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*

Next painting project. Which models?

*Squeek*

With the High Elf archers nearly done, last night I delved into my stash of High Elves to try and select my next projects ahead of time.

I'm constrained by some key principles in what I should choose next.

• I only have core painted at the moment (20 Spearmen, 20 archers) so I need to fill the other slots.
• I have only 3 weeks of painting time  (weeknights only, approx 2 hours a night.)
• The army should be legal and ready to play at 1000-2000 points

I picked out the following as possible:
X8 Silver Helms. (Special.)

X2 Mages. (Heros)

X2 Repeating bolt throwers. (Rare.)

X2 Great Eagles. (Rare)  I think these are older metal Citadel Direct models?

Note: I am perfectly happy to paint just one model where there are 2 available if it would reduce the amount of painting but still give me a legal army e.g. Mages. My logic for the list above was simply that these are relatively low numbers of models. (NB. I am not well known for my logic.

Before you ask, I avoided the following:

1. Sword Masters of Hoeth x10 (Special) I am really on the fence about these guys as they are so badass and they look relatively easy to do.
2. Dragon Princes x5 (Special) Looked very fiddly...and worthy of not rushing too much.
3. Elyrian Reavers x5 (special) great models, but again very detailed...
4. White Lions of Chrace x15-20 (special) too many and I already have infantry.
5. Lothern Seaguard x10 (Core) already have infantry and they look very fiddly...
6. Chariot x1 (special) nice to have, but not essential.
7. Teclis (too powerful at these points?)
8. Dragon with mage (ditto, and would take too long too paint.)

The one thing I am not sure how to cover is the need for a battle standard bearer...
If essential I will have to rummage around.

Can anyone who knows High Elves well point me in a particular direction or let me know what they think of my ideas above?

Cheers,

*Squeek*

High Elf Archers Update #5

*Squeek*

As planned earlier in the day, I got home and put in a couple more hours on the High Elf Archers. 

More info after the photos...
(Due to this being a  "Secret birthday gift" for my kids I can't take photos during the day so these haven't come out well - and as I am trying to rush a few snaps late at night I haven't setup any decent lighting.)

Command

Musician

Hawkeye

Standard Bearer

Archer (Rank and File)

Building on the layers done yesterday, I added a layer of pure Warlock Purple to the purple robes across all 20 members of the unit. I also started to layer up the unit standard as well. This final layer really makes the unit brighter! (Almost too psychedelic, but hey, it's my kid's favorite colour!)

I have to say that it usually takes a week to do a Clanrat unit of about 40 models, so the amount of time it is taking me to do these guys has surprised me. I think the main reasons are:

1. The Skull White robes. I should definitely pick up some Ceramite White if it provides full cover in only one layer (but I am worried if that will mean the rest of the army will look slightly different from the archers and spearmen I have already done.)
2. The details. Put together the headbands, belts, details on the bows and quivers etc and it adds up!

The good news is that I feel the robes and cloth are now done and I can move onto other areas.

Still to do:

• Gems.
• Drybrushing/ Highlights on everything. (Leather, skin etc.)
• Static grass
• Eyes (I HATE doing eyes, but hopefully it will get easier with practice.)
• Unit logo on the battle standard
• Movement tray

With a busy work schedule coming up I doubt I will get any painting done for another week or so now, so this may be my last update for a while...

Cheers,

*Squeek*

p.s. I don't know how you like to relax while painting, but for me it is usually listening to documentaries. From this week I can recommend The Roman War Machine series. I am not always a big fan of the History Channel, but I love the way these re-enactors are so into their roles...

High Elf Archers Update #4

*Squeek*
Well I have been managing a couple of hours a night on these guys this week so these updates are coming pretty fast. This may be my last update in a while though due to a busy work week coming up...
Last night I got four things done across the whole unit.

1. Another layer of Skull White on the top half of the robes.
2. Some tidying up of lines between shoulders, robes etc for neatness.
3. A layer of Liche Purple/ Warlock Purple mix. (70/30)
4. A second layer of Liche Purple/ Warlock Purple mix. (50/50)

 Next time should see a final lighter layer of Warlock Purple, and then on to layers on the skin and leathers. That will be capped off with detailing (Gems etc), more highlights and then final basing.
It feels like the end is in sight! Some photos below. (I'm uploading this from the subway via Blogger Mobile, so image quality may be poor...)
Cheers,

*Squeek*

High Elf Archers Update #3

*Squeek*

Got several more layers of Skull White done tonight on the robes. 4-6 layers of watered-down Skull White on the bottom of the robes (anything below the sashes) and now x1 layer on the top part of the robes...

Sorry about the poor light in the pics.

Should have DEFINITELY done all the white first, but for some reason I left it until after I had done the details (quiver belts etc.)

What an idiot - this meant it took much longer...
:-(
Lesson learned!

Next will be to get 1-2 more Skull White layers on the upper part of the robes and then layer up from the current Liche Purple to a Warlock Purple, and finally highlights/ drybrushing on everything else.

Cheers,

*Squeek*

High Elf Archers Update #2

*Squeek*

 Just time tonight for a quick update on my High Elf archers.

In update #1 I had managed to get a few base coats down. Over the weekend I finished up the remaining basecoats, and then got started on some washes.



Basecoats:

• Armour, swords, clasps and logos and details on bow cases: Mithril Silver
• Decoration on bow staves: Mithril Silver
• Bow staves/ quivers: Bleached Bone
• Hair: Sunburst Yellow, Calthan Brown, Vermin Brown
• Boots: Snakebite Leather
• Musician's horn: Dwarf Bronze

Washes:

• Robes: Liche Purple/ Badab Black (2:1 mix) painted into the folds.
• Skin: Ogryn Flesh
• Hair: Gryphonne Sepia
• Quiver: Gryphonne Sepia
• Feathered crests: Gryphonne Sepia
• Leather belt (on chest): Gryphonne Sepia followed by Badab Black. 
• Silver details on Box: Gryphonne Sepia (around the silvered details on the handle and tips)
• Base: Badab Black
• Swords: Badab Black

So, next will be layers/ highlights and drybrushing. The single thing that I think will take the most time will be layers of Skull White on the robes (I don't have time to pick up any Ceramite White from GW that will speed this up.)

Hopefully the next update will see these done! More images below:

Cheers,

*Squeek*
p.s Sorry the image quality isn't great. 

Skaven Resources Update (Links)

*Squeek*

Every good Warlord can learn from others, regardless of the part of the hobby that they prefer. 
Personally, I don't get to play a lot of battles so I am more into the hobby aspect, and over the last couple of years I have learned huge amounts from the blogs of other gamers (of course). In short, there is a huge amount of useful information on the Warhammer hobby out on the web from many different sources.

Games Workshop has also supported the hobbyist over the years through their publications and their website (as well as through in-store support, of which they offer a lot). When I first started collecting the Skaven super race I found the GW website incredibly useful. Recently, I found myself discussing GW support over a game of 40K. My starting position was that I had noticed less and less hobbyist support from GW recently (in terms of articles). White Dwarf seems to be becoming more a super-large brochure than a home for articles and learning, and my impression is that www.games-workshop.com is the same.
(It sounds like a real "in my day" moan eh?)

But is it true that there is less? Or am I am just a cynic and an inveterate grumbler? To get a better idea, today I revisited a blog entry from January 2011. In "Skaven Tactica and Resources at Games Workshop" I listed-up some very good Skaven resources available on the GW website. Below you will find an updated version of that list which I hope you will find useful.

GETTING STARTED:

• Skaven: Getting Started (an introduction to the Children of the Horned Rat...)
• Jeremy Vetok Talks Skaven; Your Skaven Models ("What's new today" entry)

TACTICS AND ARMIES:

• Skaven: Tactica (Short article by Jeremy Vetok)
• Skaven: The Ravenous Hordes - Sample Armies
• Skaven: Island of Blood - Skaven Sample Armies
• Skaven: Magic Tactica
• Skaven: Warmachine Tactica (Warp Lighting Cannon, Plague Claw Catapult, Doomwheel.)

PAINTING:

• Skaven: Hell Pit Abomination Focus (Includes design notes, painting and battlefield use)
• Skaven: Painting the Hell Pit Abomination 
• Skaven: Painting (3-step painting guides and guides for a couple of interesting Clans)
• Skaven Doomwheel Stage-by-Stage 
• Skaven Screaming Bell Stage-by-Stage 
• Skaven Doomwheel Focus
• Skaven Screaming Bell Focus

FEATURES & OTHER:

• Seb's Ikit Claw & Tretch Craventail Designs and Mark Bedford's Hellpit Abomination
• Hell Pit Abomination feature 

MEDIA:

• Skaven: Art of the Under Empire and Wallpaper Download
• Skaven Banners PDF (to download and print)
• Skaven: Battlefield Challenge PDF (scenario to download and print)

*Disclaimer*
I could not find the missing articles on the GW site. I used the search function. I looked for links from the Warhammer section of the site. I checked through the "Painting and Modelling" articles and the White Dwarf articles archive etc. This does not mean they aren't there somewhere, (or elsewhere on the internet) but I couldn't easily find them on the site of the company that makes the related products. Maybe there are more? (Let me know if you find them!)

So, it appears there are plenty of Skaven GW articles that have moved or are no longer available (happy to correct that if you can find them). To be fair, there could be good reasons for this:
- An entirely new range of paints with different names.
- The old range of paints being discontinued.
- A website reorganization?
- etc.
In the book industry (the one I work in) most companies don't list things that are related to discontinued items on their sites. It has the potential to cause no end of grief both for the consumer and staff (and distributors and other business partners.)

However, I do think it would be a shame to lose resources that existed to date. The images alone serve as inspiration. How about archiving them on the website as PDFs or pages? That site and each article could start with a disclaimer about the paint names and a link to the new paints/ conversion chart.

I may grumble a lot, (Finecast, I'm looking at you) but that is my right as a consumer. I actually think that GW does many things right. Whenever I walk into a GW in Japan or the UK I am impressed by how helpful the staff are. Just this week I got very quick turn around from UK customer service regarding my email settings (I wanted English as well as Japanese). 
As a hobbyist, it would be great to see GW, a company that is so successful in the hobby world, categorize, archive and share all their visual and written resources (including the older ones) with the wider community (and who knows, maybe those plans are afoot?)

Robot Scribe. Visit www.printeresting.org for more info

Cheers,
*Squeek*

High Elf Archers Update #1

*Squeek*

It seems to be pretty much High Elves around here at the moment! Over the last few nights I have managed to get several basecoats on this unit of High Elf archers. I seem to get x1 basecoat down on the whole unit of twenty in one sitting (about 2 hours). 

I am sticking with the Purple army theme (I really hope my kid wasn't joking about purple being their favorite colour, otherwise this could be the worst birthday surprise ever...) 


So far:

• Codex Grey: Robes (Will be White later.)
• Tallarn Flesh: Skin
• Liche Purple: Robes
• Calthan Brown: Bows (will receive Snakebite leather on top later.) and overbrush on base.
• Snakebite Leather: Belts and overbrush on base.

Next will be hair and/ or probably Snakebite Leather on the bow, followed by Chainmail or Shining Silver for details etc.

And finally, I am actually managing to get some Warhammer in this weekend! Tau v. Orks or 'Nids at 2,000 points or so. So once again, no WFB...

...but I'll get in a game at some point (my 40K opponent has literally no interest in Fantasy at all.

Cheers,

*Squeek*

p.s. Bought Game of Thrones on DVD. Much better than I thought it would be. I have read the books but am really enjoying the show because it is much more concise. Good acting too. I have ripped it and loaded it on my Android tablet - I don't even notice the commute to work and am totally oblivious to my crowded Tokyo trains. 

Bliss...

:-)