconcerting for other eldar to be around

As for the model itself I'm not entirely certain I'm satisfied with it. A moment of indecision on hair-colour had me undercoat it red, and then change my mind and have to go over it with a couple of coats of grey to bring it back :S hence the slightly heavier nuln oil wash to disguise the ruddy grey it ended up like :S sort of ruins the whole 'washed out natural' look I tend to go for...

Still, I suppose it works ok for a Solitaire I've got a bit of an image for this one that in normal life it's got this lank grey/white hair that hangs down obscuring its face, but in battle it's borne up by fell energies like a banshee in the wind. Fitting that it looks sort-of backlit if that's the case

She's a very cool piece. I really like the pose.

I really love the fluff behind her, it was quite chilling

I think the hair looks great, just as unwashed and dirty as it should be.

That fits with the way i think they would feel around a solitaire, yes. Kind of the same way humans are shown feeling around eldar... here is this person that looks like you but everything about them is just slightly off and they move and think in ways that you can't understand...

Also the painting is good of course

Thanks guys yeah i love the idea of solitaires being very alien too like looking at a person's eyes and seeing something reptilian staring back at you, or seeing a person that moves ever-so-slightly like a marionette.

If anyone's heard of The Uncanny Valley, that basically

That, and for eldar they can psychically sense just how wrong they are...

I'm glad you guys like the painting too that was the bit that i was least sure about

Very nice solitaire, very spooky looking.

The face turned out nice, too. The paint did a good job of making Daemonette head look like a mask.

Thanks guys! Spooky is what i was after

I did cheat a little. The face is actually a mask from the Harlequin kit! Clipped off that daemonette face and stuck that on there


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Well, I've always thought that it's a good idea to keep your first ever 40k model around, just to show to yourself so you can get some perspective on how far you've come.

This evening, rooting around in some boxes, I found him!

Behold, the wonder that is my first ever 40k model!



Turns out, being 12 and high as f*ck on the solvents you've used to glue him together is neither conducive to good modelling nor good painting. Literally not a clue what my artistic vision for that was. Going out on a limb I'm going to say Abstract Expressionism...

1. Hunched over pose
2. Shoulder pads on the wrong way up
3. Clutching a Bolt Pistol in 2 hands
4. Arms at different heights
5. Random bolter stuck to his thigh
6. Extra layers of paint confer a 2+ save
7. Wilful determination to paint completely outside the lines

At least I had the good grace to know that beakie helmets are cool

By the time I'd got to my first Eldar model I had inched forwards slightly...



At least I'd learnt to roughly paint between the lines (sort of), and that if you paint the base they look a little better. Still had the standard +1Sv from the sheer thickness of paint on him though...

On the plus side, I did uncover some cool dudes that my catastrophically haphazard younger self hadn't yet got round to ruining. First among which is this kickass R/T era Assassin class Ghost Warrior (and a little chainsaw-wielding buddy as well!).

Man, I love the Ghost Warriors. He has a shuriken catapult for a face, for crying out loud. Too awesome.

That's awesome to see where you started dude and how far you've come. I've thought about digging out some of my first models but to be honest I'm not sure if I even have them anymore.

Thanks man! Not hard to move forward from that TBH

I quite like keeping them around. I've found painting is a little like height when you're growing up. Because it's so incremental, you never really notice yourself unless you make a mark against a wall and compare where you were 5 years ago.

Sadly, my wall-marks didn't make it quite as far as my painting...stalling at 5'6 or so

Couple of little updates I had my copy of Gangs of Commorragh turn up the other day, so immediately got to producing some Reavers I must admit jetbikes have never really done anything for me (despite my love of Saim Hann), but these guys alongside the kickass Harlequin Skyweavers have sold me on them. They're so damn cool! I suppose it's easier for me to suspend my disbelief about jetbikes strafing past and cutting your head off than heading straight towards you guns blazing (presenting the easiest of targets to shoot).

Anyway, here they are




Kickass blank-faced helmets to denote arena champs (my main reason for buying GoC was to get a decent supply of those!). Also, notice 'Mr Untransportable' on the far left with his agoniser extended at the most inconvenient angle. looks cool though!



Also thought it would be cool to give one of the champs a trophy rack, them being Wych Cult units after all. That way, if I ever do 6-man blobs with an Arena Champ then I can use that to denote who it is

Lastly, with the excess supply of Hellions (bought for the Hellglaives and tattered-clothes torsos which are just made for Exodites), I thought I'd have a stab at making some Modern Synthesist Jetbikes.

Now, if anyone hasn't seen these guys before you're in for a treat! One of the best DEldar conversions I've ever seen, this guy decided that his Haemonculus Coven army should have a twisted techno-biological Haemi version of all the Dark Eldar units in it. For his Reavers, this is what he came up with:






Unbelievable!

So, I thought I'd have a go myself with some leftover bits now, mine won't be anywhere near as good at all due to my stubborn refusal to use greenstuff, but I quite like the challenge of making something similar entirely out of plastic

Here's where I'm up to so far




I also think that if anyone wanted to make some small scale Eldar Void Craft then attaching Hellion Skyboards to the back of various Jetbike canopies would be really really cool!

Oh, and if anyone wanted to see what the Modern Synthesist stuff looks like painted, here's his idea of a Venom!



Unbelievable!

I'm excited to see what you do with those reavers, they're such a cool model they'll be awesome. Ditto on the agonizers being the bane of all transportation, cool weapon concept, terrible in practicality of transport and positioning on the table (try hiding your agonizer wielding wyches in small ruins or tightly bunched up under cover).

The synthesis concept is cool, in the original photos I'm not sure I'm keen on the positioning of the gun, it's quite... phallic. The rest of the conversion is really nice though, It'll be awesome to see how yours turns out. I am not a huge conversion guy, I fancy myself much more a painter than a builder or sculpter but even I have some green stuff that I break out from time to time for the odd project, it's actually pretty fun to play around with and once you know some good techniques can add a lot of cool stuff to your modelling, I highly recommend trying it.

Hah yeah you're absolutely right. Far too obviously phallic for my tastes. I much prefer the previous shot of the spine just sort of ending in a stump...

Saying that, I'm not sure where else to put the Splinter Rifle. Looking at mine there's not a great deal of options that leap out at me :S

I'm going to have exactly that problem trying to hide my winged Corsair characters in cover if they're ever in the same unit. Even nearing 2" coherancy their wings are still nearly fouling...

I have done GS stuff in the past, but I've sort of taken it upon myself to say that everything I make will be in plastic. Utterly nonsensical I'm sure, but what's life without whimsy?

I'm sure I'll break that at some point though. I have been meaning to pick up some Liquid Greenstuff for gap filling that could be the start of a slippery slope...

Well, the story for Fracture of Biel Tan has finally made it out into the public domain! It's a hell of a read I must say, and has assuaged many concerns I'd had about the direction of the fluff and the general tone of the 40k universe link's here if you haven't seen it:

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/717304.page

That does mean that I get to wheel out my Craftworld's reaction to it all, nicely coinciding with some work I've just done on my decade-old Guardians



Despite initial skepticism, I'm definitely excited about the plot moving forwards so many opportunities for cool narratives

As for actual models, I've always had the idea in my head that I would just paint my models as well as I could accomplish quickly at any particular point, and then go back and do some touch-up work as and when my painting had improved. First on the list for improvement is the ancient Guardians I'd painted well over a decade ago!

Before and after:



Just a quick dab of Reikland Fleshshade in the recesses and to shade underneath some of the bumps in the armour, some embellishment on the bases and a quick wash over the cloth elements. Hope it's done the trick!

Also, one thing I do not miss in the slightest is the tendency for the old Skull White spray paint to occasionally produce a really bumpy surface. New stuff is much better. Good riddance!

I'm quite excited about the new fluff, the models are gorgeous (Yvraine is one of my favourite sculpts of all time) and a new way to play Aeldari is always welcomed (I used the new word, am I hip now?). Considering a 10 year gap that Guardian aged quite well. He looks great and will fit right in with your forces to save the race from extinction... or bring them to it so they can save... erm, themselves? I don't know fate is weird .