Eldar Wave Serpent Complete!

With the release of the new Eldar Codex for Warhammer 40,000, the unit that has the internet buzzing is the venerable Wave Serpent.

At the same time that I purchased my Hornet and Lynx from Forgeworld I also got the Type II upgrade kit for this model. Needless to say, much cleaning and reforming in hot water was required to get the (very few) additional resin parts to fit.

The Wave Serpent is based on the Falcon chassis, first released back in 1993! The sprues do show their age, needing a lot of flash clean-up, but the components still assemble very well.

I painted the tank chassis as 4 separate pieces, 3 of which are the underside. The top hull includes the Forgeworld resin rear "fin" preassembled (with a lot of Liquid Green Stuff). The sundry other pieces (weapons, turret, vanes, gems etc.) were also painted separately.

Here's what every part (including some that I didn't use) looked like fully painted, just prior to assembly.

Fresh from the Bonesingers, here then is Craftworld Thae Anor's shiny new Dedicated Troop Transport ready for action.

 

A group shot of the Craftworld's full armoured complement.

Soon (I hope) some Guardians will make an appearance...

Eldar Lynx - Complete!

...well almost. I still have the "tattoo" to paint on the right-side front panels, but other than that it's done.

Eldar Lynx - Work in Progress

This stunning model and the equally excellent Hornet, were the primary catalyst in getting me back into the world of table-top Warhammer 40,000.

However, if I'd known prior to purchasing these kits how "challenging" they would be to assemble I may not have been so eager! Be prepared to spend a significant amount of time straightening the resin pieces and locating and filling bubbles and pits with Green Stuff. All that said, the extra time spent in prep does provide a great incentive to put in some extra effort on the paint-job as well.

Shall we begin?

First up we have the Lynx model already well under way.

The Pulsar Cannon (and associated accelerator/power converter on the rear) are fully painted. These two parts are magnetized, so that I could in theory change the cannon for the Sonic Lance. In reality I did it so I can bump the weapon during play and not worry about it breaking off!

The basic armour panel blue is Army Painter Crystal Blue Primer, air-brushed with the old GW Regal Blue to shade, air-brushed back up to the base colour with GW Teclis Blue then further highlighted by air-brush with GW Lothern Blue.
The undersides and engine components have been painted GW Chaos Black.
The recesses between the Blue panels are painted GW Regal Blue.
The small panels around the engine intakes have been painted GW Scorched Brown.

Next I start work on the engine intakes.

The raised grill is painted with GW Shadow Grey, then worked up to GW Space Wolf Grey to almost a pure GW Ceramite White in the centre. This is the same painting sequence used for highlighting the underside of the tank and the black engine detail.
The engine panels are based with GW Balthasar Gold, then GW Shining Gold; worked up to GW Mithril Silver as a final highlight.

The blinding orange trim has been added in GW Troll Slayer Orange, over a base of GW Ceramite White to make the orange "pop" as much as possible.
Also the canopy hinge and vent (to the side and top of the canopy respectively) have been painted in GW Chainmail then washed with GW Nuln Oil and re-highlighted with GW Chainmail.

A lot of detail gets added in this next stage.

Assuming a light source directly above and slightly forward of the tank the panels are all edge highlighted with GW Lothern Blue up to GW Space Wolf Grey and then a final highlight with a 1:1 mix of GW Space Wolf Grey and GW Ceramite White.
The gems / souls stones and the canopy are also completed*.

Soon my shiny new Super-heavy Eldar Lynx Grav-tank will be ready for the battlefield! Pictures of the (nearly) completed vehicle to be posted soon.

* I'll make a separate post on the painting sequence I use for the Purple and Red gems.

Eldar Hornet - Complete

Introducing the first of the War Machines of Craftworld Thae Anor. The Forgeworld Hornet.

The basic colour palette for my Eldar force is:

Primary Colour - GW Teclis Blue, which is almost a perfect match for Army Painter Crystal Blue. I use the Army Painter coloured spray primers on most of my models.

Secondary Colours - GW Ceramite White and GW Troll Slayer Orange. The orange is partially translucent and is affected by the colour beneath it. Because of this all of the orange areas are based with Ceramite White prior to applying orange. The Ceramite White has excellent coverage, so at most needs only three thin coats over the Crystal Blue.

Tertiary Colours - GW Chaos Black, GW Dheneb Stone, and GW Shining Gold. Chaos Black is reserved for "hidden" mechanisms, such as the linkages between wraithbone parts and the underside of vehicles. The Dheneb Stone represents raw Wraithbone - typically used on all the armies weapons. The Shining Gold is used as an accent colour on the engine intake and exhaust, and some other elements like runes and gem sockets.

Spot Colours - GW Liche Purple + GW Warlock Purple (1:1 mix), and Mephiston Red. Reserved for the (numerous!) gems and also the vehicle canopies. The purple mix is used most (about 90%) of the time.

Another Forgeworld Construct (with work-in-progress images) to follow soon...

Welcome to the Eldar Craftworld Thae Anor

Rumours of ancient machines echo through the Webway... soon they will be revealed.