Redvers and Son Get Into Bushido

Japan has a large problem with fiery wheels with a distorted human face in the middle rampaging around the countryside, setting things ablaze and generally doing disagreeable things. At least according to folklore. Such creatures are called Wanyudo, which literally translates as Wheel Priest and they normally inhabit hell but sometimes venture out into the mountains and hills to cause trouble. They like to snack on souls but as a snack, also eat babies. According to one legend, a woman peeked out of her window at a passing Wanyudo who, on spotting her, snarled “Instead of looking at me, have a look at your own child!”. The woman looked down at her baby who was screaming on the floor in a pool of blood, with both its legs torn off. When she looked back at the Wanyudo, he was happily chomping on the baby’s legs as he carried on down the street. Such malevolence is a perfect fit for the Cult of Yurei.

In game, Wanyudo does what you would expect in that he sets things on fire. He is allowed to Charge as a normal activation and, when doing so, gets a bonus slam attack. Anyone who attacks him gets a fire marker (that causes damage) and anyone in BtB with him at the end of the turn gets a fire marker. He also has several Ki special abilities, one that gives him additional movement, one that creates a fire pulse (setting everyone within 2” on fire) and a more targeted fire attack that, if successful, can hand out a lot of fire markers. So overall, a lot of fire.

The model is larger than the normal Bushido models and rather than the standard 30mm base, Wanyudo gets a 40mm base. I want the base to look as if it has been burnt as Wanyudo passes over so I’ll use a crackle paste on it. I’ve also smeared the base with pva glue first to help adhesion and to get the crackle to work well. I’ll only apply the crackle to the back of the base where the Wanyudo has already passed over.

I started with the wooden wheel first. This was a combination of browns ranging from flat earth, light brown and iraqi sand as the dry brush highlight. I’ve also used strong tone as the shade to pick out the wood grain.

I want the fire to be really bright. To this end, I’ve picked up some Golden Fluid Acrylics in orange, yellow and red. According to some youtube person, these are heavily pigmented but also contain various elements that are best not consumed, so I’ll have to remember to not lick my brush when using these. To paint the fire, I just painted everything yellow and then started wet blending the orange and red onto the upper parts of the flame until I was happy.

To tie the model in with the rest of the purple themed faction, I painted the face Imperial Purple with dark grey blend for the shades and off white blend for the highlights. The hair was a grey given several nuln oil washes and a light dry brush. Teeth and horns were painted bleached bone, given a brown wash and then highlighted where necessary.

To finish the base, I flocked the front and then dry brushed the grass nearest Wanyudo in black to make it look like it was burnt. I’ve then dry brushed black over the rear of the base.