Elven Progress

Work has been getting in the way of major progress on the 4th Edition High Elves but I've still managed to add a few extra bits, namely a Lord, a Mage, two Bolt Throwers and a small unit of Sword Masters.

 My Lord is the top half of a Pegasus rider on Silverhelm legs and horse.

My Mage is a little break from the 4th Edition minis, he's a 5th edition Mage. Sadly there was only 1 High Elf Mage released for 4th Edition and that was the Teclis mini and that particular sculpt doesn't suit a low level Character. There was a 3rd Edition Mage riding a Unicorn released just before 4th Edition came along but a Unicorn is a pricey thing for a small army clocking in at 90pts. I don't feel too bad about using this 5th Edition chap as I really love this mini, he was a Mage for me in many a game back in the day. Now he's been stripped and repainted.

Next up are the Bolt Thowers, two of them.

As minis themselves the Bolt Throwers I'm not too fussed about (although they're really useful in game terms and cheap as chips at 50pts too) but the crew are stunning figures, I've always loved these guys.

In the past I've often derided the 4th Edition Sword Masters, the legs don't fit the position of the robes but I'm really pleased I painted these guys up as I've now fallen in love with them. I started painting them because I wanted some elite foot troops and all of the Phoenix Guard and White Lions need to be stripped.

They have a lot of character that I don't think I'd of found if I hadn't taken the plunge and painted them up. There's a strange number of 13 painted up because I added the Standard Bearer later. I plan of taking the unit up to 16 but that can wait for now as, like the Unicorn, they're very pricey for a small army.

I've also given the Silverhelms' barding a white dry brush as I did the Bolt Throwers and the Unicorn (I promise to finish the Mage for an update soon so I can show this mythical beast) as the soft tone ink wash didn't look right on that mush white expanse.

With the General added in this unit looks really nifty.

I'm really please with how this army is shaping up. My feelings are to go for another Mage, Reaver Knights and some more basic infantry in the shape of a second unit each of Spearmen and Archers. I'm also really low on Characters which I'm not that fussed about but I do have both the Eltharion on Stormwing and the Prince Imrik dragon rider minis in need of a lick of paint, I may treat myself to one of these soon................................

The Eagles are coming...................... and they aren't alone!

Latest minis off the production line are two Great Eagles.............................

..................... along with 6 Silverhelms (still to have shields and Banner added).

Looks like I've forgotten to ink one of the crests - D'OH! Oh well, that'll be rectified in a bit.

The full army looks like this at the moment:

Small but perfectly formed!

I maybe have a game against Erny next weekend and I need to get a Mage painted up by then, a some bolt thrower would be nice too. I'll use the Silverhelm Champion as a General for now and use the Silverhelm with the winged helmet as a unit Champion.

Thanks for stopping by, I'm off to splatter paint around some more.........................................

And Now For Something Completely Different.............................

Bada dum de dum de dum de dum de dum de dum deda
Bada dum de dum de dum de dum de dum de dum deda

I've not just been painting Elves, I've painted a few Empire minis too.

I'm playing Al again in a couple of weeks, hopefully a small game or two with my Elves and maybe my Skaven plus a larger one with my Skaven. Al plays Empire but he's only just come back to the hobby. He's a bit of a perfectionist which makes him a really good painter but this means he doesn't churn units out quickly so I'm helping him out a bit.

My stuff's a lot rougher paint jobs but when I'm in the painting zone I can crank them out quite quickly.

So I decided to get a unit of Battle Masters crossbowmen painted up. They're not the best minis made by GW but they're not the worst either. The big benefit of them is what a lot of people will see as a failing, the monopose! Speed painting is really helped out by repetition so I managed to knock these out in one day.

I also did a Grey Wizard, Al's personal favourite (can anyone say "Bridge of Shadows"?).  Looking at the photo's I think I need to do his face again as it looks far too pale.

I've also just noticed the flash on the back of his boot! Damn it, that'll be coming off and his boot will get a touch up!

Time to get back to the Elves.....................................

Happy New Year High Elf Progress

Happy New Year All.

Sadly with Christmas and the resultant in-law stopping got in the way of extensive progress on my 4th edition High Elves but here's where we stand:

The Spearmen have been finished to an acceptable level for small games (although I do need to take the plunge and paint the banner).

I've cheated on my plan to only use 4th edition Elves by opting to use the lion shields that are currently available from GW but these were a tester for my proposed speed painting method and I didn't want  to waste the precious 4th edition shields on them. The close ups show the failings for the method and is a bit rough but from a distance and squinting makes them look fantastic!

I've decided to name them the "Lion Guard" and they're Captain/Champion reinforces the lion image. He's supposed to be White Lion Character but he's equipped with a spear so doesn't really fit in with the White Lions themselves. I also knew that as soon as I saw the shields I wanted to pair them up with this Champion model. I'm sure a lot of people out there will say the shields should be blue and the lion white but I plan on having white shields with a blue icon on it as a reoccurring theme throughout the army.
 

For small games this unit will be big enough but eventually I'll increase the number to 20 and include a Musician. In small games of 4th edition a Musician isn't really cost effective as they only allow a reform. They are nice and characterful though and finish of a unit so eventually they'll be added.

 My first unit of Archers is small and again, a bit of a tester. They'll get replaced by they're lead equivalents when I've stripped them of their black undercoat I gave them a few years back.

I think close ups may of been a mistake as now they don't look as good as when I proudly surveyed them a before snapping them!

Oh well, they're plenty good enough for a war gaming standard - happy days!

High Elf Progress Update

My first unit is nearly finished. I'm really happy with how the paint scheme is working out. It's really simple but effective.

I'm planning something special for the shields, standard and champion. Hopefully I'll have them completed in time for my next update.

Lil' Snickit

My last post revealed I'm looking to strip old lead instead of buying up large swathes of old lead.

This is because I need to save a few pennies,

Why?

Well, I'm, exceedingly pleased to announce it's because the first Lil' Snickit is on the way, due to arrive at the the end of May/beginning of June - YAY!

To this end I have decided it's time to crack on with at least one of the multitude of projects I have planned but not started. With about 6 months lefts I've decided to prioritise my 4th Edition High Elves. I'm going to strip what I have at the moment and start again as the paint scheme I'd started recently (when I say recently, I mean in the last 5 years........) takes far too long so I've decided to go for something a lot quicker.

I'm going back to basics, a white undercoat (black is more effective but takes longer to get right) and a simple silver, white and blue colour scheme and an Army Painter Soft Tone Quick Shade Ink (not the dip, tried it, didn't like it). I will freely admit that this is not going to produce a Golden Daemon standard army but it'll make something I'm happy to game with.

I'm giving myself the 6 months and see how far I get.......................................... before I get distracted by another project................................ probably in a week or so.....................................

Stripping's Fun

I've often experimented with stripping.

It often doesn't go as well as I'd like.

I recently got some pointers from others from the online community.

Mr Rab and Whiskey Priest both swear by the Fairy method.


So I tried it

I've started small.

I want to savour it and work it just right.

I have to say, Fairy Power Spray on minis apparently works a treat!!!!

Yeah OK I could do a better job but it's a good first effort.

There's a few tasty treats here from a Marauder Cold One, a 4th edition Chaos Sorcerer to the Minotaur but these two are my favourites:

That Rat Ogre is the harder one of the two original Jes Goodwin sculpts to lay your hands on so getting rid of the horrendously think layer of dark brown paint that covered him when I picked him up on ebay dirt cheap is a real bonus!

The paint on the Slayer was even thicker. He's an old Marauder sculpt but not one I'm familiar with, he can go with the other old slayer sculpts I have that I think were part of the Norse Dwarf range. I only have 6 of them at the moment but still, it's a good start.

Lastly, just for 24_Cigarettes (sorry Bud) I have a few Clanrats cleaned up, three of them are his favourite Skaven Clanrat mini but he's having trouble getting his hands on them. Sadly I need these ones Matey as I've recently switched to using Clanrats only armed with spears in my army and I need a few more to bulk up the units but I'm not that far off I think I need about another 15 for my purposes.

Next for the dip will be some Pistoliers and some unarmoured 5th edition High Elf Archers.