Mandrake Concepts and Pics

Wow, this is definetly one of my favorite models being released. I truly hope for decent rules for Mandrakes as they are by far one of the best models in the dark eldar line. They look truly terrifying. This mornings little post is more conceptial drawings and what went into the making of this model.

Jes: The shadow-skinned Mandrakes are another of the Dark Eldar sub-groups that lie outside the Kabalite system. In a society of the sinister, the Mandrakes had always seemed to be that little bit darker, stranger, almost daemonic. We wanted to make them literally creatures of darkness, no longer wholly Eldar. 'Made of shadow' is not the easiest brief for a sculptor, but something other than a development of the armour and weaponry of the Warriors or Wyches was needed.

The concept drawing was an attempt to get down a whole bunch of ideas to see if they worked with each other. No pistol, as it seemed too ordinary a weapon for a creature that had regressed (or evolved) to a semi-bestial state; a 'dark energy' attack was more supernatural, although I should have known that balefire would be a pain to sculpt! Still clothed (almost) but in the flayed skins of their victims, more to cause fear than to cover their modesty. Their hand-weapons echo razors and surgical tools. There were notes on their shifting features and even colours.
 
What with the balefire, shifting features and branding, these models were a bit of a sculpting headache. Using a polymer clay rather than green stuff for the bodies allowed me to try several types of branding as the putty didn't harden until baked. It needed to be graphic enough to pick up paint, but not so dominant that it destroyed the shape of the anatomy. Once the branding was finalised the bodies were baked and then resined, and the rest of the detail was sculpted.
 

Colour schemes are not normally developed until later in a project, but the early colour notes seemed to work; the idea of making the Mandrakes almost 'negatives' of the other Dark Eldar was very appealing and made a good contrast to the balefire.
 
The branding and balefire had been difficult to sculpt, but when the 'Eavy Metal painters got hold of the figures it was all worth it. The paint jobs really made them feel otherworldy.