Galaxy At War
I hate leaving projects unfinished. I started this piece many years ago, when I was playing 40k with a group. It got shelved before I finished a single mini, although I did paint the Dark Eldar as a stand alone piece years later.
On a trip home to visit my parents, I found the remaining minis and decided it was finally time to resurrect this project. Some of them I would have considered close to finished when I put them away, but with all I’ve learned in the intervening years, it was best to restart them from scratch. Only the Dark Eldar remains untouched.
The Eldar and Space Wolf are mostly metal parts, so I removed the plastic pieces and soaked them in acetone to strip the paint before reassembling. For the others, I washed the dust off and applied new undercoats. The overall colour schemes mostly stay close to my original intentions, with some exceptions.
I’m delighted that I was able to complete this diorama staying true to my original vision from all those years ago, with each character standing on his own battlefield, each one blending with the next in an epic fight across the galaxy.
Dark Eldar Corsair Lord
The original post for this mini can be found here. I've included some new photos of the figure in place as part of the diorama.
This Dark Eldar has waited a long time to be united in battle with his foes across the galaxy. I originally painted him after a long hiatus from the hobby, and although I’d probably approach him differently if I were painting him today, he’s still of high enough quality that I decided not to repaint when including him in the diorama.
The base uses the same design as the stand-alone base I originally built for him, with stacked plates patterned after his armour. There was empty space that needed some visual interest, so I stuck together some Eldar bitz to make the lamp/energy source thing, using an airbrush to get the purple to pink gradient glow. I’m really happy with how eerie and alien it looks, contrasting with the green edge-highlighted floor plates.
Base:
- GW Caliban Green
- GW Kabalite Green
- MC Park Green Flat
- + MC Sunny Skin Tone
- + White
“Lamp”:
- MC Violet
- MC Sunset Red
- MC Pink
- White
Ork Nob
The goal with the Ork was to make him as grimy and beat up looking as possible. I went with quite a vibrant green for his skin, with a lot of contrast between the base and highlight, and added lots of scratches and surface imperfections.
The armour is blended from a rusty brown up to an ochre yellow, with lots of battle damage and weathering. I built up layers with plenty of texture, particularly for the leather and metal, to give everything that aged and damaged look.
The Ork was the first mini I painted when resurrecting this project. And given its long history I wasn’t quite sure if and how it work out. But after finishing the axe I sat back with a grin thinking, “ya, I’ve probably got this”.
Skin:
- GW Death Korps Drab
- GW Loren Forest
- GW Elysian Green
- GW Ogryn Camo
Eyes:
- MC Dark Vermillion
- MC Orange Fluorescent
- MC Sunny Skin Tone
Teeth/nails:
- GW Rhinox Hide
- GW Mournfang Brown
- MC Ochre Brown
- GW Flayed One Flesh
Armour:
- MC Ochre Brown
- GW Mournfang Brown shade
- MC Ochre Brown + MC Ivory for the edge of the paint chips
- GW Mournfang Brown and The Metal colours for the exposed metal
Vest/wraps:
- GW Baneblade Brown
- GW Rakarth Flesh
- MC Deck Tan
Pants:
- MC German C. Black Brown
- GW Catachan Flesh
- GW Gorthor Brown
Boots/leather:
- GW Rhinox Hide
- GW Mournfang Brown
- MC Gold Brown
- MC Ivory
Bullet Shells:
- GW Thondia Brown
- MC English Uniform
- MC Ivory
- (MC Sunny Skin Tone glaze to tint the Ivory)
Copper:
- GW Rhinox Hide
- GW Mournfang Brown
- + MC Brown Rose
- + MC Ivory
Metal:
- Black
- + MC German C. Beige WWII
- +MC Deck Tan
Blue Glow:
- GW Kantor Blue
- GW Baharroth Blue
- White
Base:
- MC Chocolate Brown
- MC Flat Earth
- GW Balor Brown
- (MC German C Beige WWII)
Khorne Berzerker
I went with a very clean colour scheme for this mini. The red was glazed from a dark scarlet to a bright orange-red to create smooth transitions that follow the contours of the Space Marine armour.
The accents and other details are a non-metallic antique gold that I’m really happy with, especially on the Chaos icon planted in the ground behind him. I used glowing neon green as a contrasting spot colour in a few places, on the plasma gun and ammo.
The Khorne Berzerker’s colour scheme has some interactions with his neighbours, since the plasma coils throw green light onto the Ork’s gun, and the Eldar’s power sword is casting light onto the Berzerker’s flaming sword.
The lava flow on the base and the sword follow the same colour scheme, although the fire on the sword is highlighted all the way to white at its core to show just how hot it is. The lava has darker spots on its surface where it is cooling, and the surrounding rocks are glowing with the heat and light radiating from the lava.
Armour:
- Black + GC Scarlet Red
- GC Scarlet Red
- MC Scarlet
- + MC Sunny Skin Tone
Gold:
- GW Rhinox Hide
- GW Thondia Brown
- GW Steel Legion Drab
- GW Tallarn Sand
- +MC Ivory
Fire:
- Black
- GC Scarlet Red
- MC Scarlet
- GW Fire Dragon Bright
- GW Flash Gitz Yellow
- White ink
Plasma:
- Base coat: white ink
- GW Caliban Green
- GW Warpstone Glow
- GW Moot Green
- GW Flash Gitz Yellow
Lava:
- Black
- GC Scarlet Red
- GW Fire Dragon Bright + MC Orange Fluorescent
- GSW Intensity Ink Hydromiel Yellow airbrushed over white / GW Flash Gitz Yellow
Eldar Autarch
This mini uses an advanced version of the colour scheme I used when I collected Eldar. The armour is blended from rusty brown through desert yellow to cream, with the helmet using khaki and stone colours. The non-metallic gold is a much more yellow gold than what I used on the minis either side, since that antique gold uses the same desert yellow for its primary tone as the Eldar’s armour.
I’m really happy with the battle standard, which depicts some of my Eldar lore: a craftworld orbiting a desert planet, Eldar of both sand and sky. The cloak then transitions down through blue tones from the stars to the sand.
The power sword, shimmershield and runes in the sand all glow with turquoise light, while a variety of shiny gems adorn his weapons and armour (blue for spirit stones, red on active weapons, green for the inactive grenades on his belt).
The orange tabard is a nod to Lady Yvraine whom I previously painted in a similar scheme. Maybe this autarch is a follower of hers.
Armour
- GW Rhinox Hide
- GW Mournfang Brown
- GW Tallarn Sand
- GW Flayed One Flesh
Helmet
- GW Dryad Bark
- MC German C. Beige WWII
- Mc Deck Tan
Gold
- MC Chocolate Brown
- MC Ochre Brown
- MC Dark Flesh
- + MC Ivory
Cloak
- Black
- GW Kantor Blue
- MC Royal Blue
- GW Lothern Blue
Shuriken Catapult
- MC Chocolate Brown
- GW Steep Legion Drab
- + MC Buff
Blade
- GW Sotek Green
- MC Blue Green
- + White
Sash
- GW Mournfang Brown + GW Trollslayer Orange
- GW Trollslayer Orange
- + GW Flayed One Flesh
- + White
Red Gems
- GC Scarlet Red
- MC Vermillion
- + White
Leather
- GW Rhinox Hide
- GW Gorthor Brown
- + MC Ivory
Base
- GW Dryad Bark
- GW Tallarn Sand
- MC Buff
- GW Flayed One Flesh
Space Wolf
Since this is the second mini in power armour in the diorama, I wanted to do something very different to the smooth blends of the Khorne Berzerker. I built up textured highlights of blue-grey with scratches and imperfections to make the armour look really crunchy. The yellow shoulder pad uses the same technique, highlighting from rusty brown through yellow to cream.
For the cloak I referenced timber wolf pelts, transitioning from grey to browns and creams. The non-metallic gold is the same colour scheme as I used on the Khorne Berserker, and I’m particularly pleased with how it worked out on the backpack wolf heads.
The axe head was painted with lots of glazing to get a really smooth transition from blue to white. The same colours were used to give him glowing eyes and rune, and a gem on his backpack.
For the ice on the base, I started by airbrushing a gradient from black through dark blue to icy blue. On top of this I layered Green Stuff World's UV Resin, and once cured painted layers of their Liquid Frost on top. The rest of the base was given a dusting of snow flock, which I also glued in places on the Space Wolf’s cloak to tie him into the scene.
Armour
- MC Dark Grey + GW Kantor Blue
- GW The Fang
- GW Russ Grey
- + White
Gold
- Same as Khorne Berserker
Skin
- GW Dryad Bark
- GW Baneblade Brown
- + GW Cadian Fleshtone
- + MC Ivory
Yellow
- GW Mournfang Brown
- MC Ochre Brown
- + MC Ivory
Blade
- GW Kantor Blue
- GW Baharroth Blue
- + White
Fur
- MC Dark Grey
- MC Dark Sea Grey
- + White
- MC Flat Earth
- GW Baneblade Brown
- MC German C. Beige WWII
- GW Karak Stone
Bone
- MC German C. Black Brown
- MC German C. Beige WWII
- MC Deck Tan
Red
- GW Word Bearers Red
- MC Dark Vermillion
- GW Wild Rider Red
Metal
- MC Dark Grey
- MC Dark Sea Grey
- White
Hair
- MC Neutral Grey
- MC Deck Tan
Wood
- GW Rhinox Hide
- MC Flat Earth
- + MC Ivory
Ice:
- Black
- MA Steel Blue
- + MC Blue Green
- GW Lothern Blue
- + White
Tyranid Genestealer
Given the pose and overall look of this mini, I wanted him to look as creepy as possible. I drew inspiration from various horror monsters, such as the necromorph from Dead Space, and ultimately used a human anatomical model as reference. With all the bone protrusions and exoskeleton, my plan was to make this tyranid look like he’s inside-out. I painted musculature in reds and pinks, with each band of muscle anchored in cream-white sinew. The exposed bone uses a similar colour scheme, with stippled texture, particularly on the skull, and scratches and damage on the claws. The eyes are a glowing orange.
For the base, I wanted him to look like he was leaping out of the long grass, but didn’t want to obstruct views of the model, so I raised him up on a mound and built up the taller grass on the lower level. I added a patch of neon pink foliage and a area of neon pink grass leading out from it, suggesting some kind of infection that was spreading, drawing inspiration from the infected landscape of the movie Annihilation.
Skin:
- MC Black Red
- GW Tuskgor Fur
- + GW Cadian Fleshtone
- + MC Salmon Rose
- + MC Ivory
Skin “tendons”:
- MC Ger. C. Beige WWII
- MC Deck Tan
Bone:
- MC Ger. C. Beige WWII
- MC Deck Tan
- White
Base
- MC German C Black Brown
- GW Steel Legion Drab
- GW Baneblade Brown
- GW Rakarth Flesh
Paint Brands:
- GW – Games Workshop
- GSW - Green Stuff World
- MA – Vallejo Model Air
- MC - Vallejo Model Color
- GC - Vallejo Game Color
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