Your Semi-Daily Dose of Grimdark: Dan Paints Everything

[Lord Dan]

This looks to become a great "semi-daily" plog, those warjacks are painted to awesome. I really like the metal scheme with just a dab of red on them.

The skin on the assassin is very well done. You should stick with greys because in real life those blend a lot better with the environment, is that basing peeling off?

And some green stuff skills as well, how does one pluck such a cloack?

Ah, another fine citizen of the Netherlands! You're a true gentleman!

I went with a grey/white for the cloak, with a snow base. His base was peeling off, though I fixed it with some putty and sand (as you'll see in the pictures, below). As for the cloaks I'll put together a tutorial for the next batch I do. It's way easier than you'd think, though it does require wait time in between steps.

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So I put some time in to my eBay pieces tonight. First, the assassin is done:





I had to change the armor from black, as it contrasted too heavily with the white cloak. As a result I changed it to gold, which makes him looks really...classy? I'm pleased with the result, in any case. As you can see I opted for the same basing scheme as my Warmachine stuff.

While waiting for washes to dry on the assassin I painted a model that's been sitting in my bitz box for 5 or 6 years:




She took me like 30 minutes in total, so I'll be pleased no matter what she sells for.

Up next will be more eBay pieces and Vikings, and sometime next week I might start painting the khador widowmakers I picked up on Friday.

[Lord Dan]

Ooh, there's some nice sculpting going on here!

I missed your post, buddy! Thanks for the compliments, as always!

[Astraeos]

That Banshee model is my favourite of the old variants they have/had. In fact painting her got me back into the hobby after my "I quit" period way back when I must've been about 12 or 13.

[HereBeDragons]

Thats one scary face!

[EmperorNorton]

Hey Dan, I saw that you signed up for the ToFP with WoC.
Well, so have I.
I feel like we should coordinate our efforts or something.
I've been meaning to paint my WoC ever since the last Army Book came out. Maybe it'll work with the new one around the corner. So far I'm not really feeling it, though, which is dangerous, because the same thing happened last year with the Dark Elves and I did not get far with them. I have bought the Sigvald and Valkya novels from Black Library to get myself in the mood for Chaos, but so far with limited success.

[Killshot]

Looking nice Dan, getting cracking on the Dark Elf Chariot!

[Boreas_NL]

Nice to finally have located your new plog. You surely have some very nice models here though I have to admit I miss your Sylvanians (hint, nudge, wink)... I think your Viking Hearthguard and DE Assassin are my favorites, great models and very cool paintjob!

[Monsterzonk]

Nice to finally have located your new plog. You surely have some very nice models here though I have to admit I miss your Sylvanians (hint, nudge, wink)...

QFT. What's the matter, Dan? You started one of the best armies to be found on WarSeer, and then you simply stopped. Don't do this to us!

On the other hand, the models in this log are very cool as well. Love the Dark Elves! Keep it up!

Cheers,
Monsterzonk

[Astraeos]

Monsterzonk has a point about the Sylvanians!

[Gargobot]

While Monsterzonk does have a point and on principle I don't like people turning away from their Empire armies (except of course for Blood Bowl related reasons *cough* ), that DE is just plain awesome. Shame you put him on ebay, though I hope he turns a nice penny for you.

[Daniel36]

SAGA is getting more and more love, isn't it?
Personally not really into it... but whatever...

Nice job on the ghost. I also had one lying around for a while that I painted in an hour or so... Green to white drybrush for the win. Lovely models they are. I should get back to taking some pics... Oh well...

Nice assassin!

[Lord Dan]

That Banshee model is my favourite of the old variants they have/had. In fact painting her got me back into the hobby after my "I quit" period way back when I must've been about 12 or 13.

Yeah, I've had this model lying around for 10 years or so. In fact, along with some random High Elves, it was one of the first models I purchased.

Thats one scary face!

Are you talking about my picture for the Terminator movie, or the banshee? I agree in either case.

Looking nice Dan, getting cracking on the Dark Elf Chariot!

Thanks man! I don't think they'll get done anytime soon, unfortunately.

Nice to finally have located your new plog. You surely have some very nice models here though I have to admit I miss your Sylvanians (hint, nudge, wink)... I think your Viking Hearthguard and DE Assassin are my favorites, great models and very cool paintjob!

I miss my Sylvanians, too. I dropped them for a couple of reasons, the main one being financial. I wanted to keep expanding the army, however I simply couldn't afford GW's prices anymore. Even the second hand market was inflating to the point where models were outside of my budget, so when I discovered Warmachine/historicals it was a great way to keep buying stuff without bankrupting my family.

Fortunately, I have a surprise for those who haven't spotted it in my signature yet.

QFT. What's the matter, Dan? You started one of the best armies to be found on WarSeer, and then you simply stopped. Don't do this to us!

On the other hand, the models in this log are very cool as well. Love the Dark Elves! Keep it up!

Cheers,
Monsterzonk

Thanks, Monsterzonk. As I mentioned above the abrupt stop was entirely financial. Fortunately I've found a way to keep the spirit and theme of the army going in a different format with my "War of the Roses and Zombies" log that was started just this past week. I trust you'll be able to get your fix of undead slaying, if at the cost of a significant reduction in the amount of purple utilized.

Monsterzonk has a point about the Sylvanians!

Agreed!

While Monsterzonk does have a point and on principle I don't like people turning away from their Empire armies (except of course for Blood Bowl related reasons *cough* ), that DE is just plain awesome. Shame you put him on ebay, though I hope he turns a nice penny for you.

Thanks, buddy! I think the model turned out really nicely; so much, in fact, that I began painting another assassin on Monday (this time with a desert theme). As for the Sylvanians...well, I've certainly missed all of the support and praise I received from that plog, as it was evident that others were enjoying that project just as much as I was. I can only hope that my new Europe vs. undead concept somewhat makes up for the loss.

SAGA is getting more and more love, isn't it?
Personally not really into it... but whatever...

Nice job on the ghost. I also had one lying around for a while that I painted in an hour or so... Green to white drybrush for the win. Lovely models they are. I should get back to taking some pics... Oh well...

Nice assassin!

I'm not really into SAGA either... Thanks for the compliments, as always! I agree that you should absolutely get some more pictures up on your blog.

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As for updates, well, I've been working primarily on my mounted crossbowmen featured in my other log. For this log I've got 4 swordmasters painted which are bound for eBay, as well as a half painted new assassin and my halberd wielding noble featured in my now-replaced DE log. The swordmasters are going up on eBay on Saturday, so I will have some pictures of everything for you tomorrow night.

[Lord Dan]

And now for something completely different. For a long time I've wanted to do a wood elf army, however I just don't have the money to buy it all. So I spent about 4 hours with a hot glue gun and some mulch Monday night putting together the frames for my treemen and treekin. Satisfied with the results, I started painting them Tuesday evening...and then finished them this morning. Yeah, you heard me right:


My treeman ancient. The arm was super finicky because hot glue is particularly soft when it dries. I had to reinforce it with what ultimately became a solid layer of superglue, because attempts at pinning the thing resulted in a desk full of sawdust. That's supposed to be a road sign on his arm, by the way.




Regular treeman. I tried to make it look like he was a reassembled house, covered in moss, though it just didn't look right. I then tried adding clump foliage to make him look more tree-like, though now he looks like a failed attempt at a birch tree. In any case I'm still pleased with the color, even if it is somewhat unnatural.


My two units of treekin:








As you can see these trees are a bit creepier than the normal treekin models, which plays on the army theme. The idea is that a small group of dark elf raiders got lost in a nightmarish woodland and, unlike normal people, felt right at home. I'll put up shots of the glade guard and dryads, converted from corsairs and skeletons respectively, as I finish them in coming days.

[Astraeos]

Wow, those things are seriously surreal!

[Jonahmaul]

That's a seriously great idea and they look awesome. I really like themed armies so looking forward to seeing what else you do. My mate did a unit of Dryads out of witch elves and other female miniatures (think some Esher and maybe some Dark Eldar too) which fits the fluff nicely too.

[EmperorNorton]

Sure, the title says that "Dan Paints Everything", but who would expect mulch?
Next I want to see an ocelot!

[Daniel36]

If he starts putting together a Terrorgheist from rat remains, it's time to get frightened.
(on second thought, that is an awesome idea!!!)

[EmperorNorton]

He could use the ocelot to hunt the rats (before he paints it to look like a dwarven air ship).

[HereBeDragons]

I feel they need eyes painted as knots in the wood. They would need to be subtle, but I feel the models need a focus: at the moment the viewers eyes aren't drawn to a particular spot on the model, and leads to them feeling too much like a bundle of wood. Perhaps painting the "face" in a lighter shade could work too. Don't get me wrong, they are a brilliant concept, and still look great, I just feel they need that little something to make them perfect. Maybe thats just me though

[Astraeos]

If he starts putting together a Terrorgheist from rat remains, it's time to get frightened.
(on second thought, that is an awesome idea!!!)

If he needs one I saw a dead one by the road while walking my dog this morning!