Andrea's additional Leader month - The Seer and the Dreddy

 So, Owacers,

this is the second leader month and I can't be more happy as 1) I turned 50 and still feeling good, 2) I painted the most spectacular Eldar Farseer ever sculpted: the finger-pointing, mosquito-helmet, dramatic-pose Farseer!

The best thing is that, being a fine sculpt, it is as funny as expected to paint: a real pleasure! The shape of the helmet (marvellous, despite - or maybe, thanks to - its mosquito appearance) was abandoned in favour of a more technological-looking and mysterious version (cool, nothing to say) and only very recently recovered in the last Farseer incarnation (that I still have to get it!). 

But, this month is not only about the Farseer but it is also about another old friend, whose aesthetic remained longer on the shop shelves: the Dreadnought. Actually, in the RT era there were three version of it, but all based on the same body which remained basically the same even throughout the 2nd and the 3rd edition. Of the RT three patterns, I got the War Demon one: a Dreadnought apparently made to slap enemies, rather than shoot them down!

And now, of course, a little comparative analysis of its changes through time:

Here are the three main incarnation, form the left: RT, 2nd/3rd edition and 4th edition (the Wraithlord, although the full plastic kit like this one is more recent). 

Ok, I would have like to paint more but time is very tight these days, but still these are 330 points (Farseer, 170 pts; Dreddy, 160 pts). I hope to get more time in the next month!

Keep painting, fellows! and see you in June!

ciao, A

Byron's Pirate Eldar - Eälindor - Leader Month (675.5 pts)

 

Jumping right into what I painted this month.

Eälindor

Top of the order, is Eälindor the Pelagarch of my Space Elf army. For the etymology nerds in OWAC Pelagarch is a pseudo Greek word to follow the pattern of Exarch and Autarch. Basically it's archipelago backwards Pelagos + Arch. Loosely something like leader of the sea. 

Here are a handful of pics of Eälindor. His shape doesn't appear well in pictures so I included a handful all around to help convey his pose.

Eälindor was a spendy conversion. He is made from Eltharion the Blind and a RT era Howling Banshee. In retrospect, perhaps an early 2000s Banshee would have matched Eltharion better.

Eltharion the blind, now also Eltharion the armless and headless.

This banshee had her arms cut off and her head removed.

arms and head attached. 

Putty to turn his scale thigh armor into plates, mesh chainmail on his legs and arms.

Putty to give him big hair.

Eledriel Dreamrain - Farseer

I've included a few pics of Eledrial to show off his star cloak.

Garanferth Greyheart - warlock

Standard bearer and musician

Freehand Lothern sea guard serpent as another fantasy allusion. Also, purple skin to mix things up.

Isha rune to match the wave serpent.

pic to show off the triple yin yang symbol I sculpted.

Warriors

The new warriors included a few minor conversions. Five of them have head swaps.

I added another 8 warriors to my second warrior unit.

The second warrior unit fully arrayed.

Close up of my las cannon-armed trooper. I figured he warranted a close up.

Going for shoulder mounted heavy weapons to match other heavy weapons from the RT era and the Dark Eldar dark lances.

greyish skin to keep the space elves varied. Mixing up the skin tones has been rewarding and really pushed me to consider doing so one other projects.

Points

Leaders

Pelagarch - Eldar Major Hero w/ conversion field, mesh armor, power sword, las pistol, level 1 psyker abilities, 3 level 1 abilities, psi level 10 = 170.5 pts

Farseer - Eldar Minor hero w/ conversion field, power weapon, level 4 psyker abilities, 3 lvl 1 abilities, 3 lvl 2 abilities, 2 lvl 3 abilities, 2 lvl 4 abilities, psi level 35 = 260 pts

Warlock - Eldar Minor hero w/ conversion field, power weapon, las pistol, level 2 psyker abilities, 3 lvl 1 abilities, 3 lvl 2 abilities, psi level 20 = 102.5 pts

Squads

Warrior Squad

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, and Las Cannons x 1 = 55.5 pts

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, and shuriken catapults x 6 = 75 pts

Eldar w/ mesh armor, refractor fields, and lasguns x 1 = 12 pts

_________________________________________________________

Total                                                            675.5 pts

ZeroTwentythree's January Eldar - Rank & File (612 pts)

January Eldar: Scouts, Farseer, Terrain (Rank & File)

The choice for my first month's entry is the result of several trains of thought. One is that it would be fairly easy to complete, thus ensuring that I would not be eliminated in the first month of the Challenge. The second being that the scouts were unfinished business from OWAC4. Sort of. They were not part of my original plan, but was a late potential "stretch goal."

The Eldar scouts were a later addition to Rogue Trader. I believe they were released just prior to the RT Craftworld list. My pirate force is based on the Eldritch Raiders list in Chapter Approved, White DWarf Articles, and the guides & calculator in the RT book. The latter makes it easy to retrofit the scouts in the the Raiders list rather than than use the Craftworld scouts which are more like 40k 1.5 edition. My Chapter Approved style entry is below. Point values have changed a little since my initial calculations.

Since I had 11 figures, I decided to utilize the scout with the sword as a champion, also using the tables & calculator in the RT book.

Another bit of semi unfinished business from OWAC4 was a Farseer that I picked up while shopping for a few other figures I needed for the original force. I initially bought the figure because I am a huge fan of the sculpt, had the figure years ago when the Craftworld figures were released, and just wanted to paint one again for nostalgia.

But four years ago (plus or minus a few months) as I was painting the first phase of the crew of the Cold September, my mind wandered (as it does) and an idea began to develop. The Farseer became a missionary who has left the Craftworld, escorted by a group of scouts who had worked with the Craftworld for a time. The Seer has, in a sense, joined the Outcasts in order to keep an eye on them, advise and guide them away from damnation, and help bring them back to the Eldar Path.

For this reason (and another) I opted to paint the figure in a camouflage palette similar to the scouts. Again, the stats, points, and equipment have been generated from Rogue Trader. 

Too lazy to make cards for them at this time. So....

Farseer - Eldar Major Hero (426.5 pts)

Psi Level 40, 3xLv1, 3xLv2, 2xLv3, 2xLv4, Force Sword, Energy Scanner, Bio Scanner, Communicator, Respirator, Auto-Senses, Cameleoline, Las-Pistol, C-Field

Scout Leader - Eldar Champion (21.5 pts)

Mesh Armor, Las Pistol, Power Sword, Needle Rifle, Cameleoline, Photo Chromatic Visor, Communicator, Respirator, Frag Grenades

Also painted this month is the traditional Offering, formerly for the Overlord, now for the Old World Army Challenge Revolutionary Coordinator Committee (or something like that?) Fortunately this year my theme aligns with one of the Committee members' theme.

Since I finished painting my core figures (10 scouts plus The Offering) by mid January, I returned to some other unfinished business -- terrain business. Years ago I started a couple of terrain projects, now completed(ish) below. I made one "power field fence" as a test, but never made more. Now I have three. I will probably be building some more. These are very simple to make, just some acetate sheet cut to size, sanded to give a hazy appearance, and glued to craft sticks for bases. because I have other low obstacles, I made these taller.

Initially unrelated I had also started making a terrain piece from the plastic blister packaging from a door latchset. I added some granny-grating and oval shaped googly eyes for some additional Eldarishness. So now I finished painting this, and it feels like this could maybe be the power field generator for the fence. 

One of the other "stretch goals" I started on is a project that I came up with before even deciding to join OWAC8 or return to the Eldar. In November I made a brief stop in Amarillo, TX for work. Just ten minutes from the work site I needed to visit was the Cadillac Ranch. At some point in next few days the idea came to me...

Grav-Attack Ranch

Conveniently I had a couple of deodorant containers stashed away for long running plans for a wrecked Grav-Attack terain peice and Thomas the Grav-Attack Engine (which I still plan on building.) Fortunate timing, I've also scavenged a couple more. So my plan is to get at least three built & painted, but ultimately I'd like at least five to use for terrain. At first it was going to be a single based bit of terrain, but I've changed my mind and will put them on individual bases for flexibility.

Below is the build - a bit of a test piece. A little sloppy, but like the original inspiration (well, 1/2 of the inspiration) I'd like the structure to appear to be deteriorating, and some texture from a lot of layers of paint!

For what it's worth, I did paint on a couple of the Cadillacs, but the wind was so intense that it turned out a mess. I also took a quick drive to get my kicks on Route 66 and stand on the yellow line in the center of the midpoint of The Mother Road!

Alright, enough with the Texas and Americana, back to the Grim Dark Future. Below are my January totals. I've let one surprise out (Grav-Attack Ranch) but hopefully still have a few more to unleash. In fact, February's entry is still a surprise to me. Although I have The Plan, I haven't decided what to paint next!

Rank & File

Scout Squad                      82 pts

Scout Squad                      82 pts

Bonus

Scout Champion             21.5 pts

Farseer                         426.5 pts

Terrain                                 0 pts

January Total                  612 pts

OWAC VIII Total           612 pts

Ben's Eldar - OWAC VII - Wildcard Month

"Karhedron walked across the plain of ash.  All around Bonesingers in Wraithbone armour loomed from the twilight, their ornate helmets and baroque armour turning them into menacing spectral figures.  They stood over the bodies of the Eldar dead, singing the requiem for Fallen Heroes."

The final proper month, and a concluding quote from WD127 which was such inspiring reading when working on this challenge.

For this month's models, I finished off some I hadn't managed to fit in earlier -  a squad of  Swooping Hawks, another warlock (pictured above), plus Phoenix Lord Baharroth.  I converted the Swooping Hawks Exarch to make him look a bit different to the original which I've painted before, by rotating his head.  Baharroth was especially cool to complete, not just because the Phoenix Lords are all classic sculpts that are fun to paint, but also because it completed my accidentally-started mini-challenge of painting every Phoenix Lord:

June total: 444 pts

Baharroth - 161 pts
Warlock, Singing Spear - 76 pts
Exarch, Swooping Hawk Wings, Lasblaster - 95 pts
4 Swooping Hawks - 112 pts

For the wilder part of my wildcard month, I had planned to make some terrain out of a £5 toy spaceship and some Mantic crates.  First I smashed up the ship with a lumphammer, and stuck it to an MDF base:

I stuck on some pieces of plasticard and gems to give a smoother, more Eldar-looking upper surface, and hint at the pipes and structure between the hulls.  I used lots of no-more-nails type glue to fill gaps and give some different texture to areas where I imagined plates had been ripped from a wraithbone structure.  And I added some foam rock outcrops to fill some gaps and give some variety to the base:

I stuck sand to the base with a mixture of PVA and brown paint, and base-coated the ship with crimson, grey and beige spray paint:

Then I brushed and sponged on some more craft acrylics to get a fire-damaged appearance, picked out the crates with GW paints, and washed everything with watered-down black and brown craft paints.  I drybrushed the crates in lighter colours, then everything with light grey to pick out edges and make it look dusty:

Lastly, I used it as a backdrop to take a few more pictures - something fun to finish off with:

Congratulations to all fellow challengers and thanks for all the chat, pictures and stories!