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My supply of Oldhammer elves is pretty much neverending. If i include my Fantasy Warrior plastic archers, I have enough for a 2000-pt army in 4th edition points.

The pill bases are from Warbases, but I suspect that any online source of bases will have something like them.

I'm not really sure why the spear-armed WD is so butch, as the other two based on the same sculpt are much more feminine. That's OK, though, as wardancers probably shouldn't be as "fey" as a standard elf.

As for 40kV8, I may wait until the hype dies down and pick up a rule book from one of the many players here who will buy multiple boxed sets. I'm still not sure I'll ever play, especially if I have to buy a codex for each army...

Sweet elf dudes.

Thanks, G.D.

Here are some more elves. Will I ever run out?




I've got these guys down to a science. The first session is scraping/filing, followed by basing-- in this case with sand and ballast. The second session is black gesso for primer, with a heavy layer of Delta Ceramcoat hunter green to keep the sand in place. The third session is their skin--AP fur brown for the base color, layered up with AP barbarian flesh, followed by a wash of AP soft tone. The fourth session is the browns or grays/greens and metallics, covered with my homebrew glazes; if I have time, I do the opposites. Finally, I touch up the bases and hit them with brush-on matte lacquer. Five models in less than one week. It helps that these old models are essentially the same sculpt with minor variations in equipment.

As always, a group shot:


As always, comments, criricism, encouragement and validation are appreciated. Next up, even more Oldhammer elves.

More winners there!

I think they look better on round bases than they did on 20mm squares, too...

You really hit the mark with those archers.

Slinky wrote:More winners there!

I think they look better on round bases than they did on 20mm squares, too...

Thanks, I think so too. Square bases look good for tightly-packed troops, which is why I still use them for my Samurai for KoW, but these elves really benefit from a looser formation.

youwashock wrote:You really hit the mark with those archers.

I see what you did there .

Lookin good. I need to get back to doing a few minutes a day when I can, but missing sleep kills me

I am not by nature a morning person, but we have dogs that wake up at the crack of dawn wanting to go for a walk. I bit the bullet when my son was much younger and required more help to get ready in the morning. Now, my circadian rhythms are set to 4AM, no matter what I do or how tired I am.

Ahh fair enough. I can still sleep in to 7 or even 9 if people let me though it rarely comes up. Sometimes I do get up at six with slim time to spare for painting but i haven't managed lately.

They look suitably arboreal? Woodsy? The colors work well.

I think pretty much everything looks better on round bases. Maybe add a few flowers to some of the bases? I'm thinking of the elves as illustrated in the game Small World. Sniffing Pansies, or some sort of flower.

Flowers? Hm. Basing is, and has always been, my least-favorite stage in painting. Static grass is a relatively recent thing for me, and I've never even considered doing more than that. Any recommendations for flowers/leaves?

You've done so much awesome stuff since I was last here dude.

They look great, Josh. As for flowers, here's some:

https://store.warlordgames.com/products/heather-tufts
https://store.warlordgames.com/products/daffodil-tufts

Army Painter have a bunch of different types,
https://admin.thearmypainter.com/files/products/ProductImages_2015/Tufts/BF4210_MeadowFlowers_SingletShot_1280x1280_LoRes.png

and then there's the model railway people....
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Model-Flowers-Heather-Tufts-SELF-ADHESIVE-wargame-miniatures-model-Railway-/271155420183



Available in a ton of colours, of course...

Fantastic work sir, so much character and you have brought it to life. Agree with the flower power brigade, it's the little things that take it to 11, your already 10's in my book.

OK, I'll see what I can find domestically. I was looking for some stuff to add to my Battlefield in a Box swamps anyway.

@Camkierhi: already a 10? You flatter me. Keep doing that.

Another day, another set of models to share. This time, they're wardancers:



This is the third model based on the "crouching female" pose. Check out her fingers. On the other two, I decided that there must either be some terrible mold slippage, so I painted to cover it up rather than file the fingers down to nothing. Working on this one, I decided that they must be fingerless gloves. That would have been era-appropriate, so I went with that.

Also, remember me complaining about how masculine this model's face is? I didn't feel that was when I first painted these, and when I was stripping the old paint off of this one, I remembered why. I was a big fan of hair metal back when these were new, and I painted almost all of my wardancers with ugly 80's makeup-- lipstick, blue eye shadow, that sort of thing. The makeup was a visual signifier, I guess, so it didn't bother me then. Now, I think I prefer them with more natural faces.




These two are, as you can see, essentially the same model with some cosmetic differences. I had a hard time fielding the guy with the throwing spear, as that wasn't an option for wardancers in any of the editions I played. In fact, I never had enough models with similar equipment to build a full WYSIWYG unit. I was pleased when they were changed to only have dual weapons with no other options.



Most of Jes Goodwin's elves from this era had either mohawks/fauxhawks like the models above, or else long, wavy windblown hair. This guy, with his Johnny Ramone bowl cut, is the lone Punk holdout versus the Glam movement. I wasn't really a fan of this model back in the day, but now his ugly hair, "f*** i" expression, and businesslike, just-standing-there pose really appeal to me.



This last one is not actually a wardancer, but rather one of the elf animal keepers. The adverts showed her with three lion/wildcats/whatever, but I only remember having one. I supplemented her little unit with two Pan Tang sabertooth cats, but even that wasn't enough for a viable unit. Ever the nerd, I based her original look on Cheetara (from Thundercats, for those who had girlfriends in highschool). I decided to keep the look, but drabbed it way down to match my current sensibilities. Remember how I said I prefer the makeup-free faces a couple of paragraphs ago? That may have been a lie, as I like how this warpaint looks. I'm no Azazelx, so I'm not going to even try tattoos, but a little warpaint here and there might add a welcome splash of color to these otherwise drably-painted models.

Finally, a group shot:


Also, inspired by Camkierhi's flattery and Azazelx's google-fu, I have ordered a bunch of flower tufts and model railroad plants to spruce up the bases on all these elves I've been painting. I'll share photos when they arrive. As always, comments, criticism, feedback, validation and flattery are most welcome.

This batch looks great, Josh - as does the warpaint. I love seeing these classics brought back to life!

Love them.

Awesome war-River-dancers.....cue the Irish music

They definitely look like wood elves, a lot more earthy and without those crazy cone/egg hats high (and sometimes dark) elves like to wear. Nice stuff!

Great work on the 80s hair metal band dude :p

Thanks, as always, for the comments. Knowing that someone is looking really inspires me. And right now, I'm running out of inspiration. I've had a blast working on these old elves, but I think I'm ready to switch themes. Before I do, though, I need to finish off a few larger pieces I have started. For example:




I used this model as my general when playing WHFB 3/4/5. Originally, he had a spear molded in his hand, but being lead it was bendy like a Crazy Straw. I replaced it with steel wire and and spear tip from a goblin (I think). The spear tip looked a little incongruous to me when I stripped him, so I replaced it with a Basilean spear-- the nifty weapons being the only bitz I kept when I binned the sprue that came with my KoW1 kickstarter pledge. It's a little hard to see in these photos, but his nose got mashed while he was in the package, so he looks kind of like a boxer. I went with the same drab Wood Elf colors I've been using for all of these guys.




Another mounted hero. This is the same basic sculpt as the guy above, but with much different equipment. I wonder how he fires his bow-- he doesn't have a scabbard for that sword. His eyes were a beast to paint. Did you notice the heart motif? I tried three times to paint them like gemstones, but I just couldn't get it right. I ended up using a heavy red wash over Mithril silver. I'm not wholly satisfied, but it will work until I figure it out.




One more guy based on the same pose. As I recall, his tab read "wardancer," but of course mounts were never an option for Wardancers. I based his mount on Silver, the Lone Ranger's horse. I plan to hide that black tab on the forefoot with some model rail plants that I ordered a few days ago.

Finally, a group shot:


As always, comments, criticism, flattery and validation are all welcome. next up: Treemen!

Great work, Josh. The Wardancer looks like the ones on foot, and of course a lot of the stuff sculpted back then was simply because Jes or whoever felt like sculpting X, Y or Z thing, as opposed to following a strict regime as they do today.

The hearts look pretty good, at least in the pics I can see. You might be interested in checking out GW's gemstone paints, as they're actually pretty decent at the task. Just have to ensure you apply them last, after any varnish, etc.

Nice work on the spear replacement as well. If you hadn't written it up, I'd never have guessed it was a conversion with a replacement spearhead.

What's next on the horizon after you take a break from the Elves?

Great takes on classics. Hard to pick a favorite. Either the SwordBow Ninja or the Lonely Wardancer. Excited by the prospect of old Treemen.

 Azazelx wrote:
What's next on the horizon after you take a break from the Elves?

I'm not sure. After the treemen, I have a couple of Elven Attack Chariots that need some love, so that should keep me busy through July. After that, I may switch to SF/Ppost-apoc, samurai, or else try to power through my Mantic goblins. I'll put up a poll when the time come.

Oooh, the original elf chariots? Looking forward to seeing those given a new lease of life!

 JoshInJapan wrote:

 Azazelx wrote:
What's next on the horizon after you take a break from the Elves?

I'm not sure. After the treemen, I have a couple of Elven Attack Chariots that need some love, so that should keep me busy through July. After that, I may switch to SF/Ppost-apoc, samurai, or else try to power through my Mantic goblins. I'll put up a poll when the time come.

Can't wait to see your take on the horse whisperer crewman! Great stuff as always Josh. Great to see the old lead getting yet more love, even if some of the sculpts did not "age" well. I think the naturalistic color palette is working a charm on the wood elves and, yeah, the horses look much better now. Can't wait to see how you can punch up the bases with the silflor-type stuff.

Valete,

JohnS

Slinky wrote:Oooh, the original elf chariots? Looking forward to seeing those given a new lease of life!

Hopefully you won't be disappointed. One of them is incomplete, so I'm trying my hand at pressmolding with kneadatite for the missing parts. Wish me luck!

cygnnus wrote: I think the naturalistic color palette is working a charm on the wood elves and, yeah, the horses look much better now. Can't wait to see how you can punch up the bases with the silflor-type stuff.

Valete,

JohnS

It's like the end of an era, isn't it? Also, don't get your hope up too high re: tufts. It's mostly just a matter of sticking them on the otherwise finished bases.

When are you going to paint something?

Have you got any Oyumaru Instant Mold? It's a Japanese product, so I assume it's at least reasonably accessible. It makes for great press molds. Combine with Greenstuff as your casting medium, and you're golden.

I have something called "plastic clay," which I think is the same thing. I've played around with it, but this will be the first time I've ever tried to make something for real. I should have a WIP to show tomorrow.