Harlequin Carnival - La Danse Macabre

HAHA HE LOOKS AWESOME! Yeh I love the carnival theme Glad its keeping you inspired.

What you working on next? whats your next unit in mind?

Cheers I am currently painting up a beastmaster to go with monkey and co. He is very nearly finished but I am struggling with what colours to go on the skyboard he rides that does not take away from the model too much or if I should do patterns on it. Hopefully have him done by sat. I have a unit of mandrakes planned to convert using the doomrider and scourge kits. Really excited to do them but have to learn how to sculpt stomachs and lower backs so will be a bit of a challenge for me.

Hey folks. This is one of my beastmaster for my circus pack that I have just finished. Pretty happy with how he has turned out. I tried to link him in with the lions by colouring in the cloaks the same as their fur/skin so he fits in with the squad.

The beastmaster is looking really good man I love the highlighting on the skyboard, it really helps pick out the areas nicely. Got some really nice colours going on there too. I really enjoy the purple and white legs with the red kneeecaps really nice touch. I can imagine that this boy took quite a little while

Thanks solar. I really had a hard time deciding on what colours to go for on the skyboard. My girlfriend thought my choice of colours detracts too much from the figure but I disagreed and done it anyway. Turned out fine I think but really a fan of the blue on the wings. I don't think the board detracts too much from the figure on top. He did take quite a while to paint but I had a good idea of where I was going with him so it was not too frustrating to work on him for so long. I think I have resigned myself to the fact that this will not be a quick army to paint up but worth it in the end I hope . Thoroughly enjoying it anyway. Will post up a group shot to the circus pack I have painted so far as they look pretty cool once they are all grouped together

Group shot

Bird cage is easily my favourite. I hate the normal razorwing flock, static birds on sticks. Yours has so much movement to it with them bursting to freedom (and blood and carnage over their lovely plumage)

I don't know if you're looking for further ideas (as i can see you have many ideas already) but i was thinking about Harlequins in general and your crazy army and i thought a kind of Jack in the Box Harlequin could fit too.
Was thinking of either a complete Harlequin jumping out of a box or just his head and hands with weapons all on springs (to also represent his whatsitcalled defensive optical field)

@ dragontree. Yes I am rather fond of those birdies bursting out the cage too. I think the monkey is my favourite conversion so far out of the pack but that one comes in a close second.

@Marrath Schlagschatten. I am always looking out for more ideas and that is a glorious one. I love the idea of a harlie jumping out of a box. Never thought of that one cheers maybe I could do another monkey for my circus pack jumping out of a box..... Now you have my mind ticking over. Thanks for the great idea. Any more is always welcome

Those Beastmasters are quite nice. Kudos.

I have been converting a unit of mandrakes for my carnivale. I really like the original gw models but felt they did not fit in with the theme of my army so decided to do my own. I had to do my first bit of 'proper' sculpting on the torsos which was quite difficult as they have quite a bit of movement to them. Overall i am pleased with how the sculpting came out although I know they still need improvement, but it is a start at least. I still need to build a champion for the unit but the base troops are done and ready to be primed.

These look very cool and elegant. I'm curious on how you made their abdomen, is it possible to get a closeup on one mini and how you sculpted it?

Thank you. No probs Pics posted below . The photos above do not show detail very clearly as I took them on my phone but hopefully the ones below are more visible. I started with attaching the torso to the legs with a length of wire cut to make the body the same size as a wyches. Then filled out the middle around the wire with greenstuff and let it cure. Then I could start sculpting the shape of the body and the details like muscles and spine. It is very useful to use a pic of a skinny dude as reference for the body shape and to get the right definition (I had to keep lifting up my shirt and pretending I had a six pack like these chaps hehehe)

Man! I did not get a chance to see the beasts/beastmaster until now. Very nice work, super inspirational as per usual. I especially like the birds and the monkey, just great!

I am digging the vibe of the man drakes. you know what might be cool, is that with the way that the feet are positioned, you might be able to convey that they are tight rope walkers? You could risk cutting them from the base, and have them standing on either wire, or some kind of high platform with a wire stretched out? Just a thought, the stance really called out tightrope to me.

Nice work! Cheers

Ah your a gent thanks very much. That is a great idea for their bases. I think I will use that idea and change them to how you suggest. They definitely do lend themselves to a tightrope theme. Just got to think how to do it now

Hey all. Just a quick update. Made some changes to my mandrake bases (thanks for the idea Algae ) to try and give are presentation of them launching themselves off tight ropes. The ropes seem a little large but when painted they will fit in fine I think as they wil be brightly coloured stripy tubing. I am happy with them now and think the basing adds a little extra to them. Also treated myself to a new model yesterday and with a few minor tweaks I now have my pirate captain - Duke Sliscus. I absolutely love this model and did not want to do too much to it, so just added a blast pistol and some drug vials to him to sci if him up a bit and have the weapon options of the duke. I think he fits the fluff well

YES! Nice job on the tight rope walkers! They are going to look so awesome painted. I think you are right, a nice stripey kind of rope would work great. Very nice! Cant wait to see them done

The duke is ROIGHT PROPPA. Where is that nice head from? I really like what you did with him, he is indeed a fantastic model

Cheers algae. I am looking forward to painting them quite a lot. They are next on my painting list. The head on the duke is actually all part of the dark elf fleet master kit. Originally I was going to swap it to change the model a bit but I liked it so much I decided to keep it. I have not changed very much on the original model at all aprt from a few bits to sci fi him a bit

Great job with Sliscus, SC, but your Mandrakes are just awesome. Beautiful GS work, some very nice detail work there.

I can't wait to see these painted up. I will have to shamelessly loot this idea, as well, they are too nice not to include.

Cheers.

Thanks Gobsmakked. Loot away . The gstuff work was quite daunting at first but once I had started it was not so bad. Certainly encouraged me to try more in the future.

I had a game with my carnival on Friday (which I won yay!) and needed to add some more troop choices to my army as I was tired of using legs blue tacked to bases for squads. I converted these 5 wyches to ride in a venom (still unconverted) with haywire grenades as some of my anti tank. I wanted to use the new wych elves models as part of my future squads as they are very dynamic and fit in nicely with the dark eldar aesthetic. I included two in this squad which have been converted slightly to help them fit in a bit with the rest of the squad and carnival them up a bit . Next up I need to pimp a ride for them but first I want to get those mandrakes painted.

Hey Spell! haven't checked in for a loittle while but looking super awesome!

I have just ordered some elf wyches myself, the models are so dynamic and the posing is just awesome for creating a moving look. I also am a big fan of the scourge legs too. For your mandrakes they really help give them such a sense of elegance

So all in all really enjoying your work! making me mega keen to start modelling some of my DE (holding back till ive painted my orks! else il never get the motivation )

On your wyches is that a tomb kings head i spot? oh and props on the GS work on your mandrakes, the abdomen looks really nicely done! plus seeing your chain reminded me i have chain somewhere! i must dig that out

as for sliscus the only thing I dislike is the leg-stick-blade, but thats only because I disliked it on that model anyways! otherwise I love the sword position he rocks, with that super relaxed stylie. Really looking forward to seeing these painted up, love that you have the ethic to paint what you make, I have a habit of make make make. Keep the posts coming

Cheers solar. Yeah those wych elf models are sweet (bit stupidly overpriced I think though). A bit of cutting is needed to make them fit in with dark eldar arms and heads ect but nothing too complicated. I have bought a bunch of scourge legs from a bits site to use mix up with the wych kits for more dynamism as they are very cool and got a great sense of movement to them.
I am glad my greenstuff work does not look too amateurish. I was very nervous about ruining the models as I have never sculpted anything more complicated than hair and other simple bits, so this was pushing my skills a little
Yes that is a tomb king head on one of the wyches. I just really liked it so thought why not
I was not too keen on the peg leg myself when I first saw the model as I thought it looked a little out of place and made the model too static. Once I picked up the kit and saw it all assembled it really grew on me and I decided to keep it on. Def one of my fave plastic clam pack models gw has bought out so far.
I try to paint everything I build but have to say I much prefer the converting part to the painting (prob cos it is easier   ). I still have a backlog of stuff to paint but sometimes it gets a bit too much and I need to let off steam so break my discipline and convert a bunch of stuff. I also game with this army so sometimes I want to play with the correct models without proxying so that also sometimes plays a part in what I choose to paint/convert and when. Cudos to you for painting orks! I think it would drive me insane to try and get all those models painted. Look forward to seeing your harlie stuff when you get started

oh god yes is it overpriced! The only major upside I think it truely has (and one of the main reasons i am gona get one box) is that its basically two sets of heads arms etc, all of which look pretty damn harle. the amount of extras I can see getting in this kits tips it into a buy for me I just love those masked heads.

The tomb kings head is a nice touch your army has such a lovely sense of diversity (one of the reasons I can never bring myself to model a marine army - except maybe CSM).

Hey guys. Suffering a severe case of man flu at the mo so managed to get a bit of painting done while suffering at home. Only finished one mandrake as I batch paint them only to a certain point before they are finished individually. This helps keep me motivated as well as batch painting can be a killer sometimes. Anyways let me know what you think.