Dark Eldar Grotesques WIP Conversions

A slightly different project today. As I've been working on my Dark Eldar (which have a Haemonculus Covens theme), I knew I wanted some grotesques. Like many who came before me,it didn't take long for me to realise that the options are limited as GW only makes one model that's both expensive and finecast. 

I had a look through the options for conversions, and Crypt Horrors to me seem to be by far the best kit to use as a base. All the mutant spines and stuff work in your favour, and they're half way there from the beginning. I picked up a set of them on eBay, and then combined them with spares from the Talos kit.

In terms of the conversion, I mostly just had to trim their heads down to fit the masks and replace some of their hands with weapons from the Talos. I added tails too, as they looked good with the poses. Handily, as I'd built legs for my Talos I had a lot of tanks left over, so I had plenty of them to add to the spines I'd cut off to look like it had a lot of chemical feed lines stuck in them. 

The only other part of the conversion was trimming off and shaving down the hairy bits on them, as it just isn't right on grotesques. I still need to finish adding some more bits and then greenstuff the gaps etc, but they're getting there. I'd like to add a bit more armour to them too - just so they'll blend in well with the rest of the army once they're painted, as the gloss red scheme is quite distinctive.

Dreadtober Talos 2nd Week Progress

Painting has commenced on my Talos with legs conversion. There's still a long way to go, but it's starting to actually look like something!

In terms of the work so far, I began by painting the bulk of the gloss red areas, as getting the high shine effect is quite labour and time intensive. It worked well though. After that, I basecoated the flesh areas with Rakarth Flesh, and painted the base too.

Personally, I like the mantra "bases and bases" when it comes to painting. Often getting a basecoat on your mini and painting their base gives an impression of the final model, and also gives a decent tabletop level finish. That's prettyour much where we're at now.

Next steps will be finishing the smaller red gloss details, and then washing and detailing the skin. Somewhere in there I need to start on the metallics too, so there's plenty to be getting on with.

Dreadtober - Dark Eldar Talos with Legs Conversion

I'm quite proud of this conversion. My Talos with legs is complete and ready for paint!

I looked at different options for kitbashing, but in the end I decided to sculpt the legs myself. It was a bold move for me as I'm not that great at sculpting, and normally I'd intentionally avoid a project like this. That said, I really wanted the legs to match the style of the model as well as the rest of the force and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on the conversion. With that in mind, I set to sculpting the legs I wanted.

In the end, it wasn't that difficult. I built an armature out of some large paperclips. I bent them to the correct shape for the legs, and then set them into a spare block of wood to work on. After that, I built the basic structure of the legs with some white milliput. I actually just shaped it with my fingers and then smoothed it out to get a basic design. It didn't take that long to get a decent look (maybe half an hour?).

I let the basic leg shape dry and then I used an engraving tool to smooth out and reshape what I had. After that, I etched in the lines for the muscle fibres (designed to sort of match the look of the Wracks). Once that was done, I stuck it all together and then it was just a case of adding spare armour from the Talos kit and using greenstuff to make the straps and add details to the feet etc.

That pretty much sums up the work. I'm quite happy with how it looks, but I think it'll be a challenge to paint! So far I've added an undercoat and a little extra white to the mask and skin areas, but there's still a long way to go.

Dreadtober - Dark Eldar Talos

Just a quick update on my plans for Dreadtober this year. As I've started working on my Dark Eldar again, and given the Haemonculus Coven theme, it seemed fitting to do a Talos for the event. I've got the kit and have started constructing it, so work is already underway. 

As with most Dark Eldar kits, it's a really nice thing. Just great details all round, from the grizzly flesh-hooks that hold its carapace on; to the emotionless mask head and all the tanks and vials. That said, as I started building, one thing struck me as odd - the lack of legs. Sure, it floats, but the Talos has a perfectly formed hip section with ports just screaming out for a suitable pair of legs to be added. So, in the interests of science, certain conversion works will be conducted.

Luckily, here at Tabletop Apocalypse, the design department were able to sketch out a rough idea of what a futuristic space elf monstrosity with legs might look like:

Don't rush yourself, just take it all in. Obviously, this is just an impression of what the final piece could look like, but I think you'll all agree it has great potential...

Dark Eldar Wracks (Drukhari) Painted

After my latest Steel Legion push, I knew it was time to shift gears to something less batch-tastic, and a bit more artistic. While searching through the cupboard of doom and having a bit of a clearout, I came across my half-finished Dark Eldar project and thought it was high time to get some of them done. Long-term readers may remember the "week of evil" a few years ago where I started them, but somewhere in the mists of time and the first ever Squaduary, progress halted; only to be resumed in the last week or so.

I said when I first started working on the Wracks that they were probably one of the best plastic kits ever made. A few years haven't changed my opinions there - the details are really crisp and they're a kit that basically has no bad parts and plenty of spares too. I enjoyed finishing the last 3 from the unit too, as I got to actually paint to a higher standard than I do for most armies, which feels both fulfilling and somewhat annoying all at once. It's nice to get something you're really proud of, but at the same time, I get frustrated by how long they take!

The funny thing is that I've almost painted them too well, as I can't actually capture the colours and effects on them very well with my camera. The red is actually highly reflective and there's a lot more depth to the skin tones, but the crappy phone camera can't really keep up.

I've been working on more Dark Eldar units too, but I haven't been able to take pictures of the other unit I've finished yet. Still, at some point the blog will be updated. I've pledged to work on a Talos for Dreadtober too.