# The Kabal of the Cold Flame - Gresil's Dark Eldar



## Gresil

Surely not another Dark Eldar log?! It's all GW's fault, their new plastics are just too good...

For the last two years or so I've been amassing a Death Guard force, but I fancied a change, and the lightning fast maniacs of Commoragh seem about as different as you can get from the lumbering pus-bags of Nurgle.

So far I've put together one warrior squad and one wych squad, and had great fun with both. I am still panicking about what colours to use, but I'm sure I'll have some testers done soon.

I'm also trying, for the first time, to shape my collecting around a premeditated army list, at least to give some structure to my initial purchases anyway. I'm a very rusty gamer though, so if you can help me out with my first 1000pt ideas, please click: http://heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?p=794615#post794615

In the meantime here are my models so far...

*THE KABAL OF THE COLD FLAME*

Sybarite (featuring dryad branch trophy rack)


















I'm thinking of using the visored helmets for all Blaster wielders:









Extra knives come in handy for embellishing shoulderpads. If there's one thing lacking on the warriors sprue it is more grisly trophies such as skulls and severed hands:









And now for the Wyches. Firstly my favourite, the Hekatrix:




















I'm going for extra dynamism for the 2x hydra gauntlets:








(different angle: http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The Cold Flame/100_2478.jpg )

Waiting for a second pair!









And the rest:





















































(yes I know he has no shardnet... I have other plans for that)










More to come!


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## Midge913

Your models look good! Great poses! They are incredibly dynamic. Keep up the good work.


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## WinZip

Great modelling skills mate  cant wait to see them all painted up


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## Svartmetall

Superb poses on the leaping ones...havest thou some rep


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## The Wraithlord

Love the new DE models, will watch this log for sure.


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## Gresil

A brief update - I ebayed a second pair of hydra gauntlets, so finished off the second leaper:










And I've nearly finished the first of two raiders that arrived today. It's pretty fragile (which seems fitting) but I had fun adding extra bits and pieces. I've used a shardnet as some rigging, and also some corpse-on-a-rope thing which might be from the corpse cart (can't remember). I thought about having various zombie hands pinned to the hull, but I decided to keep it uncluttered.

I don't think I'll bother with the hangers on, I'll probably use them for paint tests, as I still haven't settled on a colour scheme.


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## KhainiteAssassin

the models are ok, once you start painting Im sure there will be lots of + rep for ya


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## Master of Sanctity

I agree with you on the Hekatrix, everything looking great so far, can`t wait to see some paint on them!


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## Gresil

Update. I've built a second Raider!










I also spent some time trying out colours and getting used to painting models that aren't Death Guard.

Here are a few schemes I've tried out - opinions would be hugely appreciated, I'm really struggling to settle on a colour, though I am leaning towards the classic purple and turquoise combination...

PURPLE









BLUE









RED









One thing I have settled on is the skin tone; I did a skin attempt using highlighted Deneb Stone with some purple wash in the recesses, and I think it will look really nice. Showcased here on a headless Ork!










I was also experimenting with some more avant garde concepts such as bloodstained metal and thorn decoration (mainly with vehicle armour plates in mind), but I wasn't that convinved by it. Note makeshift Land Raider canvas:










Please post opinions!


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## dardle reesraf

well done, it's looking great! i'm liking the "lets use this random piece of junk to test my painting" approach.


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## Midge913

Looks great! I am personally a fan of the red armor but the purple is also nice. The approach you have taken to your skin tones is very nice and I think that it would look great against the red armor. Against the purple I am not so sure.... Might just be too purple with both side by side. Still excellent work!


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## Varakir

Nice log so far...the poses are well thought out and already full of character.

Scrolling through the colour schemes, the purple immediately jumped out at me, but the red is far and away the most striking and interesting scheme. Excited to see where this is going


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## imm0rtal reaper

I prefer the red scheme myself.

Looking forward to more.


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## Azwraith

i like all 3 so i think you should do them all rainbow coloured... i think that would be cool.

like 
purple/red/blue/green/yellow/pink/orange


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## CLT40k

I really like the red too... Also, love the thorns... + rep... I'm looking forward to seeing more.


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## The Son of Horus

I also think the red's the best of 'em. I also really dig the thorn pattern-- I don't know how it'll look with some of the trophies you've got on your raiders, since the best places for freehand on the model are on the prow, but it's certainly worth giving a try.


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## Gresil

Here's another idea I had. How about purple warriors and blue wyches? The wyches have a lot more bare flesh (the warriors have hardly any), so the purple skin might contrast with the blue armour better.

Do you think this could work or simply make my army look uncohesive? In fluff terms I was thinking the wyches could be an allied cult called The Cruel Sting.

This is what I did for the purple, ratios very rough:

1. basecoated 3:1 Liche Purple and Chaos Black
2. Liche Purple everywhere but recesses
3. Warlock Purple towards the edges
4. 2:1 Bleached Bone and Warlock Purple highlight
5. Bleached Bone highlight
6. Skull White on the extremities

I did a bit of black-lining between the armour plates too.


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## Sethis

Looks very impressive!

The model I like most is the Wych who's shooting and holding his knife in a reverse grip, looks incredibly dynamic - straight out of a movie scene.

I think all of your colour schemes would work, I like the purple and blue myself, but I agree that purple with purple skin might look odd.

The best use I've found for the Raider hanger-ons is to make Trueborn squads! You can get some good looking models out of them.


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## Gresil

I've made some painting progress at last - 5 warriors nearly finished in the purple scheme, although some colour choices are still quite experimental. Opinions and suggestions would be welcome!


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## magnus962

This is excellent work. Keep it up!


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## Azwraith

definatly keep the purple.. it gives a feeling of midnight and evil.

really really suits and i htink if you do they thorn style motif it has to be purple.. it will tie it all together.. mmmm

your tempting me to do DE just so i can paint the purple


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## Midge913

Azwraith said:


> definatly keep the purple.. it gives a feeling of midnight and evil.
> 
> really really suits and i htink if you do they thorn style motif it has to be purple.. it will tie it all together.. mmmm
> 
> your tempting me to do DE just so i can paint the purple


WHAAAAAAT!:shok: The Yellow King wants to paint purple!


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## sanguinius noob

these DE look awesome! definately loving the purple, only suggestion i can make is the gun which was bone coloured looked a tiny bit better than turquoise. up to you really! just a small suggestion. 

keep it up! + rep!


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## unxpekted22

something is bugging me about the gun weapons, maybe too bland, but the armor is looking great.


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## Kreuger

These look great =)

I like all your armor schemes actually. I think they'd make for a strong visual theme if for instance a given squads armor color matched its Raider color. I often think an organized 'army' should look unified, a warband or chaos horde should look suitably dissonant and should include some differences. Nobody expects all their orks or chaos renegades to look identical. In my chaos army unit types look similar, but one squad of renegades won't necessarily look like another unit. the plague marines look plaguey, the Berzerkers angry, the Iron Warriors siegey, and the renegades look evil; but they're not all of a feather. (I don't usually have Tzeentchi or Slaaneshi units, though they have a markedly different use of feathers)

The only part I think looks out of place here is the loin clothes. The orange is too flat and even compared to the armor and guns, and possibly also to bright/warm. It doesn't carry the same sort of light/dark rhythm that the rest of the model's armor has. And based on the shadows in the recesses in the armor I'd expected a deeper shadow around its top edges and by the codpieces. 

Cheers
Kreuger


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## Gresil

Here's an update - apart from some tiny details the first batch of 5 are just about done I think. I've changed the loincloth colour, given the shoulders some blue, and enhanced the guns a bit.














































Also got the armour done on the next 5:


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## Midge913

Looks great! The few changes you made make them look even better than they did before and you have drawn the whole model together! Great work:good:!


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## Gresil

Ok, the other 5 are done I think (except bases).









(haven't decided about his banner yet - maybe some thorn motifs)




























And the Sybarite:










I had a go at a gradient on his sword, but I'm not very good at it yet:










Next stop: WYCHES!


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## Gresil

Ok, I've nearly finished the first 5 wyches - I have to say these DE models are so enjoyable to paint!

I'm quite pleased with the wych colour scheme, the turquoise is more dominant but I've kept them tied into to the shiny purple armour theme too. They also allow for lots more flesh tones.

I would really appreciate opinions on the green weapons (which are still very WIP) - in a way I think they complement the hair colour well, but I'm also thinking a straightforward metallic colour might look deadlier (perhaps with bloody streaks).

Here we go:


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## Widowmaker666

I would, at the very least, keep the hydra-gauntlets green like that, they look ill.
Everything looks awesome so far, the purple armour was an excellent choice.
When I finally do my Dark Eldar I'm painting them pink though :wink:


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## Midge913

I like the green weapons. Give them a very malevolent feel. I will definitely weigh in with my final opinion on them when you get them all finished up.


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## Gresil

Brief weapons update, I think the first 5 are pretty much done now except the bases. Sorry the pics are a bit crap.





































Next 4 are taking shape - just got to fill an arm joint in the Hekatrix then she'll get the same treatment.


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## Gresil

Next 4:





































The painting looks quite rough in the close-ups, but I think the effect is better from a distance. Here's a group shot:


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## Azwraith

Midge913 said:


> WHAAAAAAT!:shok: The Yellow King wants to paint purple!


I KNOW BLASPHEMY!!!! what was i thinking.. unish: thanks for keeping me in line!

on a more related note.. these are awesome the blue /green / purple mixture of colours works awesomely

and the sybrite makes me very jealous


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## Midge913

Azwraith said:


> I KNOW BLASPHEMY!!!! what was i thinking.. unish: thanks for keeping me in line!


Thats what I am here for:biggrin:

Gresil awesome work mate! The wychs turned out really well! +reppage if I can.


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## TheReverend

wow, these look amazing. loving the colour scheme. 

how did you do the blood on the knife?

+rep (lots)

Rev


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## Gresil

The blood on the knife is simply streaks of Scab Red, then streaks of Blood Red, with a few random splatters. The blades themselves have a pure white edge, and dark turquoise blunt side.


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## Gresil

Ok, time to share some progress on the Hekatrix!










She's been really fun to paint so far, any comments or suggestions would be great. Do you think the eye make-up works? Also thinking of doing the pistol a different colour (even though my other blasters will be bone coloured) so it doesn't detract from the skin tone. The right leg boot I was planning to paint as shiny black leather, although now that I've got this far I'm wondering if it would be better in purple to mirror the armour plating.

Quite pleased with the Agoniser, the base is obviously PIP, as is the trophy rack. I'm undecided between a red or green Astartes powerpack.


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## Ninja D

These minis look fantastic so far. As for the space marine backpack, I'd leave it red. If you did a green that matched any of the green you used on the Hekatrix, it would naturally draw the eyes to that spot and I'm thinking you don't want the backpack to take people's attention away from the more interesting parts of the model.

There is, of course, painting the space marine backpack in the color of an often played opponent or rival in yer gaming club... but that's a different story altogether.


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## Gresil

I think she's finished...
*
Qezti the Stinger*



















In terms of bases, the simplest option would be urban grey - I think they would stand out ok against it, and I already have the colours and grass from my Death Guard. It would be something like this:










Opinions?


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## Gresil

Here is a WIP glimpse of a potential Succubus:



















Wych legs, Dark Elf Supreme Sorceress (on Cold One) body, with a skaven blade replacing the head of the staff (Agoniser).

The main issue is something I was sort of expecting - the scale of the torso doesn't quite match the legs. I am hoping it is salvageable though as I really like the pose - I may end up sculpting a thicker waist for her so that the legs/hips aren't obviously oversized. I don't think much more needs to be done to the general design of the conversion though. Feedback welcome!


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## Gresil

The Succubus is ready to paint now I think. I sculpted a rock to boost her stature, and I textured the inside of the cloak, which was a flat surface that glues on to the Cold One mount. I've bulked out the torso as well, it may look a bit rough but I think it will be fine once painted, and gives her much less of an abnormal waist size compared to the legs.


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## Khorne's Fist

Really nice conversion. Can't wait to see it painted.


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## Master WootWoot

I love this log, but i can't see the succubus!

Edit: I can't see *any* of the pictures in this log anymore!


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## Scathainn

Upgrade to pro today, Batman!


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## Gresil

Two Raiders done, and my Photobucket is back online, so here they are!























































I painted the crew separately before gluing them on. Next time I will definitely spray the sprues prior to assembly!

The aethersails are Tallarn Flesh streaked successively with Rotting Flesh, Bleached Bone, and Camo Green - I'm quite pleased with how they turned out, I was going for a stretched alien flesh look, rather than painting a sigil or using a transfer.

Next up... painted Succubus and Urien Rakarth!


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## Midge913

Those raiders are awesome! Really excellent work! +rep


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## Gresil

Succubus Eresha is unleashed!





































_Death Dancer. Blade Mantis. Crowd Pleaser. Many are the names by which Succubus Eresha has been known through the millennia, and each one is a familiar chant in the countless arenas of Commorragh. The Lady Carnifex lives for such prestige, drinking the morbid applause like a black hole devouring its binary.

From obscure origins, Eresha quickly won gladiatorial renown and a reputation for untameable bloodlust. In realspace and the webway alike, her blades paint the ground with abstract arcs of crimson before her foes ever recognise their doom; she is an implacable whirlwind, a near peerless executioner whose skill commands respect throughout the Dark City.

Eresha enjoys nothing more than spearheading frenzied raids upon Imperial worlds. Often she will lead her Cult from the front, her personal Raider screaming from the void as she clings to its gory hull. If her mood is different she may entrust an ally to activate a webway portal; a shimmering dimensional breach through which she will leap to gut the enemy ranks from within.

Whatever her strategy, there are two artefacts Eresha never assails realspace without. The first is the Cloak Beguiling, an elegant garment woven of an ancient Eldarin silk. In battle this deceptive shroud masks the Death Dancer’s true choreography, confounding enemy efforts to strike her even as it entangles them as might a lesser Wych’s shardnet. Second is the Edge of Anguish, an archaic polearm whose mastery took many centuries to achieve. Numberless are the skulls Eresha has claimed with this sentient glaive, and few indeed are its lacerations that are not instantly fatal.

The slaughter complete, Eresha leads her murderous servants back to the Night Beyond, where black amphitheatres throng in anticipation of her latest spoils, and cruel, immortal voices serenade her blood-soaked return._
______________

I'm very pleased with how the Succubus turned out overall - like the rest of the army, the paintjob is primarily designed to work at arm's length/tabletop distance, hence the boldly highlighted wychsuit and cloak. I'm not 100% sure on the metallic segments of armour (and boob guards!) but I didn't feel they needed to be purple due to the cloak colour.

The torso is still a slightly weird shape at certain angles due to the green stuff, but I think it seams together well enough from a distance. By far the most fun part to paint was the cloak, which was just a case of building from a dark purple all the way up to Bleached Bone, adding a bit more bone each time.

I was in two minds about cutting off the blade at the base of the glaive, I don't particularly like its shape and it's maybe a bit superfluous... but I guess it does make the weapon look extra deadly! What do you think?

I have also added a bit more definition to the Dark Lances on my Raiders, like so:










More soon....


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## Midge913

She turned out really nicely! A good bit of fluff too. I really like the yellow glow effect there at the end of the dark lance. Keep up the good work mate!


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## FlowAndEbb

Wow. Great job. I'm so embarassed by my army. Especially when I see this one.

How did you do that with the Raider's sails?


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## The Wraithlord

Absolutely love that deep purple colour on the Raider. The conversion is quite sweet as well, very well done.


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## Gresil

FlowAndEbb said:


> How did you do that with the Raider's sails?


The sails were basecoated with Tallarn Flesh, and then I did streaks of slightly watered down Rotting Flesh, always starting the strokes from the centre outwards. On top of that I did smaller strokes of thinned Bleached Bone, and finally Camo Green, still always brushing from the centre.


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## imm0rtal reaper

Gresil said:


> Ok, time to share some progress on the Hekatrix!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> She's been really fun to paint so far, any comments or suggestions would be great. Do you think the eye make-up works? Also thinking of doing the pistol a different colour (even though my other blasters will be bone coloured) so it doesn't detract from the skin tone. The right leg boot I was planning to paint as shiny black leather, although now that I've got this far I'm wondering if it would be better in purple to mirror the armour plating.
> 
> Quite pleased with the Agoniser, the base is obviously PIP, as is the trophy rack. I'm undecided between a red or green Astartes powerpack.


Just saw her on the GW Facebook page.

LINKY


Nice work!


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## troybuckle

Love this thread the Dark Elder you have done so far are excellent. Love the raiders too, sweet job. + Rep for Dark Eldar awesomeness.


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## Gresil

A few updates. Firstly some flying bases - for 6 reavers, 2 raiders and a ravager:










This is the progress on the ravager, not much to see so far:










And I have finished Urien Rakarth! He was primed and waiting for quite a while because I was struggling with the colour choices. I decided to make the pallid greenish tone of the aethersails a dominant colour for his cloak, which I think will help coven-themed models to stand out.

I'm not 100% happy with features such as the back mutation, face, and skin tabard (which I might do a few blood spatters on), but overall a very fun model to paint!


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## Midge913

Gresil said:


> A


This looks brilliant! The cloak is very nicely done and stands out really well. The skin tone in contrast the to the cloth colors work great together. Excellent job! The only thing that I might suggest is to add one more highlight on the back bone mutation just to make it stand out from the skin tones just a little bit more, but it is very nice the way it is. + rep


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## DrinCalhar

This makes me want to get off my bum and finish painting all my Dark Eldar.


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## Salio

The painting is excellent! I love the purple armor, and the contrast with the green is perfect! Great work and keep it up!


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## Gresil

Here is a preview of an Archon I've been building. It's been quite a tricky kit-bash using the Island of Blood Mage cloak, body from Raider passenger with Wych left leg, Wych power weapon attached to Raider polearm, Archon head, Raider skulls accessory, a ball bearing, and Skaven spears on the shoulders.

It took ages to get a pose that I liked, but I think he will be a really dynamic centrepiece model once finished!

I'm still not entirely decided what's going on the base, but it will probably be some flaming vehicle wreckage - possibly part of a downed Raider to show him rising from the ashes of his transport!


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## Fallen

that Archon is gonna look awesome Gresil, cant wait to see the paint hit it.


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## unxpekted22

holy shit those first raider pics you posted are awesome. I meant to sub this thread a long time ago...I've missed too much.

keep up the nice work! I'm trying to figure out how I want to paint my DE myself.

oh, and I think some skulls/bones/helmets on the bases would be a nice touch if you have the pieces


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## Midge913

Fantastic conversion Gresil! That is definitely going to make an incredible centerpiece!


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## Gresil

And a Ravager:


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## CLT40k

Ravenger looks really nice... + rep


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## Gresil

Ok here's what the Archon looks like now. I had a few head-scratching moments with him, I struggled with the base (the fire still doesn't look that good) and the cloak was a bit of a chore. I'm pleased with him overall though and I think he will be a sexy army leader on the battlefield! Feedback would be very welcome...


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## unxpekted22

yes I think his cloak is very nice! Considering how tough the base looks like it must have been to get together there I'd say it's good. Getting the right purple/orange contrast is tough though, definitely not two colors that like each other very much. Purple's direct contrast on the color wheel is green, maybe try painting the flame a bright green? Would be very dark-eldar in my opinion.

I like the little black ball you put in his palm. Is it just a marble?

the gold/bronze parts look a little thick to be honest, but they are highlighted well. 

I'm not sure I like the purple on the blade, maybe just leave it blue and black?

And if you feel like going back to work on the face ( I hate having to try and fix things on my marine helms after I thought I was finished) It wouldn't hurt too add a little more detail to the eyes.

Anyway, just trying my best to give constructive feedback, he looks good, and a floating archon on the table would be sweet haha. Is that the normal base size though?


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## Midge913

Fantastic work mate! I love the tonal quality of the cloak and the overall paint job is superb.


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## Gresil

Thanks for the comments 

To respond to your points unxpekted22:

- that's a really cool idea about green flames actually, as I've used green as a spot colour on the rest of the army. Tempting!

- the orb is a ball bearing, which you can see in the WIPs on the previous page.

- the gold areas were not as smooth as I would have liked to begin with, because the green stuff and shoulder blade joins weren't as slick as I would have liked. But you're right, the paint was also applied a bit thick, because I was fed up of it not looking gold enough.

- the eyes on that particular helmet are really tricky to paint because they are so recessed. I could attempt a speck of white I guess, but I'm happy enough with the yellow.

- normal Archons come on a 25mm base, so no it's not normal, but if it looks cooler I don't really care, hehe.


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## Midge913

Just as an afterthought some OSL in around the eyes would look really eerie


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## unxpekted22

Gresil said:


> - the gold areas were not as smooth as I would have liked to begin with, because the green stuff and shoulder blade joins weren't as slick as I would have liked. But you're right, the paint was also applied a bit thick, because I was fed up of it not looking gold enough.
> 
> - the eyes on that particular helmet are really tricky to paint because they are so recessed. I could attempt a speck of white I guess, but I'm happy enough with the yellow.
> .


haha yeah...gold can be a real pain in the ass. 

the eye part reminds me of when I painted up some necrons. their eyes are real deep and narrow as well, which mad it really hard to get much detail on them. I think I'm gonna use that archon helm as well, so this is a good heads up.


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## Phenious

That Archon is just beastly. Kind of looks like he is floating with how he is holding that ball perfectly level, but floating is good. Not sure if you where going for jumping though. . . Still very nice. I so want to do some models in the same fashion as yours here. The leaping and lunging look would be awesome for my Hormagaunts!


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## Khorne's Fist

Loving the Archon. The cloak looks excellent.


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## HorusReborn

great layering and blending on the Archon man... Just the way the DE should look, hard edged, but with something leading up to it. Well done!


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## Gresil

Death comes screaming from the shadows!


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## louisshli

Gresil said:


> To respond to your points unxpekted22:
> 
> - the gold areas were not as smooth as I would have liked to begin with, because the green stuff and shoulder blade joins weren't as slick as I would have liked. But you're right, the paint was also applied a bit thick, because I was fed up of it not looking gold enough.


Gresil,

I've recently been using quite a bit of gold on my Sanguinary Guards along w/ various bits within the rest of my Blood Angels army. So hopefully my advice maybe of some use: did you apply a nice smooth coat of Iyanden Darksun on the gold bits first? If you did, then it'll really only take two thin coats of Shining Gold to do the trick. I must admit though, gold is harder to work w/ than the silvers (Boltgun Metal, in my opinion has the best consistency, out of the entire Citadel range... or at least one of). 

After the gold dries, apply a wash of watered-down Devlan Mud/Leviathan Purple... and highlight w/ Burnished Gold mixed with a spot of mithril silver..... finish off w/ a final fine highlight of pure mithril... and you should be Golden (no pun intended)!

Hope this helps mate... let me know!!! + rep for excellent work so far, nonetheless...


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## unxpekted22

I've been staring at the flesh on the arms and stuff for a while now. I can't tell if there is a wash over them or anything. So, I have to suggest maybe going over them, as well as the decorative skulls on the bikes with like a sepia or mud wash maybe, I dunno I can't say I have much experience with flesh tones, but I dont _think_ badab black would be the best choice.

Though we've talked a bit about your gold tones, you seem to have no such issue with the silver tones, the blades on the jet bikes here I think are my favorite parts on them.


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## Gresil

I must admit the riders were quite rushed, I still think their blue armour looks pretty crap. The flesh already has an Ogryn Flesh wash, but it could certainly look more defined. I actually skipped my usual DE flesh step of highlighting with skull white, so that may explain why it looks a bit flat. I'll probably go back and do that eventually. I don't typically enjoy painting 'vehicles', and although these are nice interesting models, I ran out of patience grinding through all 6 production-line style.


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## Ragnar

as far as tabletop armies go, this one is fantastic. I don't think I have seen one do what a tabletop army should do as well as you've done (how dreadfully worded, but let me clarify):
Your contrast is spot on, moving from black to white as you do, keeping strong colours in between really makes them look fantastic from the distance you'd be viewing them. The overall palette you've chosen is perfect as well. My only recommendation for you is to try some of that ivy/thorn flatwork on your raiders at some point. They don't need it, but after you've finished all of your models, that would be a nice 'finishing touch' project to really put the icing on an orgasmic cake.


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## unxpekted22

Gresil said:


> I must admit the riders were quite rushed, I still think their blue armour looks pretty crap. The flesh already has an Ogryn Flesh wash, but it could certainly look more defined. I actually skipped my usual DE flesh step of highlighting with skull white, so that may explain why it looks a bit flat. I'll probably go back and do that eventually. I don't typically enjoy painting 'vehicles', and although these are nice interesting models, I ran out of patience grinding through all 6 production-line style.


I painted a few of my templars production line style once, it is surprisingly very little fun compared to focusing on one at a time, even if it does get painted units on the table faster. just depends on whats more important to you at the time I suppose. After I decided painting is more important to me I have had several units only base coated for WAY too long though. Especially vehicles.


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## Midge913

Other than what was already mentioned, I am not sure if I like yellow 'glow' around the intake vents. It looks like you added it as an afterthought as there is no source for the light and it just looks kinda out of place. 

Other than that excellent work as usual Gresil!


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## Zero Effect

Gresil, 

Great work on the DE!

Kinda with midge on the yellow venting areas, seems to distract from the whole model in general. Was it an after thought?

Loving the Archon though especially the conversion and base work.
ZE


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## Gresil

It was no after thought, I simply thought it would look cool, and make the different shapes pop out more. Also I've used it throughout the army and I thought it would tie in their visors a bit. It's actually Camo Green, but it's a very yellowish paint.

Also I hate fine line highlighting, and there was no way I was going to bother painting perfect pink lines round each outlet.


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## Hammer49

Great looking DE. Really like how you did the reavers.


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## Midge913

Gresil said:


> It was no after thought, I simply thought it would look cool, and make the different shapes pop out more. Also I've used it throughout the army and I thought it would tie in their visors a bit. It's actually Camo Green, but it's a very yellowish paint.
> 
> Also I hate fine line highlighting, and there was no way I was going to bother painting perfect pink lines round each outlet.


Don't get me wrong mate I think they look great. More of a personal thing as opposed to an execution thing. Good work!


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## sphere830

Gresil said:


> Here is a preview of an Archon I've been building. It's been quite a tricky kit-bash using the Island of Blood Mage cloak, body from Raider passenger with Wych left leg, Wych power weapon attached to Raider polearm, Archon head, Raider skulls accessory, a ball bearing, and Skaven spears on the shoulders.
> 
> It took ages to get a pose that I liked, but I think he will be a really dynamic centrepiece model once finished!
> 
> I'm still not entirely decided what's going on the base, but it will probably be some flaming vehicle wreckage - possibly part of a downed Raider to show him rising from the ashes of his transport!


I just wanted to comment on this fantastic bit of kit bashing and converting--very inspiring. I'm simply loving this thread.


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## shaantitus

Gresil. I have checked out this thread a few times since you started. It seems you have really hit your straps and are now churning out models with great speed and accuracy. The work you have done, both with brilliant conversions and magnificent paint work leaves many of us lagging far behind. Most impressive. My main concern is that with great logs like this around the number of DE armis in my area may increae markedly. And i am not sure how to deal with them yet. Great work.


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## Zero Effect

Gresil said:


> It was no after thought, I simply thought it would look cool, and make the different shapes pop out more. Also I've used it throughout the army and I thought it would tie in their visors a bit. It's actually Camo Green, but it's a very yellowish paint.
> 
> Also I hate fine line highlighting, and there was no way I was going to bother painting perfect pink lines round each outlet.


Gresil, 

Please do not take my comments as negative, it just seems to be my eye more than anything. I think on what you is doing with beautifully designed models and adding an extra dimension in your conversion and paintings is brilliant. 

Please keep the great work up.

Regards
ZE


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## Gresil

_Across the ashen wastes of a thousand strafed worlds the veteran murderers of the Cold Flame stalk, seeking out fresh underlings to deftly erase.

SOULS SHALL BE CLEAVED!_






















































(bit annoyed that this last guy picked up some grit somehow)

I'm very happy with how these Incubi turned out! The close-up flash photography is somewhat merciless on the highlights, but hopefully the group shot shows the effect from a distance.

The glaives are Boltgun Metal underneath two coats of Badab Black, one coat of Leviathan Purple, then streaked with Mithril Silver. I'm reasonably happy with the helmets too, the highlighting could be better but I think the greenish glow is cool, and the purple horns tie in with the cloth and hands. They were simply painted Dheneb Stone then washed with Leviathan Purple, then drybrushed with Dheneb Stone and Skull White.

I think I will have to varnish them though, as they are spiky and metal, so likely to chip. I hope that won't be detrimental to the paintjob.


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## Midge913

Looking good mate! Just pick up some testors dull or matte coat and you should be fine with the sealer.


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## KhainiteAssassin

your models are looking nicely now that they are getting a paint job. the close up pics all look blotchy to me, but on the tabletop, judgeing from looking at the pics you have of them from afar, they do look amazing.

+ rep

oh and as a note: im stealing your flesh sail idea, I was debating useing my blue for the sails or a flesh idea, im going to change it up abit and maybe GS a face on one but its a nice idea nonetheless and will be used with my dark green DE.


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## Gresil

You are right Assassin, the highlighting does look blotchy close up! I'm still a bit of a novice at fine edge highlighting, and I must confess I find it fiddly and annoying (especially having coming from painting Plague Marines!). Painting this army has given me a lot more respect for the Eavy Metal paint-jobs which have super-thin highlights on the Dark Eldar!!

However, I think paradoxically the slightly thicker highlights make them pop nicely from tabletop distance, which is the main thing given that I would like to game with this army


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## Gresil

*LELITH HESPERAX*


















(yes, her right heel was chipped - amended now!)


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## troybuckle

Awesome job, your log makes me want to get some DE models. Keep up the good work and have some rep!


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## Hammer49

Lelith looks very good. Nice base as well.


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## KhainiteAssassin

like I said, from a tabletop standpoint, your models, appear to look amazing, and I would agree with you that though the closeups look blotchy its also because of the blotchyness that gives your models standing out on the table top. Trust me when I say making thin highlights is a pain in the ass, my DE are even blotchy close up, but I was trying to go for a more thin look.

cant wait to see your full army in a shot when your done though.


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## Orochi

Not feeling the Green hair I'm afraid. I would of gone for Black/Dark brown.

I would adjust the light you use to take your pictures. I feel that we're getting a 'shine' off of the models which isn't doing them justice.

Thus far however, I'm impressed with everything.


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## Gresil

Thanks for the thoughts. My photo method isn't ideal, I basically shine a bright light onto the mini then take a flash photo using the camera's macro button. Perhaps this also washes out some of the colour - I'm guessing a lightbox would be better but I've never looked into setting one up.

Fair comment about the green hair - I left it till last because I couldn't decide on the colour. My preference would have been for a more natural black or dark brown too, except that I just wasn't feeling it when the hair was still in its black basecoat. It's hard to explain, it just somehow didn't sit well with the other colours to my eyes. I was also conscious of the colours in the rest of my army - the wych squad has green hair for example.

A possible alternative would be to give her black hair with a few green streaks (like my Succubus on an earlier page) - it would be easy to alter and might make it less of an overpowering mass of green. But I'll leave it for now and see how I like her look alongside the rest of the army (when I eventually roll them out for a battle!).


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## Hammer49

Your suggestion about the green streaks through the black sounds like a good idea!


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## KhainiteAssassin

Gresil, turn your flash off, aslong as you have a good white light (not that whiteish, but white white) your pics will come out fine with Macro mode and preping the shot. which from your pics I can assume you are doing both while keeping the camera steady. should remove alot of the flush and give you even better pictures, you should really try it. (no real need for a lightbox even though they do make the best pics, just look at my wolves and DE pics, some are off but thats my own doing from how far the light was from the models at the time)


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## Gresil

Ok this is part update and part appeal. I've started making some Kabalite Trueborn with special weapons, using wych legs and reaver helmets. But I'm desperate for a 4th reaver helmet, and I also want to get hold of some plastic cloaks for them. So if anyone (preferably in the UK) can help, I will pay many webway credits.










I also picked up the old version of Urien really cheap on Ebay. I've always loved this model so it was cool to have a reason to paint him!


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## Midge913

I like the Trueborn conversions so far mate and the paint job on Urien is really nice, the cloth especially!


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## Gresil

I thought I'd make use of the spare shock prows and blades from the vehicle sprue so I had some fun making these objective markers. The black is gloss varnished although it's not that clear here.


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## KhainiteAssassin

nice idea for the objective markers, I might steal that idea gresil.


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## Midge913

Nice idea Gresil. Those are going to look great on the table.


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## unxpekted22

love the objective markers, great idea and very well painted.


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## Kreuger

Urien and the objectives are looking great!

Every time I see that Urien model I want him to be bald with pins in his head.


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## Gresil

A couple of Dark Lances to vaporize Grey Knights with:


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## Hammer49

Warriors look superb. Great colour scheme that will stand out on the table.


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## Gresil

Painted up the 4 special weapons Trueborn (not the best photos, and one isn't shown as she's still awaiting a head).

My thinking was that nothing shouts arrogant aristocracy like gold armour and cloaks! I thought black armour would help demark them further.

I kind of regret batch-painting them, as the finish on the cloaks was a bit rushed, but I think they'll stand out well enough as an elite shooty unit.


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## wombat_tree

Regardless of your pre-conceived notions of how good something looks, the cloaks are awesome so stop your whining. :laugh: Really good models, though personally I'd make the helmets a brighter more lime green with a gloss varnish or something, I think it would look good but you might not.


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## Gresil

I did consider varnishing the helms, but I thought the effect would take away from the rest of the model. I did varnish the visors on my reavers though, which works ok because the bikes are large enough not to get too upstaged by the super shiny heads!

I just feel I could have done a smoother job on the cloaks one at a time... but I'm quite impatient whenever I'm painting more than one model at once!


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## KhainiteAssassin

looking pretty good there Gresil, and nice idea for the trueborn. i might take the cape idea for my own when i get mine going.


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## TheReverend

mate there is some bloody excellent paintwork here, you should be really proud of it Great work!

Rev


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## Mike3D6

Cool Trueborns, I'ma fan of this giger-esque helmet you used, a squad of lets call it "people" wearing them looks very nice, I agree with the idea of making the visors shiny


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## Disciple_of_Ezekiel

This is a great Plog so far with all your DE's and DE conversions. Have some Rep for a job well done!

Regards,
DoE


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