Okay, okay, I know what you’re thinking. Why the heck is he starting a Harlequins army for Warhammer 40,000?
First, after I built* my Space Wolves army I realized that they were blue and blue is my son Ben’s favorite color (*never mind that Phobos Lieutenant that needs painting still). Ben has always loved playing with the little blue Ultramarines that I inherited from Sammy after he moved. I didn’t think about it until after I had finished the project but I realized that, maybe one day, Ben may end up playing with Dad’s blue Space Marines. That made me think of my daughter Amelia and what she could possibly play in the future. Some army painted pink and gold, her favorite colors, and that got me thinking about Harlequins.
Secondly, my good friend Luke was recently inoculated with the 40k bug after going on an Army exercise and talking to some buddies there. Luke, my brother, and myself grew up playing the Dawn of War video games, but I was the only one to jump ship over to the paper and plastic side of the game. Luke has a baby due soon and, as a way to keep busy (and cope) during this time, he picked up the Grey Knights combat patrol. My excuse now was that I would go on the journey of building and painting a new army with him, a sort of escalation league like approach.
So why Harlequins? I didn't want a huge project, so I wanted to look for something more elite. I had a Death Guard Kill Team that could have easily and more affordably been turned into an army, but a pink and gold Death Guard army didn't seem exciting to me. Custodes? I don't really like their models a ton. Harlequins? The army that may be hanging on by a thread? I never really like the clown masks, but reviewing the sprues closer I saw a lot of Venetian Carnival masks that I did like. I also realize that I big fan of mounted units (see White Scars army) and that the Skyweaver jetbikes looked super cool to me. Pick a simple paint scheme without any fancy freehand and I think the paint job will be fun and easy. So there we go.
Only thing left to do was head to the FLGS and pick up round 1. I found the Twilight Cavalcade Combat Patrol from a White Dwarf issue and looked at that as a starting buy list, plus maybe an extra box of jetbikes. My FLGS didn't have the Voidweaver kit but did have a Death Jester in stock.
Progress - May 16, 2025: After picking up the models on Monday, I started building models a bit here and there throughout the week. I finished the Shadowseer, Death Jester, and the first box of Troupes.
Progress - May 20, 2025: Well, my buddy's baby was born on Friday last week! With that, it means that our usual video game nights are on hiatus for the next couple weeks while they learn how to take care of two kiddos. I took advantage of these nights by continuing to hobby.
I built the last of the kits I had including second troupe box and my two Skyweaver Jet Bikes. For the Jet Bikes, I wanted to paint it in sub-assemblies so I didn't glue the riders down. I tried something new, using regular ol' PVA glue on the Jet Bike pilots' arms to give me more working time to set them in place on the bike. I hope that it will be strong enough of a hold to take the riders off once the glue dries. I need to pin the riders to something for easier painting.
Additionally, I had some extra time last night so I busted out my beach sand and based all the models. Because there is so much exposed base, I may have gone overboard with the amount of glue I applied. We'll see how long it holds. I always prefer basing before priming because I feel like the primer helps seal the basing material on. I'm hoping to hit everything with a white primer in the next day or so. I'm really cooking on this project!
Progress - May 27, 2025: Over the Memorial Day weekend, I took some time to experiment on some of the built Harlequins. I was originally thinking I was going to prime them with a white, but when my can of white primer was dead, I decided to try the
flat red primer from Rustoleum that I love so much. Unfortunately, I only got to prime about one mini before that can died too! The winter must have really been harsh on my spray cans...
After priming Flat Red, I went to town with some base coat colors to get an idea of what my initial plan for a paint scheme will look like (Paint Brands: AP = Army Painter, GW = Games Workshop, PA = Pro Acryl):
Paint Scheme Recipe
Leotard: Base Magenta (PA), Shade Reikland Fleshshade (GW), Highlight TBDMask, Armor, and Weapon: Base Copper (PA), Shade Reikland Fleshshade (GW)*, Highlight White Gold (PA)Weapon Glow: Base Titanium White (PA), Shade Fluorescent Pink (PA), Highlight Titanium White (PA)*Note: I may try Tamiya Panel Liner Black on the Masks and Armor.
Hair and Ribbons: Base Jade (PA), Shade Reikland Fleshshade (GW), Highlight 1:1 Titanium White:Jade (PA:PA)Blacks: Base Abbadon Black (GW), Shade Reikland Fleshshade (GW), Highlight Warm Grey (PA) Gems: Base Sky Blue (PA), Highlight Titanium White (PA)
After spending about 30 minutes on this model, I think I find the colors pretty decent. I don't love the blue gems and I may try to use the black panel liner on the mask to make it pop a bit more.
The biggest issue is that the leotard appears very bland. While my goal for this project was to not do anything crazy with painting free hand, I think something like the transfers are needed to bring it up to the next level.
Also, I went with a grey base color to help offset the garish colors of the paint scheme. If I black rim the base, I wonder how it will turn out. More to come!
Progress - May 29, 2025: Time to start from scratch. After looking back through my project “mood board” for color inspiration, I’ve scrapped my initial magenta test models in lieu of something more pink and swapped the jade green accents for red. Not having an appropriate color, I mixed the fluorescent pink with some white to create a a pink color I was looking for. Problem was, the fluorescent paint would separate as the model dried and pooled in the recesses.
I scrapped everything, reprimed, and went to purchase a dedicated pink color (Flugrim Pink) and started basing all my models that color. I then trialed the pink and red scheme on a model and was getting a slightly happier result, though we are now looking at twice the amount of work I was originally planning.
Progress - June 5, 2025: So, we scrapped the original paint job and came up with a new painting plan.
During the past week, I've took 30 minutes on Monday and Tuesday to get a little bit of work done on the pinks, blacks, and reds. Wednesday I worked on the Jade and started on the Golds. I've got all Harlequin models getting to the 80% completion and also futzed around on the Death Jester and Shadowseer.
I usually paint in batches of 5 to 7 models and not such a large quantity and not in this 14 person blob. I was worried with how if the final paint scheme was going to pay off, but seeing the models at 80% I'm getting a little more confident on what the final state is going to look like.
Looking forward towards a 1000 point list, I picked up two more Skyweavers and a Voidweaver to build. I'm hoping to pick up two more Troupe boxes whenever they come back in stock at my local game stores. Another pair of Voidweavers would be fun to pick up to dual build them.
Progress - June 12, 2025: A couple small hobby nights over the past week. Last night we finish* the first 12 troupes (*okay, they're not 100% done. They need a second coat of black around the base rim, some of the bases need some wash, and I need to decide to what to do with the fusion pistols). I put some highlights of Pro Acryl White Gold on the copper bits and I love how it desaturated the gold to a more antique look.
I worked a bit on the Shadowseer and Death Jester to bring them pretty close to start wrapping up. I'll also start moving forward on the Skyweavers that I have sitting off screen.
I started building the Voidweaver I picked up, though moving slowly because I need to magnetize it for it to switch between Voidweaver and Starweaver. Still waiting for more troupe boxes to come in stock at my FLGS to pick up... Two troupe boxes would put me at a 1000 pt list that I'll be happy with.
Progress - July 10, 2025: So it's been a good while since I did any hobby. Prior to taking some time off for a family vacation, I spent time building a Voidweaver and a pair of Skyweavers. I converted two extra Troupes from the Voidweaver kit, so that was a pleasant surprise. I also purchased some used models off of the Frontline gaming store, bringing my collection close to 1700pts. I also picked up two surprise kits, that I'll talk about when I finalize the plan for them!
I spent some time trying to paint up my first pair of Skyweavers with aggravating results. I eventually gave up to rethink a plan, and painted up my Space Marine Phobos Librarian to cleanse my pallet. I'm scrapping the pink and going with a red and gold scheme for the vehicles, leaving the pink on the riders. The pink was so difficult to fix mistakes on. I tried hide the mistakes with some freehand, but then we just ended up with Christmas...
I eventually just went to cover up everything in red, hoping that when I start from scratch with the others I won't make the same mistake, and also hoping that I wouldn't have to reprime these first two bikes. But the green from the freehand is still visible under the red! Maybe we can hide it with some weathering or freehand in gold, but for right now, we're just going to take the L and move on.
Progress - July 18, 2025: I spent a a half hour a few nights this week touching up the first pass at the Skyweavers. They still need the riders arms glues on and painted, but they look thoroughly mediocre. I also spent time trying to get a red base coat down on the new Voidweaver and Skyweavers, finally getting a decent finish on them.
I also picked up some used troupes and a pair of Voidweavers from Front Line Gaming's used store during their 20% off sale.
I also started working on my Wraithguard project! I started replacing the dome heads with a jetbike mask and I think it looks sick. Problem is, I'm already out of masks and I want 6 more of these. The bits are too expensive online, so I'm trying to devise a plan on the remaining six models that will help make my puppets a little more killer clown.
Progress - August 06, 2025: Needed a break from building and painting the Harlequins, so I spent some time working on some Bolt Action items for a Meet-Up at the end June. After a few weeks, I was back at the painting table.
In two hour long sessions I got the the Pinks down on the Wraithguard puppets. I worked on the nearly finished Skyweavers, having a hard time trying to get the arms attached properly. I decided to only put one arm on, and attach a troupe weapon arm to the other side. The result is kind of a bodge job. The Voidweaver got some gold and silver trim done, along with a recessed shade in the panels and doesn't look half bad at this point.
We are currently in Tax Free week here in Ohio with some discounts at the FLGS. I picked up a can of Army Painter Red spray paint, so I don't have to go through the pain of trying to base coast the used Voidweavers Red again... I also picked up two more Troupe boxes, bringing me nearly up to 2000pt once they are built.
Progress - August 07, 2025: Our usual video game nights have been cancelled this week, so I've put in some extra effort on my painting. Today, I spent 2 hours getting some dry brushing and blacks done, then most of that time painting gold. I typically don't paint in batches this large, so by the time I was on the sixth model I was already bored. This stage sucked, but I powered through it thanks to having happily just become a PBS Passport member and I listened to the second episode of Ken Burn's Civil War (which has been awesome).
With the first layer of gold down, the Wraithguard Puppets look pretty cool. Second layer of gold to go down next time with a spot color of red to finish them off before basing.
Progress - August 14, 2025: A few small 20 minute hobby nights this week and I took the opportunity to finish up the gold, get the red on the weapon cases, get some grey down on the bases, and the final wash over the gold and red parts. Looking at them closer, I'm wondering if I do a glow effect under some of the eyes.
The Jeep also got a little bit of paint slapped on it while we waited for some things to dry on the wraithguard. I'm starting a new hobby diary soon as I work on some Bolt Action miniatures for an up coming tournament. I think I'm going to post my diary in a "time line" order instead of chronological. That is, with the most recent post and photos at the top? That's probably easier to follow along to, but probably isn't as nice to read once the project is completed.
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