Even More Harlequins

 The end is nigh: I've only got a few more standard harlequins (if that's a thing) to do, and then I'm on to a leader with two pistols and the high avatar of the lot. I expect that I'll tidy up some of the first models that I painted: after all, I began this two years ago and, even if my painting hasn't improved in that time, I've at least started using some smaller brushes since then.

Anyhow, here are some more loonies. The face of the chap on the right was slightly miscast, but that probably makes him look all the more alarming.

The bloke on the left here is holding a bizarre weapon/gardening implement, which looks like some kind of spraying device. I reckon it's a web-shooter, as the body of it looks a bit like the webbers used by the Genestealer Cult. Still, it's suitably wacky. Also, he's got a face on his groin, just in case the harlequins weren't bizarre enough.

I also painted some more plastic genestealers this week, but then I put them next to the previous batch and realised that they were completely identical. So the new ones have been lost among the rampaging horde of not-quite Aliens. Instead, here's all four harlequins.

Meanwhile, in Barovia...

I'm getting close to painting up all of the old metal Eldar harlequins. I've got all the miniatures now: I just need to finish them off. At last I have a project that combines the artistic aspect of painting and the middle-aged man aspect of collecting all of something pointless.

In the meantime, I've been working on a sort of side-project. For a while, I've been playing the most recent version of "The Curse of Strahd", a classic Dungeons and Dragons adventure set in a sort of gothic horror fantasy world called Barovia. I happened to find a bunch of models that reminded me of Strahd on ebay, going for a very low price. 

They're from a line called Vampire Wars, made by West Wind Miniatures. They look vaguely Napoleonic/Eastern European in style, the sort of people who crop up in Hammer films working for or against Dracula, perhaps in a gypsy caravan. Here are four of them.

They're not very detailed models and feel quite cartoony and "old school". When they first arrived, I felt a bit disappointed, but they've grown on me since.

The chap in the green coat had a very flimsy knife in his right hand, which I replaced with a sword from a Frostgrave soldier. It looked better and was much more robust. I considered painting some object source lighting coming from the torch he's holding up, but it was too difficult, and I just added a small effect. I suspect that he's outdoors, and there wouldn't be much light on his clothing.

I also painted two dogs from a Celt model from Warlord Games. They look a bit like Irish Wolfhounds and would be useful for chasing peasants, vampires and/or witches.

Last of all, I painted up a vampire model from North Star Miniatures, from their Napoleonic game The Silver Bayonet. I liked the model, but I wasn't that keen on her hands, which were raised in an odd, limp-wristed sort of way. I replaced them with hands holding a sword and a fancy knife, from plastic Frostgrave soldiers. I reckon she's broken into the family armoury in order to deal with some irritating vampire hunters.

I painted her up to have cold-looking, undead skin. It's grey shaded up with pink, with very thinned down purple glazes. I really like this miniature. North Star have some really cool models. 

Great Big Tyranid Bug (and bonus eggs)

 Hello again! I've been painting some more tyranids this week. It's interesting to paint a brand new tyranid model in my oldhammer colour scheme.

This is a psychophage, apparently. As one of the interchangeable idiots in Starship Troopers puts it, it's some kind of big smart bug. I reckon half the world must own one of these kits by now, as ebay is full of them going cheaply. 

It was a push-together GW kit, which is another way of saying that it didn't push together. It was also a right pain to paint, as simply getting at most of the model was really hard. I'm glad that I painted a lot of it on the sprue. 

The painting was fairly simple - Flesh Tearers Red contrast paint over a white undercoat, and a thin wash of Leviathan Purple in the recesses. Good as contrast paints can be, I don't think that's enough for the skin of a big monster, and so I added red and highlighted in the normal way as well.

I really like the way that he's got a severed arm in his tentacles. There are some really nice details on this chap, but they're not excessive.

I also dug out these eggs that I made from DAS clay and green stuff about 15 years ago. I gave them a repaint and put them on flatter bases. Goodness knows what function they'd have in a game, but they're nice enough.

I also painted some tyranid rippers, but for some reason I just can't get a decent photo of the damned things. So you'll just have to imagine them. Sorry!

Another Bunch of Harlequins

 I've been painting some more harlequins. I find that they take quite a lot of concentration, both to actually paint on the fiddly checks and to figure out the colour schemes. Obviously they're supposed to be chaotic and jarring, but choosing quite how to do that is interesting. It's standard process to try to draw the eye to a model's head, but I don't think you can do that with models like this. I reckon that their outfits are a kind of dazzle camouflage, too bewildering to focus on.

Anyhow, they're a lot of fun to paint, and the models have loads of nice details even before you start adding your own. 

This guy - actually, I think this harlequin is female, although it's always hard to tell - has a plasma pistol (unusually, for these models) and a harlequin's kiss, a sort of punch-dagger-meets-food-blender weapon. 

This chap has a shuriken pistol, a chainsword and an outfit that a 1990s raver might consider a little excessive. Blow your whistles, craftworld!

This model is a Death Jester, a heavy weapons specialist. He's the third of a team of three. It was quite difficult to give him bits of colour while keeping to the sinister Venetian carnevale/Baron Samedi look of the Death Jesters.

And here's a picture of a whole bunch of harlequins, being bewildering. They're moving faster than the eye can see, which is why the picture is so blurry.