The Cold Flame - Dark Eldar WIPs

[Gresil]

Greetings! I'm creating this thread to chart the progress on my Dark Eldar army.

Firstly a few pics of where I am so far. I have 15 warriors and 10 wyches painted, with another 5 warriors and 2 raiders awaiting paint. Here's a select few:

Sybarite
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2506.jpg

Splinter Cannon
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2505.jpg

Blaster
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2496.jpg

Hekatrix
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2537.jpg

[Gresil]

Wyches
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2516.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2519.jpg

Hydra Gauntlets
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2521.jpg

And a small group shot with a WWP:
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2524.jpg

[Gresil]

Now on to my current project, which is a Succubus conversion using a Dark Elf Supreme Sorceress. This is the blue tac mock-up, but I've now assembled her properly, so more pics soon:

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2539.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2540.jpg

All C&C welcome!

[fuzzbuket]

very nice!

a bright and unnique colour scheme is a resgreshing change from all the black DE out there :D and youve pulled it off very well!

[eldargal]

Very pretty, I like the blue on the Wyches.:)

[Duke]

I agree with the Fuzz. Youve done a great job while not falling into the same old paint scheme. Keep it coming.

Duke

[Spider-pope]

Nice purpley paint job, and the conversions are looking nice too. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread *cough* and stealing any good ideas for my own Dark Eldar *cough*

[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.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2541.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2542.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2543.jpg

[fuzzbuket]

youve ran out of photobucket :(

[Meph]

http://stuff.pyzam.com/funnypics/animals/bucket.gif

[Gresil]

I know, lame. They will be back on 3rd Jan apparently :(

[Gresil]

As a temporary fix, here she is on Imageshack:

http://img715.imageshack.us/i/1002541.jpg/

http://img191.imageshack.us/i/1002542k.jpg/

http://img705.imageshack.us/i/1002543q.jpg/

[Meph]

Oh, nice conversion indeed. That's going to look ace with a lick of paint. :D

[Gresil]

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

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2553.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2554.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2551.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2552.jpg

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!

[fuzzbuket]

i REALLY like those sails! they really stand out

[Duke]

I really like the sails. I can just see movement in them! great job.

Duke

[Meph]

Oh, nice sails indeed, very impressive paint job.

[Gresil]

Succubus Eresha is unleashed!

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2571-1.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2573-1.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2574.jpg

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:

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2570-1.jpg

More soon....

[Firebird]

You have some awesome looking models there and some really nice blending!

[Gresil]

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

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2576.jpg

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

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2577-1.jpg

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!

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2581.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2580.jpg

[DrLove42]

That purple cloak on the succubus is stunning...

I'm looking forward to painting my Urien, saving him as a reward for finishing my squad of warriors. My sole comment on him is the skin cloak at the back...it looks a little too yellow. Your sails blend to a really nice flesh colour... other than thats hes wonderful

[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!

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2583.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2584-1.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2585.jpg

[isotope99]

Very impressive, I like the dynamic pose on the archon, the corona effect on the sails and the palid flesh of Urien.

Can't believe you wasted a precious shardnet :(, although it does look very WWII practical for getting back on the raider.

[Gresil]

Can't believe you wasted a precious shardnet :(, although it does look very WWII practical for getting back on the raider.

Hehe, yeah I'm kind of feeling I should have saved that, but I guess if something looks cool it's never a waste :P

There's plenty of them on Ebay if I'm desperate, but I'll probably get a second box of wyches before long anyway.

[Javsgotyournose]

Wow! beautiful model. I am excited about the kitbashing possibilites with the new dark eldar. I love the ball bearing on the model.

[Tynskel]

Wow! I realllllllly like that pose. You are making me want to see if I can do that for one of my minis.

[Gresil]

Death comes screaming from the shadows!

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2616.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2610.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2613.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2611.jpg

[somerandomdude]

Can't believe you wasted a precious shardnet :(, although it does look very WWII practical for getting back on the raider.

This coming from the guy who used his Lelith model as a Venom passenger? :)

[Gresil]

Oh, just realised I never shared the finished Archon...

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2597.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2603.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2599.jpg

I've given the eyes some glow since these photos were taken, and I'm considering making the flames green instead.

[JxKxR]

Wicked! The flames would look cool green, but you might not be happy with them as they are because the colors are so dull. You might consider going back and brightening them up a bit.

Really love the work so far keep it up!

[Tynskel]

"Ayyyiiiiiieeee!!!!"

:::Runs and tries to hide in terror:::


Yeah. That model is wicked.

[Morgan Darkstar]

Very Nice.

"I just wish i could find the desire to finish painting my Dark Eldar"

[fuzzbuket]

His cloak is on fire!

[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!

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2659.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2652.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2654.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2657.jpg

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.

[Gresil]

LELITH HESPERAX

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2668.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i211/ashbeyj/The%20Cold%20Flame/100_2667.jpg
(yes, her right heel was chipped - amended now!)