(Image by Games Workshop)

So, I realize that I haven’t posted in a while. Work, various social events and the occasional bout of I-don’t-wanna-write-right-now-ness have kind of been interfering with my ability or willingness to post any updates. That being said…here’s an update!

The most important thing I want to post about is that yesterday, I received my pre-order of the new Drukhari codex (complete with complementary datacards). I can’t say enough about how excited I am right now about this book– I am currently leafing through its colourful pages as we speak, devouring all of its secrets and absorbing the lore of the Dark City. I will, at a later date, be posting a several-part review of the new Codex, particularly of its new lore, new unit updates, faction rules and stratagems, and how I intend to put it all to use. For the time being, all I can say is I am already trying to figure out which Kabal/Cult/Coven rules I want to use for my Alliance of Agony, and I think it’s saying a lot that I can’t decide– all of the sub-faction rules are just too good!

On to other progress: so last January (yes, I know), I posted about two new models I had gotten from Raging Heroes. After putting things off for way too long, I finally got working on one of them, and finally have some results to show for my efforts.

My primary focus has been on Sister Ardanna: I still need to decide how I’m going to paint Silkeeriss/Drukhari lady. When I first started on Ardanna, I painted her main body before applying her sword, figuring that, given how her arms block her face and her sword blocks much of her torso, I really didn’t want to have to paint around either. For the initial steps, I painted her face Cadian Fleshtone, her dress Kantor blue and her armour and the insides of her robe Celestra Grey working up to Ulthuan Grey. I quickly discovered that paint had a tendency to congeal far too easily in the recesses of her dress: after applying some paint thinner by q-tip, I was forced to be much more cautious with how I was thinning my paints.

From there, I applied:
-Balthasar Gold on the metal bits I added, along with a wash of Reikland Fleshshade (I still need a lighter gold to highlight this with). Note that one of the spines on her icon/backpack thing is bent: unfortunately, I am afraid to try to apply pressure on it without breaking it, and am currently looking for solutions on how to right it (a compress and warm water might work, though I have no idea if that will warp the resin or not– yes, I am inexperienced with resin).
-For the blue, I made successive highlights with Kantor Blue, Altdorf Blue, and Drakenhof Nightshade before a final highlight of Calgar and then Hoeth Blue.
-The face was washed with Reikland before being highlighted with Kislev flesh.
-Mournfang Brown was applied to the hair, again with Fleshshade wash
-Some Vallejo Red (I forget which, I’m not as well versed with Vallejo) was applied to the red bits
-A bare Mechanicum Grey was applied to the gargoyle and base, along with an Altdorf Oil wash
-Bare Ulthuan grey has been applied to the designs at the bottom of her robe

The sword took the most effort after the dress, as I moved from the Vallejo red up to Trollslayer and then Fiery Orange, and then a faint bit of Evil Sunz yellow. I was trying to maintain a hot, orange look to the blade without making it look too fiery.

So far, I like the progress I’ve made on her, though I still have a million and a half highlights to apply, particularly to her dress and to the stonework. I am also debating whether or not the sword is too bright, or not bright enough– I’m debating switching from the fiery orange look to a more black-to-yellow “lava” look. Game wise, I will most likely use her as a Canoness with the Blade of Admonition, although one blog I discovered suggested using her with the Emperor’s Champion rules. Regardless, I’m happy with how she’s looking so far…though, as a guy who is too used to heavy models, I am surprised by how light she is.

Meanwhile, another thing I went back to working on was my Arco-Flagellants. Where possible, I have the Flagellant models power claws, drills and saws from the Kromlech range, and when I ran out of those bits, I modelled them wielding their flails as normal (although in two instances I actually attached the flails to their arms at the wrist). I went with masked heads wherever possible, but where that was impossible, I used green stuff to make heavy hoods for them. I also put green stuff on their back so that I could then apply crisscrossing bent pieces of paper clip, to represent various wires and tubes jutting out of the Flagellants’ backs. Here they were when I primed them. I am happy with how these conversions turned out, actually: they have a mad, aggressive dynamism to them that makes me easily visualize them charging headlong into the enemy in a storm of whips, flails and buzzsaws.

So how did they turn out? Sadly, not great.

As you can see, my limited sculpting skills become quite visible here: my attempts at making hoods, despite my best efforts, have instead yielded these globular, overgrown…things around their heads. It is no better on their backs, where I have used green stuff as a base on which to apply the wires: in those cases the green stuff is literally all over the place, and in many cases it has absorbed dust or stray cat hair. The result is unpleasant looking to say the least. My putty skills are, sadly, quite lacking.

Paint scheme wise, I went with a Steel Legion Drab base for the colour scheme. I couldn’t decide on red or blue as a secondary character, so I alternated between models. The result isn’t…terrible, but I have yet to apply highlights. It is clear to me that the Arco-Flagellants will still require a lot of work, and that if I’m to save them, I’ll need to do some headswaps on the hooded ones to save them from my horrible sculpting attempts. Sadly, suitably helmeted or robotic heads will be difficult to find, so it seems that the headache that is this unit may persist for a while yet.

In the interim, though, I have a few other projects lined up on the horizon, including (a lot of) Drukhari and a new Inquisitorial guest for my Sororitas…