Saturday 2 July 2016

Dark Eldar Carnival Venom Complete (With Crew)

A break in the weather allowed me to apply the final varnishing for the fool crew member, and after that I got onto mounting them both to the chassis of the venom which was relatively pain free.

I got to be honest but before doing this I had no idea how they all would look together, choosing the colours and patterns by instinct rather than comparison during painting. I have been painting this army for over 2 years now so I felt fairly confident that it would all be ok, and luckily I think my recklessness has paid off ;). They are all characters in their own right, with distinctive schemes and stories to them, but when mounted on the vehicle they do not clash or distract too much from the overall theme, rather I feel they enhance it. I think alot of this is to do with the red I use throughout. I use it as the base colour for the whole army, applying it mainly to the torso areas on infantry and to the bulk of the chassis on the vehicles. This helps to tie everything together, muting and unifying the individual colours and patterns, without obliterating them with its own vibrancy (I purposefully chose a more muted red for this very reason).

It has been a long process to get this vehicle complete, but well worth it now it is done. Dark Eldar vehicles are never simple jobs in the first place, as the crew make it that much more involving to paint, as well as being alot more fiddly that some other vehicles (looking at you here rhino ;) ).

I would love to hear your feedback on this one, as although I am pleased with it, I would appreciate any input or criticism as to how it all works in your eyes.

NafNaf

 

18 comments:

  1. I think you have nailed it. I have tried to replace some of the colours in my head but, despite the complicated palette you have chosen, everything is already well balanced. The primarily achromatic base also compliments it beautifully, with just that splash of orange to tie it all together. Bravo!

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    1. Thanks Marc. Good point about the base, I forgot to mention it but it does play an important part in tying it all together too. Glad you like it :)

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  2. The nonchalance of the crew really make this piece for me. Obviously the painting is as brilliant as to be expected, but the tilted hat and cape, as well as having the trumpet just sat down are what make this piece look both amazing and effortless in one fell swoop.

    I'm afraid I'm gonna have to cut those hands off mate.

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    1. Awesome, glad you like them. Wasn't sure until I mounted them that the poses would work (although I did do a rough mock up when I converted them, so I had an inkling it would be ok). Yeah I really like the nonchalance too. Gives the whole thing more character, which I love :)

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  3. Absolutely gorgeous! Really dig how it all came together - beautiful work all 'round!

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    1. Thanks dude. Glad you like it :). Keeping on the roll for this army and doing a Talos next.

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  4. What a wonderful piece to add to an already lovely army. Always glad to see it advancing, bravo.

    How much more do you have to do for the circus?

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    1. Cheers Rory :)

      Got a fair bit to do still.
      X3 Venoms
      Raider
      Ravager
      X5 Incubi
      X6 Jetbikes
      X5 Scourges
      X3 Talos
      X10 Guardians
      Wraithknight
      X5 Wraithguard
      Plus a few characters too. Plenty more to meep me busy, as well as a few conversion ideas I have knocking around my head. Would like to expand into doing some Corsair unit conversions soon, so I can have a very flexible army

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    2. A lot still to do so, while you have my sympathy I am glad we will see more of these come together in the future.

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    3. Haha thanks dude. Sometimes it seems a huge mountain to climb to get it all done, which is why I am concern tearing more on getting stuff painted this year rather than doing new conversions . I would love to get a fully painted 1850pt army done by November (got 2 tournaments to go to that month) and then expand so it can be more flexible in options

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  5. Looking great NafNaf, can't wait for the whole army shot.

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    1. Cheers Mike. Army shot is coming this week. Got to get the mat from the club to take them on, and then I can do it :)

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  6. Fantastic, I realy like th elittle flower symbol, I remember seeing that sort of pattern used in a table cloth once or some sort of arts and crafts pottery or canal barge paitning. It gives it a home spun feel to it, definitely reflects the wandering band of players illuminating their own vehicles. Maybe that's something you could add a bit more in, particularly with vehicles. Look at historical touring circuses and carnivals [although you probably already did that to end up here] see if there are any other common elements you can add to bring out the humour in the theme - how about a load of flyers celebrating the 'cirque' has come to town! ;)

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    1. Thanks Dave :). The little flowers were inspired by old gypsy caravans, but barges came to mind as well (similar sorts of decorations I think). I did do a lot of googling for carnival and circus posters and art etc which has inspired a fair bit of the colour scheme. I love the idea of the flyers. I could add some to the bases or on blank areas on the vehicles. Great idea :)

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  7. Great work Naf! The crew really pulls the whole thing together.

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    1. Thanks Joe. They took a while to do and I never thought I would get to the end but when I finally did it was all worth it :)

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  8. I commented on twitter but not here. Needless to say I love it. At this point should just make a shirt that says double thumbs up from greggles and wear that when you paint.

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    1. Cheers Greg :) Love the idea of that t-shirt. Thats got to happen :D
      Borrowed the mat from the game club tonight so I should be able to post up the full army shot this weekend if I can manage

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