Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Well I was trying to avoid another work-in-progress, but I'm enjoying myself so I thought I'd better 'fess up to what I've been up to the last week or so.

 

The new edition of Warhammer 40K was released on the 17th, and as usual I failed to resist a big box of plastic crack so now I have a load of Death Guard and new Space Marines to paint. I really bought the box for the big marines (a head taller or more than the previous standard) but was won over by the Nurgle models when I saw them in person, so those are the first to see some paint. For the (perhaps luckily) uninitiated, Nurgle is the Chaos God of pestilence and disease, and is a jovial grandfatherly god who loves to give his followers (and anyone else) presents of delightfully interesting plagues, poxes and other unpleasant afflictions. A bit like a fetid Father Christmas.

 

60010199015_40KDarkImperiumENG01.jpg

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-NZ/Warhammer-40000-dark-imperium-eng-2017
 

So last week I cleaned up, built and primed 31 minions of Nurgle, starting with ten Death Guard - space marines which have fallen in with his icky ways:

 

35373264282_a728914fb0_b.jpg

(click for bigger)

 

I've only photographed five so far, which include the special models like the chap with the bell, and the one spewing a cloud of something nasty. The other five are more normal, but they're all different and have interesting details.

 

After that I did the Bloat Drone, which is a sort of demon-powered flying sludge lorry. The model is supposed to look like this:

 

60010199015_40KDarkImperiumENG16.jpg

 

but I wasn't in love with the rotors and modified mine a bit using some spare parts left over from another Nurgle model, as follows:

 

34645708323_3edc251056_b.jpg

 

giving a sort of Baron Harkonnen battle suit result, or so I hope. I think sticking the guns on might be a mistake so I'll probably be removing those again before I come to paint him.

 

Lastly I had to put together twenty pox-walkers (plague zombies) which came on two identical sprues. I've made up one set as-is and converted the others a little so they're all different. It's not a dramatic difference as apart from one case I limited myself to using parts removed from other pox-walkers, so it's really mostly head and weapon swaps with a few other changes.

 

34718811764_dbbefe69a1_b.jpg

35521023316_cdc97b89ee_b.jpg

35391934922_40ed698827_b.jpg

 

Tuesday night I spent a couple of hours getting some basic colours onto one of the pox-walkers to try out ideas for the group.

 

35448125681_da6d909dd4_b.jpg

 

I thought it was a good start, but the PPE was better all in safety orange, and the brown cloth was too close to the other colours so I've done that green. I might give some wine red or white cloth as well? So this is where I'm at now:

 

34787534863_af281d5bc9_b.jpg

34787531163_d00a604524_b.jpg

Nearly time for a matt coat and some metallics on the gun and nails. But I need to paint the base first. The flat bit will be glossed over as a swamp, and the sticking up bit needs to be wet earth or moss I suppose?

 

I really hope I stay the course with these, we all know how easily I get distracted and twenty zombies is a lot  But I loved painting the first one, lots of well-defined detail and a nice open pose (I suppose that's de rigeur for something which is only two injection-moulded parts). Plus doing the icky bits is really fun

 

Cheers,

 

Will

 

 

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The mask definitely looks better in orange now Will. I love the way you've even given it some teeny tiny highlights. 

I think the overall pale colour sceme for the pox walker works really well.

 

Andy

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, AndyRM101 said:

The mask definitely looks better in orange now Will. I love the way you've even given it some teeny tiny highlights. 

I think the overall pale colour sceme for the pox walker works really well.

 

Thanks Andy! I was a bit worried about the pale-ness but it does mean I can paint "down" with glazes rather than "up" with highlights, which is quite quick and fun to do.

 

When I primed the models I sprayed a couple of representative ones with Tamiya Clear Green from below to add a bilious feel. I think it's a bit pure, but once it's been washed it mostly works? I might add a drop of yellow next time as well.

 

The second test model is this one, who has another Nurgley feature - sprouting tentacles:

 

35583342986_4551c8a991_b.jpg

 

I've given these about four layers of various pinks thinned with GW's medium to make something half-way between a wash and a glaze. I quite like the seafood look (I don't like seafood!) that the pinks give and they mostly seem to come out of the skin in a sensible way.

 

35583347706_bb34b5fb9d_b.jpg

 

For some reason (over confidence?) he's a bit sloppier than the first one - lots of tide-marks in the wash - so I'll need to clean up and get him along to the same standard and then I can varnish them both at once. Or maybe five at once would be better?

 

Cheers,

 

Will

 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

very clever painting - figure work never ceases to amaze me -

 

My son was into war gaming big time and I always felt a sense of self-defeat when watching the kids painting their figures in the gaming shops - such miniature works of art and incredibly imaginative

 

very nice work - all in a league of its own

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, AndyRM101 said:

Those sculpts are seriously nice. Can you get the Nurgle stuff separately from the full boxing?

 

Not yet, I'm pretty sure they'll release a set of multi-part Death Guard at some point, from memory the fixed pose Chaos cultists in Dark Vengeance have only ever been released as fixed pose models. But they did get a box eventually, so the pox walkers likely will as well.

 

They've just announced two smaller 40K starter sets which might be a good option if you don't want the hardback rulebook - one has some of the models in the big set (fewer duplicates, almost as much variety) and interestingly one has a much smaller collection of *different* models in the same style:

 

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2017/06/25/new-primaris-space-marines-and-death-guard-announced/

 

I would imagine they'd be priced similarly to the small Age of Sigmar starter sets which came out recently?

 

1 hour ago, Gimme Shelter said:

My son was into war gaming big time and I always felt a sense of self-defeat when watching the kids painting their figures in the gaming shops - such miniature works of art and incredibly imaginative

 

That's cool, my daughter is hovering on the edge of getting into it - she loves the rulebooks, background stories etc, likes a bit of painting now and then, and has really enjoyed the handful of games we've played. I've never had the guts to actually play or indeed paint in the shop, neither as a lad or as grown up :)

 

Captain Sushi is ready for varnish as well now, I'd love to take a pic as he's come out pretty well, but I need to wait for daylight really. Bedtime ahoy!

 

Cheers,

 

Will

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So here he is with a bit more definition to everything, and maybe too many yellow boils?

 

35470027532_a9c94189d7_b.jpg

34797001364_e3cec8f3f1_b.jpg

(click for bigger)

 

The plain areas of skin are nothing much to write home about, I added a few highlights and things to help blend the edges of the spotty regions and pick out e.g. knee caps and toes. And the rest follows the same recipe as the previous chap.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the health advice :)

 

17 hours ago, AndyRM101 said:

Are you going to paint the eye, or leave it in white?

 

 

I've left it white because the eyeball shape was perfectly defined by the wash and I didn't want to mess it up. I added a little red glaze to the bottom half of the eyeball but it doesn't really read in photos. I suppose I could add some capillaries and a tiny bit of rolled-up iris?

 

For now I think these two are done. Or at least they would be if I'd painted the base edges the right colour - they're supposed to be a dark brown (Rhinox Hide IIRC) to match my other 40K figures, but I picked the brown I use for fantasy figures. C'est la vie!

 

35681549805_e4d85c079e_b.jpg

35681554825_d95eb24e3e_b.jpg

 

After the flat coat (Alclad) I painted all the metal bits, shaded them with various things including the Typhus Corrosion technical paint (dark grey-brown, has little bits in it) and the verdigris one. The tentacles, lenses had a coat of Klear gloss (and the belly another two coats). I gave the maggots another red glaze to enliven them a bit and I added Blood for the Blood God to their mouths, all the burst boils and a few other spots. The closed boils had a layer of Nurgle's Rot (what else?) which is a sort of thick green translucent paint/varnish combo. I blotted it around some of the busier areas so you should be able to read a little bit of greenish ooze in places.

 

The bases have a couple of coats of Glaze Medium mixed with a dark green over the "wet" bits, and I dragged a cocktail stick with brown-yellow paint on the end around the feet to suggest ripples.

 

So those are the test models - now to attempt to repeat 18 times, I'll be surprised if I get halfway given my usual butterly-like flitting :P

 

I also started a test model or two for the Death Guard (Nurgle marines) - these were primed Alclad Grey and then given two coats of Tamiya Racing White from above, and a thin layer of Clear Orange from below.

 

35513253832_01fafa69b3_b.jpg

 

The right-hand model has had a layer of MIG brown wash, removed with cotton buds. I think the gloss finish means it's not blending out very nicely, which is good for keeping the whites, but bad for looking smooth. If I use an acrylic wash it'll be neater and smoother but I'll likely lose the highlights and have to spend more time repainting panels.

 

Not sure what to do yet - I'll probably have another go at cleaning up the wash and see how that comes out first of all. I like the orange shading though, that worked great. Possibly a thin green coat sprayed around the equator would be good too?

 

Cheers,

 

Will

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"I gazed at his magnificence, my vision completely filled with his glorious girth. All around me was flesh and smiling flies. Within his bulk I spied lesser minions, suckling on his leaking entrails. At his feet pools of pus and other bodily fluids gathered, in which his children splashed and played with glee. It was a blessing to behold such glory and joy."

 

Papa Nurgle is pleased with your devotion Will……

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks!

 

5 hours ago, LotusArenco said:

Papa Nurgle is pleased with your devotion Will……

 

That quote was... noisome. :sick:

 

I painted up (almost, no metals and gloss yet) the Death Guard test model to see how it'd be. It's a bit scruffy-looking, I blame the enamel wash although I did clean it up further:

 

35664109776_a167efcf01_b.jpg

(click for bigger)

 

I used the GW washes quite a lot on the armour, and added some chips since it's almost too light for edge highlights except white, and I wasn't sure I wanted any pure white?

 

You can see the Clear Orange on the back quite clearly. It's also the messiest bit and I haven't finished the grenades yet.

 

35664117856_6a53d5a042_b.jpg

 

The shoulderpad which has turned into a happy Nurgling is a cool detail:

 

35664111936_ccf37a716f_b.jpg

 

Although I find all the bits of undercut which have been turned into stringy goo a bit frustrating. They're OK when they're a defined feature but it's hard to know how to blend e.g. a whole leg into a chainmail girdle thing via stringy ropes of yuck :(

 

I'm going to try and omit the enamel wash on the second test and use the GW stuff with flow improver to get it to play nice on the gloss. We'll see what happens.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

 

 

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had a bit of a gap this week as I had a talk to give on Thursday and I've mostly been writing that in my spare time rather than having fun.

 

35785048905_10913a7c25_b.jpg

 

I picked up the paint tray last night for an hour or so and fiddled with the Plague Marine. I was hoping that the flow improver would help the washes blend over the armour, but they're still too clingy. So I might have to add a flat coat to the armour on v2 before detailing it?

 

I'll finish this one first and see how it comes out.

 

Will

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Dan, I'm a bit of a bandwagon-jumper so I like painting the latest goodies, and am terrible at finishing old projects...

 

I did the backpack last night, which felt like a chore but was OK really. I think it does help the look of the model although I'm still not mad about the current trend for Victorian ironmongery on the Nurgle designs - this guy has a bit of fence on the top of his rucksack for no good reason...

 

35418663050_0dca07eaf4_b.jpg

 

I also added a little bit of enamel to the rust streaks, although it mostly got blended away, and flat-coated this model and the next one to see if that makes the washing easier. Still looking for a recipe to apply.

 

35418662110_93476cb1e5_b.jpg

 

Cheers,

 

Will

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spent a happy evening doing the metal and/or icky bits of the plague marine:

 

34985152594_d868155804_b.jpg

 

The copper/bronze metals are Warplock Bronze highlighted with Retributor Armour. Then I washed them with Reikland Fleshshade (russet) and highlighted again with Screaming Bell and Vallejo Liquid Metal Copper from their alcohol-based metals range. The patina is a very thin mixture of Nilahk Oxide and black, with some Agrax Earthshade glazes to tone it down.

 

The steel metals are just Boltgun Metal and Mithril Silver with an Agrax Earthshade wash and Typhus Corrosion/Ryza Rust/various other dirty colours on top. The tiny glints are the Vallejo Liquid Metal Silver.

 

All the ick got some gloss varnish, and a bit of Nurgle's Rot here and there. And I gave the maggots some Blood for the Blood God trails/drips :)

 

The green goo I used on the previous bases had been standing covered and only partially dried, so I thinned it a little and used it on the base again - I quite like the lumpiness so I'll probably go back and redo the poxwalker bases the same way. I also spattered it around the boots and feet to give a bit more of a sense of presence.

 

35436934410_f9e691cfdb_b.jpg

35656147852_10fc63051f_b.jpg

 

I like the team so far, they look about right together:

 

35693069181_49f8ff4909_b.jpg

 

I have a second test marine which I gave a coat of matt varnish to over the white base, so I'm hoping that will help with the paint adhesion and wash spreading over the gloss.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Getting somewhere with test chap number two:

 

35739324671_ee1d9ea055_b.jpg

35830241636_3bc50337bd_b.jpg

 

He's a bit tidier, I think, or at least smooth - compare to enamel guy at the same stage:

 

35664109776_a167efcf01_b.jpg

 

(Although I haven't added any chips to the new one yet.)

 

I do like the whiter armour of the first effort, so I'll see if I can add some fine highlights to the second and maybe blend some pure white over the flatter armour areas? Although I need to take the mutating armour-boils into account, I don't think they should be clean and tidy.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finished off the second Death Guard last night, I'm quite happy with the paint job but I don't think it's a nice a model as the first one, or maybe I haven't taken such good pics?

 

35866933166_212d968268_k.jpg

(click for bigger)

 

I really like doing the metal bits - this guy has loads of bells and I wanted to distinguish those from the coppery tanks. I started the same way with Warplock Bronze over brown with some Retributor Armour highlights, but washed them with Sepia and highlighted with Retributor Armour again, and a final highlight of Vallejo Liquid Metal Old Gold on the rims and clappers. I think with the patina they look reasonably like brass?

 

35866957946_8cd56a9f66_b.jpg

 

I also remembered my secret weapon for tentacles - X-22 clear, which gives a much harder and thicker glossy slime than a couple of layers of Klear. Very useful :)

35098672703_f6705d225e_b.jpg

 

Cheers,

 

Will

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought that was a lovely touch. There's another tiny tentacle worming its way out of one of the backpack vents as well.

 

I did a little Photoshop montage of the crew so far, using my Shadow War scenery bits in the background:

 

35741429012_31b0ca94db_b.jpg

 

A fun break from painting. I've got a filthy cold at the moment (infected sinuses - agony) so I have lots of Nurgley inspiration to draw on.

 

Will

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, these are disgustingly awesome! The paint job really is exceptional. I'm always really impressed when walking past the games workshop and looking at the models displayed by the window. Do you use an airbrush at all, or are they fully hand painted? I did ask once in the shop and the consensus seemed to be they were mostly hand painted. Thinking I should maybe pick up some of the citadel washes/paints etc. Really love your work on these. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks :) They're mostly hand-painted, I use the airbrush for priming and varnishing, and both types of model have some airbrushed shading to start things off.

 

E.g. on the poxwalkers (zombie guys) I primed grey then added white primer from above (aiming especially at the skin areas) and Tamiya Clear Green from below to give some hue-sickly shadows. The Death Guard were primed grey and airbrushed decanted Racing White from above on all the armour areas, with Clear Orange from below/behind.

 

I guess this is pretty close to my standard approach - I try and use the airbrush to help with whatever the main area is and then use the brush after that - e.g. for my Tyranids I sprayed the skin colours, highlighted and shaded with the brush and then sprayed Tamiya clear colours to bring it together like a filter. When I get to the marines in the Dark Imperium box I'll almost certainly use the airbrush to apply the main armour colour and some highlights.

 

Some people (e.g. Angel Giraldez) do a *lot* more with the airbrush but it involves masking fluid and I find that a hassle to use. YMMV!

 

The Citadel washes (now called shades) are very good, especially Agrax Earthshade and Seraphim Sepia. I use them lots and quite often make mixtures of paints and washes to get a more translucent paint with better flow for lining etc. There are some useful/fun paints in the technical range like Lahmian Medium and Blood for the Blood God too.

 

HTH,

 

Will

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really great progress Will.

You've got me considering picking up the 'First Strike' box set which seems an amazing bargain for what you get...

 

Dan

 

Edited by Daniel
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aah, I was looking at that in the shop today. I think the price is great, and cleverly the models don't overlap with the other two starter sets.

 

It has a plague marine with a really unpleasant mouth tube :sick:

 

Will

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...