Eldar you kidding me?

 

More old lead today: Eldar this time! 

Of all the minis I've painted over the last few years, I think I'm most proud of this original Swooping Hawk. The OG Jes Goodwin sculpts are still fantastic and I tried as hard as I could to match the original paint scheme from White Dwarf, including the incredible curling gun-banner. Interestingly, I think that the yellow and grey are closer to the original colours than the turquoise even though I used the original Swooping Hawk Turquoise from the Ork and Eldar paint set. After I’d painted it, I realised that the original pic probably was painted before that paint set actually came out, which explains the slightly different tone.

Attaching it to the model was not easy and I couldn't quite get the curl right, but it's pretty close. I was cursing myself repeatedly and wondering whether to give up on the banner idea as every time I tried to curl it a bit, I pulled if off the barrel. But it worked in the end and I'm glad I stuck with it.

Another rework of a previously-painted model, this next one was a second generation Eldar Guardian (pre-Aspect Warriors so still relatively early RT days and made in 1989 I think, but a slightly later sculpt than the classic models featured in RT itself). I repainted him in classic blue-and-yellow last year and am really pleased with him too.

Next, some more old JG Aspect Warrior sculpts that an old friend gave me in the early/mid 90s when he left the hobby. First up was a Farseer:

Having done a good job on the main scheme, I was nervous about freehanding the runes down the front of his cloak, but I think it works OK.

And next is a Dark Reaper:

There's more to come (not least the entire original box of lead Harlequins I've started working my way through, but this is enough for now!).

But I'm DEFINITELY not starting an Eldar army.