Dark Eldar Wyche Painting Tutorial

A couple of weeks ago I posted a link to a tutorial I wrote about painting a Dark Eldar Warrior quickly and effectively. This tutorial was hosted by Ron at From the Warp. You can read about it all here. At the end of the post I mentioned I might get the chance to post up a tutorial for a Wyche. Tonight I got the chance to snap some pics of the skin and hair step-by-steps.

The first thing you need to do when painting the Wyches is go through all the steps in the Dark Eldar Warrior tutorial (which I did for this example).

Once you have the initial steps completed, you can move onto the skin:

Step One - Paint the skin with Dheneb Stone

Step Two - Wash the skin with thinned Leviathan Purple

Step Three - Highlight with thinned Dheneb Stone

Step Four - Highlight with a 50/50 mix of Dheneb Stone and Skull White

Then, once you've done a quick correction with some black paint around the edges of the skin, you can move on to the hair:

Step One - basecoat with Scab Red

Step Two - highlight strands with a 50/50 mix of Scab Red and Blood Red

Step Three - highlight with a 75/25 mix of Blood Red/Solar Macharius Orange, then a wash of Devlan Mud.

And that's basically it. The final thing I did on this model was to paint the green cables on the model's shoulder and neck. I used the same colors as I did for the glowing eyes on the DE Warrior.

I hope you enjoyed this "next stage" for the Dark Eldar painting tutorials.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas, and a very happy and toy soldier-filled New Year!

Cheers

Dave

PS. Don't forget, there's less than 24 hours to get your bids in on Alex's Emperor's Children army. This is the one that I converted for him back in February. Check out the auction here.

Looking for some Pre-Heresy Goodness?

You may have seen these pictures before on my blog, like earlier this year. So, why are you seeing them again?

Well, my crazy friend Alex (who commissioned the conversion of the entire army) has decided that he'll never get the chance to get it all painted in the next few years. He has just started a new business (Battleroad Games & Hobbies), so perhaps this isn't as crazy as it first looks.

You can see Alex's pics of the complete army (including a gorgeous Dreadnought conversion by Matt Cexwish) at his eBay auction HERE!

It'll certainly be a great chance to get an entirely converted Pre-Heresy Emperor's Children army (95% of it built and converted by me and shown on this blog) for a great price.

What are you waiting for? Get on over to the auction and make this sweet looking force yours!

Cheers

Dave

Dreadnaught Rylanor of the Emperor's Children Legion

So, things haven't really calmed down since getting back from Adepticon, but hey...it's been a lot of fun.

I managed to grab an hour or so to sort out the photos of Rylanor, and finally get them up here on the blog. You've seen the teaser pic before, but not these "completed" pics of the beast before painting. Let me begin by thanking the artists who painted nearly two dozen different Pre-Heresy Dreadnaughts for the Horus Heresy card game that were then featured in the Horus Heresy artbooks from Black Library. Each Dread looks a little different, and there are plenty of great styling cues. My second thanks must go to a modeler that goes by the handle of Insaniak. A while back he built a great Pre-Heresy Dreadnaught that he posted on his site and on his DakkaDakka blog.

And so on to Rylanor. There are a lot of parts to this guy and I'm not really sure where to start, but I'll forge ahead anyway. If you have any questions just drop them in a comment.

As you can see from the pics, there are five materials used in the construction. Obviously GW parts, plasticard, Greenstuff, Brownstuff, and cables from Jeff at Dragon Forge Design.

I built the Dreadnaught in four (well five) sections. First the legs, followed by the torso, then the two power fist arms, followed by the autocannon arm.

As you can see from the picture above, I kept most of the leg and torso assembly from a standard Space Marine Dreadnaught. That's because there are a lot of great parts there that could be replicated, but there's no real need. What I did, however, was cut up most of the leg assemblies so that I could lengthen the legs and poses them in a new stance (a long advancing stride). Plasticard rods and tubing were my friends in this case.

The feet were actually scratchbuilt early in the process. I cut out the basic shape, started building up the Brownstuff and Greenstuff, filed the putty down to the final shape, then added the detailing plasticard strips around the edges. Once I had the feet, I could then finalize the position of the legs and the lengths of the pistons etc. When they were all fixed I added the hoses back in using the DF power cables. The final two stages for the legs were a) the shin pads and b) the "waist".

For the shin pads I cut them from panels of plasticard. Originally I was thinking of angular pads, but as I went along I decided to add a curved front to them, adding more bulk and linking better to the Pre-Heresy aesthetic. To add this curve I pressed a lot of putty onto the flat panels and carefully burnished them to create the smooth surface. Oh, and the cod-piece was done the same way.

The "waist" was really just a matter of throwing down a chunk of Greenstuff onto the standard Dreadnaught waist, smoothing it out into a good sized cylinder, then carefully adding the ridges by running the blade end of my sculpting tool around the cylinder. Took a few tries, but I think it looks good once it's done.

The torso was a lot more trial and error. I built the standard Dread torso, then began hacking away all the front panels. I wanted to remove not only the flat panels of the sarcophagus and the panels on each side, but I also needed to cut enough away so that when I re-puttied everthing, I had enough room to do so. Fortunately for me, right in the middle of working on Rylanor, GW released the Venerable Dreadnaught. I was able to use one of the Ven Dread's curved sarcophagii for my version. Once the head and new sarcophagus were in place I started to build up layers of putty. I used Brownstuff almost exclusively for this stage, as I wanted to be able to file the putty as it dried. Brownstuff sets almost rock hard, so can take some pretty vigorous sanding and filing, and it holds a sharp edge.

Here's a shot of the bottom of the torso. I built a small "gut plate" using plasticard, that would cover the extended waist of the Dread. I then bulked it out and gave it a curved surface with Brownstuff and the burnishing end of my sculpting tool.

Here's a close-up of the rear of the legs, where you can see the extensions, the power cables, and the extended waist.

The arms are all based on plasticard tubing, cut at varying lengths and spliced together. I took a lot of cues here from Insaniak's Dreadnaught project (which I urge you to check out). Lots of plasticard cutting, gluing, and a bit of putty work where appropriate.

Its getting quite late, so I'll leave you with a few painted pictures that John Shaffer snapped for me while we were at Adepticon (I didn't have a chance to get my own shots before the show).

I'm quite happy with how he turned out. I hope you like him too.

Cheers

Dave

What's in the box?

One of the fun things about being a toy soldier hobbyist that a) works from home for a toy soldier hobby magazine and b) has quite a few friends with great toy soldier businesses, is that a really cool box of goodies turns up on my doorstep two or three times a week.

Over the past few weeks there've been some great boxes indeed.

Just last week I received a lovely box from Jim and John Bailey at Grindhouse Games. It was the freshly printed copy of Incursion that I pre-ordered back in November. The reason for the delay? The guys had to establish a significant commitment from their customers before laying down the vast amounts of cash needed to get a board game of this quality printed and assembled. I know the Baileys do good work, so I was more than happy to pledge my support for this project.

I've seen lots of great pictures of their Incursion range of minis online, so I order the complete package which included two of their limited edition tins, the Allies (US Ape-suited raiders) and the Germans (exciting characters and Nazi ZOMBIES!). Very cool. Go and check out their stuff here.

My friend Ronnie Renton, the driving force behind Mantic Games, sent me a little package after I asked a couple of questions about their new ghouls. In the package were two sprues of the new Skeletons (which you can use to build 20 Skellies). While I wasn't too keen on the styling of their Elves, I am loving the look of these undead warriors. Loads more detail and clever ways of assembling the models (usually tricky with Skeletons) make these very impressive.

Ronnie has always been a big fan of big armies and big games. These Mantic miniatures seem like the way to achieve that consistently.

Here's a back and front shot of the ghoul sprue. With two leg parts, two torsos, three heads, and three alternate hands you can build ghouls 36 different ways, although I'd recommend some more extensive conversions (arm repositioning would be best). Apart from using them as ghouls in an undead army, you could easily see these models serving as Battle Psykers in an Imperial Guard or Traitor Guard army, particularly using the two bald heads (one of which is somewhat bulbous).

Every month or so I place an order with Jeff Wilhelm at Dragon Forge Designs. He makes some great resin bases and is close to adding some great new products to his line (keep an eye out just after Adepticon). This box was full of bases for me and just a couple for some commissions I'm finishing up.

About a month ago I received my order from Romeo at Battlefoam. I tried out their funky little design app, and created this custom tray for my Napoleonic British, each tray will fit roughly one division or support brigade, so I should be good for a while with the four trays I ordered.

I should fit roughly 140 models per tray, not bad.

And one of the boxes that arrived recently contained my "staff samples" of the first six packs from our Wargames Illustrated Exclusive "Moments In History" vignettes. If you click on the link you'll get to see the six sets, sculpted by Gary Morley, assembled and painted by Matt Parkes, in their full glory. Each set is available for sale, but we're also giving you your choice of two sets when you order a one year subscription!

As I said at the start though, it's pretty cool to have lovely free toy soldiers land on your doorstep!

So, let's wrap up with some models that will soon be heading back into a box and out my door. The Pre-Heresy Emperor's Children army I started showing you last post has reached it's conclusion. 50 Tactical Marines, 6 Rhinos, 9 Phoenix Guard, 1 Sorcerer/Librarian, and 1 Land Raider, all done now.

My client sent me a Forgeworld Pre-Heresy Land Raider Kit to assemble and embellish a bit. I usually love Forgeworld's kit (see the Hellblade I assembled in less than 30 minutes), but I'm yet to find a MkI Land Raider kit that hasn't had problems.

This particular kit was a real doozy. The front section (sits above the assault ramp doors) and the rear section (replaces the standard engine pieces) were a full 2mm slimmer than the standard pieces. This meant they could only be used if I was willing to trim 2mm off the width of the floor, the lower assault ramp, the upper assault ramp, the internal bracing piece, and the top (which straddles both track sections, requiring it to be trimmed from the center of the piece). I decided not to go down that path, instead choosing to adapt the standard pieces.

I created a new housing for the heavy bolters, and a new set of panels for the rear section so that I could still mount the two large exhausts that come with the FW kit. In addition I added plasticard trim around the side and top panels. When my client paints the Land Raider in the Pre-Heresy purple, this trim will be painted gold and add really rich, detailed look to the tank. This was topped off with the Legion number (III) and the Legion symbol (the winged claw) tying it back in with the Rhinos.

And finally, here's the Librarian. He's a fairly simple conversion, tied in with the rest of the army, but pushing the styling progression. When I decided to use the High Elf banner for the Phoenix Guard, I thought this guy could also use a piece from the High Elf sprues I had. Hence the phoenix familiar perched on his backpack. He'll look great painted gold.

Until next time, have fun!

Bitten off more than I can chew...

Well, the more astute of you may have noticed that over the last few months I've been showing off pics of a lot of commission work I've been doing, and not too much else.

That's because most of what I've been doing has been commission work. I still manage to squeeze in the odd bit of work for my own hobby here and there, but not as much as I'd like. So, once I get my current chunk of commissions out of the way, I'll be scaling way back on what I take. To give you an idea, I currently have five jobs to finish by Adepticon (less than 6 weeks away). I'll be burning the midnight oil to get them all done to my exacting standards, but after that I'm promising myself no more than two jobs at a time.

Anyway, on to the toy soldiers.

This is an army shot of a Pre-Heresy Emperor's Children army I've been working on in the background. There are some reasonably straightforward conversions, but one's that add a lot of character, as well as some that are more elaborate. I'm just converting this army. The client will be painting it himself. All the bases are from Dragon Forge Designs' Slate Wasteland series, perfect for painting up the coral of the Laer world (from the HH novel Fulgrim) and great for Space Wolves armies too!

Here's an example of one of the five Tactical Squads. The regular troopers have either MkIV, MkV, or MkVI legs, they all have the Eagle breastplate, and either MkIV or MkVI helmets. I switched up the magazine/handgrip configuration on the bolters too, they're reminiscent of the first plastic bolters from the old RTB-01 kit from "back in the day".

This is a unit that evolved following a bit of chatting back and forth with the client. They'll probably be used as Honor Guard, but represent the Phoenix Guard, those assigned to defend the life of their Primarch. The spears/halberds are from the Chaos Knight sprues, and the wings on the helmets are from a press-mold. Again, they have the early Mk of bolter. As you can see in the pic below, I've added a vambrace to their left arm to match the one on the Chaos Knight right arm. They've also been given plasticard spall-guards on their left shoulders.

The client requested conversion work on six Rhinos. I figured the cool thing to do was to retro-fit the current Rhino to have the classic signifiers of the MkI Rhino of old. So, with a great deal of measuring and plasticard cutting and gluing, these Rhinos rolled off the modeling table. I switched up the front panels, the side hatches, and the top hatch to match the styling of the older model. In addition my buddy Thomas cut me a few EC Legion symbols (the winged claw) which I then added to the top hatch. Really personalizes the models I think.

I have a couple more pieces to finish up for this one, hopefully I can put them in the next post.

Just so you don't think it's been all work and no play, here's my "proof of concept" model for my Centigor units. A Gor torso, Marauder horse body, and Ungor spear and shield. What do you think?

And finally, here's a teaser of something big I'm working on (slowly).

Don't forget, only one week left to get your ideas in for my tattoo competition!

Happy New Year (and Happy Birthday)

So, a new year is upon us and I must say I'm in a much better "place" than I was at this same time last year.

I've got a great job, working on Wargames Illustrated (the world's best wargaming magazine) with the lofty title of U.S. Editor. I get to co-ordinate articles and photos with U.S. contributors, visit wargaming conventions in the role of roving reporter, layout six or so articles each issue, and play an active role in the content planning for future issues. It really helps that I work with some great guys in the U.K. (and around the world).

I have some great friends (that I had at this time last year too). This blog and "social networking" activities have helped me stay in touch with them as well as reconnecting with many more. Huzzah for the internet!

And best of all my family has grown. Emily has been loads of fun! Watching her grow up has been a real treat. Although it has really eaten into my hobby time, I wouldn't have it any other way. Even now she's practicing pulling up on the couch and chewing on the edges : )

And my blog has grown quite rapidly (the Happy Birthday bit was for this blog, one year old today). I must thank you all for your support. It's great to know that folks enjoy the stuff I do. 75 posts in 2009 (just under 1.5 per week) was a pretty good pace, and 437 followers for the year is great too. I have a fun competition planned for when the blog hits 500 followers, so make sure you point it out to your friends ; )

Anyway, on to the toy soldiers! Last year I finished of a couple of commissions, including this trio of Pre-Heresy Emperor's Children Space Marines. A Chapter Standard flanked by Chief Apothecary Fabius Bile on the left and Captain Lucius on the right.

I realized I hadn't posted a close-up pic of the Standard Bearer, so here he is.

And although my original projection of five hobby days over my break has dwindled to around three, I did manage to get my Chaos Hellblade into it's cleansing bath. With only 12 pieces to it, it should be pretty simple to get it assembled, as soon as I straighten out a bend in the right wing.

Something else the keen-eyed among you will notice is that the Locust vector-fighter that Thomas and I are working on is a a bit bigger than the Hellblade. Mmmmm...

More Rapid Assault updates next time.

Cheers

Dave

Painting Purple.

A few posts back I showed you a Pre-Heresy Lucius, Fabius, and an Emperor's Children Standard Bearer. I added a few pieces of greenstuff work and here's Lucius painted, descending stairs, his paired swords held ready to skillfully deal some death!

I tried to match a blend of the Sam Wood artwork from the Horus Heresy Artbooks, the Lucius the Eternal miniature (note the black studded gauntlets), elements of the Fulgrim I worked on, and a couple of new ideas. Most notable are the signature Emperor's Children wings on the shoulder pads of Lucius and Fabius.

I could have used the Dark Angels Commander wing that I used on Fulgrim, but I wanted something different, still stylish, but not the same as their hallowed Primarch. I glued a feather from the Empire Foot Soldiers sprue to the shoulder pad and then built up the EC wing symbol from greenstuff. Once painted, I think it adds a certain opulence.

And as it looks like the Rapid Assault Force will take the prize as my next Blood Pact Project™ (unless, of course, the Ground Assault Force can garner 170+ votes over the next six days)

I figured that sitting down to lunch with Thomas would be a great idea. Here's a shot of the initial "sketch" of a Locust vector fighter we'll be building making heavy use of the Space Marine Drop Pod wings.