Friday 26 May 2017

Eldar Space Pirates done & dusted.

As part of my preparations for BOYL this year I needed to come up with a gang/warband for a game of Shadow Wars Armageddon (aka Necromunda) at Warhammer World. I wanted to use something oldschool, but I wasn't too sure about which race to go with. Then I remembered my languishing Eldar contingent that I'd shelved for over year. They'd fit the bill nicely I thought :)

If you've not been following me for very long, or have completely forgotten what I did over a year ago, then take a look at these old links to see where it all began part 1, part 2, and part 3.

Ok, enough chit chat, roll on miniature porn!!!!!


Obligatory group shot, eighteen of the trouble makers in all.

Here's the first of the Eldar that I converted last year.

Here's a picture of their arses.

The original minis that they were converted from.

Artillery spotters converted into active members of the squad.

Bumb shot.

Carrying boom boxes into battle is the only way to kill & maim in style.....or so I've been told.

The next guys to get the chop treatment.

The guy on the right is about ready to torch his pal I think.

Leader & Harlequin....a bit out of focus, but you get the idea.

The rest of the ne'er-do-wells.

One of my favourite Eldar mini's in the range.

Burn baby burn!!!!!!!

And who can forget Las-cannon guy? A cool looking dude, just chillin.

 Ready to fuck someone up with his boom stick if the need arises. 


For a bit of the back story to the colour scheme I chose for these guys, I wanted to do something very different than the normal black armour, yellow helmet, black stripes shtick. I had recently been watching some nature doco's with my son and in it they showed a few of those poison dart frogs, and I thought viola! They've got some crazy, interesting and 80's style camo going on. So after the show I went online to find a suitable frog to steal his skin design from. These are the two that piqued my interest the most in my search:

Really deep blue base colour, black blotchy patterned markings of varying sizes, encased in a bright blue halo. Sexy beast!

This last one was really interesting too. I liked the deep red top half of it's body, which bled down into its blue abdomen.

After having a think about the practicality of trying to replicate one of these two two designs with a paint brush, I decided on a bit of a compromise. I would use the red head of the last one & the deep blue from the body of the first frog, but without camo. I realised that it wouldn't work in 28mm. You may not be aware of this little painting conundrum, but shrinking real life, effective camo down to our scale just works too damn well. It works so damn well that it just ends up hiding all of the nice physical elements of the sculpt. So I dropped the camo idea...even though it looks ace on the frog.

During my my painting journey my son commented that they were looking a lot like Spiderman. He was right, I knew I had to change some element about him lest I bear the derision of my friends for the rest of my natural life. That's how I came up with the bright green stripe pattern on their helmets. Not even remotely similar to that super hero I hope.....did I pull it off?


Ok, waffle ended :)

31 comments:

  1. all very cool.

    hope to see you at BOYL

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    1. Thanks Riot :)

      I hope to see you there too. Just look for the old bearded white guy, that'll be me....oh wait! That's about 95% of us isn't it? :P

      Cheers.

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  2. Replies
    1. Thanks man! Glad you like'em :)

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    2. I am simple man that just like classics ;3

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  3. Looks excellent! Everytime we go to the zoo my oldest lives seeing the poison dart frogs 😂

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    1. Yeah, I reckon they look ace too. It's a shame their so damn fatal to handle though :(

      Thanks Andrew :)

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    2. Thanks to my aforementioned son's love if nature books, it's their diet that makes them toxic. So they can actually be kept in captivity with no problems.

      Now you know, and knowing is half the battle! Yo Joe!

      Sorry, got carried away there.

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    3. Really!? I didn't know that. So if you feed them something other than their normal diet they'll become non-toxic? I better research this some more if I wanna keep some as pets I think :)

      Kid's huh, my son drops these bombs of knowledge on me as well. Clever kid's :)

      Feel free to get carried away with idle banter anytime too Andrew.

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  4. Wow, that colour combination works much better than I could have expected. Damn nice job!

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    1. Thanks Suber :)

      I wanted to try something really different to the standard Eldar paint scheme. If I'd tried too then I would have probably given up half way through, due to lack of motivation. The poison dart frog inspired design got me all enthused to see them completed.

      Cheers :)

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  5. Very cool, very retro and very inspiring. I'm considering dipping my toe into painting 40k stuff for the first time in a while and seeing these old Eldar has me thinking it's my next project up!

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    1. Me too actually, but in reverse. I've got a tonne of old Chaos mini's that are increasingly looking like my next project too. I think I've got enough painted Rogue Trader minis to do me for a while.

      Cheers Snickit :)

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  6. Replies
    1. Thanks Kym, glad it wow'd you :) I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out too.

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  7. Wow, those models are proper old! Some of the first models I ever owned were metal eldar guardians. The conversions look really good and the unusual paint scheme works well. It's surprising how effectively all the different components go together. I hope they perform well!

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    1. I must say that I never much liked the Eldar when I was a young'n. I was more of an RBT01 kind a kid. But I came across these guys cheap online a few years back and thought differently to how I used to about them......it might have just been the price point that sold me actually :)

      I'm happy with how the paint scheme came & the conversions came out too. Regarding their effectiveness on the tabletop? What is it they say about the prettiest minis on the board? Oh, that's right, they get wacked first :) I'm fine with that, as long as they look good trying.

      Cheers Toby :)

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  8. They'll definitely be the nicest Shadow War gang on any table.

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    1. All I ask is that they don't get splattered all over the pretend battlefield within the space of a turn. If they pass that I'l be immensely happy :)

      Thanks Bacon :)

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  9. Looking great. Can't wait to see them in person!

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    1. Thanks James. Me too....I mean, for you to see them too! Not me, I've already seen them of course :)

      Cheers :)

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  10. Awesome stuff! Love that pale skin tone

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    1. Thanks Legio :)

      I actually had no skin tone in mind when I was paintng them up. The face just happened to be one of the last things to be done. I like the "sort of Drow" grey skin tone I fluked though. Looks suitably bad arse :)

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  11. How could I miss those !
    I absolutely love the colour scheme and you'r eproving eldar can rock big time !

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    1. Here's hoping they cleanse the under-hive of all who come their way. I bet you I'm gunna get fried though :)

      Cheers JB :)

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  12. These are fantastic! I had immense fun making my own Space Elf Pirates last year from similar miniature stock. They're a treat to work on, aren't they? Love the really strong colour scheme & looking forward to seeing these in action!

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    1. I was amazed at how many of these guys came from the same stock actually. I know GW liked to squeeze as many "new" mini's out of one sculpt, but some of these were quite clever in they're redesign....couldn't quite tell the base mini unless you looked closely. That's when I realised I could convert a few up the way I did.

      I wanted to try an different colour scheme than the usual black & yellow. It looks fine, but it has been done to death. I'm really happy with how they turned out and should look cool prancing about the pretend battlefield :)

      Cheers Axiom, can't wait to hang out & game with you guys :)

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  13. Great looking minis. Lovly style! I have to add to my blog list :) masterpiece works there :)

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    1. Wow! Thank-you for your praise :)

      My output has slowed down of late, BOYL approaching, but there will be more coming soon after I think.

      Cheers :)

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    2. Are you flying over for BOYL?

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    3. I certainly am! Can't wait :)

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