How to Paint High Elf Spearmen

*Squeek*

Please find some pictures and a step-by-step guide below for High Elf Spearmen. As usual there is no assumption on my part that I am a "good"painter! This is just (roughly) what I did to get the effect below, which I reckon is "Tabletop Quality".
Note: The process described below is not exact, I recommend painting up a test model first. Also, this guide uses the "Old" Games Workshop paints. Please see this Games Workshop conversion chart for the approximate equivalents in the new range.


Before battle, marshal your forces...
Paints:

• Chaos Black undercoat (spray) 
• Chaos Black
• Skull White
• Bleached Bone
• Codex Grey
• Boltgun Metal
• Chainmail
• Mithril Silver
• Calthan Brown
• Snakebite Leather
• Liche Purple
• Warlock Purple
• Tallarn Flesh
• Dwarf Flesh
• Elf Flesh
• Dark Angels Green
• Snot Green
• Dwarf Bronze
• Shining Gold

Washes:

• Devlan Mud
• Ogryn Flesh
• Badab Black
• Gryphonne Sepia

(I use GW only because they are an easy range for me to get hold of. There are lots of good hobbying paint ranges out there.)

Step 1: Preparation.

Assemble models.
Remove flash/ mould lines. Use a craft knife or file away (carefully!) With these models, pay careful attention to mould lines on top of their boots and also down the side of their scale armour hauberks, helmets and spears.

The "Shield Factory"!

Tip: You may want to consider NOT attaching shields at this point. I painted mine in "assembly line" fashion and glued them on later. This is fiddly but gives easier access to the body of the model and the reverse of the shield during painting.

Step 2: First basing.

Sand down any flash or raised areas around the edge of the base so it is smooth.
Apply PVA glue to the top of the base, being careful not to get this on the boots of the model.
Sprinkle a few pieces of crushed coral onto the base (you can buy this at any pet shop in the aquatics section)
Immediately dip in modelling sand.


Tip: Rub away any sand/ glue that has dripped over onto the sides of the base now for a smarter appearance later.

OPTIONAL: At this point, I sometimes do some initial work on the base now (overbrush the sand and paint the edges) rather than leave this to the end of the process (See Step 7: Final Basing). I would then leave the static grass until the end. (I just do this because I don't like finishing the models and then still having another hour of drudgery on the bases!)

Step 3: Undercoat.

Spray paint the model(s) using the undercoat of your choice. I use Citadel Chaos Black. 
Note: A debate exists over whether to use Chaos Black or Skull White. As a beginner I prefer Chaos Black as it hides my mistakes and forms natural shadows all over the model. However for brighter models like High Elves there is much to be said for a white undercoat - not least because it greatly reduces the number of Skull White layers needed later...


Tip: when spray undercoating the model, make sure you get good coverage on the sides of the base too. This makes it easier to paint later.

Step 4: Basecoats.

Codex Grey basecoat on robes (Unit Champion)

Basecoats complete (Unit Champion) and a
layer of Skull White on the arms.

Basecoats complete (Spearman)

Codex Grey: Robes. (This will form an undercoat for the Skull White in step 6.)
Boltgun Metal: Shield bosses.
Chainmail: Armour, helmet, details on musician's instrument, fittings on banner. Note: If youare in a hurry or doing a very large unit, scale armour is easy to drybrush, as this naturally leaves shading in the recesses between the scales.
Mithril Silver: Spearhead, swords etc.
Calthan Brown: Spear haft. (This will be a basecoat for the Bleached Bone.)
Snakebite Leather: Boots
Liche Purple: Edges of hauberk/ icons on breastplates/ unit banner
Tallarn Flesh: Skin
Dark Angels Green: Gems
Dwarf Bronze: Scale hauberk on unit champion, musician's instrument, fittings on unit banner.
Skull White: At this point, I began working on the white shields. It took 3-4 layers per shield.


Tip: If you want, add a bit of variety to the unit by having a few troops with different shields. In my case I did 3 different designs as a test, ultimately keeping the purple shield for the champion...

Test shield designs. (Liche Purple, Skull White and Warlock Purple)
I varied the gem colours too. These are held in place with Blu-Tack at this point.

Step 5: Washes.

Ogryn Flesh: Skin (face, hands)
Devlan Mud: Back of each shield.
Gryphonne Sepia: Musician's instrument
Badab Black: Scale armour, breastplates, helmets, shield boss.

Step 6: Layers.

Shining Gold: Fixtures and fittings on helmets, fittings around gems on shield bosses and unit standard.
Skull White: Robes. (Leave Codex Grey in the folds of the robes to provide some shading.) Eyes.
Chaos Black: Pupils. (Try to add just a tiny dot to the center of the eye) To be honest - I find the eyes the hardest thing to do!
Liche Purple/ Warlock Purple mix (50/50) Edges of hauberk/ icons on breastplates/ unit banner. Layer up with an intermediate mix (30/70) to a pure Warlock Purple
Bleached Bone: Spear hafts, musician's instrument.
Dark Angel Green/ Snot Green mix: Gems. (70/30 mix, layering up to a 30/70 mix along the bottom edge of the gem)


Tip: For gems, a small dot of pure Skull White at the top and/ or bottom of the gem adds a very nice effect and makes the gem stand out.

Gem detail.

Step 7: Drybrushing

Mithril Silver: Breastplates, shoulder plates, raised area of the shield boss

Step 8: Final basing.

Calthan Brown: Overbrush across the base, being careful to avoid the boots/ legs of the model
Snakebite Leather: Drybrush across the base. Paint the base edges. I usually find 2 coats gives a nice smooth finish.
Codex Grey: Drybrush lightly across the base, paint any crushed coral.
Fortress Grey: Drybrush any crushed coral rocks to add a natural highlight.
Paint on PVA glue, and then sprinkle static grass onto the base.


Tip: Think carefully about how "grassy" you want the unit to look. I find that covering everything with grass is overkill, so I leave about 1/3 of the unit with very minimal or no static grass. This is personal preference though! Things to bear in mind include what kind of movement tray you may be using for this unit and how it is painted, as well as what kind of surface you usually play on? (A grassy battlemat? barren wasteland? etc.)

Finished!

Thanks very much for looking. Please feel free to leave comments and feedback!


Cheers,
Squeek.

100,000 Views - Thank you!

*Squeek*

It looks like the Chattering Horde has hit 100,000 pageviews! Thank you very much to everyone who has visited the blog, either just dropping by or to comment.
According to the stats page of Blogger, here are a few facts...

Total posts: 
166 (including this one)

Total comments:
516

First post: 
May 7th 2010: "The Horde Takes Shape"

Most popular posts:
5: "Skaven Doomwheel Stage-by-Stage" (1,128 pageviews)
4: "Skaven Clanrat Painting" (1,689 pageviews)
3: "How to Paint Skaven Rat Ogres (Island of Blood)" (2,456 pageviews)
2: "Painting Skaven Plague Monks Step by Step" (4,522 pageviews)
1: "How to Paint Skaven Clanrats (Island of Blood)" (4,673 pageviews)

The Chattering Horde started as a way to keep myself going when tackling my first horde army, share what I learned and see what it would be like to have my own blog.
The blog did keep me going, but what surprised me most was that a few kind souls would leave posts actually thanking me for sharing my painting guides. Compared to other blogs, 100,000 doesn't seem like a lot of course. I am just happy because I didn't start the blog with any expectation that anyone else would really even look at all, so it feels pretty good to get to a number like this. It is something I never anticipated! 

So what happens now?
I have been feverishly working on my first non-Skaven project, a High Elf army for my (soon to be) 10 year old in their favorite color. "The Purple Sons of Xereus" (geddit?)  are pretty much dominating my time and the blog output at the moment as they need to be done by the end of May. I have managed to get a unit of Spearmen, archers and Repeater Bolt Thrower so far. Since I started on them I have noticed fewer comments on the blog...I guess that some fellow Skaven Warlords are silent with disgust!

After that, I still have lots of Skaven models to paint on my shelf that I could add to my clan, including Plague Censer Bearers, Poison Wind Globadiers, another unit of Goblin slaves and more! 
Also, there are a few painting guides that I still have to finish, (Vermin Lord and High Elves too) So, no rest for the wicked!
:-)

Thanks again to everyone who has visited the Chattering Horde - I really appreciate your support and encouragement!

If you have any ideas about other things I could do on the blog, please let me know in the comments below.

All the best,

*Squeek*

High Elf Repeater Bolt Thrower - Finished!

*Squeek*

Finally got the Eagle Claw Repeater Bolt Throwers finished up! I worked on two units and polished them off last night by highlighting the skin and filling in the eyes.

Here are some photos that I took today of one of the units:

With two units, that will add 200 possible points to the army which now consists of:
x20 Spearmen
x20 Archers
x2 Repeater Bolt Throwers

As you can see, I haven't worked on the army to date in any logical order (the RBTs are rare choices). I have a few options for what I could do next, but I think I will either do a Mage or two OR a unit of 10 Swordmasters...

Cheers,

*Squeek*

Repeater Bolt Thrower Update #1

*Squeek*

I am feeling a bit guilty about all the High Elf love on this blog as of late...
...but truth be told I am under the gun on getting this army done to the deadline. So, no time to work on more Skaven until after this is done!

In an earlier post I looked at which models to work on next, and in the end settled on a pair of repeater bolt throwers (RBT). These beauties can really lay down some hurt (with their two modes of fire) and are an iconic HE unit (IMHO). Additionally they cost 100 points a unit, which quite nicely bulks up the army.
But damn if they don't take a lot of layers to get a nice smooth "Starwood" effect! I have already lost count of how many layers I have done - and I still feel the urge to do more. Add all those layers of Skull White on the crew and it isn't as quick as I would like.

So how far along am I? Pictures below (stages and paints used below the pics).

At this point, I have used the following paints: (EDIT: Please note I am still using the "old" GW paints. GW provides a conversion chart HERE.)

RBT: 

Basecoats:
Snakebite Leather/ Bleached Bone mix. 50/50 (RBT arms and smooth parts of the RBT)
Bleached Bone (as above)
Bestial Brown/ Dwarf Bronze (RBT metallic parts- this is a basecoat for the Dwarf Bronze)
Dwarf Bronze (rbt metallic parts)
Shining Gold (rbt metallic parts - highlights)
Dark Angels Green (gems)
Mithril Silver (stock, some parts of the frame)

Washes:
Gryphonne Sepia

Crew: 

Basecoats:
Skull White (Robes, haft of bolts)
Liche Purple (robes/ sashes)
Mithril Silver (armour, weapons)
Chainmail (helmets)
Snakebite Leather (boots)
Calthan Brown/ Dwarf Flesh (Flesh)
Sunburst Yellow (Hair)

Washes:
Ogryn Flesh (Skin)
Badab Black (Armour)

Bases:

Calthan Brown overbrush
Snakebite Leather drybrush
Codex Grey dry brush
Snakebite Leather (base edges)
Static Grass


Finally, for all those HE players out there, do you have any tips about the best use them on the battlefield? Also, how do you protect them in a small army? Any advice would be welcome.

Cheers,
*Squeek*

High Elf Archers Update #6

*Squeek*
Got back from a day out yesterday in Tokyo and did some work on the Archers. 
"Golden Week" is just beginning in Japan, so a lot of people have left Tokyo for their hometowns...
... it was still a bit crowded, but Asakusa was still a great place to visit.

The previous night I had put some static grass across the bases, and last night I did most of the gems in one sitting. For the sake of simplicity I did the whole lot as green gems, using the usual technique:

1. Dark Angels Green.
2. Snot Green highlights.
3. Snot Green/ Skull White highlights (70/30)
4. Snot Green/ Skull White highlights (50/50)
5. Pure Skull White spots at the top of each gem.

This morning I took a couple of quick snaps when my kids were taking the rubbish out. I only had a few minutes so I didn't set them up properly, but I hope they give you the idea (yeah, the kitchen table-cloth is a bit garish I know...)

In reality, they look a bit better than this because these photos are taken way too close! (Even if I do say so myself...cough! cough!) From a couple of feet away the unit seems to "come together" a bit more because the eye can't pick out all the problems. This is a key point if you are working on something that is for the "Tabletop" and don't have much experience with a particular unit or are new to painting. Often you can get half-way through a unit and get a bit depressed by all the little errors and problems on individual models, but remember, these will "disappear" into the unit when you have them next to each other, ranked-up, and based.

Still to do:

- Eyes

- Metallic highlights (swords, buckles, instruments etc.)

Cheers,

*Squeek*