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[Redbeard]

Here's better pictures (and more of them) of my Eldar, Craftworld Im-Bolc.

First, some general comments:

My goals with this army were to learn some new airbrush techniques.  I did some masking and some blending - previously I'd only really applied solid colours.   The wraithguard, swooping hawks and fire dragons were all airbrushed for their base colours.  I only used the brush for touching up details.  I'm really happy with how that all worked.

Second, I wanted only models that I like how they look.  There are only a few exceptions to this;  The fire Dragons, Swooping Hawks, Dark Reapers are included mostly so I have some options in combat patrol games.   I dislike the pointy hats on eldar.  The only pointy hats in the army are on some of the pathfinders (because the box comes with them).  Otherwise, I've substituted models or converted around that.   This gives me a rather odd eldar army, with no guardians and nearly no aspect warriors.  But, whatever.

Third, I wanted to use my urban basing stuff.  I love how the slate turned out as a basing material, and the little resin bits add a lot of flavour to some of the character models.   Even the little twists of razor wire on the bases ends up tying everything together.

Colour scheme wise, I wanted to use blue, as it is the colour of thought, and so that fits the Eldar's psychic image nicely.   I used Bone (specifically wraithbone ) and Black as my 'hard' surface materials.  My last two armies relied heavily on metalics, so I wanted to go away from that with this one.  The bone also serves to tie the harlequins in to the rest of the army, as it is obvious that they're using the same materials as the other eldar.   And, of course, with Blue as a main colour, a lot of the details and gems ended up Orange, as that's the ideal complement there.   

I painted the wraithlord for the Eldar Out-of-the-box contest in December.  The rest of these models were all painted between January 25th, 2006 and Febuary 1st, 2007 - a total of five weeks, start-to-finish.


HQ Choices

First, the Autarch. 


OMG!! He has no arms!

Actually, he's full of magnets.  I've got every possible combination of gear available for him, all individually magnetized.   Because, I'm a strict WYSIWYG gamer.







A couple of Farseers.








Some Warlocks



The avatar - I didn't like the pose or the crazy hair that he comes with, so I sculpted him a little bone crest, and repositioned his arm.  Using the scenic base piece to elevate only one leg also changes the dynamic of the model, which I liked.   I used some epoxy to get an actual drip effect on the 'bloody hand' too.  He really stands out against the army, in a good way





A couple of special characters






Elite Choices

First the Harlequins.  Cause they're the reason I did an Eldar army at all.







I've had the models for ages, but only just got around to painting them as they're now codex legal again.  The first set is the six who ride in the falcon.  One of the girls with the fusion pistol is a Mime - all black outfit with white gloves, and (hard to tell in the picture) a traditional mime makeup face on her mask.   The second set is how I typically run my second unit, and the last four are just extra bodies in case I want to change up a list somehow.

Wraithguard (and a Spiritseer)





I think that the Bonesinger model is best used as a spiritseer.  Just personal preference.

Fire Dragons:


Wave Serpents.  There are three in total, although they all look identical.  Their turrets are magnetized to allow for any weapon option, as is the hull-mount.






Troop Choices

Rangers/Pathfinders:  (There's 20 of these, in total)


Jetbikes:





I usually use these bikers as Guardian Jetbikes, however, one of the nice things about having harlequin bikers is that I can have them count as Guardians, Warlocks, or Shining Spears, depending on the list I want to play.  Multi-purpose.   I gave all the bikes Carnivale masks, and the bikers have matching masks.

I also run the Wraithguard as troops as often as not.

Fast Attack

Here's a Viper.  Note the conversion so I don't have to have a pointy-hat gunner.





And some Swooping Hawks:




Heavy Support

First, the Harlequin's dedicated Falcon:




A couple of Fire Prisms:





They both have falcon turrets too, in case I want to go that way.  And all of the Falcon's weapons are magnetized too.



Wraithlord:



Dark Reapers:




A Phoenix.  I just love the curves on this model.  I'm running an Eldar Aeronautica Squadron too, mostly because of how the Phoenix looks.








Enjoy

[ChiliFriez]

NICE! I'm really liking those jetbikes.

[Hazard]

Wow,
 that certainly is a warhost, an awesome one!
 The airbrush techniques really showed up nicely didn't they.

[Tom Norman]

Holy dogpoo, you make me want to start collecting Eldar.  I've a way to go before my painting skills are good enough to make them look as smooth and as graceful as this though.

I really love that two-tone effect you've used on the vehicles.  Is that done with an airbrush as Hazard crowbarred in there?

[Hazard]

Holy dogpoo, you make me want to start collecting Eldar.  I've a way to go before my painting skills are good enough to make them look as smooth and as graceful as this though.

I really love that two-tone effect you've used on the vehicles.  Is that done with an airbrush as Hazard crowbarred in there?

They are done with an Air Brush, even Redbeard can't paint like that. 
 Have you had many games with them Redbeard?

[faol]

Spectacular.... *speechless from here on in*

[Redbeard]

Yeah, as I mentioned above the pictures, one of my goals with this army project was to try new airbrush techniques.   I find that it is a much more enjoyable process (painting armies) if you set goals for yourself so you're learning as you go.

My orks, I learned to airbrush smooth colours.   The eldar, I did blending and masking on the vehicles.  The blues on the vehicles are actually five tones - midnight, regal, enchanted, ice (blues) and then white.

The lines on the harlequin falcon and the stripes on the phoenix are accomplished with masking.  

I also tried airbrushing for basecoats on some of the squads.  The wraithguard, fire dragons and swooping hawks (inc. baharroth) are all airbrushed.

Have you had many games with them Redbeard?

I get some in here and there.  So far they are undefeated, and my local gaming group hate the harlequins to the extent that one guy is taking Daemonhunter allies with a null rod and a psycannon in every army so that he can bypass their shadowseer.   While that works (and the Null Rod is about the only way to nullify the Veil of Tears ability), it's not a strong tactic, as the falcon-mounted harlequins can dispatch of a lone inquisitor fairly easily.

[Hazard]

Haha, they feel the wrath of the Harlequins.
 Anyways, good work on the army again, it looks awesome.

[[1shot1kill]]

 



 





 





 
Amazing man, pure amazing

[Lord Syphilis]

You're paintjob is so amazing and intricate. Would it be too much to get a group photo?

[NeoHunter]

Wow! Those are beautifully painted Eldar models!

Just a question. Are all your bases custom made? As in the pieces of rocks that some of the models stand on and such. The one that your Avatar is standing on is nice too. Very urban look and feel.

[KommandoKrieg]

The disco tank must get some great compliments when you beat people with it!

[KnIfE]

Those are utterly amazing. Fantastic paint jobs there

[Valar]

They are excellent! Awesome! Great!
They are perfect! 

[MrChaos]

Wow, I really dig the harlequins. Especially the groovy Falcon.