Ravenborn

Great stuff there. What head are you using for the beast pulling the anvil?

Thanks! The head’s from the wood elf stag riders. “Wild riders”, I think?

Alright, last pic, this build is finished. Greenstuffed all the joins and gaps to hopefully make him look like a single piece. Damn, that means I need to paint next. I go through phases where I hate building, and just want to paint. Other times, it’s the other way around… like right now. I picked up some spray paint for the undercoat, maybe I can make some progress this weekend. Fingers crossed. I took a break from painting my Daughters of Khaine to start a new Soulblight Gravelords… and now I’m back to my Cities of Sigmar Yep, I’ve got the attention span of a goldfish on meth

Sorry, I missed the bit about the purple being from my avatar; that’s more saturated than the current recipe. After the dark purple, I’d use pinkish/purple layers to get the saturation up. GW used to have a colour called Warlock Purple that I used on that model, but they discontinued it at least five years ago, and didn’t make anything even remotely close since. I’ve been trying other brands to get something close, but have never been entirely happy with the results. Most other brands don’t have the same opacity or finish, so they take more coats and don’t look consistent from one finished model to the next. The photo below is more accurate than the avatar photo:

I try and remember to take photos of the paints I use because it can be a gap of literally years between painting… and I have the memory of a goldfish on meth. I think the attached photo is wrong, I’ve since switched the xerxes to Phoenician purple. It’s slightly more saturated? They’re pretty close, in any case. …and I finally found a use for the eagle rider from the Isle of Blood box I bought ten years ago and have been carrying around unused ever since. 2/3 of the lance, and the scabbarded long sword made it onto a model finally.

Just added the lance, and had to find a way to prop it upright while the glue sets. A mini, a rum bottle and my meds. Sigh. Welcome to Covid-22.

Love the mawkrusha! What a fun idea, can’t wait to see it painted.

Going to try and post every week to keep some momentum going… I’m still waiting for my base to arrive for my zombie dragon… but I just couldn’t wait any longer, so I’m building my dark elf dragon in the meantime. The wing and limb joints aren’t glued to solidly, in case I need to cannibalize them for the zombie. I love going through my bits boxes, he’s looking suitable dark and ominous. I’m pretty sure I’m using a lance and shield for him. Seems to make sense to bump up his survivability and damage. For the zombie, I’ve been carving the face down to the bone on one side, with the eye missing. I’ll have some muscles exposed, holes in the wings, chains and spikes to help give it a fire appearance. It won’t be as skeletal as the GW zombie dragon, it’ll still be reasonably… juicy.

Still waiting on the base for the dragon. I really want to keep building them, but both are on hold until I know what legs fit the base best. In the meantime, I’ve finally started throwing some paint around. I usually have a rough colour scheme in mind, but really been struggling with these guys. To be fair, that’s what stopped my progress on my DoK too. Ah well. Trying a bluish armour with lots of black shadows, and red cloth. I should get as much done as possible before I change my mind again….

Another view of the Grave Guard, chilling in their crib.

I've had a blog here for a few years, but I want to consolidate it and try and keep this topic going to keep me motivated in 2022. 2021 sucked in so many ways, so I figure today is a good day for new beginnings. Rather than using the Blog posts for each project, I'll just consolidate it all here. I've loved Dark Elves forever, and have screwed around with a Cities of Sigmar all-Dark Elf army, and a Daughters of Khaine snek-force. That's the "Dark" half of the title. Last month I bought a second-hand undead army. That's the "Dead" half of the title. My goal is to finish at least one of the three armies in 2022. LOL. Even as I write that I know I'm full of s###, but let's see how far I get, eh? If you want to see my WIP dark elf stuff from the last three years, it's in the link below. When I update any of that stuff I'll just post in this topic. And here's my current project: Grave Guard based on the amazing new skeletons from the Cursed City set. Those models are what awakened my love of all things undead. I fought the desire to start a new massive project for almost a year, but then i saw someone in my city unloading a pile of CC characters, zombies and skeletons. I blame the pandemic, but I'd really run out of steam with my Daughters of Khaine and just wanted to start some new new and... well, "fresh" ain't the word, is it? I want the Garve Guard to be the cornerstone of my army; they need to be as big as the skeletons, as dynamic, but even more intimidating. So here's my first ten. I wanted some movement, but I wanted to retain the shambling quality to them. The arms are from Dark Elf executioners, because that's what I had in my bitz box. I think the chain mail and sleeves fit though. I removed the blades from the executioner swords and replaced them with blades from darkblades. The originals were a bit too ornate, I wanted more functional. I added shields to their backs to bulk up their silhouettes, and help me separate them from my regular skeletons. I need to build ten more, so that's next. I'm also working on building two dragons from a Stormdrake box. I've been waiting 35 years for Games Workshop to design a good dragon, and they FINALLY did it. All of their attempts had poor anatomy, dodgy proportions, goofy teeth or eyes... these finally look like living creatures. So, one's for my CoS army, and the other will be zombified. I desperately want to get them built; they are one of the nicest plastic kits I've ever seen. I have a specific idea for the zombie dragon's base though, and ordered it earlier this week. So, that's on hold for at least a week, and it's killing me waiting :). Anyways... here's to a productive 2022!

Question: does anyone know the base size for a zombie dragon? I bought myself an early Christmas present, the stormdrake guard. One will become a black dragon for my CoS dark elves, and the other will become a zombie dragon. The base appears to be 70mm x 100mm, which I suspect is smaller than a zombie dragon’s.

Thanks! The blitz are actually from dark elves, my first army. Specifically, it’s arms and swords from executioners because I built mine as black guard. The next ten will use Idoneth. I love dipping into my old bits box; it’s like playing with lego when I was a kid.

Woot! First ten grave guard completed! I was going to start painting, but I now realize if I don’t push through and build my next ten I’ll never do them. Too much work. But, I’m really happy with the results. I wanted the size and dynamic poses from the new skellies, with enough difference to be able to tell these are the elites.

Some great information in here, thanks! I’m currently figuring out what I want for my Vyrkos army, so your timing is perfect. Is Radukar the Wolf only available with the rest of the Cursed City unit?

Here’s another question; I understand Black Knights lost their freedom of movement, which has reduced their effectiveness. Do they still have any role to play in a current army? I have five from my purchase, debating if I should bother painting them.

Thanks for the response, that’s exactly the info I was looking for. I don’t have spare wolves or zombies, but lots of spare skeletons. I think that fits Alanis Morriset’s version of irony.

I’m also starting a new army, and currently building models. Do I need to build more than my list includes? By this I mean; are there spells or abilities that can increase the size of a unit beyond its starting size? Thanks!

I noticed a few comments about wanting new grave guard, and couldn’t agree more. The new skellies are what made me finally breakdown and start building a SBGL army. I just bought a pile of second hand models, and decided I need to figure out how to build GG with skellies, the old grave guard models, and my bitz drawer. I’m happy with the guy on the right, hunched over a bit. The guy on the left needs something. Maybe more ripped cloth over his knees so he doesn’t look like a swift breeze would knock him down?

I’ve finally succumbed to temptation and started a Soulblight Gravelords army. I know graveyards are used by all Death armies, but as far as I’ve seen, there are no guides for the size of graveyards. So… is there a standard size for graveyards? And, more importantly, please share pics of yours! I’d love to see how creative people can get with them. Thanks!

Congrats Chumphammer! I’m really happy to hear you did so well without Morathi Khaine. I hate when everyone plays just one version of an army, and taking multiple avatars is risky but clever. Did you play a second tournament as well?

Looks fantastic, but I think the wings are not as dynamic and stylish as the original. Almost makes me think of a sprue with bits attached.

Good luck at the GT, show off more pics of your models when you get back! Are the two models flanking Morathi hag queens?

Well, thanks for the update, and good luck at Kippers!

First of all, great to see your army, looks great! I like the snaky avatar. Second: they canceled Attack-X? ******! I was hoping to visit family in Kamloops that weekend and sneak in as a spectator.