GW Craftworld Eldar Guardians (2017)

After my first venture into Warhammer 40.000 with Space Marines, I decided to give the Eldar a go. After all, I am an Elf-lover, and while Space Elves are remarkably different from the Fantasy ones, they still have their own charm.

Craftworld Eldar, then: the small pack to test paint schemes. I love these small boxes that one can just buy on a whim without making a special commitment to an army. Four figures, four attempts at getting the right colour scheme for my own personal Craftworld, which goes by the working name of Shien'dan. Yes, there is a Chinese flavour to it.

The idea is to have the armour resemble celadon porcelain, and the accessories lacquer. One should be a shiny, light, polished green-blue, the other a deep, dull red.

The first attempt focused on Citadel Gauss Blaster Green, the colour most similar to celadon (as I see it, although celadon can have remarkable variations). This is an Edge colour, so to make it stick I had to dilute it and paint a good number of layers. The wash is Biel Tan Green. Highlights are made with Gauss Blaster Green mixed with Screaming Skull. Armour plates are varnished with 'Ardcoat. I like this hue best, but I’m not really happy with the colour layering: I think I need less wash and a base mix where Gauss Blaster is dulled with some darker colour.

The lacquer is made with Vallejo Game Color Burnt Cadmium Red, washed with Carroburg Crimson and then highlighter again with GC Burnt Cadmium Red.

Attempt No. 2 was more bluish: the armour is painted with Vallejo Model Color Grey Blue, washed in Citadel Drakenhof Nightshade, then again layered with MC Grey Blue + Sky Blue. While there is a higher degree of contrast, this colour looks too dull to me, and it reminds me of Space Wolf power armour. 

Attempt No. 3 was again with green: this time the base was a mix of Vallejo MC Emerald Green and Sky Blue, washed in Biel Tan Green and then layered again with the addition of Screaming Skull. the contrast is good, but it’s too dark for my liking. On the red parts, I always used a base of Vallejo MC Burnt Cadmium Red, washed in Citadel Carroburg Crimson and layered with different degrees of Khorne Red and Wild Rider Red. On this last model I used more Wild Rider Red, and I don’t like the result too much: it doesn’t look like lacquer at all. 

Final attempt No. 4 was again with blue. I started with MC Storm Blue, washed in Drakenhof Nightshade and layered with Storm Blue and Citadel Baharroth Blue, closing it with a mix of Screaming Skull. This is the only model where I didn’t apply the 'Ardcoat varnish. Great contrast, but not looking like a lacquer very much, does it?

Overall my favourite is no. 1, although there's lot to improve in the technique. But it's quite closer to my benchmark.

Photo taken while WIP

It’s fun to do colour tests and there’s a lot to learn with it. My next Eldar will be a Farseer - I’ll try to paint it with similar colours, but change technique, and see what comes out of it. Which colour scheme do you like most? let me know in the comments!