Wraithlord... finished!

Well, at last some progress. While painting my Wave Serpents, I made a break and started painting something else, and the Wraithlord happened to be laying around. That's something very usual in my painting schedules: I simply don't respect them too much. Luckily, this time I've managed to finish this model before jumping to a different one. The fact that it has just taken me four days has helped, indeed.

The model had been assembled for over a year (yes, I know, shame on me). I made some minor conversions on it: cutted and replaced the leg to give an illusion of movement (as if it were actually walking or "advancing"), and also modelled some "lightnings" on the wraithsword (a personal signature in several of my models). I was strongly inspired by Jamie's miniature on Coolminiornot, as I stated in a post over a year ago.

For the paintjob I used the very same techniques I had applied on the rest of my army: stippling of different blues with bone as the contrast colour, and details in red (spirit stones). Additionally, I tried something different with the wraithsword (which has no actual effect in gaming terms): I didn't want something too striking as the sword was just a detail and not the focal point of the model, while at the same time I wanted to get something somehow eye-catching. So I decided for a turquoise colour (which is blue-ish after all, as most of the model) and painted some reflections on the blade. I think I've succeeded, and I'm really happy with the result.

It's not completely finished, the base needs a few more washes and a bit of grass, and I want to paint a couple of white stripes somewhere (my usual army markings), but who knows when will I do it...

Ok, enough chatting, it's time for some pics. A little Photoshop et voilà. Hope you like them!

Painting for dummies – easy OSL

While working my eldar vehicles, I had to make a decision when it came to paint the cockpit and the pilot. You know, it is a well detailed part of the model, but it will be rather obscured once its cover has been glued on place. Besides, being that cover made out of plastic (and not true glass, which is more transparent), the painting below won’t be really appreciable, and that is really a pity.

So instead of painting it “normally”, I decided to think of a quick and effective way to bring it out with a minimal effort, and I came with the idea of an easy OSL (Object Source Lighting) effect suppossed to be caused by the glow of the screen in front of the pilot. I painted it in less than five minutes and using only five colours (Chaos Black, Dark Angels Green, Snot Green, Scorpion Green and Skull White).

So here’s the recipe:

• Paint the whole cockpit Chaos Black
• Drybrush it all heavily with Dark Angels Green
• Drybrush it again with Snot Green, not so heavily and concentrating mainly on the areas in which the ligh coming from the screen would fall most (front of the face, chest and inner arms)
• Drybrush it lightly with Scorpion Green in the main focal areas of light impact (front of the face and hands)
• Paint the screen Snot Green
• Paint some lines (references or axis) and dots (objectives or enemies) in the screen with Scorpion Green
• Paint the center of the dots with a mixture of Scorpion Green and Skull White to bring them out

Et voila! The cockpit is done and ready for action. Fear the Serpent, mon-keigh!

Some Pics

Wow. Three months since my last post. That stands as a record. I should be somehow embarrased, but the truth is I’m not. I’ve come to accept the fact that I neglect to attend my blog properly, and that’s it. Life is though when you are a blog in my hands, I suppose.

Summer is gone, beachtime is over, and my painting progress hasn’t gone too far. I’ve painted another Leman Russ and a Chimera for my usual customer, and currently I’m working on a couple of Sentinels and some imperial guards for him. They should be finished by now, but two weeks ago I was stupid enough to accept an invitation to play soccer, and I broke my thumb during the match. Hell, one year after I broke my fibula and got half-lame for the rest of my life (‘cause it didn’t recover entirely), one year since my last friendly match, and I get another souvenir from this damned sport. I’ve promised myself to practise sports uniquely in the Playstation from now on, although I fear for my fingers...

I only want to post some pics today. The first ones are shots of the tanks mentioned above, the second ones of the fire dragon exarch that won me “Best WH40K individual” prize in my local GW painting contest in June. Thanks to my friend Ergman for taking the pictures, although the tank ones didn’t have the correct exposure level selected and look a little “blue-ish”. Anyway, it’s still possible to get the idea of the paintjob. The exarch ones look great in my opinion.

More news sooner or later (who knows).

Year 2009: First model finished

Well, this weekend I’ve finally managed to get some time to spend on my minis. At first I had planned to start painting my Wraithlord, but eventually I just added on it some “extras” while I finished the paintjob of my first Vyper with some freehands. After that I gave it a couple of coats of varnish and took a few pictures to post them here, but before I played a bit with Photoshop again … I still have to find a satisfactory way to process my pics, but I feel that this has been a step forwards.



This model also means my first five points awarded for finishing miniatures this year! Wooooooo!! Well, to be sincere this model has actually been mostly painted in late 2008, but I’m gonna give me the points as Admiral Drax does – it doesn’t matter how long it takes, it does when it is done! And I’ve spent no less than three hours this weekend on it, so I think this is perfectly justified.

I guess I’ll start with the Wraithlord this weekend. It’s one of my favourite models of the Eldar army, and I’ve added my “personal touch” on it… more on this in a few days :)

Happy 2009!!

New year already! Wow, these last days have passed so fast I've barely have time to spend in the hobby. My last post is from the 16th of December! Oh my, Christmas time is sooo consuming... meeting the family, doing a lot of shopping, calling old friends, fighting the flu... every year the same story for me :)

I've had two weeks of holidays and this is the very first really free day of the agenda. So all my carefully planned painting schedules have been ruined, as always. OK, on Wednesday I'll come back to my working routine, maybe then I'll be able to keep painting at a consistent pace... I really hope so.

Meanwhile, I've taken a pinture of my eldar warhost at its current state. The Vyper is not finished yet, and I challenge you to guess which will be the next addition to the force... c'mon, its easy!


Currently I'm painting some termagaunts (like the one lurking behind the blue guys in the picture), I'd like to have an all painted tyranid army for the inminent inter-store tournament; after that I'll continue with my Alaitoc force. And talking about painting and schedules, I've just read a post from Lone Pilgrim about giving oneself some kind of "score" for painting minis, and I've liked the idea a lot (thanks mate). I'm sure it will encourage me to finish my army sooner, and other minis as well. I've thought of something like this, very similar to his scoring style:

• Infantry miniatures in standard round bases - 1 point
• Heavy infantry (big round bases), bikes and the stuff - 2 points
• Light vehicles, dreadnoughts, monstruous creatures, walkers, etc. AND top grade painted minis (e.g. commanders) - 5 points
• Vehicles - 10 points
• Superheavies - 20 points (although these are not in my list)

Let's go working :)

Alaitoc Guardians: First idea

Guardians are the most basic eldar troops. In fact, they are not exactly soldiers, but civilians, who have been called to arms due the serious lack of troops from which the surviving eldar Craftworlds suffer from. They can be equipped with a short-ranged weapon with a high rate of fire and average potency called shuriken catapult, or with melee equipment such as pistols and swords. They can also carry some special weapons such as flamers and meltaguns, and also heavier weapons mounted on grav platforms, allowing them to fire on the move. Eldar technology is that great!

I love guardians. Simply love them. I think they are among the best miniatures designed by Games Workshop. Soft curves and simple but effective poses for basic minis. The new heavy weapon platform is also really cool (and bigger than the previous one). And they all are plastic! Even better for handling and gaming :)

So, undoubtedly, I knew beforehand that my army needed at least one unit of them, though I'd like to include more (maybe this will be more than necessary due to the new 5th ed. gaming rules). Tactically, I see the guardians in a multipurpose role, both valid for defense and attack, but also not specially good in neither of those roles (well, civilians after all). But the essential point of units of guardians is that they are Core Units in the army organisation chart, and therefore able to hold and take objetives in the battlefield.

So if I had to start with some minis, it should be with those. As I've previously mentioned, the Alaitoc colour scheme includes a blue-spot pattern of camouflage, using the yellow colour as a contrast. But as I wanted to avoid "horrible vivid colours", I had to do a few changes to it... and thus I decided to change the yellow colour for a bone one; and use red for details to create a good contrast. So I had the reference (a guardian painted by Games Workshop, see picture) and my own idea... would it fit?

The Alaitoc Craftworld

"Occasion, servants of the Almighty Emperor may be fortunate or skilled enough to capture an Eldar alive. The majority of those who fall into our hands are from that caste known by our military forces as the Rangers. These Rangers can provide us with much information about their people, under correct inducements. Over the last two millennia, a surprising proportion of these captured Rangers hailed from the craftworld of Alaitoc. Perplexed by this course of events, my predecessors began a detailed analysis of this craftworld which I have attempted to continue. This has been a very hard task, as Alaitoc is one of the most secretive craftworlds, drifting on the very edge of the galaxy. Ever since war broke out between them and the Emperor's righteous armies, following the Beelze Conflict, they have shunned all direct contact with other races.

Intrigued by the propensity for the Alaitoc Eldar to follow the so-called 'Path of the Outcast' I endeavoured to find the root of this from amongst their number. The information I managed to elicit was interesting but unfortunately the subject died before it could reveal anything of depth or detail.

It appears that the Eldar of Alaitoc are the most puritanical adherents to the culture known as the Path of the Eldar - that lifestyle by which an Eldar will dedicate itself to the pursuit of knowledge in one sphere of life at a time. This zealous attitude has led to many of the Alaitoc Eldar becoming Rangers - either made outcasts by their masters for some slight misdeed, or tiring of the harsh discipline of their craftworld. For some, the very isolation which the Alaitoc Eldar value has only served to heighten their curiousity and inquisitiveness regarding the greater galaxy.

Although disenchanted with their craftworld, those on the Path of the Outcast still remain loyal to Alaitoc and many of them return to it in due course. Due to its isolation, the craftworld makes much use of its many Rangers to gather news, keeping it informed of the actions of other craftworlds and alien races so that the Alaitoc Eldar might respond if necessary.

When the Alaitoc fight a war, they gather their many Rangers through the webway, sending them ahead of their main force to sow disruption and anarchy in their enemy's army. The Rangers are highly skilled at destroying supply dumps and ammo caches, pinning down units trying to attack and generally breaking apart any coordination and cohesiveness the enemy army might have. When the Alaitoc make their major attack, the enemy will already be half-defeated - having spent days or even weeks chasing shadows, they will be desperately trying to gather together the fragments of their army into a fighting force."

Inquisitor Czevak - Teachings on the Unholy, Chapter XI
'The Tyranny of Alaitoc'

Alaitoc craftworld lies in the eastern edge of the galaxy, the frontier region which has never been reconquered by the Imperium. Before the days of the Imperium it was colonised by humans, Orks and Eldar, and even now it remains a sprawling zone of border empires and outlaw worlds.

This melting pot of races and cultures lies far away from the immediate threat of Chaos, but even so the threat cannot be ignored. Numerous parties of Eldar Rangers, who retain their ties to the Alaitoc craftworld, explore and patrol the thousands of worlds beyond the reach of the Imperium. They secretly monitor the isolated civilisations and strange races that live there. All Eldar craftworlds have Rangers, but the stringent devotion to the Path of the Eldar that inhabitants of Alaitoc follow means that this craftworld produces a greater proportion of scouts than any other.

The sword symbol of Alaitoc represents the Sword of Vaul, the weapon forged in the Smith God's desperate battle against Khaine the God of War. It represents the defiance and determination of its people, a sign that no matter how hard the fight the Eldar will never abandon it. Alaitoc is associated with the colour blue, or with the mixture of blue and yellow. However, the Pathfinders and Rangers who accompany the forces of the craftworld to war wear camouflaged coats that blend into their background.