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Greetings all,

So, I have historically stuck to B&C for my hobbying needs as I have a Blood Angels thread running there. I've been playing BA since 1997 with the occasional dalliance with Dark Eldar and Imperial Guard. A friend has picked up a Necron force and I've decided to go full "That Guy" for fun... but I want to paint up 1,850 pts first. So, two things: (1) This will take a few months, (2) I cannot post this on B&C as it is Xenos related and will get my precious thread there locked, and (3) I draw a great deal of my ideas from reading others' thoughts and would like to get your stream of consciousness on how to improve tactics (I may actually enter a tourney if I get this army done) and painting skills. I mean, I've only been doing this for nigh 20 years and I am still well below the skill level that a decent commission painter would be at.

Anyway, the gist of the Army will be as so:

1xSkyrunner Farseer
6x 3 man Windrider Squads
1x Wraithknight
1x Void Shield Generator with 3 shields
1x Seer Council
1x Aspect Host of Warp Spiders and Swooping Hawks

So, because I have set a task for myself, I immediately do something else: A count-as Avatar (or Slaanesh Prince[ss]):

First I air brushed three layers of flesh paint from GW and tested the purple/gold scheme:


Then I built it up. I would use a flesh wash over the skin, then paint the purple/goldother colors, followed by a wash of black, then highlights


I attempted to give her dark blonde hair like my wife's... as the model reminded me of her... except with enlarged.... features.


Finally, the finished shot. So, if you look at the wings, the one on the right I gave a quick blast of purple with the airbrush in between gray layers... the left one I did not. I may have to do a Tyranid with the airbrush because this makes it super easy!


Anyway, that's all for now... I will post the actual Eldar as needed... but in reality the best way for me not to do something is to make a plan...

Great Sophie.

Thanks! I picked her up when the model came out, primed her, then did nothing for almost 2 decades. Since I was snow-bound for a week, I used an ultrasonic cleaner and simple green bath to strip her (yes!), then spend some time with a air brush.

Speaking of air brushing, starting the Eldar army was because I wanted to paint yellow, purple, and colors other than red. I picked up some Warp Spiders from Ghost Minis and, got the resin off when they were in the bath with Sophie, based them in black, then used the air brush to layer them. In the picture below, the highlights don't really "pop" and I think part of that is that I do not have the right mix of airbrush medium and paint... generally the paint seems too thick, which causes me to thin it in the cup. Any suggestions on how to thin down these paints for air brushes?



Next are the colors: green, white, and gunmetal. These colors are just put on without highlighting or washing... because washing is the next step.



Next is a wash of black... imperial primer, future floor wax, water, and nuln oil. Sounds kooky, but the FFW reduces surface tension so the wash stays in the cracks. I had pictures of this step and the highlighting of the purple, green, and white.... but I deleted them from my phone and am too lazy to recover them. I've completed 4 already, to include the exarch... and just washed the last one... so once that dries, I will continue these steps... and have the final squad of 5 with an overcoat of Testor's Dullcote!

So I neglected to take pictures of the rest of the steps. Oops.



The Exarch Front:


The Exarch Back:


Some learnings:
1. Using Citadel paints in an airbrush is wonky. Just adding Airbrush Medium wont make it the proper consistency... but adding a couple squirts of Airbrush Cleaner helps.
2. Painting all the Runestones on these models was the way to go on these models...


But, next up is a Wraithknight... lots of rune stones... do i make them Green? Red? Blue? Do I skip some of them? Hmm... pics to follow!

So I got to paint up the WK in steps... since I ran out of airbush medium, I started with the weapons and base:




After a black base and a mix of beast brown and gold yellow, the bits looked as so:





The parts, magnetized but not assembled:



Then assembled:



I put all the magnets on it in order to make transporting easier... a game I played yesterday proved this to be a good idea. After lining and highlighting, the parts looked like this:



I am not sure I completely like the almost mono-yellow... and I should probably add some flourish to the model. But, for now, the paint does not hide any detail, the lining is relatively clean from a 3 foot perspective, and I really want to get him in a game!

Here is him(her?) finished and assembled:



And, finally, here is a battle report for the WK in action... it's kill list is impressive: 2 5 man tactical squads, a Land Speeder, Dante, a Chaplain, a Sanguinary Priest, and 3 Sanguinary Guard... Dante and his group falling to a lucky stomp roll...

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/318920-1850-flesh-tears-eldar-vs-blood-angels-imperial-knight/

That is a really nice piece of work, love the base too

@Alaricuk: Thanks! It's made up of random bits from my Imperial Guard days and Martian Iron Earth. I realized too late I should have positioned the Aegis Defense Line the opposite way like Wraithknight is stepping over a recently destroyed Imperial position... but oh well.

Anyway, in other news, I've complete an Aspect Host of Warp Spiders:



I may get to try them out this weekend... but I am still partial to the Blood Angel/Eldar force I played this past weekend with a few changes to make the list more competitive.

More to follow... mostly a bunch of scatbikes.

That is a lovely yellow. How did you do it after the base layer?

Thanks! I used this as a guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1hLE4LXgLU

Here are the steps so you dont have to pull them from the video:

0. Airbrush Base - Vallejo Black Primer
1. Airbrush: Cover totally 1:1 Mix Beasty Brown (72043) & Gold Yellow (72007)
2. Airbrush Highlight Gold Yellow -> direction of airbrush is down and to the side
3. Airbrush Highlight Moon Yellow (72005) -> direction is only down
4. Airbrush Highlight 1:1 mix Moon Yellow & Ice Yellow (70858) -> only spots you want to highlight.
5. Line - Beasty Brown Vallejo mixed with future floor wax and airbrush medium to keep it thin
6. Edge Highlight - Ice Yellow Vallejo and airbrush medium to keep it thin

Edited for clarity

So, I've been busy... but I haven't been froggy enough to record anything in my journal.

I've got the following to record:
1. The painting and completion of 18 jetbikes... magnetized should I ever want to tone down the cheese.
2. A gaming table construction
3. Terrain creation & why a styrofoam cutter is such a wonderful thing.
4. I have a Swooping Hawk Aspect host in progress... more to follow there.

But, until then, here is an Autarch that I will proxy as Baharroth:



I used an airbrush to paint his helmet, wings, and body separately. Overall, a simple model... but a little disappointed the kit did not have a lot of options... like the helmet needed the striking scorpion mandibles, no other backpack or weapon options... and I really don't want to cut stuff up.