Black lining - Eldar Wave Serpent

It took me quite some time just to finish black lining this entire Wave Serpent. And I'm telling you, it's not easy. Imagine the mess you get when the paint smears around the white.

As you can see from the picture. I airbrushed the GW Gloss Varnish on to make the entire surface of the Wave Serpent extra smooth and glossy. This helps a lot, because the paint is less likely to get smeared with the white.

Still, I made a little mess and will proceed to tidy it up. This Wave Serpent is still far from complete. I haven't painted the weapons and the gems yet. And I'm still thinking of what to do to make it stand out a bit more. I'll airbrush it back with satin varnish so it's not so glossy once I'm done.

Should I add battle damage to this Wave Serpent? If so, how could I do it? I'm thinking of following how Dave Taylor did for his Hellblade. Any ideas?

I added a poll to the right column so you can help by voting.

GW Skull White VS Vallejo White Primer

The Vallejo White Primer was airbrushed on. It makes the GW Skull White look yellow.

Enough said.

"I'll have to airbrush over the GW's Skull White part again..."

Painting the slow way...

Hi, even though I've been painting for some time, this Wave Serpent here really is difficult to paint. I'm still looking for a proper base for the Wave Serpent and I'm thinking of using the Valkyrie's base and saw a part of the stem off.

Nevertheless, here are some pictures. These are not done yet though.

Did some blending to the engines.

It's supposed to go from dark blue to light blue to light green, but I guess the picture doesn't show it well.

I'm still working on the glowing engines and I still need to add some colours and tidy up my painting.

Apart from that, I'm gonna start test-painting this Howling Banshee before I paint the entire squad.

Eldar - Thinner Craftworld. Just kidding.

Can you believe it, I have so much Eldar and most of them aren't even painted. I have to buy more. :D

By the way, I'm actually not done with the pilot yet, I'll still spend more time adding more colours to him.

I'm also gonna be working on glowing engines. I feel that it's best for me to keep painting this Wave Serpent to the best I can, even if I do, I will make the later Eldar vehicles that I will soon own, much nicer.

These guys here have really tested my painting skills. A friend bought them for me for my birthday in May 2008 where I've barely started to take painting seriously, and my oh my, does my painting look horrible during that time. Gonna put them in thinner and melt the base off too.

Prince Yriel says hi. This was my actual colour scheme I had in mind for my Eldar in 2008. Not quite happy with it now eh? Thinner time...

When my Eldar collection escalated last year, I bought these guys and finished painting them within 3 days. As much as I still love the colour scheme I had on them, times change, tastes change and to suit my new army, they will have to go for a swim in the thinner. And of course, I want the base melted away as well.

On a side note. I've recently received my Vallejo paint sets. You can now say that I'm a very happy painter. Just need to find a proper way to store and arrange them. After that, throw them all into the glass jar of thinner.

Just kidding.

Have a good day. :D

Finally got to update. Eldar project started.

Well, I've always wanted to paint and play Eldar since the time I started Warhammer 40,000. Just that I've never known how to paint Eldar properly. So after 1 and a half years of planning, testing and thinking, I've come to start painting white Eldar!

The Eldar Wave Serpent is my first test painting on an Eldar Vehicle. And I must say, this is a very difficult task!

Anyways, here are some pictures of the progress.

I have to use the Skull White spray from GW to ensure I get an even coat.

On a side note, I've also bought an air-brush with the compressor at RM 610. Not bad I'd say. Makes painting way way faster and efficient.

I've gotten lots of guides from Khairul. He thought me how to use the air brush during the hobby night at Legio. Awesome guy he is, a maestro at air-brush! Click his name to view his blog!

Basically, my tip is, for base coating, use Skull White or Chaos Black for the first layer, if your main colour will remain either white or black. Other than that, just use the air-brush, saves you more time and money.

Not the final of the test painting. Eldar Ghost Warriors.

Well, at least I finished another of my assignment already. And this is the Dire Avenger that I'm attempting to paint white with Codex Grey as a wash...

The one on the left was washed with Fortress Grey, on the right Codex Grey. Maybe I should consider Chaos Black right away... I just want the colour to contrast with the white.

I'll be getting a few of the Vallejo white paints and primers, maybe that will help...

Product Review - Vallejo Glaze Medium and some test painting on the Eldar!

What a great way to start a post with 2 objectives in mind. To do a little product review on the Vallejo Glaze Medium and to also share how I will be painting my Eldar Ghost Warriors. I can honestly say I have been quite busy lately thanks to the mound of assignments I've been working on, but nevertheless, I'm gonna squeeze about an hour or two dedicated to my painting.

Well, since I want to paint my Ghost Warriors white in colour, I've been thinking a lot lately on how to make them so white and pure and yet able to make the details pop out. So the experiment begins. I sprayed one of my Dire Avengers white, ensuring that I don't miss a spot, not too thick and not too thin. Just nice.

Here's the thing in the spot light today! The Vallejo Glaze Medium, really cheap and good stuff too! The description at the back says "Retards Drying", so I'm guessing that it immediately thins down the paint and turns it into something like a wash, which is true.

You only need a tiny little drop from the bottle. From the picture below, I actually had too much, mainly because we have to add water and paint with the mix. Adding too much of the Vallejo Glaze Medium will seriously prevent your paint from drying...

My first attempt on using it actually let the Skull White + Vallejo Glaze Medium stay wet for nearly 24 hours! Well, technically not wet, but it became pasty...

I added some Bleached Bone.

Mix it a little with some water. And there you have it, Bleached Bone wash...

I spread the wash entirely on the mini making sure I didn't miss a crevice. And as you can see, the wash is actually very translucent. It really turns paints into washes.

After it dries, you can see that the armour is more defined. Though I had to dry brush the entire mini with Skull White again just to make the raised areas pure white.

After some painting experimentation, here's the end product. It does look as if it's radiating with white, but it's just not defined enough.

So on the latest test model, I used Fortress Grey mixed with the Vallejo Glaze Medium as a wash, which is actually better than Bleached Bone.

Well, that's the concept of my Eldar. I think I will darken it by using Codex Grey and mix it with the Vallejo Glaze Medium to glaze the mini. Oh well, that should do the trick in painting my Eldar Ghost Warriors...

"Gonna have to get busy, lots of things to do apart from painting!"

Some progress and some Eldar test painting...

I had loads of assignments to complete. So even if I get to paint the hydra details up this week, I'm happy enough. I will definitely be working more on my tanks as much as I can for the next few days, though I have another assignment due.

I've painted up this guy some time ago. After cracking my head on how to paint white or make my Eldar look as if they are glowing, it seems impossible, but I'm working on it. I want them to look and live up to their name of being the Ghost Warriors.

I'll be sacrificing more of the Dire Avengers to test paint, I'll be working on different steps and techniques of painting white.

Any suggestions?

Prince Yriel - Should I repaint him?

Hi, since I'm working on my Chaos Space Marines, the Eldar have to be put on hold. I have to buy lots more for my Eldar before they're playable...

I plan to repaint all my Eldar, which isn't that many, and they were in a colour scheme I no longer find attractive.

One of them is Prince Yriel. Painted him a long long time ago, probably a few months back sometime last year. Have a look first.

I've opened up a voting poll on the right side of the blog to see whether or not you guys, as my loyal readers, think I should repaint him. Why and why not?

Either way, I'm very very happy about the idea of repainting him. I want to put more effort into painting him this time since I believe that this guy deserve a much better paint job... He's the saviour of Iyanden, how many Eldar are this heroic and self-sacrificial?? :P

Vote and let me know!

My picture went up on BoLS...

Not my picture technically, but the minis in the picture in Bell of Lost Souls are mine. The picture was taken by Nahri during the C2AGE back at the 16th of May.

Hmmm, minis with cool poses can make funny comic strips...

Edit: The Ork Nob is one of my recent painting. The Prince Yriel was painted a long time ago, which explains why it's so dusty and the poor painting skills during that time... I'm gonna strip off the paint and redo Prince Yriel.

As you can see on the left side of the blog, I'm already sorting out the posts of my blog into a more appropriate labelling system.

The best Battleforce set for value? Part 2, Battleforces Overview

Ok, maybe I was a bit too harsh when I said that I would talk about the worst valued battleforce, there is not even a need to open up a poll to find the worst since it already shows at the poll now...

But I think we can discuss about whether you would buy a second or third battleforce after your first. Remember, it's not necessary for a battleforce to be useful, but when you spent and thought you "saved" money, you find those redundant models that you will never use accumulate, you'll be wondering if you either saved or actually have spent more by buying more battleforces.

I will be setting a rating system here from 1-10, 1 being less chance for me to buy it the second time, 10 being that definitely I will be buying it again if I were to build an army. I will also go through the contents of all the battleforces (except the Imperial Guards for now, since they aren't open to the market yet).

Oh, and heads up, battleforces have a new price already, at 55 GBP per box, I think the price hike will occur in either June or July. But the Imperial Guards Battleforce already has the new price tag of 55 GBP. A 10% increase, sigh...

I hope and pray that the GW web crawlers (if they do have some to find and sue people's butt off for copyright infringement) to watch this so they know what we want and what we think ain't so useful in the battleforces.

Rating: 7/10

Good starting point, but the people don't seem to want the Possessed. They should be replaced with something else. I wouldn't buy a second box just because of the Possessed.

Chaos Space Marine Battleforce:

15 Chaos Space Marines There's nothing wrong with having more CSM in the army!

8 Khorne Berzerkers Only useful for Khorne Worshippers, but it can easily be sold off.

5 Possessed Chaos Space Marines Err, I don't think Possessed are actually useful at all due to their randomness.

1 Chaos Space Marines Rhino Rhinos are always a welcomed.

Rating: 9/10

Good for a full biker army, for those who intend to use the White Scar's army list but use Dark Angel parts for conversion, this is good.

Dark Angels Ravenwing Battleforce:

6 Dark Angels Ravenwing Bikes Dark Angels parts anyone? These many bikes in a box can save you a load of money. Not to mention the Dark Angel parts.

1 Dark Angels Ravenwing Attack Bike A 2 wound bike? Fear me.

1 Dark Angels Ravenwing Land Speeder Land Speeders are cheap, efficient, and annoying to the enemy.

Rating: 6/10

I don't know much about the Dark Eldar since I started playing last year.

Dark Eldar:

20 Dark Eldar Warriors Ain't that a good load of warriors?

5 Dark Eldar Reaver Jetbikes Jetbikes are fast, and this really fits the Dark Eldar to use them to harass the enemy.

1 Dark Eldar Raider I don't know what this thing here does, but it looks good.

1 Jungle Trees set Who doesn't love free terrain? :)

Rating: 3/10

I won't recommend this for a starting player. Starting Eldar players must plan their army list before buying anything so you won't regret any redundant purchases like I did.

Eldar:

5 Eldar Dire Avengers Having so little Dire Avengers, it won't be effective as having a full 10 men squad.

8 Eldar Guardians No thanks, with heavy weapons all they do is sit and shoot. When being shot at, they will run off the table.

1 Eldar War Walker Now this is cool, "9 War Walkers outflanking in reserve" will be the last thing you want to hear from an Eldar player.

1 Eldar Heavy Weapon with 2 Crew Yeah, but not so useful... Maybe to me it isn't useful...

1 Eldar Wave Serpent This is the more expensive and faster version of a Rhino, still, the best thing in the box...

Rating: 10/10

The must buy thing for a new Necron player, I like the contents of this box, having 2 of these is good enough for a medium sized game if you add in a Necron Lord. Always good to have a second box.

Necrons:

28 Necron Warriors The only Troop choice in the army, tough as hell and they're good at shooting.

7 Necron Scarab Swarms Great choice to use for tying down the heavy weapons team and stop the enemy from shooting.

3 Necron Destroyers Good for tank hunting, they're very mobile too.

Rating: 10/10

Best starting point for a new Ork player. Though the points in there is little, but it will keep you occupied a long time.

Orks:

22 Ork Boyz There can't be enough Boyz.

3 Ork Warbikes There can't be enough Warbikes.

1 Ork Trukk There can't be enough Trukks.

Rating: 9/10

Good starting point for new players. especially the number of Marines and the points this battleforce can give you. But some players just don't like scouts. I would consider the scouts a bonus.

Space Marines:

15 Space Marines Core of the army, this is the reason people play them anyway!

5 Space Marines Assault Squad Always good to have some, for the parts and the cool factor of flying marines!

5 Space Marines Scouts Good for some, but some hate painting faces, but these boys here should not be underestimated.

1 Space Marines Rhino Rhino's are always welcomed.

Rating: 8/10

The variations in this box is huge! Lots of choices for a new player to switch in between models to use different tactics. I'm not all that familiar with the Tau.

Tau Empire Battleforce:

12 Tau Fire Warriors Core of the army, must always have more of these guys.

12 Kroot Carnivores Looks good to model and paint, but some just prefer a full Fire Warrior army and they might not want the Kroot.

1 Tau XV8 Crisis Battlesuit I heard that this can be modeled into a broadside?

3 Tau XV25 Stealth Suits Good for sneaking around enemy lines and distract them.

6 Tau Gun Drones No idea what it does, but nothing wrong with having more.

1 Tau Markerlight Drone I suppose that this helps the army shoot better.

1 Tau Devilfish Is this the transport? If so, this is a good vehicle to have.

Rating: 10/10

Best starting buy for a new player. I bought 4 of these to build my army. A real money saver. This box also allows the player to play right away as it fulfills the Force Organisation Chart!

Tyranid Battleforce:

3 Tyranid Warriors Synapse Creatures, 2 wounds, immune to instant death, the Tyranid Warriors can either be a HQ, Elite or Fast Attack choice of the army, so mathematically, you can have up to 72 Tyranid Warriors in an army!

8 Tyranid Genestealers Best close combat fighters in the game! Rips everything apart, I love them!

8 Tyranid Termagants Meat shields of the army, their shooting is seriously dangerous as they can churn out a good number of shots. A well planned shooting phase can wipe out a Terminator squad.

8 Tyranid Hormagaunts Well planned use of them can really scare people out of their pants! Only advice is to make them Initiative 5 and let them have Strength 4, marines will die from them, but currently overpriced in the Codex.

1 Tyranid Carnifex This is the main focus in the box, nobody should buy a separate Carnifex, always get this from the Battleforce!

(10 Ripper Swarms, 2 Ripper Swarms with Spinefist) *These were not listed, but it's in the box.* Consider these free, as they come as a part of the Warriors and the Gaunts.

"There you have it, all these comes from what I think, comment away guys! Oh, poll is still open for those who haven't voted."