New Void Elf Blood Vestals Sci-Fi version

With this batch of the new sculpts of Raging Heroes' Blood Vestals (Sci-Fi version) I decided to make them a little less of a direct port from the, semi nude, Dark Elf Witch Elves and painted a grey leotard instead of the bare breasts.  This makes them blend better with the Games Workshop Dark Eldar that I primarily use them with.

  Even though the original Void Elf Blood Vestals are awesome models I was very pleased with these updated versions.  They applied a lot of lessons learned to these models which are a great addition to, and blend well with, the original set.

 Raging Heroes, at this stage of their development, are primarily used as proxies for other game systems.  I've become a fan of proxies over the years and think that their existence, and strong showing on the tabletop, help drive innovation in the industry and encourage the biggest companies to work harder.  Raging heroes units have a lot of built in variety and often come with an assortment of alternate parts. I use these mainly as Dark Eldar Wyches and and Ynnari cultists.

These models were constructed from one pack of Blood Vestal Troopers and one pack of Blood Vestal Command.

The bladed weapons ended up being an eerie green that I think of as exotic materials, energy, or poison.  Its a quick application of Hexwraith Flame (GW, technical) with some accents using Splintered Bone (Reaper)

 The hair starts with Krylon Khaki base coat dry-brushed with Sandstone craft paint and then again with Pure White (Reaper).  A 50/50 wash of Nightmare Black (Reaper) and Glaze Medium (Vallejo).  Highlights by adding Pure White (Reaper)

The desk is full of terrain and magnets at the moment... as well as some greenstuff rollers...

So I'm guessing terrains and possibly some Heresy Girls, Jailbirds, and/or Twisted minis will finish up next.

Back to the desk!

Toughest Girls of the Galaxy 2 Preview; Executrix Champion Sephea and Dark Elf Mascot Violet

I got a preview set of the the freebies from the Toughest Girls of the Galaxy 2 "Darkness and Light" (TGG 2) and I'll be painting them up just as fast as I can manage but, even though the freebie set contains Sisters and Lust Elves I really fixed on Executrix Sephea and the Mascot Violet as my first targets.

 Its kind of funny that I first got interested in the Kickstarter because of the Sisters of the Chalice/Orphanage and then became completely enthralled by the Lust Elves and now have really started looking hard at the Void and Dark Elves.

 I usually play Dark Eldar in 40K and have proxied some RH stuff in my armies before... Asharah SF version as the Archon of the Blood Rain, and the Blood Vestals SF version for Wyches as well as the fantasy versions for Witch Elves.  Because I have a full blown Dark Eldar army already built and painted up I thought I'd have less interest in proxy Dark Eldar... boy was I wrong about that!  At this point I'll be building a parallel pure Void Elf army, complete with its own backgrounds, as kind of a "Darker Eldar" army that is related to my main Force  "The Blood Rain".



The figures are very finely detailed and crisply cast.  There are few mold lines and they are generally well placed.  After a thorough cleaning I primed up Sephea and Violet and set to work.







The Blood Rain has a very identifiable color scheme and the new Void Elf Shard is going to as well.  First things first, Asharah's Void Elves will be the "Vertigo Shard" and will have a lot of asymetric designs worked into the heroes and vehicles... I'm thinking that the Blood Rain will retain the old school Dark Eldar vehicles while the Vertigo Shard will get the new style... we'll see how that plays out for troops but these minis are so inspiring I might go there!

My first thought is to take the iconic Incubi... all black and skulls and scary... and re-imagine them in rose and indigo.  You see that here with Sephea and Violet... who will serve as the Shard's Communion Familiar... sort of a modified creature that talks to lesser beings so the Void Elves don't have to... The actual Executrix troops will have the same, or a reverse, of Sephea's scheme... all depends on how the rose sits against the flesh... tricksey!

 I imagine Executrix Sephea's first meeting with Val'orn Archon of the Hidden Kindred to have gone something like this:


 "Dire Lord!  The Void Kin vessel approaches as anticipated." whispered the diminutive Communion Familiar.
Archon Val'orn of the Hidden Kindred, vassals of the Blood Rain Kabal, winced.  He did not agree with this course of action but the Kabal  had chosen this path and he was compelled to obey.

 "Dispatch Ar'Rrath" he directed.








 "Void Sisters we welcome your arrival and look forward to this exchange. Klaivex Ar'Rrath is on his way to you. When can we expect your Executrix?" the tones of the communion familiar were carefully cultivated... radiating an indifference just short of actual insult... it was unclear, to the uninitiated, whether or not a reply was actually expected.


 "You may expect me now." replied a lilting and remotely amused voice from the foot of the command dais.  A tall blonde female Void Elf, for no outsider had ever seen a male Void Elf... if indeed any of them existed, clad in brilliant blue and pale rose armor stood gracefully in the single moment before the command deck erupted in furious activity.

 Two Incubi clad in the heavy armor, and bearing the signature great blades of their profession, moved rapidly to flank the new arrival.


 "How quaint, you actually wear....black... oh, and skulls.... yes there are skulls!  I imagine that is fearsome!" mused the newcomer.

"Stay your blades Incubi!" laughed Val'orn "I suspect this is Executrix Sephea... your new Klaivex."

The Incubi came to a sudden, and complete, halt as Val'orn turned his attention to Sephea... "I expect to learn something of that trick as part of this exchange but recommend that you use it with caution while you are among the Blood Rain."

For all his glib demeanor Val'orn was off his guard.  The Void Elves had a reputation that was equal parts mystery and terror, even by the standards of the Kabal, but this sparkling gem did not align with his own vision of fear.

"As you command Dire Lord, although... if I might mention such a trifle... while caution might be useful if simple fear is your desire" a slight pause, a blatantly incredulous eye cast toward the Incubi she was to command, she continued "it's usefulness is substantially diminished when invoking true terror."

"We shall see Executrix... we shall see..."  Val'orn retreated within the protective void bubble of his command throne and wondered again about the wisdom of this course.



The story is still unfolding but such an auspicious beginning!




Sephea and Violet, in its role as Communion Familiar. The Mascot "Violet" should probably be renamed to "Indigo" in my service since I painted her that way... but, reduce confusion, Violet she remains!

Sephea seen paired with a rare female Archon from GW.

Oh... before I forget completely!

Painting notes:

Skin: Basic Flesh (Vallejo), Flesh Wash (P3), retouched with Basic Flesh.

Indigo areas: Nightmare Black (Reaper), Deep Sky Blue (Vallejo) highlights, wash Sapphire (Secret Weapon), spot highlights Deep Sky Blue.

Rose areas: Rose Brown (Vallejo), highlights Brains Pink (Reaper), wash Drying Blood (Secret Weapon), retouch Rose brown, spot highlight brains pink.

Designs in the rose area were painted between just before the first wash using Deep  Red (Reaper)



I based her on the same Blasted Swamp (Secret Weapon) bases that majority The Blood Rain is based on.  I thought about a separate basing scheme for the Vertigo Shard but they may still be used with the Blood Rain quite a lot and it will be more unifying to have the bases regularized.

Oh! before I forget.... Sephea and Violet are both part of the big pile of freebies you get for pledging at the LT. level or higher.  It's still possible to join the Kickstarter if you do it before the Pledge Manager opens.  Raging Heroes expects this to happen in less than two weeks.

Next up... Nuns with Guns!

Dark Eldar Beastmasters and Gluttony WiP

The Blood Rain Beastmasters arrive.  I'll have to set up a picture with the Beasts and the Beastmasters all together.

Some minor conversions were made to vary the appearance of this single pose.  I also seem to have left the 'safety strap' off the models. The models are metal and the supplied standard flight bases may not be a great mounting for them  so I'm thinking about moving them to 30mm round lip or 40 mm beveled bases.

  Since the models are actually bigger than the bases I don't think that upping the size of the base footprint will have any adverse game effects.

When doing the glider scheme I misjudged the area that would be covered by the rider so the Kabal signature fractal pattern is almost entirely covered by the rider.  In retrospect I think adding the pattern to the, otherwise simply red, drapes would have been more effective.  I'm thinking about adding that in.  I'd left it largely plain to accommodate campaign and Kabal badges but those could still be accommodated after patterning and overflow badges could be easily be moved to the glider vanes.  

Next up is the Legendary Sci-Fi Gluttony. 

I started out with washing the base colors and then layered up from there.  At this point there are three layers on and there will be one or two more edge layers for illumination. 

 The trick with the cartoony approach I'm taking to Nurgle is to make the models look decayed and diseased without being to muddy.   I'm considering adding some powders at the end of the cartoon process, mostly in the flab folds,  to distress the whole, add texture, and convey an 'unclean' feel.

 The arms are gaining definition at this point.  Sigils and symbols are getting some illumination and various details that are a little bit shallow on the cast are getting drawn in with washes.  The shoulder flesh of the left arm needs 'pinking'  as it seems to be in motion around the faces so I want to pick it out a little bit differently than the main bulk of the flabby skin.

The wings have only their initial washes at this point.  The Secret Weapon washes I used for this have been interesting to to work with.  They are very strongly colored and the pigments separate out rapidly making it very important to store the bottles in an upright position as the pigments tend to settle in the dropper neck and solidify.  Its easy enough to remedy and the colors really are quite nice.

Dark Eldar Beastmasters WiP and 3 Skaarlys.

The Beastmasters are coming along.

The Gliders are nearly done just needing some black Highlights, a few more coats of Blood Red, and gems. 

The Beastmasters themselves are having a longer workup due mostly to a belated realization that I'd need to vary the poses a bit. 

 These are metal versions and the single pose is dramatic which causes issues when seen as a group.  I've built five so they can be used in a critter themed group.  I opted to vary the arms a bit and the five ended up as three standard arms, each in a different position, and two that have the whip arm replaced with daggers in different positions and a whip moved to the right hand.  The dagger arms and whips were spares swiped from Raging Heroes Blood Vestals SF. 

The Beastmasters were worked up over a black base.  You can see the basic work up in the bone white and flesh.

I did finish up three Skaarlys models, also Raging Heroes, using the different weapon variations include with the kit.  I ended up with a fan/sword, fan/whip, and pistol/sword.

My painting hiatus is still showing but I'm getting back up to speed at a pace.  I'm spending more time on touch-up and general tightening on the Beastmasters than I spent on the Skaarlys.  I'm happier with their progress.  The next mini on deck is the Legendary Version of Gluttony Sci-Fi.  I'm going to use that as a Daemon Prince of Nurgle.  The model is a bit more Cthulhu 'Old God'  in feel than it is Nurgly but I'm thinking that adding a few nurglings to the scene might move it in the right direction.

Moloss and Minion

 Moloss and Minion from Raging Heroes is ready to join the Ubergrotesques of Urien Rakarth's Carnival of Horrors.  The mini would really work better on a 50 or 60mm base but I do want to use it as a Grotesque so it had to be convinced to accept a 40mm base.

Just prior to basing the mini I ... dropped it... on the floor!  It suffered a dent to the drum frame and some broken claws arms and had to be repaired and touched up.  Water effects were added last and were a bit tricky due to the crouching pose but I wanted to get a little depth and sink the fists in the muck a bit.  in retrospect I should have muddied him up in general... probably the whole army looks too clean to be crossing the Blasted Swamps!

For most of the army I made the assumption that they are evil fashion victims and had some eldritch means to keep the muck and gore off their spendy outfits and... more importantly.... out of their hair!  I think it works for Dark Eldar themselves to have that skill but the grotesques and the beastpacks are less easy to go that route...until... I decided that the Dark Eldar masters don't want muddy, gore splattered help/slaves/beasts messing up their spaces and have somehow extended the 'clean tech' to their entire force!  Problem solved!

Here you see the beastmasters starting their journey across the painting table.  The group of 3 Skaarlys SF versions, to cover a few weapon options, is also doing well though I forgot to photo them.

Dark Eldar Beast Packs

 The Khymerae Pack and Razorwing Flock.  These along with the Clawed Fiends from last week finish up the beasties leaving only the five Beastmasters to do.

 There are some views before and after adding the water effects.  I painted the area under the water differently before applying the top coats to give a more murky feel.  The water effect itself is colorless so really needs the influence of the underside paint. The effect is limited to small pools due to the boggy nature of the swamp but the bases have plenty of lip and the depth could be increased quite a lot.  The effect also has a bit of weight and helps stabilize the models.

 The Razorwing Flock is based on the standard 40m base that comes in the package to take advantage of the incorporated supports.  The top was textured with white pumice to resembled the wetland bases.

 The Standard/Objective marker is progressing the girls are assembled and mostly painted although still needing some major touch up they should be easier to access now.  The Banner itself is in progress and has turned out to be slightly more fragile than I anticipated.  Nothing that can't be fixed but there may be some durability issues during play/transport.

Raging Heroes Sci-Fi Blood Vestals WiP

Raging Heroes Sci-Fi Blood Vestals WiP

 A group of 5 of the Sci-Fi version of the Blood Vestals.  These still require eyes and water effects.  I decided to go with Anime Blue hair for this unit to further separate it from the regular Wyches

The larger group.  These will be used as Hekatrix Blood Brides, elite Wyches, while the regular GW minis will be rank and file Wyches.  The blue hair really stands out at tabletop range.

 These Wyches are sporting rose colored armor while the regulars are a bright primary red color.

The unit Syren. 

I just got the Sci-Fi hero (not pictured), which has an awesome fan option.  There are three weapon configurations included in the kit and I'll build all of them just because they are pretty, and Raging Heroes had a special on a set of three.... evil!

And... a halfway decent shot of the fantasy Blood Vestal unit.  The flag device could use some cleaning up but is pretty close.  the beach effect still needs some sparse and ragged weeds as well.

Back to the kitchen!

Court of the Archon assembled

The Court of the Archon in its basic configuration is complete today with the addition of the Lhamaeans.  These last two models are single piece Finecast.  They were easy to work with and I've got another one in the process of being converted to alter the pose.  I have a few alternates to add in yet... a converted Lhamaean (just to vary the pose) and a couple of Ur-Ghul that will use the remaining heads from the Finecast kit but use another body... again for variety.

Moving now on wrapping up Greasus Goldtooth and prepping the squiggoths and a Forge World Vampire Hunter that I came across recently.  The Kabal is particularly keen to add the Vampire but it had been partially constructed and only retains the first page of instructions so I'll be a little bit sorting it out.  My primary concern is the engineering of a flight/display base for it as its not immediately clear how such a base would be attached.