Dark Elf Mordheim Warband

I really liked the way that the Corsair hero turned out in Gallry III. So I copied soome of the elements of that figure while endeavouring to keep this group unique. As I said in Gallery V my goal was to make a dark yet colourful band and to this end I used a darker pallet than normal. While some areas, like the sashes and skin are taken up to near white most of the highlights are subdued. This subdued highlighting allowed me to utilize a broad colour selection while maintaining a tight feel. Obviously the pallet is focused in the blue range but the addition of the red cloaks and dark green 'black blades' help to provide focus.

The next set of pictures is of the rear of the band. All the models without sea dragon cloaks have deep red capes to accent the blue pallet. It was also done to add a blood like colour to some portion of the group since Dark Elves are notoriously blood thirsty. The sea dragon cloaks are done in the same way as the Corsair champion from Gallery III. The three tone under highlighted scales really make the cloaks look special. It gives the models an internal light that I felt was important in such a brooding and dark band.

Henchmen
All the henchmen in the band have sea dragon cloaks. For those of you that play the game you know that this is pretty expensive. It was done to maintain the theme of a raiding party of Corsairs and not for game playing purposes. Two of the henchmen have repeater cross bows. This required the removal of the weapon from that hand and replacing it with a cross bow from a shade. I then had to do a bit of putty work to extend the cross bow to a more realistic length.

Fell Blades
The two Fell Blades [characters] for the band were also given sea dragon cloaks. This was done by adding putty to their existing cloaks and then sculpting the scales. They both also have black blades which I painted in deep green to add focus to already dark models. The Fell Blade with the two handed sword is likely my favorite Dark Elf model in the entire range. And after adding the cloak to him I think he is also my favorite model in the band.

Highborn
The Highborn for the band maintain the look of the rest of the figures and their poses are what get across their royalty. Only one Highborn can be used in a game so these two allow flexibility in how the band is designed. The Highborn on foot is stock except for the addition of the Corsair command standard as a back banner. The rune on the banner is not one of the Dark Elf runes found in the books but does have the same sense of style. The highborn on the cold one is made from a number of models. His torso is from a corsair, his legs are from Maleus Darkblade and his sword is from the DE dragon rider. The cold ones head is also from Maleus Darkblades mount.

Assassin and Shades
These models comprise the steath element of the band. So, to that end they are a bit darker than the rest of the group but I didn't make them 'ninja like'. I decided from the beginning I wanted them to be different from the rest of the band but at the same time they needed to fit in. So, most of the colours are the same but the addition of the deep red cloaks really darkens these models. It also provides some needed contrast for the pallet.

Beastmaster and Cold one Beast hound
The beasthound is painted in the same way that the cold one is painted since I imagine that they come from similar stock. It is a mix of 3 models: the head is from a cold one, the body from a chaos hound and the tail from a fiend of Slaanesh. I had to sculpt some scales to tie it all together and it was done. The beastmaster is a witch elf that has had her right arm replaced by the whip arm from one of the actual beastmasters.

Sorceress
This model is painted in almost the same way that I painted the one in Gallery IV. This model is so easy to paint and the scheme sets off her pale skin so well that I found myself repeating what I had done. My favorite part of this model is the back of the cloak, because it looks so dynamic. The folds allow for great NMM gold effects and the fabric area really looks good with deep shadows.