Stahly’s Dark Eldar: Paint Scheme and Fluff

Hi there, today I want to talk about my proposed paint scheme for my upcoming Dark Eldar army, and which kabal they are going to belong to. Above you can see my test model. There will be some slight alterations for the final “production” run though. For example, the flayed skin will be painted with less contrast between the dark and the light areas, as I feel it draws the attention away from the rest of the model. Also the bronze areas will become slightly brighter. And no, the head crest won’t be blue, that was just to try out blue as a spot colour, as I’m using this colour for painting hair.

People who have a deeper knowledge of the Dark Eldar fluff will recognize that the paint scheme  above is my interpretation of the Kabal of the Last Hatred. Their background was “fleshed” out in White Dwarf. They’ve got a strong connection to their Haemonculi covens, as they seek to overcome mortality.

To translate this to the tabletop, I will place an emphasis on the kabalite and coven parts of the Dark Eldar book. There will be Kabalite Warriors, Trueborns and Incubi, as well as Haemonculi, Wracks, Scourges and Pain Engines. There will also be a single squad of Wyches because they came with the megaforce and their sprue offers a nice variety of bits so it would be a shame not to keep a couple of them. I will do without Reavers, Beastmasters or Hellions for the near future. I’m gonna add a Razorwing, even though it’s technically operated by a Reaver pilot.

It was quite a ride before I settled on the Last Hatred paint scheme. I’m a big fan of the paint scheme of the studio army, which is supposed to portray Asdrubael Vect’s Kabal of the Black Heart. You know, the dark jade green armour with bronze and purple as spot colours. Originally I thought of doing a slightly tweaked version of it, but then I wanted something more unique. After I’ve seen Sorrowshard’s stunningly beautiful Dark Eldar host I planned for a black and more muted scheme. I like to do something different with each army I collect and I don’t have a black army yet. A couple months ago I painted this test scheme. It’s mainly black with a slight metallic sheen, paint chipping and jade green in various hues as a spot colour.

It was only very recently when I realized I had to think over. Looking at my completed Skaven army, I learnt that muted and more realistic paint schemes are not my cup of tea. I feel more satisfied when pulling off bold colours and contrasts, something I feel I achieved with my recently painted Necromunda gang. So I had a look around and found new inspiration in both Minijunkie’s Dark Eldar models as well as Eye of Error’s Kabal of Endless Twilight. Eye of Error’s Dark Eldar are full of creative conversions (you have to watch his Archon on Black Dragon) and they are dark yet colourful thanks to the clever use of spot colours. Minijunkie’s models finally helped me set to a purple armour/blue hair scheme. Then I dug out my old WDs, found out that this scheme was linked to the kabal of the Last Hatred, enjoyed their fluff and was ready to go.

When you look at the ‘Eavy Metal painted Warrior, you see I’ve slightly tweaked the paint scheme. I did away with yellow as a contrasting colour, instead there will be spots of jade green for the eyes and drug dispensers. For the weapons (and ornaments) I chose a bronze colour, as I felt the black weapon of the ‘Eavy Metal warrior blends too much into the purple armour. So my rendition is a slightly different take on the classic Dark Elf jade green/purple/bronze scheme after all. To retain my sanity I won’t add such elaborate freehands as on the ‘Eavy Metal Warrior, though blue will appear as the hair colour and on cloaks and the like.

What do you think of my paint scheme? Some constructive criticism? Tell me before it’s too late 😉