Masque of the Sybil Flourish: Papewaio's ETL Harlequin's

[Papewaio]

Alrighty, so there seems to be this ETL thing on, so may as well join the dance, right? I got back into 40k around the start of this year, after having sold all my World Eaters about four years ago (haven't picked up a brush since). So, naturally, I thought I should paint a very fiddly army to welcome myself back! The main draw to Harlequins is definitely that they look cool, but I'm a semi-professional circus artist and magician, so there's a certain pull from that as well.

So! Vow 1 is everything I currently have, being 2 Shadowseers, a Death Jester, a Solitaire, a Troupe Master, and a Troupe of 9 players, all armed with various weaponry. There's more ordered and on the way though!

The paint scheme I'm trying to do is based of this deck of cards:

And here they are undercoated:

And here's where I stopped last night: I think I need to make it a brighter blue, but that's for tomorrow, I think.

I also think i should figure out a proper place to take photos for them?

[Calyptra]

Ohai!

 

All this time I thought I was the only wargaming circus performer!

 

I don't know if this helps, but I built a little photo booth by setting a large milk crate on end and attaching work lights to the other three sides.

[Papewaio]

A slightly busted knee meant more painting! I brightened the blue, added the red, and once I highlight the grey that'll be the main colours all done (barring the black to come on the Solitaire and Death Jester). Then just details, and mustering up the courage to attempt some motley

And part of my next vow has finally shipped! But that's going to arrive in like three weeks, so plenty of time to try those diamonds until they work. Right?

All this time I thought I was the only wargaming circus performer!

Awesome! What sort of stuff do you perform? I'm a straps guy, with some juggling and handstands/tumbling on the side.

[Calyptra]

 

 

 

 

All this time I thought I was the only wargaming circus performer!

 

Awesome! What sort of stuff do you perform? I'm a straps guy, with some juggling and handstands/tumbling on the side.

I do object manipulation, fire, juggling, contact juggling, and sideshow. Right now I'm dealing with a messed up nerve in my neck borking my left arm.

 

Good lord, you do straps? You should have courage to spare for painting motley.

[SystemSyn]

These are looking really.coll so far! I really like the contrasting colour scheme you've gone for. They'll look awesome once they're all finished.

[Papewaio]

Another update! The grey is done, and started on the black. Its certainly going much quicker than I expected it to.

[Doghouse]

Very nice stuff, they are already looking like a troupe.

[Papewaio]

Well, its been a few days since I've been able to paint, but here we are. Finished the black, and put the basecoat on the brass for the weaponry. I realise it's quite dominating at the moment; it is certainly going to get faded in the process of highlights. After that, silver detailing and touch ups, motley, and bases! Then we can think about vow 2, hooray!

I don't really have an idea of what I want to do for the diamond bases. Any suggestions as to colour/patterns?

[Papewaio]

Couple days, no updates, but hey! Now you get one!

Just highlights on the brass and silver to go! (Sort of.) Still stuck on what colours to do the bases in. On the one hand, I'm thinking very dull and drab, to help make the players pop a bit more. On the other, there's a ton of diamonds on the floor, and any fluff reason I can think of for them to be there sort of demands a little bit of colour. Maybe a deep purple? Idk. But I'm hopeful that there's only (maybe) nearly a week or so before I call these guys finished.

Which would be bang on time for the new codex, which I am quietly SUPER FREAKIN HYPED about, and also slightly worried. No one else seems to really care too much, as far as I can see, but that's not super surprising. Oh well. Onwards, to motley!

[Papewaio]

More updates! Still no clue on where the bases are going. All highlighting and everything is done though, so it's now a case of fixing all the mistakes made during the process. And then the fun part...!

All sarcasm aside, these are actually heaps of fun to paint, especially the Shadowseer and Death Jester, miles more fun than the marines I used to have. Let the dance continue!

Low key hyped about the forms and (some) of the leaked stratagems. No real idea on what I'm going to run - leaning towards Midnight Sorrow for more movement shenanigans, although I feel Soaring Spite is probably stronger. But now a freakshow list is basically begging to happen...

Still need thoughts on the colour for the diamonds on the base, 'cause I got nuthin'.

[hushrong]

I love to see some harlequins! Despite the grief my buddy would give me as he played them.

 

*Have flashbacks about 7th edition Shadowseer going around assassinating everything I had..."

 

I like the color scheme you've gone with and the reasoning on why you went with this army.

[Calyptra]

I'm excited. I'm just also trying to get my True Kin built up for 8th ed, but I may be back to painting Harlequins soonish.

 

I thought of painting some Harlequins based on my favorite circus, Seven Fingers on the Hand, but those would be the least visually interesting Harlequins ever.

 

If you're looking for a high-contrast spot color, you could use a yellow-orange, because it is opposite and equidistant from your two main colors on the color wheel. Use it sparingly and desaturate to taste. Alternatively, a violet would be a bit softer, being directly between your main colors on their side of the wheel.

[Papewaio]

Real life has struck, unfortunately, and I haven't been able to progress as fast as I was hoping. On the upshot, I played a couple of games with the leaks and previews from the new codex, and these clowns have some new tricks!

I tried out the Midnight Sorrow rules, but they didn't really come in handy too much. Shadowseers casting twice, though, is a Big Deal. And with haywire cannons now having a reason to exist in the army, Skyweavers have more of a role rather than just screening my Starweavers. So I'm pretty happy, and can't wait to try with everything they get (rather than just cobbled together bits and pieces from photos). I think I'll want to try Soaring Spite, as my gut feeling is that's where the money really is. Although, I've been hearing good things about Dreaming Shadow Death Jester shenanigans....

I still need to highlight the purple, and I'm tossing up whether to bring the yellow down - it almost feels like it's overshadowing the models, although that might just be because of the pattern. Maybe once the motley goes on that might change? I dunno. Only one way to find out.

@Calyptra - never had the chance to see them in person, unfortunately. Maybe based on a particular show or act from one of the'r artists?

[Papewaio]

Final update before I try motley. It's actually still really intimidating. Probably not helped by how much I keep saying that. Anyway. Half of the point of doing Harlequins was to help me get better at painting, and as Captain Semper noted, the Aeldari for ETL seem to be striving far more for artistic quality rather than any quantifiable metric. So, there's that, and I don't get to back down on it. Otherwise these guys would already be finished, because even this is beyond the standard I used to aim for.

I'm still not sold on the pale yellow over something a little deeper, but hey, it's growing on me.

[hushrong]

Looking forward to seeing the motley design on the harlies!

[Papewaio]

Real life has been interfering rather rudely recently, so I haven't been getting as much done as I would have hoped (and it doesn't bode well for a tournament I have coming up in August, painting-wise). And, in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have tried to start learning to do the diamonds on the character models. But! I feel like this is achievable! Hooray!

Apologies for the crappy quality of the pic, my phone decided to make itself an offering to the Omnissiah and I'm stuck with a backup with a crappy camera.

i still need to tidy things up around the motley and other bits and pieces, and then highlight the motley, but then we're done with the first three models!

Also, any recommendations for a matte varnish? Some parts are starting to wear when I handle the models for painting, and these are ones I would really rather no be redoing.

Yay! Progress!

[Papewaio]

First vow is finished!

Some individual photos, starting with the seers. Man, these were actually pretty fun to paint.

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And the seer that usually masquerades as my warlord;

The Death Jester - the best thing I can say about this is that it was great fun to paint! Feels utterly useless on the tabletop though. There is bonus points for the licence to make bad puns during the game.

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Solitaire and Troupe Master - my thinking with the master was that the players change roles all the time, so it is really just the mask and a slightly fancier coat to make him distinct.

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And the rest of the troupe!

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And these two I've taken to calling the twins.

Onwards to vow 2!

[Draakur]

Super cool stuff! Keep this going man, looking so promising :)

[Papewaio]

Trying something slightly different for the Troupe Master's cloak - based on a suggestion from Bryan Blaire, to use the pattern from the cards. I'm digging it, but not sure as to how well it will line up with the rest of the masque. I'm tempted to try it on the vehicles as well? Thoughts?

[Papewaio]

Still here! Still painting!

Life and other artistic pursuits have got in the way recently, and I haven't exactly been painting efficiently. More just whatever I feel like doing at the time, so not a lot of progress has been made. But there has been some!

The bikes are nearly done - I just need to finish the red and the white, and touch up the diamonds. I think I'm going to continue that pattern across to the Starweavers as well, just because its different to the same stencil + airbrush = awesome look that everyone else does. Not that it's a bad look, by any means, but I just want to push myself a little more.

[Papewaio]

Well, it's been a while. I've got a few more clowns, and currently have a list more or less around 1750, as below:

I still have a troupe, both Troupe Masters, a Death Jester and all of the bikes and Starweavers to finish. But I also have plans for more clowns, so we'll see what ends up happening first.

I have also started exploring different space elves! I've started building a small army of dead ones:

I'm still in the process of magnetising all of the Wraithguard, and I'm thinking I'm going to need at least two more Wraithlords, because man that kit is fun to pose. No fluff made for these guys yet, but I'm working on that too :) they, along with the Masque of the Sybil Flourish, will be taking part in a narrative campaign pretty soon, so I need to sort something out. Also I'd really like a Ynnari codex for these guys - I dig the fluff angle they have, I just don't want to be forced to run characters that get me sideways looks.

I have also managed to get my hands on ten Scourges :

Not too sure what's going to be happening with them yet.

[Honda]

I was not sold on that scheme when you first showed it, but I have to admit you pulled that off very well.

 

Reason #273 Why you shouldn't listen to everyone that tells you "it won't work". :)