The queue...

There comes a time in a wargamer's life, where you step back and say, "Damn, how am I going to paint all of this stuff? It is everywhere". For me, that was today. I pledge to paint all of this before the end of the year!

Blood Angels infantry. All the command stuff is painted. Some stuff is base coated.

Blood Angels vehicles. This shot is missing another Stormraven and a Predator.

My Tau force. Magnetized vehicles, some FW stuff. Grey Knights just hanging out.

Anima/Infinity/Warmachine stuff. No where to put it, so they keep my books company.

Old School 3rd edition Space Wolves. Infantry hiding behind the tanks. None of it is game legal anymore (Remember dual-wielding bolters with Wolf Guard because of True Grit?). This all needs to be stripped and repainted for display.

These shots don't even include my Druchii, which are in random places all over my house. Things got this bad because I didn't have a dedicated work space. Prep, spraying, painting, basing, and storage all happened in my bedroom. In order to have workspace, I needed to clear off my computer desk which was nigh impossible as I am a computer nerd in addition to being a scale gaming nerd. My MMO addiction would not allow that to happen. Thankfully, with the new house came dedicated work space!

Where the magic happens. This is actually only a small part of the room. It is like an extra room in my garage. Tons of storage space. I am still shopping around for bitz containers and such. You can see blue and purple which means I have been hard at work on my elves!

My Iwata HP-CS airbrush. Don't know how I managed to survive without one for so long. It won't help you in the Zombie Apocalypse, but it makes painting zombies super easy!

Death Hag WIP

Hello!

I was lucky enough to grab the limited edition Azumi model from Studio McVay. The model was limited to 500 castings worldwide. It is meant to be a geisha assassin, but I think it will fit nicely in the role of my Death Hag. To be a good Death Hag, one needs to be cute and deadly. Nothing screams cute and deadly like a Japanese woman dual wielding katanas, right? So without further ado, here is my Death Hag WIP:

Stupid camera...All that blue looks more purple in person.

The vertical strips of fabric will be painted gold to help tie the Hag into the army.

The amount of detail on this model is insane, and my pictures don't really do it justice. As such, here is a pic from Studio McVey with their suggested paintjob:

I plan to put runic script on the fabric hanging from the forearms. I want to get a really cool alternative to the Cauldron of Blood to compliment her as well. Anyone have any ideas?

Dark Elf Sorceress Alternative

Hello!

Well, as fond as I am of Games Workshop, some of their sculpts for the Druchii are just plain fugly ('effin + ugly = fugly). The biggest offenders, in my opinion, are the Dark Elf Witches, but this post isn't about them. This is about the our sorceress options. GW offers:

1. Morathi on a Dark Pegasus....both fugly and naked.
2. Old school Morathi on foot....ew?
3. Supreme Sorceress with some swirly stuff....yea....fugly and weird.
4. A plastic sorceress with 80's hair like Gene Simmons. (I will admit, I did buy this one)

As I don't play competitively in tournaments, I could care less about the Games Workshop proxy rules. Not trying to bash them, as I completely understand that they want to protect their IP, but as a collector I am keeping my options open. I prefer to have a complete army that will look great on the table top. Not naked chicks with bad hair.

So what is there to do? It would just so happen that there are lots of appropriate options available! I present my first choice, Reaper's Alastriel!

Isn't she just adorable!

This model was a bit of a challenge. It is a really simple sculpt, so I wanted to do a top notch job with the paint to make it stand out. It will, after all, be one of my Lord choices. Initially, I couldn't decide on a color scheme. Overall, my army will use a blue-ish purple, gold, and silver as the main colors. I didn't want to do all of her clothes in purple though, as I felt that the model would be too dark. So, I turned to the lore in the Army Book for inspiration. After reading that many of the sorceresses in Dark Elf society indulge in the pleasure cults, the magic light bulb in my head came on.

"Pleasure cults worship Slaanesh...the Emperor's Children worship Slaanesh...the Emperor's Children are pink...Dark Elf Slaanesh worshipping Sorceresses would wear pink!"

I was quite proud of myself.

I think the cloak turned out well.

The whole model was base coated the same blue-gray you see on the base. The cloak was then layered with 2 blue tones, and then topped with two purple tones. The pink was created by mixing Tamiya red and white. A baal red wash was then applied over it. The skin is just one layer of Tamiya flesh that was airbrushed on. The airbrush really helped to create the shading effects. This was also my first time playing with object source lighting (OSL). I wanted the gem in her staff to shine light onto her hair and I also wanted the runes on the sword to "shine" as well. I think both effects turned out well. I then applied a thinned layer of Quickshade (1:1 QS to Mineral Spirits) by brush. A little touching up and basing, and she will be ready to go to battle!

Her sister-at-arms will be the Warmachine Shepard Solo model. She is only primed right now, but I think she will fit in perfectly.  She has this whole "grim reaper" thing going on. She definitely would not wear pink though, so I don't know which color scheme to go with. Maybe black and gold?

Feel free to share any criticism. What models do you all use for your wizard options?

Dark Elf Hydra...WIP

Rawr!!!

Hello!

I finished my Hydra model a few days ago, and I am waiting for the gloss varnish (Quickshade Strong Tone) to dry. In the mean time, I thought I would share some pics! This was my first attempt at using an airbrush, and I think it turned out pretty well. My camera sucks, so please bear with the pictures.

The under side of the model was primed with black Vallejo primer. I then built up a layer of dark blue, ice blue, and then a light layer of a khaki (all by airbrush). The effect is really cool in person. The blues show through in some areas where the khaki meets the green of the top side of the model, which really helps to blend the two areas.

The top side of the model was primed with black and grey Vallejo in different areas. After that, it was based with a green from the Vallejo Game Color line (I can't remember which), and then a highlight was added with a green from the Tamiya line. Both of the greens were not applied evenly, which allowed the black/grey to make some of the details really pop. It left trippy designs swirled on the skin, which I rather like.

The bone plates were base coated in a Vallejo brown, with a layer of a Tamiya redish-brown, and highlighted with Citadel bleached bone and skull white. I then inked then with a dark brown ink. And then they got another dose of brown ink (different shade) from the Quickshade. The dark brown ink in the Quickshade really helped to blend the colors together.

Enough rambling, more pictures!

You can see the greens blending together here.

You can see the blue showing through at the neck joint here.

Sorceress in the background, more on her later!

Shot of the bone plates on the back.

I learned some really important things while doing this model:

1. My airbrush does not like the Vallejo primers. I had to dilute them to get them to flow properly, even though the bottles swear that I shouldn't have to.
2. My airbrush loves diluted Tamiya paints. Easy as pie to use, easier to clean up.
3. Vallejo Model Air paints are hit or miss. Some colors sprayed fine, but most needed to be thinned.
4. Don't paint when you are tired....you will get chainmail paint on your airbrushed work and want to kill a kitten.

I am consider leaving some of the skin glossy. I think it would give it a slimy, lizard look. I think I will still apply a matte varnish to the bony areas. What do you all think of that?

Dark Elf Collecting...Alternative Models

Hello Interwebz,

My Druchii army started out as the Dark Elf Battleforce in February. Thanks to Legions Games having a used model bin, in a mere two months it has swelled into the following:

2x 10 man crossbow units, with full command
1x 20 man Corsair unit, with full command
2x 5 man units of converted Dark riders, with full command ($10!)
1x Hydra with handlers ($20!)
1x 10 man unit of Executioners ($6!)
1x Converted Dreadlord on a Bretonnian pegasus
1x 14 man unit of warriors with spears, full command
2x 6 man units of Cold One Knights, full command
1x Sorceress
1x Converted Cold One Chariot ($10)
1x Reaper Bolt Thrower and crew

I also use a few models from other ranges:

1x 10 man unit of Shades (Warmachine Mage Hunter Strike Force)
1x Sorceress (Reaper model)
2x Assassins (Reaper models)
2x Dreadlord/Master on foot (Reaper models)
1x Hag, (Studio McVay's Azumi, limited edition)

Next up on my buying list is:
Cauldron of Blood
Executioner Command
A block of Black Guard
A block of Witch Elves

My dilemma is that I do not want Games Workshop models for the Cauldron, Black Guard, or Witch Elves. They are a little "meh", and expensive. I don't mind a higher price point for quality, but paying a lot for something that just looks goofy (looking at you Witches) doesn't sit well with me. I have found great alternative models for the Witches over at Raging Heroes. They call them Blood Vestals, and they look absolutely amazing. I will probably use their Elven Battle Standard model too. Does anyone out there have any ideas for alternative models that can represent the Cauldron of Blood or the Black Guard? I am aware of the Gamezone line, which is awesome, but I am looking for some other options as well!