Dark Eldar Medusae and more Spirits of Vengeance

 The Court of the Archon is proceeding at a good pace now with the addition of these two Medusae and the impeding arrival of the Sslyth.  The entire Court is mounted on Blasted Swampland bases from Secret Weapon.  I'm liking the water effects more as I get more accustomed to them.  The large shrinkage that occurs as the effect cures and clears requires the the central areas of the bases be refilled several times to avoid a concave shiny situation where the shiny effect rides up the retaining walls and the sides of artifacts that are only partly submerged.  This could be adjusted with paint as well but I'm currently favoring the adding of actual depth.

 This shot shows the bases pretty well.  The effect around the log, just below waterline is the best bit.

 Finally getting close to wrapping up the Spirits of Vengeance!  The Datsue Ba and the second batch of Seishin complete the basic selection of all the models.  Just as I finished these though.... the Avatar of Vengeance arrived!  The concept for the model is really good and its an ambitious sculpt.  Unfortunately the arm pins seem to be very much out of position and will have to be shorn and replaced.  The spirit rises from the collapsed body of Kirai Ankoku and the join is also a bit ambiguous.  In pinning it I may actually not lower the body completely so it could actually appear to levitate over the fallen Kirai.  I'm anxious to see how that goes so its already in the construction pile.

Batch 2 of the Seishin brings this element up to its likely potential.

Shikome and Ur-Ghul on swamp bases

 The Spirits of Vengeance crew is getting close to finished now with the addition of the Shikome.  Its some sort of Kabuki Harpy and a spirit to boot with a dark evil look offset by the incongruous spray of wild flowers in the industrial rubble.

 A bit farther out of town the Ur-Ghul are mucking about in the swamps.  They will be accompanied by the rest of the Court of the Archon as the aliens which comprise the Court seem to be a bit less fashion, and a LOT less dirt/mud, conscious.  The painting has been done for the entire Court's bases but the water effect can't be added until the completed figures are mounted and all top sprays are completed.

 Here are some close detail views of the swamp painting prior to filling the bases with water effect. 

 These were achieved by layering washes of Thrakka Green with Devlan Mud and over a white primer base and a final layer of Ogre flesh in the very low, and quite flat, recesses at the bottom of the pool.The highest points were then finished up with a light dry brush of Buckskin Pale from Reaper.

  This final wash really added some depth to the effect and I would have been happy to leave them in this state except for the pesky idea that this was actually supposed to be a water effects experiment!


Here is a look at the base with the effect in  and dried.  The depth at the deepest point is about 2mm.  The water effect does contract a bit as it dries so applied depth is always significantly less than achieved depth and layers are requires to make up the difference.  In the next batch some of the figures will be standing, essentially, in pools of the water so I will attempt to get the depth of the water up to the top of the lip.

Finally, just for the amusement of my nephew, I'm starting the wash-up of the next bit of Orky madness... a pair of Big Squiggoths!  Together with the previously completed Gargantuan Squiggoth this will complete the minimum requirements for the Apocalypse formation... and, more importantly, give the Boyz some monstrous support in regular games.

Secret Weapon bases and a pair of Gaki

 Its been a mad couple of days doing house chores and otherwise submersing myself in real world activities....bleah!  I did find a few moments to finish up this pair of Gaki as well as make some good progress on bases for the Court of the Archon. 

The bases are from Secret Weapon and are very nice for getting some depth to water effects on standard sized beveled edge 25mm bases.  I's like to get some of these that are recessed but otherwise blank so I could more easily fill them with artifacts of my choosing.

Back to the real world for a couple of days but more working on cool toys soon!

Malifaux Kirai Ankoku and a pair of Onryo

OK... Crazy ladies with hedge trimmers that unknowingly summon hordes of angry spirits to take revenge on her oppressors are fun to paint... or maybe its just the blood?  For this Kirai Ankoku I bloodied both the trimmer and the floor using the Reaper Blood Triad and some spot gloss varnish from Vallejo.  I really like the effect, especially on the flooring. 

 For the Onryo I again reached into the reaper pile for the skin tones which are made up from the Olive Green Triad.  Very ghoulish! 

Due to the very Asian nature of these models I've gone into some colors like the GW Scaly Green top coats and a lot of touches of pink like the fan and some medallions.

The hair is another experiment.  Its simply P3 Armor wash over white primer.  I wanted the Asian black hair but kind of shiny and otherworldly.  

Next up... I think... are a pair of Gaki, a Datsue Ba, and some thing from the Court of the Archon.