Hagen

@Giuseppe gdb Brilliant! Your stuff looks amazing, you are indeed very talented with GS and brushes alike... There are many different takes to AoS28 on this thread, which is something I really enjoy personally... Some people are privileging the dark humour of the setting, some others are working on the grim hopelessness, but it all comes together really nicely I have got to say... It is like going through old editions of warhammer and seeing the many changes that were made to the background and feel of the setting during the years.... Each reincarnation feels very different but they are still undeniably warhammer and there is a bit of every style in each edition.

Giuseppe I so love your style!! Very reminiscent of Joe Hill early 2000 works, they have a great "fairy tale" flavour, as if they just popped out from some old illustration of a Grimm Brothers' anthology! Your Golem in particular shows some real skills, as it looks very much alive and realistic even with a monochromatic colour scheme... Bravissimo! Hagen

This was exactly what I meant!

Well, the severed horse head looks great now! The whole model does! Cn't wait to see it painted

Argh! How did I miss all this?? Great work on the demonettes, colours seem to shift and change on their destriers in a very chaotic way! I cannot quite tell if they are pale or dark, coloured or muted... Very effective paint job! The DE are phenomenal as well, they must be some of my favourite models by GW and you certainly did them justice (I also find interesting how your sorcerer seems like a dark version of one of the minis I worked on lately for AoS28, lots of similarities!). The slaanesh lord will become one of the best versions of that amazing model ever to grace the internet, it's just so regal and glorious and you are really mastering NMM and at the same developing a quite unique way of using the technique... I would be intrigued to know how you lay your paints as I cannot quite tell whether you use lots of glazes or you have another method... Finally, as someone who experimented with marble quite a lot lately, I can tell you that the one on your base is just spot on! What technique did you use on it? Hagen

Hi! Nice work so far... About the gore on the horses neck... your megaghoul does not look like the kind of guy who would bother using a razor sharp cleaver to dissect his proud destrier... So I would suggest to go for a ripped-off head effect instead of a clean cut which, lucky you, is going to be easier to achieve. Just work your green stuff into thin irregular strips (around 1/2 mm wide and the same length approx) and apply them to the underside of the neck to represent the flapping gory chunks of meat still attached to the head... I would also try to simulate a similar effect on the horse's caparison, since the head was probably ripped while the horse was wearing it (I assume)so work with gs to give the cloth irregular edges... If you have some spare bits from a skeleton horse you could also add a bit of spine to the underside of the neck (before applying the gore)... not much, just a couple of vertebrae to show that severing the head was not a clean job...

Seriously impressive job! Really fitting for the competition in my opinion!

Thanks Greyshadow, really high praise! It's not GD level though, no fancy technique nor particularly intricate freehand... But I did put a lot of work into it so I am glad you like it. The artwork is indeed John Blanche's cover for Steve Jackson's Sorcery book 1, the Shamutanti Hills, first released many years before I was even born in the greatest days of High Fantasy! This is exactly how I envision Anaryn, the corner of the Realm of Hysh where my Alluminarchate is located... verdant and gentle at first glance but a bit on the weird side and full of dangers and mysteries hidden beyond the appearance... Definitely a magical place filled with Chaos beasts, toxic mushrooms and thatched roofed, white walled houses and towers.

The Alluminarch is complete! I finally finished the base, painting this model was great fun! So refreshing to paint something different from what I am used to (generally darker tones and less vibrant palettes) and quite happy with the result. I will try to see if I can take better pictures of him tomorrow with the favour of some daylight, but for now here you have him, resplendent in ikea table lamp light! The base was heavily influenced by this early john blanche cover art for Steve Jackson's Sorcery book. Deliciously old school high fantasy! Hagen

Thanks Elfhead, I will probably just repaint the oval gem on his breastplate and make it a bit paler as it feels a bit too dark atm. Good question about the gold, it's probably a light trick as I used the same recipe on both models, but I will try to take pictures of the whole bunch together once they are done so we can compare them all together. Thanks mate. White is actually very simple. First of all the model was undercoated with Corax White. I opted for two tones: creamy and blueish. The creamy white I used on the armour was done on a base of Rakarth Flesh, shaded with Agrax Erthshade and Drakenhof Nightshade (mixed together and blended with Lahmian Medium) and then highlighted with Ceramite white blended with Lahmian Medium. The idea was to try to infuse a pearly sheen to the armour, as if it was made of some exotic ceramic or nacre. The pale blue white on the robes was achieved very simply by laying a base of Kantor Blue+Ceramite White (roughly 20%blue, 80%white) and then highlighting with ceramite until getting to pure white. No shades, no inks. Very simple, I remember the time when white was an absolute nightmare but I feel the introduction of Base colours and paint thinner like the Lahmian medium really helped simplifying the process. Of course, always start with a white or light grey undercoat! Hagen

@elfhead Brilliant conversions and ideas! That sniper has a really nice feel to it, and I am also oddly attracted by the idea of an elf with a rifle... Is there something wrong with us? I have been working on the Alluminarch, leader of the warband and I can finally show some WIP pictures (my computer broke up and my phone just isn't up to the task of uploading on TGA)... They are not great pics but I am really happy with where this is going, coming out exactly as planned! I will probably enter this model in the Witch Hunter competition once it's finished (you might have noticed that it lacks a base ) Question: I am thinking about changing the colour of the gems from blue to turquoise but not 100% sure... What do you guys think? Hagen

Thanks Davariel, that's a really high praise! I am not a professional sculptor/painter, this is just my hobby and that's the way I like it! I did some commissions in the past, like the marienburger, but I discovered that I much prefer to work on my own stuff and just follow inspiration when it strikes instead of having to commit to deadlines and briefs (I already do that every day in my job ;). Hagen Great model and idea! So much nice works in here!

Hey Davariel, really nice conversions! I did something very similar a while ago for a marienburg war band commission (you can find some pics of them here if you are interested) http://warhammer-empire.com/theforum/index.php/topic,51032.75.html Can't wait to see them painted! Hagen

AMAZING

Yes, saw them and can't control my hype!!! I mean, Pirate sky-dwarves guys, PIRATE... SKY... DWARVES!!! That just reminded me that somebody was doing a very interesting Chamon sky-docks war band for AoS28 a few pages ago... He might want to check these!

Really nice conversions Paul and an interesting theme... I also wonder what these new Ulgu shadow elves will look like. I guess you are referring to this image below for Malerion? (sorry, couldn't find a higher res one) It looks pretty ambitious to me and I am fairly sure that GW has a model of him down the pipeline, probably already completed and sitting in a corner awaiting launch day, but if you want to challenge yourself then I would probably look at dragon bits for the body/wings or maybe even some tyranid trogon maybe? It kind of also have a gothic horror vibe so maybe it's worth giving a look at the Vampire Counts range, maybe some of the Vargheists bits could be recycled here? Hagen

First warrior of the Alluminarchate finished! Only white and gold on this model... Wanted to try a very limited palette as I envisioned them as pure warriors of light. I had fun with the subtle references on these warriors: there is a bit of crusader knights, Ottoman Dervishes, beduin nomads and a slightly unsettling hint to the KKK... These are after all fanatics of purity and I wanted to make clear that the fact that they fight for the Law does not mean that they are the good guys... The chequered motif is a reference to early warhammer iconography and a good metaphor of the eternal struggle between Law and Chaos. The other warrior and the Alluminarch to follow up soon hopefully! Hagen

A competition??? Amazing! Details!

Thank you Morgoth! I just sent you a PM about Forum GWTilea. Also, sorry I forgot to mention it previously, your war band looks really cool, I am especially fond of the Necromancer. You do have some Green stuff skills! And don't worry about your english, I post huge and annoying text walls in here and nobody ever told me anything about my many mistakes, this community is really kind toward us non-native speakers. Hagen

WOOOOWWW!! My home pc broke up during the week end so I did not check this space for a couple of days and some amazing work has been done in my absence! Dr green your Flesheaters look fantastic, I only glimpsed the Battletome myself unfortunately but for what I read and have been told your take on them is really in line with the spirit of the army! Your conversions are simple and very evvective and for some reason that I cannot understand I much prefer the look of the plastic bretonnian helms on your minis than on the actual knights. You need a cavalry piece now! A ghoul-knight, how cool would that be? Old Wooden, your Vampire is one of the most impressive conversions I have seen on TGA, simple, original, smooth and refreshing! I might join Elfhead and steal this in the future! Curnow, I really like all your minis, but the Slaanesh champion is a masterpiece! Where do the bits come from if I may ask? I have not been idle myself and during the week end I finally finished the conversion on my Alluminarch, Leader of my small band of followers of the Law Gods. His name is Malakia, 12th Abbot of Anaryn, a great scholar and accomplished warrior who won his rank through relentless discipline, iron will and adamantine faith in the Lord Alluminas. He is the protector of the vale and all feudal lords living at the edge of his dominion ultimately swore oaths to him and to the Law as they all understood that the knowledge held by the Alluminarchate is more powerful than any mortal (or indeed magical) weapon in their arsenal. The mini itself it's full of symbolisms that remind of the old lore of WFRP: the symbol of Alluminas, a circle surrounded by eight rays, has been slightly reinterpreted and now looks like the Thousand's Sons pre-heresy heraldry, which I always really liked as it conceives both arcane power and the struggle to order and enlightenment, which are the main themes of the Alluminarchate anyway. On his head rests a tiara adorned with the mark of his patron, the object being both a powerful symbol and a war instrument. On his back three keys represent the mythical keys to the tomb of Arianka, which the order desperately looks for across the Realms. Finally in his hand he holds the Sceptre of the Cleansing Fire of Zuvassin, an incredibly old and powerful relic of the World that Was imbued with the last gift of an extinct Chaos God. It is said that Zuvassin the Undoer cast this fire onto the earth as a powerful weapon against the power of his brother gods. Every creature corrupted or warped by Chaos touched by the flames instantly catches fire and burns with holy intensity until all mutations and marks of the chaos gods are completely dissolved, revealing the original aspect of the redeemed creature before the Ruinos Powers bestowed their gifts upon it. It is very rare that a chaos follower survives this ordeal, but wether it does or does not his body and soul will be completely purified from the taint of Chaos. It is rumoured that the Cleansing Fire is the reason behind Sigmar's interest in the Alluminarchate and that the God King's intention is to use the sacred flames to aid the process of reforge of his warrior chambers and make sure that no hint of chaos can corrupt his holy work. I am really happy with the conversion, as it is really close to the original concept I sketched a few weeks ago, and conceives quite well the hybrid of cleric, wizard and warrior that I wanted to represent with these models. Let me know your thoughts! Hagen

Very atmospheric painting and conversions! I do not recognise all the bits nor the hound... Where do they come from? Also, is it a banner protruding from the town guard's back?

Welcome back then! AoS is a bit of a strange setting... most of what you listed seem to refer specifically to the Old World of Warhammer, which has now been wiped out in the current setting. The new game takes place in a mythical feature, millennia after the destruction of the Old World by the Chaos Gods in eight weird and magical realms created by the eight winds of magic. Although Cathay, Middelheim and Chaos Dwarves no longer exist in the new setting, the best part of AoS is that since the realms are so vast to be almost infinite and completely bonkers in terms of culture and civilisations, it is very possible that something very similar to Cathay, Middelheim or Zharr Naggrudd actually exist in there as well. To make you an example, Chaos Dwarves were not mentioned in the current fluff, but who knows whether an enclave of Hashut worshippers dwells in some corner of the Realm of Fire? What I am getting at is that, although AoS got rid of the Old World and its cultures as we knew it, the new setting itself is encouraging us to create our own factions and stories which can draw inspiration from anything we like, from the Old World to whatever you fancy. So, instead of Cathay, why don't start developing your own background for a tzeentchan cult in a great and powerful eastern Empire in one of the realms, you will find that the crazy magical influences of them will contribute in creating something rather new and interesting... Just a thought;) It might also help you to read the very useful FAQ by Jake at Ex Profundis (the mastermind behind AoS28), which gives answer to most of your questions. You can find it at the following link: http://www.exprofundis.com/aos28-faq/ Hagen

Jondo, beautiful conversion mate, very creative and innovative take on the kroxigor concept! I would agree with Paul G when he says that it's lovely to see lesser represented races taking part in AoS28 and your idea of a band of adventurers/veteran chaos fighters suit the setting very well imho! I also agree with what has been said about the shield, bigger is better, at least in this case. Hagen

I normally try to split the bits into different shoe boxes (Empire shoe box, Bretonnia shoe box etc...) but I end up mixing them quite a lot. Definitely do not remember which bit I have or haven't but I do enjoy digging through my bits for several hours just to find that small head or arm that I was sure to have somewhere...

I agree with Kramer, really nice conversions, especially the Squire! It's unbelievable how nicely those Stormcasts round shields fit many different minis... I just bought 3 upgrade packs only to get more of them! I would also agree with what you say about the Stormcasts having a funerary vibe, basically being revenants, and though my colour scheme for them is different from your idea I chose the marble for a similar reason (though I guess I was more after a Golem look rather than undead). Hagen