Venom #2 (Part 3)

 I was able to make a decent amount of progress on this model since last time. Really the only thing left to do was the gunner. Somehow through the back and forth that Da Masta Cheef and I did with this thing ("Take this." "No, you!" Etc.) One of the sprues disappeared. 

So I had to build the gunner from a variety of bits.  The legs and right arm are from the original 3rd edition Dark Eldar Warrior sprue, the torso is from the Venom kit and so is the head. The arm with the chain is from the Wyches kit. 

Yeah, he is one kitbashed fellow, but I think he turned out well. He seems a bit more relaxed than the gunner from Venom #1, who looks like she just wants to kill everyone. This guy is a more casual kind of killer. You can compare and contrast them with the last two pics in this post.

The last thing to do was affix the canopy to the cockpit. This was done using Testor's Clear Parts Cement, a niracle affixing agent I wish I had when I was building model planes as a kid. 

And here they are together. My fleet of dread murder elf skimmers has doubled!

Hopefully I can get the next one done soon-ish and finally start on some Raiders. I would love to finally field this as a proper army by the end of the year, but we shall see. 

Venom #2 (Part 2)

 Since part 1 was posted ages ago, this model has passed hands back to Da Masta Cheef and ultimately back to me.  Ok, so the story here is that we had played a game using the remnants of his Eldar Corsair force and they still had the option in Battlescribe to take the venom with the duel Shurikan Catapults.  I asked him, in light of this, if he wanted it back and he said "sure". But,  as the editions change so did that army and with it so did Cheef's interest in all things Eldar. As a result I now have almost all of his Eldar things. And so this  poor Venom has been hanging around my hobby area since some time last year. 

Venom 1 and Venom 2. 

I was digging around and came across both of these Venoms and noticed that one of the guns from Venom #1 was  detached. After repairing it I decided that I needed to properly secure these things. And while pondering it, felt the need to actually work on it. Finally, actually work on it. So I painted the whole thing black. 

Black coated.

I stated this way back in part 1 that I intended to leave the pilot as is, as a nod to Da Cheef. That red in the cockpit is a bit too intense, so I might darken some of that. While searching through the bits I had I realized that I was missing the sprue that had the optional crew and the gunner. Not sure if it got misplaced during the multiple trades or what, but I think I have a solution for that.  I did  notice  also that the pintle mount was attached incorrectly, so I pried it off and re-glued it. 

Thinned Khorne Red

Thick Khorne Red

Classic Blood Red

Wild Rider Red on the points and edges.

Sunburst Yellow highlights. 

The bottom.

Not a bad bit of progress there. In fact, that almost finishes the main part of the model, it's the details that are going to slow me down a little. Especially the gunner. But we'll save that stuff for Part 3...

The Slicing Noose (Part 2)

When we left off in Part One, I was waiting until it "warmed up outside" so I could prime these models. Well, that's happened for sure, like, thrice over the years, but I got distracted along the way. The original intention for this series was to have one or two miniatures showcased in each part, more or less from start to finish, but I found myself working on them in an assembly line anyway.

I started with the flesh.

And some of the bases have metal on them, so I picked out those areas using Leadbelcher.

Next I started to apply the Khorne Red basecoats to their body armor.  And then I didn't touch these things for over two years! But something recently inspired me to do so. 

Fast forward about 28 months from when all of the above was written. My current job only has me scheduled for 1 day a week but I can be called in any day. I wake up and get ready in anticipation of work, and during that nervewracking wait time I found it to be quite a relief to jam on some miniatures. Instead of jamming on the miniatures already on my table I found myself picking at these wyches. With such a fleeting window of opportunity I just haven't been taking the work in progress shots I originally had hoped to do with this project. So I just jammed on them until they were done. 

The Slicing Noose. 

I was originally going to showcase two models at a time but with the way this turned out, I'm just going to wrap it all up here. 

WiP shot.

I wanted the rims on these bases to be different from the Terracotta color that I typically use as it doesn't work right with these industrialized scenic bases. I tried Folkart Antique Copper (666 proceeds the name on the label so I suppose that is the model number or something? It seemed appropriate regardless.) which has a new penny sheen look to it. I liked it at first but ultimately decided that it overwhelmed the models so I lightly painted over that with Leadbelcher which gave me a really interesting look.

Folk Art 666 Antique Copper.

The first of these finished models is the leader of the squad, Vylekh the Untouchable. I followed the pics of the Slicing Noose from the pamphlet that came in the Kill Team box as far as trying to figure out what is what on these models. They are insanely detailed for a base troop kit. Vylech has some extra details on whip and trophy rack that I took pains trying to reproduce. Not sure how successful it was but I feel "close enough" about it.

Vylekh the Untouchable.

A detail that stuck out on all of them are their IV tubes of stimulate chemicals throughout their bodies. The damned things just kept being discovered long after I thought I was close to.being done with this unit. 

Bithanded Khaur. 

These combat drug tubes were painted using Rotting Flesh base coat with a glaze of Tesseract Glow. I think these turned out well. 

Veshrari the Cruel.

The weird skin pelts they all wear at their groins were all painted in typical Cadian Flesh through Kislev Flesh staging. I think it's the most disturbing aspect of these models...

Pelythia Berrebaal.

The hair was done by using a basecoat of Wazdakka Red, the Fire Dragon Orange which was followed by a wash of Bloodletter. This was lastly highlighted with another light dryburshing of Fiery Orange. 

Mellyx Veluxis.

Ultimately I think I preferred how the flesh turned out on my Venom Pilots so I will likely return to that method on whatever murder elves that I paint next.

Unless the Screaming Blade.

Thessa khrone.

Nyx  Bloodslyk. 

The bones and hair ties were done using Ushanti Bone, washed with Agrax Earthshade, with the bones highlighted again with Ushanti Bone. 

Xela Vexx. 

The greenish glow of the eye slots on the crome masks were done by using Rotting Flesh (or whatever it's modern equivalent is called) with Tesseract glow washed over it. This came better than I had hoped! In the pics of the Slicing Noose pamphlet these masks were painted White, but I just didn't like the way it looked so I opted for Mithereal Silver.

Shexen  the Faceless.

And that's it, they're done! Will they see battle in a Kill Team or a 40k game first? There are challenges for both, but for now I am just pleased to get them done. Having said that, while taking these pics I found myself nitpicking at some details which I may go back and correct. (Seriously, is that a fricking cat hair on Vylekh's face?!) If so there just might be a part 3... but, I am thinking I should do up a second unit, and use The Slicing Noose as coloring guides for the next batch. Either way, it's nice to have options, right?  

Dances with Ur-Ghuls

 

A pair of Ur-Ghuls. 

Every good Archon (ur, well evil technically) has to have a retinue and one of the weirdest options they can have are some Ur-Ghuls. When their first miniatures were released on the scene GW had just transitioned to Finecast (shudder) and even though the Archon linked above is in fact a Finecast model, I just couldn't find it in me to pay the price for the Ur-Ghul miniature. And I am glad I did because many years later they would appear in plastic in the Blackstone Fortress game  and thanks to those online bitz brokers out there, I was able to score two Ur-Ghuls in plastic for less than the retail cost of the inferior Finecast model. Excited, I based them up, primed them, and... forgot about them for over a year. 

Granite Grey over Chaos Black Primer

Until the other day when I was scouring YouTube for interesting podcasts I stumbled upon this painting tutorial.  They made it look stupid easy to paint these things, and well I am becoming a sucker for fast and easy miniature painting techniques. I compared this to the Dark Eldar Painting Guide: Raiders Of Commorragh which has a single page Ur-Ghul tutorial and decided to something a bit between these two versions. However, both of these examples required that the models be primed White and I had already primed these guys using Black. I didn't have the Citadel color that GW recommended as the basecoat in both tutorials so had to find an analog. Apple Barrel Granite Grey turned out to be perfect for this and it coats over the Black Primer very well. 

Next came the liberal wash of Coeliac Greenshade. This stuff rocks! I like the vibe this color creates. If these guys were ghosts I would mostly be done at this stage! 

Coelia Greenshade wash stage.

Coelia Greenshade was drybrushed over using Ulthuan Grey. It was amusing to me just how close Ulthuan Grey was to the Granite Grey, it was only a tad brighter.

Ulthuan Grey drybrush layer.

Druchii Violet was washed over the hands following the technique from the Warhammer TV video. Carosburg Crimson was applied to the face as per The Dark Eldar Painting Guide. The final step was to hit the highlights with a solid application of Ulthuan Grey. This was conservatively applied on the raised areas where the skin is tight and on the tips like their knuckles and ribcage.

Ulthuan Grey highlights. 

After this step, I finished off the skull on the one model's base,  added some tufts and finished off the rims on both miniatures' bases. And, presto, I had both of these miniatures knocked out in (for me anyway) record time.  And I even had time to introduce them to their boss, the still unnamed* Archon for my Dark Eldar force. 

The court assembles.

I hope to expand this court of painted miniatures sooner than later, but I doubt I can expand it with the expediency to which I was able to execute these Ur-Ghuls. But, believe it or not,  that's two miniatures from my painting queue completed! 

*I am thinking about naming him Skot, after an old friend. Yeah, Skot the Despot. Catchy name, although some might think he's a bit of dick,..

Venom #2 (Part 1)

Hello, and welcome to the start of my 2nd Venom project. I thoroughly enjoyed working on my 1st Venom last year and have every intention of building my second one whenever my attention returned back to the Dark Eldar. So probably not until like this Fall at the earliest? Well, that changed when Da Masta Cheef (he who trolls me), gifted me with this wonderful venom. For reasons that baffle me, he decided to part with it, and instead of selling it or repurposing it, he gave it to me after we had our recent Ork vs. Ork game.

*

Knowing how speedy and random I can be about finishing a model construction / painting project he likely assumes that it will be well into the 2020's before I finish it. And that might likely be true if not for the fact that I keep fiddling with it!

*

So some back story on this thing is necessary (I hope I don't screw this up, but I am sure Cheef will embellish in the comments if need be). He had intended this to used with his Eldar Corsairs but since their list was only given half-ass support from Forgeworld when 8th edition arrived he got rid of most of them. Regardless of all of that, the point is that this is not a standard or conventional Venom, but rather one that had been repurposed.

*

Instead of the typical Dark Eldar weapon options we find instead that there are two Shuriken Catapults on the bottom of the hull. I am trying to figure out if these should stay or go...hmmm...

*

Also the pilot is not the murder elf one would expect to find piloting a Venom but a well dressed fellow in a brown outfit with red hair (Screech?). The gunner was also going to another Guardian converted over to fit the Corsair role, but this chap was never assembled. He sits crooked for some reason (again, Screech?).

Is this where he gave up?

Now, I have no intention of keeping this model looking like this, and I have no doubt Cheef wouldn't expect me too considering that he never finished it either. I am going to paint it to match my paint scheme. However I intend to make a slight exception: I am going to leave the pilot alone! Call it a tribute to the Cheef and the origin of this piece, but that guy is done and I just don't want to alter him. Even though he sits crooked. Also if that is supposed to be Screech** I like the idea of him press-ganged into service for the Drukhari. (Cue sinister laugh).

A comparison of canopies.

Back when I was working on the 1st Venom,  I was Indecisive on which canopy to use so I painted them both. Now I have a purpose for the other one, and it will be used to enclose in this pilot. Below you can see the test fit and also get a possible sense on how this might look when I am done with it. Which hopefully won't be in 2020!

I think I might leave the display blue also...

See you back for part 2!



*Yes, I know, a photography student loses it's soul each time a photo is composed with a corner in it...*sigh*

**The Cheefs old ward and now Imperial Guard conscript. 

Terror Tactics

"An Extra Night of Gaming." That's what the event was called on our local Hobbytown FB page. It was this past Monday, and somehow the stars aligned themselves in such a way that I was able to participate.

Attempting to employ terror tactics. 

There were a few games being played when I arrived, but not long afterwards the Kill Team game ended and Josh agreed to play a game with me. We chose the Terror Tactics mission and selected our teams. Since they worked well last time I chose to run the exact same Kill Team of Dru...I mean Dark Eldar. Josh selected a team of Primaris Marines.

Dark Eldar Deployment.

Marine Deployment.

I managed to get the Initiative every round of this game! Really, it was the only time that my dice wanted to roll well, as the rest of this match felt like I was in contention with my dice as much as I was my opponent! It started off well with a segment of my force moving towards the board edge while still peppering the Space Marines with as many poisoned needles as possible. I missed a lot, or failed to wound, or the Marine made a save, or I didn't take him out of action when I did manage to hurt him. This made this match more challenging for me, that is for sure!

Dark Eldar advance on Turn 1. 

The first few rounds seemed to go fairly even handed, I kill a guy  he kills a guy, etc. We both our Leaders early on also. But by the 3rd Turn Josh was able to let the Primaris sink their teeth into my Kill Team and start tearing. My Wyches, who stole the show in their last match, were shockingly ineffective against the Primaris Marines in this game. The Comms Specialist and his synergistic benefits were amazing in this game, and this being my first time seeing it in action, I was impressed greatly by his performance.

The floundered charge. 

I had gotten about three models off this board via his deployment zone however the other victory condition was that if one of the teams broke, than the other team could win. Josh focused on achieving this victory condition. When his Reiver slaughtered my Kabalite Warrior Gunner (with the blaster) in an assault, I was left and the last Warrior was brought down by shooting, I had only the other Kabalite Warrior Gunner (with the Splinter Cannon) left on the board. He was in rough shape, and it was no surprise when he failed that test.

Don't fear the Reiver.

If this match taught me anything it was that mastery of the CP system is key to Kill Team. I was poorly suited for this in this match as I am still unfamiliar with my options, while Josh used his with strategic cunning and was able to undermine my most clever strategies. My best use of the Stratagems did get my Wyche Fighter out of a bad situation and able her to escape, but that was more out of desperation on my part than any sort of strategy!

"This sector is secured!"

Thanks for a good game Josh, we'll meet again! Really, if the game had ended on Turn 5 instead of my dice willing the game to continue for another round, I would have won! But that extra round was all the Space Marines needed to rally and take the day! I had fun, in spite of my frustration with my die rolls and with the mechanics of the game in general. After decades of the 'I go U go' system, this version of 'I move, now you move', although refreshing, is hard for this old beard to adapt too. I guess I just need to play more, right?




Some of the other games that took place that night were awesome to observe. Josh, fresh from his win against me, took on a Death Guard army. It was a good example of how undeveloped an all Primaris army currently is as far as support options go. Take a look at all those heavy support and vehicles on the Death Guard side vs. the Space Marine side and you can see what I mean. I left before it ended, and forgot to take a 2nd pic, but it was a brutal clash with Josh's marines hitting with everything they had!

Primaris vs. Deathguard.

The other big game was between The Bob and Matt. Matt used his Genestealer Cult with Imperial Guard Allies and Bob brought his Ulthwe Craftworlds Eldar. It was a brutal match with devastating death tolls on both sides.

Cult corrupted Guard vs. Ulthwe Eldar.

It boiled down to the final fight for the objective. I think the Eldar won, but it was crazy close (so I could be wrong?)! It was a fun game to watch. So I asked Bob who won and this is what he said:

"Matt did on objectives.
8-4 I think,
I had more models left but he had the only unit left that could score.
Fun game."

The final fight! 

Indeed, fun games all around, and I was glad I could participate!