The Wailing Doom corsairs log - 11/09/2015 - Siticus the Resplendent completed!

Small update. Did a rather basic paintjob on my two Venoms just to make them somewhat more pleasing to the eye than simple black lumps of plastic.

Finally found some time to work on my Dark Eldar. Here's another Reaver joining the ranks.





The Agoniser is, quite literally that - ignoring all the rules of conduct and safety in Commorragh arenas (as few as they were), the rider known by the name Agoniser did what no one else before him dared to - every single bladevane is coated in a power field and soaked in deadly, agonising toxins, making even the smallest scratch lethal. Agoniser always sports a splinter pistol that is, predictably, filled with far deadlier ammunition. His fighting style has been described as "completely unfair" and "ruining the thrill for everyone" by many of his fellow combatants, making the Agoniser a crowd favourite. He loves to stay close to his fans, trying to decapitate as many as possible in every match he partakes in.


Here's a group shot with my so far painted Reavers. I will never forget the monthly vow when I thought I could paint four of them in a month...

how did you get the black on The Agoniser??

If you mean the helmet, it's a simple overcoat of gloss varnish. If you mean the clothing, it's a highlight of Adeptus Battlegrey and Codex Grey, washed with Badab Black. If you mean the black in general, it came from a spray can!

loving the current work! please keep the updates coming in!

It's been a long time since I've updated this log. Thankfully, the crazyness of exams is behind me (for now), which means I can get some models done!

This is a WIP of my Archon's Raider, the Doom's Edge. I decided to go crazy with this one - intricate freehand everywhere I can, because Lady Baliarstil and her handpicked lieutenants deserve to ride in style. This side sports an image of Khaela-Mensha Khaine reaching out to grasp his hated foe.



Hopefully I'll get this Raider done this week.

Awesome SE-NMM evvect on the reavers. I really the chrome look, I've just never gotten around to doing something like this on my troops as they take long enough as it is.

Nice Avatar-freehand on the raider, that raider will be a great centerpiece for your army once it's done. I'd add some edge highlighting still, just try not to overpaint that freehand to make the vehicle look less flat overall.

Cheers

Oh man! I saw these on reavers on tumblr awhile back. Incredible paint job. So unique. I love their bases. Do you get any flak from people when playing? I hope not because I'd love to do the same thing.

Dogmar wrote:

Awesome SE-NMM evvect on the reavers. I really the chrome look, I've just never gotten around to doing something like this on my troops as they take long enough as it is.

Nice Avatar-freehand on the raider, that raider will be a great centerpiece for your army once it's done. I'd add some edge highlighting still, just try not to overpaint that freehand to make the vehicle look less flat overall.

Cheers

Thanks! Glad you like the NMM chrome on the Reaver. I gotta say, it looks better in pictures than in life, and I am not entirely satisfied with how it turned out. As for the Raider, there definitely will be edge highlighting. I simply decided to do the freehanding first, so that I can later do the highlights without risking to obscure the freehand designs. I figured it made more sense to do it in this order - start with the hard bits, then finish off with the quick and easy stuff.

Cavalier wrote:

Oh man! I saw these on reavers on tumblr awhile back. Incredible paint job. So unique. I love their bases. Do you get any flak from people when playing? I hope not because I'd love to do the same thing.

Huh, my Reavers were on tumblr? Guess I'm famous since I don't use tumblr myself! The bases haven't gotten any ire from players so far, everyone has been cool with them deviating from the regular ones. They are much more stable (I constantly knocked the Reavers over when using the regular round base) and allow for dramatic posing (which goes to waste with round bases - which way is forward?). To be fair, even if someone had an issue with them, they have just as much advantages as disadvantages - yeah, the base is definitely longer, thus allowing for better charges... but it also means they are easier to shoot, can't be placed where the regular round base would fit and so forth.

Anyway, glad you like them!

A small update. Got around to painting the other side of the Raider. I must say, I really like how the floating cinders around the rune of Khaine came out, will have to repaint the cinders around Khaine's image tomorrow.



And a look from the front.

Unbelievable freehand work!

GOOD GOD That's some pretty stellar freehand work Impressive.

Beautiful work Siticus, absolutely beautiful!

And here we go, The Doom's Edge is completed! Or, as a friend of mine said to me today wisely, "It's complete until you see several more flaws you miss and fix them".









The Doom's Edge is the personal raider of Lady Talari Baliarstil, the Dread Archon of the Wailing Doom corsairs. The lavish design on the raider serve a purpose, for like all works of Eldar, this too is shrouded in metaphor and myth - not only do they tell the lesser races that the True Eldar have arrived to take what is rightfully theirs, so does the Bloody Handed god of Murder, Khaine himself - for the Wailing Doom is his sword and spear, and nothing is out of his gore-spattered reach. The raider is both a display of power and a warning to those that would dare to betray Lady Baliarstil - just as the cripple god Vaul felt his terrible vengeance for his treachery.

The truth behind it all, however, is less pretty - as the time goes and the Dread Archon's soul slowly drains away, her delusions become more and more powerful. Preferring to distance herself from most of the regular warriors at her disposal, she instead seeks to shroud herself in mystery and myth, in a vainglorious attempt to increase her power over her followers even further.

Well, this update is a special one. Just like with Lelith Hesperax model, this model too has been waiting in a box for a day when I would consider my skills worthy of attempting to paint it. And, like it was with Lelith's model, horrible dark and grainy pictures forbid me to display it properly.

So here it is, the Big Game Hunter female from Kingdom Death painted up as the Dread Archon of the Wailing Doom, Lady Talari Baliarstil.





Instead of silly fluff that I doubt anyone really reads, I'll simply blabber some about my thoughts behind this project.

The thing that finally pushed me to try and paint this model was something that happened in-game, where, after me trying to achieve it for probably nearly a year now, Lady Baliarstil was finally able to defeat an Avatar of Khaine in a duel and claim its soul as a trophy, proceeding on to slaughter a bunch of enemy kabalites that didn't see it coming (seriously, all six attacks hit and wound, I've never seen my archons do something like that). So I figured that the only way to properly mark the fact was to dust off the little box this miniature was laying in, prime it, then start painting. In doing so, I discovered how incredibly different it is to paint from a white basecoat - after my first few Tau models that were primed white, I've been priming all my DE black and gone for building up the layers. Imagine my horrified expression, when I realized that it would not work at all with white - instead of building up highlights, I had to build up shading!

With all that said, I am quite pleased with how the model turned out. I'm really sad that whenever I am especially satisfied with a paintjob, I seem to catch gremlin-itis and somehow blur all the images and make them look as if they were taken in a dark closet, while in reality there were at least three light sources present. I may be becoming a better painter, but I still have miles to go as a photographer!

Siticus the Ancient wrote:

Good god man; how in the hell did I miss this?!!
That's one hell of a job. Well executed!

Uuh I wish I could paint so good... I really need thinner paintbrushes and less shaky hands...
Amazing work, especially with the raider. Thats one really pirate-looking

I love your work so far, and that Raider is amazing. Wonderful freehand!

Quote :

Instead of silly fluff that I doubt anyone really reads

I read it! I love the fluff aspect!

Thanks for the kind words, fellows.

@Mngwa - It's a really a matter of time and dedication! If someone from the future had visited me two years ago, shown these pictures and told me I will paint like that, I'd never believe them! Really, if I could do it, anyone can, so never give up and make it a point to paint each of your next miniature just a little bit better - that alone will show great results.

@Cavash - Hah, good to hear that! I am certainly making up some crazy characters as the time goes by, that's for sure... but what some of those guys have accomplished on the battlefield is actually more outlandish and insane than anything I could come up with.

OK that is just plain AWESOME.

I am totally digging the conversion with the sails and the red and black go together very well.

More please

I am so jealous of that vehicle. I wish I could do something like that. At the moment my command vehicle is just black because I have yet to figure out what to do to make it look amazing. Yours surely is AMAZING!

Another month, another project done! I've had these ladies for more than a year now (it was a birthday present like a year ago!), and I have finally gotten around to painting them. Unfortunately, as they were one of he first waves of Finecast, they were in pretty bad shape, two of them even missing half of their butts! That was part of the reason why I chose to attempt a more vibrant painting technique, going entirely for highlights on black basecoat, forgoing shading entirely.



The day when a Seer sees no alternative but to assail one of his own is a dark one. Two conflicting visions, each vital to the survival of their craftworlds met upon a battlefield. In the end, the seer of Craftworld Arenthisal was proven wrong as he ultimately perished in battle, but the fate of his faithful kin was not as final. The survivors faced an exile, for they could no longer dwell on a craftworld with their dirtied conscience - the blood of their own kin was on their hands.

However, Exarch Arthana and her sisters of the Banshee aspect did not wander along the path of the Outcast for long. They were soon approached by a white winged Scourge clad in gold, bringing them an offer to serve Khaine once more. With little other options open to them, the Banshees agreed and were taken aboard the corsair fleet Wailing Doom. While at first the demeanor of the fleet's leader lady Baliarstil, the self-imposed chosen of Khaine, left them cold and was seen as rather typical to any corsair, after several battles they began to doubt their first impression. The fleet's wych cult, the Bloody Handed, fought with such zeal and utter disregard for their own lives along their leader, the kabalite warband Sentinel's Blade always standing their ground, rigidly disciplined and reverent of the War God, and the Ashborn cult sending down punishing hails of melta weaponry, turning enemy armour to ash and leaving only cinders in their wake. With time, Exarch Arthana found herself longing for bloodshed under the banner of the fleet more and more, their devastating raids giving her the sense of truly becoming a part of the War God incarnate.

All changed after a clash with the Eldar of Ulthwe. Riding alongside the Dread Archon Baliarstil, the Exarch and her sisters were revealed a fearsome sight - the craftworlders had awakened the Avatar of Khaine to fight them. To her surprise, only a cold grin was seen on the face of the Archon, as she ordered her warhost forward. She was intent to prove to any that doubted her status as a chosen of Khaine - she would fight the Avatar itself, sufficiently weakening her opponent before the duel with hails of darklight, of course. While ambitious to the point of recklessness, Lady Baliarstil was still of the Dark Kin - fighting fair was not in their nature. With a few swings of her envenomed blades, the mighty Avatar fell. The Archon emerged triumphant, the soul-trap on her breast gleaming with the overwhelming power of the Avatar's soul. It was a mere fragment, a fraction chipped off the smoldering soul of the Avatar, but it was more than enough for a mortal. To Exarch Arthana, all doubts were gone. Lady Baliarstil truly was what she claimed to be, and the Exarch's Banshees all but one swore eternal allegiance to the Archon.

To seal the deal, they changed their appearance - replacing the silver plate of the Arenthisal banshees to a look resembling their own god. Each was equipped with a searing power weapon of haemonculi make, allowing them to carve through any opponent with ease. Before each battle in which they were to take a part of, each warrior chose an opponent from the Bloody Handed cult. As a part of a pre-battle ritual, they were to defeat the wyches, tear out their hearts and coat their hands with their fresh blood. They became known as the Daughters of Khaine of the Blood of Eldanesh shrine - for once the blood of an Eldar was on their hands, it would drip from their fingers eternally.



A bit longer post than usual, but that is my idea behind this counts-as work. What more could an exiled Exarch wish for than to truly become one with Khaine?

Those banshees are just amazing! They really do have that certain Khaine look on them. They fit in great with the raider, too.
Im assuming that the Archon is going with them? Interesting idea, would be nice to see how that works out on a battle?

Yes, Mngwa, that's the Archon Lady Baliarstil that is usually accompanied by those specific Bansheecubi in battle. I've started making an Archon for each wargear variation, as not only is it easier to write army lists, it also allows for greater characterization among the force, as well as having a specific unit that usually accompanies them in battle!

Oh my, it's been a year since last update on my Dark Eldar force. I must confess I have not been fielding the Dark Kin as much as I used to, as the age of the codex can really be felt in 6th. However, painting all that white craftworlder stuff really made me miss my good old evil black-basecoat murderers! So I picked up a brush, dusted off a metal Archon model I own for more than a year now and decided to paint him up. It serves a promotion for my hardworking Sybarite that has achieved a great many things, passing leadership checks and even felling rivaling Incubi and despicable Necrons in close combat.

Meet Araj the Sentinel, the leader of the Sentinel's Blade warband!








Araj the Sentinel is a silent figure that serves Lady Baliarstil as her right hand and chief executioner. Little is known of him, and most of his warband have never seen the face beneath the expressionless white helmet gazing at them. A few whisper that the man hails from humble beginnings, a disgraced Incubus that had sworn to avenge his slain master and eradicated shrine. Others say that he is a man obsessed with perfection in all arts of war, and that his stoic nature is just a part of the mindset necessary to attain greater knowledge. There are some that hint on something darker entirely - that he is not of Dark Kin at all, but instead of an unnatural origin, created deep within some twisted haemonculus' cave. After all, how could one of the Dark Kin be so precise and deadly in combat, command the backbone of the corsair fleet's forces, and yet never even think of rebelling against his master?

The warriors of the Sentinel's Blade remain silent about such rumours, because the relentless training and discipline that each prospective warrior is put through eliminates the need for such talk. Under the Sentinel's gaze, provided that one survives the hardship, even a lowly street ganger is soon turned into a skilled warrior capable of rivaling even the Aspect warriors of the craftworlders. In battle, Araj the Sentinel is a formidable foe and impressive duelist, wielding a deadly huskblade and treacherous acid-coated blade against any foe, be they other thrillseeking Dark Kin, foolish craftworlders, lowly humans, despicable Necrons or even daemons. In the end he stands expressionless, impassive and alone with his fallen foes at his feet.




The Archon's figure was a joy to paint. After going through the pain of Finecast Illic being mostly flawless and yet those few tiny flaws ruining the overall look, it was a relief to paint a good ol' metal model. I am quite pleased with the overall cool appearance of the model colour scheme wise - it seems that I had unwittingly struck a good balance with my older kabalite warriors from the days when I paid little attention to colour schemes and limited colours! The Sentinel's Blade warband provide a good, colder contrast to the brighter and bloodier Cult of the Bloody Handed and Lady Baliarstil's retinue.

I eventually plan obtaining a squad of metal Incubi to go along with the Sentinel - he cannot really go to battle while borrowing his Dread Archon's Daughters of Khaine, now can he? The sad part is that metal Incubi now go for twice as much as they used to cost, but who's surprised? The Finecast ones are an absolute disgrace with klaives that easily bend and break. Doesn't fit our stoic murder machines at all!