Resolution 2023: Race Against Raging Heroes

I do like painting Contemptor-like dreadnought models. For this model I decided to limit myself to the paint set I got a few years ago with my Dweghom army bundle. This was a set of six warcolours paints. Up until now I’ve only ever really used Games Workshop paints.

The blue armour panels were painted turqoise 5 then washed drakenhoff nightshade.

The red armour panels were painted red 5 then washed carroburg crimson.

The metal structure was painted pewter then washed nuln oil.

The metal decorations were painted copper then washed reikland fleshshade.

The purity seal wax was painted flesh 5 and the paper a mix of 1:1 brown 2 and flesh 5.

The eye slits were painted white scar.

The base was painted averland sunset and then mordant earth.

The warcolours are certainly more sensibly named than Games Workshop paints, and the dropper bottles, which I never used before, are really great. The only advantage Games Workshop paints have his how easily they can be purchased on the highstreet.

I wanted to go with more unusual colour scheme, rather than the usual green skin, for this particular model.

The orange skin was painted jokaero orange, washed fuegan orange, then highlighted wild rider red followed by trollslayer orange.

The red skin was painted mephiston red, washed carroburg crimson, then highlighted evil sunz scarlet followed by wild rifer red.

The blue hair was painted macragge blue, washed drakenhoff nightshade, then highlighted altdorf blue followed by calgar blue.

The blue clothes were painted caledor sky, washed drakenhoff nightshade, then highlighted teclis blue followed by lothern blue.

The bone was painted zandri dust, washed seraphim sepia, then highlighted ushabti bone followed by screaming skull.

The leather areas were painted xv-88, washed agrax earthshade, then highlighted balor brown followed by zamesi desert.

The small bits of metal were painted leadbelcher, washed nuln oil, and highlighted runefang steel.

The base was painted with stirland mud then flocked.

This model would have suited another dark gritty paint job, but that’s what I did last time so I decided to go the exact opposite and paint the model waiting bright high-contrast jester clothing.

The skin was painted rakarth flesh, washed reikland fleshshade, then highlighted flayed one flesh followed by pallid wych flesh.

The red was painted mephiston red, washed corruburg crimson, then highlighted evil sunz scarlet.

The blue was painted macragge blue, washed drakkenhoff nightshade, then highlighted altdorf guard blue.

The yellow was painted averland sunset, washed casandora yellow, then highlighted flash gitz yellow.

The green was painted waaagh! flesh, washed biel-tan green, then highlighted warboss green.

The orange was painted jokaero ornage, washed fuegan orange, then highlighted wild rider red.

The purple was painted naggaroth night, washed druchii violet, then highlighted xereus purple.

The stone on the base was painted mechanicus standard grey and the base was covered in blackfire earth, then the both were washed with reikland fleshshade.

For this model I want to go for a more “grubby” style. You may have noticed my usual painting style is quite clean and highlighted. I achieved that by liberal application of agrax earthshade at the end.

The skin was painted death world forest, then highlighted elysian green followed by ogryn camo.

The wood was painted dryad bark, then highlighted gorthor brown then baneblade brown.

The leather was painted mournefang brown, then highlighted skrag gbrown followed by deathclaw brown.

The bone was painted zandri dust, then highlighted ushabti bone followed by screaming skull.

Other smaller pieces of leather were painted xv-88, then highlighted balor brown followed by zamesi desert.

The hair was painted abaddon black then highlighted corvus black.

The few bits of metal were painted screaming bell then highlighted hashut copper.

The base was painted with some pretty old blackfire earth. I’m not sure if it was supposed to come out like it did but I was happy enough with it.

Then everything got two heavy coats of agrax earthshade.

For this model I wanted to challenge myself to just using three randomly selected paints plus black and white. Someone had done this in a project recently that was covered in the Unofficial Hobby Hangout.

I used a random colour generator online and then picked the paints I owned that most closely matched them. This gave me white scar, abaddon black, pink horror, doombull brown and ogryn cammo to work with.

I started off by putting the three core colours on to my pallet in a triangle, and then mixing each colour in the mid point. This gave me an idea of the colours that would be available to me. I was surprised to see that two of the mixed colours were quite flesh-like.

I then added the black and white.

For each area of the model I made a wash by mixing roughly 2:1 a colour with black and then diluting with water.

Highlights were made for each area using 1:1 white and the colour.

Finally the black and white were mixed for a grey to be used in the metallic areas.

The challenge was really interesting. I’d never have picked these colours for this miniature. And I’ve never tried to mix my own washes or highlight colours before. I’d now be willing to try it more often in the future.

A accidentally skipped a month’s releases, so I’ll go back and do the correct model next.

The metal was painted leadbelcher, washed nuln oil, then highlighted ironbreaker and then runefang steel.

The gold was painted retributor, washed seraphim sepia, the highlighted auric armour gold followed by runefang steel.

The reds were painted khorne red, washed carroburg crimson, then highlighted evil sunz scarlet.

The stone base was painted zandri dust, washed seraphim sepia, then drybrushed ushabti bone follower by screaming skull.

The skin was painted bugman’s glow, washed  reikland fleshshade, then highlighted cadian fleshtone followed by kislev flesh.

The piping was painted abaddon black and the engine outlets were painted calgar blue.

I picked this one because I wanted to use the globes as sources of lighting and try out object source lighting.

The wings were painted celestra grey, washed nuln oil, then highlighted ulthuan grey followed by white scar.

The robes and cape were painted naggaroth night, washed druchii violet, then highlighted xereus purple followed by genestealer purple.

The gold areas were painted averland sunset and then highlighted flash gitz yellow.

The armour was painted corvus black, washed nuln oil, then highlighted administratum grey.

The orbs were painted screamer pink then highlighted pink horror followed by emperors children.

The scroll and book pages were painted steel legion drab, washed agrax earthshade, then highlighted tallarn flesh followed by karak stone.

The book cover was painted mournefang brown, washed agrax earthshade, then highlighted skrag brown followed by deathclaw brown.

The candles were painted zandri dust then highlighted screaming skull. The flames were painted trollslayer orange.

The book’s bookmark was painted khorne red then highlighted evil sunz scarlet.

The base was painted mechanicus standard grey then highlighted dawnstone.

To achieve the OSL in any given area I mixed a bit of that areas highlight colour with emperors children roughly 1:1 and painted the larger glow area. I then added another part of emperor’s children and painted a smaller area closer to the orb. I repeated this about three times per location and just applied them rapidly before the paint dried – effectively wet blending on the model.

This model is from a winter themed release so I wanted to go with a cold colour scheme.

The hair was painted celestra grey, washed drakenhof nightshade, then highlighted ulthuan grey followed by white scar. The “clothes” were painted the same except the wash was nuln oil.

The skin was painted rakarth flesh, washed reikland fleshshade, then highlighted flayed on flesh followed by pallid wych flesh.

The fur on the shoulders was painted abaddon black then highlighted corvus black followed by dawnstone.

The bone was painted zandri dust, washed seraphim sepia, then highlighted ushabti bone followed by screaming skull.

The metal was painted leadbelcher, washed drakenhoff nightshade, then highlighted ironbreaker followed by runefang steel.

The bases was painted macragge blue, washed drakenhoff nightshade, then drybrushed and highlighted teclis blue.

Another character model I liked painting. I’m not usually a fan of Dwarfs but this model piqued my interest.

The skin was painted bugman’s glow, washed reikland fleshshade, then highlighted cadian fleshtone followed by kislev flesh.

The orange hair was painted jokaero orange, washed fuegan orange, then highlighted wild rider red followed by trollslayer orange.

The fir and trousers were painted celestra grey, washed nuln oil, then highlighted ulthuan grey and then white scar.

The cape and pennants were painted mephiston red, washed carroburg crimson, then highlighted evil sunz scarlet.

The bronze areas of the metal were painted warplock bronze, washed nuln oil, then highlighted brass scorpion followed by runelord brass.

The gold was painted retributor armour, washed seraphim sepia, then highlighted auric armour gold.

The base was painted macragge blue, washed drakenhof nightshade, then highlighted teclis blue.

I started by painting the fleshy bits screaming pink, washed carroburg crimson, then highlighted pink horror, then emperor’s children.

The robes were painted incubi darkness, washed nuln oil, then highlighted with a mix of incubi darkness and mechanicus standard grey.

The bone was painted zandri dust, washed seraphim sepia, then highlighted ushabti bone then screaming skull.

The gold was painted retributor armour, washed seraphim sepia, then highlighted auric armour gold followed by runefang steelb

The candles were painted screaming skull and then the flames were painted flash gitz yellow.

I’ve always liked the concept of the Green Knight. This particular model has some really nice details too: the birds, the patterns on the horse curtains, the leaves and the ivy on the sword. I rarely choose to paint a model green so that was interesting for me too.

The horse curtains were painted castellan green, washed athonian camoshade, then highlighted strakken green and nurgling green on the pattern.

The trimming of the horse curtains were painted waaagh! flesh, washed biel-tan green, then highlighted warboss green followed by skarsnik green.

The cloak was painted death world green, washed athonian camoshade, then highlighted elysian green followed by ogryn camo.

The Knight’s armour was painted caliban green, washed biel-tan green, then highlighted loren forest followed by moot green.

The leathers were painted dryad bark, washed agrax earthshade then highlighted gorthor brown then baneblade brown.

The hooves and helmet horns were painted zandri dusk, washed seraphim sepia, then highlighted ushabti bone then screaming skull.

The horse hair was painted mechanicum standard grey then highlighted administratum grey.

The birds were painted celestra grey, then highlighted ulthuan grey followed by white scar.

The leaves were painted mournefang brown then highlighted skkrag brown followed by deathclaw brown.

The sword was painted leadbelcher then highlighted runefang steel.

The cross guard and pommel were painted screaming bell and then highlighted sycorax bronze.

The base was painted mechanicum standard grey, mournefang brown, or castellan green and then washed athonian camoshade. The rim was painted abaddon black.

A fairly simple mini but quite elegant and I enjoyed painting it.

The hair was painted averland sunset, washed casandora yellow, then highlighted flash gitz yellow.

The skin was painted rakarth flesh, washed reikland fleshshade, then highlighted flayed one flesh, then pallid wych flesh.

The purple was painted naggaroth night, washed druchii violet, then highlighted xereus purple, then genestealer purple.

The pink was painted screamer pink, washed carroburg crimson, then highlighted pink horror then emperor’s children.

The harp was painted steel legion drab, washed agrax earthshade, then highlighted tallarn sand followed by karak stone.

The jewellery was painted abaddon black followed by leadbelcher with a runefang steel highlight.

The base was painted mechanicus standard grey, washed nuln oil, then highlighted administratum grey.

For those of you who followed my hobby bingo project last year, you may recall I printed and painted this Kratos bust.

For those of you living in the UK, you may also know the weather is unusually hot at the moment.

Well those haven’t combined very well. I printed Kratos hollow, but didn’t put a drain hole in it. This meant the model was full of liquid resin. It turns out when it gets hot that expands a lot and it actually burst through the model and spilled out into my display cabinet.

Luckily I spotted it fairly early and was able to clean it up. The only model that ended up in the bin is Kratos himself. The resin did dissolve any paint it came into, but that was only base rims. Another model also got glued to the shelf as the resin flowed under it and then cured. I managed to get it free with a wallpaper scraper and then was able to clean the shelf with isopropanol.

Just a warning for my fellow resin 3D printers out there. Either print solid or use a drain hole!

“Don’t worry, the doc’s here…”

I picked this model because he’s so full of character.

The skin was painted waaagh! flesh, washed biel-tan green, then layered loren forest followed by strakken green.

The hat was painted abaddon black then highlighted corvus black followed by dawnstone.

The brown clothes were painted various brown recipes (base, wash agrax earthshade, highlight 1, highlight 2):

Rhinox hide, doombull brown, tuskgor fur.

Dryad bark, gorthor brown, baneblade brown.

Steel legion drab, balor brown, zamesi desert.

XV-88, tallarn sand, karak stone.

The metal tools were painted leadbelcher, washed nuln oil, then highlighted runefang steel.

The brass was painted screaming bell, washed reikland fleshshade, then highlighted hashut copper followed by sycorax bronze.

The rat was painted rakarth flesh, washed with a dilute carroburg crimson, then painted rakarth flesh again.

He then of course needed some blood for the blood god on the saw.

I wanted to use a realistic colour scheme so I was sure to get a good reference image to copy (see below).

The purple robes were painted naggaroth night, then washed  druchii violet and then highlighted xereus purple followed by genestealer purple.

The tabards (?) were painted rakarth flesh, washed reikland fleshshade, then highlighted flayed one flesh  followed by pallid wych flesh.

The boils were painted jokaero orange, washed feugan orange, then highlighted trollslayer orange.

The skin was painted castellan green, washed biel-tan green, then highlighted strakken green followed by skarsnik green.

The skulls were painted zandri dust, washed agrax earthshade, then highlighted ushabti bone followed by screaming skull.

The hair was painted mechanicus standard grey and highlighted administratum grey.

The candles were painted white scar then washed seraphim sepia. The flames were washed feugan orange.

The blood was painted khorne red then blood for the blood god.

The gold was painted retributor armour, washed seraphim sepia, then highlighted auric armour gold.

The incense smoke was painted with khorne red. It was then washed druchii violet. The highlights were a 50:50 mix of khorne red and xereus purple followed by a 50:50 mix of khorne red and genestealer purple.

None of the models in this month’s release appealed to me particularly, so I decided to print off and paint some scatter terrain instead.

I wanted to try and copy this prismatic crystal tutorial. I’m happy with the final result, but I still need a lot of practice. I haven’t made my own glazes before so I struggled with them – the paint was heavily watered down but that meant my brush was also very watery so I couldn’t control how I put paint on the model. I also think I should have maybe tried this on a simpler shape, such as a sword, rather than this relatively complicated swirling crystal design.

I started with several thin coats of pallid wych flesh to give a good base. Then I used glazes of emperor’s children, lothern blue, moot green and flash gitz yellow.

The edges were picked out with thin lines of white scar.

The central orb was painted khorne red, then highlighted evil sunz scarlet followed by wild rider red.

The base was painted castellan green, washed athonian camoshade, then highlighted warboss green.

The vines were painted caliban green.

Another “larger than human” character model that I enjoyed painting. I don’t think I’ve ever done a lizardman or skink type model before.

The skin was painted castellan green, washed athonian camoshade then highlighted with ogryn cammo.

The red (selected to contrast with the green skin) was painted khorne red, washed carroburg crimson, then highlighted evil sunz scarlet followed by wild rider red.

For the shield and sword I wanted to go for a stone effect to emphasize the character’s strength and more primitive weaponry. The areas were painted steel legion drab, then stippled tallarn sand followed by karak stone and then finally screaming skull. All the stone areas were then washed with seraphim sepia.

To attract the viewers attention to the character’s head, the focal point of the model, I painted it screaming bell, washed reikland fleshshade, then highlighted hashut copper then sycorax bronze.

The shrunken heads hanging from the belt were painted bugman’s glow, washed reikland fleshshade, then highlighted cadian fleshtone then again with kislev flesh.

The toe talons were painted zandri dust, washed seraphim sepia then highlighted ushabti bonefollowed by screaming skull.

The stones on the base were painted mechanicus standard grey, then highlighted administratum grey. The pieces of wood on the base were painted mournefang brown then highlighted skrag brown.

The rest of the base was painted waaagh! flesh, then highlighted moot green.

The entire base was then washed beil-tan green to give everything a green overgrown appearance.

The second half of the Arc Worlde kickstarter. Some very characterful wizards with their summoned minions.

The minions were painted aethermatic blue and then drybrushed etherium blue.

The wizard clothes were pianted either: volpus pink then drybrushed changeling pink, or terradon turqoise then drybrushed hellion green, or talassar blue then drybrushed skink blue, or blood angels red then drybrushed astorath red.

Their skin was either painted rhinox hide, then layered doombull brown then tuskgor fur, or bugman’s glow, washed reikland fleshshade, then layered cadian fleshtone then kislev flesh.

The scrolls were painted zandri dust, washed agrax earthshade, then layered ushabti bone, then screaming skull.

The leather was painted xv-88, washed agrax earthshade, then layered balor brown then zamesi desert.

The black hair was painted corvus black.

The grey hair was painted celestra grey then highlighted ulthuan grey.

The blond hair was painted iyanden darksun then highlighted flash gitz yellow.

The staffs and wands were painted apothecary white.

The gold was painted retributor armour then washed seraphim sepia.

The bases were painted skeleton horde then the rims were painted abaddon black.

Just a quick hero figure this time. The print didn’t quite work – she should have more free flowing hair, but I wasn’t too fussed as the model just looks like she’s supposed to have shorter hair.

The flesh was painted rakarth flesh, washed reikland fleshshade, then layered with flayed one flesh followed by pallid wych flesh. As well as painting the exposed flesh I also painted the areas that covered by cloth.

The clothes were painted apothecary white contrast paint. Because the areas with flesh underneath then had already been painted flesh colours, I think this gave a good translucent effect to the clothes.

The gold was painted iyanden yellow, the smoke aethermatic gold, and her hair gore-grunta fur.

The gems were painted spiritstone red.

The base was painted corvus black then drybrushed administratum grey. The rim was then painted abbaddon black.

Another “ogre” sized model that I enjoyed painting. I also found the model interesting because I haven’t really done oriental style models before. I went for a strong blue red yellow triadic colour scheme.

The skin was painted caledor skye, then washed drakenhof nightshade, then highlighted teclis blue followed by lothern blue.

The red was khorne red, washed carroburg crimson, and then highlighted with a 50-50 mix of evil sunz scarlet and khorne red.

The wood of the drums was painted xv-88, washed seraphim sepia, then streaks of balor brown were added to give a wood grain appearance. These were highlighted zamesi desert.

The drum skins were painted steel legion drab, then washed seraphim sepia, then painted tallarn sand, karak stone and then finally screaming skull.

The hair was painted corvus black then highlighted russ grey.

The gold was painted retributor armour, washed seraphim sepia, then highlighted auric armour gold followed by runefang steel.

The base was painted with a variety of contrast paints.