I’ve made some progress in painting the 160-odd miniatures I received from supporting the Ral Partha Chaos Wars Kickstarter in 2016. I’ve started grouping them into armies and factions that are part of my Dark Ages campaign.
Out of the first Kickstarter, I have Orcs/goblyns, Chaos Warriors and Elves. I’ve already blogged about the Chaos Warriors and their paint scheme. Once I get to the Orcs and goblyns, I’ll write more about them, but this post is about the Elves.
The Elves are divided into Sea Elves and Land Elves. Sea Elves have a Grecian/Atlantean feel to them, with colors reflecting the resources they’d have available – bronze for metal, bone instead of wood, shark and whale leather (grey), tropical colors. Sea Elves are blonde or black haired, with some white haired individuals. Their flesh is a pale flesh color. Their shields are works of art themselves. The bosses have a jeweled effect, and the decorations or designs are gold.
In contrast, Land Elves are greens and blues, wood and silver/iron metals, land animal hides for leather. Both share a love of gold trim and fancy shields, but the Land Elves do not bejewel them. Land Elves are the same skin color, and usually have brown, blond or white hair.
As a mini-review of the Ral Partha Chaos Wars figures – well, I like ’em! They are a true 25mm scale. Compared to the chunkier Grenadier figures from the same early 80s era, the Ral Partha figures are more slender, but also more finely detailed. With patience and a good paint technique, these figures can really look amazing. The faces are well detailed. The flash and mold lines are minimal. With the Chaos Wars figures, you can choose from many styles of weapons to either have the same among models or mix/match.
Sea Elves
(Most of these pictures are WIP – I keep filling up my weekends that prevents me from getting decent model shots)
Land Elves
Those look great! I'll probably refer to your photos for some ideas when I (finally) get around to painting mine.
Thank you, Keith. I was thinking about doing a "How to Paint" for the next batch of Sea Elves, and now you've convinced me to make it so.
I hope to see your pictures when you're done.
Can't wait for mine to arrive at the end of the year. I especially like the Sea Elves.
Can't wait for mine to arrive at the end of the year. I especially like the Sea Elves.
Damn, those look amazing!