Dark Eldar Haemonculi Complete

Hi all.

Today I bring the completed Dark Eldar Haemonculi that I've been working steadily on for the last week. 

Lets get to the pictures.

 More after the jump.

Dark Eldar Haemonculi WIP 3

Hi all. 

Today brings another WIP post on my Dark Eldar Haemonculi. 

Dark Eldar Haemonculi WIP 2

Hi all.

Another day and some progress to show on my Dark Eldar Haemoculi that I posted about previously. 

Lets get to the pictures.

 More after the jump.

Dark Eldar Haemonculi WIP

Hi all.

Today I bring a couple of quick pictures of a Dark Eldar Haemonculi that I've been working on. After doing Urien Rakarth I felt like doing the generic haemonculi that I've had for a while. It's the finecast model that was available until the new plastic model came out.

So lets get on with the pictures.

Painting Duel: Zebulon's Urien Rakarth

So the time is up and as im sure you've seen both myself and Blackmane have finished our Rakarths and here is mine:

Painting Duel: Blackmane's Urien Rakarth

Hi all.

So today finds another painting challenge completed with both myself and Zebulon painting Urien Rakarth. As with all our painting challenges it will be up to you good people out there on the internet to decide who has won. 

So lets get down to the pictures of my Urien Rakarth. 

More after the jump.

Lilith Hesperax Complete

Hi all. 

Today I bring a post that has been a long time coming. I finally got round to finishing off Lilith Hesperax for my Dark Eldar. I started her some time ago but then I moved back to the city where I'm now living and just didn't have time to get her finished. Well I've now managed to work out some time in which to paint and so things are finally getting done haha. 

So let's get on with the pictures. 

Painting Duel: Urien Rakarth

Hi all.

So today saw the end of mine and Zebulon's Cato Sicarius vs Ragnar Blackmane painting duel/challenge. And with that we have decided to dive straight in to the next one. 

Dark Eldar WIP: Lilith Hesperax

Hi all. 

Today I bring a quick WIP post for the Lilith Hesperax model I've been working on. This is the first character that I've worked on for my Dark Eldar army and I really should have painted a character a lot sooner than I have. 

Having said that lets get to the pictures. 

Dark Eldar Reaver Jetbikes Completed

Hi all.

Today I bring my completed Reaver Jetbike squad. As with the Kabalite squad I posted previously these have been in the works for quite a long time. I'm happy they are now finished as the models themselves are pretty cool. 

So on with the pictures. 

Dark Eldar Kabalite Warrior Squad Complete

Hi all. 

Today I bring some pictures of my completed Kabalite squad. I've been working on the squad for quite a while (probably on and off for a year) and so it's nice to have them finished finally. 

So on with pictures.

Reaver Jetbikes WIP

Hi all.

Today I bring some WIP pictures of the squad of Reaver Jetbikes that I'm working on alongside the unit of Kabilite Warriors that I posted previously. 

As with the Kabilite Warriors the photos aren't the best. 

Dark Eldar Kabalite Warriors WIP

Hi all.

It's been a while since either myself or Zebulon have posted anything. I'm pretty sure we've both been pretty busy with other stuff. Since I finished university I have been slowly trying to get back in to painting as I haven't done much at all since christmas bar a small amount on some thunder wolves and repainting some lego hair. 

Today however I've got some pictures of the Kabalite Warriors that I've had a chance to work on over the past couple of days now I have some free time and getting back in to the swing of painting. The pictures aren't great as the sunlight coming through the window was brighter on the camera than I thought it would be. 

Fear the Skies: Dark Eldar Razorwing Jetfighter

Hi all

Today I bring a couple of pictures from my latest finished project. As you probably got from the title its my Dark Eldar Razorwing Jetfighter. Now I have to admit that its been a long time since I finished anything for my DE. I have pretty much all the models I want but just haven't got round to actually painting them. To try and fix this when I moved back down to Sheffield for my placement as part of University I only brought my DE with me thus forcing me to paint them as I hate gaming with unpainted models. And while progress has been slow it is progress none the less haha. 


So with that lets look at the finished model. 

Dark Eldar Grotesques WIP 1

Hi all.

Today I bring some WIP shots of my latest project. I decided a while ago that I would like some grotesques in my Dark Eldar army, or at least have the option to include them. GW of course brought out a model but I really wasn't keen on it due to the singular pose and the fact that I'm still wary about finecast models. So with that in mind I started looking at ways to make them myself. Luckily for me GW also brought out the Varghiest / Crypt Horror box. I knew this kit would be right for making them so I bought some. I would have set to work on these sooner but at the time I was at uni and I had left the required bits I had intended to use back at home.

So on saturday I decided I'd actually get on with it and get my grotesques converted. So here are some pictures of my work so far. 

Dark Eldar: Bringing the Pain

Hi all

Today I bring some pictures of my finished Talos Pain Engine body. I have yet to do any of the hand pieces but they shouldn't take to long. So I've been working on this for the last couple of weeks and have now finished. Yes it was slow going I admit but I am very happy with how its turned out. I tried a new painting technique on my Talos by painting the little vessels on its body to look like glass jars with liquid in them. Its the first time I've tried this and I think its turned out good for a first attempt.

So on with the pictures and see what you think.

Scenery: Finnished Eldar Webaway/Transporter Pads

Hi all

So it been quite quiet on Sign of the Aquila for a while now and I know its been a while since I last posted.

However today I bring the completion of a project thats been a long time coming now. I've finally finished my Eldar Webway/Transporter Pads and have some pictures to show off.

First the pictures.

Scenery WIP: Eldar Webaway/Transporter Pads

Hi all

So I've been quiet the last couple of weeks when it comes to posting. Hobby stuff has taken a bit of a back seat and the going is slow. However I have been doing bits here and there. Today I bring some pictures of some scenery I've been slowly working on and would like to share the progress so far.

The curved plastic pieces are some guttering brackets that were on clearence that I got from a diy store. I decided to go with a triangular shaped platform in the centre as it seemed to fit with the over look I would be going for better than other shapes. The Dark Eldar model was for sizing purposes whne it ame to deciding oon the size of the platforms.

Blackmane's Dark Eldar: Reinforcements

Hi all

Today I bring an update to my Dark Eldar Kabal. There have been a fair few new releases over the past month and I've bought most of them (I would be getting wracks, grotesques and a haemonculi but wayland is cancelling all finecast orders due to a number of flaws they found).

So first up are some pictures of the models I've assembled so far.

Razorwing Jetfighter

I started assembling this the same day I got it I was that excited. I think the model is great. It just looks sleek and deadly, just how it should look. As can be seen from a couple of the pictures below it is notably smaller than a Valkyrie. One thing that isn't clear enough on the photo's is just how much thinner it is compared to the Valkyrie. It really does highlight the difference between the bulky Imperial Craft and the sleek  craft of the Dark Eldar/Eldar.

Blackmane's Thoughts: Metal Vs Finecast

Hi all

Today I thought I'd talk a bit about GW's new Finecast and do a bit of a comparrison between Finecast and metal. Now I know there's been a lot of talk about this already but I thought a bit of a comparrison between the metal and finecast versions of a model could be interesting.

So the models I have chosen to compare are the Incubi. I got hold of a box of the new Finecast versions on Saturday and later the same day went back to the shop and bought one of the old metal boxes of Incubi. Now one of the reasons for this is I could have a full 10 man squad without having to buy another Finecast box and therefore save myself some money. It was then I decided to have a go at a comparrison.

So up first I want to talk about the detail. As far as I can tell GW have made this a big selling point with this fact constantly repeated.

Personally I'm not sure the difference is as great as GW has been making out. While I agree the little details are sharper, I don't think it makes a lot of difference to the other area's of the model. For example the armour plates on the Incubi are pretty much the same quality on both the Finecast and Metal. While the Finecast model has slightly sharper edges to it I personally don't think it really adds anything to the model. Maybe this will change when its painted but for now I don't think its anything major.

Next I want to talk about assembly. This really is where Finecast is way ahead of Metal. As I'm sure you all know assembling metal models can sometimes be a real pain, especially those little tiny pieces. Today I manged to assemble all 5 Finecast Incubi. They went together way better than any metal model does. A small amount of superglue, put the parts together and within a very short time its stuck. Now thats good. I can see that been really useful for those bigger models. Not having to hold the parts together for a long time while the glue dries will make them so much easier to assemble.

As you can see I didn't get the metal ones finished. This was just due to time rather than because they are difficult to assemble.

What I want to talk about next is a drawback of the Finecast models. Now I'm hoping that I just had some bad luck and picked a bad box. I say that because there are so many little bits and pieces that are miscast on my models. 4/5 of them have the armour on the back of their right arms missing, its just a mess of resin rather than the nice pointed armour the dark eldar have. The cloth wrapped around thier arms on 3/5 of them has barely any texture on them and the cloth that hanges from the waist has either holes or not cast quite right on 4/5 of them.  The holes for the arms to attach were all pretty much not deep enough with them only been 1 or 2mm into the surface and the points where the back vanes attach usually needed deepening on the left hand side. On the very first one I actually found a piece of rubber embedded in the collar of the Incubi's armour. There are other other little bits and pieces but I'm not going to go through them all. The metal versions though have very few defects. A few bent swords, which were easily straightened, and the odd rough patch that was easily removed with a knife or file. There's no detail missing like with the Finecast ones. So like I said I'm hoping this was just bad luck on my part as I would love to have some of the new Wracks and will no doubt get a box. But if they turn out like these I may give getting more than that a miss.

On to the cost. The metal box was £18.50 and the new Finecast box £23. Thats £4.50 more. Are they worth the increased price? I'm not sure they are. Sure they're easier to work with, lighter, better fine details, etc but they are same models. There's nothing new. Options for a Klaivex would have been great or maybe make it a box of 10 for £25-£28. That would have made it worth it. But for a box containing no new pieces, just the same models in a new material, I don't think it is.

So my final comments. While I was hesitant about the switch to Finecast I have to admit I think its a step in the right direction for GW. While I like the metal models, probably one of the few people who does, I think the new Finecast stuff will really open possibilities in the future in terms of what GW will be able to put out there. I just hope that the overall quality of these new models is better than the ones I got as it would be a shame if the amount of miscasting I got on mine is common place. Hopefully it is just teething problems with the new material that will be improved as time goes on.

Well thats my thoughts on Finecast. Please feel free to tell me what you think in the comments and let me know if you've found lots of little faults as I did as I'm curious to to if its a common problem or just unluckiness on my part.

As always thanks for reading.

Blackmane