Kabal of the Shackled Soul

Fluff and other Details can be located here: Kabal of the Shackled Soul

So I've been working on an attempt to make sure my Dark Eldar stand out visually. I am not skilled at painting and need to do research into painting better. My brushes are pretty bad, and I share paint and brushes with people who don't understand that digging the brush all the way to the bottom wastes paint and just recolors the wood part of the brush. So you know what I'm dealing with.

For my current leader, I am debating on rather or not he is the Archon or my 'stand in' of Drazhar, or such. I intend to add weapons appropriately when I do figure it out.



As a major part of my army, I have decided I plan to replace the heads of my Kabalite Warriors except for a handful with Madusae heads. Explained in the lore. I have yet to decide on a color for their brain-pans yet.



So far I have two Madusea, and I am proxying an Eldar in with Dark Eldar weapons. Yes the weapons don't match points, but I don't have a drill and magnet for this kind of thing and so far the locals don't mind. I just can't use them in tournaments.

The Eldar is also explained in my lore.



So this is some shots of my army. It was too blinding to see what my camera was getting angles of, but these are some of the best shots I could get using natural lighting to ensure it's quality.



Yes there are a few with an off Blue and Orange. Actually it's Sotek Green and Troll Slayer Orange. Why? Ghostplate armor, and to represent higher ranks. Otherwise I'm using Alaitoc Blue and Hashut Copper. The weapons mimic the color of my girlfriend's tyranids, which happens to be Administratum Grey, Sotek Green, Troll Slayer Orange, and Moot Green.

Thoughts? I'll have to get pictures of my vehicles when I'm done with them. I think they look a bit too colorful and may dumb it down later. But for now this is what I got.

You need to wash your models with the Citadel washes, and also add highlights to the models (mix in a bit of white with a bit of the Alaitoc blue and go over the edges of the armour with it, ETC)

so the fine details are a bit lost at the moment.

I agree, that our colour scheme is a bit TOO bright for my taste.

Here is what i would suggest, on your metalic parts (the bright gold) do a wash of brown on them. This wll dull it down a bit and give you some detail in the recesses of the miniature (without requiring you to be terribly detailed).

On the blue similarly i would do a wash of somekind. I personally paint my models grey and then doe Coelia Greenshade on them. Something similar would work for yours i think. I do find the GW staff quite helpful at paint matching and finding the right shade.

All that said, you have done a great job of a unified scheme across your force, and you have a sizeable chunk of troop choices done. Great work on that front!

Silver - I think drakenhof nightshade is what I would use on the blue as a wash

Also, I forgot to note this, do you plan to do anything with the bases?

Eventually, I have yet to decide on that. Right now I'm focusing mainly on getting the basic appearance down. I appreciate the pointers, I'll have to see about doing these washes and see what comes out of it. Hopefully they stop looking like Clowns when I'm done. I'll post up more once I've done a wash.

You're playing DE, they're supposed to look like clowns!

Post Wash Results...

The Suicide / Madusea Squad
Special Group of Prisoners. Needs more Madusea heads. Their leader in fluff is an Eldar Captain taken captive, and his men turned to Madusea for the amusement of the Archon, who forces the Eldar to lead them into battle even now.


The Kabal Trueborn



The Dracon


Stand-In HQ Unit potentially Drahzar
-Needs Klaivex


Venom
-Note bought second hand so was already put together


Razorwing


The Winter Cult

Nomad, post wash results shows some very good improvement, good job! I think they color scheme is special and nice. Keep up with the details and washing and I think you'll be alright for now. You have a lot of work ahead of you and it will be fun!

How much improvement?
i should browse the other threads to get a better idea.

I still have a raider, and the Jet to finish painting. then wait till I get more models *grump*

Hey Nomad!

I hope you're still working on this army, sorry for this VERY late reply.

To answer your question: Very good improvement I'd say. It is a good start for beginners.

If you dig around in this section I'm sure you'll find very good guides and examples how to improve. Googling and youtubing will teach you a lot as well.

My advice is: Spend more money on your brushes and tools. They are essential for good results. For most beginners or average painters quality brushes and tools can help a lot and make life easier. For the experts and advanced, maybe not. Also, wash your brush often and carefully!