Resolution 2021: Clearing the pile of shame, again

Time for an easy start – scatter terrain that doesn’t need any assembly.

I undercoated all the models greyseer and then simply applied single coats of various contrast paints. Once the weather improves I’ll varnish them for protection and they’ll be good to go.

Colours used are: gore grunta fur, basilicanum grey, militarum green, snakebite leather, blood angels red, gryph-hound orange, talassar blue, ork flesh, black templar, and plaguebearer flesh.

Another simple colour scheme. Skeleton horde for the wood, volupus pink for the mushrooms and militarum green for the grass.

Three out of five boxes done now.

Just more contrast paints over a greyseer undercoat.

They should add some nice spots of colour to a typical bolt action table which is typically green and brown.

Fourth box done. Not much in this one, but quite colourful.

That’s all the pieces that I got from the kickstarter finished. I used the same colours as before.

You may notice I’ve painted the sandbags a different brown. That’s what I get for listing the colours I used without being bothered to say where exactly I used them. It will teach me in future projects to not be so lazy .

As a change of pace I wanted to paint another 75mm mini in black and white. I did the same thing last year (you can find Nyx here: https://www.beastsofwar.com/project/1467945/page/2/#snav) . This model is Radella from the Beautiful Night gothic pinup range (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bellanacht/beautiful-night-gothic-pinup-set-stl-files-for-3d-prints).

I had trouble getting my 3D printer working again (turns out my resin was too old) and this is the only model I managed to come out ok in about two weeks of trying. There are some obvious lines on the back of her dress but at the time I was just happy to get a model out.

The model was undercoated mechanicus standard grey then zenithed with corax white.

The skin, clothes, and hair were all painted using layers of 50:50 celestra grey:lahmian medium, 50:50 ulthuan grey:lahmian medium, and 50:50 white scar:lahmian medium.

The tree got a wash of 50:50 nuln oil:lahmian medium.

The leather torque and purse were picked out with a 50:50 abaddon black:lahmian medium.

To achieve the OSL effect I used about 8 to 10 successive layers of glaze with 1:3 waywatcher green:lahmian medium. Each layer focussed on a successively smaller area.

You can find these models as STL files for free on the internet (I think I got them from thingyverse) and I believe there are also people selling them ready printed on Etsy. The only model not in the set is the dead survivors. I made them myself by downloading some free fantasy dead body STL’s and adding them to the long grass bases.

I did a full set but have only photographed one of each to save space in my photo booth.

The pieces were undercoated zandri dust. Ork flesh, blood angels red, plaguebearer flesh, and volupus pink were used to pick out main details. The dead survivor also used various brown and grey contrast colours. Then everything was drybrushed underhive ash and then washed seraphim sepia.

The finishing touch for the long grass was to cut the bristles from a brush. I cut small clusters and used uhu glue to bind them together first. Once the glue had dried I could then use more uhu glue to glue the clusters in each corner.

Zephyra is another 75mm mini from Bella Nacht (https://bellanacht.com/characters/). I’ve painted her up so I can use the scythe blade and chain for gold leaf practice.

Normally when painting a display model I use the Games Workshop paint system (i.e. base colour, wash, layer 1, layer 2). As this is a 75mm model though I’ve put in a bit more effort and done base, wash, base and layer 1 50:50 mix, layer 1, layer 1 and layer 2 50:50 mix, layer 2).

Her skin tone used rhinox hide as the base, agrax earthshade as the wash, and doombull brown and tuskgor fur as the layers.

The woodedn scythe shaft was base coated dryad bark, washed with agrax earthshade and use gorthor brown and baneblade brown as the layers.

Her skirt was base coated loren forest, wased coelia greenshade, and used straken green and nurgling green as the layer colours.

The bones and wrapping on the scythe handle were base coated zandri dust, washed either seraphim sepia (bones) or reikland fleshshade (wrapping) with layer colours ushabti bone and screaming skull.

Her hair was painted abbadon black with simple highlights of skavenblight dinge and stormvermin fur.

The scythe blade and chains have just been painted mechanicus standard grey as I intend to cover it all with silver leaf. Once I do that I’ll post the update in my Egyptian Mythology Display project (https://www.beastsofwar.com/project/1660768/).

Emberlynn is another mini from Bella Nacht (https://bellanacht.com/characters/). This time the model is closer to 150mm in scale.

I wanted to try an unusual skin tone and as I was watching last week’s unofficial hobby hangout where colour wheels were being discussed, I decided to go for a classic triadic colour scheme.

The skin was base coated mephiston red, washed carroburg crimson in the recesses and where I wanted to show more shading, and then layered with evil sunz scarlet followed by a 50:50 mix of evil sunz scarlet and wild rider red.

The hair was base coated with iyanden darksun, washed casandora yellow, then highlighted flash gitz yellow.

The blue flames were base coated caledor sky, washed drakenhof nightshade, then highlighted with calgar blue followed by fenrisian grey.

In the pictures you can see some printing gradients (particularly her wrists) but to the naked eye they’re not that obvious. There is also a printing artefact across her stomach and left hip.

Also looking at the photos I now notice I accidentally got some blue paint on her hair.

Regardless I’m very happy with the final outcome.

This was another Bella Nacht miniature (https://bellanacht.com/characters/). For this one I wanted to experiment with complimentary shading (I believe that’s the name) where instead of shading with the same colour, you shade with the opposite colour on the colour wheel. I went with a triadic colour scheme but focussing on colours I rarely paint: pink, blue, and green.

The skin was painted screamer pink  then selectively shaded with coelia greenshade. I then applied about five layers of highlight progressively going through different ratios of pink horror and emperor’s children.

The blue was painted caledor sky then washed carroburg crimson. I then applied about five layers of highlight progressively going through different ratios of teclis blue and lothern blue.

The green was painted waaagh! flesh then washed volupus pink. It was highlighted with warboss green.

The bones and horns were painted zandri dust then washed agrax earthshade. They were then highlighted with ushabti bone followed by screaming skull.

The chain was painted mechanicus standard grey then washed nuln oil. It was then highlighted with dawnstone followed by administratum grey.

The hair was simply painted corvus black.

The base was just a simple layer of wyldwood.

This is another 75mm 3D print from Bella Nacht Miniatures (https://bellanacht.com/characters/). With this one I wanted to practice my colour blending to try and give the impression her dress is transparent so you can see her skin beneath where the dress touches her skin.

For all the colours mentioned below I used multiple mixes between the colours to get a smooth transition.

The skin (including all her legs) were painted using rakarth flesh, reikland fleshshade, flayed one flesh and pallid wych flesh. The stockings were then painted with a watered down layer of army painter purple tone.

The skull was painted zandri dust, agrax earthshade, ushabti bone and screaming skull.

The hair was painted corvus black, incubi darkness and mechanicus standard grey.

The dress was painted naggaroth night, druchii violet, xereus purple and genestealer purple.

I then picked out areas where the dress was close to the skin and painted it with several mixes of genestealer purple and pallid wych flesh, starting with a mostly purple mix and working to a mostly flesh colour in the centre of each area. Once dry these areas were then given a light wash of druchii violet.

I picked these four models up from a Kickstarter, but you can pick up the models now from Oakbound (https://www.oakbound.co.uk/product/spriggan-band/).

I want to focus on painting with green colours (which I don’t use a lot) and I’ll also try to do some nice swamp bases (which I’ve never done before).

To ensure I get the skin tones correct I’ve found some reference images to use.

These ended up being a very nice little side project. I like the way the swamp bases turned out too. The bases were built up with milliput before the models were undercoated. They then had a layer of stirland mud. This was washed with agrax earthshade then drybrushed with tyrant skull. Nurgle’s rot was painted in the recesses to form pools. The rims were painted steel legion drab and then some army painter scroched tufts were applied.

Another miniature from Bellnacht.com. Given the season it made sense to paint this model up. A few printing artefacts on the back of her legs that I should really have tidied up before undercoating, but never mind.

Rhodanthe is another 75mm print from Bella Nacht miniatures. At first I was going to paint her with blue or blue-green skin, but then I thought I’d try something different. So I googled images of squids and picked one to try and copy.

The model was painted all over with apothecary white first. Then I picked areas to be stippled with bugman’s glow. Then these areas were washed with reikland fleshshade, then stippled with cadian fleshtone followed by kislev flesh.

The minimal clothing was painted corvus black and then highlighted mechanicus standard grey.

Her eyes were painted abaddon black.

Nuln oil was used to pick out her gills, ears, and the gaps where her tentacles and skin touched.

My final model for the year is another 75mm 3D print from Bella Nacht. For this one I wanted to try blending colours together – something I don’t usually do.

For each of the main areas of the model I used three paints, using mixed blends in between coats so that I ended up transitioning through five colours.

The skin used rhinox hided, doombull brown, and tuskgor fur. It was washed agrax earthshade.

The dress used caliban green, moot green, and skarsnik green. It was washed biel-tan green.

The boots and hat used screamer pink, pink horror, and emperor’s children. It was washed carroburg crimson.

To get the yellow faded in bands on the dress I mixed flash gitz yellow with lahmian medium in a ratio of roughly 1:3. I then painted two single lines across the dress. Once this was dry I painted a second band over each of the first two, but about 2mm wider. I repeated this five or six times so that by the end the middle was a bright yellow and the edges were much closer to the green of the dress.

Then I re-highlighted the raised areas using a mix of flash gitz yellow and screaming skull, followed by a final highlight of screaming skull.

The entire area, including the nearby green areas, were glazed a few times with lamenter’s yellow.

Overall it sort of worked. The final line between yellow and green is quite stark, although within the yellow the transition is good. Trying this technique for the first time on a dress with so many ripples didn’t make it easy for me.