The Centennial Post

The Centennial

Well here we are, happy 100th post to this blog! Now I've been sat on a project for a couple of weeks now which I thought would be great for my 100th post and that's my repainted Daemonettes. Alongside that (first picture is above) is my Sorceress of Slaanesh. Read on for more information...

Riders Required

Today I've started the Daemonette riders on my Exalted Seeker Chariot in line with The Masque (who recently came close second in a painting competition) so they are unnatural in the natural way they look with flesh tones and muted shades.

I've finished the Exalted Alluress (all bar her whips) and I've put her in position on the chariot but not glued her so I can see what it looks like and I quite like how it looks. At a glance she blends into the chassis but the more you look the more the eye is drawn to her which just embodies what Slaanesh is all about. I'm going to leave the horns black so that she doesn't become too bright and ruin the illusion.

Herald of Slaanesh

So today we can skip the history lesson because (assuming you've already read it) it's in my Daemonettes post. Just in case you didn't, here's a brief summary; always liked Daemonettes, Could never paint well enough/afford a full unit, started painting again recently and started with Daemonettes. Why I didn't just write that version last time I don't know but oh well.

The Herald. She was actually something I decided to do when I was bored with my Horrors but I got that into it that I ended up painting the whole thing in a few hours which didn't really help with the Horror boredom much. She's on foot because I didn't have the parts to make anything that remotely resembled a mount, let alone a half decent one and like I said in my Daemonettes post she's a minor conversion. She was missing an arm so I had to add on a spare from the Daemonettes kit (lucky there were so many). I filled in the hole for the old arm and then cut the new arm to fit. Did I mention she's one of the old metal Daemonette models? I think from early 2000 or possibly even 1999, I can't remember.

Here is the Herald herself:

Now I should probably mention that by this point I had bought the 'Eavy Metal Masterclass book (which I have been informed has recently gone out of print because it uses the old paint colours) so I was playing around with a few techniques. The main ones here were thinned paint layers, blending (both of which I already knew but I tried different ways of doing them), gemstones and glowing stone.

So for the skin it was mostly the same as the Daemonettes, except instead of drybrushing I mixed a little Ulthuan Grey with the Daemonette Hide and watered it down so that her skin kept the purple hue but was slightly paler than her sister Daemonettes. I blended in the claw as opposed to having it just stuck on like with the Daemonettes and also on the front of her clawed arm you can see (sort of) that I blended Xerus Purple in with the Daemonette Hide mix so that the scales were darker than the rest of her skin. Her hair was done in exactly the same way as the Daemonettes as was her claw. I painted the bone crown thing on her head like her claws as to me they seem like the same kind of material so it seemed natural to do. Her cloth wrappings were painted in Screamer Pink and then straight up to Pink Horror with the edges done in Ceramite White. The gemstones were painted in Caledor Sky, highlighted in Temple Guard Blue and then I added Ceramite White dots and then added a layer of 'Ardcoat to the gems and the claw.

The rocks were something I had in my bits box from years ago which I painted with a mix of Dawnstone and Abbadon Black and edged in Ceramite White (I think) and then washed with Nuln Oil. The skull was a random mix of colours so I couldn't even begin to tell you what went into that and the glowing stone was done with Xerus Purple and then very thin layers were painted onto the surrounding area; the thinnest layers being painted furthest away from the stone. You can't really see very well but I added a few runes to the glowing stone and then painted the Mark of Slaanesh onto the skull (I'm very proud that it only took one attempt to freehand, which is good because there's no way I could recreate the colour of the skull). I was planning to have a banner of Slaanesh on here but as I was trying to figure out where to put it I realised that it was just going to be massive overkill and would really take away from the actual model so I changed my mind.

In terms of gameplay I've made her a Level 1 Wizard and given her the Allure of Slaanesh (leadership test taken to be able to attack the Herald) and the Daemonic Robes (3+ save). My reasons for this are that she can use spells to keep her enemies away but if an enemy manages to get close then it's harder to hit her and if they manage that then she's less likely to be wounded. Quite a defensive set-up but her 4 attacks and Always Strikes First rule (which she transfers to the other Daemonettes) turn her into a well balanced fighter and it's more likely to keep her around longer to keep allowing the Daemonette unit to strike first as well as keep generating magic dice once the Horrors start taking hits.

So that's my Herald. Pretty proud of her as she was literally just plucked from my head and my bits box and for a while she was my only general for my tiny army, but that soon changed... More on that next time.

Daemonettes

Well I figure that in order to do this right I should blog in the order that I completed a unit and so I'll therefore be starting with the Daemonettes but first a little history... When I first started painting (waaaaaaaaaaaay back in 1998) the Daemonettes were the reason I was initially pulled to Chaos but I went for the Chaos Marines so I started with the basic models and eventually discovered that at the time I couldn't afford a full unit of Daemonettes (this was back when they were like £10 per 2 model blister pack) so I gave up my dreams of a Daemon host and eventually moved onto the Tyranids when they got a revamp in early 2000. I wandered back to Chaos when the Warhammer Warriors of Chaos army got a revamp and my original plan was to field a massive Chaos host of men, Daemons and Beastmen but I stopped painting before I could do much more than a few warriors and a couple of the old metal Daemons (which weren't exactly painted well I'll admit.
Fast forward to April (I think) of this year when I decided to start painting again and what do I find? Not only are the Daemon models now in plastic kits but they have their own army!!! I was literally in heaven, but then I was brought back to Earth slightly because only half of the Daemon force was in plastic kits. Slight disappointment but not really putting me off. So my friend (gotta love her) sees how down I was about stuff and decides to buy me a Warhammer starter set, so I paint a few of the Elves included but I didn't really enjoy them because I had my heart set on my Daemons once more... First opportunity I get I go and buy... DAEMONETTES!!! Finally, I get the Daemons that started my whole obsession in the first place! I ask the guys at the store to help me with the colours (I had no idea what things were meant to be like now, last time I painted the black screw lids were just being replaced by black flip lids and Skull White and Chaos Black weren't just spray paints) and they start whipping off a million paints saying that this part should be in these 6 colours and so on and I'm like woah, I cannot afford to buy half the paint collection just for one unit so I looked at the back of the box and it has a few suggestions on skin colour and I'm thinking it's nice but I'm not a grey kind of fan so I think waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back to when I first started and remembered Daemonettes were more purple than grey. So I eventually pick up some Daemonette Hide, Xerus Purple and some Druchii Violet (remember I already had the paints from the starter set so I was just adding to them) and got to work. After a while I realised that the colours were just really bland, there was way too much purple so I trotted on back to the store and picked up some Screamer Pink, Pink Horror, Emperor's Children and Changeling Pink which added a splash of colour without being too garish so I ceased to be bored.
The results of my Alluress (first one I painted because I always start with the leader of a unit, then the musician and then the Standard Bearer) are as follows...

So let me take you through what I did step by step, starting with the skin. So I under-coated in black because I wanted my colours to come out slightly darker, to which I then base coated in Daemonette Hide, all over the skin. I left the armour, hair, claws and cloth alone while I did the skin (by the way I paint BEFORE I assemble so I don't miss out on any detail). Over the DH I then did a wash of the Druchii Violet and then went over the skin again with DH, leaving the recesses dark. I then VERY LIGHTLY dry-brushed with Ulthuan Grey (I know I was supposed to go to Slaanesh Grey and Warpfiend Grey but like I said I didn't like that) so then the hair. Base coat was Xerus Purple which took a few layers because it's a layer and not a base. I then did a few DV layers to make it all shiny and then again went over with XP. I then lightly dry-brushed with DH for a little emphasis. The armour I left black but did a slightly wet dry brushing with Ironbreaker so that it shimmers and looks silver in some lights but black in others (very other worldly I think). The claws I originally did in black and purple but I didn't like them so I went with the pinks. Started with the Screamer Pink, then layered over with the Pink Horror, edged with Emperor's Children and dry brushed with Changeling Pink. After this picture was taken I started to use 'Ardcoat on the claws for a little extra shine. The eyes are in Mephiston Red and the teeth are Ceramite White. I originally had the toe claws in white (like in the picture) but they drew attention away from the claws so they're black again now. They're based with Astrogranite and after this picture I started dry brushing the bases in Ulthuan Grey so they look a little better now. 

Below is a picture of the entire unit:

And here's the back:

You may be wondering why my command group is split up (or you may not, but how am I supposed to know?). The reason is that my PHENOMENAL modelling skills have meant that when I put them together in a unit like this, this is the only way they fit together. You may also notice the fact that they're sort of symmmetrical (and if you haven't you have now) and yes, that was intentional. I figured that it would please Slaanesh... And my OCD tendencies. Mostly the second one. Ok entirely the second one. Oh I did their tails the same way I did the claws, just without the 'Ardcoat. 

So that, my friends, is my first unit. Next will be my (sort of) conversion for a Herald of Slaanesh (which has just been completely smashed out of the water by the newly released models that contain enough parts to put a Herald on the various chariots AND build one on foot ¬¬ But more on that next time.