I'm now well into the Eldar commission that I started earlier this year, and I can now show two completed Dire Avenger squads.
As readers of my blog will know, I wasn't overly impressed with this kit when I built the first squad. That impression hasn't changed much, but I'm doing what I can to get extra mileage out of these models. The casting doesn't allow for much in the way of posing of the rank and file Avengers; any dynamism is reserved for the Exarchs (which do have some pretty epic poses, albeit again fairly limited in range).
Let's start with an image of a squad leader for a change...
Armed with a shimmer shield and power halberd, this guy is definitely my favourite of the bunch. Once again, Spiritstone Red proved an essential tool in painting these troops.
Here's the squad together:
The second squad has the same armaments, save for the Exarch:
Again, he has a nice pose to him. My client requested a minor conversion to the pistol arm, which came out very nicely.
(Just realised that I missed the Exarch's gem on his head: dammit! This has been a pretty regular thing with these guys - just as I think I'm done, I realise that I've missed a gemstone or two! They are literally all over these troops.)
In a change of pace from painting infantry, I've also now completed a War Walker. These are a simple but evocative mechanised unit - being one of the older Eldar war-machine models (which I think was even present back in the days of Rogue Trader?).
The model reminded me a lot of the Imperial Guard Sentinel, which I am very fond of. I have no idea whether it's any good in the game but when it looks this good who cares!?!
My client provided both pairs of guns for the Walker, which you can see in the above picture. The guns simply slot into the weapon mounts.
As with the Wave Serpents, I've added some minor weathering to this Walker. This shot shows the staining and dripping from the gems.
Finally, here we have the rear of the Walker.
Overall, a nice model which I enjoyed painting. I currently have two more in the booth to be primed, and I'm hoping to finish those in the next week or so.
Meanwhile, I've also started another side-project for a client who has briefed me on a Space Sharks (Carcharodons Astra) army. I painted up some of these last year for myself, and I'm very excited to be going back to the guys in grey: let's just say that I'm going to be getting some value from the Blood for the Blood God paint that I picked up earlier this week...