[PLOG] Daeron's Blues

[Daeron]

Hey everyone. Through the Bad Dice podcast I found an initiative on the UK warhammer forum trying to motivate people to paint 200 pts worth of models per month. I'm joining the initiative in hopes of keeping a good pace (and keeping an eye on it). I'll repost the work here, in hopes of getting more feedback and suggestions. My aim isn't just to paint but to improve my skills along the way before I hit one of my all-time favorite model: the witch elves.

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Daeron's blue Dark Elf army.

Aim? To complete my DE army in a theme close to my 5 year old scheme:


The new scheme should
- make new models more lively
- offer some training on my painting skills.

Color scheme
Armor
- Base: Kantor Blue
- Shade: Drakenhof Nightshade
- Layer: Kantor Blue
- Layer: Caledor Sky
- Highlight 1: Lothern Blue
- Highlight 2: Lothern Blue with a bit of scar white
- Glaze: Guilliman blue
- Shade: Drakenhof Nightshade
- Highlight 3: thinned Lothern Blue (the scar white used in highlight 2, combined with the glade gives this highlight the vibrant color I aim for)
- Gloss Varnish: to make it a bit more shiny.

Chainmail

- Base: Boltgun Metal (still using an old pot) but keeping the black in the recesses
* Might add Shade: Nuln oil
* Might add Highlight 1: Boltgun Metal
- Highlight 2: Runefang steel to mark out knees and folds

Cloth
- Base: black
* Might add layer: thinned down Dawnstone
- Highlight: very thinned down scar white

Skin
- Base: XV-88
- Shade: Agrax Earthshade
- Layer: Tau Light Ochre
- Layer: Kislev Flesh
- Highlight: Ushabti Bone
- Highlight: Ushabti Bone with a tiny tad of scar white

Leather

Leather for boots (new scheme still under way)
I used bestial brown (I think) before and a wash of black ink. It's an acceptable result for a noob painting a core unit but I'd like a better scheme now. I'd like this scheme to serve all leather boots in the army (so corsairs included). Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Leather for belts and armor
- Base: XV-88
- Layer: Steel Legion Drab
- Highlight: Steel Legion Drab + Ushabti Bone

Pouches and details
- Base: Naggaroth Night
- Shade: Druchii Violet
- Layer: Xereus Purple
- Highlight (if needed): Xereus Purple with scar white

Wood (new scheme still under way)
The original spear shafts were kept black. Oh how that kept things simple... But I've seen people use very grey-ish dark brown and prefer that look over my black. So.. I'm looking for:
- A gray-brown, subtle colour for spears, RxBs, staves...
- A more profound, less subtle brown for units where wood is part of the unit's signature such as RbTs and Chariots.

Current Plan for the 200 Club

Month 01, October
- Warriors. 15 RxB starting from scratch + finishing 6 warriors

Month 02 - 6 Shades + 6 Harpies, if I can manage that
Month 03 - 12 Corsairs, Full Command (about 200pts)
Month 04 - 2 Cold One Chariots (about 200pts depending on config)
Month 05 - 20 Executioners, Full Command
Month 06 - 2 Reaper Bolt Throwers
Month 07 - 5 Cold one Knights
Month 08 - Dreadlord on cold one (Malus Darkblade)
Month 09 - Sorceress on foot
Month 10 - Dreadlord on foot (Malus Darkblade)

[Dyvim tvar]

Really solid stuff. I am looking forward to seeing how the new stuff turns out.

I do think that your color scheme could benefit from a very small amount of a secondary color to break up the blue ... just a bit of a second color on the shield icons and maybe a very thin line of color at the hem of the robes peeking out from under the armor. I think this would really pop and bring your stuff up to the next level.

Answering a question you posed, the brush-on gloss varnish is applied after a matte spray. Otherwise it's a bit pointless.

[Darkgul]

I'll be looking forward to your new work. The blue colorscheme is very refreshing.

[Daeron]

Thank you both. Thanks for answering that question Dyvim Tvar. It seemed like the logical order to me, but having never tried it, I'm glad someone more experienced can point it out.

I agree.. I could benefit from a second color, but not necessarily on the armor. I want to make them more lively by giving the spear shafts (or RxBs wood parts) some color and fully coloring their accessories which have been neglected thus far. That's too subtle to make it stand out, but I'd make that second color more prominent for most units... All but the warriors (which I want to look like the most mundane unit in the army). It would also help other units stand out better from these simpletons.

I'm in doubt which color to choose though.
Red would contrast too much. Green.. would make the Aqua theme too strong for my taste. There are more poisonous greens that could work this though, without giving it an aqua style at all.
Purple could do too... But it might not distinguish sufficiently.
Orange or yellow might be too risqué

[Dyvim tvar]

Green would work. I do a blue/green scheme myself. A mid-shade purple could be good -- not so dark as the get lost but not pastel. You could just use it for the wrappings just below the spear heads and on the sashes around the waist.

Orange or yellow would change the feel radically and maybe not for the better.

[Omnichron]

A very dark brown (as leather or dark wood) with a bit of highlight would be nice as well. As the blue theme is clearly what you go for, any second color should be more anonymous imho.

[Daeron]

Thanks for the feedback. Leather could indeed do except I'm at a loss for inspiration on leathers and what colors to use for them. So far, I found 1 I like, which I nicked from one of the guides here (by GeOrc). I was considering using that one for the boots.
Perhaps with some different highlights I could distinguish enough color to reuse the scheme for belts.

[Daeron]

I bought new paints (I went for Citadel paints in the end due to logistical reasons) and rebuild my entire painting scheme within the new paint range. I'm still missing a few paints to be set but I have enough to get started. This is the result of my paint work so far:

Not only is the look sufficiently similar, but the quality of the paintjob improved. Also, the new method offers a stronger learning curve for improving my painting skills. I updated the OP with the scheme I'm using.

I updated the OP with my painting scheme "thus far". It's on;ly missing a few more parts.

[Dyvim tvar]

Looking good. It's interesting that you paint the heads separately. For most infantry, I assemble the models completely and paint the entire thing.

[Daeron]

I don't paint the heads seperately, actually. I just used 5 heads to experiment with.
I assemble the base, feet, torso and head before spraying and painting. I find it much easier to work without the arms in the way (particularely in the case of RxBs). The arms and weaps are painted seperately and glued on later.

[Darkgul]

The new scheme looks very much like the old. Probably a little bit darker because its more precise than drybrushing i think. I still like the color setup very much though, i'd love to see army pictures with this scheme .

I had too much trouble with glueing painted parts together. They keep falling appart. i pretty much paint everything assembled now.

[Daeron]

I'll endure my wicked way of painting first and glueing later. Perhaps I can scrape the plastic clean a bit to improve the contact. Anyhow, here's a WIP pic!


Left is the new one, using layering. The right one is the 5y old model, using drybrushing. The base on the left has been darkened a bit since that pic has been taken. I struggled a bit controlling the amount of paint used for the bases but the new ones should look darker than the one you see on the left (a much better effect). I will be adding some grass as well.

The picture may not be large enough to reveal it, but the painting quality is notably better on the new models. Considering it takes me twice as long, that's a relief

I tried using highlights on the chainmail to make the knee and folds stand out but I can class that as a failure. The contrast is far too subtle to work on so rough a chainmail and increasing the contrast may not make it look better. I think I'll let that idea pass (apart from highlighting some edges to make them stand out better).

[With hatred ...]

Looking good so far, I prefer the new version using the layering. Are you going for gold highlights as well, they looked great in the first pic?

[Daeron]

I like it too but... I'm keeping gold for the command groups or elite units. I needed something to make them look more distinguished and I fear if I put it on all models, the command group will just vanish in the crowd. Or that other units will need more "bling" to compete with a lowly warrior.

[With hatred ...]

No, you are right, keeping the gold for the command etc would be the best. Do find the layering is more time consuming or are you getting to grips with it?

[Daeron]

At the moment it's far more time consuming by comparison to the old method. Simply by layering the armor, the whole model takes at least twice as much work to complete. But then... I absolutely want to master the technique (for an amateur) before I reach my specials and characters. The improved quality and increased control do pay off, enough to keep me motivated for it

I'm sure it'll go faster with more training, but I doubt it'll ever go faster than my old technique. 1 base color, 2 drybrushes, 1 wash and a highlight. There's no chance I can rival that with layering.

[Darkgul]

The new models do look better on the picture too. Much smoother, since drybrushing can make the paintjob look a bit crude. I guess youre right on schedule for mastering that technique.

[xFallenx]

Yeah, I have to agree that the new ones look better than the older. Keep up the good work!

[Daeron]

Progress so far. 7 more on the way!

[Dyvim tvar]

Really good stuff -- The layered blending is really smooth and the leather is great. I would try to find a few more spots to use that red you have on the dagger handles -- maybe on your shield icons or banner runes?

[Darkgul]

They almost look too good to be sacrificed... Oh well >:)

[Shadowstalker18]

Excellent work man! The blues and shading is very good. Can't wait to see more from you in the future!

[Amarok]

Really nice work mate. I too leave them armless (well, shield arm anyway) till later. Instead of scraping paint, a blob of bluetack at the undercoating stage would do the trick. Or if you want to get fancy, liquid mask would also work (vallejo do some).

Really like the colour scheme. Looking forward to more!

Cheers.

[Daeron]

Instead of scraping paint, a blob of bluetack at the undercoating stage would do the trick. .

Argh.. why didn't I think of that! Thanks, will keep that in mind.

[Daeron]

Right. As this month's end is approaching, and the paintwork with it, I need to prepare for the next month. I'm thinking of doing shades, and perhaps buy a box of Shades to complete it to an 11 big unit.

But.. Shades have little armor, so their the warrior theme needs a bit of adjustment to fit the cloth-wearing Shades. This is what I have in mind, but I have yet to test the colors (I don't want them to look identical to the armor after all)

(This is just photoshopped... no paint or mini was harmed in the process)

I tried coloring the bracers blue, but it turned ugly. I tried coloring different parts to see which combinations I liked, but I can't help feel that coloring the chest piece and cloth dangling between the legs in the same color really makes the whole look more realistic. Now.. I'll need to raid the paint racks again to find a deeper blue, befitting cloth.