On the Bench: Lelith Hesperax

One of the projects that I have decided to work on for the next year is to paint one model with the intention of entering it into various contests. I am going to be frank with myself from the start and declare that I do not expect to win any contests that I enter. While this may seem a little defeatist, I feel that it is something I must accept if I want to be successful while still truly enjoying the process. The end result for me is not to win a contest, but to feel comfortable in entering one. It may seem funny, but while I am very comfortable running tournaments and contests, I am the exact opposite when it comes to entering them.

When it comes to the model I am going to use for this project, I found myself quickly drawn to the dark eldar line of models for a few reasons. First, I haven’t noticed a lot of them, so I like the feeling of working on something different from the crowd. Second, I generally consider the dark eldar HQ models to be some of the best sculpted models available. In particular, the special characters are outstanding with the exception of one. Finally, I wanted to pick something that I liked, but wouldn’t feel drawn to with regards to building another army (imperial guard and daemons are enough).

Of the available dark eldar special characters, two of them stood out to me. I must admit that my first choice was Drazhar, as I not only love the model, but the idea and fluff behind the model. As I considered the model, and tried to trade for a new one, I remembered that I had Lelith Hesperax in a blister somewhere in my closest of toys. I decided to find her and stare at the blister for awhile, my logic being that it would help me decide which model I really wanted to paint. Surprisingly, my logic was correct and I decided to paint Lelith.

One of the first decisions that I needed to make was how I was going to base her. It just happened that while I was considering this project I was also working on stuff for Invasion Kenosha II. One of the things I was doing was talking with potential sponsors. One of those potential sponsors was Dragonforge, a company that does scenic bases. I really liked a couple of their lines, so I decided to purchase some round bases to use on this project.

When it came to mounting the model onto the base, I decided that the model would need to be pinned to the base if I expected it to stay on. I used a 1 mm drill bit on the foot and base and inserted a .9 mm plastic rod into the base. I needed to file the rod slightly so that it would fit snuggle onto the foot of the model.

I assembled the model using generic super glue.

My next step is going to be to green stuff a few spots that need to be filled or smoothed.