Saturday 19 September 2009

Marauder Horsemen of Slaanesh - Finished

I've finished painting my first regiment of Marauder Horsemen of Slaanesh; plan to do the second one sometime after christmas, painted very much the same. Right now, I'm not too keen on doing more white horses, hehe. A break is due!Compared to my other Slaaneshi units, this one hasn't been converted very much. The musican did recieve a swordarm from the plastic Marauders on foot, and I "shaved" off the beards of two of the Horseman-heads before gluing them on... But that was about it, I think.
Speaking of the musican's sword, in a way of keeping the unit in theme with what I did with my Warhounds' eyes, I tried to replicate the glow-effect to the runes of the sword, which I'm quite happy with.Earlier I asked for advice regarding where to put the Mark of Slaanesh on them, and while I liked the suggestion of branding the horses with it, I didn't feel confident in my own abilities to paint it. Idle Scholar on Warseer gave me another suggestion, namely painting it onto the shulderpads of the riders, and after giving it a try on the musican, I was so happy with it, that I gave it to all five.I've been debating whether or not my bases are good enough: my initial plan was to create some sort of a stony wasteland, barren of life, just stones and dust, very similar to a desert, but in a colder enviorment and without the richly and warm-coloured sand of a typical desert. But now that I've completed three units with these bases, I was thinking maybe it gets a bit monotonous and boring? I've added some skulls here and there, but maybe I should get some of that burned static grass from GW, or something? To keep the lifeless wasteland-feel going..? Or are they good as it is? Any thoughts?
Also, any critisism or other suggestions regarding my Horsemen are very much welcome!

8 comments:

  1. They look sweet - I am in awe of your ability to paint whites and flesh tones.

    As for basing - I agree, either get some burtnt grass but keep it very sparse or try some longer field grass (again keep it sparse) to give the imression of a dessicate steppe.

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  2. Thank you Rogue Pom!

    I'll give the grass a try next time I drop by GW with my miniatures - think the new burnt grass set looks promising, it should yield a fitting atmostphere. That's my hope, at least.
    If anyone got any experience with it, and can tell me more of it, or if there's other suggestions that's also very much welcomed.

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  3. These are stunning, such a beautiful unit, Slaanesh would definitely HAVE to be their patron! Good call on the shoulder pads, the marks are great and your freehand is lovely and crisp!
    As for the bases some static grass wouldn't hurt. I use it a bit on my bases, although not the new burnt grass one yet. The key with the static grass is to make sure you get plenty of that, static. It keeps the grass standing on end. I do have to say though that I reckon maybe Rogue Pom might be on to something with the longer grass. GW don't do any that I'm aware of but a hobby shop or model train shop should stock some. The odd patch of grassy shoots here and there would really make the bases come alive.

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  4. Look fantastic and I have to agree with Rogue your ability to paint whites is simply outstanding.

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  5. Thank you for the lovely comments, Elazar and John.

    A few questions regarding static grass: how to get the static thingy you're talking about Elazar? I agree, I don't want it to just lie there, it's best if it lokos natural and stands up, but how do you do it? My only experience with static grass has been the old "let's bury this base with glue on in a can of flock, shake off some and see what we got..."-method.

    Might be easier with slightly longer grass, myeah.. I'll drop by some hobbby shops - I do know of one train-modelling shop, but it's on the completely other side of town.. How long do you guys reckon it should be?

    Again, thanks!

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  6. Well there are different ways people use to get the static in the grass. I know that one company does like a squeezy bottle that's meant to do the job for you but I'm not entirely sure how it works and whenever I've seen it it seems a little expensive. Personally, I always give the tub with the static grass in a really good shake before I use it, then when I'm applying it I use my thumb and index finger to grab a load and just rub them together and let the bits drop onto the base, the friction between the grass, your thumb and finger will charge enough bits with static energy to make it work. Then all you have to do is run your finger above the base at the tips of the grass and the static energy will make some of it stand on end a bit better but it usually looks quite natural this way with some bits not standing up as well as others etc. Somebody else might have a much better method though.
    As for the length, at the very most you'd want something double in length to the individual pieces of the GW static grass, otherwise it'll look too long grown for a barren landscape.

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  7. Ditto what Elazar has commented - if you go a longer length try not to go over board - double or just a bit longer should look great in small clumps - maybe even in a bit of the regular statc grass to add a bit of extra flavour. The hard part is finding a suitable grass - I have some coming over from the UK from a German scenic outfit (ziterdes scenery - http://www.ziterdes.de/ziterdes/en/) which I will give a try - If it is any good I will give you a shout out.

    As for application of the static grass, I use the generic shake the container, slap some glue on my base and dip and cover in the grass and shake off the excess - dont handle it too much while the glue is wet or it will clump (happened to me last night - it should do its thing by itslef if you apply lightly enough - trial and error over 12 years hasn't shown me a better way yet.

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  8. Thanks for the tips regarding usage of static grass! Hope the grass works out for you, Rogue Pom

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