Continuing on with my personal challenge, I've managed to finish off a couple more pieces for my Dark Eldar army. The first one is the raider for my Blood Brides, depending on whether I'm using the Venom or not, means this may be the ride for my Succubus, so needed to be a bit special. I used two raiders to build this one, it has a double fuselage and double wide running boards, the gunner is sat at the back as well as the pilot, and has a double prow as well ( my friend thinks it's a slide for the Wyches to slide down ! LOL)
I've also got my unit of Trueborn done. During codex 1 I thought about having some elite looking warriors, and got some Black Guard of Naggaroth models to start this, and until recently that's how it stayed, just an idea, on the release of Codex 2 we had an elite warriors unit added, the Trueborn who can have a lot of extra weaponry, so here they are first is the Dracon (unit leader) and three trueborn with Shard Carbines
Next we have four with Blaster
and lastly two with Splinter Cannon, making the rate of firepower from this one unit pretty intense.
so what was my step back I hear you say, well I decided to add a unit I'd left off ! LOL When codex 2 came out the Mandrakes changed, both in look and game wise, now I wasn't a massive fan of the models, as they all looked like they were squatting, and there was only 3 variants, then they were produced in finecast, so they became a total non entity. Now for having all the options I decided I now wanted some, Ebay wasn't going to be an option, for the reasons already mentioned, and the enormous price tag as well. So looking through the bits boxes I found I still had some Empire Flagellants that would work as a basis, I also used a Dark Eldar bare head, and that was my starting point. This is what the first one looks like all in green stuff, I've also included a picture of GW's for anyone who doesn't know what they should look like.
Only another four to sculpt and paint ! LOL That's all for this post, so until next time, which could be a hairy situation, stay safe and have fun !
Cheers Dave
Another nice looking vehicle and I'm really liking those colors! Plus you got quite a few minis done. Sorry to hear that you're going to have to sculpt up 4 more though! I'm not always fond of sculpting myself, but you seem to have a knack for it!
ReplyDeleteThank you Brian, it's probably my favourite Raider out of all I've made, with the slave one being a very close second. It was great to finally mix the Black Guard with the 40K dark Eldar, it gave a very unique looking unit, and fitting of a elite unit. I don't mind the sculpting, it means I will have a unique unit, plus I like to keep pushing my skills and you only get that from practice ! LOL
DeleteMore marvellous Dark Eldar to gawp at, Dave. I personally always liked the Mandrake models, as I thought their billowing trousers gave them an Arabian look - something I'm a sucker for ever since reading The Tales of the Arabian Nights as a kid. LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Simon, should hopefully have all these finished soon, and can then move back to Star Wars. It wasn't the skins they wear that were the problem for me, but the really wide leg stance they had, it just looked unnatural to me ! LOL
DeleteGreat looking raider and black guard, your sculpt looks good too!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain caveadsum1471
Thank you Iain, they were fun to do, especially the conversions.
DeleteFrom my pov it's difficult to believe the raider wasn;t a standard made-up kit, the level of your conversion is amazing. Loving the new 'guard' specials with their own distinct look, but continuing the general colour scheme of your force.
ReplyDeleteThank you Joe, that is high praise indeed, and much appreciated. I'm glad the guard worked out, as it was a lot of work combining the guard with the 40K parts, but they had to tie in with the rest for me.
DeleteSuper work on the raider and trueborn. I agree they missed the ball park with the Mandrake sculpts.
ReplyDeleteThank you Simon, I like how they turned out, and are something different, but still tie in. Some people like them, and I have no problem with the top half ! LOL
DeleteLovely work all round mate, the flyer looks superb, and the trueborn are wonderfully flamboyant love the colours, though I have to say the sculpts look like they are wearing old "Kiss" stage outfits! 🤣🤣)
ReplyDeleteCheers Roger.
Thank you Roger, can't believe how long it's taken me to get round to finishing so much of this army ! LOL Indeed a definite throwback to the 80's where everyone had shoulder pads ! LOL
DeleteNice work on the minis, Dave! :-) The flier and troops all look really good! And, as always, nice greenstuff work!
ReplyDeleteThank you John, I do like the bone colour on the fliers, and the last raider I need to do is the same colour luckily ! LOL The troops were a nice variation to paint with the scheme, and always need to keep my hand in on the sculpting.
DeleteThese are excellent Dave. I can’t believe I’d never clicked on you had a blogspot. Massive apologies from me but it gives me a whole load of catching up to to! Mark (backtothehammer).
ReplyDeleteThank you Mark, I don't do a lot of promotion of the blog, so no worries ! LOL glad you like the models.
DeleteAnother huge floaty ship! I like the look of it and the scheme is very eye chatching - more so than previous ones, even though the colours are the same. Maybe its the amount of each colour represented?
ReplyDeleteThank you Dai, the more bone colour certainly catches the eye more, with the dark green then drawing you into the details. I've got a bigger vehicle, but it is in the predominantly dark green so won't be as eye catching when I show it ! LOL
DeleteEverything is awesome. The Raider is super cool, I'm in love with that beutiful monster. But I'm particularly impressed by the Trueborn, they are most certainly inspired!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Suber, it's my favourite raider, the Trueborn evolved from my initial idea, when codex 2 actually had an entry for them, so I'm glad they turned out well.
DeleteA Dark Eldar slide is a pretty funny thought! While I like the Mandrake sculpts (and how 'Eavy Metal painted them), I can see what you mean. Your conversion looks great and is just as dark and moody as GW's version, I reckon. Seeing all these Dark Eldar kind of makes me want to paint another one which is too bad for me because I don't need in any new projects right now!
ReplyDeleteThank you Jeff, every time I look at it just makes me smile, and as it's right in front of my desk, that's a lot ! LOL I think if I had just got one of each sculpt, and then made another two, I would have probably got over my dislike of the pose, but as they came as a box of 5, it just made it another hurdle, plus at the time, I'd dropped them from list, as the new rules weren't as cool as the original ones. Hopefully I can do them justice in the painting and keep the moody feel. I have a few more to finish so hopefully that will scratch the itch for you mate ! LOL
DeleteFantastic work on the raider conversion, Dave, and once again that paint scheme really stands out! The Trueborn look nice and evil, and your homemade Mandrake is just as good as the official GW models.
ReplyDeleteThank you Matt, I need to paint one more raider in this scheme, and it will be a new style one, so will have to see how that looks once I pick one up. I really like the end result for the Trueborn, just wish I'd done them sooner ! LOL Hopefully the other four won't disappoint ! LOL
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