+ inload: Alaitoc Eldar +

 + Visions of the past +

+ Refreshed by a visit to the Metalican Titan-forges, I've found myself on a bit of a hobby buzz at the moment, and have started afresh on some older projects. I'll look in some closer detail at these over the next few inloads, so today a simple overview. +

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+ Alaitoc Eldar +

A slow-burning project, my Alaitoc Craftworld Eldar [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] have received some love recently as I finally got my hands on the last few bits and bobs I needed for the next two Guardian squads. Coupled with that, my old Skumgrod Bob Hunk and I have been tinkering with some 2nd edition 40k gaming, so the fires are up.

The project as a whole is unapologetic wallowing in nostalgia for me, and a personal modelling and painting exercise rather than anything else. As with my Blood Angels, these are an homage to a particular studio army (WD138 this time), and the aim of the project is very similar: to answer the question, 'What would the army look like using modern materials?'

+ Resizing Dire Avengers +

As the Dire Avenger below demonstrates, the overall answer is 'not that different'. I've mentioned before how Jes Goodwin nailed the Eldar look and feel first time. The conversion work for my plastic Dire Avenger was centred around getting the older Dire Avenger kit to fit alongside the more recent releases. While subtle, the new Eldar gain some height through longer abdomens, and have broader and deeper chests than the older plastic kits (Guardians and Dire Avengers).

The retrohammer update

The original

I therefore took the new Guardian as the basis, using the combined torso and legs piece and back piece. These had the shoulder pads removed and replaced with the larger, pointier ones from the Dire Avenger kit. The other bits are either simple kitbashing or very minor trimming and fiddly bits, like the back targeter vane and taking the sights from an Avenger Catapult and popping it on the Guardian Shuriken Catapult. 

This last detail is worth noting: I've used the original (now very small) Shuriken Catapult on the Guardians, so decided to use the new Guardian Shuriken Catapult in place of the larger Avenger Catapult in order to minimise the apparent jump in size.

The result is a nice proof-of-concept, though I'm tempted to use the Dire Avenger arms for subsequent models, as they've got some additional forearm detail. The whole process reminded me a lot of what I try to do when 'truescaling' Space Marines, as my aim there is to end up with a model that doesn't draw attention, because it doesn't look like a conversion. My hope is that the Dire Avengers will fit in right alongside the rest of the army (which otherwise uses the new sculpts), and be a cohesive, coherent part of the army as a whole.

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+ Updating Guardian Close Combat Squad +

The first couple of these were polished off two years ago [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], but the squad is now finished. As elsewhere, I've tried to evoke the originals through parts choice and pose, but have made some slight changes to take advantage of the modern materials. 

The originals are lovely models, but being identical to the other Guardians, they've got the same rather braced, static poses. I decided I'd use the running poses from the new kit for this close combat squad, which helps distinguish them from the Guardian squad (with lasguns) and Guardian Battle squad (with shuriken catapults). 

This obviously changes the poses quite considerably, but I hope the choices I've made with the arms mean that the individual models are still recognisable one-on-one when shown alongside the inspiration. It's a tricky balance. There's homage, and then there's being slavish. I want enough freedom to change things for the better (or at least more to my personal taste) where I can. Otherwise, I might as well go proper oldhammer and just source the original models. A fun collecting endeavour in itself, but not what I'm after here.

Annoyingly, I remembered – after priming the first three – that I'd intended to trim the side vents on the helmets to give a slimmer profile and get closer to the originals, and so you can see how I've had to go back and scrape them off. The new members have since had their base texture added, and a coat of primer (Wraithbone) applied to the complete squad, so they're all ready for paint.

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