The Eldar Project

Chapter 5: Howling Banshees & Striking Scorpions

By Anthony Karl Erdelji

With some units of my Eldar army done, it was time to move onto some elites; the aspect warriors. I have no intention of running all the aspects in my army, but I still wanted the option to include one or two when desired. The first two aspects squads added to my army would be the Howling Banshees and Striking Scorpions. I figured they would be the most useful against the majority of opponents, and being the models are visually similar to the guardians, both would be an easy stepping-stone towards the other, more unusual, aspect warrior models.

Way back in chapter one it was mentioned the importance of a visually cohesive army. When it comes to Eldar aspect warriors this is where the standard Games Workshop paint schemes do not work. According to Eldar fluff, each aspect has their own exclusive color scheme. The Howling Banshees are bone color, the Striking Scorpions are green, the Swooping Hawks are blue, etc. When they are all combined together, all being a different color, the army looses its visual anchor. They become a bunch of squads, not an army, with nothing tying them together. To maintain the visual anchor of the army, there are two painting options.

The first option is to paint each aspect in their standard Games Workshop color schemes, but carry at least one color from the non-aspect warriors onto these elite troops. The Banshees can still have bone colored armor, the Scorpions can have green armor, and the Hawks and can have blue, but all of their undersuits and/or guns, for example, should be the same color used on the guardians. This will help to visually tie each squad together, but still allows each aspect squad to stand out on the battlefield.

A second option is to forgo the Games Workshop paint scheme completely, and paint the aspects to match the non-aspect models. Using The Eldar Project as an example, all squads, no matter what they are, will have dark blue-grey undersuits, blue-violet armor, and oxford blue guns. This is the best option to maintain the visual anchor of the army, but with this option, there is nothing but the sculpting of the models that separates the elites from the regular troopers. This may not be what every gamer wants, but since this is a "painter's" army, and not a "gamer's" army, I have chosen this option.

The first aspect squad painted was the Howling Banshees, mainly because they were on top of my giant pile of my "to be painted" Eldar minis. After cleaning off all mold lines, the sword arms were pinned and glued on. One of the heads was hacked off with a jewelers saw and glue in a different position to add a touch more variety to the unit, as was done with the Wraithguard. Also a few of the arms were bent for even more variety. All received a solid coat of Krylon Sandable White Primer.

Painting the Banshees was fairly straight forward, since with the exception of the swords and helmet plumes, they are physically similar to guardians. This is fortunate since I misplaced the in-progress painting photo. Sorry guys! For those of you who skipped all the other chapters (tsk,tsk), here is the color palette once again.

A majority of the model, mainly the armor, undersuit, and gun, have already been plotted out on the guardians, but there are a few new areas on the Banshee that require some thought. These areas would need to be painted while followed the guidelines set forth by the color palette.

The color of the sword was an easy decision. All previous weapons on other models have been Oxford Blue with Emerald green on the tips. The same would apply for the Banshees. Oxford blue on the hilt, and Emerald, faded to White, on the sword blade.

The hair plume on the helmet was another fairly easy decision. It would obviously have to be one of the army accent colors. Oxford Blue was already on the helmet facemask, so that was out. Yellow Ochre has only been used on minute parts, such as jewelry. There was too much hair for yellow to be used here. The only color left was Emerald. A basecoat of Emerald, a wash of black paint, and a couple drybrushings of Emerald and white and its done.

The tabard posed the biggest problem. The original plan was to paint them Dark Sky Blue, the color used on the trim of the Wraithguard tabards, but for the same reasons Yellow Ochre was not used on the hair plume, the volume of the tabard was too great. Painting it Dark Sky Blue would ruin the cohesion of the army color scheme. After much thought the tabards were painted Emerald.

With the sword, plume, and tabard all painted Emerald, I was worried this would be too much green introduced into the paint scheme. It was suppose to be an accent color, not a main color. However after the model was completed it turned out the Emerald worked well without overpowering the model. All done and ready to howl!

Before moving onto the Striking Scorpions, the next aspect squad, a problem has arisen. As far as you are concerned only a few paragraphs separates the painting of the Banshees and the Scorpions, but in real time it was a difference of several months. I began to get bored painting Eldar all day, so I turned my attention, and paintbrush, to other models. It was only recently the Eldar moved back onto my painting desk. The reason I mention this is because during that time I completely changed my painting style. The biggest change is I no longer use inks or washes.

A wash is a great way to easily shade a model, but it is far from perfect. The main problem with washes is they are uncontrollable. The painter can apply the wash where desired, but once applied,  where the wash exactly settles is determined by the contours of the miniature. The wash may not go where you want it. Another problem with washes deals with speed. I was always under the impression that using washes allows one to paint faster. I now believe this to be untrue. When factoring in the drying time of the wash, and the occasional necessity to reapply the basecoat after a wash, forgoing the wash and applying the shade by hand is quicker.

Instead of using washes to shade, I've returned to a layering style I last used several years ago when I first began painting. In the past I would apply the basecoat, then a wash for shade, and then layer on the highlights. Now, instead of just layering the highlights, I layer everything from the shade to the final highlight. So instead of working from basecoat to shade to highlight, it is now shade, basecoat, then highlight. Working this way insures the shade is applied exactly where you want. 

Another big change is instead of using white primer, I have switched to black. For those asking "why?", the answer is "why not?". When using washes, and starting from a basecoat, white primer is essential. This is because the basecoat, the first coat of paint applied, may not be strong or opaque enough to cover black. Anyone who has ever tried to paint yellow over black know what I mean. However since I no longer use washes, and my basecoat is not the first layer on the model, the color of primer is less essential. The main reason for the switch to black primer is that I find it easier on the eyes working from black when using the shade to highlight layering technique. This technique will work with any color primer, and the color used will have virtually no affect on the final results.

The big problem I am now faced with is changing my painting style in the middle of painting the army. This could result in half of the army looking much different than the previous half. It would be necessary to adjust my new painting style in order to match my old one. The major change is in the colors used for the shades. Black was my shade color when using washes, but black will no longer work when layering in the shade. This is because covering a color with a thin black wash, and mixing a color with black, will create two completely different colors. It would be necessary to give the appearance of the black wash, without using black paint. This could be done through darklining.

After much experimenting, I came up with the following color palette:

Darklining, often referred to as blacklining, will help to replicate the look of the previously used black wash. The darkline will create a sharp contrast between different areas of the model to define each piece. Applied over the darkline layer is the first shade, a 1:1 ratio mixture of the shade and basecoat colors. This is followed by the second shade, a 1:2 shade to basecoat mixture. Next comes the basecoat. Finally come the three highlighting steps. The first a 2:1 basecoat to highlight mixture, the second 1:1, and the third 1:2. These ratios should serve only as a rough guide. The exact ratio depends on the colors being use, but this should give you a general idea of paint ratios. Remember that with exception of the darkline and first shade, which don't need to be thinly layered, all layers are thinned to about a 1:2 mixture of paint to water. I cannot say this enough; THIN YOUR PAINTS! Since this method calls for more layers of paint on the miniature, proper thinning of the paint it key to avoid all the layers from building up and obscuring the details of the model.

Before beginning with the painting, I think I should define the word "basecoat". Most painters refer to the basecoat as the first layer of paint applied to the model; regardless it that layer is acting as a shade, highlight, or the color in-between. Seeing that painting allows for artistic interpretation of the model, it also allows for the same interpretation of the definition of the words used in painting. I define basecoat as being the middle color between the highlights and the shades. This is because the highlights and shades all work to compliment this "base" color. I just want to make that clear so no one gets confused when reading other painting articles that mention a basecoat.

The Striking Scorpions were cleaned, pinned, and glued as normal, but some of the models needed some extra support. The poses of the Scorpions tend to be extremely acrobatic, meaning the center of gravity of the model is not over the center of the base, and so they easily tip over. A little weight added to the bottom of their bases takes care of this problem.  Some lead weights purchased from a model show, clippers to cut them into shape to fit in the bottom of the base, a bit of superglue, and the Scorpions are upright to stay. You can do the same thing with lead fishing sinkers/weights, which should be easier to find. Just pound them into the proper shape with a hammer, cut and glue. Once the weight problem is fixed, the models are primed black and the painting begins.

As with the previous painting style, we begin with the undersuit. A layer of Coat d'arms Iron Grey will serve as the darklining between the undersuit and armor plates.

Layered over the Iron Grey is a mixture of Iron Grey and Dark Blue-Grey, and a second shade layer with more Blue-Grey added. Next comes the basecoat of Dark Blue-Grey, followed by three highlighting steps, adding more and more Elven Grey each time.

The armor gets the same treatment as the undersuit. A darkline layer of Vallejo Violet and Black, followed by two shading layers of Violet and Blue-Violet. Then comes the basecoat of Blue-Violet.

Three highlights are layered on by added a mixture of Coat d'arms Shocking Pink and Elven Grey to the Blue-Violet, adding more of the pink and grey mixture at each step. The addition of Shocking Pink to the highlights on the armor was done out of personal taste, rather than to match my previous painting style. The Shocking Pink keeps the Violet from being washed out, and when looking back over the previous models, it should have been used from the beginning of this project.

As similar with the Banshees, the main features that separate the Striking Scorpions from the guardians is the helmet and the chainsword. The chainsword was the easy part since they would be painted to match the Banshee swords. The weapon itself is Oxford Blue, and the teeth are Emerald. The helmet posed a bit more of a problem since it was too narrow for the Demonworld serpent decal used on the rest of the army. At first the helmets were painted Emerald, but this was discarded since it made them look like Rollerball rejects, plus since they would not carry the serpent icon, painting them a different color from the rest of the army's helmets would visually push them even farther away from the rest of the army. In the end the helmets were painted to match the armor, with a bit of a fade in the front, and helmet details were painted Emerald.

The Oxford blue was dark enough to still use Black as the shade color. The Emerald was the only color not painted with my new layering style, but instead these areas received a black wash just as with the previous style. This was because I could not find a new shade color for the Emerald that allowed for layering, but still matched the look of the black wash.

Rather than use Tamiya Clear paint over metallics for the gems, as in the past, I decided to switch to a more standard gem painting technique. It takes longer to paint, but the results are better in the end. Since it can be somewhat hard to see painting a tiny gem, we have some helpful pictures provided by Chappy's Crappy Graphics.

The key to painting gems is to highlight them all in the same direction. I've chosen to highlight the gems from the upper left, towards the direction of my artificial sunlight. No matter what direction the gem is turned, the highlights will always come from the upper left. This is because the gem may be moved, but the sunlight is stationary. So the gems on the front of the model are highlighted towards the upper left, and the gems on the back are highlighted towards the upper right, again, towards my artificial sunlight. After all the miniature is finished and varnished, the gems get two coats of Future Floor Finish for that gem-like sheen.

Instead of using Polly Scale Yellow Ochre for the yellow accents, I replaced this with a mixture of Vallejo Paints. They were first undercoated with Vallejo English Uniform. This was done to allow the light yellow basecoat to cover better, rather than to provide shade. The basecoat is a mixture of Vallejo Yellow Ochre and Flat Yellow, and White was added for the highlights. The base was painted with English Uniform, and drybrushed twice by adding Coat d'arms Bone. The model gets two light coats of Testors Lusterless Flat, static grass is glued on, the gems get a couple of coats of Future Floor Finish, and its done!

One of the eights Striking Scorpions that has recently joined the ranks of Kuras JiorQuas.

After painting the Scorpions I decided to go back and add a few more Banshees to the army. The Banshee on the left is painted with black primer and my new painting style. The one on the right has white primer and painting several months ago with my old painting style. The differences are almost undetectable. Success!

Before closing the lid on the Striking Scorpions and Howling Banshees finished, I needed to add an Exarch to both squads. Both Exarches were painted recently, in my new painting style, however I did decided to make one more change to my technique. On the Scorpions I used two shade layers, plus the darkline, for a total of three shade layers. I finally decided that three was one too many. When painting "one-off" models, I always use a minimum of three shade layers, but in the case of an army with dozens of the same miniature, speed is also a necessarily. Since these are gaming models, the darkline and a single shade layer would be a sufficient amount of shade, and help the painting go much faster.

The Banshee Exarch was painted to match the rest of the Banshees, with a few minor exceptions. The helmet received a few more fading layers, to bring it out closer to White. The fade on the blade started from a mixture of Black and Emerald, and faded out near to White, to give them more depth.

A Space Marine helmet was added to the base, to help the model stand out from the rest of the Banshees. My plan is to add a different helmet to the base of every Exarch.

For the Scorpion Exarch, the metal grass-like thing was clipped off the right foot, and he was repositioned standing on a Dark Angel helmet. A bullet hole, or shuriken hole, was added with a pine vise and hobby knife.

All done, and Kuras JiorQuas is two steps closer to unveiling themselves to the universe!

So now you should have a good idea of how to paint an army with two different painting styles, with washes and without. Each style has its own benefits and detractions. Using washes allows for easy shading of the model, but lacks precision and may require reapplication of the basecoat. Painting without washes allows for more control, but requires a good understanding a layering and how to properly thin paints, so may be more difficult for some painters. Use whichever method you prefer, or better yet, try both. You may discover that the other style is better suited for you.