The Lumineth Realm-lords Army Set has been a renaissance for aelf fans, with hundreds building, painting, and playing their first games with this incredible new army. Today, we’re looking at three particularly incredible fledgling collections from folks who work in the Warhammer Community team and the Warhammer Age of Sigmar studio...
Darcy Rowley – High Warden of Scheduling
I’d been looking forward to getting my hands on the Lumineth models ever since I learnt they were on their way to the Mortal Realms, and they do not disappoint! The sculpts are fantastic. I keep discovering little details, like the heel down position of the Vanari Dawnriders, which really emphasise what a sophisticated and well-trained force they are.
Reading through the battletome, I was struck by the amazing art for the Iliatha High Warden, and resolved to try and replicate that colour scheme. I also can’t wait to see the look on my friends faces if I manage to roll well on my simulacra amulet.
For the cloth areas, to try and achieve that lovely shade of orange, I wet-blended Gore-Grunta Fur, Gryph-Hound Orange and Iyanden Yellow. Wet-blending using Contrast paints is loads of fun, and I encourage everyone to give it a go. For the armor panels, I settled on using a base of Blue Horror, followed by a layer of Gryph-Charger Grey before painting the detail work gold using metallic paints.
For the headdresses I couldn’t resist trying a sunset effect – I wet-blended the same colours that I used for the cloth, but this time finishing with a very small amount of Flesh Tearers Red. Getting the Contrast paint to stay in the right places while drying did take a little bit of inventiveness.
I wanted the bases to really contrast with the bright, warm colours I had used on the models, so I used Astrogranite, Astrogranite Debris and layers of PVA glue to create a cold, barren shoreline. A few layers of Stegadon Scale Green and Ahriman Blue in between the PVA layers, followed by a final drybrush of White Scar completed the effect.
Phil Kelly – Loremaster
As soon as I saw the Vanari Auralan Warden models, I knew I had to have a whole bunch of them, all ranked up and looking spikier than a Chaos hedgehog. There’s just something about a pike block, it’s a genuinely intimidating sight even before you get to all the warscrolls, synergies, and whatnot. The first order of business was to figure out a paint scheme that was quick and effective. Last year I’d painted my Cypher Lords red, white, and gold, and I liked how striking it looked. Here’s the recipe – it takes only ten quick steps in total before basing.
Stage one, spray the models with Wraithbone.
Two, paint the trim with Retributor Armour – that’s the fiddly bit out of the way.Stage three, use Flesh Tearers Red to fill in the panels of the cloth, the broad stripe on the shield, and sections of the helm crest.
Stage four is to paint the hafts of the spear, the sword hilt's binding, and the interior of the shield with Cygor Brown.
Five, paint the scale mail with Leadbelcher.
Stage six is where it all comes together – using Guilliman Flesh, wash the gold, silver and the recessed bits of the red, letting the paint’s flow delineate the borders between the colours. Whilst you’re at it, do the hands, face, and soles of the shoes.
Stage seven is to carefully tidy up any mess with Wraithbone Base paint, and pick out the gems.
Eight, paint Akhelian Green on the gems, tassels, eyes, and the sash around the scabbard.
Stage nine, wash the white bits of the crest and the pleated robe with Apothecary White.
A quick highlight of Stormhost Silver on the edges of the gold and silver bits for stage ten, and you’re done.
The aetherquartz on the bases is another simple trick, as it’s just spare flying stands snapped into shards with clippers. Be super careful when you do this – it’s well worth covering the end of the clippers with a hand to stop bits flying off. When you get the hang of it, you’ll have some striking bases to compliment your high-contrast model, all nice and swift. Just how the Lumineth like it!
Joel Townsend – Graphic Design Artisan
As a fan of all things aelfy, the Lumineth stood out, and as soon as I saw the models I knew I needed to have some. I especially loved the look of the Dawnriders, so decided I’d build a small (at least to start with) force based around them.
With so many other projects on at the moment, I decided to do a test, so I’ve only just finished my first knight. I’m pleased with how he has turned out and I’m looking forward to painting up the others!
Since I usually go for darker colour schemes, I wanted to do something bright with lots of colours. After a few thoughts about the Realm of Light, I ended up wanting to paint rainbow blends. Since the plumes and horsehair are so colourful, the other areas had to be quite plain so I used white, gold and dark blue.
Speaking of the blue, It’s a 1:1:1 mix of Teclis Blue, Fenrisian Grey and White Scar, then adding more White Scar to the mix for blending, with the brightest mix being a crisp line to define the muscles.
I’ve built up a couple of wardens and the Light of Eltharion now, so they’re next on the list. I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on a Spirit of the Mountain though!
The full Lumineth Realm-lords range will be hitting shelves soon! In the meantime, send us pictures from your painted Army Set on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with #WarhammerCommunity.