Prince on Griffon - Part 3 - Finished model!

And finally, finally, finally, it’s done and the prince is all painted up!

Goodness me, that was a job.

This is probably the most complex model I’ve ever painted. And also the most difficult to paint. The rider is moulded onto the body of the griffin; only the wings can be removed... And that made it very, very difficult to hold the piece and paint the fine details. The prince’s face and the fabric parts in particular were really hard to reach.

The glowing runes on the sword were also a major challenge. I’m still not entirely sure whether it looks good or not; I think I repainted them three times, at least on the back. I think it’s quite alright now; I certainly couldn’t have done any better :D

I must also say that I’m not 100% satisfied. The armour could have been a touch darker/less yellow and had more contrast, and the face was just incredibly difficult to reach... But now it’s done, and my army finally has its leader!

What’s more, after almost exactly nine years (I checked again – I bought this box in 2017), I’ve finally finished painting the elven half of the starter box. Unbelievable :D 

 

 

 

 

In total, my High Elves army now has 1200 points. With an eagle and 10 silver helms, I could expand it to 1500 next, but I think that’s enough for now.

Besides, the Ellyrians aren’t finished yet apart from one figure, so there’s still work to be done anyway.

I hope you like it! Soon I’d like to write a short post about the character’s background and take a few scenic photos of the army so far.

 

All the best and see you soon

Lucas  

Prince on Griffon - Part 2

Once again it's been a while since the last update, but I did not have a lot of time for the hobby lately. But I managed to finish the griffon!

Very proud of this figure so far. It was a lot of work, especially highlighting all the feathers... I am glad that it's done now.

Can't wait to field this figure in a battle!

Now on to the rider, I hope it does not take another two weeks.

Prince on Griffon - Part 1

Now that the Austrians are practically finished (only the base edges are left), I can finally get started on my High Elf Prince on Griffon, before I can finally get round to painting Gotrek and Felix.

I’ve had this figure sitting in a drawer for over 10 years now and never dared to tackle it.

Now I know why – the thing is so incredibly detailed and beautifully designed... I reckon for me, this is the best miniature Games Workshop has ever released for Warhammer Fantasy.

A bold claim, I know, but as things stand, that’s my opinion!

I didn’t really like the lance, though. I’m also envisaging a slightly darker backstory for my Cothique army, with a cursed sword that corrupts its bearer... More on that soon, but that’s why the prince got a sword instead of the lance.

The conversion wasn’t that simple, and I had to re-sculpt the scale armour, which I found very difficult... I’m not 100% satisfied either; let’s see how it looks once it’s painted. I might end up tearing it all down again!

I don’t know what I’ll do with the base yet either, but we’ll see.
At least I really like the conversion itself – I think he looks a bit more dangerous with the sword in his hand.

More on that soon; the first wing is already painted. What a task!

First colour scheme test for the next spearmen unit

It's been a while since my last update, but painting the remaining Ellyrian Reavers is pretty time consuming... And I had quite a lot of work related suff lately that kept me from painting more.

But next to the slow progress on the Ellyrian Reavers, I managed to do a first test for my next spearmen unit (or basically the first if you don't count the Lothern Seaguard).

I sculpted the shield in ZBrush, again copied from the Uniforms and Heraldry book, and also changed the heads to 3D sculpted ones that I did a few months prior. Also, I had to sculpt some hair at the back. 

I am not sure about the shield colour to be honest, but I will paint a few more to see them as a unit... Maybe it works better then. The colours are also from the Uniforms book, so it should work in theory.

But right now I have to increase my 18mm Austrian army quite a bit for our new campaign that will start veeeeery soon, so no time for Warhammer right now!

I will post about that topic soon I think :) 

All the best

Lucas  

First Ellyrian Reaver

Whoever at GW had the brilliant idea to sculpt 17 point figures more detailed than a regular champion or hero model of any other faction in Warhammer Fantasy... Good job! 

I managed to finish my first Ellyrian Reaver yesterday, and it only took me 2 full evenings and a few extra minutes here and there in the morning before work. I think in total this figure took me 6 and a half hours of painting. Madness!  

But yes, it's a beautiful sculpt, I think everyone can agree with me on that. 

Many many gems, coloured metal pieces around the horse armour, and even a decorative,  triangulated pattern on the straps that are hanging from the helmet. 

I painted the Ellyrian Reaver in almost the same colour scheme I used for a first Silver Helm test model in the past, I think it works pretty well for Cothique.

 

Only 4 to go now! As I said, madness. Not sure I can paint the probably most intimidating model of my Warhammer collection afterwards, the Prince on Griffon... But I really want to finish my Elven half of the Island of Blood box! Let's see.

Anyway, I hope you like my first cavalry model for the army! More to come soon, if Asuryan grants me the time and nerves :P

All the best

Lucas  

Calandril Stormsinger

Well, the last few weeks were a bit crazy, driving back and forth between my old home and the soon to be new one, trying to keep people engaged with the new Baden Kickstarter (I am pretty happy with the results!) and trying to find some time for Warhammer. Maybe a bit too much time, but next week the sculpting work will continue! In anyway, next year when the house is ready I think there will be once again a normal daily routine... At least I hope so!

 

But enough of this! I managed to finish my High Elven mage yesterday. The model drove me absolutely insane. So many details and hidden parts where I could not reach something with my brush, because of all the parts hanging before it... But in the end I managed to get something done. And I am quite pleased with the result! I studied a lot of old 'Eavy Metal Team articles and guides, which helped me a lot with things like the little glass flasks, the big stone in the staff and so on. 

Still, this period between 2008 and 2012 is my all time favourite hobby era, from model sculpts to painting or terrain... Definitly the best time for GW in my mind and I am trying to paint all of my new figures in this style as best as I can. 

Here's my Cothique mage, Calandril Stormsinger:  

 

What a fantastic sculpt!! I really really love everything that came with the 8th Edition box set... I just wish they had updated the spearmen and silver helms als well. 

 

I hope you like the mage! With the first unit I did last year, I am now standing at 700 points. Enough for a first test game I guess, although I really wanted to paint one or two oldschool GW woods before that. I am also trying to 3D scan them, so I can print as many of them as I want. Only for personal use of course! 

 

What will be next? Maybe I will finally paint my Haldir figure. Tonight we will continue with our Quest of the Ringbearer campaign, and in just two games the Lothlorien scenario will take place. So better hurry up!

 

Swordmasters finished! (for now...)

This weekend I was finally able to finish the work on my 10-men Swordmaster unit.

I initially thought they were a lot faster to paint than the Seaguard, but this unit again nearly took me a full month. Well, my recent Kickstarter went live last week, but nonetheless, it was a lot of work. 

I decided to give all my units names, I think that will automatically lead to more narrative battles and give the army a bit more character. 

So this unit will be called: "Blades of Analdar´s Shrine". 

The shrine is an elf sanctuary dedicated to Drakira, Goddess of Vengeance, and although overgrown and tumbled, rites can still be performed there. The Blades of Analdar's Shrine are protecting the shrine and the near coastline. 

I hope you like them! I used some new elements of the reworked plastic box. Not sure if this was a good idea, as I am not a big fan of the champions sword, but the other option was a bit too similar to the recent conversion I did with the spearmen. They are by the way called "Spears of Tor Dynal". 

 

 

 

I hope you like them!  

Now I only need to paint my  mage, and the 600 points for our first game are done. 

I hope this does not take another month... 

 

First Swordmasters!

Well as I said before, 30 minutes a day can get you a long way with painting figures (and it rhymes!), but a few hours on the weekend also do not hurt.

This way I managed to finish 5 Swordmasters this week!

I always loved the models deeply, since they were first announced. I actually have the old metal version too, but I like the new ones better... Maybe I can do a second unit with the metal figures. But I have like 40 of these plastic models, so maybe I'll stick with them :D 

 

I tried to find a colour scheme that would work with the rest of my army, so a little bit of white, green and grey, and plenty of gold and red gems. Pretty happy with them, I hope you like them too!

Five guys left from this unit, and then it's just the mage to complete my first 600 points... Of course that's completely different from what I had planned before (painting the full starter box force), but I will hopefully continue to paint as I have planned. 

It's just that my fellow wargaming club members are painting so fast, that I have to take a few shortcuts. Not to mushrooms, but to shiny, pointed helmets. 

 

 

 

  

Sorry for the crooked background, I really have to print a new one...

 

All the best

Lucas  

Next unit of Seaguard is finished!

Hey guys,

Finally, after 4 weeks of painting a few minutes every day, the next unit of Seaguard is ready for battle (I think Lothern Seaguard would not be the correct term for a Cothique army?).  

The little seagull was a fun little  detail I had in mind the second I saw the shield design, so that was a must have :D 

Pretty happy with the unit, and I think I will paint all the spear shafts of the first unit also white. Looks a lot more elegant and clear in my opinon.

 

 Painting these guys was a real pain. Like real :D As I said, it took me 4 weeks in total for 10 figures. So many details, so many gems... And the yellow was so hard to paint. Maybe I should have bought a yellow with a better coverage, but I had the Citadel one here, so I used it. 

I will probably enlarge this unit to also 18 figures, if we should ever play larger games. 

I think I will paint the Swordmasters next. And well, the 500 point challenge now became the 600 points challenge for me, as my other club members thought that 500 points were quite hard to match. The heroes are REALLY expensive! I do not know if this is something the 8th Edition did or still is true for The Old World, but yeah... So I will do 600 points now, with a 15 figure unit of Seaguard, a 10 figure unit Seaguard, a 10 figure unit of Swordmasters and my mage. That brings me exactly to 600 points, and should look pretty nice on the battlefield :) 

 

I hope I can paint some terrain as well! I got my hands on three of the old Warhammer woods, pretty excited to start painting them up. 

All the best

Lucas  

 

First elves painted!

Well, last week I managed to paint the first five elves of the new unit. 

Pretty pleased with how they came out, but painting these guys up took sooo much time... The yellow shields are a real nightmare. Maybe I need some better paints for this.

I hope you like them, the next five are already basecoated.