Armies on Parade 2015

So I did eventually manage to just about finish off the Eldar Alaitoc army off, but only just! It was a 2am painting session the evening before that finally saw the last of the work completed. Overall I'm really happy with how they came out and it's been a really good learning experience. Here's the very last units that were completed before the force was displayed at the local GW in the annual Armies on Parade competition.

Insert zooming noises here.

I mentioned in an earlier post about the possibility of adding some of the old jet bikes to the force but didn't actually come across any at a reasonable price until a month before the deadline.  These were good fun to paint and really add some mid-level height to the army as well as the opportunity to whizz around the house like a dick with them. They're really simple four-part figures (not including rider) and have a proper weight to them. The castings were a little off in parts, but nothing a little greenstuff and filing couldn't fix.

Proper flying bases! I always preferred the old hex style base.

Bonus shrieker cannon.

I would have preferred to spend a little more time on them and come up for a slightly more exciting design for the carapace, but they look okay and fit with the rest of the army. I really feel as if I've (finally) cracked using yellow with this project too and I've started adding glazes into the painting process so that should be something fun to play around with in the future. I can't describe how much of an epiphany it was when I realised how much more vivid they made certain colours pop, which is especially useful when painting 1990's inspired armies!

Last of the boy Scouts

The very last thing to finish was the last group of five Scouts. These were okay to paint, but nothing particularly special and felt like a bit of a chore (as the last of any project is want to be). I also had to do quite a bit of modelling work to clean them up as some of the casting was iffy. Still great figures though and it's nice to have had the chance to paint up all nine of the Jes Goodwin Scout models! Anyway, here are some of the entries from the event.,..

Chaos Iron Warriors with Thunderhawk.

Amazing Khemri Undead Army.

Fantasy Ogres on an amazing display board.

Fantasy Goblins on another great board - love those Squigs and Trolls.

Chaos Thousand Sons force that won - some rad airbrush stuff going on with these guys!

My Eldar on the day - stoked to have finally finished them!

The guys at the local shop really do go out of their way to hype up the event and it really paid off, with 18 entrants this year which turned out to be a record for the country! There were loads of other great boards that I didn't get to photograph, including a rad Werewolf-themed Fantasy display and an Undead graveyard scene.  I was really impressed at some of the scratch-built boards and the amount of narrative that was happening in some of them (something which my board had none of). In the end I didn't place in the top three, but wasn't really fussed as the event is always used as a deadline rather than a competition for me - seems to be the only way I manage to finish stuff off! In true hobby style, I've already started working on the next army and will be posting an entry on that in the next few days as there's some really exciting stuff to start working on! If you've never done an Armies on Parade project before I'd defiantly recommend it -nothing better than seeing other people's work and chatting about little men.

Alaitoc Parade Part Two

I've not made as much progress during the past few weeks as a new role at work has meant that I've lost a few lunch hours sorting boring guff out. However, pretty much got my head around new things, so I'll hopefully get things back on track! The last couple of additions to the force have been a pleasure to paint and I'm really enjoying learning to play around with glazes. The difference that final thin wash makes on flattening and enriching colours is a technique I wish I'd picked up years ago. I imagine I'll be revisiting a lot of older models in the next few years and giving them some extra love! Anyway, here's what I've managed to push out since mid-August.

Cannot un-hear KLF right now.

So this isn't the first time I've painted this figure. This version of the Eldar Farseer happens to be one of my all-time favourite models. I think that's down to a combination of it's unavailability in the stores when I was a kid and that it's just a beautifully sculpted figure. (Jes, if you ever read this, I owe you a pint or several you wonderful Jesus and Mary Chain-loving goth you). The version on the left was painted in 2007 and I was proud of it at the time. However, it's rad to actually see some progression in painting skill as I've never noticed it much before. I could easily spend few days painting another one of these figures and not get bored. Think I've finally cracked red jewels too!

So proud of the freehand on this fella - massive confidence boost.

Really wanted to practice some freehand on this figure and took inspiration from the 90's output of Mcvey. I distinctly remember his wonderful spiral work that appeared on the famous 'Emperor vs Horus' diorama, as well as on figures such as Confessor Kryinov and Commissar Yarrick. I wussed out a little on going full-bore with it by making the swirls only slightly lighter than the backing colour, but I think the subtlety works well with Eldar textiles. Going to be doing a lot more of this in the future hopefully!

Konica, colours are calling me.

So yeah, feeling a lot more confident with colours these days. The only thing I'm not entirely sure worked on this figure is the yellow jewels on either side of the helmet. They've a nice fade on them, but as much as I thought it'd be nice to paint a jewel that wasn't blue, red or green, it does kind of look like a giant zit. Hmm. Space-puss.

DEATHPOD COMES FROM THE SKIES FLOATS AT THE BACK.

Ah, the wonder of the floating support platform. I've never painted one of the old Eldar missile pods and for the longest time assumed they were flat as they were always pictured side-on in the catalogue sections of White Dwarf. This was a really fun, quick thing to put together and paint. I'm quite fond of how chunky the weapon is too.

SHOOT IT UP! SHOOT IT UP!

So stoked to get Martin Degville in the army! Even in the grim darkness of the far future, war is better with ridiculous hair and Sigue Sigue Sputnik references. Seriously tempted to make an Eldar Corsair force based on the 'Flaunt-It' era band. It'd be amazing.

Oh fuck, I've just realised they look like Minions.

Saving the best for last, these two Ghost Warriors have been a real treat. These were phased out and unavailable by the time I'd got into Warhammer 40,000, but I remember being more into these models than the later Wraithguard that replaced them. Here they are with the still amazing 1989 Eldar Dreadnought. Both stoked and weirded out at how much they look like either Sonic the Hedgehog or Minions. Tempted to paint their feet red to reference the former!

Gotta go kill fast!

The most camouflaged assassin ever.

Out of the two, the bottom figure was the more satisfying to paint as I don't think the chain-fist / head-flamer combo was quite as well designed. However, they were both really good fun to work on and have a wonderful tabletop presence. Would love to make a little squad of these and have them count as Wraithguard or something.

So the last things I have to finish up are a squad of five Eldar Scouts and another War-Walker. I've also just managed to snag three of the original jet bikes without selling a kidney, so if I get a move on there's a chance that I'll have some classic aerial support too! However, I doubt that I've have time to finish them off to a standard I'd be happy with before October 24th, so might save them for the future.