Hobby update - High Elves and Templars

"Artists Paint Brushes adapted with Photoshop" by Si Griffiths.
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update on what has been on my workbench (ahem, "Kitchen Table") this month.

High Elf Ellyrion Reavers. (50% done)

Ellyrion Reaver

Ellyrion Reaver Champion

I've been continuing to beef up my High Elves, and thought a good project would be to knock out x10 Ellyrion Reavers. I thought they would be quick - what a mistake! For some reason these are taking ages! They are just very, very detailed, and quite challenging to paint once assembled (I received them this way).

I've got most of the basecoats down, so should be able to start on washes and highlights this week.

Mounted High Elf Prince/ Noble (30% done)

High Elf Noble (mounted)

As I have 8 Silver Helms painted up, I thought I should tackle this guy as he will add a fair amount of hitting power, and bring the unit up to nine (apparently taking them in a 3 x 3 formation works quite well.) Not sure if I will add a banner to him yet.

Black Templar Space Marines page update.

Noting that I hadn't updated the page for a while, I added pictures of the Stormtalon (I'd had the vehicle painted for a while, but stalled on the base until last week) and also two Whirlwinds I painted up a while ago. I think the page is up to date now.

Hopefully I'll have the High Elves done this week.

Cheers,

High Elf Prince Althran

High Elf Prince Althran.

After finishing a unit of White Lions, I needed a break from painting lots of gems and lion skins! I decided to reward myself by working on a couple of individual models, including Prince Althran.

Prince Althran

For this model, I tried a couple of things that were new to me. 

Firstly, the gems decorating his cuirass and attaching his cloak are round. Most of the High Elf gems I have painted are shaped liked like a tear drop, so this was a bit different. Also, I went with red gems, rather than green. That meant that instead of simply using a lighter shade of the gem colour, (which would have given me a pink effect) I mixed in orange. I had read about this before but it worked surprisingly well (I think!)

Secondly, I added a couple of scratches to the shield. I'd also seen this before, and after a bit of Googling I knew how to do it, but it required a really, really steady hand.

Prince Althran, notice the slashes to his shield

The technique itself is very simple, but I think it looks good from a distance and adds a bit of story to the model:

1. Add a thin line of Skull White (pure white)

2. Just a fraction above that, paint on another very thin line, the same length, but this time of a darker colour (in this case a GW Calthan Brown)

3. Finally, add an even thinner, darker shade inside the first dark line. 

The third thing I did differently to usual was that I bothered to paint in the wood grain to the reverse of his shield. You can see it clearly in the first picture at the top of this post. 

For some reason, I feel a real sense of satisfaction with this model! Compared to my painting when I started this blog, looking at this model made me realize that (in my opinion at least) I've improved. Regardless of what hobby you are doing, that is a very rewarding - if fleeting - moment!

Here are some photos of the Prince, in progress.

Basecoats, before washes...

After washes...

After basecoats, washes and drybrushing/ layers...

I've added the Prince to my High Elf army page.

Cheers!