Corsairs, Exodites, Craftworlders and hopefully Kabalites soon

No real update, but it turns out that Prisma works really well for little toy aliens



I've finally got an avatar

I was wondering where your avatar was from so it's cool to see the full sized picture - nice work! The harlequin parts really fit well with the scourge wings.


It may be a bit late to the party for stripping advice but I've had most success with Fairy Power Spray:

http://www.wilko.com/content/ebiz/wilkinsonplus/invt/0206463/0206463_l.jpg

I'm not sure where you live but if it's not in the UK it might be sold under a different brand name. It's sold as a product for heavy duty kitchen cleaning so probably just a powerful degreaser.

The advantages over other options like Dettol is that it it's fast, 20 minutes is normally plenty, and it doesn't turn the paint into a horrible gloopy mess. You might need to give the models a few blasts with it and it's pretty abraisive on your skin so wear gloves but it doesn't damage the plastic and also seems fine on resin models. It's definitely the quickest and cleanest way to get paint off figs.

Thanks it's actually almost as if they intended the wings to be stuck on the harlequin torsos. The curvature of the joining surface on the wings matches up pretty closely with the harlequin backpack thing and the side of the torso under the arm. Really not difficult at all

Thanks for the heads up on the Fairy spray stuff. I can definitely get that here, and best of all it's cheap!

I'll pick some up and give it a go do you know if it affects the plastic glue bond? That's all that's been holding me back with the other ones...

Awesome suff. Keep it coming!

What I want to see are some Clawed Fiends and Razorwing Swarms converted in this manner! Get on it dude!

I've not had fairy spray affect plastic models at all. Since poly cement actually melts the plastic together you should be okay. I personally use superglue so I don't have much experience with poly cement but afaik there's no easy way to separate the parts once they're glued together. Maybe glue some sprue together and prime it as a test before using it on an actual model. Good luck!

Great idea about doing a trial-run on some sprues

I've been thinking about Clawed Fiends and Razorwings actually. It's a shame they don't do plastic Kroxigors or I'd be all over that. Might have a bash at converting up some metal ones with claws instead of weapons. I think I've got an old-school one somewhere with about an inch-thick layer of paint on it (I think it was the 5th model I ever painted).

Razorwings I'm not sure about. Ideally tons of little terradons would be nice, but I can't think of a suitable source for those.

Ooh, I suppose there's no reason they have to be birds. I wonder if you can still pick up those old-school Lizardmen Jungle Swarms...

Damn you! Just spent my food money for the next week on OOP Jungle Swarms...

I recall seeing someone just making green-stuff balls, then adding in some spikey bits from our sprues as "wings". It actually came out looking fairly good.

Hmmm, interesting. I'll see what I can come up with, although I expect my green stuff is rock solid by now being over a decade old!

Well, I got bored of painting tonight so I decided to make a little photo booth. Started with a cut up piece of cardboard box...



...cut up some celotex foam I had lying around...



...forgot to take pictures of the next couple of stages, but cut chunks out of it and roughed up the surface, painted it with some cheapy acrylic craft paints I had and glued some sand and static grass to it



Really pleased with how it looks in photos so I took loads of them!








I also spent a while sticking little tufts of static grass to my bases, which really helps to make them look like the finished article

Ynneadwraith wrote:

I've finally got an avatar

And what a glorious avatar it is! Not as good as my cartoon rendition of evil elf version of Monica from F.R.I.E.N.D.S. ( in spaaaace! ), but a decent second.

I have written a little post about my paint removal experiences.
Maybe you'll find it helpful.

The photo booth looks great!

Hah is that what it is? Very good likeness

Just read that and it's definitely helpful I'll do some tests on various bits of sprue I can paint up and stick together

This evening's work:

Does anyone remember the old 3rd ed. Craftworld Eldar codex supplement? I think it was the third 40k thing I ever read, after the 3rd ed. BRB and the 3rd ed. Eldar codex.

I remember being captivated by one of the special characters in there, Nuadhu Fireheart, a Wild Rider chief that fought from the back of a modified Viper. It's one of the images that really stuck in my mind. I've always liked the idea of Saim-Hann since then, and the image of wild tribal Eldar is probably what got me into making Exodites in the first place.



Fast-forward a decade or so and I was having a conversation over on The Dark City forums about Corsairs and how their Void Dreamers couldn't take jetbikes. It occurred to me how odd the idea seemed of a Farseer casting fiendishly difficult psychic spells, where mucking up even slightly will cause a daemon to erupt from your brain, while piloting a jetbike at breakneck speeds across the battlefield.

Then, a lightbulb moment.

Isn't there those Harlequin bikes with a pilot and a rider?

So, a little eBaying and rooting through the bitsbox and here we are! My jetbike Autarch!



Heat lances from a Talos represent the Fusion Gun, and that kickass glaive thing from Dire Avengers is the Power Spear I'm just missing a Windrider helmet to craftworld it up a little, but I'm really pleased with how its turned out

I've got an idea for a Farseer as well, which should materialise at some point soon. Also, all of the new Eldar jetbike models are simply beautiful. Really capture the essence of sleek, alien speed that they should have. At some point I want to make a craftworld/corsair scene with some civilian jetbikes.



Also, had some more Glade Guard legs turn up which meant I could finish the final Hunter of the squad



I've really enjoyed making these. Loads of opportunity for making each model unique, and really fits the 'techno-barbarian Eldar' image I had for exodites.








I need two blaster Hunters, and maybe a Huntsmaster/Sybarite so I can run them in any setup I want I've also had an idea for personalising their Hunting Skiff/Raider based on any games that I play (must get out and do that really). If the squad makes any cool kills, I can add some heads as hunting trophies onto the skiff

Haha, you are giving me flashbacks with those excerpts from 3ed edition

Those legs work out nicely, but not as well as the Wrack legs (which just look awesome). Keep them coming! (and what about those beastpacks! I need more ideas to steal!)

Thanks dude I'm really pleased with how the Wrack legs turned out. There needs to be more Eldar 'slowly striding forward' legs really. They look so damn cool

I've got the Terradon painted at the moment, just need to sort the rest!

Managed to finish one piece of paintwork tonight. My Beastsinger is now ready to go as soon as my flying stand arrives. The picture doesn't quite do it justice (makes the paint look quite flat). Perhaps I just need to be a little less subtle with the highlighting...



Also, I've been cooking up a little more backstory for exodites in general to try and increase the grimdarkness a little.

It all stems from where they get a decent amount of their gear. My thinking is that although they make much of their lower tier tech themselves, the majority of their higher tier weaponry (much more than power swords and rifles) will be traded with their Craftworld and Commorite cousins. I've read in the Path series that there are relatively frequent trade missions to exodite planets, and many foodstuffs from exodite worlds are delicacies in craftworld society. I can see them having fairly standard trade ties with craftworlders.

For Commorites is where the grimdark comes in. I've already cooked up the idea that the drug 'Grave Lotus' is native to many exodite worlds, and is traded with the Commorites.

The other thing they'd be interested in is captives.

We all know that the concept of elves as we know them (including elves...in spaaace!) is rooted in Tolkein's portrayal of elves in the LoTR mythos, and their progenitors the Alfar of Norse mythology.

However, if you read into myths and legends regarding the Fey Folk in Gaelic mythology you get a much different impression.

These beings are malicious alien creatures (in the context of being different to you and I).  At best, they were dangerous creatures that although light-hearted often overlooked the impact their pranks had on humans to tragic effect. At worst, they lured children into the woods to abduct them and replaced them with changelings, or beings like Kelpies who lure unwitting people down to the depths of lochs to devour them.

That's part of elven folklore that I'd really like to incorporate into my grimdark Exodites.

The idea being that they hunt through their webway vicinity for feral or feudal worlds with low technology and using psychic enchantments lure unwitting people into dark woods or deep lakes, whereupon they're sold to their dark cousins to sate their needs. Despite authorities' searches continually finding no hard evidence of them, local myths and legends persist of the 'fey folk of the woods' who prey on the unwary and the impious.

Must write up a codex-style story or two for that

Please do.
Your models are awesome by the way.

Thanks man will do! I'm slowly building up material so I can make a sort of 'Codex: Exodites' that builds on a lot of the fluff that's already available (both from in-universe sources and real-world myths and legends), plus a lot of the stuff that other exodite converters have done as well. Of course, I'll get one paragraph away from finishing it and GW will release their own one...

Little bit of progress this morning finally finished my Dragon Riders!





Again, really pleased with how these have worked out I have forgotten to paint one of their eyes though...







That means to get to 1850pts, I need to paint up 20x Hunters/Kabalites, my Daughter of Khaine/Succubus, my Wyrdlord/Farseer, 3x Aetherskiff/Raiders, 5x Terradons/Scourges, 6x Cult of Faolchu/Swooping Hawks, 5x Raptors/Khymaerae and my Carnosaur...

Not many left then!

I have been thinking about how to make Exoditey Venoms though which could cut down the acreage that I have to paint, but I don't think the look of Venoms fits very well with the look of my Exodites.

Really, what I want is a sort of mini-Raider. For the twin Splinter Cannons I'd have Hunters hanging off the sides/on running boards holding Splinter Cannons.

Lord knows what I'd use to make that though. I've been eyeing up the Dark Elf Scourgerunner Chariot thing, but I'm not certain it's big enough...

Look what just turned up! As a Lizardmen fan back in the day these little critters make me really happy counts-as Razorwing Flocks



I've got some snake ones too which I'll make at some point I've also got a bit of a plan with one of my excess critters involving this picture:

How did you make those?

They're OOP Lizardmen Jungle Swarms from Warhammer Fantasy you can still pick them up on eBay relatively readily

Well, I couldn't resist painting up my little gribblies




Again, I don't think the washed red shows up very well. There's some excellent detailing on the models themselves with cross-hatched skin that the wash has picked up really nicely in real life but isn't quite caught on the camera. Oh, and I've also tidied up their eyes since these photos which helps a lot

Well, I thought that the flying Beastsinger looked a little out of proportion with his horde of little gribblies so I made a footslogging Beastsinger (plus familiar) to guide them into battle.



Also, I've started painting my Hunters, but what respectable counts-as-Kabalites would go into battle without a ride?

Enter the Exodite Hunting Skiff (any resemblance to Eldar vehicles already extant is purely coincidental).

TBH, with your previous work, I was expecting a little more from your raider. You sure you couldent find some large flying dragon/eagle/thing that they could fly around on? In the Path series, the exodites were flying on pterodactyl or some such

Hah I was trying to lean a little away from the dino-riders angle. Expand their culture and technology-base a little more than capturing wild beasts. Plus, I love the look of Raiders, and it would break one of my cardinal rules for realism: no beasts with AV values...

Saying that, the idea of a High Elf dragon with various exodites swinging down from ropes sounds pretty cool

Ynneadwraith wrote:

Hah I was trying to lean a little away from the dino-riders angle. Expand their culture and technology-base a little more than capturing wild beasts.

my cardinal rules for realism: no beasts with AV values...pretty cool

While I understand your trying to get away from Dino's I think this is a lovely idea for a Wraithknight Conversion.



Granted this is an Imperial Knight but I think you could do similar with a Wratihknight.