Grays- Avelorn Army - Alith anar conversion PAINTED.

[tinman]

In Canada you have to watch out for bears...

[Gray]

Bears are so so epic. I want one.

We use to have giant eagles (Haasts eagle the largest ever live, actually the size of great eagles) here, but they are extinct. Which is a shame. Our defence force could of used them as re-directors.

[Elessehta of Yvresse]

Yea man, it's not too bad. Hows the scene in Aussie?
Hope you are not caught up in the bush fire madness at the moment. It looks grim.

I'd like to go to a tournament in Australia sometime.

The scene has really picked up over the last two years, it's booming along now, haven't seen anything that takes army fluff into account yet though.
Bush fires are all down in NSW, and yea, it's not good that it's happening so early this year.

[korhilscaptain]

@gray...........we just have sharks, crocodiles,jellyfish,spiders,snakes,stingrays and many other things to kill ya here in OZ lol

[tinman]

Ah OZ. What a magical place...

[NiallCampbell]

Unbelievable - talk about an inspiring force!
I'm new to High Elves and I've played it safe by sticking to the poster boy 'blue' scheme, but this just shows me what else I can do

Your non HE models are great too, that Chaos Sorcerer has so much character in it

[NiallCampbell]

Oh by the way, going back to page one, are your movement trays resin or have you just used various materials on the bog standard plastic trays?

I love them

[Gray]

@gray...........we just have sharks, crocodiles,jellyfish,spiders,snakes,stingrays and many other things to kill ya here in OZ lol

We do share a few things down under but I'm glad we missed out on all those the nasty critters! Getting taken out by jellyfish. What a way to go.

Thanks Niall, I don't think there is anything wrong with a poster boy blue scheme. For some reason i get tired seeing it on GWs scheme but I really like it when i see other people do it, it looks cool.

My movement trays are not resin. They are made out of the GW kit. I use various sizes of sand and rocks, and tiny twigs.
I glue on clumps of grass, static grass, tiny model leaves and moss clumps. I was inspired by hiking through beech tree forests and wanted to create that feeling for my army.

[NiallCampbell]

Thanks for the tip
I've been wondering wether or not to bother investing in resin bases, but yours look so effective anyway!

I'm one of those people that like spending a lot of time on the bases (apart from rank and file I suppose) so it's really nice to see someone putting in a lot of effort! YOur buildings etc are stunning.

[Gray]

Hey guys,

I thought I'd fill you in on some hobby adventures. I had great 2013, fitting in quite a few tournaments. Having an army based around the everqueen and the new avelorn forces was a lot of fun and pretty successful too.

Here my freshly painted silver helms and cav prince bring justice to Helbron and her scum.



As a bit of a break I've dabbled in my warriors once again. I'm not too interested in working on a straight net list. I've been playing a couple of border wars campaigns which has been massively entertaining and inspiring.

My commander Azur Khan destroying an upstart Heinrich the wolf




I've added a frost wyrm to (manticore to my force)



A warshrine- the parts help tell a story about my army. Including looted books of secret knowledge, and keys to mysterious doors.



I've also been aiming at being a little less precious about projects, and just bashing them out. I have a few old minis who just need to get done, like this bear dude.



I have a pretty big generic terrain collection, im creating these features will help flavour them more. (I'd like to be able to represent all the features from the rule book) Below is a Bane stone and some torches which help make anything look cool.



Anyway, I hope your projects are all going well. The elves are calling me again.

[solith]

Stunning work!

I really like how you painted the frost wyrm, and the extra details on the shrine are pretty awesome. Have you added the story-items as you've progressed or did you model them all on to begin with?

The elves are calling me again.

Huzzah!

[beencounter]

Great work all round.

[Gray]

I really like how you painted the frost wyrm, and the extra details on the shrine are pretty awesome. Have you added the story-items as you've progressed or did you model them all on to begin with?

Cheers guys, I have added books and a captured woman to the back. The idea was that
they were captured from town I took in the campaign (my sorcerer is looting the libraries of the world, the captured woman is a librarian)
It's a big model with more room for souvenirs too.

Here are some more/ terrain scenery markers I've created. Once again these aren't meant to dominate the board but to add flavour. And hopefully be able to fit into a variety of battle fields. Each was made pretty quickly. And thankfully they are pretty compact.

Sorcerous circle. The candles are made out of electrical wire.


Ghost (scary fence) Charnell pit. I think I might make a ghost counter too.


Waystone, made out of an arcane ruins set


Anvil of vaul/ village blacksmith area- I blatantly ripped this design off one I found on google


Wyrding well/ Lost elven well

[RE.Lee]

Dude, all that scenery is insane I really shouldn't be surprised after following your blog, but the paintjobs are just incredible! The charnell pit is so graphic I would be afraid to keep it in my house

[Jimmy]

Such quality work going on here! Wonderful stuff mate!

[Domine Nox]

Outstanding work. Though I feel like I'm inadvertently copying you. I decided to make my elves Avelorn, then found your incredible log and used it as extra inspiration off my own ideas. Now I've branched out to begin a Warrior of Chaos army and what do I see here... Well even though it wasn't intentional they do say imitation is the greatest form of flattery. And your work is commendable and worthy of duplication.

[deecee]

Just found this painting log and must say it is fantastic.

I am curious on what you run you maiden guard as in games? As I have a some what large collection of them myself.

[Tethlis]

Hello Gray,
I just wanted to chime in and thank you for the additional updates. I've been a fan of this painting log from the get-go, and I have to compliment you on your amazing work. We share a lot of aesthetic ideals for our High Elves... My bases, featuring ruins and a lot of verdant greenery, look a lot like yours. I really like the juxtaposition of the ruins of a proud society, tumbled down and decayed but not forgotten. Perhaps a bit maudlin, but a good metaphor for High Elves I find. I've also found ways to work those classic out of production Maiden Guard into my existing force, but not quite on the grand and lovely scale you have.

In particular, I wanted to compliment the amazing scenery you've done. I've fully painted four Fantasy armies, three Infinity armies, a WM/H army... But terrain is a relatively new venture for me. I'm about to get underway with a new army display board for some big events later this year, and your towers and mansion have given me a lot to think about. I hope you don't mind me chiming in periodically, hoping to glean advice . Cheers for your excellent work.

[Gray]

Thanks for the support guys. So great being able to share projects beyond the gaming room.

Tethlis, you've summed up really well what I was going for. Much better than I could of in fact! I reckon you'll love a bit of time making scenery I find it way quicker than painting elves, and it just breathes so much extra character to games.

I am curious on what you run you maiden guard as in games? As I have a some what large collection of them myself.

I run them as either sea guard or as spearmen. I'd love to run them with there old rules one day. I thought Domines idea of using them as phoinex guard was nice too - reflecting their elite status.

Outstanding work. Though I feel like I'm inadvertently copying you. I decided to make my elves Avelorn, then found your incredible log and used it as extra inspiration off my own ideas. Now I've branched out to begin a Warrior of Chaos army and what do I see here... Well even though it wasn't intentional they do say imitation is the greatest form of flattery. And your work is commendable and worthy of duplication.

Great minds eh? I was just checking up on your blog, and you've been busy! nice work. I was actually thinking about making a unicorn hero too, pretty Avelorn.
Geographically we are quite far away... hopefully no one notices we match

[Gray]

One of the hardest things I find about hobbying is finishing what you start.
Especially when things aren't working out quite as you like. This loremaster was one such project. I started him a few months ago and there were a few things I wasn't happy with on him. Anyway I bashed the rest of him out. I think my patience for single figures is a bit lacking, but I'm looking forward to using him on the battlefield soon.

[Ptolemy]

That is proper bad ass! Love it. Great conversion! My favorite of your pieces this far!

[solith]

And just like that, I have a new favourite Loremaster conversion. I like the way the elf emphasises the warrior aspect and the pose emphasises the mage aspect and how these two work together.

Funnily enough the bit I'm most impressed with is how you managed to twist the legs into that sitting position. I don't suppose you have any pre-paint pictures to show off do you?

[Ferny]

+1 on WIP pics please. How much of this is kitbashed (and from where - arms and legs particularly) and how much is green stuffed. Very good stuff - completely original as far as I've seen and really well executed - worth your patience!

[richiefuzz]

Absolutely brilliant. Really like the loremaster model but this blows it away! Well done

[NiallCampbell]

Haha this is so clever! Love that Loremaster

[endontoddy]

Stunning Loremaster! I too would be very interested in knowing what bits yous ourced for this and what bits are 'green-stuffed'

[Gray]

Hey guys,

Glad you like it! In terms of parts-

• The head is from the sky cutter kit
• The back part of the body is from the shadow warrior/ sisters kit.
• The front chestplate is from the plastic white lion kit.
• The legs are from the white lion kit. The angle of the leg has been trimmed to get that folded look.
A very small area of loose cloth is greenstuffed.
• The magical base is from the island of blood wizard kit.
• The sword is from the loremaster
• The hands have been swapped and upturned.
• The book is from the high elf mage kit I think.

Hope this helps, I spent quite a bit of time scouring the bits box and just blue tacking before I glue.

[NexS]

Impressive work. I am interested on how he fits into a unit though. He looks to be a little off-centre and facing the corner, unless the images are a bit deceptive?

[solith]

Thanks for the list. You make the modelling/conversion sound so simple (simple in terms of the process, not the parts) and yet it comes together so well!

[Ferny]

• The hands have been swapped and upturned.

But where did the hands come from in the first place?

Also, if someone else were to try and copy your excellent idea, aside from the bit of loose cloth you greenstuffed, how straightforward a cut/stick job is the basic construction? Does most of it basically fit together fine or is greenstuff really needed to model the joints? In particular I'm thinking of the legs here, but given how many bits have gone into this model (and how well they're hidden under the excellent paint job) I guess the same question could apply to other parts too.

Cheers!