Winged Mandrake HQ

Just thought I'd share my WIP winged-Mandrake HQ. I'll probably use him as a Corsair Prince when they're released:

Adding a Huskblade, wings and modelling some extra hair:

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If anyone is wondering, the Huskblade is painted because I took it off a painted model (I'm redoing my Archon's weapons and pose).


Painting begins:

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I haven't yet decided which left arm to use for him. At the moment, I'm painting two alternatives and I'll see which one I like best when they're done.


Obviously he's still a WIP at this stage, so any comments or suggestions are welcome.

I like it!

I'd be interested to see what your left arm options are. Are you going with a gun, weapon, or something close to balefire?

I'm planning to use one of the Mandrake arms (the flames are one of the reasons I love the models), but I'm just not sure which pose of arm to use.

When I'm done painting them, I'll see if I can pin them in place with some blu-tac and then upload photos of the different options.

This looks really cool. Can you share your ideas about the fluff for your Kabal that leads to a mandrake becoming an HQ? Do you have fluff/back story for it? I also wonder what an all-mandrake Kabal would look like...?

Mr_Pink wrote:

This looks really cool. Can you share your ideas about the fluff for your Kabal that leads to a mandrake becoming an HQ? Do you have fluff/back story for it?

To be honest, it was more of a modelling project. I'm afraid I haven't got an elaborate back story to share.  

It started a few months back with this guy, who I'd originally intended as a sorcerer-haemonculus:

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Anyway, I still had 4 Mandrakes, and one day I noticed they were about the right size for that pair of wings.

In terms of fluff though, I guess it almost seems odd to me that no Mandrakes are in charge. I mean, they're feared even by the Dark Eldar, they can teleport through a creature's shadow to assassinate it, they're hard to fight because they're quasi-shadows, they can drain life force and turn it into magical fire. And, considering that they seem to need agony like other DE, it seems a little strange to me that no Mandrake ever uses these abilities to achieve status, form their own Kabal or somesuch.

I'll try to come up with something interesting for him when the model is done.

Mr_Pink wrote:

I also wonder what an all-mandrake Kabal would look like...?

Well, I was thinking that he was leading an otherwise ordinary Kabal. Interesting point though.

Possibly all the Kabalites would look something like this: http://bloodofkittens.com/wargaminghub/2012/09/20/dark-eldar-mandrake-proxies-painted/

Okay, the two possible arms are almost finished, so I've blu-taced them in place.

Arm #1:

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Arm #2:

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(I haven't quite finished painting them, but I thought this would be enough to go on.)

So, anyone have a preference between the two?

I think the seconds one, as it make me think he is about to reach out and strangle somebody.

I like the second one.
An outstretched hand just makes the whole thing look more dynamic.

Okay, Force-Choke hand it is.

Thanks for the feedback, chaps.

Okay, he's just about finished:

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As you can see, I'm seeing if I can emulate a sort of smoke effect around the Huskblade. I think at the moment it's too light (I had been planning to paint some or all of it grey...let's just say there was a flaw in that particular plan. I'll try washing it and see if that's any better). Also, despite thinning it considerably, I think it's still slightly too thick - I want the shape and colour of the blade inside to be a little more prominent.

With regard to the conversion itself, the only thing I'm not quite happy with is the hair on his back - it doesn't look quite right in terms of its shape. But, I'm not sure I want to try and redo it.

Okay, I've now officially given up on the smoke effect. Here's the guy without it:

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Any thoughts or comments?

That bad, huh?

I really like the model and the conversion you have done.
About the painting, I would change a little the color of the hair (I find them too white, maybe add some shade) and also, I would pick up some details as the model is going to be used as an HQ. Details like the nails on the top of the wings, hooks and rope on the "robe" of the mandrake.

I am not a master painter, but that's the things I would do to give more hq "character" to the miniature.

Hope I helped a little.

@The Shredder - just curious if there's a reason you use Spoiler tags for your pics? It's not against the rules or anything, just my own curiosity.

You need to add some shade to the hair. Maybe black and afterwards highlight it with white again.
The body and the wings are too blank. No structure there too. I know you want them dark, but some highlighting would work wonders. Maybe even paint them in grey and drown them in black shade. But that's just a quick idea, don't know if that's desirable.

Okay, cheers, guys. I'll work on some more details.

With regard to the hair, it is a bit more shaded in RL, but I can't get the camera to pick it up - it just always appears as a really bright mass.

Count Adhemar wrote:

@The Shredder - just curious if there's a reason you use Spoiler tags for your pics? It's not against the rules or anything, just my own curiosity.

It just seems a bit more convenient for people - especially if I'm posting a lot of pictures - so that they don't have to scroll down through all of them every time, if you see what I mean.

Fair enough. I'd always wondered and now I know!

Okay, I've redone the hair (I think it's a better shape now), and painted various other details:

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Looks really cool. I know pics can make the effects you're trying to get completely disappear when visually you achieved what you want. As that being said, really cool looking mini.

Black Death wrote:

Looks really cool. I know pics can make the effects you're trying to get completely disappear when visually you achieved what you want. As that being said, really cool looking mini.

Thank you. Now that I've redone the hair, I'm really pleased with how this guy has turned out.

By the way, what do you guys think of him having red robes?

I'm just wondering if a dark blue or purple might be better.

Any thoughts?

I would keep them dark red. Purple or blue wouldn't contrast well with the glow on his skin.

Rokuro wrote:

I would keep them dark red. Purple or blue wouldn't contrast well with the glow on his skin.

Okay, thanks.

Anything I've missed that might improve him?