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Author Topic: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog  (Read 16369 times)

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Offline Looshkin

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #60 on: May 31, 2018, 06:58:03 PM »
Um. I can't say enough about how awesome these guys are, so I won't try. I'll simply say that this is the best work I've ever seen on this forum by a wide margin.

Stunning.
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Offline Partninja

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #61 on: May 31, 2018, 07:22:22 PM »
The skull designs on the faces is simply awesome dude. Really nice little detail to make them a little different.

Offline magenb

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #62 on: May 31, 2018, 10:02:15 PM »
wow what's not to love, the basing is great, the colour scheme is great, the blue just really pops and the skull on the mask and bandanna is just an awesome touch.

Offline SeekingOne

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #63 on: June 13, 2018, 06:44:19 PM »
@All
Thank you very much for your kind words and support people! :)

@Cavalier
Hey Cav!
Illic is indeed an awesome character.
As for my army - as I'll detail below, I'm not seeing it as specifically Alaitoc - rather, I want a custom colour scheme that could represent a non-standard Craftworld, which would enable me to use any Craftworld attribute I like (except Saim-Hann, for which I obviously have a separate army). Currently I have a complete, cohesive and very fluffy Saim-Hann Outrider detachment, and I'm working on expanding my non-Saim-Hann Battalion, hoping to eventually make it as nice and cohesive. Currently I'm happy to field both detachments in alliance - but yeah, eventually I want to be able to field a full non-Saim-Hann force of at least 1750 points. And by "eventually" I mean no later than early Spring 2019, when, if all stars align, I might take it to the next No Retreat.



So, have to say I've been busy painting lately - in fact, I've been painting frantically almost every hour of my free and spare time. And it was the first time when it actually felt like I'm making some good progress!

First of all, I painted two new Wave Serpents at once! Here they are.



This is THE colour scheme that I'm planning to follow from now on with my new CWE units - unless I decide to paint up something that is specifically fluffy for Saim-Hann, like a squad of Wraithblades (I do want these guys eventually, And I do want them in red!). As I mentioned before, after painting the Shining Spears I realised that blue can be made to look almost every bit as striking as red, and that I quite enjoy painting blue for a change. Well, after painting these two bad boys I know that the choice was 100% right.

I'm planning to use this new "blue" detachment of mine with Alaitoc rules - for the obvious reason of them being most efficient in tournament play. However, even though this colour scheme has blue as its main colour, I see it not as specifically Alaitoc, but rather as a representation of a custom Craftworld of my own design :) I did want to paint blue, but apart from that I made every effort to differentiate my scheme from the classic GW Alaitoc scheme - hence there's no stippled camo, no orange as the secondary colour, as well as extensive use of white and black. I also made a point of not using any Alaitoc-specific heraldry. All in all, I do realise that seeing solid blue most people would still initially think Alaitoc, but I hope that at least at the second glance the difference would be apparent enough :)

Couldn't resist taking a few more shots to show off the new Serpents )










After some digging through my spare transfer sheets, I found a pretty cool combination of symbols from all three types of Aeldari transfers: craftworlds, drukhari and harlequin. In particular, that awesome-looking jagged white rune that I chose as my army's main coat of arms comes from the Drukhari transfer sheet, while lines of white runic script are from Harlequin sheet. White runes on deep blue armour look absolutely great imho )



Initially I was afraid that the colour scheme, being mostly blue and white, would end up looking too monochrome. However, addition of multiple bone and, most importantly, bronze details brought in just enough variety in colour to make a vehicle look interesting.
If anyone's interested in seeing a more detailed report on how I painted these, or want to know something specific details, by all means please let me know.

And I managed to complete them in less than two weeks too! It was, of course, mainly due to a far more diligent schedule than usual, but also because blue proved to be SO much more forgiving than red. Overall the choice of colours feels so right on pretty much all levels.

I was aiming to complete the Serpents for a tournament that was scheduled to take place past weekend - and I actually completed them a full day ahead of schedule. Which brought me to a crazy idea of doing the impossible - and, having taken a day-off at work, in the space of one (!) day I managed to paint up this guy:


The picture is, sadly, a bit too yellowish and washed out, but it gives a general idea.
Due to the time constraints, the paint job is very simplistic - no decorations, fancy patterns or runic scripts, etc - but the model is still fully shaded, highlighted and detailed, which I believe is a decent result for a day's work ) And, most importantly, the minimum requirements for my non-Saim-Hann detachment are now fulfilled! What I mean is that now I have two HQ (Maugan Ra and this new Farseer) that I can use to fill the compulsory slots in a non-Saim-Hann Battalion, and so I can field it not only as Alaitoc but also as Ulthwe or any other Craftworld I fancy (before that my only non-Saim-Hann HQ beside Maugan Ra was Illic, which forced my Battalion to use 'Alaitoc' keyword). Combined with the two new Serpents that cover all my Battalion's needs for transportation, this finally gives me the level of flexibility in list-building that I was aiming for.

So, I did go to the tournament with a 100% complete army, and I actually placed first, getting both First Overall (including painting score) and Best General :) The Best Army prize was stolen from me though, by this absolutely stunning Blood Angels force:




All in all, once in a while I feel content with my progress so far. The next task, as usual, is to decide what to paint next :) The choice is pretty tough, as there are several units that are good in the current rules and that I'd really love to paint and play with, Swooping Hawks and and Hemlocks to name but a couple. However, with the minimal HQ requirements now covered, I feel that the section where I still lack flexibility the most is Troops. Thus I'm thinking of painting up 20 blue Guardians on foot as the highest priority. What do you guys think?

Thanks for reading!
To be continued...  ;)
« Last Edit: June 13, 2018, 06:46:24 PM by SeekingOne »
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Offline Irisado

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #64 on: June 14, 2018, 05:19:00 AM »
Outstanding work on the Wave Serpents.  I am in awe at your use of colour and the precision with which you have painted those white stripes.  These are Alaitoc transports to behold.
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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #65 on: June 14, 2018, 07:02:25 AM »
Wow, that's a great colour scheme and just stunning work. Very clever use of colours on the wave fins too.

Offline dog_of_war

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #66 on: June 14, 2018, 01:54:03 PM »
I'm just loving the 'softness' of those paint jobs. They are truly befitting an eldar force. The tribal patterns on the serpents are killer as well. Great positioning of the lines really help keep the negative and positive shapes well balanced. As always I'm in awe of your work.

Offline Cavalier

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #67 on: June 14, 2018, 03:42:14 PM »
Truly amazing work Seeking One. Also yes! I can see that it is a custom scheme now, and I love everything about it. Love the almost "temple guard blue" highlight on the Caledor base... very nice effect there. Also the transfer work is truly outstanding. I'm in love with what you are doing here.

Love the idea of having a new CW added to your collection. I'm actually writing an article on something similar for FLG this week.

Fantastic stuff SeekingOne. Very glad to see another update. Just amazing work man. Keep on rocking this force looks phenomenal!
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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #68 on: June 17, 2018, 01:43:53 AM »
That Wave Serpent is brilliant 8)!!! The precision and sleekness of the patterns alongside the choice of cool colors really make this thing pop in the photos. Magnificent work, Seeking One, also loving that Farseer too! The bone color is painted so well, looks really natural on the model. I hope I can achieve that look one day ;D!
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Offline SeekingOne

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #69 on: June 17, 2018, 05:53:52 AM »
@Irisado
Thank you Iris, happy to hear you like the skimmers!
I didn't paint those white stripes by hand though. What I did was this:
1) first I primed the whole vehicle white then airbrushed some blue-grey shades onto the most prominently recessed parts of the hull
2) then I cut the stripes out of paper masking tape using sharp-tipped hobby knife and some curved stencils that I bought in an ordinary stationery store
3) I applied the stripes to the hull, then airbrushed blue all over
4) once the blue was complete, all I had to do was to carefully remove the stripes, revealing white pattern underneath.

The only thing I painted by hand were those small shades at the line crossings, to create the illusion of one stripe going under the other. It was really much simpler than the end result might suggest :)

@magenb
Thanks Mage! Glad you noticed the fins. Initially I was planning to leave the base parts in the colour of the hull, but it didn't look quite right, so I decided to paint them bronze - and it proved to be just that last bit that made the overall look not only of the fins but also of the whole vehicle to just snap into place.

@dog_of_war
Many thanks! Those white patterns were initially sketched on paper by my lovely wife, who is the one true artist in our family ;D I only did some small adjustments to the pattern to make the stripes better fit the overall shape and the details of the vehicle. The result did exceed even my own expectations )

@Cavalier
Thank you Cav, as always your high praise makes me blush  ;D
Also super-happy to hear that my custom scheme is recognisable as such! And of course looking forward to your article on FLG, sounds really interesting )

@MyenTal
Thanks! I'm sure you will achieve great look on your bone colour too.
It's not that hard. I start mine with a basecoat of 1:1 mix of Tau Light Ochre and Ushabti Bone, then progressively highlight it up to pure Ushabti Bone then Screaming Skull, and finish it off with sharp edge highlight of Pallid Wych Flesh. Airbrush is great for this, but handbrushing works perfectly well too, particularly on smaller details. Tau Light Ochre is the key ingredient here, as it gives the bone the nice warm tone that looks very pleasing to the eye.



And now... it's time for some army composition!
I've been thinking to dedicate one of the updates to that, and the moment feels just right to do it.

So... as I mentioned above, now is the time to once again decide what to paint next. And the decision is neither easy nor obvious, because to make this decision I need to decide where I want to go with my force in a more long-term scale.

But every decision requires a thought process, and a thought process has to start somewhere, right? So, let me start with assessing the assets that I already have available right now.

At this point I already have three kinds of units in my Eldar collection:

- pure Saim-Hann, painted in distinct Saim-Hann colour scheme, which I'll only ever use under Saim-Hann rules and no other;
- my new blue craftworld (the name that keeps ghosting through my mind sounds like 'Thirinnair', roughly translated into mon-keigh tougue as "Following the true sight" or "Clarity of vision"), which I can use with any craftworld attribute;
- Aspect warriors, which I can use with any craftworld due to them all wearing their traditional aspect colours.

So, with this in mind, I have the following units painted and battle-ready.

Pure Saim-Hann
  • 1 Farseer Skyrunner
  • 1 Autarch Skyrunner
  • 1 Warlock Skyrunner
  • 10 Warlocks on foot
  • 9 Windriders w/scatter lasers
  • 1 Wave Serpent
  • 1 Wraithknight
New Craftworld
  • 1 Farseer
  • Illic Nightspear (he's obviously aligned to Alaitoc, but I'll put him here for now)
  • 5 Rangers
  • 2 Wave Serpents
Aspect Warriors
  • Maugan Ra
  • 15 Dire Avengers (including 1 exarch)
  • 11 Fire Dragons (including 1 exarch)
  • 15 Warp Spiders (including 3 exarchs)
  • 6 Shining Spears (including 1 exarch)
  • 5 Dark Reapers (including 1 exarch)
  • 3 Crimson Hunters
This collection of units seems to give a feeling of distinct prevalence of highly elite, expensive points-wise and low model count units - something that is not at all unexpected from a hobbyist with with a seriously slow painting speed like myself ;D. However, even though WK and Spiders aren't really playable now, even excluding those I finally have enough units to build lists of up to 2250 pts, even with some flexibility. This means I can finally stop worrying about the "points/painting hours" ratio of each new unit I add to my collection and just paint what I want/need most. Such a great feeling! lol

Just for example, the latest list that I made out of these units and that did quite well at the tournament last weekend was this:

Quote
Battalion (Alaitoc)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

HQ 1: Farseer (Witchblade) (Doom, Fortune)
- Falochu's Wing (relic)
HQ 2: Maugan Ra

Troops 1: 5 Dire Avengers (Exarch, Dual avenger shuricat)
Troops 2: 5 Dire Avengers
Troops 3: 5 Rangers

Heavy Support 1: 5 Dark Reapers (Exarch, Tempest launcher)

Transport 1: Wave Serpent (Spirit stone, Shuriken cannon (upg.), Twin shuriken cannon)
Transport 2: Wave Serpent (Spirit stone, Shuriken cannon (upg.), Twin shuriken cannon)

Air Wing (Alaitoc)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Flyers 1: Crimson Hunter
Flyers 2: Crimson Hunter
Flyers 3: Crimson Hunter

Outrider (Saim-Hann)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

HQ 1: Farseer Skyrunner (Witchblade) (Doom, Executioner)
- Warlord, trait Fate's Messenger
HQ 2: Warlock Skyrunner (Witchblade) (Protect)

Fast Attack 1: 3 Windriders (3 x Scatter laser)
Fast Attack 2: 3 Windriders (3 x Scatter laser)
Fast Attack 3: 6 Shining Spears (Exarch, Star lance)

Elites 1: 7 Fire Dragons (Exarch, Dragon's breath flamer)

Transport 1: Wave Serpent (Spirit stone, Shuriken cannon (upg.), Twin shuriken cannon)

Total: 2250

This is a huge list though, not suitable for casual games (makes them too long!), and besides a couple of upcoming tournaments are 1750. So this has to be scaled down to 2000 and then further down to 1750.

Now, let's think of the key bases that need to be covered.

Firstly, I have just enough Troops (15 DA and 5 Rangers) to field a Battalion, and a squad of Rangers provides me with some tactical flexibility due to the option of forward deployment. Initially I was planning to have 3 squads of Rangers, and even purchased the models. However, with the new beta rules prohibiting 1st-turn deep-strikes the importance of Rangers as tools for area-denial and screening has all but disappered, and their damage output is critically poor - so I realy don't feel like adding any more of those at this point.

Anti-tank duty is covered very reliably by the trio of Crimson Hunters supported by a squad of Reapers, and an option to bolster the AT section even further by taking some Serpent-borne Dragons. This area doesn't feel like it needs any special improvement atm - although it seems that I'm not opposed to painting some more Reapers, provided there are some strong arguments in their favour.

Anti-infantry duty is where my lists kind of feel lacking. Currently, my main source of anti-personnel firepower is obviously 3x3 scatter-bikes, followed closely by the Shining Spears (24 shots from shuricats is pretty respectable). With addition of up to 27 shuricannon shots from serpents and a bunch of shots from DA, my force can destroy about 30 chaff models per turn. This sounds seriously at first, but then you realise that it will still take you well over 6 turns to destroy a horde of 200 models. Besides, in my games Spears usually die first and very early, and scatter-bikes tend to follow them pretty soon - so there's no way in hell my main anti-personnel units will survive long enough to keep shooting for 6 turns. Even judging purely by experience, I usually do quite well versus mechanised Astra Militarum or SM where I have to deal with multiple tanks, while new Tau repeatedly steamroll over me - facing them I have to grind through some 25 shield drones before getting to any decent target, and my army just fails to do that quickly enough. This also kind of proves the fact that my anti-tank is good while my anti-infantry is not so good.
BTW, the latest list of 1750 pts that I used against Tau just yesterday (and got pretty much wiped out by turn 4) was this:

Quote
Battalion (Alaitoc)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

HQ 1: Farseer (Witchblade)
HQ 2: Maugan Ra

Troops 1: 5 Dire Avengers (Exarch, Dual avenger shuricat)
Troops 2: 5 Dire Avengers
Troops 3: 5 Rangers

Heavy Support 1: 5 Dark Reapers (Exarch, Tempest launcher)

Flyers 1: Crimson Hunter
Flyers 2: Crimson Hunter

Transports 1: Wave Serpent (Spirit stone, Shuriken cannon (upg.), Twin shuriken cannon)
Transports 2: Wave Serpent (Spirit stone, Shuriken cannon (upg.), Twin shuriken cannon)

Outrider (Saim-Hann)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

HQ 1: Farseer Skyrunner (Witchblade)
HQ 2: Warlock Skyrunner (Witchblade)

Fast Attack 1: 3 Windriders (3 x Scatter laser)
Fast Attack 2: 3 Windriders (3 x Scatter laser)
Fast Attack 3: 5 Shining Spears (Exarch, Star lance)

Total: 1747

So, let's say one important topic is set - it would be great to improve the anti-personnel capability of my force.

Now, in terms of expanding my collection further, in addition to improving specific lists I also always strive to increase variety and flexibility of my forces in general. And of course I also prefer to work on things that are interesting to model and paint as well as aesthetically appealing! Aren't we all :) This means, among other things, that I much prefer painting units that I don't have. 

The units that lately have been hovering at the fore of the list of things I'd love to paint and play with are:
1) Guardian Defenders
2) Swooping Hawks
3) Hemlocks

Guardians: I've been avoiding these guys for a long time, not the least because painting 1 Guardian would take me about as much time as painting say 1 Dark Reaper, with over 4 times difference in points :) Now, however, I feel I can afford it :) And besides, no Eldar collection would be complete without at least 20 of these.

Swooping Hawks: I would never even consider painting the classic GW Hawks as I find them as ugly as nuclear war. However, recently I purchased 2x5 alternative 3rd-party Hawks which are really beatiful (they come from the same russian guy sculpting under the label "Ghost Miniatures" who sculpted awesome - and pretty world-famous - alternative Warp Spiders a while ago). Now these guys are high on my priority list.

Hemlocks: I love the Eldar flyers, and since I already have a full complement of CHs, it would be great to bolster my air wing with a couple of Hemlocks. I proxied them a couple of times at the very beginning of 8th and they proved both powerful and really interesting to use.

One other thing that makes Guardians and Hawks particularly attractive is that both units are good anti-personnel specialists. Another overall very strong addition to my anti-personnel section would be more Shining Spears - but I already have a squad of these guys, and, as I mentioned above, I'd rather paint something new. I might consider painting some more Reapers though - the only squad I have was painted over 3 years ago and so they'll feel almost new and fresh again, if you know what I mean ) Also, painting 20 guardians would give me even more flexibility in terms of filling up Troops section (I might even field 2 Battalions!). Hawks at the same time would work as a direct replacement of scatter-bikes, being more points-efficient, better at using cover and getting a great additional benefit from Alaitoc trait.

As for Hemlocks, their steep point cost keeps me hesitant about them. Effectively, I'll be replacing 3 CHs with 2 Hemlocks in my lists, and I'm not 100% sure it will work well.

And finally, one other option I've been toying with lately is adding a small allied detachment of Drukhari to get me access to CP farm based on "Labyrinthine Cunning" trait. After all, a Patrol detachment of a cheapest Archon and a unit of 5 bare-bones Kabalites clocks in at mere 102 pts, which is comparable to the cost of an Autarch. Choices, choices...

So - if you somehow managed to read through all of my mumbling ;) - what would you do in my place? What would bring most benefits - both short-term and long-term - to my current forces? Would you start with Guardians, or jump straight to Hawks? Or perhaps start with securing more reliable competitive build by adding some more Reapers and Tempest Launchers? ALso, what do you think of Drukhari allies?

Any and all constructive thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

To be continued... :)
« Last Edit: June 17, 2018, 06:22:48 AM by SeekingOne »
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Offline dog_of_war

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #70 on: June 17, 2018, 09:41:49 AM »
One thing that I first noticed with your collection is that you didn't have a lot of options in the assault phase. I'm not sure that it would fit your play style, but I would nominate either scorpions or banshees, as your next addition. I know you have issues with Tau. If you can get one of these two units into Tau lines, they'd really blend through your opponent's gun line. It would also give you an opportunity to add either Karandras or Jain Zar, which I would love to see you accomplish.

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #71 on: June 18, 2018, 05:23:55 PM »
Wowsers trousers.

Those Wave Serpents are simply stunning SeekingOne. The smoothness of the transitions and the richness of the colours are absolutely lovely. The additions of the white stripes and the transfers just takes an already spectacular paint job to the next level.

Astounding.

As for the Farseer...I think I may hate you. To paint such a stunning model (One which would win every competition I've ever entered) in only a day is just sick. Or sickening! Seriously, it's lovely. The richness of the purple is my particular highlight. Everything is just so smooth and well done.

Yup. I think I may just hate you!

That said, if I could ask a technical question, what kind of pressure are you putting through your airbrush for this kind of work. My airbrushing is still in it's infancy, so I'm looking for tips from airbrush pros like yourself and AP whenever I can get them.
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Offline Cavalier

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #72 on: June 22, 2018, 01:37:14 PM »
Great stuff man. I'd defintley recommend Swooping Hawks. I use a unit of 5 in my Alaitoc army and they are great for helping to clear chaff. I deal with a lot of hordes and anytime I take them out they always reward, especially with Fire and Fade. Great little unit, super cheap. Love those models by the way killer!

Let us know what route you decide to go down. I love army development talk. Keep it coming!
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Offline SeekingOne

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #73 on: June 23, 2018, 04:44:40 AM »
@Looshkin
Hey Loosh, I love you too man!  ;D ;D ;D

As for airbrush pressure, in general I vary it between 1 and 2 bar or 15-30 psi. The way I do it, the thickness of paint is the defining factor. I use slightly thicker paint when I want good strong coverage (usually when applying base colours) and thinner when I want smooth transitions. For an airbrush, "thicker" paint would be roughly the kind of consistency that you would normally use for hand-brushing - e.g. thinned down enough to flow smoothly but not too watery. "Thinner" paint would be closer to milk-like consistency or even thinner. Especially when I go for a second pass over already airbrushed area (for example, after I already applied highligts, I usually go for the second pass over the shadows) I use paint of almost watery consistency.

So, when I have paint in the cup, I try it out on the back of my left hand and adjust pressure to make the paint go through smoothly. Generally, you do it this way:
1) when pressure is not enough, you'll know it by the fact that the test spot of paint would appear kind of grainy with tiny speckles all around.
2) when pressure is too much, you'll know it by the fact that the spot you're aiming at gets overly wet and overflowed with paint too quickly.

For thicker paint I use about 25-30 psi. For thin paint I can go down as low as 15 psi (usually not lower). Note that when spraying thin paint a lot depends on the trigger control - basically, with thin paint you want to pull the trigger back just super-slightly, letting through miniscule amounts of paint at a time.

Distance between the nozzle and the surface also matters. Basically, the micro-droplets of paint are already drying in the air, so the longer is the distance they have to travel to the surface, the dryer they'll be when they hit it. So if the painted area keeps getting wet and runny, you might fix it by simply holding the airbrush further away.

Hope this helps! If you have more questions - by all means feel free to ask.

@Cavalier
Hey Cav,
Thanks!
I haven't decided anything yet. The latest rational thought I had on the matter was that I'll probably want all three groups of models (Guardians, Hawks and Hemlocks) painted anyway, and I'll also want to bolster the HQ section of my new blue Craftworld - so I thought I'd start with assembling and priming them all. By the time I'm done, I'll hopefully make up my mind lol

I fight against Chaos and for Order, because it means fighting for Life against Death. There is no other battle truly worth fighting.

"If it's not for a tournament then play whatever it is that you like. Without the pressure of having to utterly destroy your opponent it opens up alot more opportunity to have fun." - Lazarus

Offline Looshkin

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #74 on: June 24, 2018, 12:34:41 PM »
@Looshkin
Hey Loosh, I love you too man!  ;D ;D ;D

 ;D

Cheers for the super thorough run through of your techniques. My airbrushing is very much in the formative stages, but it's this kind of info that I hope takes me on a level or 2. you know, when I can hold an airbrush again!

Cheers SeekingOne and once again, congrats on some seriously brilliant models.
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Offline SeekingOne

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #75 on: June 29, 2018, 06:43:13 PM »
A quick update - still with no pictures, sorry for that...

But I finally made up my mind! And oh Isha, what a gorgeous feeling it is :)

Looking back, it's kind of curious how it worked out... The latest model I completed was the Farseer on foot which I showed earlier, and it was on 9th of June. Since that day 3 full weeks passed without me making a single brush stroke - literally all my hobby time was spent wracking my brain over endless list variations - but the more variations I came up with the harder it got to make any decision. So, thankfully, I had enough common sense to realise that trying to make an abstract decision doesn't work, and I have to give it all an actual test run. SO I made a 1750 list that contained all 3 units I'm interested in: 20-Guardian blob, some Hawks and a pair of Hemlocks (all proxied, naturally). And... well, after a few test games that I played over last two weekends, it looks like the doubts that I had about these units were well-founded. Hemlocks proved far weaker than CHs agaist tanks, while not being that much stronger against anything else; Guardians proved extremely limited by their short range, and deep-striking them on turn 2 is usually too late. Hawks proved good indeed vs infantry but near-helpless against tanks.
Still, Hawks and Hemlocks feel like they might have potential, I probably just need more practice with them. Fielding Guardians on foot, however, doesn't feel like a viable option at all.

Initially these new (and somewhat disappointing) discoveries sowed even more confusion in my mind. And it was then that I got unexpectedly distracted from all that. You see, I play video games from time to time - and one of my buddies, having heard that I played The Witcher 3 and enjoyed it greatly, and that I generally like fantasy-style adventure games with swords in them, convinced me to try Dark Souls. I heard about the franchaise a lot, but I'd never even consider playing DS1 or DS2 - the whole atmosphere there is just way too ugly and depressing. However, having looked into DS3, I found that - at least in the first couple of locations - it doesn't look that depressing, so I decided to give it a go. And so it happened that I completely forgot about everything 40k for some 3 days - and this unexpected break had a miraculous effect on my mind. It seemed that the break allowed my mind clear itself on some subconscious level, to shake itself out of that riddled and confused state. As a result, when I got back to my lists yesterday with refreshed mind, the preferable path forward quickly became clear and obvious. And even better, once I made up my mind about the 1750 list that I'll be aiming for next, I also immediately saw that the things start scaling up further very neatly and smoothly. Oh, what a glorious pleasure it is, to feel all things finally fall into perfect order. I think I know how the Eldar gave birth to Slaanesh at the peak of their civilization! haha

I'm going to start with the 1750 list that I posted in the Eldar forum earlier as "Dark Reaper-centric". It looks like this:
Quote
Detachment: Battalion (Alaitoc)
HQ 1: Farseer (Witchblade)
HQ 2: Warlock (Witchblade)

Troops 1: 5 Dire Avengers (Exarch, Dual avenger shuricat)
Troops 2: 5 Dire Avengers
Troops 3: 5 Rangers

Fast Attack 1: 5 Shining Spears (Exarch, Star lance)

Transports 1: Wave Serpent (Spirit stone, Shuriken cannon (upg.), Twin shuriken cannon)

Detachment: Air Wing (Alaitoc)
Flyers 1: Crimson Hunter Exarch (2 x Bright lance)
Flyers 2: Crimson Hunter
Flyers 3: Crimson Hunter

Detachment: Spearhead (Alaitoc)
HQ 1: Maugan Ra
Heavy Support 1: 3 Dark Reapers (Exarch, Tempest launcher)
Heavy Support 2: 3 Dark Reapers (Exarch, Tempest launcher)
Heavy Support 3: 3 Dark Reapers (Exarch, Tempest launcher)

Transports 1: Wave Serpent (Spirit stone, Shuriken cannon (upg.), Twin shuriken cannon)

Total: 1750
This already feels like a good list, with a very fluffy-looking Spearhead of Reapers. And, what is best about it, I only need to paint 1 new warlock and 4 new Reapers to field it. The only slight imperfection it has is that I have to include a reduced squad of 5 Shining Spears - there doesn't seem to be any viable way of freeing up enough points to squeeze in the 6th Spear.
Still, this list is merely an intermediate version, because right after I complete a Warlock and 4 new Reapers I'm planning to paint an Autarch on foot with Reaper launcher and use him instead of Maugan Ra. Maugan is an awesome character, but still a tad too expensive for what he does, and particularly so in 1750. Replacing him with an Autarch would free up just enough points to bring back the 6th ShSpear:
Quote
Detachment: Battalion (Aeldari)
HQ 1: Farseer (Witchblade)
HQ 2: Spiritseer

Troops 1: 5 Dire Avengers (Exarch, Dual avenger shuricat)
Troops 2: 5 Dire Avengers
Troops 3: 5 Rangers

Fast Attack 1: 6 Shining Spears (Exarch, Star lance)


Transports 1: Wave Serpent (Spirit stone, Shuriken cannon (upg.), Twin shuriken cannon)

Detachment: Air Wing (Alaitoc)
Flyers 1: Crimson Hunter Exarch (2 x Bright lance)
Flyers 2: Crimson Hunter
Flyers 3: Crimson Hunter

Detachment: Spearhead (Alaitoc)
HQ 1: Autarch (Banshee mask, Star glaive, Reaper launcher)

Heavy Support 1: 3 Dark Reapers (Exarch, Tempest launcher)
Heavy Support 2: 3 Dark Reapers (Exarch, Tempest launcher)
Heavy Support 3: 3 Dark Reapers (Exarch, Tempest launcher)

Transports 1: Wave Serpent (Spirit stone, Shuriken cannon (upg.), Twin shuriken cannon)

Total: 1750
This will give me a very solid foundation for further list development.
Once this is done, the next thing on my list would be a pair of Hemlocks. I am going to try to make them work, if only for the sake of getting more blue vehicles into my force! Besides, next time I get to play in a 2k or 2250 pts event, I really want to try out a bigger Air Wing of 2 CHs AND 2 hemlocks. In a 1750 list, replacing 3 CHs with 2 Hemlocks would free up enough points to get another Warlock.
And finally, once these are done, I might add some Hawks.

So, here's my painting plan for the near future, finally clear and free from indecision:

1) 1 warlock (or, more likely, 2 new Warlocks at once)
2) 4 Dark Reapers
3) 2 Hemlocks
4) 5-6 Hawks.

Now, finally, I can get to work! :)

To be continued... :)
I fight against Chaos and for Order, because it means fighting for Life against Death. There is no other battle truly worth fighting.

"If it's not for a tournament then play whatever it is that you like. Without the pressure of having to utterly destroy your opponent it opens up alot more opportunity to have fun." - Lazarus

Offline Partninja

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #76 on: June 29, 2018, 07:05:26 PM »
I'm glad you made the swap to the Autarch over Maugan. Saves points and giving him the hunter warlord trait makes him very good. He can also buff more units.

Your list still feels very light due to a lot points being soaked up by the flyers. I'd still suggest trying some variations only using two.

Offline SeekingOne

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #77 on: August 2, 2018, 10:05:32 AM »
Finally, I'm back with an update :)

My new Craftworld's warhost has just received some reinforcements! The Farseer finally deemed his two apprentices fledged enough to take them to the ultimate class which is the battlefield. Will they prove worthy of carrying light of the Eldar spirit to the darkest corners of the galaxy, or will they end up joining the Infinity Circuit early in their lives? Only time will tell. Of course, their master knows the threads of their fates better than anyone, and of course, he keeps silence...






The Council is ready, and the enemies of the Craftworld are doomed


All in all, I think I like black background far better than white (which I used before). What do you guys think?
Still, can't help posting this pic as well:

It kind of seems that my camera captures colours and hues best of all against deeper and multi-coloured background, rather than against mono-chrome artificial backdrop.


And here's my next project - the Reaper Autarch :)

Need to complete him by the nearest Sunday - wish me luck! :)

To be continued... :)
« Last Edit: August 2, 2018, 10:06:41 AM by SeekingOne »
I fight against Chaos and for Order, because it means fighting for Life against Death. There is no other battle truly worth fighting.

"If it's not for a tournament then play whatever it is that you like. Without the pressure of having to utterly destroy your opponent it opens up alot more opportunity to have fun." - Lazarus

Offline Irisado

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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #78 on: August 2, 2018, 11:37:28 AM »
The shading of that blue is wonderful.  It gives those psykers such a magical and mystical hue.  The contrast with the green spirit stones works really well too.  This is very impressive work all round.
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Re: A Lethal Elegance: SeekingOne's Eldar blog
« Reply #79 on: August 2, 2018, 11:45:25 AM »
Digital cameras adjust based on the lighting. So if you have a blue background it's going to shift blue. White will make things seem hotter. The varied background gives you an even shift.

This is assuming you used a phone or point and shoot camera. A DSLR camera will have manual settings to help adjust for this.

 


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