Harlequin Troupe Master

One of the things you don't get to do with a Space Wolves army is to make models of female characters. That's fine, in the lore, there are no female Astartes at all, and even if there were, realistically (as far as the term applies to 40k at all) they would be nearly indistinguishable from male Astartes, considering how much of an applicant's body is completely reworked to fit the Astartes mold.
However, sometimes all the whiskers and overdeveloped muscles get a little boring, and I find myself wanting to model a female character. Now, the Eldar are the easiest way to get to do that, which, funnily enough, is a result of male and female Eldar being very similar physically, too. However, what mildly annoyed me with the Harlequins box is that there was only one Troupe Master torso with the greatcoat, and that character was clearly intended to be a male. As I plan mean to have at least three troupes of Harlequins, I don't want all of the troupe masters to have identical torsos, as that would just get boring. It's easy enough to sculpt a pair of breasts on the torso, though, and as I mentioned, male and female Eldar resemble each other greatly.

 

 I wanted to decorate the model's base somewhat more than with just the piece of debris in the kit with the legs, and glued a piece of cork and a resin skull to it.

I intend to somewhat improve the final shape of the model's breasts before I paint it. As it is, the entire sculpt was made in one take, so to speak, without any time to let the putty cure in between. To finish the look, I find that a detail usually needs at least a few finishing touches after it has cured. This may be different for professional sculptors, of course.

 

I decided to give the model a horned female mask, and in process probably ended up deciding that this would be the Troupe of the Dark. As for the armament, I decided to take the most out of the Troupe Master's higher BS and A stats. I also like how expressive the Caress is.

I hope to get at least some of the models I have built painted by next week. Until then.

Harlequin Death Jester

Last week, I mentioned having bought the Death Masque box. This time, I thought I might actually show something from that box. Of course, Death Jesters are available elsewhere, as is nearly everything else in the box, now that Artemis is included in the Deathwatch's Start Collecting box set.

Death Jesters are among my favourite Harlequin units, both in fluff and in appearance. At the same time, however, I don't really like the model, mostly because the pose is too specific. Either I'd have to customise the models fairly heavily, or, if I ever have several, I'd have a whole group of squatting Eldar heavy weapon specialists.

What I decided to do was to give the miniature a new pair of standing legs.
I have to say, if I disliked the miniature before I assembled it, I dislike it now more. The various pieces of the miniature need to be attached in some sort of a parallel universe where time is not linear or something. It definitely was not designed to accommodate my preference to prime the model assembled, then disassemble it for painting.

It remains to be seen if I paint this or some other model for next week.

Valentine's Day Special: Orc Thrower, Blitzer and Black Orc Blocker

I haven't done any holiday specials lately, so I decided I would do something for this Valentine's day, for a change. I originally planned to just paint the Orc team in the standard Gouged Eye scheme, but I couldn't find any way to get excited about the idea in the slightest. Instead, I decided to do something to contrast with the football hooligan image of the Orcs. I would paint their armour in pink.

 The Black Orc Blocker was the first of the models I (mostly) finished painting, and the one that would have the greatest contrast between the colour scheme and the appearance.
I originally considered painting little hearts on their chest pieces, but decided it would be a little too on the nose, and went for a nice flower design instead.

 The thrower is the figure most differing from the Blocker in the whole team, with only a minimum of armour and almost delicate lines. I considered painting the flowing sash in another colour, and may end up doing that with the other thrower.

 The Blitzer is the team's figurehead. I decded to paint the flowing crest in a sort of light purple colour. After the Blockers, the Blitzers are the second-heaviest armoured models on the field, giving plenty of surface to paint pink. In the picture, the armour does look darker than it is, but trust me, it's pink.

A portrait of all the three finished members of the team together.

Will return with a normally scheduled update on Sunday.

Corvus Blackstar

The retailer I usually buy my 40k stuff from happened to have one Death Masque box set left. Since its story was apparently fairly important in the now-progressing story of 40k, and it included two armies I have relatively recently started collecting, Deathwatch and Eldar Harlequins, I decided to buy it. Of course, it doesn't include a Corvus Blackstar, so this introductory chapter was just a ruse.

 I'm still not sure about what would be the best way to photograph flyers, since they tend to be not only on the large side, but only relatively tall with their flying bases. This time, I ended up taking two separate photos from different perspectives.
Since clean, sleek, and menacing is Deathwatch's style, I elected not to make any elaborate Green Stuff decorations on it. I did glue one of the icons from the accessory sprue on the nose, but that was it.

 I originally intended to magnetize the front guns so that I could swap them from lascannons to assault cannons or vice versa as needed, but it turns out the fit is snug enough to not need magnets to stay on. Also true for the missiles, and the hurricane bolters stay on through gravity alone.

I have no idea when this will be ready and painted. On one hand, it's a very large model with lots of detail, but on the other hand, it's mostly black, and the sleekness demands certain asceticism. I may need to get a new bottle of primer spray first. Remains to be seen.

Two Grey Hunters

Apparently, I have lost the right arm of one of the previous Grey Hunters of this pack. Though nothing like a disaster, this is nevertheless annoying, and I'm not sure yet if I'll end up finding it or replacing it with another one.
In either case, time to go on with the show.

 Time is a factor these days, so I decided to have both of these Grey Hunters wear their helmets. In a happy coincidence, this one ended up having mostly Mk.VI armour parts, including the left pauldron (invisible in the picture). I tend to forget to add the bolt pistol, so I had him aiming it, with the bolter mag-locked to his backpack.

I wasn't initially going to make another Deathwatch Veteran, but after I decided to give the model a Deathwatch bolter arm, I just went with it and also gave him the appropriate left pauldron. To set the model apart, I gave him an extra helping of grenades, too, with one attached to the torso, two glued to his left thigh and one attached to the bolt pistol holster.

I plan to paint the models by next week, as usual.