SMM's Eldar - Harlequins

[SkimaskMohawk]

I've been rereading the Fabius Bile series a lot recently, and more and more the Harlequins have been sticking out as antagonists. The main draw is Veilwalker and how she goads Fabius and Oleander, but also all the moments that characters catch glimpses of the harlequins out of the corner of their eye and hear them laughing. The more I payed attention the the colour scheme of green, black and gold, the more I thought "hmm, I bet these would look really good with one of those overly bright and obviously airbrushed colour schemes". Despite having owned a good airbrush for a few years now, I've never been comfortable with the concept of hyper-transitions on my models and usually just keep it to a basic zenithal lighting with colours that create a more subtle transition. But I was tempted.

 

And this is the result of caving to that thought;

 

 

I painted the shadowseer first, as it was Veilwalker that inspired me, not realizing that she and the Veiled Path were already established with a particular scheme (oops). As such, this is my interpretation of her albeit tweaked to not look like a circus. The important thing to note...is that I hate the motley. Yes, I get the point of them being flamboyant and eye-catching. No, I don't think it works well to present a cohesive looking force on the table. There will be diamonds when my micro stencil comes in, but applied as a tasteful fade on the ends of the streamers and cloak areas to create more internal contrast. 

 

 

 

Oh boy, the Death Jester. I screwed up a solid 3 times building him, the end result being that he has a bionic left arm attaching him directly to the gun. Honestly a little annoying to paint as its so scrunched together and doesn't sub-assemble well, but pretty simple and the end result is pleasant. 

 

 

 

I stayed away from a white mask and used black as the main colour as I tried to make it more deathly and grim in aspect which imo worked out in the end, but I need more painted models to really emphasize the more divergent scheme; right now the biggest difference is the gun barrel being black instead of purely metallic.

 

 

 

Having just completed the Jester, my next model is going to be the Troupe Master. I have to admit, I like the old 4th edition sculpt far more, but i also remember it being far larger than the current plastic range. I ended up just giving him the classic power sword, as it could be the relic weapon down the line and it gives more painting opportunity than the other weapons. On that note, I'm a bit dissapointed that you only get 2 carress and 2 embrace, but I figured that if I nip the ends of the kiss to just have the oval pod I can give the entire unit caresses (even though I think they're the most boring of the melee weapons to paint, maybe some wonky glow that I can ruin the rest of the paintjob trying to OSL?). Lots of things to think about  for the imminent unit.

 

Some general thoughts on the painting and scheme progression. I really like how the green turned out, and I learned that even though I can go back and redefine the shadows with a  dark angel green glaze it'll alter the transition to be slightly less hyper-y and more natural looking. Also, that my brown wash came out glossy on the Shadowseer's gold areas, but I actually like the end finish more, so I might need to invest in brown gloss wash for the rest of the units.

 

Thanks for looking and hopefully any feedback on unit loadouts/painting!

[Dread]

They look simply sweet! Colors are great. Keep at it.

[Pearson73]

Cracking work, the colours work really well together.

[Dosjetka]

Gorgeous colours. I like the blue gems especially. :tu:

 

Not so keen on the Troupe Master, I have to admit. Perhaps it'll look better once painted. :)

[Dwango]

Really nice paint scheme. That green is brilliant. You've really captured the mood of the children of Cegorach!

[Kierdale]

Great work. That green!

 

I agree, the Troupe Master’s pose out-of-the-box is rather disappointing compared to his comrades. I felt the same when I made mine.

I’m sure your painting will make it look better though!

[SkimaskMohawk]

Thanks guys!

 

And ya, the troupe master pose is super lame. I was pretty worried about parts being keyed for certain bodies and the instructions implied it as well. I could pop off the melee arm and fiddle around with the basic harlequin blades; you could realistically call them all power weapons.

[Captain Coolpants]

Nice green!

[Prot]

Love that transition. It's a nice eye popping colour. 

 

As a side note I picked up the Fabius collection a little while ago, and if I recall correctly (I had just started it) the story starts out with some kind of twisted Apothecary convention with Fabius hosting it. I had no idea Eldar (?) or Harlies were in it.

[SkimaskMohawk]

I'm on a roll (or a tumble).

 

Okay not really, but I did fix the Troupe Master to make him look more natural and capricious, did the airbrush work on him and assembled my first Player.

 

 

Looking at the initial pose I had (aka the box pose), it really seems like they were going for the Master landing from a jump with his arms in the air after sticking the landing. But the leg that he's landing on is far too bent (at almost a 90 degree angle) to make it look appropriate; he looks like he's about to propel himself off the ruins with that stance. With that in mind, I gave him a different sword and pistol to add more visual cues that he's both about to propel himself off and possibly deliver an attack with his sword. The sword being behind the back can also convey a (probably false!) peaceful intent. For the colour placement with the green, I'm going to have his left thigh and right knee and hand green as well, but that's something I can hand blend up; I was worried that I might ruin some of the other transitions with any over spray.

 

I'll post pictures of the Player when I have a second built, I want to see how my custom carress holds up to the actual model.

 

 

Thanks Prot! Yes, the first book opens up with Oleander Koh seeking Fabius' aid and his proposal is judged for merit by the rest of the apothecaries there. 

 

The harlequins gave Oleander his plan and show up about halfway through the first book and are omnipresent from that point onwards in the series.

Edited January 13, 2020 by SkimaskMohawk

[Prot]

Great look on that master. The units as a whole almost have a ‘ matrix-esque ‘ quality to them.

 

You’ve got quite a pace going too. Very nice.

[Kierdale]

That looks much better! :tu:

I’ll have to remember that for if I get more Harlies!

[SkimaskMohawk]

Thanks again!

 

Prot, they certainly do have a lot of trench coats and acrobatics; the neon green and black naturally pair well this those lol.

 

Kierdale I'm excited to build a second master up with one of the other bodies, though I still have no idea what to give him. The harlequins are so specialized that wargear depends on what Masque you're planning on running and what warlord trait or relic you're giving to the character.

 

Some news without pictures: my diamond stencils came in yesterday, but I overestimated the pliability vs flat surface area on the fabric and it's extremely hard to apply the pattern down on the ends of coats and streamers and such. So even though I screwed up the masters coat, the resulting repaint on it and the rest of the green on him resulted in a much better fade, so I'm happy about that. I should be done him tomorrow, just need gems, mask and to highlight the green.

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Wow that green really pops looks good so far!!

[SkimaskMohawk]

Thanks!

 

It's really fun playing around with the green to get the exact transition I want. So far I've found that having about 50% of the cloth be the dark green, with the other two colours taking up the rest of the surface makes for the most eye-catching.

 

Unfortunately still no photos; my roommate broke our modem and I haven't mastered the art of the mobile upload to b&c yet. It is giving me more time to go adjust the base of the master and make the shading and transitions work properly. Hopefully I'll have pictures up soon.

[SkimaskMohawk]

 

Hopefully this works!

 

Really like how the troupe master turned out, though some of the highlights could be cleaner (didn't have enough to eat). Base could have a higher contrast transition at some parts but im still pretty satisfied.

 

The custom caress was also a pretty big success, with the glow I'm thinking of doing there shouldn't be any noticeable difference.

[SkimaskMohawk]

Made a lot of progress on the first two players, to the point where they're almost done. However, a good amount of time was spent on their masks because I honestly wasn't that happy with the Troupe Master's. It's features were defined, but it was also far too grey and didn't pop enough to draw the eye from the rest of the model; I wanted it to steal the show and be the main focal point. I ended up going with almost a pure white, shaded with some contrast-diluted russ grey and very watered down nuln oil-gloss and then re-established the white on the broad surfaces. I also went back to the troupe master and shadowseer's masks to update them, though those are also still in progress.

 

 

The green needs to be highlighted, as do the black straps; brown straps need to be worked up from their base coat; gems on the flip belts need to be started; bases are only basecoated. And then the energy glow for the harlequin carresses; I was thinking of doing a fuchsia around the palm into a pink by the finger tips, but I'm worried about overspray so I'll probably have to hand blend it up or simply do the melee arms separately in the future. 

 

Thoughts and feedback appreciated, and thanks for looking!

[Prot]

It'll be nice to see it done. It looks like you still plan to do a lot. I do like the final colour you chose for the mask. I really believe in high contrast for units like that. 

 

I think it looks great so far!

[SkimaskMohawk]

It'll be nice to see it done. It looks like you still plan to do a lot. I do like the final colour you chose for the mask. I really believe in high contrast for units like that.

 

I think it looks great so far!

Yes and no. The green highlights obviously make them pop a bit more, as will any energy effects, but the general look doesn't really change all too much. It does take a lot of time to properly do it all though; the colours I use for highlighting the green and doing the base and the fuchia I have in mind all desperately need a wet pallet. I've spent a too much time fixing dragged on highlights and evening out lines and such.

[SkimaskMohawk]

Update time!

 

The players are done, other than their bases. The green highlights really helped define the models, as my blacks aren't starkly highlighted and are meant to contrast with the green. I still stand by my statement of needing yo whip up a wet pallet, because the highlight mixture is very frustrating to use after only just a few lines. The energy for the harlequin caresses was also a success, but only after some trial and error. I initially hand blended the fuchsia and while it wasn't bad, I couldn't really sell that it was a glowing energy field around their hands; I had had far too much of the hand dark as I wanted the tips of the fingers to be the brightest, so I carefully went back with the airbrush and re-did the hands and am much more pleased with the end result. I still feel like the colour could be more in your face, but I think the fuchsia is the best choice as direct complimentary colour instead of a hot pink. The non-airbrushed attempt is in spoiler tags, as a quick comparison (the second of which shows the new mask scheme very well imo).

 

 

 

 

I also finished building the remainder of the Troupe, all of which have caress and shuriken pistol. The custom caress works very well once painted, the only downside being the clenched fist as opposed to a splayed hand with some sculpted detail. I also managed to almost screw up again in construction and lose all the shuriken pistols; I had to salvage the master's original to finish building them off.

 

Yes, I just now see that mold line running down its right arm...

 

 

 

After these guys are done, I'm for sure going to paint a Solitaire, but after that I'm very much at a loss. I've been toying with getting the ynnari triumvirate, but then I'd need to come up with a scheme for them. I could get the bikes, because they're busted and I could finally use my stencils, but I really like the Troupes more in terms of faction aesthetics. Many decisions...

[SkimaskMohawk]

Been doing a lot of painting in the last two weeks or so. I ended up ordering a Solitaire and a box of the bikes (mainly to get free shipping). The Players are almost done, just a bit of cleaning up to do, bases and the harlequin caresses to airbrush into effect. I'll admit to not being 100% happy with them, but it's mostly about not having as much dark green in the transitions as I would like. Hopefully I can fix it a little with some glazing, but they are also just troops and I'll just be patient and do the airbrushing one at  time with future models. There are of course some mold lines I forgot to get before priming...such is the life.

 

 

 

The Solitaire too is almost done, with the same touchups and basing and airbrushing of the caress. I wanted to keep his clothing dark as befits an outcast, with even less green cloth than the Death Jester. The chromatic trail is supposed to be what draws the eye on the table and I wanted to have a bit of a colour shift coming from it; I think it came out acceptably considering my less than perfect assembly and the rough edges on the connecting surfaces (also some more corrective glazing still).I also did...something to the forehead of the mask when assembling it, possibly just not cleaning it effectively, and it resulted in a more pronounced area between the horns that I tried to reincorporate as best I could. For painting the rest of the mask, I really didn't like the official GW scheme where the horns are a different colour, but I wanted to drive home the link to Slaanesh so I gave him some bloody mary tears (possessed by the devil kind of thing). I might still do some gems around the kiss gauntlet so represent the relic, but I'm not sure of the colour; red to represent a rose?

 

 

 

 

Next I gotta practice with those stencils for the jetbikes, try and find out how to hold them and all that. Thanks for looking!

Edited February 22, 2020 by SkimaskMohawk

[Prot]

Awesome.  Those metallics make a big difference. That’s some delicate work on the fabrics too. These guys are going to look fantastic on the table. 

[Ekfud]

Coming to the party a little late, but testing out some colours for Biel tan and this looks very promising... it's closer to that emerald green of old without being too close to a lime (yellow) or with a blue/teal tint that a bunch of high contrast airbrush colours seem to get. 

 

Is your colour selection as straightforward as black-caliban-warpstone-moot greens, or are you using a slightly more bespoke set of paint colours?

[Zebulon]

Thanks to the poster above I have seen these for the first time; looking good!

[Mordas]

Those look stunning!