Despite being a painter of Games Workshop miniatures for many a long year, and despite the fact that they’re one of the most iconic of the 41st Millennium’s inhabitants, I’ve never actually painted a single Eldar. Time to balance the books, at least a little, in favour of the pointy-eared ones.
Today’s subject is none other than Amallyn Shadowguide, the Eldar ranger from the original Blackstone Fortress and the kind of arse-kicking woman who make a perfect candidate for Fembruary. Although she was one of the first Blackstone Fortress miniatures I started painting when I got the set for some reason she fell by the wayside and sat around part-painted ever since (regular readers will know that this is an all too familiar story!).
Amallyn’s backstory has her hailing from the craftworld of Beil-Tan but I’ve never really found their colour scheme that appealing – for those unfamiliar with it, it’s a very stark white and green – so I tweaked it and toned it down a little.
I do have a few more Eldar which were given to me by a mate when he was clearing out his old collection, and which are currently lurking, either in the webway or in a box under the bed, waiting to spring out as soon as this Mon-Keigh makes some time to work on them.
Convert or Die 
February 3rd, 2021 at 8:21 am
Looks great! There were some really characterful minis in BSF. I hope it continues into the main lines.
February 3rd, 2021 at 10:22 am
Thank you! There were some great models in Blackstone Fortress weren’t there? I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that someday Traitor Guard and Rogue Traders are made into full armies.
February 3rd, 2021 at 10:29 am
Traitor Guard definitely need support again. It would be so simple to do using the same type of Guard allied detachment as Genestealer Cults. Rogue Traders would be easy as well, they’re just Inquisitors really.
February 3rd, 2021 at 3:34 pm
Very nice- love the shading on the green robes.Makes the figure.
Cheers,
Pete.
February 3rd, 2021 at 10:57 pm
Cheers! Green is a colour I’ve used a lot, I just had to stop myself from falling into familiar patterns and keep reminding myself I wasn’t painting ork skin!
February 3rd, 2021 at 8:58 pm
Lovely mate. Love the colour scheme too, really works a treat. You cant beat a dominant women, well I think that’s how it works! 😉
February 3rd, 2021 at 11:01 pm
Cheers mate! I’m hoping the colour scheme is close enough to the original that it still looks like the same character, whilst still putting my own spin on it. As for the dominant women I’m told they think it’s better to give than to receive – and who am I to dare argue? 😉
February 4th, 2021 at 12:43 am
You don’t like Eldar or elves!? And you’ve never painted Eldar before!?! I’m not sure which is more upsetting of those two 😉 They’re one of my favorite 40k armies to paint so this is very surprising. You have redeemed yourself a bit by picking a great sculpt to paint. I thought about buying this lady on eBay and for some reason never did but I love the sculpt. She is a great update on the old and outdated Eldar rangers. You did a great job painting her up and I can totally understand not wanting to do the bright and stark colors that Biel-Tan have too.
You’re probably familiar with his work, but Hendarion does amazing work with Eldar. I think either he or maybe another painter did these amazing Biel-Tan Eldar with thorns freehand. One of these days I’d like to give that sort of thing a try 🙂
February 4th, 2021 at 7:58 am
What slander is this?! 😉 I never said I hate elves, I just don’t paint them very much (totally different thing honest!). When I first got into the Warhammers it was Orcs/Orks, Chaos, Skaven, Dwarves and the Vampire Counts that lured me in. Hating filthy elves was bred into me from day one! That said I always fancied a Dark Elf army, just never got around to it. Maybe someday though.
Just reminded myself of Hendarion’s work and, beautiful though it is, I think it encapsulates why I’ve not tended to paint Eldar or Elves in the past. These are models which really benefit from a lovely crisp, clean style – whereas I like painting filthy, grubby, bloodsplattered madmen! That said I do have a load of old Eldar that I need to get around to painting and it’s always fun to push yourself a bit, so expect to see more of “da panzee gits” appearing here as time goes by.
Just looking at Hendarion’s jetbike squad, that thorn pattern you mentioned is downright gorgeous. I just wouldn’t have been able to resist adding some blood, scuff-marks and some poor space marine getting run-over though! Definitely something I’d love to see you tackle someday, and don’t forget you’ve got Dark Eldar and some Harlequins to be working on. 🙂
February 5th, 2021 at 12:23 am
Justice for Teclis!!! All in good fun, mate 🙂 I wasn’t surprised you don’t like Eldar all that much and I call them Space Elves with some affection because I like both armies a great deal and consider them somewhat similar. Fortunately, despite our difference of opinion on elves, we do have a lot of overlap in the models we like too. There’s only a couple of factions you like such as Skaven that I don’t favor so I’ll let this slight pass this once 🙂
I think your sentiments on Eldar and why you don’t like painting them are valid. They do benefit from a clean painting style and I think they benefit from bold colors too. I have seen some people paint a black or dark grey scheme with Rakarth Flesh or an Ochre Color that looks really nice. Its almost definitely a particular craftworld in the lore but I have no idea and am too lazy to look it up 😀 I do think you could try and make them a little darker and dirtier (Eldar that have just about lost their minds or the old ways due to the horrors of war) but I understand where you’re coming from too. And you’re right about Dark Eldar and Harlequins. And then there is Adeptus Mechanicus, Vampire Counts, and Ogres… The list goes on and on 🙂
February 4th, 2021 at 1:48 pm
Beautiful painting and glad to see you’re not afraid to try an elfin figure. Now what about IRO?
February 4th, 2021 at 6:14 pm
Thank you! I’ll try anything once, even an elf! As for IRO I reckon he’s beyond hope, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that some of my elves will be enough to convince him that they’re not all silly wimps. Maybe the ones I’ve got planned for tomorrow will be enough to win him over 😉
February 5th, 2021 at 9:59 am
Haha
February 4th, 2021 at 2:27 pm
Superb – love the tweaks to the classic colour scheme! Works perfectly & a most worthy submission 🙂
February 4th, 2021 at 6:20 pm
Thanks mate! I figure they must have alternative colours that they get to wear from time to time (formal outfits, casual wear, Eldar pyjamas, etc). I remember seeing one of the Forge World books showing Imperial Fists in camo, turns out they don’t do their reconnaissance in bright yellow after all. I reckoned Beil-Tan would probably be similar, after all she’s supposed to be a ranger so something a bit more stealthy was in order.
February 5th, 2021 at 9:59 am
Well done man. The shading on the robes is really nice
February 5th, 2021 at 3:39 pm
Thanks man. 🙂
February 6th, 2021 at 6:43 am
Glad you changed her up, green and white probably wouldn’t fit that model. She looks a bit like a sniper with that big rifle and the face covering, so the dark under armor is more suiting. Nice one man!
February 7th, 2021 at 10:49 am
That was my thinking, how’s she supposed to go sneaking around, being a ranger and a sniper, when she’s dressed in stark green and white? I hoped the colours I went for would be more in keeping, whilst still giving a nod to her back-story and origins. Glad you like her. 🙂
February 7th, 2021 at 4:55 pm
At least they didn’t make her a Pink and Blue Sniper, haha!