Assembling the raiding force

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Samusin
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Post by Samusin »

:) luv them
8th edition Dark Elves w/d/l
2/4/3

still getting started, so don't mind that loses, they where sacrificed for the greater good xD
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Heartsbane
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Post by Heartsbane »

:D glad you like 'em!

I missed yesterday's update, but there was progress. Inspired by Kendoka's excellent slaves I decided to steal the idea wholesale and make my own, shepherded back to the shop by a covey of dark riders:
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And for today's progress I've made another 4 dark riders (the sixth from my first unit will actually be the fifth of this one):
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As I don't know if I want a second unit with or without a standard I magnetised him so he can do either, here he is with:
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And here he is without:
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Since that picture I've filled in the gaps in their cloaks, which was easier than the first batch as I'd learnt not to leave such a large gap so had less scales to sculpt; it's amazing how much you can cover up with those furling over bits at the sides... [Edited, as tablet's autocorrect mangled original posting]

Hopefully do the horses armour scales after dinner so all ready to start painting tomorrow!

Edit: 4 done, 3am, sleep now...
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Heartsbane
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Post by Heartsbane »

Well today went pretty well, the green-stuffing is finished on them all, and now there's some paint on them:
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An hopeful of finishing them (aside from the banners) tomorrow.
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Samusin
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Post by Samusin »

;) slaving allways works XD ty druchii to give us the posibility to make those unitfillers
8th edition Dark Elves w/d/l
2/4/3

still getting started, so don't mind that loses, they where sacrificed for the greater good xD
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Rowena
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Post by Rowena »

Your speed amazes me. :) Great job as always, looking forward to more. :)
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Heartsbane
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Post by Heartsbane »

Was hoping to finish the dark riders today, but came up just short... Just a final tidy up with black (4 have already had this done, you can easily tell which as it makes such a big difference!), a couple of quick highlights on the horse and a little dry-brushing on the mane and tail and they're finished. 2 hours tops. Then just the slaves and all my units will be finished. My holiday is now over, so I'll only have evenings and weekends again for a while, but with a little luck I can get them finished by the end of Friday and be on top my next chariot over the weekend, or perhaps finish up my sorceress if I find my self in the mood for some top quality painting.

@Samsuin; yup, you can never have enough slaves ;)

@Rowena; I really don't think I'm that fast a painter, I've just had a few days off and have the self discipline to stay more or less on task for ~8 hours per day...

Anyhow, here's how the riders look now:
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And one where I've tided up the black, see what a difference it makes, even if the brush and spray look different (don't worry, a layer of varnish will sort that out!)
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Heartsbane
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Post by Heartsbane »

Well, it's been a little while, but rest assured I've not been idle! Here's a work in progress shot of my Sea dragon, who's now much further along than last time; just the watchman and the water to do.

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Rafapolit
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Post by Rafapolit »

Heartsbane,

Some great conversions there, great work all around, really inspiring stuff, every unit has a very distinctive addition that makes it yours, no matter what. Really good things!

I'm particularly interested in the Chariot! Care to share exactly what bits from where went into it? I can see the High Elves chariot, of course the cold ones, what else? Is the 'bridge' over the cold ones green-stuffed? (their armours on their back I mean) Where are those chains from? The banners from the corsairs? What did you use for the riders of the chariot?

I'm looking to make one or two just like that (perhaps two is the ideal number if buying full boxes, 1 if buying bits, but not sure)

Thanks in advance, best regards,
Rafa.
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Heartsbane
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Post by Heartsbane »

Hey Rafa, I'm very glad you like them! :D

As you guessed, the chariot is based on a high elf chariot. The cold ones are from the cold one knights box, with the saddle removed and armour plating added with green stuff over their back to cover the hole. Dark elf spear tops make up the multitude of spikes and wheel scythes, and a few details from the corsair box (the horn added to the arches holding the cold ones, the kraken upon the front of the chariot) add to the naval theme. Of suggest pinning the spikes in place, its a hassle buy they're very prone to getting knocked, so doing it properly the first time prevents needing to do constant repairs. The chain is simply gale force nine flat chain glued in place and sprayed black. As for the crew, they're cold one knight torsos on corsair or warrior legs, whatever dark worry arms fit best and a pennant and cloak from the glade rider sprue added to the lance to give a sense of motion. the whip is left over from the black dragon box, and the heads are from the high elf chariot and the cold one boxes. Hope it helps, but please do ask if you have any more questions and please post pictures of how you get on, ie be interested to see.
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Rafapolit
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Post by Rafapolit »

Thanks for the detailed break down of parts... that is a lot more than what I have really! My original plan was to purchase two chariots, a box of CoK.

Use chariots and 4 CoK to create two DE Chariots, use the 4 steeds to create DRs with the CoKs as riders themselves (not sure if that is feasable???) and use the remaining Cold One to expand my current 5 CoKs + 1 Hero + 1 Sorceress.

The lions are nice models and could be used like 'fillers' in some units, for instance Executioners or BGs (if made into 'black lions').

But it sounds like a LOT of custom work, and a high price to be paid.

I'll be sure to post picks if I decide to go that way (unless the upcoming Raging Heroes minis include chariots :) ).

Thanks again for the detail description and all the help!
Best regards,
Rafa.
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Heartsbane
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Re: Assembling the raiding force

Post by Heartsbane »

So, it's once more been a little while since I updated this, but that's only because I've been so busy painting in preparation for last weekend's Warhammer Throne of Skulls. It was a great weekend, with 5 excellent games in a superb hobby environment. I'd deffinately recomend going!

Part of why I didn't update was that I couldn't spare the time to take pictures (I was up until 3 in the morning on Thursday finishing off the basing!), but the events team snapped a few pictures which can be seen on the WH world facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=575653052454179&set=a.575649895787828.1073741830.212614545424700&type=3 and from here onwards: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=576194389066712&set=a.575649895787828.1073741830.212614545424700&type=3&permPage=1#!/photo.php?fbid=576194412400043&set=a.575649895787828.1073741830.212614545424700&type=3&permPage=1

I'm really happy with how they've turned out, with the additional basing materials really taking them up a level, but was rather overwhelmed at the end of the weekend to not only be presented with one of these (for my sea dragon):http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=576310249055126&set=a.575649895787828.1073741830.212614545424700&type=3 but this too: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.575649895787828.1073741830.212614545424700&type=1#!/photo.php?fbid=576310399055111&set=a.575649895787828.1073741830.212614545424700&type=3&theater

Finally, the white dwarf photography team were at the event (and very friendly and down to earth chaps they are too), and they spent a good few minutes snapping pictures of my figures under professional lighting conditions. Fingers crossed they might be displayed in the pages of an upcoming magazine :D
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Re: Assembling the raiding force

Post by Daeron »

Impressive! Congratulations!
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Jarvax
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Re: Assembling the raiding force

Post by Jarvax »

Congratulations to you.
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Tyrannus deathbringer
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Re: Assembling the raiding force

Post by Tyrannus deathbringer »

Nice work :D
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Rowena
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Re: Assembling the raiding force

Post by Rowena »

Congratulations! I'm not suprised, however, your army looks superb and the dragon... just wow! The water takes it over the level of awesome. :)
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Jvh792
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Re: Assembling the raiding force

Post by Jvh792 »

WOw, what models did you use for harpies? More pictures pleeeease!!!!
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Re: Assembling the raiding force

Post by xFallenx »

Stunning. I love the sea dragon & I'm looking forward to the water effects. Are you a little nervous as to how the resin is going to react? (I'm assuming that you're going to fill up to the dock with clear resin?) I really can't wait to see this piece finished as I've got my hands on a nice model I was going to use as a Sciowyrm, but needs to appear as though it's pulling itself out of the water & I'm not sure I can pull it off.
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Heartsbane
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Re: Assembling the raiding force

Post by Heartsbane »

Jvh: The harpies are made from vampire count ghouls, tyranid gargoyl wings and green stuff. One thing that helps them look a little different is that I cut off the feet and replaced them with hands from the ghoul arms; to my mind they just look slightly more bird like than the rather human feet of the ghouls.

Xfallenx: The sea dragon's been finished for a while now, there's a shot of behind the first link in my post of 19th March. I was certainly nervous adding the water though, this is probably the first big centre piece type model I've really applied myself on, and one of my more ambitious conversions ever. And then I had to pour resin over 70% of it, knowing if it went wrong all the work I'd put in would be undone at a stroke! It mostly worked out fine though, but it was kinda nerve wracking. A few tips if you're going to do something similar:
- Use 2 part casting resin, the waterbased stuff simply doesn't work for blocks this size due to shrinkage and the need to layer it so all dries.
- Make the sides you're going to use to hold the resin in place so that the model stands flat, you don't want to be balancing it precariously on old paint pots while it sets like I had to because the sides weren't even.
- Test the sides for water-tightness (I'd suggest using water for this) before pouring the resin in. After 1/2 a litre of resin has been poured in is a really bad time to find out it leaks slightly...
- Once you've poured the resin in, there's nothing you can do to fix it if it starts going wrong, so test as thouroughly as you can before applying the resin. Corollary: once the resin is in, go out or go to bed, but don't hover over it for hours fretting that things are going wrong as by that point there's nothing you can do.
- Apply mould release of some sort to the inside edges of the sides. I didn't do this and had to resort to a hammer and chisel to get the plasticard free that I'd used. Fortunately the resin is rock hard, but it was incredibly nerve wracking.
- Finally, some acrylic water effects (the thick stuff, with a mayonaise like consistency) is really good for adding ripples and waves to the surface.

If there's some good light over the weekend, I'll see about doing a photo shoot to show off my army in full; I don't think any of the shots above show models that are fully finished, varnished and based...
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Re: Assembling the raiding force

Post by Darkgul »

I havnt checked this plog for a while but my, you have been very busy! Absolutely stunning work. Youre a gifted painter and you got well deserved awards for it. Planning to work on some more Dark Elves or do you have another project now?
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Heartsbane
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Re: Assembling the raiding force

Post by Heartsbane »

Darkgul, thank-you for your kind words and very pleased to hear that having looked through the plog once, you came back for a second look :) I don't think I'm that gifted though, I look at some of the really top end stuff and know that that's a whole level above what I'll ever be able to do. Instead my strength is being able to paint a whole army to a reasonably good standard. And starting the dark elves as a distinct project allowed me to come up with a consistent theme, which also helps!

Regarding the awards, they were done on public voting at the throne of skulls. Whilst the count of votes wasn't disclosed, chatting to the organisers revealed that the sea dragon landed best monster by a comfortable margin! The overall army vote, out of 140+ gamers, I won by only 4 votes! There were some awesome armies there, so I feel very honoured to come out on top. Off the top of my head there was a great looking daemon force (which had some new releases in it like the plague flies, and this was only a couple of weeks after they came out, so whoever painted it did so to high standards on a very tight timescale!), a very nice looking wood elf force (heavily converted and with how he'd done the multitude of tree spirits looked almost like a shelf of scenery until you looked closer), a night goblin army with some hilarious conversions and one of my regular opponents' frost ogres (who'd beaten me to best army at a smaller tournament only a month before).

My current project is a small wood elf force (or rather ice elves) for a doubles tourney. My dark elves are pretty much done for now, but I'd like at some point to add another unit of dark riders and harpies so that (together with swapping my dreadlord onto the dragon (yay for magnetisation (double yay for nested parenthesis))) I can play 2,500 point games. And who knows, as and when the new dark elf book comes out I'll probably add something new. Oh, and the merwyrm from forgeworld would make a great second sea monster should I wish to use double hydra. So yes, more dark elves might well find their way to the painting table, but almost cetainly not before September...
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Heartsbane
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Re: Assembling the raiding force

Post by Heartsbane »

So, I managed to take some photos of the completed force; here they are for your viewing pleasure:

Dreadlord Heartsbane himself:
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The army standard:
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And the sorceress:
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Heartsbane
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Re: Assembling the raiding force

Post by Heartsbane »

Core choices, dark rider unit 1
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Unit 2
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Unit 3
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Unit 4
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The harpies
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Heartsbane
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Re: Assembling the raiding force

Post by Heartsbane »

Moving on to special choices, the cold one knights
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The chariots
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The shades
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And finally, the only rare choice in my list, the Sea dragon
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I hope you like them! At some point I'd like to do another dark Pegasus or two, another sorceress and noble (with great weapon most likely), another unit of cold one knights and a merwyrm from Forgeworld, as this would push my list to to around 3,000 points or give me a few options at lower point games. However, other projects have now overtaken this, so any more progress won't happen soon I'm afraid...
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Re: Assembling the raiding force

Post by T.D. »

Simply awesome :D
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Rowena
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Re: Assembling the raiding force

Post by Rowena »

Thanks for the photos, the army is just stunning!
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