PaintSlam

Category: Oldhammer

  • Check out my OLDHAMMER Wood Elf Army so far (It’s so beautiful TT_TT)

    Check out my OLDHAMMER Wood Elf Army so far (It’s so beautiful TT_TT)

    Hey folks, as you will probably know I’ve been building an oldhammer Wood Elf army for the last couple of years! Thanks to some canny eBay bidding, some lucky finds and some incredibly kind and generous folks on Twitter I’ve been able to amass the Wood Elf army of my childhood dreams.

    It started out with a focus on the 1996 release for Warhammer 4th edition (soon to be replaced by the exciting new 5th edition), but has since introduced models from the 80s, 2000s and today (to quote my local radio station!)

    So this here blog post is to show you *everything* I’ve painted so far for this army. Now, I’ve still got a heck of a lot of unpainted and unassembled stuff in a big box of lovely metal yet to add, but I think this is already a gallery to be proud of. So grab a cup of tea and some hobnobs, and enjoy…

    Boys from the Wood

    Here you can see the core infantry units in the army. With two full units of 16 archers, 10 Waywatchers, 12 Scouts, 14 Wardancers and 25 Glade Guard (aka Eternal Guard) consisting of 15 of the 90s shield versions and 10 of the 80s models. The Wardancer unit includes the Warhammer Quest wardancer character, who can be played as Wychwethyl The Wild in the 4th edition army book.

    Bark as bad as their bite

    The forest spirits have gotten in on the action too, here you can see my unit of Dryads as well as two classic Treemen, one of which is the original Durthu!

    You can be my Oak of Ages

    Here’s Orion, King in the Woods and his lovely lady, Ariel. This is Ariel before she (re)merged with Alarielle during the End Times of the Old World! I based her colour scheme on that of her appearance in Total War: Warhammer 2.

    Wood you please behave

    Here’s the lesser characters and heroes of the army, who serve underneath Orion and Ariel. This is where some of the more recent models come into play, such as the 2005 Battle Standard Bearer and Spellweaver, and the much more recent Araloth, more commonly known as the Nomad Prince kit. You can also see the custom BSB I made from the plastic Wood Elf hero from Warhammer Quest, based directly on the one seen in the army book and White Dwarf of the era.

    Horsing Around

    My army currently includes two units of Glade Riders, one of which is armed with spears and the other is a unit of archers. I found the archer models much harder to find than the spear ones, probably because the spear chaps used to come in a box set whereas the archers were only available in blister packs. I also love the Elven Attack Chariot, which is one of those fabled kits I always wanted as a child but was never able to obtain. I’m super pleased with how it looks with the rest of the army.

    What a drag-on

    Here’s my centrepiece model, my pride and joy. The Wood Elf Forest Dragon. This is the original version that was used as the base for the later Sisters of Twilight kit. I really tried to capture the colours of the original ‘Eavy Metal scheme with this and it even uses the original banner. I’m absolutely delighted to have this model standing front and centre in the army in my cabinet. Truly one of my all-time favourite Warhammer miniatures!

    This miniature even inspired how I painted the recent Stormcast Eternals dragon that the good folks at Warhammer Community kindly let me paint for an article:

    And, for now at least, that’s the whole of my Wood Elf army. Although it’s certainly not the end of it! Stay tuned to the blog and my social media channels for more classic Oldhammer goodness in the near future! Thanks for reading!

    If you enjoyed this article and want to help support PaintSlam, please consider joining the Patreon! Your support helps me keep the lights on and keep producing content like this!

  • Adoration for the spectacular square bases of nostalgia.

    Adoration for the spectacular square bases of nostalgia.

    The humble square base!

    Once a staple on Warhammer battlefields the world over, it is perhaps somewhat rarely seen today. At least, outside of specific Oldhammer projects.

    See how it ranks up neatly, even when the model atop it doesn’t wish to. A closely ranked up unit looks wonderful, yet who can forget the hassle of juggling your models around to actually get them to rank up properly? It was like a jigsaw puzzle every time you wanted to set your unit up on the table!

    Rejoice in how it sits flat on the battlefield, except when the model is metal and slightly off-centre so it tips over at a gnat’s sneeze. I sure hope you’ve varnished your pewter and lead warriors, unless you’re going for the Terminator look.

    The smooth, flat edges juxtaposed against the rough, nobbly top surface. Run your fingers along the length of those edges. Mmmm, smooth. Now run your nail over the top. Mmmmm…. texture…

    How lovely your old school models look all grouped together, despite completely disregarding the 6-foot rule.

    You grab your PVA glue and some sand, or if you’re particularly posh some green flock. You apply it to the top of the base (not the sides though, you’re not a MONSTER) and paint the whole thing Goblin Green. A quick drybrush with some Sunburst Yellow and you’re good to go! Don’t they look smashing.

    Then sit and admire your army, resplendent atop your bright green battlefield surrounded by lush forests, oddly stepped hills and suspiciously cardboard-looking buildings.

    Yes, truly the square base is a thing that brings joy.

    Have you painted something on a square base lately? Let us know by showing us in the PaintSlam Discord!

  • With arrow and spear

    With arrow and spear

    I’ve been a busy bee since finishing Orion, cracking into the infantry side of my Classic Wood Elves project!

    Firstly, I painted up this block of 15 Glade Guard spearmen!

    I primed them with Zandri Dust, before going over the cloaks with Contrast Ork Flesh, then highlighted up with Skarnsik Green and Nurgling Green. Other colours used are Boltgun Metal, Blood Angels Red, Snakebite Leather and Steel Legion Drab. The shields are Averland Sunset, with transfers in the top left from the new Wood Elf Blood Bowl team transfer sheet.

    I didn’t actually have enough shields myself, but thankfully a few awesome people on Twitter came through with some donations which helped me cap this unit off.

    And then last night I put the finishing touches on these retro archers, which are (I believe) a mix of Skarloc’s archers and some of the 80s Lord of the Rings miniatures. I couldn’t tell you which were which though, they all seem to fit together as a cohesive unit very nicely. I was up way too late last night working on these! I definitely want to add more archers to this army, but I think next I will be adding some of the mid 90s sculpts from Aly Morrison to fit my army.

    I did also squeeze in a little bit of a palette cleaner during the weekend between these two units too, a bit of “now-hammer!” in this Necron Canoptek Doomstalker model:

    Will I be so productive this coming week? Stay tuned!
  • Community Spotlight – Aekold Helbrass’s Legion

    Community Spotlight – Aekold Helbrass’s Legion

    The lovely Papa Negan over on the official #PaintSlam21 Discord is joining in with her own Oldhammer project (we’re making 2021 the year of making an oldhammer/middlehammer army, with an emphasis on a 5th edition era collection!)

    HobbySlam21 project – Aekold Helbrass’s Legion

    “Joining Jess this year I’ll be doing an Oldhammer project of my own, a small Legion for the coolest warlord of Tzeentch, Aekold Helbrass, the man with the breath of life.”

    “My army will be two 12 man units of Chaos Warriors, 5 Chaos Knights, 5 Pink horrors and Aekold Helbrass of course. Included in this post is a picture of a test Chaos Warrior which showcases my paint scheme for the army.”

    “The general emphasis should be on relatively bright colors, but with the base design I’d also like to add the general theme of Aekold with bringing life wherever he and his followers go. But all in all, I’m looking forward to painting a full army this year for the first time ever.”

    Thanks for sharing Papa Negan! I can’t wait to see how this army progresses.

    Are you joining us with the retro Warhammer army project this year? Get in touch if you’d like your own community spotlight article!

  • The (un)Safety Dance!

    The (un)Safety Dance!

    So in my last post I teased that my next painting job for the grand Age of Orion project was going to be a unit of Wardancers! Well I’m pleased to say I managed to get them painted before the new year was in!

    Check ’em out!

    The full unit. There’s 14 models in total, including the Warhammer Quest Wardancer (who also has an entry as a named character in the army book)
    I tried to keep the colour choices relatively close to the official ‘Eavy Metal colours as seen in the pages of White Dwarf at the time.
    I also tried to do some small tattoos – you can see deer antlers and swirls in these pictures 🙂
    And I thought I’d get a little David Bowie homage in there too, so this one is called Ziggy!

    I’m not sure which unit or model I’ll work on next for my Wood Elves – to be honest I’m a little spoiled for choice already! But rest assured it’ll be given some serious love!

    In the meantime, I’ve spent the first part of 2021 (speaking of which, don’t forget to join us for PaintSlam21!!

    ) painting Lumineth models from the new Warhammer Underworlds: Direchasm box set. Look out for them on my social media, and I’ll do a post here once the full warband is painted! But what I will say about them now? I’m getting my colour inspiration from more retro elves…

  • My Favourite Wood Elf Miniature Ever!

    My Favourite Wood Elf Miniature Ever!

    So back in Ye Olde Nineties, when I was a mere lass with crippling gender dysphoria and less confidence than a small zebra who has to give a speech in front of ten hungry lions, I fell in love with this Wardancer for Warhammer Quest. I was already totally in love with the Wood Elves of the era. Orion, the Waywatchers, Scouts etc. All lovely miniatures. But it was the Wardancers I liked most, and this character model in particular jumped out to me. It sparked joy.

    So it was that over 20 years later I decided to jump onto eBay and pick it up again (sadly unboxed and without any of the other goodies, but such is life). And I knew I wanted to paint it again, in that ’90s style complete with bright green base and wild primary colours.

    And here he is, after a bunch of nostalgic painting! I like to think I got fairly close to the original vision for the model. I tried to get the yin-yang symbols looking good and I wanted to keep the colours vibrant.

    It was such a blast painting this model again after something like 24 years since I first owned it. I think the level of detail and the pose is just perfect and it’s aged really well. The hair is one of those features you just can’t forget, it’s so iconic and I’d love to see these kind of wacky hairstyles return to the worlds of Warhammer.

    Do you guys have any favourite Warhammer Quest miniatures? Anything you’d love to see me paint? And don’t forget I do commission painting so please get in touch if you have anything you’d like a splash of life on!