Eldar here, Eldar there, Eldar everywhere [Eldar]

Hello and greetings from my holiday abroad! (Thus a late update, apologizes!)

What a better way to spend one's holidays than to paint and assemble models. I do need to transport some of them on the plane, which is not on the top of my wishlist, but at least I will have the joy of examining the security control's faces when they have a look at my bags.

I have added some highlights on my Wraithknight, I decided to go with a slightly lighter tone than what the actual paint was, as they were hardly visible without adding some white, I debated long whether I will paint all the spirit stones red, or only some of them. I decided to paint at least most of them, as I don't want to end up with just a 'green blob' (Is a green blob with chicken pox better? Not sure.) I tried to make them shiny/ gem- like by doing a fairly thick layer of Blood for the Blood God - technical paint, which is usually used to create blood effects. Helm has obviously been painted white, though I still need to fix some parts of it as it required several layers to look acceptable. I also repainted some of the black parts which were stained with some green paint during airbrushing. I still need to do some of the joints etc. On the back of the model, I painted the spirirt stone/ gem/ whatever it is black and the carving golden. I might still wash the golden paint later on. I decided to add some additional biel-tan look to the model by free-hand painting some thorns on his private- parts - protector.

Thorns & highlights

Whole beauty

Better look at highlights

Gold is the best thing ever

  Visiting one's family for Christmas - or a bit later, carries the positive possibility of getting presents. 40k presents. I was fortunate enough to arrive home with an additional Wave Serpent and Crimson Hunter/ Hemlock waiting for me, the latter being my first ever flyer. I made my decision to build Hemlock Wraithfighter purely because of the looks, the thing on its back does resemble a shark's fin... And that is simply awesome. Assembling was otherwise fairly straightforward, but the fin itself didn't quite attach to the rear of the flyer as it should've. I ended up cutting up a small piece of the clip supposed to be attached to the rear part, making it finally reach to it, but still not staying in place. I will be going to buy some liquid green stuff - technical to make it into a correct shape.

Assembled Hemlock and primed guardians

Close-up of the fin problem

There would be no holiday without having at least a small look into a local Warhammer/ 40k retailer's store. Holiday becomes much better if you can get something into your hands, and further improves if you can take that something home. After getting some additional Eldar vehicles for Christmas from my family, I decided it was a time to get some troops. And some more vehicles. I really do need some more troops now... yet again.

I never tought I'd need pink paint. Harlequins...

My plan of action is to get my guardians and Hemlock painted simultaneously, possibly a bike too from the Battleforce. If I have time I will try to start with the Harlquins before going back home next Saturday, hopefully without breaking any models on the way!

The Guardians [Lizardmen]

My order is finally here, meaning that I can finally start finishing some of my models for good. My order included an orange paint to finish off my Skinks, some Warpstone glow for Wraithknight and of course some Purity Seal varnish to avoid paint cracks. A Temple Guard squad would be nothing without a Slann Mage-Priest and his buffs, so it's not hard to guess what I had coming home with all the paints! This is the first finecast model I have actually opened so far, and I must say that while the details are indeed very fine and stunning, there will be quite a bit of work to remove all the extra resin around the model.

That is a lot of detail

Home at lunch time...

In terms of painting, I have been working mostly on my Temple Guard Squad, which has been taking longer than I had estimated before hand. I first painted the skull/ bone- parts with Ceramic White, then washed them with Agrax Earthshade and finally dry brushed with Ushabti Bone for a cleaner look. All the nails I painted with Ushabti Bone only and then washed them. I thought that it was unnecessary for a Lizards' toenails to be equally 'clean' shade as their head ornaments, assuming they roam freely in the jungles (yes yes, it did save me a little bit of work, too!)

White parts done!

After finishing with the white parts, I moved on to painting all the details on the models, including their eyes, weapons/ instrument/ banner, decorations etc. I coated all the gems with a layer of Blood For The Blood Good - technical paint, leaving them with a look of a wet paint, hoping to create a shiny effect. My painting process was fairly painless, apart from the banner. The stick the banner is on decided to break into half not once, but twice (so far...) Trying to glue it back on also proved a challenge. It is now in one piece, but I wouldn't be surprised if it broke on the field. I do not understand whose idea was to have a long thin stick and a massive heavy banner on the top of it. That is asking for problems. Despite that, I must say I am fairly happy with the way it turned out. I decided to go for golden/ red theme on the decorations of the banner and the unit overall, as the term 'Temple Guard' reminds me of ancient temples which I associate with these colours.

Shield and done!

Now I just have the shields to glue on and add a final touch to them when glued in place. Just so that my painting life wouldn't be too easy, it seems that one shield has gone missing, too. I have plenty of spares, but after all my banner - problems, I am not looking forward to repainting one shield, not even one.

Champion and Musician

Will be focusing on Eldar next time, as this post was taken over by a lizard swarm!

May the Lizards Rise [Lizardmen, Eldar]

A random Tomb King has appeared

Happy New Year! ~

New Years Resolution: More painting, More Wargaming. 

One cannot win a battle with skinks only. Thus, whilst waiting on my paint order to arrive I have been working on my Temple Guard - unit, consisting of 10 models. The squad consists of a musician, a champion, a banner-bearer and rest of the models are warriors. I am painting them in 2 parts, shield on its own and the rest of the model pre-assembled. I used airbrush to paint their skin blue (same colours as used for Skinks), rest is done by hand. Will next start working on the finer details.

Dry brush & first wash done

I started painting the shields before I even managed to bother getting my airbrush out for the lizards themselves. I have done a layer of brown, painted the bone-parts with Ceramic White (managing to get it on some of the brown parts, too, will be fixing later), and finally did a wash on the entire shield with Agrax Earthshade. I will be later adding more details to the shields and dry brushing the skulls and other bone- decorations with Ushabti Bone -colour.

Skull-shrinkers in action (or dead Tomb Kings...)

While I was working on my Lizardmen, I couldn't help doing 2 paint layers of my Wraithknight's body; first with Caliban Green, followed by Warpstone Glow. I will next begin highlights with a lighter shade of green, together with a darker wash. I will also paint the joints and several other areas black (they got green during airbrushing) and the helm white & black. I used far more green paint to get an even layer on the model than I had expected - will be adding another pot of Warpstone Glow to my order...

Still a long way to go...

...But he does already look better

Next time: Will New Year's Resolution hold? If so, expect so see some Lizards, and Eldar. If not. Expect the same. Maybe Wraithknight will even reclaim his arms, and weapons!