Monday, November 29, 2010

Dark Eldar Venom MK I

Here is my finished Venom for the BOLS venom competition.  Once the link is up to vote, I will definitely put it up.

I wanted to make a venom from all leftover parts, so all I would have to buy is a vyper.  The warrior is magnetized for easy removal/transfer to another vehicle.  It actually went together rather quickly, and this was also the test color for my new dark eldar army.  I have two blue armies and a green, so I wanted a red army.  I think the colors look pretty good.
I also wanted to do something other than edge highlight all the armor plates like most dark eldar vehicles.  Its a great look, but takes forever and I wanted something different.  I went for a quick and nasty dry-brush/streaked look.  I think I will clean it up a bit, but was in a hurry to finish the model.  I really like the new models and can't wait to put together a bunch of warriors and wyches.

I think the key to designing dark eldar vehicles is to make them spikey, streamlined, and elegant.  If you get too over-the-top crazy, it starts looking too much like chaos.  Dark Eldar may be depraved, but its a classy, refined depravity.  

10 comments:

  1. Good job man that looks great!! I'm not sure of the rules at all but I really like the way you have managed to give it a similar look to the other DE models in the latest range with the blades and the warriors position riding on the side.

    Nice!

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  2. Looks great! Nice job, and good luck with the BOLS comp.

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  3. Sweet

    I have seen a couple of nice conversions of this floating around, was going to hold out for actual kits., but have been inspired into possibly trying my hand....

    Cheers

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  4. Holy Smokes! This thing is awesome. The chick on the side, the dark paint job. I love it. I really like the pilot's head too. This thing has got to win.

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  5. Thanks for all the kind words. My goal on the Venom, was to build it completely with left-over bits. The ravager model gives you a lot of bits, as does the raider. I need to make a couple more of these bad boys.

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  6. Hello.

    I've been browsing through web in search of proper Venom conversions, and seen a lot, and might I say yours is the best. Truly simple and yet almost perfect. Some people try to add the back half of the Raider to the Vyper to get the "transport" feel but I find it wrong for two reasons: firstly, it doesn't exactly match the only art of the Venom that we have and secondly, it wastes a Raider. Your conversion on the other hand uses a single Vyper and mostly the left-overs. I can even see how the wings could be just cut out of plastic (in case you don't have Reaver left-overs available, did you use those?).

    And it matches my vision of the Venom perfectly, while still not wasting any other model. Perfect.

    The only thing I might offer to change is the angle of the wings, it seems that they are directed to the sides and even slightly to the back, not forward. Other than that, perfect, hope you win the contest. Good luck and thank you so much for the inspiration!

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  7. Ow, ow, I forgot to ask: where did you get the standing grill from? I don't recall Raider having any of that left after assembly.

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  8. Elvin, thanks for the praise. The contest ended and I got some votes. I really liked a lot of the other entrants.

    For your questions, the ravager kits give you tons of extra stuff. The rear grate is from a ravager, they don't use them because the weapon sponson fits in where the gangplank goes. So you end up with some extra planks. You are correct that the wings could be made from plasticard, but each raider comes with 2 rudders, giving you an extra. 2 raiders=2 wings for your venom. The reaver kit also gives you 4 cowlings for 3 bikes, chop on in half, and you have the back railings.

    I just finished my second venom, which looks a lot like the first, just slightly better. I will be posting when it gets painted. Soon, so soon.

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  9. So: the back railings = reaver cowling cut in half

    wings = raider/ravager rudders cut

    standing grate = extra grate from ravager kit. Or just steal it from a raider. Who is ever going to pull that thing out anyway?

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  10. > Who is ever going to pull that thing out anyway?
    Heh, I forgot about it the minute I put it in place. :) Thank you for the parts breakdown, it's really helpful.

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