Unit a Week - Eldar Guardians

The completed squad! ...I'm sure they won't live long on the battlefield

Welcome to the first of what will become many posts for the Unit a Week! In these posts I will be going over exactly what steps I've taken to paint different models in my collection as they become battle ready! In this way I hope that I can help others in their efforts to paint and collect their own models.

Now, anybody who knows me knows that I like to keep my paint plans simple. I struggled a bit with this, because all Eldar models are so beautifully detailed, but I was able to finally reconcile the detailed models with a simple painting process.

To begin with I primed the models white. A lot of thought was given to this, because I wanted the Guardians to look like they were a bit dirty and battle worn. My first inclination was to prime black, but in the end I went with white because I wanted the models to really pop on the tabletop, and white primer usually means a brighter end result.

My test model, after applying Scorpion Green to the helmet and gun.

For step 2 I waited until the primer was totally dry (about an hour) and washed the entire model with straight Nuln Oil. This was my first go at the Citadel Shades, and I have to say that they do what they're told  way better than the old washes. They ran where they were supposed to, they didn't pool on flat surfaces as badly as the old washes and they seemed to just...flow better I guess.

Onward to step 3 - Dry brushing. I dry brushed the entire model lightly with Skull White, picking out edges where possible. In this stage I allowed myself to be a bit sloppy because I hadn't don't much with the models yet. Had I done this step later I would have had to use a smaller brush and it would have taken forever. But never mind that, just load up your largest dry brush and have at it.
Step 4 was to base coat the helmets, guns and other wraithbone bits. For the helmets I wanted a nice green color, so I immediately went to Gnarlock Green. For the gun and other wraithbone bits I simply went with good ole Chaos Black.

The entire squad, Scorpion Green'd and ready for gems to be painted.

For step 4 I layered Scorpion Green over the Gnarlock Green and it ended up drying really nicely. I also though it would look cool to layer Gnarlock Green and then Scorpion green down the length of the "barrel" of the Guardians' Shuriken catapults.

Step 5 was to Over brush the Shuriken catapults and other wraithbone bits with Shadow Grey.

After some white highlights.

For Step 6 I highlighted all over the armor of the model with Skull White. This was important, because I wanted the model to look bright and white, but also battle worn. I think it went well.


Step 7 was to work on the gems. Nothing too fancy here. Just a simple base coat of Blood Red with a thin swoosh of Mecharius Solar Orange along the bottom of the gems, and a small dot of white at the top of the gem. If I had any, I would have added a dot of gloss varnish to each gem, but a.) I didn't have any and b.) they're Guardians... I'm not that worried about it. Gems: easy.

Gems are really fun to paint, and can add depth and brilliance to your models

And then... the base. I decided to use a Texture Paint on the base, followed by a blue wash. After the wash dried I over brushed the base with Shadow Grey and again lightly with Skull White. Then I painted the rim of the base with Shadow Grey. Finally, I put some blobs of PVA glue on the bases, dipped them in snow flock, blew off the excess and left them to dry.

The whole squad, completed and ready for the photoshop treatment.

Done.

These Guardians really didn't take too long to complete, and I think they look cool. I'm a fan of what I call "cheating at painting", and I try to get the most out of every step I take painting a model.
I hope this was helpful to anyone who might be looking for a bit of painting inspiration. With a variation I could see this as a a decent paint plan for White Scars Space Marines or the like.
That's about all for this post. Thanks a bunch for reading!

-Matt-

Guardians play a game. It's called "shoot you from a distance, and run if you get too close".
Thanks to the Fleet of Foot rule they're really good at it.