The Goodwin Project vol.8 - Progression...

A few things in life have got in the way but I'm back on it and progression is being made!

The falcon is almost complete, currently about 70% done maybe?

Keeping with the Biel-Tan thorn idea Games Workshop introduced for them but slightly more intricate. And the continued ancient Gold colouring found on Karandras and the Dire Avengers for weaponry and engines.

To prevent myself from getting bored with the incredibly long process that is painting the falcon I thought I'd start on the howling banshees also. You know, to spice things up a little...

I wanted the banshees to be almost white but continuing with the green palette throughout so they started with a base coat of a darker green and layered up through to white. This allowed the green to continue to be the shade.
The banshee exarch though may need to be stripped back down as the suits exhausts didn't clean up well without me noticing. Or in a worst case scenario re bought if it's a casting flaw.
My fault really for being a tad impatient maybe?

The Goodwin Project Vol.7 The List Revisit

Since the start of the Goodwin project Eldar had a new Codex. Damn you GW for producing cool stuff!! So what that simply means is I have to re write my army list from vol.2. This also means that as you may have noticed some units have changed along the way.
Basically I had a guy message me saying that I was painting stuff that wasn't in my list and what was in my list wasn't shown in the project.
Cheeky. It's my project and I'll do as I dam well please. But saying that I guess it would be kind to update the list.

So here is the new 1500pts Goodwin Project Biel-tan Eldar


The Avatar of Khaine: Fast Shot; Monster Hunter. 215

Karandras 230

5 Howling Banshees: Howling Banshee Exarch (shuriken pistol; executioner; Fear; Shield of Grace). 110

5 Striking Scorpions: Striking Scorpion Exarch (biting blade). 100

5 Fire Dragons: Fire Dragon Exarch (firepike; Fast Shot). 145


8 Dire Avengers: Dire Avenger Exarch (power weapon and shimmershield). 134

5 Rangers 60


Wraithlord: flamer; ghostglaive; bright lance.145

Falcon: Ghostwalk Matrix; Spirit Stones; Holo-fields; scatter laser. 170

5 Dark Reapers: Dark Reaper Exarch (Eldar missile launcher with plasma and starshot missiles; flakk missiles; Fast Shot); Reaper Launcher. 190

1,499 points

Loving everything about this new codex to be honest. The eldar are super fast and effective again. And the avatar is a Fookin tank again!! Plus with added upgrades he can slice a hive tyrant in two in a single combat phase as I did this week!
And I love dark reapers even more than I ever did now they can move and shoot!!


Remember kids this is not a competitive army but a display force but gaming legal. So please no one say you should do this and that and drop this and that...

The Enclaves Revisited

Its been a while since i posted about my Tau but that hasnt stopped me adding to them. Those that follow me on Flickr will notice ive been adding to them.

so i guess its only fair to share.

 Stealth Teams. I never used to be a fan of stealth teams, just simply because I never had much luck with them. Obviously tau have now had there stompingly awesome new codex and stealth teams had a little upgrade in the form of an extra shot each.
So I gave them a play and man do they crack a punch now. I usually run a shas'vre with drone controller and 2 marker drones just so the unit can deal with their foe in one round.
So here's 2 of my teams, another 3 man team to come and eventually reaching full strength when I have some wonga rolling in...

Riptides. Tau bloody riptides.... What can I say about these absolute beauty's? A dream in every way shape and form!! A work of art of a multiparty kit. No cleaning needed with some of the simplest construction I have ever known of something this size, and to paint they are just brilliant! Leaving so much extra space to allow for whatever you want but not looking empty if you don't fill those flat surfaces.

And game wise omg! Yep I said oh my god in txt speech. (How cool am I?) only been used in one game and soon to be another but from one performance I don't think I will ever look back. Nuff said,



 The Rip-per Swarm ;)

Scratch Built Tau Defence line, gotta love defence lines... (more on that another day)

Goodwin Project Vol.5 A long time waiting

I'M BAAAAAAAAACK!!!

it has been a long time in the waiting. approx 8 months away from the hobby but now im back.

at first i picked up some Tau to get them ready for a challenge, kinda half finished them before the game but ran out of time. that was my first dose of being back in the chair.

now im back in full swing with the Goodwin Project! many things have changed since ive been away. Eldar got a new codex for starters!!! and for me it meant a whole new project direction!
the aim of the goodwin project is to produce a fighting force as well as a display piece so it was back to the drawing board with the army selection.

almost everything in the army got better, so it was too much choice to handle. so i kept to the same concept as before and tried to select a unit from each of the aspects. kept the rangers and wraithlord. in fact all i think i did was add a falcon and avatar to the list dropping the farseer and a squad of dire avnegers but making one of them larger!!
alls cool with that as i have plenty sitting about, and it just meant fitting it in 1500pts.

after about a week of hobby (the joys of being unemployed at the moment) the army has dramatically shifted in presentation.

 the Falcon, with classic weaponry, plus imho the best. few bits on order at the mo for vehicle upgrades

 the dark reaper exarch  now complete with eldar missle launcher, had to sculpt a hand as i didnt have one available (do now so may change) few tassles to hide a bad sculpt ;)

even the wraithlord has had a change in image, the loin cloth has been added with banner attatched to his pointy things. a couple of further robes added to his back also. of and a lonely chaos marine head to the base.

 

i chose against the smaller avatar model in the end. after playing a couple of games with them using the little guy it was a tad unfair as something so small with so much power was a tad overkill. am i sporting or what??

he had his mane resculpted due to not liking the one he comes with, and obviously a few body reposes

 and finally i started to actually paint them. im looking to have the same scheme throughout the army, not fussed with aspect colours i want to keep biel tans iconic green and white colours.

hope you like...

until next time!!


 

The Goodwin Project vol.3 the sketchbook reference

As I start to prep the army I do a little bit of research here and there to help create the character of the army.

I borrowed a white dwarf off a good friend some 8 years ago, number 127 from 1990. Sadly I had to give it back, but managed to acquire a copy off eBay so all is not lost.
This is a fab issue as it has a nice in depth article about the eldar as a race. And best of all it is filled with drawings from Jes Goodwins sketchbook!

Ill be using these sketches to visually improve the appearance of the army and add a bit more character by adding war banners and armour detailing.

Death Guard Legion Standard Bearer. Warhammer Nurgle Lord Conversion

Remember that chap I photographed the other day, well this is about him...

Another Facebook painting competition to paint the warhammer Nurgle Lord, the rule simply states he just had to start as that figure.

So I was having a think, and thought, space marine, deathguard!!
I'm on it like a car bonnet!!

The standard bearer bit came later...

After a bits box rummage I found a helmet for him, and well, that was it...
So a helmet is all I've got, that will be all I use!!

After filing down a lot of his armour to make it more one piece sections rather than the plating it was I started to cut back the legs and left arm to thin them down ready for some green stuffing.
I sculpted in the soft armour around the back of his legs and a broken chest plate, then added the shoulder pad and helmet.
I then realised no backpack, but luckily bring nurgle you can usually get away with plenty of things. The nurgle daemon prince being the inspiration for this. Bone exhausts perturbing from his back, then I though a hose running from his helmet to this monstrosity was next. Out comes the guitar strings.






The weapon was next... A scythe just gotta be a scythe!! Then after looking at his helmet, something as dramatic as a scythe wouldn't fit his less dramatic look. So I sat thinking. A banner maybe?
So a banner bearer he became.

Grabbing some styrene rod I cut away chip pings from it to match the existing theme of the axe that lived before it. Pinned it too his hands and voila!!

The flag itself was a bent piece of plasticard simply cut to shape.

Day 1 over!!


Day 2 meant the green stuff was dry. I can now glue the hose in place as it pulled on the wet green a little too much and ruined its shape, and I can remove the exhausts to cut their shape also. Luckily green stuffs hold on the subject it's attached too isn't great so these easily break free. Then simply super glue in place after.

The last sculpting is now taking place, the rest of the armour to bulk him back out and the trim of the power armour.
A last minute rummage found me a couple of skulls and a pistol in holster so these were added to the base and thigh, and top of banner pole.
Glue the banner in place and done!

Now to spray him up and paint!

Now I wanted to see if I can stand the test of time and evolve my painting skill to all the cool shading and non metallic metals people are producing today. So a lot of research was done before I started. Not on colour but on technique. So if anything this chap is a beta project.

The shading around the armour seemed simple enough simply progressive layers, though that's what I did. Whether there's a better technique out there I dunno!
The skin was done the same I wanted it greeny so a base of green was applied, then simply mixed the colour I wanted it to be more and more each layer.
The non metallic metals were fun, on the trim of his armour and his chain mail. Again similar to shading the amour, just pick where a static light source would come from and layer lighter colours to the closest point of the light source. And a thin line of white to give it some life!
I found some 3d shapes on the net that helped a lot too!

Whether I created the effect or not correctly I learnt a lot through painting this guy and I will continue to use what I've learnt.
So watch out for my eldar in the Goodwin project as I will be using what I learnt on them.