Painted Venom #1

I've finally made some progress !

I've painted a couple other test models, trying to find other color schemes but this was going nowhere, so I decided to stick with the first variants and start painting the army itself. I thought I would start with vehicles to make some progress quickly (IMHO, painting squads gets boring rather quickly, and a half-painted squad isn't good for the motivation) so I took a Venom and improvised this in a couple hours:

This is the first time I'm doing any serious freehand on a model. And my first time painting a vehicle as well, actually ! It's not 100% finished (red on black requires so many layers to appear "clean"...), but it's already good enough for tabletop, I think.

Oh, and as you can see, there is a small conversion: The guns were re-positioned under the wings.All my venoms are converted this way. I'm always taking the extra splinter cannon (who isn't ?), and the placement of the guns in the original configuration seemed weird to me. Plus, I didn't like the gunner :)

I haven't bothered hiding magnets for the passengers like I did on the Raiders, and I don't think I will: too much work for small gain.

My Favorites Dark Eldar Armies

I'm still alive! Been too busy with work (and videogames) recently to update this blog. An update is due.

Sadly, nothing new to show; I did try a new paint scheme, but... my cat stole my test model. Seriously, he did. It was an orangish, very bright theme, completely different than regular Dark Eldar. I liked it, but it didn't suit my DE pretty well anyway.

So, instead of posting a picture of my own progress in painting, I've thought I'd post links to my current favorites Dark Eldar armies out there! Here they are, in no particular order:

• Rant in E Minor : Simple dark paint scheme (really close to what I'd like for mine), the light effects are simply awesome.
• The Brush Brothers Archon and Succubus : Not a full army, but again a simple scheme with awesome light effects. The purple is a great choice to complement the dark armor.
• Graphigaut : Frenchie with an interesting technique. Intense highlights, not for everyone - I hate his raider, but I love the rest.
• Daith's Wych Syren : Another single miniature over at CMON. I love the color choices here. On his blog you can also find this Archon. I don't like the color scheme as much as the Syren, but the B&W picture is a great idea to show the highlights.
• Darkezekiel's Scourges : Apparently won Bronze in a GD Germany. Superb blending, nice constrast between the armor, clothes, eyes and wings. 
• SuicideBadger : Simple & gritty. Very effective!
• MrChaos's Raider : Not an original paint scheme, but perfect execution. My jax dropped when I saw that sail for the first time.
• Speedfreek's Harlequinade Macabre : Simply the best and most original Dark Eldar conversions & painting ever. He has a theme and he sticks to it. Truly an inspiration for us all.  (See also his photobucket gallery) 
• VanSan : There are too many good Dark Eldar project logs on Warseer to mention them all, but this one deserves it ! From the freehands on the vehicules to the highly contrasted models and very detailed snow bases, this has it all. 
• Eye Of Terror : Epic conversion and a very cool paint scheme. Can't recommend a single post, the whole thing is incredible.
• Eldar Addict : A very original paint scheme, and he even published a tutorial to replicate it!
• (Edit) Legio Minimus : I had forgotten about this one ! Classical scheme, but masterfully executed with awesome bases.

That's all for now. If you feel like this list is missing an awesome entry, add a comment !

Kabalite Warrior Test Scheme #2

So, this is more or less the same scheme as the first one, actually. I just adjusted the highlights (still quick&dirty, I don't want to spend too much time on a test model - seeing the picture now, I realized I even forgot the properly highlight the boots) and shading to make the model more contrasted. And of course, this time even though the lightning still sucks I did a proper white balancing and used a real camera and not just my phone :-)

Is it better ? worse? Tell me what you think. I still want to test other completely different schemes, but I kinda like this one.

Kabalite Warrior Test Scheme #1

Finally some painting :-)

Testing the waters, I have a bunch of extra warriors & wyches from the various vehicules (still need to post some pics of how I magnetized/converted the Venoms btw) that I'll be used to test various paint schemes.

Here is the first test. Painting was very quickly, just as a proof of concept.

Primed black, and then:

• Bodysuit is Charadon Granite with a watered Badab Black wash, some Codex Grey added in the mix for some blending (which you can't really see on the picture)
• Armor is the same, but with a less watered wash. Codex Grey edge highlighting.
• Cloth is Mechrite Red, then Blood Red, Devlan Mud wash, Blazing Orange highlights
• Eyes, gems are, IIRC, Dark Angels Green, then Goblin Green, then Scorpion Green touch.
• Silver parts are Boltgun Metal, washed with Badab Black, Chainmail highlights

It's very very simple, and I think it works nicely. Still, will be testing different schemes in the coming weeks.