Raging Heroes Executrix Regulars Troop

 Raging heroes makes some amazing figures.  This Void Elf Executrix troop are gonna make great Incubi proxies for my Ynnari. 

They'll be operating as the Emerald Execution and I wanted to stay away from the usual colors of my more traditional Dark Eldar.  These Death Eldar seem a little more flexible with wardrobe colors as they are not so focused on being the Evil Eldar... leaving that for their Cabalite Cousins.

 As I was working on these the Emerald and white base coats left me with a unit that was very heavy in cool colors so I elected to warm up the accents with an orange-y red for their swords and for the wing guards.

The wing guards are really a great weapon option idea!  they seem to be a device that dangles close combat blades while walking or standing but deploys they forwards when the knee is raised and bent giving extra stabby power!  I'd count this as, at least, an off hand weapon... which... given that the main weapon is a Double-hander... is awesome! So, If you are reading this Benoit please integrate something similar in the TGG3 Game...wink, wink...

I'm sure that will give my 40k opponents a little heartburn but they all love integrating cool models so I'm sure they'll be happy with it!  For everyone else they'l operate as plain vanilla Incubi.

I've also experimented a bit with textures on the flowing cloth bits... kind of going for an exotic monster pelt... looks like I'll have to generate a suitably exotic monster with such a pelt for them to hunt!  (Maybe another suggestion for the folks at RH?)

The blades are meant to look like power weapons but that was mostly just an excuse to paint them in warmer colors and not a weapon option suggestion...

The whole unit together... keep in mind this is just the regular troopers set... there is also a command group set which is in various stages of being assembled at the moment.  I haven't decided If I'll replicated these colors so I have add-on options... or if I'll pattern them after another alien beastie...

Back to work then!

Raging Heroes Build Day and Star Saga wave 2 arrives

 This unit or Raging Heroes Void Elf Executrix Troops took most of my day to assemble.  They look great but the arm system took a lot of fidgeting to get in place.  Once the first set got done and I understood the process better the rest came along a lot more willingly.  These should function as Ynnari Incubi.

I have a Command Unit of these still waiting assembly but I've run out of greenstuff for the bases so they'll have to wait a few days on the post.

Speaking of the Post!  Star Saga wave 2 showed up.  Everything looks great except that one of the models has the wrong arms on... but Mantic have included the correct par of arms and it looks to be an easy swap.  The minis come assembled so there should be painted Star Saga goodness in short order!

Wave 2 also included the MDF tile set and conversion rules to make the Warpath/Deadzone material compatible.

I like the expansion package format with each being in a unique box with a storage tray and additional components.

I somehow ended up with three sets of the Star Saga Screen.  I think failed to notice that one was included with the KickStarter Freebies Bundle and maybe one with the all-in pledge... thaen I must have added an extra one making it three... oops!  No worries! A few extra game screens aren't really a bad thing!

I'm hoping to get some more 3D printed terrain, The Order of Vampire Hunters Wave 2, and couple of Heresy Girls knocked out this week so I'd better get back to the desk!

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!

New Camera test drive, Kingdom Death Surprise Hunt, Augusta and the Void Elves

 Taking a new camera for a test drive.  I'm still having trouble with lighting and focus but, overall, a big improvement.  Next week I'm slated to go get some hands on help with getting the results I want from the photography side of things.

Today was just messing around with the camera and some lights.  I'm still figuring out what all the settings do... or even most of them!

I think I'm going to have to run the steamer on this backdrop to de-wrinkle it.

 I've been taking some more pictures of Augusta, Mother Superior (Raging Heroes) because I wand to get a good read on the yellow metal.  It seems to have survived the sealer reasonable intact. Sealing metallics often damages the final result and I sometimes end up retouching them afterwards.  I could, of course, not seal them... but these are primarily for tabletop use and not dedicated display pieces so I tend to want them sealed against frequent handling.

 Some experiments with wider focus areas as the Mother Superior faces down a pack of Void Elf Hunters.

 A size comparison for the current batch of Kingdom Death Monsters that our settlement is hunting... or being hunted by...

 In anticipation of this weekend's game I quickly painted up the Screaming Antelope and laminated some character and settlement record sheets.  The tactical board getting set up... I'm going to do some 3D terrain elements for the board soon as the card terrain just doesn't show well alongside the miniatures.

 A party of inexperienced survivors set out to hunt the Screaming Antelope led by "Lucky" Amelia.  Amelia at least had one hunt under her belt and performed so well during it that she earned her moniker "Lucky"

The rest of the party were novice hunters although two of them, Yang and Herc were born in the settlement and had some skill/stat upgrades based on that.  One, Flayh, was a survivor that had previously managed to avoid encountering the malicious wildlife of the area and was a straight up newb..

 During the first Hunt event the group stumbled upon the corpse of a Screaming Antelope... did a little scavenging.. and were then interrupted by the monster that had killed it in the first place... a Mature (level 2) White Lion.

This party had been hunting a juvenile Screaming Antelope and was not at all prepared for a Mature White Lion... perhaps Amelia's famous luck had run out?

A couple of pictures of the Screaming Antelope that did not make an appearance in this week's session....

The fight was pretty epic however with Flayh... our group goldbricker getting immediately knocked down and drug off by the Lion, who seemed to be enraged by the group's looting of it's kill... DoH!

Yang managed to sooth the mood of the beast by playing her cat-whisker harp. Yang later proved to be more than just a budding musician when she sliced the lower jaw of the beast clean off!  This early crit helped the party to survive what would otherwise have been a nightmare encounter.

Amelia's famous luck returned almost as quickly as it had abandoned them and she scored a crit on the Lion's brow... damaging it's eye and reducing its accuracy.

The big cat had been charging around the area to either drag Flayh off for a private snack or to escape the incessant rescue attempts by the rest of the group. Yang finally put a stop to this with a precision attack that hamstrung the lion leaving and it nearly dead.

Herc finished the monster off from a safe distance with a well aimed arrow.

All in all a great reinforcement of Lucky Amelia's reputation as the group returned with a pile of resources well in excess of those anticipated. 

Yang turned out to be a competent bard and a very strong combatant to boot.  Some members of the settlement are calling her Yang the Lion Tamer.

Herc calmly wielded his bow throughout the fight and took a couple of opportunities to land big hits with a Zanbato which really sped up the fight. He's taken to referring to himself as "The Tactician" which has not been as well received by the rest of the settlement as he had imagined...

As for poor Flayh... He was grabbed so often by the Lion during the fight... and subsequently rescued by his companions at great risk to themselves... that he's being referred to as "Catnip"

Time to go paint some stuff! The Phoenix has been added to the Quarry list.... and the Knights of the Chalice just came out of the sonic cleaner!

Keshryii and her Centaur Troopers (SF ver)

 Keshryii from Raging Heroes is an amazing model.

 Her retinue, modeled in her own extreme image, is an example of powerful a personality she must be. 

Lust Elves are shape shifters.  the more powerful personalities among them determine the shapes of their followers... in the case of Keshryii, whose form is one of the more extreme, that personality must be powerful indeed!

 I've painted this batch as proxies for the Grotesques of my Dark Eldar Blood Rain Kabal.  These models really illustrate the feeling of horror that the flesh shapers of the Drukhari must evoke.  A horror made all the more terrible by the fact that the grotesques choose this existence and pay the Haemunculi dearly for the procedures that remake a normal Dark Eldar into such a fearsome visage.

I've continued refining the red process in particular and made some progress with cool highlights and lowlights.

Flesh also got a lot of attention being a wash of Sunny Flesh (Vallejo) over the base coat of Krylon Camouflage Khaki which had been dry-brushed with Apple Barrel Sandstone. A Flesh Wash from Secret Weapon was then applied followed by layering Sunny Flesh and Fairy Flesh (Vallejo).

 I love blue hair... probably the Anime geek in me but I do like it a lot!

Hair was Nightmare Black (Reaper) a heavy dry-brush of Void-Shield Blue (Warpaints), a Sapphire Wash (Secret Weapon) and a very light dry-brush of Void-Shield blue and top dusting of pure white.

Because the centaurs model themselves after Keshryii they all tend toward similar colors and were worked up using the same process.

 When started working on the model I kept seeing the cover of the old Chrome 2 supplement for Cyberpunk... and one of the old Gamma World covers.  I didn't look at them for reference or anything but I wanted to convey the metal augmentations.  Keshryii isn't just a shapeshifter... shes got ecstatic minions actually grafted into her form and the joins are very chrome!

A size comparison with the centaurs and Canoness Veridyan (GW).

As you can see the centaurs are massive!

 A couple of views of the assembled troop.

 they are even more frightening as a group than as individuals.

A final comparison with Centaur Trooper, Canoness Veridyan, and a Void Elf Hunter.


There is also a set of these in Fantasy Version.  But I may try to knock out the rest of my Lust Elf Sci-Fi stock first...

Choices, choices!

Lust Elf Centaurs (SF ver.) assembled

I am guessing that Benoit over at Raging Heroes has some really, really, really scary nightmares...

Fortunately when he wakes up those demented dreams get translated into spectacular miniatures for all the rest of us!

I just finished building this unit of Lust Elf Centaurs and they are from some of the more disturbing of the nightmare creatures that have escaped his fevered dreams...

 These are the Sci-Fi versions and, if I'm clever, I'll build the fantasy versions next... right after the Sci-Fi Centaur Champion of course!  Reason being is that these are complex miniatures... really more accurately... model kits as each one has 23 parts (excluding the base) and it took me until the third one to come up with an efficient building process.

The first three models took me a couple of days to sort out then I got the hang of it and the remaining ones were finished in an afternoon.

The process I settled on is:

1. Keep each model separate from the others and do not mix the parts.  The models are shipped segregated in bags based on the number of points of contact with the base.  Each model has a unique letter system so you can safely build each bag out of the pile.

2. Completely build each model before moving to the next. Even when working out of a bag of two models.

3. Remove the parts from the sprue ONLY as they are needed.  The parts have letter codes that make construction much easier.  Just match the letters (M to M etc).  There is room for posing and variation within the matched parts and, of course you can swap some around but you'll want to get a feel for the way the models work before doing a lot of that.

4. Clean the part, prefit the part and trim if necessary,  and install it before moving to the next part.

5. The order the parts are fitted makes a huge difference.  This is why the first model took longer to build than the final three.

Here is my part building priority:

1. Find the point(s) of contact part.

2. If there is a single point of contact part construct the torso by finding the torso part with the same letter code as the point of contact piece.  Attach the matching head making sure that it is facing in the proper direction.  Just look for the ribs and abs and put the head on facing in that direction.

 Then attach the point of contact arms to the torso.  If you line the parts up to look as natural and seamless as possible you will likely be in the right alignment.  Its a good idea to clean up and/or fill this join at this point since access to it may be limited later.

Attach the newly constructed "leg" to the main body of the model being careful to fit it at an angle that will make your model stand the way you want it too.  The main body has channels and tightly fitting this first piece into the channels will usually do the trick but you can vary the attitude and angle quite a lot if you desire.

I used Super glue on one face and accelerator on the other which helped immensely but required rigorous pre-fitting before making the adhesion attempt.

 2a.  If the model has two points of contact build one just that same as if it were a single and attach it to the main body.  Build the second assembly the same way always following the pattern of:

head to torso
Arm of contact to torso
second arm to torso
torso to main body

When attaching the second torso assembly make sure the (2) points of contact share a level plain and glue the second assembly into place.

3. Attach the assembly to the base.

4. Build each remaining torso assembly (head to torso, arms to torso) and attach them to the main body.

5. Attach the upper torso.  These have a great alignment with the abs in the center while still having great dynamic twists in the upper shoulder area.

6. Add the arms.  These are one piece each.

7. Assemble the Head (2 parts)


8. Add the head.

9. Go back through the model and get any cleaning and filling that might remain.  There should not be much as you will have done this as you went... lots of fiddly bits to dodge if you skipped the cleanup during the build!

These are pretty large models that I will be using as proxies for Drukhari Grotesques... especially in Ynnari builds.  You can see Canonness Veridyan for scale.

Below is the group of six.

Today's goal... build Centaur Champion Keshirii (SF)

Then I might have to knock out building the fantasy versions of these while I remember how to do it!  I think there are nine of those plus the fantasy version of the champion... then... whew... back to painting!

I didn't realize I'd do a building commentary so didn't take pictures during the build. When I do the Fantasy versions I'll make some step by step photos.

Its a WiP kinda day... Raging Heroes Centaur (SF ver), Hi-Tech Bioconvergence, Star Saga Mercs, Marines & Rangers and an Afterglow Trader

These Centaurs are the most bizarre models I've ever worked on! They have a lot of parts and some very dynamic posing on top of being a totally over-the-top design.

I've started work on the first six of these.  They will replace the GW Dark Eldar Grotesques.  I mean they really fit the description mush better and there are more poses available.  The GW model is a single pose model that looks like a nightmare line dance formation if you actually use a whole unit.  I'll still use the GW ones of course but I never built more than a couple of them because of the pose.  This will add a real touch of the macabre to the formation in addition to visual diversity.

 The model design is fantastic and uses humanoid/eldaroid torsos in place of the legs.. leaving the construct to run along on eight hands! of course the cacophony must be maddening as there are five heads... four of them screaming as they carry the creature and one controlling the whole mess. I have three of the torsos installed at this point... its a complex build and will take a bit longer than usual but its a very interesting process and the results will certainly be worth the effort.

 When trying to figure out how to build these I went looking for a construction diagram on the Raging Heroes website.  They have diagrams for several of their more complex models but not for these.  I searched the Kickstarter updates and found the one where they built several of these and explained the letter system.  Its really quite nice!  Each part is clearly labeled with a letter and the primary centaur torso has letters in the sockets so just match the torso to the socket of the same letter then add the head an arms with the same letter as the socketed torso and you have it.  Of course a few of the parts separated from the sprue during cleaning but the letters are attaced o the part a bit more vigorously than to the sprue so most of the parts separated with their id letter.


I have a lot more of these to build so I'm happy that RH has made the construction relatively easy.



 Other things on the desk!  Star Saga Mercenaries, whcih are the Player Character models of the game.  I'll work on these while the kicker drys on the centaurs... super glue and accelerator are great... until they are not!

 Star Saga Corporate Marines and Rangers.  Same as for the Mercs.. I'll work on these between drying bouts.  I'm trying to come up with some good corporate colors.  I like the idea of Mishima Crimson on the rangers and a more khaki color for the marines.  Greens are also a possibility but isn't particularly intuitive for space focused forces.  I've already used Rent-a-Cop blue so will probably avoid blues for these guys. and gals.

Hi-Tech miniatures Bioconvergence.  I picked these up at a game shop in Germany with the idea I'd use them as ADMech proxies.  Initially I was thinking Kataphron because of the tracked chassis but the weapon loads are not really that similar and, since I had four of them I decided to reboot as servitors.  The weapons are obviously very close GW analogs and I've magnetized them so I can swap them out as needed.

Lastly a Trader for Afterglow.  I don't know anything about Afterglow but the models I've come across look interesting in a post apocalypse kinda way.

For my purposes this guy will be a supply contact for the Jailbirds as they wander the wastelands.

Back to the table!

Void Elf Hunters

 The Void Elf Hunter units got finished up.

I am really excited about this kit!  The prototype unit took a bit of time to get sorted but, with the lessons learned from that the remaining units were quick, easy, and fun to assemble and paint.

I really got into the backgrounds for these.  I have them referring to themselves as "Death Guard" and will spin that into a rivalry with my CSM Death Guard!  Anyone know how to write "Death Guard" in Dark Eldar?

As is often the case the production groups were both easier to do and looked better when finished!  In this case after painting up the production groups I went back and brought the weapons of the prototype group into compliance with the production group scheme. 


One of the big improvements was in the assembly.  On the prototype I broke a couple of parts using tools to take these off the sprue... then I remembered something Benoit at Raging heroes mentioned... that the guys had a way of just popping the models off the sprue without using tools.  After a couple of moments I discovered the parts were attached in such a way that they could be popped off the sprue very cleanly and never broke another bit!  Thanks for the tip!

 My initial use of these will be as Dark Eldar Trueborns in Ynnari service.  As as such I wanted to go with a deathly bone color of armor and to have the flowing bits resemble grave shrouds using cool colors like tiel and blue-green.  This makes the unit a lot more colorful and interesting to look at on the tabletop.

The units are divided up bu the color of the pony tails with the blue unit as the prototype and the magenta and orange being production groups.

 The general procedure was:
 
Whole Model:
Prime with Khaki paint and primer combo.
Heavy Dry-brush Graveyard Bone (Reaper).
Dry-brush Splintered Bone (Reaper).
Wash with Sepia Ink mixed with Glaze medium and Thinning medium (Vallejo).
Drybrush Graveyard Bone.
Layer Splintered Bone.

Weapons:
Wash with Armor Wash (Secret Weapon)
Dry-brush Rustungs Farbe (a bright Silver)
Paint Gory Red (Reaper)
Layer Blood Red (Reaper)
Layer Carrot Top Orange (Reaper)

Shrouds:
Inside Surfaces:
Paint Dragon Blue (Reaper)
Layer with Voidshield Blue (Warpaints)
Layer White (Reaper
Outer Surfaces:
Paint Copper Verdigris (Reaper)
Wash Green (Secret Weapon)

Faces:
White Flesh (Vallejo)
Wash with Flesh Wash (P3)
Layer White Flesh.

Ponytails:
Wash with Ink heavily mixed with Glaze Medium and Thinner Medium)
Highlight top strands by adding some white to the base mixture.


A sneak peek at some of the stuff on the table for next time... Techies and Scientists for Star Saga!