The new Vyper kit is zooming into pre-orders this Saturday, and it’s been a long time coming – some of Team Warhammer weren’t even born when its predecessor came along. But age gaps aside, what we all have in common is a love for this modern classic, so we handed a few out around the office with the requirement that they be painted in one of the iconic craftworld colour schemes, as a nod to the Vyper’s impressive pedigree.
Rob – Saim-Hann
I ended up needing to paint my Vyper on a very tight timescale, so I used a load of time-saving techniques I’d learned from various Warhammer tutorials – like James’ guide to overbrushing – to get the entire thing finished in six hours.
Since the two hull sections can be assembled separately from the chassis, I sprayed both with Mephiston Red while the bulk of the model got a blast of Chaos Black. The red parts were darkened down with a wash of Blood Angels Red Contrast paint before being sponged with layers of Mephiston Red, 1:1 Mephiston Red and Evil Sunz Scarlet, and pure Evil Sunz Scarlet. I also did a bit of edge highlighting with the latter towards the front, so it stood out more.
The black sections were overbrushed with Mechanicus Standard Grey and then drybrushed with Dawnstone and Administratum Grey, before being darkened back down with a 1:1 mix of Black Templar and Contrast Medium. I wanted to have the pilots visible but didn’t really have enough time to do a detailed job, so I painted their helmets white before drybrushing the whole cockpit with Warpstone Glow and Moot Green, to make it look like they were being lit up by their dashboards.
Finally, I put a thin coat of Stormshield varnish on the canopies to frost them up a little, so I didn’t need to worry too much about how detailed the pilots actually were. This was a trick I figured out when I was 14 and royally messed up the driver of my first Fire Prism grav-tank!*
Drew – Biel-Tan
I painted the Vyper to fit my Biel-Tan collection, following a Falcon grav-tank I finished not too long ago that was heavily inspired by an 'Eavy Metal showcase from the 3rd Edition of Warhammer 40,000. My first contact with Warhammer was page 19 of that edition’s Codex: Eldar, and the Falcon and Vyper on display really made their mark, so I wanted to make mine an homage to that.
Having the hull and body separate is very handy for Aeldari models who often have a different colour for both, especially when bright whites are involved. The white hull was quickly primed with White Scar spray and covered in a thinned-down mix of Apothecary White and Contrast Medium, before the recesses were lined with Dark Reaper and a White Scar highlight brightened it all up.
I really like the swivelling turret feature, so I kept that part unglued and painted all the parts of the mechanism in a green a bit darker than the hull, to make sure the focus is on the great curves of the model. It will also help to hide any chips if I scuff the turret a little too much while making plane and laser noises, which we all do – don’t try and say otherwise.
The main hull was basecoated with a mix of Caliban Green and Abaddon Black, then glazed with Warpstone Glow toward the edges to build up some volume and highlights around the natural edges of the model. I further added glazes of Warboss Green and Skarsnik Green to accentuate the light, and a mix of the Krieg Khaki and white to bring out the sharpness of the shapes. Finally, I painted the thorn details on it using a guide I had featured in White Dwarf Issue 462. Now I need to paint more Guardians, and some Howling Banshees!
James – Alaitoc
The Vyper was the first kit I bought nearly 30 years ago when I was a kid. So having the opportunity to paint up the sleek new model was an absolute joy. I have a small Aeldari force that was waiting to be painted as Alaitoc, so this model was the perfect chance to test the scheme I had in mind.
I went for a more classic look for them, with my added love for weathering everything. The main colour is Kantor Blue, with a couple of really thin layers of Lothern Blue airbrushed to create a nice gradient.
Making use of thinned down Contrast paints and a damp STC Medium Drybrush, I created the streaks across the whole model. Garaghak's Sewer and Ratling Grime are my go-to for dirtying up miniatures, so this was built up in a couple of areas to create a subtle weathering that represents the speed and agility of the Vyper.
Steve – Iyanden
I've been collecting Iyanden for years now, with somewhere in the region of 11,000 points fully painted. As you'd expect, that is mostly taken up by the ghostly side of the Aeldari, however this new kit evoked very fond memories of White Dwarf Issue 207 and gave me a great reason to enlist a couple more of the craftworld's precious few remaining Guardians to crew it.
When I began my force, I wanted to make it an easy yet clean looking colour scheme as I'd always been a little intimidated by the Aeldari's intricate aesthetic.
I started by undercoating in White Scar, then used Casandora Yellow Shade followed by Sigismund Yellow Clear. The result is a vibrant and clean yellow that I love, which is then further accentuated by the Abaddon Black, Macragge Blue, and Skeleton Horde I've also used for details.
James – Ulthwé
I started my Ulthwé army when Codex: Eldar** came out in 1994 – before even the first Vyper kit was released! – and it’s been a core part of my collection ever since. I knew two things as soon as I saw this miniature: I had to have one, and the pilots had to have yellow helmets like in the old school Ulthwé colour scheme.
The miniature is an absolute joy to build and, with the range of motion on the turret and weapons, can be positioned very dynamically. Mine is banking towards some poor victim, the gunner already having turned to fire on them. This is also a kit that’s very easy to build in sections – no need to try to squeeze a paintbrush into the cockpit, you can paint the crew, the instrument panels, the main body, and the turret separately before fitting things together.
As for the paint job, I’ve unashamedly gone with almost exactly what I’d have done in the nineties. The weapons use some Wraithbone, and the yellow on the crew was done with Iyanden Yellow Contrast paint over more Wraithbone. Everything else is exactly what I’d have done 30 years ago – simple Abaddon Black hull, purple for the highly technical and important gems, and a couple of the rather nice transfers that come in the kit to round things out. Now this Vyper can sit alongside my others, no doubt drawing envious glances from their crews.
Pick up your own Vyper or three (definitely three) when they go up for pre-order this Saturday, alongside a hot bunch of new Corsair plunder.
* You know, the one with the big metal prism that weighed a ton and never stayed on.
** This is several years before Imperial translators determined that it would be more accurately spelled ‘Aeldari’ in Low Gothic.
