Thursday 9 September 2021

AN END IN SIGHT

 While I had the toxic colours out I managed to finish off the last 3 Grotesques I needed for the unit of 10, I'd already done the conversions a while back, so just needed some paint on them, I had run out of blades from the Plastic Talos kit, so had to make 3 from scratch.


With these completed I realised that other than painting some of the bases I only had 3 models left to paint to finish my court of pain, this involved 3 original metal Talos, now one just needed the blades and weapons repainted in my silver recipe to tie in with the rest of this army. this is the most standard of the 3, and only has the addition of the back blades and the angling of the top blades.


The next one had a different set of blades added and the top blades blended into the structure, I also put two claws as front weapons and then leaned off all the trophies from the front carapace, and put a full skeleton as a trophy instead.


The last Talos didn't come with a front carapace, as it was gifted to me, and they'd used that part, or lost it. So this one was built with plasticard, and I painted the court of pain symbol on the front instead of putting trophies on it. The claw started off as a top blade, which I modified to look like it could open and close. 


This last piece has  a story behind it, when the metal cauldron of blood came out, I picked one up, I used the witches from it as Dark Eldar Wyches and the cauldron on one of my raiders. This left some wheels that went into bits boxes and the statue of Khaine, as a joke I said to my friend who was an Eldar player, perhaps I should turn it into a Dark Avatar, you can imagine he wasn't enthralled by the idea. I played with the bits over the years to change it's stature from a static statue to a moving piece, I also changed the bleeding heart into a guard trooper being crushed, and gave him a spear from the wood elf Orion model. For the painting I've gone with a Khornate colour scheme, which was another in joke.


Gaming wise I could use it as a Talos proxie, or maybe one of my opponets would let me use it as an Avatar ! LOL Don't think that will ever happen. That's all for this post, so until next time stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

22 comments:

  1. Lots of nasty bad-elf goodness here! Really like the Talos with the skeleton strapped to it the best. Can we get a full shot of the whole Court of Pain now you're done?

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    1. Thank you Dai, that Talos was inspired by an original piece of art in the original codex, I do like that one a lot, but also like the plastic carapace I made the same. As soon as I finish painting the bases, I promise I will take a picture of the whole army mate.

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  2. John@justneedsvarnish9 September 2021 at 12:02

    A gruesome bunch, Dave! :-) I think they're great!

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    1. Thank you John, they're certainly not something you'd want to meet down a dark alley ! LOL

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  3. Ohhh, scary and menacing, just as they should look! Lovely!

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    1. Thank you Suber, the new Talos looks good but I still like the original, and couldn't justify replacing these 3 just because there was a new one.

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  4. I may not know anything of any of the above, but I recognise your great conversion skills and painting - great colour schemes too.

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    1. Thank you Joe, conversions was where I started in this hobby, for characters in D&D and later moved on to full sculpts when I started the business, I do like the colours for this faction of the army.

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  5. Great colours and conversions, Dave! I've been wondering about getting some Dark Eldar for Kill Team as I love the aesthetic.

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    1. Thank you Matt, very happy to see these completed. There is certainly a lot more models and variation available now for them, then when I started the army ! LOL Depending on whether you want shooting heavy, combat heavy, or the middle ground would make your selection on units. Kabalites are shooting heavy, wracks are combat heavy, and the Wyches are good in combat, and have short range firing weapons as well, but the power of pain the wracks have can make them real monsters !

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  6. Lovely conversion work Dave, though I'm not familiar with the originals so am probably not appreciating all the extra work you've done here, but what I see is top notch! (sorry).

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thank you Roger, finding pictures of the originals is hard to find, as GW only want to show the latest models to encourage people to buy them, so not a problem at all mate

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    2. Actually found if you type in old Dark Eldar Talos, and old Cauldron of Blood you can get a few images on Google. Should have have remembered they're old like me ! LOL

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  7. I thought I recognized that spear; but of course knowing you and your level of talent you could just sculpt one yourself. I like the idea of a Dark Avatar (even if your friend doesn't) and using that unfortunate guardsman was a brilliant touch!

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    1. Thank you Keith, when I started this conversion, I wasn't doing as much sculpting, just small bits, but now I could probably make the whole model, and to the exact way I wanted it. Glad you like the idea, I thought it was funny at the time ! LOL

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  8. Creative and wonderful job Dave, looks superb and scary!

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    1. Thank you Phil, will certainly be a unique looking army ! LOL

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  9. Its great to see some Dark Eldar sculpts here, mate. They're one of my favorite Warhammer 40k armies which if we're being honest is mostly based on their visual appearance as I haven't played a game of 40k in 20 years (give or take). I like how you painted these red as well. Its a color that suits this evil lot very well! Of course, the conversions are spot-on as always too.

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    1. Thank you Jeff, they certainly lend themselves to some twisted ideas, especially after the second edition codex, with the flesh manipulation. The 3 forces I have all use the same colours, just in different order, so you can see each type easily, but they are a different force, but also can be mixed together for a army and don't look like they don't fit together. Haven't played 40 K for a while now, and when I do it will be using my own set of rules I've been working on, which should be interesting.

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  10. While I am not in on the jokes (not your fault Dave), I am somewhat enthralled with your painting here, especially the last one!

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    1. Thank you Mark, you'd need to know as much about 40 K as you do about Meso America, to understand them, so no problem. Glad you like the painting they were fun to do.

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