Kabal of the Arterial Arc

Good Morning Dark City!

I've been on here for a few weeks now, mostly checking out the modeling and painting going on (I'm not much of a gamer of late) and I finally have decided to sit down and start a lil plog of my own. I'll admit to being caught by the allure of the +3 armor save for quite awhile but I've decided to go with something completely different, both as a color scheme and an army. Hopefully this will get my "hobby batteries" recharged and I'll have plenty of fun updates for you folks to yell helpful things at in the coming months.

Anywho, my idea for a dark eldar kabal has been awhile in the making. My local "meta" is pretty highly geared towards loyalist power armor, especially with the release of the new SM codex not long past. So I wanted something both fun and attractive to paint, as well as something completely different on the table on the rare occasions I do haul them out to play a game. I love some midnight blue, don't get me wrong, but I wanted a complete visual overhaul for my next army. I wanted something that could show some dirt, blood and weathering. I also wanted something that wouldn't take me an age to paint on each individual. The days of eight hours on a single Nightlord are, hopefully, behind me.

I'll get into my Kabal's little fluff bits after awhile, but for now, enough jibbajabba! Here's a test shot of my color scheme for perusal and helpful review.



and the flirty side.



We also have another squaddie:



The Banner(wo)man for the Sybarite:





A monstrous creature killer cannon:





And the Squad Leader:





And her close up for whatever passes as Vogue Magazine in Commorragh:



And a group shot of the gang so far!



Feel free to yell helpful stuff in abundance.

I like the colours, maybe paint the bases? I enjoy my bases being painted. and yours look like they would be desert or snow ones.

Very nice colour scheme. i have similar colours for my Trueborn killteam.

How did you paint such lovely loincloths? That blue is exquisite !

Welcome to Commorragh!

Loving the bone armour, nice job!

Love it. There is something really sinister about Dark Eldar painted in pale color schemes. The blue and purple accents really work well too. Nice work looking forward to seeing more...

They look great.


You coul, maybe spend just a little bit more time in model preparation to remove all the molding lines, since those have a tendency do bring models down.


Cheers

Giladis wrote:

They look great.


You coul, maybe spend just a little bit more time in model preparation to remove all the molding lines, since those have a tendency do bring models down.


Cheers

I sometimes find they hide from me. I painted up some Dire Avengers recently and gave them the once over when I was prepping them. Didn't see any mould lines at all. When it came to actually painting them I suddenly saw them everywhere and thought "How the hell did I miss those?".  

Wow, thanks guys! I tend to jump back and forth between these guys and my Nightlords, but I'll try to keep the updates coming. So far I've got these first five based (black gravel and dirty snow, so good call, Lord_Alino!) and the next six started.

As a general guideline, where are a few prominent mold lines? I'm kinda new to dark eldar models, so I'm having trouble picking them out at first (or second or third...) glance.

@Cavash: Double thanks! The cloth is pretty simple. Kantor blue, followed by watered down altdorf guard blue on everything but the crevices, then *really* watered down ice blue (oldschool!) in slim lines on the raised surfaces.

Wash it purple with drucii violet and done! Its the same thing I use to do the eye lenses and banners.

These look great! I'm a big fan of the lighter colors on Dark Eldar. I think it actually makes the models look more sinister. I can't wait to see what you do with some vehicles. It took me forever to base my models, but even a simple base actually made them look a lot better. I still struggle with mold lines. I always feel confident that I got them all till I start painting and then I realize how bad I did at fixing them.

Excellent work!

Evening guys!

@ Trystis - Thanks! I just spent a half hour checking out your awesome bone colored dark eldar. At first, I thought that such a similar color as yellow would look a bit bland against bone, but you managed to make it look pretty darn awesome.


Bit of an update for you all. Finished up an whole squad, including basing, and starting work on their transport. Also started building my lady archon. Let me know what you think!

Whole Squad!


A little closer







The Sybarite takes picturesque command! (I kinda just like this model ^_^ )



A couple of the new guys.



I'm really happy with how this topknot turned out.



And lastly, the Archon of the Kabal of the Arterial Arc. Still thinking of an awesome name for her. Suggestions are certainly welcome.



Normally outfitted with the dueling kit (shadow field, husk blade, soul trap, combat drugs) I've had some pretty impressive results with her so far. Along with her Haemy and Grot command squad, she has soul trapped a Wraithknight when she rolled a lucky +1 strength for her combat drugs. With something that cool, I had to build her a better model! Still very WiP-tastic, but getting there.

Here are a couple different angles:





And a close up. I was torn on the choice of head for quite some time. I was this (---) close to just using one of those flat mask wych heads that seem to be so popular, but went with this one last second. I love the lack of emotion besides a light sneer. Very dark eldary ^_^



Thanks for all the positive comments so far! Please feel free to make with some constructive criticism as well. It's the only way I'll ever get better.

HEY! I LIKE MY FLAT MASK ARCHON HEAD!
Atleast it's a life support system.

as for the archoness, I would name her Sylamydal, Lady Sylamydal, Archon of the Kabal of the Arterial Arc.

these guys are looking really cool, the bases add so much to them as well.
The only criticism I'd give is that the cloth on the legs and arms could be distinguished from the armour more (such as washing them down or highlighting them further) but other than that I really like the scheme.

@Lord_Alino - I know what you mean, but I'm trying to save all the blank mask faces for a squad of plastic incubi in the works ^_^

@Nullus - Thanks! As for the cloth, are we talking about the loin cloths and tassels or the "body suit" deal underneath the armor?

For today, no painting I'm afraid. I'm such a painting procrastinator! But, I *do* have a second HQ completed and ready for primer.

Meet my new liquifier haemy!











Hopefully that's enough good angle shots to give a decent idea of where she's at. I was shooting for a "fallen angel" sort of look, especially with the vestigial "wings" created by the mini talos arms. Hmm... she could probably use a little greenstuffing around the midsection to blend her upper and lower halves a bit better. And I'm just now realizing how she's looking a bit... ummm... top heavy?  

But, as you can see, she's still a WiP, so feel free to let loose with a few constructive suggestions!

The body suit under the armour is the bit I mean
The heam looks really nice.
Cool idea for the conversion and I think you got the fallen angel look My suggestion would be to add a little to the top of the spine as the back "growth" thing seem a little flat to me but that could just be the angles and personal preference. Hope that helps.

Oh, good point. Her "backpack" does seem to stop a little prematurely there at the top of the spine doesn't it?

Thanks Null! I'll get on it and see what I come up with.

i wouldn't worry about the chest too much. these guys are master body modifiers so hey, a bit of vanity perhaps...

i like all the vestigial arms too, and the liquifier suits too. nice one.

@Dukes_Scion - Thanks! That's a good point... plus a reinforced spine and everything cuts down on back pain, I'm sure  

Morning Folks!

Alright, hopefully this will be the last paint-less update for awhile. I've got a bit of free time today, so hopefully that means painting will happen.

So... Catty cheer-leader logic: "If one uggo friend makes me look better by comparison, four should make me Vogue cover material!"  

In that mindset, here are three of my four WiP grotesque bodyguards for my Lady Archon.

Scissorhand!



Liquifier!



Chainflail!



And the gross, from behind shots!








Let loose with some helpful suggestions! Not my first green-stuff attempt, but I'm still learning the basics.

Hi again folks!
I'm a little pleased with myself, that I managed to stick to my word and keep the preceding post as my last "paintless" entry for awhile. I've currently got a second squad of kabalites, my archon and her haemy bodyguard primered and ready to lay down color on. I've also finished up converting those grotesques from above, and even gotten started building a coven themed raider to make sure my command squad stays punctual for various face slicing and world massacring appointments. In the meantime, however, my first dark eldar vehicle!



First time trying my bone technique on a large surface. Also first time trying my mirrored canopy idea.

I am still a bit shaky at highlighting vehicles, but I'm happy with how he turned out.

I know I've seen it a lot, so thanks to everyone who pioneered the underslung double splinter cannon before I got around to doing it!





Also tried my hand at a little dark eldar runic freehand. Came out more like an advertisement for a flower shop, but hey, I think it looks kinda cool.



And lastly a shot from behind.



Let me know what everyone thinks, and anything I can do to start improving the technique.

I think that this looks amazing, and I love the boney style!

- xdiehard1x