Know No Fear - Death Guard

Rather than batch painting the remaining models I decided to paint up one more or less to completion (to be honest sometimes I feel better about finishing one model than having 5 models in some limbo state 🙂 )

I started with the green areas by applying Citadel Militarum Green Contrast straight from the pot. The zenithal priming really helps boost the contrast here.

Next I’ve painted the bronze and gold areas with Citadel Balthazar Gold and Vallejo Game Color Polished Gold respectively. In both cases I’ve diluted them by about 50% with Vallejo Air Brush Medium, which makes them slightly transparent without over thinning (which is easy to do with metallics and water alone). I’ve also added a drop or two of Vallejo Airbrush Flow Improver to help the paint behave a bit like a wash…allowing some of the brighter pre-highlighted edges to come through. For mixing I use recycled water bottle caps. The depth of the cap allows the paint to pool, which slows the drying time of the acrylics a little compared to a traditional pallet (I find I can complete the area at hand without having to ‘re-load’).

At this point I’ve washed over the bronze and gold areas with Citadel Reikland Fleshshade Gloss Shade. This gives the TMM areas a sheen that really helps those details pop in addition to boosting the contrast. I’ve also used Citadel Snakebite Leather Contrast on the leather straps, Citadel Wyldwood Contrast on the receiver/stock of the gun, and Citadel Volupus Pink Contrast on some of the hoses/tentacle. Lastly, the skull details on the mace and the severed head were painted with Citadel Skeleton Hoard Contrast.

Painting is now finished on the model at this stage. I painted the silver areas with Citadel Lead Belcher (thinned as before with Vallejo Air Brush Medium and Air Brush Flow Improver) and then washed them with Citadel Nuln Oil Gloss Shade. The hoof protruding from the left foot was painted with Citadel Black Templar Contrast straight from the pot. The remaining grey areas (gun barrel, hoses, hair on severed head etc.) were also painted with Black Templar, but thinned 50% with Citadel Technical Contrast Medium to preserve the natural highlights. I used Citadel Plaguebearer Flesh Contrast on the nurgling strapped to the left foot. The eye lenses were started by washing with thinned (with water) Army Painter Red Tone wash. I then painted the lower third of them with Citadel Mephiston Red undiluted. Finally both eye sockets were generously washed with Citadel Nuln Oil Gloss Shade (the sheen contributes to a natural lens effect). Lastly, the armor was lightly washed in certain areas with Citadel Agrax Earthshade Shade and lightly dry brushed with Citadel Underhive Ash Dry paint (applied with a small ‘makeup’ style brush).