High Elves - Frost Lord

 At long last, the second frost phoenix is finished.  As promised, this one gets a rider.

 The little bit n the back is magnetized, allowing an easy switch between unmounted and with lord.  This one also got some extra on its base.

 Again; so many snowflakes!!

 I am nearing the foreseeable end of the high elves, just a dragon with two (very important) riders to go and than it might be off to new projects.

 My only complaint about this model is the throne, it looks like it would provide a lot of wind resistance.  If the phoenix were to take off, or preform any aerial manoeuvres, the lord would be blown backwards.  Maybe it is a magical throne or has really small holes in it or something...

 Either way, I painted the main seat to be wood.  At least it won't be too heavy.

 There is also a on foot version of the rider.  Basically the same model, but with a couple of little differences.  One can still identify the two even with the minor wardrobe alteration.

 Phew, that was a lot of pics for one post...

Until next round, be well.

High Elves - Guardians of the Fire Bird

 The next batch of orange elves to paint up was a twenty strong unit of Phoenix Guard.  The plastic re-sculpts continue to impress with lots of detail and dramatic poses (as much as they can be while being able to rank up).  The high elf aesthetic has really refined itself over the past years.

 I was most impressed with the banner, the raised detail is really easy to work with, and it is a lot easier than doing freehand.

 There is a lot of blue on these guys, unlike much of the rest of the army, which I did due to the army composition; there are two frost phoenixes.  What took the most time was the flames on the back of the cloaks, the detail isn't raised which made things rather finicky.

Until next round, be well.

High Elves - Royalty

 The Everqueen is a really nice mini.  Being finecast wasn't a problem, there weren't any bubbles or bends, just nice rich details.  I believe that she will be escorting the archers (from the last high elf post).  She does have a lot of hair though...

 

Until next round, be well.

High Elves - Playing with Fire

 The Sisters of Avelorn are the next up on the high elf project with their flaming bows.  I opted for orange flames, like d&d magic missiles, partly to reinforce the orange in the rest of the army.  I also didn't go with an osl glow, with the models so close together I didn't think it would look right (unless I put glow almost everywhere).

 Overall, I'm happy with the unit, they do stand out nicely.  Next up; the Everqueen!

Until next round, be well.

High Elves - Objective

 Every army needs some counters!  These could be used for wounds, captured standards, objectives, and all kinds of other things that need to be marked.  Next for the elves; elf chicks with magical bows!

Until next round, be well.

High Elves - More Firepower

 Two more bolt throwers were added to the high elf army.  One can never have too many, in my opinion.

 The high elf army is continuing to grow, I am told that I may be getting to paint nearly every unit in the army book.  I find these ongoing commissions the most fun.  At the tabletop quality, once the colour scheme is nailed down, my brushes can just glide along and I can get a fair bit done rather quickly.

 The hard part is sitting down to take pictures and post on the blog.

 Like the previous two, the arrows alternate between orange and blue, which helps to differentiate between the two crews.

Until next round, be well.

High Elves - Archery Standard

 First in the second wave of high elves is the standard for the archers.  Because every unit needs a standard bearer (well, I think so).

 Just a quick post, and I'm back to painting.

Until next round, be well.

High Elves - A Big Blue Bird

 "Just a couple of snowflakes..."

 The high elves finally got a phoenix kit, and there is an icy variant.  Snowflakes aside, it was a fun model to paint and relatively quick.  Unlike the other birds in the army, I went with a blue-grey for the talons and beak which I thought would look better than yellow.  The entire model was kind of like an exercise in painting blues multiple ways.

 This marks the end of the first wave of elves, the second wave already has a couple of minis delivered.  There is word of a second frost phoenix, this time with a mounted character.  These large splashes of blue will really stand out over the orange and white.

 Until next round...

...keep painting!!

High Elves - Lord of the Sky

 All the high elves are done, but I am working out the backlog of pictures.  Next up is the lord of the orange and white, riding a griffon.  He is so important he has four burning blue balls!!

 Since this is a character, some extra effort was put in than the eagles and troopers.  The wingtips got some striping, many colours got an extra tone, and the browns were washed with more care.  I am pretty happy with the result.

 This mini still looks slightly off, which I think is due to the front claws being too long compared the the hind legs.  The front legs are almost twice as long as its back legs...weird...

 There is word that more elves are on their way, and the commission will continue.  Much like a certain space marine chapter I know.

 Until next round...

...be well.

High Elves - More Swords

 The second unit of swordmasters are of the old metal variety.  It is well known that I prefer metal casts due to the durability, sharp detail and reassuring weight, but I have to admit that the newer plastics are far better (for this unit at least).  It was interesting to experience the evolution of certain details on the two sculpts.  They are similar enough to be recognizable as the same unit, but a lot of things are more defined with more variance (the standard bearer is plastic).  I would field the two units mixed (each half plastic and half metal).  The burning blue ball returns on the back of the champion's cloak, but the camera is dying so no photographic evidence this time.

Until next round, be well.

PS- A new camera has been donated, ending this horrible predicament, and with twice the megapixels.  You should see them, megapixels are so cute...

High Elves - Archery Division

 The high elves are rolling along with the bowmen unit finished.  This unit has lots of white and orange, due to the lack of armour, but I also snuck in a light blue on the pants to keep the tones right.  I also got around to doing up all the movement trays.  These posts are a little late, as I have been painting like a madman, but the whole army is ready for Kipper's Melee (the deadline).  I will be posting the rest of the units soon.

Until next round, be well.

High Elves - Army Standard

 The high elves continue, this time up is the battle standard bearer.  This model is yet more plastic goodness for those of us that like painting details.  My biggest challenge on this model was layering the oranges so they didn't bleed into each other.

 There is a fair bit of gold on this model, and it is a good showcase for my gold process.  (I find most of the metallics I see are rather flat, or simply have a wash over a basecoat.)  Metal should be painted like any other colour in order to force the shine with highlights.  I start with a basecoat of dark gold (Gehenna's gold GW), then add a flesh wash to achieve some shadowing and fill the deep lines.  A mid tone is applied over most of the gold areas (Aulric armour GW) and an extreme highlight on the very edges (radiant platinum p3).

 There are still a quite a few high elves to go, stay tuned....

Until next round, be well.

High Elves - Aeronauts

 No high elf army is complete without a couple of great eagles.  These were probably the easiest and fastest models to paint in the whole list, mostly drybrushing and washes.

 When I use washes on models this size (and on feathers in general) I try to use my washes sparingly.  The main tricks are to place the wash at the visible beginning of the feather, then wiping off excess on the raised areas (or returning the a drybrush of the previous colour).  This will separate each 'row' of feathers and give the wings more visual appeal.

 The new sculpts are nice, not stunning or spectacular, but they are just eagles so I am glad they don't have a ton of spikes and skulls.  I am still not sold on the new flying sticks with the ball joints.  Yes they are easier to pose (like the old landspeeder stands) but the model has a hard time staying perched.  The only idea I have had to remedy this is to put a small amount of 'ardcoat on the ball, let it dry, and re-fit.  This seems to work, as the varnish should be clear, but the model could get stuck if too much is used.

Well, until next round, be well.