The army of Spires; assembly time

[Prince of Spires]

The difference between the newer Sisters compared to the old Maiden Guard is noticable. The main issue for me isn't so much the size difference. The newer models look a bit like weightlifters or bodybuilders next to the lithe and elegant older models.

Thanks for the comparison picture. Certainly a noticeable difference between the two miniatures. I guess I was somewhat hopeful, though I don’t know if I could afford some of the old maiden guard models so maybe this is a good thing

I was really surprised myself at the difference between the two models in terms of how broad the new ones are. When viewed by themselves, the new Sisters are very nice models and quite feminine and elven. However, place the old maiden guard beside them and that changes completely...

And yes, the prices they tend to go for on ebay are ridiculous. I'm not actually sure how I ended up with 26 of them. I certainly didn't pay the $250+ they're going for now... I think I collected them in a couple of smaller lots. It takes a bit of luck finding the right seller on ebay I guess. It must be said though that the prices for the metal Everqueen model have returned to somewhat decent levels. Still expensive, but given that GW characters can easily go for €25+ as well, seeing her for €45 isn't too bad.

[Prince of Spires]

Got my Flamespire phoenix assembled. For a first for me, I decided to magnetize the rider, so I could have both a ridden and unridden version of him. Currently, he isn't very good, so I'm hoping next edition he'll be awesome! And it's nice to have options. Also, I just liked experimenting with the magnets. Which was as much reason to do this as anything.

With rider:


Without:

[Prince of Spires]

Put together one of the conversion projects I had in mind while waiting for some paint to arrive. I just checked back, and I last painted something about 9 years ago... And time had not been kind to my GW paints. I threw almost all of them out. Interestingly enough, I also had some Vallejo air colours, and they were just fine...

Anyway, I had the bolt thrower from the Skycutter left over. Turned it into a RBT (together with a converted spearelf). I'm pleased with the result.

[Prince of Spires]

With that RBT assembled, I've got all models I had originally planned to assemble put together. Except now of course I received the MTO stuff, which is metal. And since my superglue bottle is starting to look worse each time I open it, I'll assemble them first. But with them received and everything that I assembled so far, it's time to update the master list again.

index:
- finished
- asembled/in progress
- just owned

Characters
- 1 Everqueen (metal)
- 1 Imrik on dragon (half metal)
- 1 Eltharion on Stormwing
- 1 Alith Anar (metal)
- 1 Caradryan (metal)
- 1 Korhil (metal)
- 1 Ishaya Vess
- 1 Dragon (plastic)
- 1 Dragon mage
- 1 Griffon (IOB)
- 1 Griffon (IOB)
- 1 Prince / Battle Standard Bearer on Great Eagle (secret santa)
- 1 Battle standard bearer, mounted (plastic prince / bsb kit)
- 1 Prince on foot (secret santa metal)
- 1 Noble on foot, Great weapon (plastic prince / bsb kit)
- 1 Noble sword and shield (metal)
- 1 Noble bow (metal)
- 1 Noble sword and bow (metal)
- 1 Noble axe and shield (metal)
- 1 Hero dual handweapon (metal)
- 1 Hero spear and shield (metal)
- 1 Hero, mounted, sword and shield (metal)
- 1 Hero, mounted, sword and shield (metal)
- 1 Anointed on foot
- 1 Loremaster
- 1 Seahelm battle standard bearer
- 1 Mage elemental (metal)
- 1 Mage with staff and sword (metal)
- 1 Mage with staff and sword (metal)
- 1 Mage rocking with sword (metal)
- 1 Mage, mounted with sword and staff (metal)
- 1 Mage (IOB)
- 1 Mage (IOB)
- 1 Handmaiden of the Everqueen (metal)
- 1 Stormweaver on unicorn (metal)

Core
- 16 spearmen, (plastic) full command
- 8 spearmen (plastic monopose)
- 12 spearmen (plastic)
- 4 spearmen (plastic monopose)
- 16 archers, full command
- 8 archers (plastic monopose)
- 9 archers, champion, musician (metal)
- 8 archers (plastic monopose)
- 20 Lothern sea guard(metal), full command
- 10 Lothern sea guard(IOB), full command
- 10 Lothern sea guard(IOB)
- 8 Elyrian Reavers, full command (metal)
- 5 Elyrian Reavers (IOB)
- 5 Elyrian Reavers (IOB)
- 16 Silver helms(plastic), full command

Special
- 10 White Lions, full command (latest metal)
- 5 White Lions (latest metal)
- 21 White Lions (plastic), full command, 1 unit filler base
- 10 Swordmasters, full command (latest metal)
- 5 Swordmasters (metal)
- 20 Swordmasters(IOB), full command
- 26 Phoenix guard, full command (metal)
- 5 Shadow warriors, champ (latest metal)
- 2 Shadow warriors, (previous metal)
- 10 Dragon princes, full command(latest metal)
- 1 Tyranoc chariot
- 1 White lion chariot
- 1 Skycutter

Rare
- 26 Maiden guard, 2 champions, 2 musicians, 1 standard bearer (metal)
- 10 Sisters of Avelorn
- 1 Flamespire phoenix (kitbashed)
- 1 Flamespire phoenix (with magnetized rider)
- 1 Frosthear phoenix
- 1 Frosthear phoenix (kitbashed)
- 2 Great eagle (metal)
- 1 Repeater bolt thrower
- 1 Repeater bolt thrower
- 1 Repeater bolt thrower(skycutter kitbash)
- 1 Repeater bolt thrower(last metal version)
- 1 Merwyrm (Forge World resin)

By my count, it's 354 models. Of those, 168 are done, 158 are in progress (meaning, they're assembled and can be used in a game), and 28 are still in their box (edit: now, 171 done, 155 in progress, 28 to do).

With all that, I'm back to having more models not finished than models finished, though it's close (168 finished to 186 not finshed). It's close though. Just finishing 10 models would change that round again (since each model I finish sort of counts double in that regard ). At least I doubt I'll ever get to a situation again where I have more models not started than models I can play with (which is 326 to 28). Unless I somehow get covered in boxes...

Currently I'm painting the 2 Shadow Warriors and Alith Anar, just to get back to painting a bit. After that, it's back to assembling more models for a bit while trying not to glue them to my fingers (or my fingers to each other...).

[Prince of Spires]

Alith Anar and Shadow Warriors are done!




Looking back through my plog, last time I painted a mini was 9 years ago Life has been busy.... Pro tip: if you want to get stuff painted, don't have your hobby die in The End Times, have kids, move, and change jobs a few times...

I sorted through my painted and had to get rid of most of them. Probably not a surprise to anyone, but the GW paint pots are terrible. Pretty much all of them dried out, while the few Vallejo dropper bottles I have (mainly in airbrush paints), are pretty much as they were when I last used them. Time to start a new paint collection I guess. Though I'll go with more non-GW paints this time. Local hobby store has a lot of Army Painter paints. I'll be giving them a try.

I'm happy with the results. I did feel very rusty. But it's slowly coming back. And I've got another 186 models + some terrain to practice on. So I'll get back into it

Next up, assembling the MTO stuff, starting with the Stormweaver on unicorn (since I at least have a model for all the other stuff already assembled). After that, back to painting (it's only 12 models...). Probably the SH, since they get used a lot as one of our better core options.

[Anduil of Elithis]

Good to see you painting again and good work on the three models. Pictures could be a bit more sharp, though. It's difficult to make out the details.

[Prince of Spires]

Good point on the pictures. I noticed the same thing when I uploaded them. I'll try to get some better pictures...