Hey folks, so here is my first attempt at painting a Dark Eldar model. I was playing around with color schemes and trying to decide on which I would go with first, and settled on a green. I was going to try purple, but I imagine there will be a lot of failed attempts at it, so I went with something I have a little more experience with first. I used the same technique of blending I have been using on my Blood Angels.
I started by spraying him black. Then I faded Catachan Green from the edges towards the recessed areas
Then I used a catachan green shaded with black, fading from the recesses towards the edges, meeting the first fade in the middle. This creates a blend, which I then carry out to the edge. I then reapply the catachan green from the edge, then back and forth.
Then I do a fade from the edge using Snot Green, and another using Goblin green. Then I used Valejo Livery green as an extreme highlight. That covers the armor plates.
For the eyes I used Iyanden Darksun then Valejo Lemon Yellow. I then highlighted them with white. I used the lemon yellow and a bit of white on the visor areas that edge around the eyes to create a glowing effect. I repeated this same technique down the insides of the rifle. I also added a bit of orange on the inside of the rifle too. Thats about it!
I left the boots and pec armor black, highlighted with catachan and snot green.
What do you think? Have I found my Dark Eldar recipe on the first try? It certainly takes a while to paint these guys. But unlike my Blood Angels, where I paint an entirely new army every few months, I don't plan on painting all that many Dark Eldar. I will do 40 warriors to create my base, along with 20 wichs and 10 incubi. I will also do up 6 Raiders and 3 Ravagers. I will finally do some Mandrakes and other support forces, as well as 10 Harlies. Then Im done!
EDIT: I forgot to say that I went back into the recessed areas with Badab Black wash to darken them up.
Feel free to leave constructive criticism. By the way, that means that in addition to pointing out things that could be improved, you suggest how you would do it... :) Lets get this rolling as a teaching post for every one! Feel free to send in pics of your well done models, I will post them up.
Jawaballs
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22 comments:
I love them. I'll probably be painting them similarly or exactly the same. I was planning on a bit more green for the base coat, but I think I like yours more. Or maybe you are just a better painter than I am.
Something I have seen that can give a nice look is skull white pin-point highlights on some edges and corners, such as in where the shoulderpad points downward or the very point of the armor plates on the legs. I can't tell if you did this already or if the light is hitting it so that it appears that way in a couple spots, but I know a lot of people like that. I guess it is personal preference for that.
Well I was going for Black armor that looked green. But I suspect as I paint more of them I will trend towards more of a green undercoat just to save time. I only used white where there was internal glow. Maybe some white on the extreme extreme edges would be a nice touch.
Very nice, better than some of the stuff in the book. Im gonna do something similar but blue instead of green, and some white somewhere possibly
Have you thought of a Kabal name yet? I was hoping they would list one for the Kabalite Warrior seen on page 70 of the codex on the far right, which is how I was painting mine, but I haven't seen anything related to it and I'm not that great at thinking of names.
No name yet. I will probably just off shoot from one in the book to make it easier with the decals and such.
It seems that Kabal of the (adjective) (noun) is the most common way to set up a name. And the adjective is more than likely a past participle, as in a verb which was made an adjective.
Jawa, once again you impress me on so many levels. I only hope my plans for my Kabal can turn out half as well as this guy.
I like the green but I prefer the fade into blue look
You've painted them in a way that reminds me of the Necrons quite a bit. Interesting to see you not go for the brass look. I personally don't like the brass look and prefer the white boney Craftworld look on those pieces, but don't want that on *Dark* Eldar... Haven't come up with an idea yet.
Now that I think of it, while the model looks real nice, it gives me the feeling of it glowing. like it's the Kabal of the Nucular Strike or something similar. My guess is that a dark green base would make a difference, but it's a stab in the Dark. Reminds me of the dark red Kabal in the codex, but preferably a darker base than that.
I'd go for the Kabal of the Ballsy Jawas or Kabal of the Bloody Angels :)
I love the scheme, and I think your take on it is very effective.
My plan is to make the armor glossy for that patent leather look, either through a NMM style of object lighting or just a simple varnish. I'm going for the whole "porno S&M" look that everyone seems to find cheesy and/or offensive.
I was thinking about the Dark Elves from Everquest, and how their entire city had this eerie glowing effect.
Ah, then I get the glowing effect. Bet it has a different effect when you get a whole army looking like that. Bet the vehicles will look nice and eerie glowing like that.
You really should consider making a few web way portals on the same theme. First paint Comorragh and then paint the eerie green light on top of some of it. No idea how common it will be to use the portals, but it does cut down having transports and allow you to have larger squads:) And can transport Clows:)
I already have the webway planned. It should be cool, and I will sculpt them and cast them from resin. But only Archons can take them? What other models can have a webway?
This is solid, Jawa. I like that you've chosen to use color instead of just black to paint this guy. One suggestion, with the green and yellow overall scheme, magenta or blue might be a really good spot color for the army. You could use this color on the eyes and on the runes on the helmet. It'd be a good contrast to bring the details out. Just a thought...
Good suggestion shatter. I am thinking blue on all of the tabbards. I used red for the gems on the gun. I shall have to try that out.
Hate to say it but this guy is better than your Blood Angels. You'll have to change the name of your blog...
The scheme works really well and if anything I would let it go a little bit further towards the black end of things and stick with your original idea of black armour with a green sheen to it.
The scheme looks good, clean and unpleasantly evil. Good job.
In terms of constructive comments all I would say is that you are generally a little low on the contrast. I guess that's your painting style but I would throw in some more contrasting colour as well as really picking out some of the highlights a little more.
A practical suggestion of how to do this? Go for really bright yellow eyes. Like gems. Draw the attention to the face and the malevolent glow there can be shown off by the armour hue rather than just being part of it... Sound reasonable?
@Jawa Isn't it the Haemonculi that can take portals? I don't particularly like the models myself, hopefully some nicer ones will be released at some point.
Btw, sculpt, cast, and sell mayhap?
Yah Flek, I will be selling webways if I can make a good enough one and get a good cast of it. Couple of big ifs. :)
Man, I am not liking those boots. I feel that using similar green highlights on them would look good or bring up that black with a mixture of black/grey, favored towards black.
I did the black/grey thing on my old CSM vehicles and that made a huge difference for them. (Black legion)
Dude...Im not to fond of the Dark Eldar figures but that one does looks very sweet! I really like the blending...awesome work dude!
Thanks Nat. The painting seems to be well received and I got some great input that I will implement. I just assembled and primed the whole squad, so maybe I can get them all done this week. Coming up soon I have a post on assembling and magnetizing a Raider with bag storage in mind. :)
Hey please Chris please contact me John Hohman. I haven't heard from you in a couple of days what's going on with the miniatures I purchased from you? I thought they would be here by now. Please contact me at my email, gettin kinda worried.
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