More Green, More Flesh

Only a little painting tonight. I hit the green on the High Elves with a Biel-Tan shade wash, followed by the first layer highlight of the original colours, and then spent most of the rest of the session finishing up the Slaaneshi Marauder miniature. 

Who needs clothes when you're a devotee of the Darkling Prince, She Who Thirsts?

I'm pleased with the skin, there was a lot of highlight tones put into her

Pain is pleasure, and pleasure is pain, and both are the blessings of Slaanesh

Her left eye wasn't very well defined, but this angle makes it look like she's got it closed - she doesn't, they're both open!

I must dig out the other Slaaneshi Marauders I have and see what they look like (and finish any that need finishing). However that's for another day. I have High Elves to finish:

 

Gary Morley's 4th Edition Maiden Guard, with added shields, showing off (just about) the various green tones across the models

And the more heavily armoured unit, posed firing their arrows as the rear ranks would be doing most of the time

I have no idea how to light models. This is the Level 2 High Magic Wizard who'll be joining the force as it hits the 1,000 point mark

I had hoped to get more done this weekend, but such is life. No matter. The Elves will be done soon enough, after all.

Painting Points:
Today: 1
This Week: 2
2026: 42 

The Week's Work, A Week Later

I got ill. A combination of missed meds (I ran out and, despite having requested more in good time, the prescription wasn't ready) and Life Stuff meant that I basically didn't do anything for almost a week. Then, late last night - so late it was really very early this morning - I got the Painting Bug again, partially as a result of having been playing Warhammer: Total War III for several days, latterly as Alarielle and the High Elves of Avelorn. So I sat down at gone midnight and worked on the Everqueen. I finished up at about 2am with a coat of matt varnish, thinking to myself, well, I'll pop the gloss on the gems in the morning and do the base, and then she'll be done!

Except I made a bit of an error in applying the matt varnish. I'm not sure quite what I did exactly, but as I use brush varnish I think I either didn't shake it enough beforehand or I applied it too thickly. At any rate she was covered in dusty white areas and, despite my best efforts at touching her up, she isn't as good as I wanted her to be; and she's not as good as she was, before I varnished her. Mistakes and problems like this are one reason I don't usually varnish my models, but I've noticed that the paint comes off the 3d prints a bit like it does on metals. So I varnished her, much to my regret:

She doesn't look too bad from this angle, but I am a bit disappointed by the eyes - I tried to do green pupils to give her a bit of an otherworldly aspect, but I'm not sure it works very well

You can see a little frosting at the base of her throat and where her hair meets her shoulders, but honestly this isn't the worst of it and here my touching-up worked, mostly. I do rather like the emerald rune, and the different shades of gold do work well with the simplicity of her white gown and green loincloth

Here you can see the most obvious frosting

And here, on her right hand, but other than that she's alright from this angle too

A group shot of the Everqueen with her Herald (left) and the Commander of the Maiden Guard (right)

At any rate, she's finished, and I've started on the next 250 points of Maiden Guard: a level 2 Wizard (High Magic, naturally) and 10 more "Lothern Sea Guard" to bring the two units up to 20 each. They've been undercoated and had their armour based and washed with Asuryan Blue, so I'm hopeful I'll get them sorted in the next few days.

Painting Points:
Today: 1
This Week: 1
2026: 41

250 Points Of Elves

I spent much of today painting, and at the end of it all I had 250 points of High Elves done for my Maiden Guard! Of course, this means I need new movement trays for the Heart of Isha and Tears of Isha regiments, but that's a tomorrow problem. It'll be something I can do while playing Dungeons and Dragons (with my Tabaxi cleric of the Cat Lord, as opposed to my Goliath barbarian who is the Friday D&D character). Looking at them all arrayed in their finery, it seems quite a formidable 750 point force, what with the Battle Standard, the Noble, and lots of spears and bows and shields. 

Then there's the other players in the league, bringing things like cannons and Kroxigor at 500 points, so I have no doubt fairly soon my poor Elves will be quite significantly outclassed in the combat power department. However, until then, I can enjoy the fruits of my 3D printing and painting labour:

The banner is slightly different to the one in the Uniforms and Heraldry of the High Elves book, not just because Isha here is dark-skinned and black haired, but she's a little smaller and there's an extra rune - not just quyl-isha (left) but also daroir (right). Roughly this means the sorrow of memory, or remembrance of mourning, or similar, in Eltharin

Lots of gems, because these are High Elves, and a nice shot of the cloth hanging down with gravity

You get a good idea of the parts that went into the banner in this photo - the lance tip from the High Elf Noble kit, the crossbar and flag from the High Elf Spear kit, the wire pole

Lots of gold, too, on Finelle herself, as well as on the banner pole - the golden crescent moons on her leather gloves, the gold on her shoulder armour

Of course it's not all about the character - although she does, by herself, represent 103 of the 250 points in this stage of the army's growth!

These may look like original 5th Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle Maiden Guard, but they are - in fact - 3D printed versions! The shields are also 3D prints

The dark skin goes really nicely with the white and green and gold, I think

White is a pain to paint, often because it can be hard to find good quality white. I miss the old GW Skull White, which (I seem to remember) was pretty good

I love the ridiculously huge heart-shaped rubies on the shields

 And then, because I spent the money on the STLs, I also have a differently attired Maiden Guard unit:

These ones are much more heavily armoured than the originals, but in their own unit they look great

The high ponytails give them the appearance of wearing plumed helmets

The quivers are a lot less decorated than the official versions, but are still Elven in nature

This lot are the second rank of the Heart of Isha, so have their spears braced to receive a charge, rather than their bows out to shoot (like the third and, eventually, fourth ranks do)

But all these Maiden Guard lack magic bows, so it's time for some skirmishing scouts:

In comparison to the official Games Workshop plastics, these 3D printed Sisters of Avelorn stand-ins are positively restrained in terms of detail

That said, I do love the ithilmar corselets and the ruby brooches that fasten their green cloaks 

One day I will take a good photo with the correct lighting; today is not that day

Those swords are not just for decoration! They can use them reasonably well... but the bows are the main damage dealer, with their 30" range and reducing armour saves by 1 on a 6 to wound

 All together then the 13 "Maiden Guard" that I've finished today look like this:

I'm really pleased with how they've turned out - they're not the most carefully detailed models I've ever painted, but I am enjoying painting them (in batches smaller than 27) and I'm very much looking forwards to the next round of the Escalation League and seeing what nonsense other people bring in 750 points

With these done, tomorrow's job is making movement trays, and then from Monday on I'll be painting those commissioned board game pieces from last year. Oops. Luckily the commissioner is both understanding and not bothered by the delay; but I do feel very guilty about it all!

Painting Points:
Today: 13
This Week: 13
2026: 40

Just In Time

Well, after really focusing on her (and her original version) I managed to get the commander of my Maiden Guard force done. That means, coupled with the movement trays I finished off earlier in the day using a new trick known as running a glue stick around the rims of them and then dunking them into the tub of flock, my 500 point force is complete... just in time for me to start thinking about the next 250 points.

There we go - the original version, now with new (smaller) sword and a new name on the left, the new, shinier version with bigger hair and more gold, on the right

 
They get their first game tomorrow night, and I'm genuinely excited about it. I don't expect to win, but I am going to give whoever I play against a bloody nose. 27 bows with the lowest BS being 4 is not to be sniffed at, I tell you that!

Painting Points:
Today: 1
This Week: 1
2026: 28 

The Tears Of Isha Flow

For the Elves of Avelorn march to war! 

At last I finished the first 500 points of this ridiculous theme army of the Maiden Guard. I have flags - made very kindly for me by my partner P - but no PVA glue or anything with which to glue them to the banner poles (curses)!

First up, we have Commander Aeilliniarie of the Maiden Guard alongside Captain Raliemne and the Tears of Isha company of the Maiden Guard:

Urgh, the photo quality is awful - I was trying something new and it did not work

Then there's Captain Lilaefni and her Heart of Isha Company:

This is slightly better but still not great. I think I might try and borrow P's DSLR tomorrow

And then lastly (but very much not leastly) Captain Merillaelle and her Isha's Song Company of the Sisters of Avelorn, an element of the Maiden Guard that use magic bows and ranges ahead of the main body of the Guard along with other scouts:

Yeah it's definitely time for me to learn how to properly photography my toy soldiers

With these done, I then turned to the next 250 points, which involved using (and breaking) a 1mm drill bit for a pin vice drill belonging to P to help with the kitbashed/converted Battle Standard Bearer I pieced together from 3D printed parts, GW High Elf pieces, and - when I can find some - a bit of 1mm diameter brass rod:

The broken drill bit in the foreground - shapeless black-undercoated miniatures in the background

And also, before I forget, here are the flags so graciously made for me from the original Maiden Guard banner by my beloved P:

Bear in mind these things measure 20mm x 53mm (right) and 25mm x 63mm (left)!

 So, next up is getting some Pritt Stick or PVA glue or something to attach those flags to the standard bearers of the various companies. And painting 13 more Maiden Guard, including a Battle Standard Bearer, who needs her standard building as well!

Painting Points:
Today: 27
This Week: 27
2026: 27

PS: This post was meant to be up on the 6th, but I did a booboo and forgot what time it was... so I guess the 7th of January will end up with two blog posts! 

 

Hail The Fallen - The New Year Approaches

In 2025, I have painted more miniatures in one year than I have ever painted before. Today I capped the year off by painting two of the same model - Erika Chappell's Scrungaloid 01, "Tag and Release". The Scrungaloids are quite clearly variations of the Rogue Trader Space Marines from the RTB01 set and the associated metal models produced around the same time, and as a result I looked to Rogue Trader for the colour schemes. Obviously the Crimson Fists needed representation, and then I wanted a nicely wild option for the other one, and what better than the original red-and-yellow dazzle pattern Minotaurs from the famous spread of Chapters represented in the Badab War?

Brother Greg, of the Crimson Fists Red Hand, and Brother Pax of the Minotaurs Angry Bull-Men (both legally distinct names and concepts thank you). I used different bases to see which looked better; I think the larger base does actually suit Marines more than the 25mm one, but the 25mm one is the proper period base for the 1980s and well into the 2000s too for that matter

I leant into the graffiti bit from Rogue Trader - both Greg and Pax have various things written on their armour; Pax has LUV and HATE on his kneepads, and Greg has KIL on his right greave and DIE on his left hand

You can't expect a Space Marine Scrungaloid to know how to spell

You get a good view of Pax's dazzle scheme here. I did it a lot more crudely and simply than the last time I painted this scheme, just in case I'm unhinged enough to turn this one mini into a proper force...

This model is a really really good interpretation of the 1980s beakie Marines, and I'm very excited to see what else Erika's made for Scrungaloids: The Lowest Form Of Life

So with that, my painting spree for 2025 has come to an end. Over the course of the year I painted over 500 models for a total of 548 Painting Points! On average I completed one and a half Painting Points' worth of models a day, so my goal for 2026 is to equal or beat that. Coincidentally, Games Workshop has a promotion on where they're trying to get a million miniatures painted in 2026, and if you paint 100 between Janury 17th and May 9th you get a whole bunch of swag, which I'm very keen to get my paws on! Obviously that has to be 100 Games Workshop miniatures, but I do in fact have at least 100 of those unpainted kicking around... and I can buy some new ones as well, mwahahaha.

Other than "paint 100 GW models between Jan 17th and May 9th" my wargaming goals for 2026 are as follows:

• Open and run the LUNAR Club in Llangefni
• Run a Mordheim campaign at LUNAR Club
• Finish the Maiden Guard and participate in the Old World Escalation League with them
• Complete (or continue) the magnetisation and storage of my collection
• Finish at least the ruined buildings from my 40K terrain collection

I wonder how successful I'll be!

Painting Points:
Today: 2
This Week: 2
2025: 548

 

All Systems Nominal

Today I managed to finish the Falcon Guard mechs and, to all intents and purposes, the Canopians as well. On top of that I got some paint onto a couple of the figures I've recently 3D printed, and managed to get the Alacorns and Shreks done for C, too. A pretty productive day, really:

L-R: Warhawk (Cluster Command Star), Vulture (Alpha Trinary Fire Star), Vulture (Bravo Trinary). Note the anti-glare panel in front of the Warhawk's cockpit glass

Just visible on the "cheeks" of the mechs here is the Falcon Guard emblem of a Jade Falcon in flight with a sword clutched in its talons

All three of these omnimechs are in their "prime" configurations - four ER PPCs and an LRM-10 for the Warhawk, two LRM-20s, two large lasers and two medium lasers each for the Vultures

From this angle you can see the Gamma Galaxy emblem - a Jade Falcon flying over a moon - on the "cheeks" of the mechs

After getting those mechs squared away, I started in on the Canopians:

2nd Company, 2/1 CANCUIR - Mech numbers 49 to 60

An Archer from the Company's command lance, with the chassis number 52, and a Wasp from the scout lance with the chassis number 60 - the Wasp is therefore the last 'mech in the company

Like the larger Phoenix Hawks, the Wasp's medium laser can be jettisoned in an emergency

Although originally designed and built by Kuritan factories for Kuritan units, the -2K variant of the Archer is an easy conversion popular with many across the Inner Sphere

The size difference between the 20 ton Wasp and the 70 ton Archer is very noticeable here

 Finally I picked up my 3D printed version of Everqueen Alarielle of Ulthuan, and the 3D printed version of an Imperial Army trooper, and slapped some paint on: a basic undercoat for the Queen (soon to be a Level 4 mage) and some base coats for the Imperial Army trooper. I reckon I'll paint a small force of Rogue Trader style Imperial Army figures as a PDF unit to populate my desert world for 40K games. Very basic weapons, basic vehicles, essentially there as a speed bump against the enemies that they'll face. As for the Everqueen, well, I have plans for her:

I have a horrible feeling that I've printed Alarielle a little too small. I'll measure some High Elves tomorrow and see if she's out of scale - she's correct for 28mm, but are GW High Elves from 4th Edition 28mm or 30mm... as for the Imperial Army woman, despite casting off her body armour she retains the identity disc which will eventually denote squad, platoon, and company

Tomorrow I'm going to make some repairs to the misprinted GEV infantry I printed for C, and then package it all up and post it to him. About 54p per piece, which is pretty good investment to be fair. Other than that I'm hoping to have some progress on the Everqueen as well as finish off the PDF trooper.

Painting Points:
Today: 5
This Week: 5
2025: 546