Elf Team Updated: Team Painted and Based!

[axiom]

I've had chance to put brush to metal and paint up a few more players - I'm now over 60% of the way to a full team!

This time round I wanted to paint up a few linemen and save some of the positionals for a later date. Luckily I've got some kickers, so had a little bit of variation in the painting. The kickers are by far and away my favourite models in the 2nd ed Elf team - poses, faces, haircuts - it's all cool!

So, onto the pics - here are the next 3 linemen:



And a shot of the team as it is currently:



So, my reward for painting these 3 was to convert another coach - I had planned to do my defensive coach, but got carried away and did my attack coach instead as all the pieces had been delivered:



I'd been trying to track the old Elf archer that this figure is based on for ages because of his cool hat. Eventually someone helped me out. The original figure looked like this:



I removed his hands, bow and quiver and added in a couple of Shadowforge Gridiron balls. I chopped off his left leg, repositioned it and sculpted a tunic over the mess. I'm pretty pleased with the end result!

Next up:

Paint Attack Coach
Paint Catcher and Lineman (reward - convert Defensive Coach)

[sturmjarl]

Your team looks GREAT! I especially like your converted archer/coach. Well done!
As a critical suggestion, i will be the first, but probably not the last, to suggest that you cut off the metal flash off the left feet of your kickers. That metal is NOT part of the basing tab. Some green stuff and/or decent super glue will make those kickers stable enough on their bases. Sculptor Jes Goodwin would certainly prefer those figs without the casting flash!

[axiom]

Your team looks GREAT! I especially like your converted archer/coach. Well done!
As a critical suggestion, i will be the first, but probably not the last, to suggest that you cut off the metal flash off the left feet of your kickers. That metal is NOT part of the basing tab. Some green stuff and/or decent super glue will make those kickers stable enough on their bases. Sculptor Jes Goodwin would certainly prefer those figs without the casting flash!

That's - glad you like. It could do with some better photography

On the subject of the leg support - I have considered taking it off, but am worried that the remaining lead isn't strong enough to support the figure through rigours of gaming. Anyone got any prior experience of whether to remove or keep? Will the figures be OK without it?

[The Painted Goblin]

I always remove them. There's always a chance they'll snap due to being used, but it's a fairly easy repair job.
Get a load of jumbo paper clips - I find them absolutely invaluable for pinning models!

[nazgob]

In my experience, lead only tends to weaken on really thin pieces (like swords), and tends to be fine on legs.

Tha said, pinning is very easy to achieve, so if you do need to repair, it can be done. Personally, I would roll with just the lead (and removing the flashing), but you could insert the pinning now. This would have the advantage of being done before painting.

[axiom]

I'll consider breaking out the clippers!

In the meantime, here's my reward model painted up - the Attack Coach:



I really must work out a way to take better pictures (I think a light box or something similar would go a long way to helping). Anyway, just so you know, the paint scheme is turquoise and white, not light blue!

I still like the hat, but now he's painted, does anyone else thing he looks a little...well...pimpish?

[firebreather]

I really like the conversion on the head coach, an excellent idea done well

[nazgob]

pimpish? yes. any less awesome for that? no.

my simple peice of photo advice is as follows:

take a single piece of white paper and lay it against a wall or stack of books. place your model on the bottom half of the paper and photograph. vastly improves the definition and lighting.

[GreyKnight]

I love the attack coach, great conversion!

[axiom]

my simple peice of photo advice is as follows:

take a single piece of white paper and lay it against a wall or stack of books. place your model on the bottom half of the paper and photograph. vastly improves the definition and lighting.

Thanks for the comments everyone - glad you like the coach

I'll give the paper trick a go and see if I can make any improvements!

EDIT: here's the improved photo with a simple addition of better light (earlier in the day) and a white piece of paper. Looks 100% better!

[axiom]

An interim update this one, as I'm still painting the next lineman and Thrower before I do anything else; I did want to show of this new player which came in the post this morning. Meet my planned Treeman:



This gorgeous model is actually a 54mm Dryad by Enigma miniatures which I ordered from Maelstrom Games using their current 17.5% off retail promotion.

Here's a painted pic from Enigma:



I wanted a figure which was more lithe than the GW treemen, and this really fitted the bill. Can't wait to paint her - I'm still deciding which head to use (possibly the middle one of the three), and whether to use both branches or just one...

Anyway, I need to paint more Elves first!

EDIT: Here's tonight's progress - a new Lineman. I probably need to go back and tidy up the fact a little bit, but otherwise he's good to go.

[rodders]

oooh may have to get that dryad for the wifes shadowforge woodelf team

[axiom]

My attention has been diverted for a little while (again) and I still haven't finished painting the Thrower. On the plus side, I did paint the Treewoman!



I added a pair of shoulder pads (left arm is greenstuff, right is a plastic Kroot pad), and a sash to match the rest of the team (I think from the old Dire Avengers). I also left off the hanging skull (wrong scale) and one of the rear branches which would have impeded adjacent figures.

After much deliberation I went for a silver birch type colour which allowed me to paint the pads blue and effectively get an inverse scheme to the Elves. I originally painted the leaves autumnal, but they clashed with the sash, so they got a repaint in green.

I'm really pleased with the end result, and think the model fits right in with the rest of the team. Hope you like!

[Norse]

almost looks like NMM silver.. I see what you were trying to do here, and it maybe looks better in the flesh than in the pic, but I would suggest a watered down brown wash on the "bark" just to make her look a smidge more organic and less like a cyber-tree..

[axiom]

almost looks like NMM silver.. I see what you were trying to do here, and it maybe looks better in the flesh than in the pic, but I would suggest a watered down brown wash on the "bark" just to make her look a smidge more organic and less like a cyber-tree..

Looking again at the pic, I see what you mean! In real life the effect is nothing like NMM - I promise! I used GW paints (chaos black > scorched brown > kommando khaki > fortress grey > skull white). There are some nice subtle brownish tones which have been wiped out by a combination of poor lighting and trying to correct the colour balance

Mind you, cyber trees could be a nice model line...