A new project: 2nd Edition Iyanden Eldar

It has been some time since my last post and this time around, I did not manage to do much hobby in the interim. I did, however, start to collect, build and even prime a new project that will probably accompany me through the second half of the year. Following on from the Aeronatica miniatures, it will be a nice little army of Iyanden Eldar for the second edition of 40k.

Pict 1736: 2nd Edition Eldar (WIP)

So, here is the collection of old lead and some plastic so far. While the mono pose Guardians are not the most exciting, they should look good as a group. I'm still keeping a look out for some of those metal guardians as well. Still, most of these early Jes Goodwin Eldar hold up perfectly well. Jes really had the aesthetic down from the beginning. I was especially suprised with the Eldar Dreadnought (Wraith Lord). I was a bit conservative when building this one, but I could see some nice possibilities for poses. The next one will be converted!
That is already a lot of looking forward to expanding the collection. Of course, to be a true Craftworld Iyanden army, there will have to be at least a unit of Wraithguard. And with Baharroth already in the collection, why not go for that teen age dream of a full collection of Phoenix Lords? And once I have those, why not also get a small squad of each of the aspect warriors?

Pict 1737: Infinity's Lament (WIP)

I also managed to get my hands on one of the newest Eldar miniatures: The WH+ exclusive Inifinity's Lament. I might try and paint it up to test out my scheme in the bigger scale. I will have to find solutions for some details the planes are lacking such as the cloth of the cloak. I'm also not quite decided on the bases. But they will probably not be goblin green (I know - Heresy!).

Continuing the Iyanden Eldar

Continuing to catch up on a few more projects, I finished painting the plastic contingent of Aeronautica planes for my Iyanden Eldar. But of course there is even more stuff to this project! I also worked on some more bits for the Aeronautica Space Marines as well as some High Elves from Middle-earth.

Pict 1731: Aeronautica Imperialis Iyanden Eldar Phoenix Bombers, Nightwings

The remaining plastic aircraft painted up quite fast. Even with the main yellow colour requiring several passes of glaze for me to be happy with. Again, I am blown away by the detail the designers put into these small miniatures.

Pict 1732: Aeronautica Imperialis Iyanden Eldar Ground Assets and Vampires (WIP)

Pict 1733: Aeronautica Imperialis Iyanden Eldar Bases (WIP)

Speaking of aircraft – turnes out the Vampires are huge! They will be the capstone to the project alongside the official ground assets and targets. I also build two more targets from some Eldar bits and a push mold of the Webway Gate's base plate to have enough to play the missions from the Companion booklet.
Also, as you might have seen with the first few pictures, I started to work on the hexagonal bases for the Eldar. I'm not to sure of the colours (the brown parts are the basis for a red gradient) but we'll see how they turn out.

Pict 1734: Aeronautica Imperialis Blood Angels Ground Assets (WIP)

Once I have finished the Eldar, I will want to go back to the Space Marines. Sticking some additional Tacticals on these bases only occured to me after basecoating but I think they should paint up fine nonetheless. Besides these Ground Assets there are still three more Xiphons waiting for a coat of paint. I could build two more targets as well, but I think I will simply use the Forward Operating bases from last year.

Pict 1735: Glorfindel, High Elf Banner Bearer and Elrond (WIP)

Lastly there are even more High Elves for the Rivendell army: The plastic Elrond and his banner bearer as well as the beautiful ForgeWorld Glorfindel. I don't really need them to play the army since I already painted versions of both characters. And I'm really happy to paint these amazing miniatures now that I am really comfortable with the colour scheme and potential short cuts I did not know about at the start of the year.

Arwen Evenstar and more Aeronautica Eldar

Since my last post, I finished Arwen Evenstar to round out the Rivendell Knight army as well as some Highelf Warriors on foot. I even found the time to play some games! Aside from Middle-earth I also put in some more work with the Aeronautica Eldar Skyhost and finished the older aircraft.

Pict 1723: Arwen and Highelf Warriors

Pict 1724: Arwen on foot and mounted

Pict 1725: Arwen on foot and mounted

Pict 1726: Arwen on foot and mounted

I had a game lined up with the Rivendell Knight army and I wanted to have both Arwen's and Elrond's Wrath of Bruinen available to throw any opposition to the ground. I cut it a bit close but I managed to finish Arwen both mounted and on foot the evening before the game. (The varnish was actually done on the day!) Looking back through the blog, I have had Arwen on Asfaloth at least since late 2018. I'm pretty happy with both these models. Getting the face right was a bit tricky but worked out in the end. They are somewhat different – you can clearly tell they were sculpted by Gary Morley (on foot) and Juan Diaz (mounted) respectively.

Pict 1727: Highelf Warriors

Pict 1728: Highelf Warriors

These four were not quite done in time for the game, but thankfully none of my Knights needed any dismounts (any that died, did so with their horses). Nevertheless it is good to have some for future games as well as a proof of concept how the colours will work with the foot troops. Plenty more of these to come!

Pict 1729: Highelf Warrior (Conversion)

Speaking of: I bought a secondhand set of Finecast Elf Warriors with Spears to convert since there are no sculpts with Elven Blade and shield. The first one has been built and I'm a bit surprised how little Green Stuff was needed to change the weapon. However, the other poses might need a bit more cutting up.

Pict 1730: Aeronautica Imperialis Iyanden Eldar Hemlock Wraithfighters and Nightshade Interceptors

I also got around to finish the older, smaller planes for my Aeronautica Eldar. While they are the sculpts for the Phoenix Bomber and the Nightwing, they will be played as Hemlock Wraithfighters and Nightshade Interceptors / Crimson Hunters. Again, I'm really happy with the shade of yellow and look forward to finish the bigger aircraft.

Finishing the Rivendell Knights

While I have not posted in some time, I was not idle, even if the hobby time was a bit sparse. Nevertheless, I managed to finish my Rivendell Knights and started to work on some more Highelf infantry.

Pict 1720: Rivendell Knights

Pict 1721: Rivendell Knights

Finishing this second batch of Rivendell Knights took me a bit longer, I feel. Still, I'm happy with the result. The army is really coming together! I mixed up the horses colours a bit to change up the monochrome look of the army as a whole. All of the grey and white horses blended toghether with the silver armour and grey cloaks.
With this, the warrior cavalery is done and I can go back to the last remaining heroes: Arwen as well as another Elrond and another Glorfindel. And of course I should also think about the foot versions of these heroes in case they become dismounted during a game.

Pict 1722: Highelf Warriors (WIP)

I also prepped a batch of Highelf Infantry to be the foot contigent of  my new and improved Rivendell army. I had painted quite a few almost ten years back now, and I felt I'd rather paint some more instead of trying to bring the older plastic ones up to speed. These eight use the standart poses but had the crests on their helmets drilled to bring them in line with the other Highelves.

Lots of Rivendell Knights

These past two weeks I spent mostly in Middle-earth. I finished up the first batch of Rivendell Knights and put the base colours on the next six. I also worked on the Emyn Muil versions of Frodo, Sam and Gollum as well as some Wild Wargs. In between the wanderings in Arda, I also put the base colours on my Aeronautica Imperials Eldar.

Pict 1713: Elrond leads the Rivendell Knights

Pict 1714: Rivendell Knights

Pict 1715: Rivendell Knights

First up, I finished the four Rivendell Knights that were almost done by my last post. I'm really quite happy with them, especially with the free hand pattern on the banner. However, I think by now that I could push the contrast on the grey parts of the cloaks a bit further. Also, I simply was not able to paint in the eyes, the space inside the helmets was simply to small. Still, with the five Warriors, the Rivendell riders are starting to look like an army in my display case!

Pict 1716: Rivendell Knights (WIP)

Next, I want to try and finish up the remainder of the Rivendell Knights. There are still the shiny new plastic Elrond and the beautiful ForgeWorld Glorfindel as well as several sculpts of Arwen waiting for me. But if I finish the Warriors first, these heroes can be the cherry on top. One of the Knights had been converted into Lindir on horseback but in this current edition he has lost the option for a horse. So I took some time to reconvert him back and gave him back the lance bow and helmet. Anyways, the base colours are done and as ever, I hope the washes and highlights go on fast.

Pict 1717: Aeronautica Imperialis Iyanden Eldar (WIP)

After the first test model for my Iyanden airforce, I went into production mode and put the basecoats and oilwashes onto a good part of my current collection: The two further Nightwings and three Phoenix Bombers from the Wrath of Angels box. I also got two each of the original Nightwings and Phoenix Bombers that ForgeWorld produced for the first edition of the game from @smallthingsmodeling. These are of course a bit smaller than the newer plastic models but that works out well since I can make them into Crimson Hunters and Hemlock Wraithfighters by painting them as such. Sadly the appropriate models from the second edition were only sold for a very short amount of time and are really hard to come by.

Pict 1718: Sam, Gollum and Frodo in the Emyn Muil (WIP)

The new book for MESBG inspired me to dig out the Emyn Muil set containing Frodo, Sam and Gollum. They seemed to be the sculpts of these characters fitting most of the scenarios. I hope to finish them soon to try and play some of these scanarios!

Pict 1719: Wild Wargs (WIP)

Lastly, while I did some work with Green Stuff on the Knight formerly known as Lindir, I also used the putty to fill in the gaps in the fur on these Wild Wargs. The white lines on their backs are simply Vallejo Plastic Putty. I hope to give these flat surfaces a bit more structure, but it is an experiment and I might go back in with the Green Stuff depending on how it paints up. I do enjoy these sculpts now that I have them in hand and I look forward to painting them up and use them in some games. A bit like Orcs, they fit into quite a lot of armies and should provide some good mobility!

Elrond, Master of Rivendell

Only a few more miniatures finished this time around, among them Elrond mounted and ready to lead the Rivendell Knights into battle.

Pict 1704: Elrond, Master of Rivendell

Pict 1705: Elrond, Master of Rivendell

Of course, I started out by finishing up Elrond. The lure of cool heroes will always be stronger than the necessity to paint the warriors to follow them. I did struggle a bit with the finecast sculpt. Some of the details around the face and the folds at the hem of the cloak were muddy or even obscured. Nevertheless, I'm happy enough with the result. But I'm really looking forward to painting the new plastic model now!

Pict 1706: Rivendell Knight

Pict 1707: Rivendell Knights (WIP)

I only managed to finish one of the Rivendell Knights in time for this update. But the other four of this batch are not far of as well. It should really only take a few more evenings, but I was distracted by other fun stuff...

Pict 1708: Bilbo Baggins, Ageing Hobbit

Pict 1709: Bilbo Baggins, Ageing Hobbit

While he will certainly not be able to keep up with the Rivendell cavalry, Bilbo Baggins, Ageing Hobbit should make for a fun addition to the army. He is quite useful with his use of the One Ring, halving any enemies Fight value, even when in combat with other friendly models. That would make quite the tag team with Glorfindel or even Elrond.
In any case, painting this little miniature was great fun! Such a beautiful sculpt and a perfect tribute to Ian Holm. I had done the base for the clear resin version quite a while ago and sadly the resin has yellowed over time. I only added a few birch seed as leaves onto it and will still use it in game.

Pict 1710: Aeronautica Imperialis Iyanden Eldar Nightwing

Pict 1711: Aeronautica Imperialis Iyanden Eldar Nightwing

It seems I can never only have on project on the go at once. So I also started with the Aeronautica Imperialis Eldar that came with the Wrath of Angels box that kickstarted my Blood Angels flyers. I always liked the colours of Craftworld Iyanden, maybe because I learned about them first whilst reading the Tyranid Codex. Of course, the yellow is not the easiest to paint, but I'm quite happy with my plan. The first test flyer is done and the rest of the fleet is waiting for their basecolours. I'm especially happy with the magnetic connetion between plane and flight stand. I might have to go back and do the same for my Astartes flyers.

Pict 1712: Legions Imperialis Blood Angels Rhinos (WIP)

And while prepping for a match of LI, I also slapped some quick base colours and decals on my Rhinos. Thirteen of them are built and marked for use with the Tactical Strike Force iconic formation. The fourteenth one was left over and might see use when I go for other formations.

Elven Heroes: Elladan, Elrohir and Glorfindel

The first real post of the year starts of in Middle-earth with three more mounted heroes for my Rivendell army. After finishing those, I also did some work basecoating five Knights and Elrond to lead them all. And I finished the three Questoris Knights and the Acastus Porphyrion for my Adeptus Titanicus / Legions Imperialis collection.

Pict 1698: Elrohir, Glorfindel, Elladan

Pict 1699: Elrohir, Glorfindel, Elladan

The first few finished miniatures of the year are these three heroes to lead my Rivendell Knights: Elladan and Elrohir, the sons of Elrond as well as the older sculpt of Glorfindel. It took me quite some time to finish them – somehow I found the brightly coloured horses difficult. I'm still not quite happy with Asfaloth, the white horse Glorfindel is riding. For now, it will have to do. But I might go back once I figured out a better way to do it with the newer sculpt and the two Arwen models on horseback.

Pict 1700: Rivendell Knights (WIP)

Next up will be some warriors for all these heroes to lead. I started with the first half of my Rivendell Knights and finished their basecolours.

Pict 1701: Elrond mounted (WIP)

And of course while I was at the basecoating stage with these five, I also did the same for the Finecast Elrond on horseback. I hope to finish this lot rather soon, so I can get to the other six Knights as well as even more heroes.

Pict 1702: House Procon Vi Questoris Knights

Pict 1703: House Procon Vi Knight Porphyrion

Lastly, I also finished up the four Adeptus Titanicus Knights I had finished at the end of last year. I'm really happy with the three Questoris Knights and the Acastus Porphyrion and I'm looking forward to using them in an upcoming game to stand alongside my Blood Angels and Legio Solaria.