Monday, February 17, 2014

WIP: Ulthwe Eldar

I have started painting the pilot for my Wraithknight. Its been super fun so far as he comes alive with colors. I will be using him as the center from which will inspire the rest of the colors of the Ulthwe Wraithknight.
I decided to the wires and gems a similar color of glowing turquoise to simulate the psychic connection that powers the construct. Also painted his eyes in the same glowing tone of the psycho-connectors.
Side view of the wraithbone chair. I used a basecoat of Khemri Brown followed by a layer of Dheneb Stone. This was followed by a layer of Ushabti Bone.
I then mixed 70:30 ratio of White Scar with Ushabti Bone for the highlights. The recesses were then applied with a watered down wash of Sepia Wash.
The bluish glow of the tubes were painted using Sotek Green as a base. The a mix of Sotek Green and Temple Guard Blue. I layered on pure Temple Guard Blue on the inner/ center of the tubing and gems. Then I added white to the Temple Guard Blue for successive highlights.
Test fit again into the chest of the Wraithknight. I'll be priming the Wraithknight itself soon and also paint up the interior of the chest.

The List: I've come up with a list consisting of mostly Guardians at the core for the Ulthwe army. This would also fit their fluff of their armies being Guardian heavy. I did not give my Farseers any jetbikes as they are in the fluff too old to be zipping around on such steeds. I also did not include any Aspect Warriors at all as most of their Craftworld's people turn to the Path of the Seer.

Ulthwe Eldar Army List (1850 points)

HQ
1 Farseer XXXpts

1 Farseer XXXpts

3 Warlocks 1XXpts

TROOPS

10 Defender Guardians XXpts
Dedicated transport: 1 Wave Serpent (TL-Scatterlaser, Holofields) 145pts

10 Defender Guardians XXpts
Dedicated transport: 1 Wave Serpent (TL-Scatterlaser, Holofields) 145pts

10 Defender Guardians XXpts
Dedicated transport: 1 Wave Serpent (TL-Brightlance, Holofields) 145pts

8 Guardian Jetbikes 1XXpts
2 with Shuriken Cannons

HEAVY SUPPORT

3 Warwalkers 210pts
(3 Scatterlasers, 3 Brightlances)

1 Wraithlord 170pts
(1 Brightlance, 1 Missile Launcher)

1 Wraithknight 300pts
(Suncannon & Shimmershield, 1 Scatterlaser)

Total: 1846 points

I had to separate and place the Warlocks into each Guardian squad as a Seer Council of 2 Farseers and 3 Warlocks on foot would not survive too long in the open. This means my Farseers will be joining a Guardian squad each. However, if I do find my stash of Support Battery platforms I will definitely replace the Wraithlord with them. This means more Guardians as well :)

Hope to get them painted up a bit faster as their majority army color is black.

Have a great week ahead all!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Eldar WIP: Wraithknights

Its been a while since I posted stuff. I did basecoat my Wraithknights sometime back. I just had time to put on some layers of paint onto the model. The Wraithknight above will be painted in the colors of the Iyanden Craftworld. Very slowly I might add haha! The model is huge! And i'm still getting used to the angles in painting it.

Another Craftworld...Another Wraithknight...
I mentioned before in a previous posts that I'll be re-organizing the majority of my Eldar miniatures to the Ulthwe Craftworld. I've also written up a fluffy list for it which I'll post later. Basically lots of Guardians and a new toy, The Wraithknight to look current ;)

Below is the WIP Wraithknight for my Ulthwe Craftworld. I'll also detail some lessons I learned from assembling the model.

I decided to glue the arms on in a pose that can take the twin Wraithcannons, Sword and Shield as well as the Suncannon and Scattershield. I think the arms can be magnetized without any issue, however, with the addition of the weapons, especially the Suncannon, it can be a bit heavy.
So I chose pinning as a way of attaching and switching the weapons. Above is the Suncannon I pinned.
Above are the corresponding holes for the pins in the arm of the Wraithknight. It fits snugly and holds together well.
For the Scattershield, there is part near the hand that has to be glued on the underside of the forearm. I wanted to still be able for him to wield the Wratihcannon though.
So I just glued the lower shield to the main piece indicated by the red arrow. This way, you will be able to attached the Scattershield onto the arm, without any glue or pinning required.
The pic above shows the front of the Scattershield, with lower portion glued together. This becomes one piece that you can snap onto the forearm pf the model.

Wraithknight Pilot
I had wanted to place a pilot as I was inspired by the fluff that the construct was powered by the psychically attuned minds of Eldar twins, one dead and one alive. To this end, I did some modifications to the chest cavity of the Wraithknight.
I cut away the round concave part that connects the body to the waist. I placed a standard 28mm model base to cover the hole. This acts as a base for the pilot. I attached a plastic gem to the back of the interior. Coincidentally, it fits into the same location as the Eldar symbol on the outer back of the Wraithknight.
I glued the chest piece to the upper headmount. It works well and slides into the main model really well without need of pinning or glue.
I glued the neck to the head. I did not glue the neck to the chest piece. This allows you to turn the head for added poseability.
I assembled the pilot using bits from a spare Eldar Vyper I bought about 10 years back. I added the Guardian body and new Dire Avenger head to the model.
Before gluing this piece in, you just have to ensure it is bent in position so it fits into the chest cavity.
I cut off some of the plastic cabling from the bottom of the chassis and glued it to the pilot's head area to simulate his communion with the construct and the spirit stone of his dead twin located just behind him.
I added a pin to the bottom of the 'seat'. This allows me to remove the pilot to paint up if needed.
The Eldar Wraithknight pilot enjoying his new home. Because the chest piece had to be able to slide out to reveal the pilot inside, I could not glue the shoulder pads onto the main chassis.
I kinda got around this by gluing the shoulder plates to the shoulders itself. It still looks good, and gives the model a slightly broader shoulder profile.
I forgot to take a picture of how I attached the body to the legs. Basically you cut off the rounded portion of the connector of the waist to the body. This is because the underside of the body is not longer concave but flat.
I also added an Eldar posing in the same manner as the Wraithknight at the base of the model. He will be painted in a ghostly, ethereal color scheme. This will be my representation of the ghostly appearance of the dead twin whose spirit is housed within the giant Wratih construct. A good theme for the base would be a dead or deserted crone world with some spirit stones scattered on the base. This represents the Wratihknight in the Hunt for Spirit Stones.

Eldar Spirit Stone Markers
Speaking of Spirit Stones, I have also made some markers for objectives to go with the army.
I basically just greenstuffed the interior of the base and pushed in the plastic gems into it. Added some plastic tree branches from my Wood Elves bitz.
I used the corner of the Wraithknight Scattershield which has some mysterious Eldar writing and pressed it onto the greenstuff base portion. If you look closely, you can see some Eldar script on the ground part :)

I'll probably prime the entire marker and paint the gems later. However, you can also attached the gems later after the base is primed and painted if you like the unpainted look of the gems.

I hope everyone has had a great week. Here's wishing all a Happy Valentine's Day and weekend.

I leave you with a quote from the novelist and playright Marge Kennedy.  May you all have joyful and memorable quality time with your loved ones and family.

"The informality of family life is a blessed condition that allows us to become our best while looking our worst."- Margaret Kennedy