The Wild Hunt – 40k Harlequins

Only a small update, but I have gotten the Ishaan contingent of the army primed and ready for some paint:

For anyone interested, the prime starts with AP Fur Brown spray all over, then GW Zandri Dust from a zenithal angle (maybe between 45-70°), then GW Wraithbone from directly above. It’s a great base for the warm contrast paints I’m using and it really helps define light and shadow.

Excited to slap some paint on some of these. 😀

The last couple of weeks have been slow hobby-wise, but I’ve built a ton of troupers:

I really like how the Namarti worked out. If I need any more troupers, that’s the kit I’ll turn to.

The guy in the middle with sword and fusion pistol I’ll use as a Troupe Master, the pose is suitably commanding for a HQ model.

Speaking of HQ models, I found another Age of Sigmar model to turn into a Troupe Master. This time it is half of the Ellania and Ellathor model:

Really pleased with how this looks. It’s a great model, but I sadly don’t have a use for her brother, who is too obviously fantasy to fit in.

Next up, about a million hours of gap filling and smoothing before I can do some more painting  ;_;

Thanks for looking <3

‘Finished’ painting my first batch of character models. I might go back at some point and do some highlighting, but for now I want to maintain momentum and get to work on some more rank and file.

First up is this Troupe Master, who I’ve named The Howl of Kurnous:

Just noticed some rubbed off paint on his foot there. Annoying. He’s armed with a neurodisruptor and a harlequin’s caress, but modelling him with a hunting spear also lets him count as having a power weapon or standard blade.

Next up is a Shadowseer, who I’ve named Isha in Grieving:

Don’t let the lack of grenade backpack get to you. Maybe she keeps her hallucinogen grenades in her hair.

Finally a Death Jester, known simply as The Stag:

After all, when the hunt is on, Death and the stag go hand in hand.

Next up I need to finish building some more Troupers and then I have a lot of gap filling and smoothing to do with green stuff. I’ll paint some of those before rewarding myself with painting some more characters.

Thanks for looking <3

I received my box of Namarti Reavers and went to work chopping them up. Early results are in:

Honestly, I might even like these more than the wood elves. The female ones are a bit too slender of limb and the Harlequin weapons/hands look a bit too big on them. But I might be able to address that with some green stuff.

Excited to see how they look once gaps are filled and they are primed ready for paint. But looking promising so far 😀

Got my hands on this 3D-printed third party elf star player and promptly chopped him to bits:

He looks okay I think. Not my favourite model from this army but he gets the job done. And he’s much happier now, just look at that smile.

Also had a bit of a breakthrough about basic Troupers. As much as I like the BB Wood Elves, at the end of the day the box only has six poses, so even with different weapons and faces they’ll start looking quite same-y.

Anyway I was idly browsing the GW webstore and was reminded of these:

I think these could make some solid Harlequins. Just some headswaps, new arms or weapons, paint in my Harlequin colours, and they should blend in ok. Plus I’ve already broken the seal on including Idoneth models with my Death Jester.

Perhaps the Wood Elf conversions venerate Kurnous, and the Idoneth conversions are vassals of Isha. The fluff writes itself!  I’ll post some sample conversions soon.

I’m currently working on painting the first few character models I converted and they’re nearly done.

I’ve also started work on the next box of troupers.  Since the new codex was released, apparently the weapons I gave the first batch no longer make sense, so these are all going to get shuriken pistols and either swords or harlequin kisses, so I can make some sensibly equipped troupes.

I’m also considering the wood elf star player Gloriel Summerbloom as the base for another Troupe Master.  It’s a cool model, and with my existing Troupe Master it would pair nicely as a duo playing Kurnous and Isha.  However, I am a little concerned that it would be hard to remove her face to replace it with a Harlequin mask.  It might require some resculpting of hair with green stuff, which I am not great at.

I’m also planning on getting some Starweavers for everyone to drive around in.  But that is a ways off, I have plenty to do already.

Thanks for looking <3

The Wood Elf models for Blood Bowl are really cool and athletic:

You know who else is cool and athletic?

Harlequins!  When I first saw the BB Wood Elves, my first thought was they would make some cool Harlequins.  Perhaps they could be Exodite Wardancers, or have a particular obsession with the Aeldari legends of Kurnous, god of the hunt.

I converted up my first box of BB Wood Elves a couple of years ago:

They then sat in a box for a good long while as I alternated between other projects and losing interest in painting.  Recently though I dug them out and got some paint on them:

I’ve chosen a very simple (some might say lazy) painting process: a zenithal undercoat (AP Fur Brown, GW Zandri Dust, GW Wraithbone) followed by GW contrast paints.  It gives me some shading, midtone and highlights with one layer of paint.  Masks and weapons get a few layers of highlighting and shading since they are focal points.  Character models may also get some highlights.  I went with an autumnal colour scheme since it is autumn here.

Around the same time I built these models, I also built some characters:

From left to right we have:

• A Troupe Master, based on the Forge World  BB star player Eldril Sidewinder
• A Solitaire, who was built along with the regular troupers
• A Shadowseer, based on a Dark Elf Sorceress
• A Death Jester, who I just gave some horns to match the theme

Asides from the Solitaire, who is already painted, these are currently being painted.  I guess they will be my next update!

Once I started painting the troupers, I got the itch.  What had initially been one box of models for Kill Team started to seem like a plausible army.  And I had my eyes on some other fantasy models to convert as characters.

First up is a Shadowseer, who is based on the Lumineth Scinari Cathallar.  Then there’s a Death Jester, my favourite model of the whole lot so far, based on an Idoneth Akhelian Thrallmaster:

He has a cane because the Harlequins are nothing if not fancy weirdos.  But if anyone asks, it can be reconfigured as a tripod for his gun.