From Rancor, to Rancorsome!

Stage 5. Light Wash

As I went around the model, I found that I didn’t really need too much of a wash to create shadows – I only ended using a little Agrax Earthshade here and there to dull down some drybrushing from the previous stage. I also deepened the darker areas under the arms and legs, although this was quite subtle and (if I’m being honest) not particularly noticeable.

Stage 6. Highlights + Selective Washes

Ah, the highlighting stage… when painters start seeing the little details ‘pop’ but also (certainly in my case) spend the most time on. Highlighting can be fiddly because you’re typically using a small brush on specific areas of the model – you really need to be careful, as one ‘slip of the wrist’ and you’ve got some tidying up to do!

Here I was highlighting the Rancor’s spikes, teeth, claws and toes. To do this I started with a thin coat of Ushabti Bone, then a light wash of Seraphim Sepia. When painting the highlight, I intentionally left a small amount of the original colour to attempt a sort of gradient effect – not perfect, but I’m happy with the results.

I also painted over the tongue during this stage, as I wasn’t happy with the original colour. To get the shade I wanted, I mixed Emperor’s Children with a some Dead White (Vallejo) to give me a light pink. Once dry, I washed the tongue using Carroburg Crimson – perfect!

Stage 7. Light Drybrush + Eyes

Once the wash was dry on the bone coloured areas, I drybrushed them using Terminatus Stone, followed by a lighter drybrush of Wrack White. Using Citadel’s ‘Dry’ range was a mixed bag – at first everything is fine, but (because drybrushing) you can’t really wash your brush, and the thicker ‘Dry’ paint ended up ‘clogging’ up my brush. Perhaps it was just me, but I’m happy with the results and will certainly be giving them another try in future.

At this stage, it was time… EYES!! I’m not usually an eye person (it scares me) but I really wanted to give it a go on the Rancor. Using my ‘Psycho’ brush from The Army Painter, I used Abaddon Black to re-darken the eye, then with my steadiest hand (and holding my breath) I put a small dot of Dead White (Vallejo) in the centre of each eye. I’m really glad I gave this a go because I think it gives an extra bit of character to a showpiece miniature.

Next up… basing!