Warhammer Community Spotlights Aeldari Corsairs and Red Corsairs Hobby Conversions

Paulie Wallis has been a Drukhari obsessive since 1998. That single fact tells you everything you need to know about why Warhammer Community chose him to anchor its latest Aeldari showcase, a feature that arrived alongside a wave of new Corsair miniatures and pulled together a remarkable breadth of community painting talent under one editorial roof.

The showcase and what it covers

Warhammer Community's "Aeldari Corsairs have kidnapped our community painters!" feature is framed around the daring, void-faring pirates that gather under the banner of the Anhrathe, and it sits at the centre of a rich cluster of community painting content published on 19 March 2026. The primary article, titled "Aeldari showcase – Corsairs join the followers of the Whisp," was produced with Joel as the Aeldari-focused contributor. Joel is the Warhammer Community team's go-to when it comes to all things Aeldari, and with the new Corsairs joining the fray, his Ynnari force has been growing.

The scope of the showcase goes well beyond Corsairs alone. The editorial team assembled a staggering range of community-painted work across factions and game systems: from "Kill Team community painters go all out for Shadowhunt" and "The incredible C'tan Shard of the Nightbringer as imagined by community painters," to "Titus and the Wardens of Ultramar are on parade thanks to our talented community painters," "Da Red Gobbo's Tinboy marches from our community painters' workshops," and "Helsmiths of Hashut brought to life by the wider Warhammer Community." There are also dedicated sections on "The Fangs of Malys," Warhammer Quest: Darkwater heroes, stealthy Kill Team showcases, and Legio Custodes. The renegade Space Marines had their own moment in the spotlight, too, with a dedicated "Community painters go raiding with the Red Corsairs" section running alongside the Aeldari content as part of the site's multi-day corsair-themed editorial push.

Joel's Ynnari collection: a 25-year journey

Joel's own entry into Warhammer 40,000 came through the 3rd Edition starter set, where he inherited the Drukhari (then called Dark Eldar), before collecting Orks for a few years. He distinctly remembers flicking through the 3rd Edition rulebook to admire the Aeldari miniatures in the gallery section, and after eventually picking up the Codex, he started building his first Eldar army.

Over the years, Joel has visited Warhammer World for a special "Eldar day," won gold in Armies on Parade for his Ulthwé army, and has written, designed, and painted models for Aeldari articles on Warhammer Community. He has now been an Aeldari fan for around 25 years and is on his fifth project, having previously painted a variety of craftworlds and delved into Drukhari and Harlequins. His most recent project is a Ynnari army, allowing him to unite units from different Aeldari factions under one banner.

He has painted them in the standard red, black, and bone colours to show their allegiance to the Ynnari faction, drawing warriors from different craftworlds and Aeldari societies. When it comes to Aspect Warriors, he has chosen different colour palettes to represent individual Aspect shrines, while keeping red ribbons to signify their ties to the Ynnari.

His favourite unit so far is the Dark Reapers. Drawing on a copy of The Eldar Sketchbook, which depicts unhelmeted Reapers with skull face paint, he used the opportunity to create some detailed designs on their faces, and he generally paints this collection slowly because he wants to give each model extra character and detail.

The star of the show: Paulie Wallis and the Sky Serpents

Paulie Wallis is well known in the Warhammer 40,000 community for his love of the Drukhari. They were his very first army back when they debuted in 1998 as Dark Eldar, and he's been a stalwart Commorrite since. He runs a podcast about them, and even took the UKTC and ITC title of Best in Faction for Drukhari in 2023. He's a keen kitbasher and is now expanding his talents to other Aeldari rogues, the Corsairs, using as many of the new Aeldari kits as possible.

That podcast is Realspace Raiders, a Drukhari-focused show covering everything from matched play and the competitive meta to painting, hobby discussions, background, and lore. Paulie's handle, skyserpent40k, also happens to be the name of the Corsair fleet he fields on the tabletop: the Sky Serpents.

Like many Aeldari and Drukhari players, Paulie was left in awe by the reveal of the new Eldritch Raiders Battleforce and its stunning contents, and his head swiftly began to swim with ideas for conversions and kitbashes, with his biggest plans saved for Prince Yriel, as he decided to bring back an infamous Drukhari Corsair of legend: Duke Sliscus.

There is no doubting Paulie's competitive qualifications either: he was the top-ranked Drukhari player for the 2025 UK tournament circuit.

How Paulie approaches the kitbash

Paulie loves to play as much as he loves modelling, and he converts models to field in his Warhammer 40,000 army and Kill Teams. As soon as he saw the new Aeldari, he knew he needed them, but not for the Craftworlds: these would be new piratical raiders and renegades of the Sky Serpents.

He approaches kitbashing with a basic idea, either inspired by a story from the lore or a new miniature release, and then starts pondering which parts to combine. Telling a story is key: the unit's background sparks modelling ideas. Did a Felarch buy their exotic weapon, steal it, or win it in a bet? Naming models creates an attachment, so when Prince Idradil Flickerblade deals the last wound to a Tyranid Screamer-Killer on the battlefield, it means a lot more and adds to the army's lore.

Three specific conversions demonstrate just how considered his process is:

• The Balestrike Skybandits are based on the new Aeldari Swooping Hawks and will be used as Drukhari Scourges. Rather than visit the Haemonculi for surgery, these experienced Corsairs have invested their hard-earned loot into winged flight packs and exotic weaponry. Paulie cut the Swooping Hawk bodies, added Corsair Voidscarred torso fronts, cut their capes to fit, covered joins with modelling putty, and added Scourge haywire blasters with heads sourced from both kits.

• The Shade Runners, who body-flicker across the battlefield using a blink pack reminiscent of the Warp Spiders' jump generator, came together the moment Paulie saw the new Warp Spiders: he kitbashed the Exarch with Shade Runner parts from the Corsair Voidscarred.

• For unique Corsair Felarchs, Paulie took Asurmen, Fuegan, and an Autarch and mixed them together with various kits. Lord Corillion is based on Fuegan, whose armour details Paulie loves, but he wanted to turn him into a duellist by adding Asurmen's arms, swapping the Bloody Twins for neuro disruptors and the Sword of Asur for a huskblade, with Corsair Voidscarred and various Drukhari parts completing the look.

The Black Library also feeds into his process: Paulie listened to Lukas The Trickster for Josh Reynolds' portrayal of Duke Sliscus, and to Voidscarred by Mike Brooks while working on his Corsairs, because storytelling helps convey an idea and theme, and this approach was central to building the new Anhrathe miniatures.

The wider community and what to paint next

The showcase also features community painters tackling Prince Yriel, the dashing prince of the Eldritch Raiders. Alison, Daniel, and Maxime all went for very different takes on his traditional Iyanden colours, while Will and Sion branched out into reds and purples for a different approach.

The clean, shiny armour of the Corsair Skyreavers presented a different challenge, which Sion, Thibault, Blake, Jessica, and Lauren all tackled with gusto. The miniatures retain all the fancy ornamentation typical of ostentatious Corsairs while the armour provides plenty of opportunity to show off bright and contrasting colours. The venerable Vyper also received a long-awaited refresh alongside its alternate configuration, the Corsairs' own Starfang, giving the community plenty of gleaming hulls and graceful lines to work with.

The showcase nods to the broader context of recent Aeldari Corsair content on Warhammer Community, including the two-part "Ballad of the Sky Serpents" series, the earlier Paulie Wallis showcase that first introduced the Sky Serpents, plus related articles on using the Ynnari and Harlequins in the new Codex: Aeldari and a breakdown of Codex: Aeldari's eight powerful Detachments. It also links out to painted Phoenix Lords and Aspect Warriors from the wider hobby community, making the feature as much a navigational hub as a standalone showcase.

The new Aeldari miniatures are available to pre-order, for use in your own armies, whether you're going to theme them around the Asuryani, Drukhari, Ynnari, Corsairs, Harlequins, or something else entirely. The editorial team signed off the Paulie Wallis feature with a line that perfectly captures the mixture of admiration and mock-dread that Corsair kitbashing tends to inspire: "Thanks Paulie, we'll be only the lookout for future Corsair raiding parties with a mix of delight and fear."

With the Eldritch Raiders Battleforce in hand and a showcase this rich to draw from, the only question left is which Aeldari sub-faction gets raided for parts next.