Ulthuan

Hi everyone, recently joined after lurking about the forums for a good while, this is my first time posting! (So sorry if this is in the wrong place or other mistakes are made, if you could point them out to me I would be grateful!)

I rediscovered my old warhammer not too long back and give my somewhat free time this summer promptly got to work stripping, converting and painting some High Elves

I'm starting a log to commit to finishing, and would relish the chance for some feedback from the talented and friendly users I've seen on this site:) Constructive criticism is more than welcome!

So without further ado, the first model completed! He will be used as a noble on griffon but can proxy as a prince on sun dragon. There was relatively little detail on the dragon, especially around the legs and rock, where i had to freehand the feet! Rather happy with them:)

Finished up a Battle Standard Bearer (without the banner)

Really need a lot more practise at painting but happy enough with this chap, photos don't do the plume justice.

More to follow with the banner attached!

The banner is from a space marine model, attached to a SpearElf at the arm. My second time freehanding, but hopefully I can get a lot better and faster at painting.

Any thoughts from anyone so far?:)

Now, on to some Dragon Princes! Should have them up within 24 hours

Dragon Princes! No conversions of any kind as I love the models:) A pleasure to paint (in that they make my awful painting skills look half decent) but a little bit finickity at times.

The banner design is a simple celtic knot altered to become a dragon, and I think the photography shows off my blue cloth a little bit better.

Let me know what you think:)

Hi Gilterien,
I like your colour scheme, it's got a very grounded feel to it with the green, but the touch of blue gives it some flight, or freedom. It's especially obvious with the Dragon Princes.
What colour are you going to paint the bases? Also, I would suggest some nice scenic basing as well. It will really make the unit look great.

I second the green & blue, and nice paint job - very clean, tho I like my HE brighter.

especially love the BSB banner, great freehand work there!

-Hi NexS, thanks for the word on my scheme! As for the bases, I was going to leave them alone as in real life the flock mixed in with the sand looks good, and I'm afraid of too much colour in one unit.
I've looked through your log however and your bases look really good- the slann (poison flower) and carnosaur in particular. May I ask how you think I should paint the bases?
Completely right about the scenic basing, i'm keeping an eye out for something good:)

-Hi Pavisel, thank you for commenting (I had a look through your paint log too, keep on painting! Your mounted mage caught my eye), doing the freehand was scary but I was satisfied with the result:) planning it out beforehand with sketches and taking my time was key:)

I tested out how I would paint my spearmen, can't wait to get through all 30 of 'em! (that was sarcasm...)

Welcome to the boards! Looking good Gilterien. I'd echo what the others said in that I like your choice of colour scheme. It's quite dark but it works. Great freehand work on the banners!

For your bases if you want to keep it simple I'd just invest in some army painter tufts and add some of them (sparsely if you want) to the existing bases. Just adds that little bit and a good base really does make or break a model for me.

Finally got back into this after the easter break, big exams to get into college this year.

@Gandalf_82 thank you for the kind comments:) as regards the bases, I'm actually pretty broke so I won't be buying anything soon haha, might you have any other suggestions please? I'm open to any ideas

I started out with some spearelves- hence the title: Should I add shields or not? If so, any suggestions? green, blue, icons?



I'm half finished a couple of swordmasters- here's the green armour, mail, cloth and faces done





All comments and criticism welcome:)

So I finished painting 6 swordmasters, might do more spearelves and a unit filler now

Worked out a design for my shields - hmmm but perhaps blue instead of gray

Hey anyone who reads this, having taken the advice of others before me on doing a good scenic base for my models, I decided to have my elves march across old marble ruins (made from broken pieces of slate, which my inner Hulk had a great time doing)

Anyway, I was wondering:

-Should I stick with this theme of marble base? Does it look crappy, is there too much colour? (apologies for mediocre photo quality)
-Should I paint the bottom of the base and if so, what colour? What would go with the colours I have?

It certainly looks like marble.
If they're ruins, I'd suggest some long sprouting grass through the cracks and some debris of sorts

Thanks for the advice, something like this?:





May I ask if you think I should paint the bottom of the bases?

I like it!

regarding the bases, it's up to you. These days I see alot of bases painted simply black (this is what i've been doing with my dark eldar)
My lizardmen have dark brown base edges and my high elves have goblin green, so really it's up to you

As NexS said.

Personally, I'd leave the bases black: it adds to your (nice!) color scheme and combines well with the grey marble. Another color might be a bit distracting here.

Also, I assume you will build movement trays that fit the marble. Apart from the fact that this means that you won't see that much of the bases, I think the black will give the impression of shadows between the marble fractures.

Thank you both for commenting it's been very helpful:) I've decided to leave them black, the unit looks something like this (wish I had better light today)

gilterien wrote:Thank you both for commenting it's been very helpful:) I've decided to leave them black, the unit looks something like this (wish I had better light today)

I leave mine black. I suppose you could paint them brown to make them look like they have been cut out of the ground. I considered painting them white to try and sort of lift them up a bit, but then I remembered I cant paint white

So, I paint mine black

This is my first attempt at basing

Yep, if you're liking black, then paint it black (like a red door).
I don't like to see unpainted plastic, so i'd always paint it. It also allows you to cover up any overpainting etc.

@Lady Pheonix, that's a nice base, a neutral colour and the different heights of grass add to it. The rest of the model looks great too

@NexS, thanks for the advice:)

I re-based my spearmen, and then decided to do a lothern seaguard unit filler. This guy's guarding the units cache of bows and arrows...

Tell me what needs work, I'd love suggestions for improvement!

I've always considered doing a unit filler for me Sea Guard, but I have enough painted for the units, so seems redundant.
Would be a good project though, I might do one for my Sword Masters. I like the bold highlighting on the Sword Masters mate.

Really cool work! I like the cartoon style you've managed to achieve. It looks awesome! Those shields are also really really good! Are they freehand?

Thank you both kindly for commenting!

@Elessehta well considering some of the super stuff I've seen on your plog I'd say go ahead and do it, I'd love to see what you'd do. Thank you. Also did I see a dragon with wings like the night sky on yours?

@John Rainbow awh thanks! Yeah they are freehand, I live in Ireland and I've always admired some of the celtic knot paintings that were in my school... The shields look better fully painted anyway (below). I've seen your cool banners and freehands so thanks for the kind words!

gilterien wrote:
did I see a dragon with wings like the night sky on yours?

Yea mate, a Star Dragon

Ah I get it, well he rocks!

Did some re-basing, finished swordmasters unit also, but not much else going on

the sunlight abandoned me when I took these photos :(

Really nice work! Particularly the shields and banners stand out, but the bases are also really nice and fit well with the general theme.

Do the symbols on the shields mean anything in particular or are they just nice shapes? Just curious.

If I were to offer something which can be improved, it would be the silver parts, which look a bit "flat" compared to the rest of the paintjob.

JesterPainting, thanks!

The style is called la téne and originated in switzerland. It's so prominent in design, there's loads of reading into it. Square-based knots were meant to ward away evil spirits. They were called "shield knots" and painted onto shields of warriors before battle! I tried for an interlace on the dragon prince banner, cos when you interlace things you combine and unify them- i tried to have the "dragon" and a round "world" going on if you see where i'm going with it :wink:

Yes my silver parts are definitely meh. What I'm doing right now is a boltgun metal base, black wash and a bold mithril silver highlight. Is my recipe off, or could my placement of highlights be better? Could you offer me something to improve them? Im doing something large and scaly right now but there is silver on it I could practise on?

So I stripped, remodelled, and repainted the above dragon cos i wasn't happy with the lack of detail on it. Here's a WIP of the thing, with scales hands and eyes done. If anyone has any suggestions at all on painting the wings or anything else at all, feel free to post!:)