To repaint or not to repaint...

For those of us who have been in the hobby for 10+ years, we often start to see the advances in our techniques and modeling prowess staring back at us in the form of our older models/armies.  And though we often still have fond memories of those models, seeing them next to the newer models can be a painful experience.  Lets take these Eldar models I've painted as an example.

These are Wraithguard I painted almost 6 years ago.  As you can can see, I hated the crests in the back and filed them off (I did this with 25 Wraithguard).  Lets first look at the colors- although not awful, the yellow is obviously drybrushed over orange.  While drybrushing certainly does have its place, we can see here that it looks a bit clumsy and half hazard.  There is very little outlining to speak of and the gems are flat and lifeless. The harlequin mask on the upper portion looks ok, but could have been highlighted better.  Overall the model is somewhat cartoon-like, not at all fitting in the grim-dark world of Warhammer 40k.

Now lets look at a repainted Wraithguard I started yesterday-

There are still a couple bits I need to pick out like the hose, but over all I much prefer this model over the one I painted 6 years ago.  The reds were airbrushed over black and have been highlighted properly.  The black areas have had the grays highlighted in raised areas and on the trim.  The green gems are colored with a lighting source in mind and seem to pop off the model, contrasting well with the red and the black/grey (christmas curse be damned!).

It can be tough to accept that as our skill improves our older models will start to show their age.  However, if we accept that our armies are never truly done, they are just waiting for us to finish them properly, we'll never run out of things to do in our hobby.