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?  

The Slicing Noose (Part 1)

After the recent Kill Team game, where I tried out some Wyches for the first time, I decided I needed to go all the way! I figured out that I needed the expanded cards and rules for the Drukhari (um, I mean Dark Eldar) that came with the Slicing Noose boxed set. And also, more Wyches!

Rules and... stuff! 

After reading through the background material and the short story, I decided it would be fun to actually run and play this Kill Team as presented. I am sure more of my local gamer-peers would prefer just to make up their own unique team, and normally I would too, but I also thought this would be a neat challenge. Each member of the Slicing Noose is named and has a corresponding miniature to represent them in the booklet. I want to build these Wyches to match the photos as close as possible, with the exception that their garments will have red highlights instead of green/blue-ish.

The entire Slicing Noose as presented by GW.

Matching these images up to the parts on the sprues quickly proved to be a maddening exercise in futility. So my solution was to simply assemble all of the legs at once and them match up the parts.

"She's got legs, and she knows how to use them."

The leader, Vylekh the Untouched, was fairly straight forward model to put together, despite my 3 year old jumping around and shaking the whole room like a maniac.  

GW's example.

 My Vylekh the Untouched. 

Keen eyes might spot that I am using Plastruct Bondene Styrene & ABS Plastic Solvent Cement for the construction of these Wyches. However while attempting to clean off the mold Lines in the pic above, Vylekh popped right off of her base. And that was after a night of curing! The bases I am using are a mix of Necromunda and Sector Imperialis bases. They are made from a harder plastic than the standard slots base, so maybe more cement was needed for the feet? I decided to not fool with it and just use Testors Cement for the feet/base joining.

These bases are tough stuff so I had to use my drill to make a small hole in these bases, then clip off the tabs, but leaving enough to fit into the holes.

Poser tool time! 

This worked out really well I think, although it took a bit of adjusting to get it to work right.

The completed legs. 

Now on to matching the torsos to the legs. This was a more challenging exercise than I guessed it would be, but fun none-the-less. It took quite a long time getting them right, but in the end I did. When it came to the blade and gun arms....well, that proved to be a royal pain in the rear. I got most of them right although there are two that I know for sure that got mixed up. Not a really big deal, but fixing them could potentially damage them so I left them alone. Matching the heads was fairly easy however, but in the end the whole construction/matching process was very time consuming, but I think I mostly succeeded.

The assembled Wyches.

And that's it for now, hopefully it will warm up enough soon for me to prime them and get the painting process rolling.