Siticus' Empyrean Visions log

Long ago when I joined this forum, I began a project log for my Dark Eldar corsair force. It was the collection of my very first steps into the hobby with everything one can expect - experimental paintjobs, hit and miss colour schemes and much more! Over time I began a Craftworld Eldar log as well - 6e was right around the corner and the prospect of allies really got me excited. Eventually I even began posting a log for my other distractions with commissions and other systems.

After a long time away from this forum due to 6e DE codex disappointing me in every way possible, I have returned, so rather than dig up all those old logs, I will simply start a new one, this time with no divisions.

I will start off the log with a few of my Craftworld forces I've recently completed.



Closer shots of the Autarch Liang-He, the White Spider







Closer shots of the Warlock duo (that double as Spiritseers due to everyone on Nemirath that walk the Witch path train themselves in the Spiritseer discipline), Arthanian and Vodriel





Closer shots of Wraith Ranger squad Allorial





Closer shots of Wraith Ranger squad Thanissar





For this introductory post I will leave out my usual little fluff excerpts - those will follow in future updates, as I always like to add some details on how I see the models and what inspired me to put in the work on them in the first place. Next update, there will be some Drukhari models.

Speaking of Drukhari, I am growing fond of the word due to it sounding very similar to dukkha, a buddhist concept of all life's suffering expressed with one word. I find it incredibly fitting, though using it exclusively will still be a difficult - I prefer the evil to have many sinister names, rather just one.

I love the kitbashing! What did you use for the scopes on top of the rifles?

Thanks! The scopes are from Dire Avenger catapults.

Hi!
I like your work! Nice kitbashing...I'm seeing shadow warriors from High Elves (if i'm not mistaking)?
Anyway nice work; I'm expecially like your autarch!

Keep it up!

To stay true to my promise to post some Drukhari models, here's the latest incarnation of Araj the Sentinel, Overlord of the Sentinel's Blade warband.





This was a very fun model to paint and it's a testament to how fantastic the Visarch's sculpt is at representing an unified Aeldari warrior, where just a head swap and a small modification on his sword completely changes who the heavily armoured figure is. It was incredibly fun to paint this model, and I really hope they redo the Phoenix Lords in such lavish detail and fantastic poses.









It had been a long time since Araj had taken up the moniker of the Sentinel, the lord and master of the Sentinel’s Blade warband. The disgraced incubus had walked a long road as a rogue mercenary, gathering a group of reliable fighters that he formed into a formidable, disciplined fighting force. It was then that his fates were forever tied with the rogue haemonculus Siticus, that at first merely offered the warband his regenerative services, but soon enough Araj the Sentinel was given a chance at atoning his failure by serving Talari Baliarstil.

Each conquest in building up the corsair force made the peculiar alliance stronger, and yet with each acquisition, the Sentinel’s duties grew ever heavier. With more and more power-hungry drukhari under his watchful gaze, the Sentinel’s already rigid discipline became all the more stringent, his mercy rarer still. And with each death, he returned only more formidable.

Each resurrection saw a new addition to the warband’s overlord. Where once he was a scarred man clad in kabalite plate, now he bore a baroque suit of an arcane material only the haemonculus fully understood. When close to his foe, his armour seemed to drain heat and light in his presence, a shroud of pure, murderous malice engulfed his prey. His body now housed a soul engine much akin to his noble master Talari, but where hers retained her body pristine, Araj could feel less and less of his flesh.

In truth, he no longer cared about it. It had been a long time since he had last looked at his face in a mirror, a long time since he had removed his helmet for that matter. The warriors of the Sentinel’s Blade only knew the merciless gaze of his expressionless helmet and the overwhelming presence of dread that the towering overlord radiated with his mere presence. His oppressive, black suit of armour was adorned with the countless soul traps filled in his faithful service, each once belonging to some aeldari or alien of great charisma and importance. Now, they all served the Sentinel. None of his warriors dared to tempt his wrath. His great klaive in hand and a blaster concealed in his black gauntlet, Araj the Sentinel cared for nothing else than spilling blood in his master’s name.



Next time I should have some Coven goodness ready.

Really really impressive work with this conversion!

I absolutely love the Shadow Warrior Guardians! I've been eyeing the models myself.

As for the Visarch... I am beyond words how you painted him is gorgeous. That is probably the best Visarch I've ever seen. I saw your old log a while back and I'm so glad you are back and working as your work is truly something to behold.

The Visarchon is fabulously painted.

I'm just a little torn on the cloak. The green gives it some real pop, but the colour seems so different from the rest of the palette.

He gives me a vibe of a warrior from an ice world from the front, and judging from the base, but from the back the cloak looks like it belongs to a forest elf.

@Rhivan
Thanks and definitely have a go with the Shadow warriors. Their Lomg shawls really make the models and I found their helmets to be near perfect counterpart to all the other Aeldari helmets. Glad you like the Visarchon!

@Kantalia
Thanks. I am trying to unify my forces and as my Craftworld forces are all white and turquoise, the snowy bases are a must. However, while the dark blues of the ground work well on the Craftworld force whose sole idea is to blend with the environment, my Drukhari are not too keen on wallowing in snow for too long, time is ticking and they've still got places to be! Hence, the Drukhari will all differ from the bases and environment as their palettes are not environment based. You will see this with my Coven units soon. In my experience, the base is merely the decoration - it needs to be functional, needs to ground the model to a certain battlefield, and yet it must never fully blend with the model or draw away the attention. It also needs to photograph well - if a base is fully white and with snow, well, it comes out as a white blur in photographs and sometimes detracts from the model as well.

With this in mind, technically green is counted in the cool color tones so the palette is still very much a cold one, though I can see what you mean. I was a little constrained with the fact that my kabalite warriors are all painted in this dark blue and dark green scheme (with copious amounts of bronze too!) so I could not stray too far from the scheme. However, as they're just passing through, they in their Drukhari fashion simply do not feel like adapting their outfits to the environment and risk cramping their style - it's the Eldar that get -1 to hit, not them! So in the case of the Sentinel, he is not really from any specific location, he just inexplicably finds himself on snowy battlefields!

Time for Coven units. Here are the first Wracks from the Coven of the Ascendant Sun, accompanying Siticus the haemonculus himself. I decided to abandon the deep blues that the clothing of the models were originally painted with, and instead went for a deep crimson with a bit of purple in the mix. I am quite satisfied with the way the purple glazes work with the pale skin tones.







“Our master, he’s a monster. But to do the things he does, to strive for the knowledge he strives for, being a monster is a necessity and accepting this as fact is a requirement to learn his wisdom. We are blessed by Him to be taught his ways. They call him the Ancient, the Eternal Light, the Father of Sorrows, the Soul Alchemist, the Golden One. He is inscribed with a hundred names by countless followers hidden in the dark corners of this Great Wheel.

“For truly, life eternal is as much an achievement as a curse. We’ve all been touched by it, and we endure His curse willingly. Some of us were lesser beings, some of us harbored delusions of grandeur before arriving at the master’s doorstep. He showed us such things, divined our fates with our own entrails, with a fatherly hand he guided us towards the path of ascension.

“He unlocks as many doors as he locks, reveals as many things as he hides. He has been born and reborn more than the breaths we have drawn in our lives. Truly, he is born of a yolkless egg and has dominion over even the lowliest animal, ascending them to heights they never dreamt of. When His dreadful knowledge is revealed, space modulates at his will and no earthly things are beyond his grasp.

“Our master is a monster and gentlemanly too. In His name we toil endlessly, hidden in our buried city in the maze between the veils. Ours are the instruments of time, and our splendid work shall be brought to the other world when the veils part and it is time for a spectacle in His name.”





Not entirely sure what part of my unpainted collection I will tackle next - most likely it will be the Grotesques, as their base colors are mostly done now and they just need details done.

I like the scheme on your wracks. But honestly what floored me was the use of witch elves as female wracks. What a cool idea. And honestly I am gonna nick it. I had been having increasing problems in diversifying my wracks without breaking similarity between them. Also a great looking Haemonculus.

Really love that Haemonculus Great conversion and paintjob! I'm thinking about getting a 4th plastic archon for a similar conversion...^^

Those are splendid! Congratulation!

These look amazing! The scourge heads go quite well. The haemonculus is definitely in my top-3 conversions for haems

Wow, I have to chime in and second the above comments, this army looks amazing. So much ingenuity, between Fantasy-40k kitbashing, the Wracks' heads, and the uniqueness of your colour scheme. I can't wait to see more.

My personal favourite is your Visarch. I for one think the green cloak goes really well with the cold white-and-blue palette on your army.

That painting is brilliant! And both the subtle and larger conversions blend in seamlessly. I am very impressed!

One question I have is, where is the reaching hand on the Haemonculus from? I cannot place it!

The Haemonculus hand is from the melee cultist leader in the 6th ed Dark Vengeance set. I cut off the hand part and glued it to the kabalite power sword arm.

Looking good! I love Shadow Warriors, i have 50 for my AoS and was thinking of converting a few for DE as well.