Dead on Arrival

TLDR; I was surprised that I was able to get a large unit of 20 figures to a reasonable standard in 2 hours. Not finished by any means, but well along the way.

Aiming for getting these models table ready as quickly as possible, I decided to try batch painting the Chainrasps – all 20 of them.

If you’re aiming for a minimum standard, I find it pays to look at the model and decide what the single biggest improvement you can make is at each stage. This lets you get to “good enough” much faster. In this case, the black with “zenith” is actually not terrible, so instead I decided to put some paint on the bases. Vallejo British Uniform, watered down goes over the bases really quickly (watering it down serves two purposes – it allows the paint to flow into all the detail really easily and also lets the basic shading show through).

Next up, I put some sepia wash (Vallejo) and Agrax Earthshade out on my pallet, and using a largish brush (maybe size 3-4) I coat all the white (and also the chains etc) with random combinations of the two. No need to be careful here.

That didn’t take long at all! GW have given us some pretty nice new paints / glazes to play with, so next it was time to try some Nighthaunt Gloom. I applied it straight and fairly roughly to the black areas of the models. Once I have added this to each model, I give the brush a quick clean and then “smudge” the border of the blue and sepia washes (which are still slightly wet) to get a nice, grungy blend between the two.

Although I was aiming to paint the unit of 20 chainrasps this way, I had some washes left over on the palette, so did this guy too.

Two hours of painting, and I’m really happy with these guys. There’s more I will do, but even at this stage I’d be content putting these on the table. Next steps will be to:

• tidy the rim of the base.
• a light dry brush on the top of the cowls and black wash at the extremities of the “spectral” bits.
• add some Hexwraith Flame to the faces / arms followed by white highlights to make ’em pop.
• get some of the metals done – aiming for an aged feel.