Reclaiming the skies

Back to that ancient Dark Eldar army that a friend of mine is attempting to 'reclaim'.

I didn't even know that Hellions were part of the original codex.  I noticed something that looked a bit like one in the case.  The hunk of metal I held in my hand was painted to this level, just like all the Kabalite Warriors.

I set down to scraping the mould lines, and then gave it a shot of brush on primer.

As with the previous reclamation attempt, I tried to keep things simple with the regular green paint mixed with metallics.

I also wanted the wing blades to be silver, so that I could do some fun blood effects like the versions I did on the bladevanes of my Reaver Jetbikes.

You can see that I lightened up the primary green/silver mix by adding more silver.

Face and hair get their basecoats.

I had a variety of colors out for glazing.  I took a dark purple and green liner paint, adding a bit of Secret Weapon blue black wash here and there.

More purple was mixed with the green to create an interesting dark gray wash for the non-armored sections, while much more green went into the mix for the armor.

Some of these wash colors were used on the wing blades as well.

More layers of dark glaze, making sure to do the hair and skin too...

Almost ready to start working back into those mid tones.

Here you can see some of the colors mixed up in the shading stage of the metals.  A shadow gray style color is mixed with the silver, in order to even things out on the wings.

Check out the wing on the left with the wing on the right.  You can see how that one is far smoother.  This is what working the midtones is all about!

I did this everywhere... the armor, the other wings, the weapon, and so on.

Look who's here!!  It's Lathan from Burn in Designs, working on a brilliant new design.

This is a fantastic three story building with a great interior.  You'll be amazed as I was!  More pictures of that structure along with the rest of the photos of the Hellion Reclamattion Project.  Stay tuned.

Two of a kind...

At last, the final weathering is complete, and I can start to think about the final assembly.

There are so much going on with these beasts!  Putting together this thing will require some delicate steps, and lots of planning.

If you don't position the arms in just the right way, you have no chance of getting those ammo feeds to hook up.  That's the trap I discovered about these.  It appears that you can put them in all sorts of positions and poses, but things will go sideways in a hurry.

You can see him with his buddy!

Once I get those crazy arms attached, I will get you all the finished pictures!!!

One part of the posse.

Her'e the whole batch of five Close Combat Hired hands!

As always, it's fun to see the group shots start to come together...

The Long Rage Hired hands are finished as well, which is very cool.

The next stage of the Lawmen involves three more Interceptors.

Stay tuned!!!

More Mierce

Yes, the Eye of Balor continues to watch your every move!

I had to replace the sword on this piece, as the original one had broken off, and I couldn't find it :-)

With his buddies...

There's another set of these with the polar bear as well!

What's Cookin' ?

You saw the images of the first Beast... well this is the Beast's buddy.

I snapped these images prior to dark glazes on the gray metals, and a few other steps that are now completed.

Since then, I have done the lighter colors for the reds, and put on the weathering in the form of paint chips and rust.

The leg assemblies are a bewildering array of parts!

It's really tough to get the brush in these tight spaces, to say the least.  Remember, these legs are taller than an entire Dreadnought!  You really have to think about where you are putting your lights and shadows.

Of course, these all look very different, with additional shading added as well as the rust.

With the additional armor spaces on these monsters, there was some room for freehand.  I tried to do something slightly different than the previous entities, with the diagonal black stripes.

As I was working on this, I tried something all new for me.  I love to cook, but I have been almost exclusively an 'open flame' person... not a baker.  I have never tried to make a loaf of bread before.

Jen was kind enough to provide the bread mix, making my life a lot easier.

I used creme soda for the 'water' in the mix, and then melted some butter to put over the top!

Actually, it was Cookie Chef Babo who did all the work.  Next time he will leave it in the oven for 50 minutes instead of 55. :-)

Pistol Packin' hombres

Here's the last two Hired Hands close combat minis!

Now I just have to finish off the last few Long Range, and it's on to the Interceptors!

These guys did very well in the last fight, so hopefully that will continue.

I definitely liked having the ten hired hands, and the free Light Support that went with them. :-)

New Standards

Another entry from Mierce Miniatures.

Once again, that ever watchful eye of Balor is keeping tabs on you!

Together again.

Big critters from Mierce working their way to a screen near you...