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Mastiff
Slave (off the Altar)
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2003 4:47 pm Posts: 20 Location: Calgary AB
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So, I decided I need a break from 40k, and I've been wanted to paint a Dark Elf army for about 25 years. I love the spiky aesthetic, where even the most heavily-armoured warriors look graceful and sinister. I started these guys about 6-7 years ago, but got sidetracked by Confrontation and enjoyed their smaller, better-sculpted armies. Of course, Rackham killed that fun for me. (a moment of silence please ) So the last few months I've been sick of painting marines, and a buddy of mine decided to start a Forge World chaos dwarf army. I had sold him my Dark Elves years ago, but since we're both excited about Fantasy now (locally it's more popular than 40k) I decided to buy them back.
These was one of my test minis:
I had always planned NMM but realized I needed to find a faster way to paint. So this time around I'm experimenting with tinting my metals instead. I'm happy with the speed and color, and it's still fun to do, so I think I may actually get something accomplished.
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Wed Sep 21, 2011 9:01 pm |
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Mastiff
Slave (off the Altar)
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2003 4:47 pm Posts: 20 Location: Calgary AB
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Not too happy with the quality of these pics, I'll try taking pics in outside again and see if I can get cleaner shots.
Repeating Bolt Thrower and Crew
I love these weapons! I had some old 80mm bases from At-43 that I wasn't using, so I drilled out 1" holes for round bases to fit into. Then I modified the crew so they weren't all the same. The telescope is made from a Space Marine back banner pole. The arms and blades are from Dark Eldar Wyches and Dark Elf Corsairs plastics. Love plastics, they make perfect conversion fodder.
These guys gave me a chance to figure out my colours too. Armour is chainmail base, and mithril silver highlights. Both steps have had small amounts of Regal Blue mixed in, and Asurman Blue and Badab Black washes.
I really tried not to use purple, honestly! Seems like purple is mandatory for DEs. But I tried Scaly Green with the blue army on my Spearmen, and it just doesn't have the same impact. So, purple it is. Dammit.
Sorceress and Scroll Caddy:
Absolutely love the new plastic Sorceress! The legs seem a bit off for some reason, and I wanted something a bit more dynamic for my Supreme Sorceress. So, I used Wych legs, and sculpted a new ass to join the two. I bought the Isle of Blood boxed set for the mini book in London (the whole thing was cheaper than just the hard cover book here in Canada) and had planned on using the ball of magic as a base for her. Didn't quite work for me though, so I decided to sculpt something that looked like a wave of dark fire. Took some work, but I'm pretty happy with the end results.
Finished her face tonight;
Here's the scroll caddy. She' from Avatars of War; a buddy of mine had a spare.
You can see GW's "Big Hat theory" in place here; The bigger the sorceress, the bigger the hair. The head that came with the model looked terrible next to the GW sorceress, so I replaced it with a Wych head. I also scraped the back of her dragonskin skirt flat to remove a dagger and pouch, so I could add a dagger that came with a DEldar vehicle. The low-slung dagger breaks the silhouette a bit, as it runs parallel to her outstretched arm.
Feedback and commentaries appreciated. Puns will be ignored.
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Wed Sep 21, 2011 9:30 pm |
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Mastiff
Slave (off the Altar)
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2003 4:47 pm Posts: 20 Location: Calgary AB
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...and some more recent pics of the sorceress. Hair and staff still unfinished, as well as base.

Really having fun with this mini.
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Wed Sep 21, 2011 9:32 pm |
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Kuanor
Black Guard
Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:25 pm Posts: 265 Location: Hannover, Germany
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Ähm… wow!
Not often seen a paintjob like this. Her face actually looks alive!
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 4:34 am |
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cultofkhaine
Chief Cultist
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 6:45 am Posts: 1902 Location: Being tempted by the Cult of Pleasure!
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Awesome work - I'm inspired... keep posting your great work please.
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 8:21 am |
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Duranis
Warrior
Joined: Thu May 05, 2011 2:23 pm Posts: 63 Location: UK - SE Kent
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Some truly stunning painting there! Can't really say anything more useful than that unfortunately.
I have never really liked darker skin tone dark elves before, they just never looked quite right. The skin tone you have going though looks amazing.
I wasn't convinced on the greenstuff base you had for your sup sorc but once I looked at the painted photo of it I completely changed my mind
Great stuff, I hope you post more in the future as its some great inspirational work.
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 8:26 am |
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Assani
Highborn
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2011 5:53 pm Posts: 619 Location: Norway
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Really amazing paint job!! Keep posting pics plz, ur army is going to be one of the best paint if u keep it up like this:)
_________________
Khitai - Khanite - Group 38 WS5 - S3 - T2 - D5 - I3 Skills: Ambidexterity, Two Weapon Fighting Equipment: 2xfine scimitars, dagger Inventory: Gold 30, Crowns 40, 1 Red ruby
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 11:13 am |
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Lord_azoth
Highborn
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 12:57 pm Posts: 743
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really nice conversion and paintjob, really like this drow sorceress!
_________________ Death before dishonor
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 12:22 pm |
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Phierlihy
Malekith's Best Friend
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2005 12:19 am Posts: 2089
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While I'm not a fan of the skin tone (non-pasty elves just seems wrong to me somehow...) the paint job is really excellent. Can I ask what the recipe is for that long mane of white hair?
_________________Proud supporter of druchii.net
phierlihy@druchii.net
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 1:32 pm |
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Saori_nightstar
Black Guard
Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2010 3:30 pm Posts: 281 Location: Naggaroth
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Must agree about the skin colour, but hey does make them different. wicked painting  keep posting.
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 4:36 pm |
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Mastiff
Slave (off the Altar)
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2003 4:47 pm Posts: 20 Location: Calgary AB
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Thanks very much guys! I really appreciate the support; I haven't started playing fantasy yet, and my buddy is still waiting for the Forgeworld Chaos Dwarf book, so I've really been struggling to make progress with these guys.
I find the darker skin tone more fun to paint, especially with the contrast of the white hair. In part it reminds me of the old D&D drow, in part it feels a bit more exotic, but mostly I'm bored with painting pale caucasian skin.
phierlihy, the hair in that last pic is spacewolf grey, possibly with a very thin shadow grey wash. I've since finished painting the hair using those colours, plus pure white for the highlights and a mix of asurman blue wash and badab black wash. I'll try and get some finished pics this weekend.
I've really been surprised by how good the GW washes are.
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 5:23 pm |
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Mastiff
Slave (off the Altar)
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2003 4:47 pm Posts: 20 Location: Calgary AB
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Guh. Black guard.
I used to love these guys; they were the main reason for wanted to start a dark elf army. The spiky, ornate heavy armour just looked so fun to paint. And it is.
But ranking them up? It took me weeks to figure that out. My chihuahua could figure out the New York Times crossword in less time.
Anyways... Here's the leader in progress;
This is the third halberd I've tried for this guy, so despite the dodgy looking left hand I think I'm done. Time to throw some paint around before I give up completely on this unit!
Last edited by Mastiff on Thu Sep 22, 2011 11:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 5:39 pm |
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Drachanthir
Black Guard
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 6:29 pm Posts: 299
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Mastiff, great use of colours and highlights on your sorceress (and her base) but i have a little traitorous thought in my head when i look at it. Although i agree that your re-posing of her is better than the default GW pose, it looks like she's trying to escape from the dark energy on her base! Maybe it's because (to my eye) it looks like a hand reaching up to grab her- i hope she doesn't miscast too often ^^.
I also like your tinted metallics and it's something i've dabbled with a bit in the past also- do you use a lighter ink or a lighter base metal for their highlights? I made an ever-so-slightly pinkish silver colour on the blades of my Cult of Slaanesh devotees which i was quite pleased about, but never highlighted them.
_________________ "I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh, with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the heads of the leaders of the enemy."
Deut.32:42
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 7:27 pm |
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Mastiff
Slave (off the Altar)
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2003 4:47 pm Posts: 20 Location: Calgary AB
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Yeah, it does look like a hand, doesn't it? I debated changing it, but I'm lazy  I fully expect to miscast at least once every game anyways.
I've mixed regal blue and boltgun metal for the armour's basecoat, then highlighted with mithril silver/regal blue, and a asurman blue/badab black wash. I wanted the armour noticeably blue, rather than tinted. I like the subtle effects washes give, but in this case I wanted speed and predictability.
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Fri Sep 23, 2011 12:01 am |
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Lazarus
Phlebotomist of Khaine
Joined: Wed Jul 21, 2004 11:22 pm Posts: 342 Location: Philadelphia
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Beautiful work so far, looking forward to seeing the whole army painted up. Don't despair, the purple really does add a nice accent to the blue tinted armor.
_________________ I've been to Middenheim,
I've been to Ulthuan,
I've been to Cathay too,
So what, so what
so what so what you boney little f***
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Fri Sep 23, 2011 1:18 am |
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Meraklis
Trainee Warrior
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2009 3:03 am Posts: 33 Location: Athens, Greece
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amazing work! I love your colours! what did you use for the witch skin ?
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Fri Sep 23, 2011 4:33 am |
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Lord tsunami
Malekith's Best Friend
Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2003 9:49 pm Posts: 1308 Location: Behind you!
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i had missed this before. very cool stuff 
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Fri Sep 23, 2011 5:09 am |
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Darkmark
Beastmaster
Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2007 10:22 am Posts: 332
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Certainly one of the most refreshing DE blogs I've seen in a long time, much kudos!
I think a tattoo or 2 may be in order to break up the skin.
I hope you're planning a unit of WE as I reckon they'll be superb if the rest of whats been painted is anything to go by 
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Fri Sep 23, 2011 4:56 pm |
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Rabidnid
Malekith's Best Friend
Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:31 pm Posts: 3023 Location: The Tower of Dust
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Very pretty, and i do love the skin tone.
_________________ "Luck is the residue of design"
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Fri Sep 23, 2011 5:06 pm |
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With hatred ...
Black Guard
Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:51 am Posts: 291
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Great work so far. I love all the little conversions you've done simple but very well done.
I might have to steal the AoW sorceress head swap idea as I just can't make the regular head fit!
Thanks for sharing.
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Sat Sep 24, 2011 9:18 am |
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Dadadda
Warrior
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 7:02 pm Posts: 64 Location: Italy, EU
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Beautiful works mate!
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Sat Sep 24, 2011 10:23 am |
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Wargamer lester
Warrior
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2010 2:38 am Posts: 55 Location: Puerto Rico
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Superb Dark skin, care to share the steps for it?
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Sat Sep 24, 2011 9:41 pm |
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Mastiff
Slave (off the Altar)
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2003 4:47 pm Posts: 20 Location: Calgary AB
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Wow. Lie down for a nap and seven years fly by... I sort of lost steam with WH Fantasy, and AoS murdered it completely. Actually, GW was dead to me for the last few years. With the General’s Handbook and the reintroduction of point values again, however, my gaming group took an interest in it. So, I’m back at it again, and, of course, that means repaints for everyone! I’m FINALLY satisfied though. Really, this is it, no more repaints!  
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Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:15 am |
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cultofkhaine
Chief Cultist
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 6:45 am Posts: 1902 Location: Being tempted by the Cult of Pleasure!
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Nice work Mastiff they look great!
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Tue Jan 02, 2018 9:43 am |
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Lord Drakon
Malekith's Personal Guard
Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2013 4:25 pm Posts: 999 Location: Delft
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Very neat painting scheme, they look amazing! Welcome back and so great to see a PLOG again.
_________________The 13th Legion
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Wed Jan 03, 2018 2:39 am |
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