[PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

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Daeron
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[PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Daeron »

It's been a while. Although I won't be painting them up quickly, I thought I'd share my wall of shame. I got into an irresistible urge to build the remaining models. I will paint them some day too! But for now, behold the stash!
241633916_10158722493969121_4609361858626995976_n.jpg
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

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"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
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Ramza1987
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Re: [PLOG] Daeron's Blues

Post by Ramza1987 »

That's a really nice stash. Would love to see it painted.
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Re: [PLOG] Daeron's Blues

Post by Bobba Looba »

That's a big pile! Good thing to build em all. Might push you over the edge to start painting them too.

Are you giving them all square bases?
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Re: [PLOG] Daeron's Blues

Post by Daeron »

Yes, they get square bases to play 8th or the new old world when it releases.
20210913_085811.jpg
The first step before beginning a big project is making room. I decided to buy proper bit boxes and started clearing all those sprues that I had left for spare parts. This picture shows the first staple of sprues ready to be trashed. More will follow, as I plan to clear about half my shelf space.

I already started rummaging through the boxes I showed in the previous update. It turns out some were already half built. It seems the army could use a good clean up.
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

Furnace of Arcana, a warhammer blog with delusional grandeur.

"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
- The stiff breeze
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Daeron
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Re: [PLOG] Daeron's Blues

Post by Daeron »

The clean up also reveals box upon box of loose bits and half-made models.
This is but one of them, and the picture doesn't even show the mess at the bottom.

There is no curse in Elvish, Entish or the tongues of Men for this mess.
20210915_102700.jpg
I find the clean-up unexpectedly invigorating. It increases my anticipation for building the dark elves.
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

Furnace of Arcana, a warhammer blog with delusional grandeur.

"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
- The stiff breeze
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Daeron »

And then I found a shelf full of metal minis. My project to clean up my Warhammer stuff just got bigger. Luckily for the black guard I have more models to make a unit. But for the witch elves, those are the only ones of that range that I have.
I vaguely remember buying them, but I can't remember what the plan was with just 3 minis. They may have been the only pack the store had at that time.
242119236_10158734563209121_5250607480685201648_n.jpg
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

Furnace of Arcana, a warhammer blog with delusional grandeur.

"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
- The stiff breeze
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by cultofkhaine »

Use the three witch elves for a cauldron of blood.
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Calisson »

That's exactly what I did with the only three WE I ever bought.
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Daeron »

cultofkhaine wrote: Sat Sep 18, 2021 9:08 am Use the three witch elves for a cauldron of blood.
That sounds like a plan, but I got some with the Cauldrons I do have. I'll keep them for later.
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

Furnace of Arcana, a warhammer blog with delusional grandeur.

"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
- The stiff breeze
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Daeron »

20210923_092508.jpg
The last sprue... of warriors.
The picture may not look special but it did feel like it to me.

This is a picture of my last sprue of 6th edition DE Warriors. This was the first sprue I bought (well not -this- one but one like this), and my wall of shame has had one unfinished sprue like this for as long as I have been in the hobby. I have had a dream of big blocks of warriors with spears since the beginning.

It may be just another hobby project but it did feel a bit nostalgic. It brought back memories of simpler times and considerably worse mold lines.
I cleaned all the bits needed to make spearmen, and in the sorting box sit all the pieces needed to make 54 Dreadspears. I probably only need 50 and can turn the extra 4 into darkshards.

I won't glue them this time around, but some evening will be a builder's evening with an entrancing amount of glue :D

With this step I cleaned up the biggest box I had left and the clean up work has had a good chunk removed. All other boxes (special projects aside) should now clean up rapidly.

But these warriors will always feel special.
I many ways, I still think the dreadspear or Warrior as they were is the most iconic unit of the army. They are not conscripted soldiers. They do not protect Druchii civilisation. They are the Druchii Civilisation. They are the citizens. If you want to see what the Druchii are like, look no further. High Elves may have their bakers and smiths' sons raised to be soldiers. For the Dark Elves, some of their soldiers learn to be bakers and blacksmiths.
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

Furnace of Arcana, a warhammer blog with delusional grandeur.

"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
- The stiff breeze
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by cultofkhaine »

inspiring stuff - I agree there is nothing better than a huge block of spears. I have painted a few in my time and there is nothing more satisfying then seeing them all ranked up. Enjoying your posts with this. :-)
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Lord Drakon »

Amazing to see Druchii rise once more!
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Bobba Looba »

The question is, do you glue the shields on before or after spraying on the base coat.. :)
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Vulcan »

Anything with shields, you're better off doing the shields separately and attaching them after painting is complete.
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Daeron »

I will probably glue the shield arm and shield afterwards, but include the spear in the spray.
Currently working on another set of boxes, to clean them up. I'll post an update soon.
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

Furnace of Arcana, a warhammer blog with delusional grandeur.

"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
- The stiff breeze
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Daeron »

I haven't decided 100% on the spearmen yet and decided to give it a bit more time. I wonder whether to make one big block of spearmen, and get two big units of rxbs, or 2 big blocks of spearmen and 1 block of rxbs. Tough choices! I think it is more likely that I will ned a 2nd block of rxbs than spearmen. But spearmen is what I am most inclined to make.

Meanwhile I started working on this unit
20210927_124431.jpg
I still think they look amazing, although a little thin (2d). This unit also brings back a lot of memories. How excited I was about the new models but still found the old ones so great I bought the store's remaining stock anyway.

Unfortunately this batch is finecast. I prefer the light weight over the metal ones. But that is the only positive thing to say about this. A few of the pauldrons are botched. There is quite some cleaning to do. And sometimes a piece broke off.

While finecast wasn't GWs greatest product, it symbolizes a pivotal moment. Before finecast, plastic kits were rare. It was the thing reserved for troops that needed big numbers to ensure enough could be sold.
Metal was durable but considerably more difficult to work with.

Then the price for the white metal went up and gw was forced to a solution. Plastic became the answer, multikit to boost a sprue's sales and finecast as a stopgap measure.
Many small time model makers still work with such resins and can't afford the jump to plastic.

It may not be a great product, but it carries a lot of history.
And the unit is starting to look nice.
20210927_125847.jpg
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

Furnace of Arcana, a warhammer blog with delusional grandeur.

"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
- The stiff breeze
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by cultofkhaine »

Wow - I have my block of 20 all in metal. Never new they did them in finecast aswell . Bet that makes them quite rare. Finecast was a pain when it came out I thought - the plastics are good now though.
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Daeron »

I have another 20 coming up in metal :D
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

Furnace of Arcana, a warhammer blog with delusional grandeur.

"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
- The stiff breeze
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Calisson »

Happy to have mine in metal. Finecast breaks more easily than it bends...
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Bobba Looba »

Woah! I wasn't aware of the finecasts either. I have metal ones, but haven't gotten to paint em yet.
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Vulcan »

Oh, yes, finecast was their answer to the high cost of white metal alloys. They could use resin in the metal molds just fine.

It would have been nice if they had any sort of quality control to go with it, though...
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Bobba Looba »

I've always felt that it's a shame the Black Guard conly fit together in a unit when placed on bases with the diagonal slots, because this makes some of them face towards one side. Does anyone have an idea or solution to have them all face forward?
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Vulcan »

Cut off the tabs and put them on non-slotted bases?
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Bobba Looba »

You'd have to pin them all to make sure they don't detach, but that could do it.
My initial idea was to remove a little metal from both ends of the tabs and put them in bases with straight slots and then alternate them front and back. But that still doesn't really fit well.
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Re: [PLOG] Restoring my Old World Dark Elves

Post by Daeron »

The unit of Black Guard is complete. I started working on another one. This time in metal!
It feels like going back in time. Although the metal is commendable as a material, it also is more challenging to clean up. I am grateful there is less cleaning than with the resin.
20211004_121252.jpg
20211004_121231.jpg
Still I got tired of doing the same models again and decided to take a break. I started working on another unit.
20211004_121309.jpg
I counted the tails left on the sprues and it seems that I have another 10 in the box. That's a total of 20, which is more than I thought and a nice surprise.
Unfortunately I seem to be missing 5 bases and I could not find them anywhere. I guess I will have to shop for them.

The cold ones are a nice kit, and yet their age shows. In particular, the part that amused me is the seat on the cold ones. I think most modern mounts come with legs attached. Or that seems to be a trend since 8th edition. This shows the models are still 7th ed. This makes it easier to swap the rider. But then again no rider ever fitted very well :)
Modern kits swap easily, from the torso up anyway.

The moldlines are awful but I still enjoy the design. Although 7th ed aesthetics weren't bad, they felt like a lot of stuff was tried but there wasn't a well defined overall style like there was in 6th or 8th. It really feels like an in between, in both quality and style.
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

Furnace of Arcana, a warhammer blog with delusional grandeur.

"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
- The stiff breeze
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