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What if you just do a 24 hour timer? Rather than blast the entire army out in a single day, what about just a single day of effort? As long as you're working on the army, keep a stopwatch running. If you take a break, stop the clock. Put in three good 8 hour days, or a couple of 12s if you're feeling froggy.

I'd go with a series of "Unit in a night" or "Unit in 24 hours" challenges. Doable, fast and you can maintain decent quality control.

I am beginning to like the idea of stretching it out and my current conscious aka Azazelx may have hit it on the head. Now my Wife is away for 19 days and if I count each character as a single unit for the tomb kings army I believe (from memory so don't hold me to it) that I have 15 units to paint.

Therefore, I am beginning to formulate the goal of finishing the army, start to finish in the time she is away. Much more relaxed and I should have greater quality control as I won't be turning into a zombie. If I feel like it I may pump a couple of units out on say a Saturday allowing my weekdays to be a little quieter.

Thats sounds like a good plan last thing you want is to get stressed out painting them.

Think of it as your own personal version of Tripod's Songs in an Hour
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsipicHg_m8-Epgo2i2HY7O0HMmHoQCHa

More seriously though, in the dark past I used to occasionally paint units in a(n over)night. Empire, Skaven, etc. Very doable, and still a decent quality when they're done.

Hi all again. Time to put the extreme painting ideas on hold as I have a very exciting update. Falcons! Yup, I now have both of the Falcons for my Eldar finished. So bear with me I have gone a little snap happy as I am pretty happy with how they turned out. Although they are pretty simple. So without further prattle, some pretty pictures.


I decided to keep both tanks the same (except for a slight armament difference) as well as continue the green and purple color scheme of the army. Since this is a Guardian vehicle I returned to the green being the primary color. I added some bone in to just act as a third counter that I feel works quite well. I attempted a gradient of the green from light to dark across the top of the tank to add a little interest to the models.


The Gradient shows up much better from directly above. I am really pleased with how it came together, especially as I don't own an airbrush so it was a little bit more practice at wet blending via brush for me. I decided to keep the weapon covers a bright green to make them really stand out from the rest of the tank. Sort of a "this bit is dangerous" sort of label.


The first Falcon with a Scatter Laser. In this closer pic you may be able to see that I did some gem work on the little bumps that are all over the model. Again, I think they have turned out fairly well.


The second Falcon with the traditional Shuriken Cannon, I purposely kept the Falcons cheap points wise with minimal upgrades as I don't often see a point in dumping points into extra features that I often completely forget about during games anyway.


A little detail of underneath the turrets and how the purple although hidden from above is still a very large part of the model. I kept the turrets and flying bases seperate from the rest of the model because it will be easier and safer to fit them into my foam trays if they come to pieces.


The undersides of the tanks. I hope you like purple.......I cheated a little bit and kept it very simple, basecoat and drybrush as I figured it will be a rarely seen part of the model so I didn't need to invest a lot of time in it.


Couldn't resist an action shot that also helps to show off the fact I painted the interior of both Falcon's as I didn't seal the rear hatches either. I think that the Falcon may have been one of the first GW model to boast an "interior" and I certainly thought I should continue my trend of painting vehicles interiors when one is offered. Eagle eyed readers may notice that I have added a yellow head crest to the Warlock on the right of the picture as I lacked a 6th yellow topped Warlock from the previous update.


The final picture of the update and another one of the Warlocks. The funny thing is they are the only Unit that would technically fit into the Falcon except if they had a Farseer accompany them. So maybe the Farseers will ride together in one and the Warlocks in the other? May be a tiny bit of overkill, but who knows?

So there you have the two Falcons, done and dusted which leaves the Hemlock Wraithfighter. I have the model unassembled at the moment. I am planning that since it is piloted by a Psyker that it will copy the Farseers and Warlocks and have the purple as the primary color so there is a very good chance that it will be a total opposite to the Falcons (Purple top and green underside) any thoughts?

So this leaves me a single model to paint for this army and puts me well ahead of my wife leaving for Europe so I may be bringing the Tomb Kings forward.....but then again I may put my energies into doing some terrain and carry cases until she leaves so I can do the Tomb Kings while she is away.

On the Tomb Kings note, I have decided that I will not do the army in 24 hours as I had previously thought. Wiser minds than mine have pointed out too many holes in the plan for my liking and instead I am going to target having the army done in the time my Wife is in Europe which amounts to 16 days. So in all likelihood it will end up being done in 24 hours, just spread out over two weeks. So still a challenge and still very quick.

So I am off to assemble the Hemlock. Please feel free as always to leave your thoughts and comments or just say high.

Thanks for reading.

High.


The falcons look great

They look very nice, the blending on the green looks really well done.

Love the Falcons! I really like that the purple is just little highlights on the top and the covers the bottom. Very striking!

The Falcons both look great. Very nice work on the Eldar. I've not gotten much done at all in the last week, but it's good to see you keeping up the pace.

You can always do the "prep work" for the Tomb KIngs in the meantime. Basing, assembly, movement trays, etc - so all you need to work on for the 16 days is actual painting.

Well its that time again for me to grace the forums and post my modelling progress. Without further adieu I present the Hemlock Wraithfighter.......


Or at least the Psychic Pilot....... how on earth you are supposed to manifest Psychic powers whilst controlling what I guess is an atmospheric, supersonic fighter plane. Ah the wonders of sci-fi......


I am actually a little disappointed that this guy gets sealed inside the cockpit. He is full of detail and far more interesting than the guys inside the Falcons.

Ok, ok I am kidding, I have made far more progress than the pilot. In fact I have managed to knock out the Hemlock in its entirety.


I am really happy with how the paint job went. I am also pleased that I chose to continue the Seer idea of reversing the colors compared to the Guardians.


Like the Falcons I did a little blending on the top surface. Shows up way better from directly above. This time however I went right to left rather than front to back. A little trippy, but I am overall rather happy with it.


A close up of the pilot after assembly. He stands out better than I thought he would. Which is nice because I did put a little effort into his appearance.


Just like the Falcons the underside of the Hemlock is the opposite army color. It gets seen a little more than the underside of the Falcons because of the flight stand. I did have a bit of a quandary as to the weapons color as if I did it in purple like just about everyone else's (or green like the Warlocks) it would have just blended in. So I thought bone or gold and in the end the bone won out.


So there you have it. My first ever 40k flyer. I think it is a pretty nice model. I think the flight stand is well thought out and very sturdy, the plane is unattached and I have no fear at all of it falling off mid game.

But what is more exciting about this update is with the completion of the Wraithfighter it means one thing. I have finished off this Eldar army so I can show the full army shots!


I wonder if when someone coined the term 'Greentide' anyone envisioned Eldar filling that role........


It amazes me how a more overhead shot really shows off the color change on the Falcons and Hemlock. They form very effective centrepiece models for what would be an otherwise very boring army.


The Farseers and independant Warlock squad. Hopefully when I get these guys on the tabletop I don't bore my opponent with an over the top Psychic phase. But seeing as I wanted a "Ulthwe" Style army I needed a bucket load of Psykers...


Look at all that Shuriken. I certainly hope I get to absolutely hose some unfortunate squad with all that pseudo rending. Plus throw in a few choice psychic powers and I hope I can devastate just about anything.


You have already seen it ad nauseum but for completeness sake here is the Hemlock Wraithfighter again.......


Annnnnd finally the Heavy Support of the army. I have had a lot of success in the dim dark past with support weapons, so I do hope they continue to do me proud. I don't have a lot of hope for the Falcons apart from nuisance factor. But at least they will look good doing it.

So there you have it. Another army down. Just need to do the foam carry case for them and box (plus I have to still do a box for the Ogre Kingdoms, although their foam is done). But I will be moving onto the Tomb Kings. I am about 20 Tomb Guard short of having the whole army (so if anyone has a few spare of those guys I am all ears). I am going to do the challenge of painting them whilst my Wife is in Europe. So I will spend my time over the next three weeks assembling the army so they are ready to rock and roll.

I am in the process of trying to work out a couple of unit fillers for the big block of Skeletons and Tomb Guard. I don't need to do it. But I like the modelling opportunity it gives me. Any ideas? Since my wife is an Archaelogist she suggested a few of the Tomb Guard carrying a Barque of Amun (since they are a rip of off Egypt) kind of on a palanquin. The idea really appeals, just need to figure it out. For the Skeletons she thinks I should have a pile of bones with a couple of Skeletons assembling themselves out of the bits. I will try to work on these ideas and see where I end up.

Apart from that I picked up a copy of the Planetary Empires hexagonal campaign map that I want to combine with my already painted Mighty Empires one to make a big map that I have an idea to do a two player campaign with a mate of mine. So I will try to sandwich that into the next three weeks as well. Plus I also have a few terrain pieces that have been lying around for an absolute age that I want to try and knock off as well.......

Think I need someone to slap me and remind me to stay focused on the army plan.

Thanks for reading.

God dammit, you've finished this army in less time than it apparently takes for me to scratch my arse. Or get a unit of goblins painted. It looks great, by the way. Which is also annoying given your speed.

For the TK, there's a nice army blog here that I always liked. It features quite a number of units rising from the sand.
http://z4.invisionfree.com/Khemri/index.php?showtopic=12964

Thanks Az. That link is great. The basing effect he uses is really interesting and definitely would allow me to get some "shape" onto the bases which is good as I intend to just use sand as my basing material and it would be good to manage to imitate dune effects.

HOLY CRAP!!! Those falcons are awesome. Great scheme, and very neat lines. The whole army is very striking, but the falcons stand out to me.

The Eldar look great!! The blending effect you got especially knowing that you didn't do it with an airbrush is spectacular!

That's a very impressive army must look great on the battlefield.

Hope it looks good. I will try to take some pictures once i manage a game with them. Will try to find an opponent with a painted army to make the pictures even better.

You might have to supply both armies in order to get 2 fully-painted forces, the way things often go..

I have been very tempted to do a GrimDork style comic book battle report with some of my painted armies. Play the game out as me putting on various generals hats. But alas I am without the facilities at home to set up a game board. Which is devastating as I have so much terrain painted and ready. Just need the space and the board.....

Dining table while your wife's away? Do you have a mat?

Many a miniature war has been carried out upon the dining table of battle.

If you do a comic style report, please make a nicer one than me so I can steal the ideas

No photos (or progress for that matter) with this update. Just thought I would poke the log so people know I am still about.

I had a game of 40k and Necromunda this past weekend. Didn't bother with the camera as too many unpainted models for my tastes.

I was convincingly beaten in the 40k game leading my Astra Militarum against a Space Marine army. I knew I was in for it when I had the first turn stolen from me and the. In my first turn of shooting not one marine failed an armour save and I only managed a single hull point on a land raider. Things did not improve, although my Lord Commisar showed his worth besting a Librarian and several Marines in combat before heroically burying his Power Axe in the belly of a Sergeant before having his head removed by a Powerfist. Also, my tank commander and buddy Vanquisher showed why they are such amazing tank hunters they are.

My luck improved drastically in the Necromunda game. I took my Van Saar's against a very experienced Cawdor gang (lots of toughness 4 and 2 wound Gangers). We did a scavengers game where it was all about grabbing loot. My opponent came on aggressively which played into my hands as I could avoid the worst of his gang and concentrated in the loot. My Leader won me the game when he charged a Juve who was holding the last of the loot counters and took him out.

So a mixed bag of results. I really need to practice my 40k tactics more or at least concentrate for longer....

In the painting stakes I have all of my tomb kings assembled apart from 2/3rds of the tomb guard unit which I am not sure I will manage to purchase before my wife gets back. So I may not manage the whole army in the time I was allowing. But we will see.

Sorry for no pictures. But thanks for reading.

Hi all, been a little while since my last activity. But I have started to make some progress on the Tomb Kings. However, I have basically accepted that my plan to paint the army before my Wife gets back from Europe is probably not going to happen. I have just lost all sense of drive. I put this down to my regular routine getting mixed up and obviously now having to manage the whole household rather than splitting the duties with my Wife. Well that is my excuse and I am going to stick to it. There is also the fact I am a little hesitant of what is going to happen with Warhammer and this Age of Sigmar. I personally don't put much stock in a lot of the rumors as I feel it would be suicidal both in alienating fans and the tooling costs (or loss of) to discontinue huge swathes of the line. So I wait hopeful that the three armies I have for Warhammer will not be invalidated with the update, nor require much to bring them in line with the next set of rules.

However, I have managed some progress...


Here is my first Tomb King unit finished. My Skeletal Horsemen. They are somewhat drab as I expect skeletons to be. I took a while to settle on the yellow. I wanted them to have the bronze, but the yellow was an after thought and I am quite happy with the addition. You will notice the horse without a rider. It will be for a Tomb Herald that is going to accompany them and act as a little bit of a character hunter.


I have actually painted all of the skeletal horses for the army (this unit and then 10 more for Horse Archers and the 12 required for the chariots). I have decided on a slightly darker skeleton to help stand out from the horses that are a little more sun-bleached. I think it works ok, but I am already hoping to be done quickly as I can feel I will get bored very quickly. There is just not very much variation between the models. But there will be plenty of interest with the Chariots, characters and Tomb Guard, so hope to keep them up my sleeve when I need a break from the stupid rank and file.


A close up of some of the Riders. I couldn't resist giving them a little point of interest by giving them some glowing red eyes. I think it works ok and I really do prefer some evidence of a malign influence rather than just the empty eye sockets that is so traditional. I did the horses too, but they don't show up in the photo.


I knew that I was going to have to base them with sand as they are risen from the desert after all. But I have tried to give the impression of ripples in the dunes. It unfortunately doesn't show up particularly well in the photos (gee I seem to use that excuse a lot). But it has turned out really well considering how easy it was to do. I will take a couple of close ups of the Chariot bases as it is much more obvious on the larger surface. I have also chosen to add a few tufts of grass just to try and break the sand up a tiny bit.

So there you have the small progress I have made so far. I guess I also have done a heap of skeletal horses, but there really isn't much to them.

Thanks for stopping by and having a read. Hope to get some more interesting models up in the near future. But honestly it will be some Skeletal horse archers first.....

Looks like a nice, solid start. The yellow stands out and gives them a bit of visual interest for sure.

Looking good. As a suggestion, you might want to consider edging the bases with a mid-brown or lighter (Graveyard Earth?) so that the bases flow together with one another and the movement tray. I know, rich coming from me.

Maybe an extra drybrush highlight layer on the skeletal and steed's heads to make them pop a little more?

I really like the yellow!

Thanks for the responses guys. In regards to the bases Azazel I totally get where you are coming from, but unfortunately I have a bit of a "theme" going that all of my armies to date, no matter what is on top of the base have the black trim. I know it would look a lot better with a brown (or similar) strip, but it kind of signifies they are my models as they all share the same theme.

Definitely though will be using your idea of a drybrush to the heads of the Skellies and horses to try to bring them out a little more. Just have to bare with me as I won't photograph the models again until the very end. But will definitely be using that idea. Thanks.

So thank you for your thoughts and inputs, but this post is also to add a couple more units to the army. This time the two tiny Skeletal Horse Archer units......


I think they look better than the Skeletal Horsemen as I thinned the black wash down further and it is less "muddy" much prefer the result. Plus I feel they look a little more dynamic and with the quiver they have far more interest. In fact I think they are not bad models with the poses achievable and the little details.


With the Scout and Arrows of Asaph rule I am hoping these guys will be ok war machine hunters, being able to get within range of something and start peppering it with arrows. I anticipate they will act together to maximize the amount of poor shooting to make sure I achieve something. They will range away from the Liche Priests so will treat them as very sacrificial units.


I added a little more dune grass to the bases to try and add a little more color and interest to the scheme and when I go back to dry brush the heads I am tempted to add a little more grass to all the bases.


I feel they look a little better close up than the other Horsemen, which is a pity that I didn't get it right from the beginning. But such is life.


So this rounds out my cavalry element to my army (barring the Tomb Herald on Steed). This is largely due to not counting the Chariots as they are a whole different kettle of fish and are hopefully going to be a centre piece for the army not only due to their size, but because that is also where my Tomb King and Standard Bearer will be located.

So hope you enjoy the small update of my growing Skeleton horde and stay tuned as next up I think (haven't quite decided yet) are the chariots. But I may opt out and try to knock out my small units of Skeletal Archers (I have 3 of 10). Ah decisions, decisions.

Thanks for reading.

I like the red eyes on your skellies. Heck of a time to start more fantasy stuff with this new age of sigmar nonsense, but we can always keep playing 8th!

One question / suggestion, if I may be so bold. Are the tips of the spears black or is it just the picture? Maybe just a little more metal peaking through the weathering. But I'm just nitpicking. Overall very nice and cohesive.

Coming along nicely!

I like the simple yellow weapons. I don't know why, but they really make the models look good to me.