Stocking Fillers

Now really, this title should go with the unit I've got lined up for next week. But it won't be Christmas (or this year any more) by then. Harvest ye thine crap puns while thou mayest, says I.

Yes, your armpits smell. No, that's not how you do a Vulcan Salute. 

A blast from the past for the first couple. Vintage Sorceress and Witch Elf (doubling here as a Death Hag), and very interesting to see how different they look. Much chubbier, for a start. Not that they're remotely podgy, just in comparison to the skinny waifs worshipping Khaine these days.

Why so serious?

It might make you wonder if the people complaining that kids' toys damage their body images have a point. Not that they worry suchly about Warhammer players, I think we're rather under the Concern Radar as far as most of society is concerned.

Step aerobics really do get results.

Next up is a bunch of chariot crew. I am appalled to learn that Cauldrons of Blood do impact hits. How dare they, when my lovely Chaos Warshrine is denied them? After all, they're merely impelled forwards by the unrelenting will of a bloodthirsty god, whereas the shrine is ported by mutant baggage handlers... okay, they may have a point.

Two sets of these. First up is my attempt at painting Tiger's Eye stonework. It's not entirely what I wanted it to be, but it's not entirely bad either, so hurrah.

Tiger's Eye and Bloodstone, in fact. The stripes need to be a bazillion times thinner, of course, but the intention was good.

A pair of cheerleaders to go with it. One is converted with a Witch Elf banner, which is a horrid fiddly thing to paint detail on. I chickened out, knowing there's another one round the corner. The banner has a very simple silver trident motif, but it's so swirly you can barely see it. Hard enough to paint straight on the curly surface, let alone do something that's going to be seen, so not worth the bother I decided.

Come on, I've painted over four thousand points in three months. You can give me this one moment of laziness, conscience, or go hang.

They can be helping Hellebron guard her Cauldron, or some other entirely faceless Death Hag who just looks like her, depending on what you pay for. I just discovered I missed one of the guardians after I'd taken these snaps, but I may have found another use for her anyway.

Strappy dress or well-concealed bingo wings? YOU decide!

The second statue is a more traditional red-and-black-and-metal scheme that looked a lot like Spiderman in the early stages.

With great power comes great scimitar.

If you like it, then you have to put a glaive in it. 

The shrine guardians here have a matching colour scheme, but it has to serve double duty. These spiky lovelies are also required to guard the final addition for the week, a Bloodwrack Medusa.

Oops, she's melted. What a world.

With a magnetised base, she can be fielded alone or balanced on top of the shrine. She had a small accident in the boxes, sadly, and her spear tips snapped off. Repairing them took so much platic glue, a great blob collected in the gap between the tines. Luckily, it looks like a really smashing ruby with some BFTBG slapped on top, so that's a last minute save and a half.

The snake body was Abaddon Black drybrushed with Underhive Ash then glazed with green ink. 

Behind her goes her wonderful mirror, which is a smashing bit of scuplture and great to paint too. But it does pose a big question, which is what to paint on it?

A traditional depiction of Elven Headbutters.

The GW version has a great flashing light effect that I was in no wise going to replicate. The proper thing to do, of course, would be to paint the back of the Medusa's head, because that's what you'd see in it. Doing that right would mean having to estimate how the angles would work from tabletop height, and I didn't have the actual shrine to try and work this. And it's so dependant on where you stand, it might not be worth it anyway. Couldn't find anyone who'd tried it online, either, I'd love to see that work (or even someone who's just put an actual mirror on it).

Damn you, camera flash! Why must you take such a literal approach to photographing what's supposed to be a reflective surface?

The other obvious choice is to try and have some generic battlefield terrain reflected, so that's what I did. The final result might look like this Medusa has brought an oil painting from her cave instead of a mirror, but at least it's quite a nice one.

Better. Turner's little-known masterpiece, 'Lightning Strikes a Citadel Wood'. 

I feel like I'm cheating as I update the Dark Elf army page (where you can also see some cobbled-together diorama shots of the chariot crew ensembles). Adding nearly a thousand points for a rather spindly collection of ten models? Surely some mistake. Claiming the full points for both the chariots is a bit sneaky, I guess, but stuff it. I'm secretly quite glad not to be painting a pair of things that look rather like a Victorian theatre foyer, in all honesty. And having less to do meant I had a bit more attention to spend on the individuals, which always helps.

Next week - Bring on the Dancing Girls!