FINALLY! My dream project – The Black Coach

The final stage was to fix the actual coach in place. I wanted to make it quite dynamic, and I liked the idea of the coach taking off into the sky rather than staying flat on the ground.

I could only find regular length flying bases rather than the xl one I’d need, so I rummaged in the bits box again and found a nice pile of rocks that I could use to prop the stand on in order to make it high enough. A quick base coat, inkwash, drybrush, and application of slimy grime had it looking consistent with the rest of the base.

A bit of plastic glue and patience later, and viola! One black coach rumbling through the once consecrated woods near the ruined monastery. As it passes, the spirits of those long dead wake once more to follow it’s path.

Time to get the base finished and the coach fixed in place.

I continued with the same monochrome from the wood on the coach itself, and simply drybrushed the whole base with a couple shades of grey, followed with a final pass of white.

AK slimy grime is awesome, and I discovered this during my next step, which was sticking in random withered tufts and splashing some grime around the place.

I really love how the ghosts stand out against the simplicity and darkness of the rest of the base. Ready for the coach now!

I also managed to get the last 2 horses done and attached. Now, I can turn my full attention to the base next week, before coming back for some final detail work on the coach.

I’m really pleased with how the colour scheme has turned out. I love the ethereal ghostly forms, and how the lack of detail/heavy shading on them just adds to their incorporeal feel.

I assembled the alternative coach driver ghostie, and added him to the ruins in the woods. I kept to the same paint scheme of Flayed One Flesh highlighted with Bleached Linen.

I’m trying to find a little time every day at the shop to work on the coach, even if it’s only an hour or so. Yesterday, I managed to get the monks done. Keeping to the monochrome idea for the basing, I used a simple method of Eshin Grey, highlighted up with Mountain Stone and Ulthuan Grey.

Didn’t get much time to work on things today, so I just set a target of painting and glueing the ghosts who hang off the back of the coach.

I base coated them in Flayed One Flesh, and highlighted in Bleached Linen, the same as I had done for the coach driver. I used Tainted Gold with a Nuln Oil wash for the treasures they are holding.

I was really happy with how the first horse had turned up, so I decided to do another! I couldn’t wait to see how they looked attached to the coach.

I highlighted a few larger areas of the Screamer Pink with Pink Horror, and then did a little edge highlighting with Fulgrim Pink, especially around where the flesh had peeled back to show bone. I used Naggaroth Night for the tail and mane, and some of the swirly bits that I’d left on the hooves. I highlighted that with Genestealer Purple and then Dechalla Lilac, with the tiniest amount of Bleached Linen on the very tips of those areas.

I used the same Tainted Gold for the horse’s tack as I’d used for the metalwork on the rest of the coach.

I was feeling a bit unsure about the colours I’d chosen, and how they would translate to the horses. I knew I wanted to keep the colour palette fairly small, so it would really pop against the monochrome work on the wood and the base. I love the purple on the curtains and the magenta on the driver’s shroud, so I figured I’d try it out on one horse and see what happened.

Firstly, I picked out the exposed bone in Flayed One Flesh directly over the black primer, followed by Bleached Linen. Next up was a nice layer of Screamer Pink over the main body of the horse, and I let the brush naturally skip over some ridges and curves to allow some black shadows to remain.

Even though the shop was rammed pretty much all day, and we had 2 deliveries, I managed to hide away at the back for a bit and do some work on 2 of the horses who pull the coach.

I had to trim off quite a lot of the swirly stuff attached to their hooves, as those parts were designed to stick to the base and I want them to be flying upwards into the sky. Big chunky flat bits hanging off their hooves would really not have looked good. I spent some time trimming and filing to make the swirly stuff a lot lighter looking.

After adding a couple of extra little details like a broken wooden cross (from a dunegon and lasers sprue), I covered the whole thing in a nice layer of primer.

I’m so happy with how the monochrome woodwork came out on the Coach body that I’ve decided to keep the whole woodland monochrome too. The only colour will be the rich purples and magentas of the coach as it takes off halfway across the bridge, flying off into the night.

That’s the plan, anyway.

I used the broken Nighthaunt sprues and clipped off pieces of spooks to hide in the trees. Once everything is primed, they’ll be nicely hidden, not the terrible turquoise eyesores they currently are.

I used the broken Nighthaunt sprues and clipped off pieces of spooks to hide in the trees. Once everything is primed, they’ll be nicely hidden, not the terrible turquoise eyesores they currently are.

I had an old GW forest thingy in the back, and I realised it would be perfect for the idea I had. I pulled the bridge off the base I’d originally stuck it to, and instead glued it coming out of the woods.

I also raided some more of the bits boxes in the back and found a ruin corner-piece and some old battered up Nighthaunt models. I also found a box of random monk parts which had been 3d printed ages ago and forgotten about. Luckily there were enough parts to make 3 whole monks.

After weeks of having absolutely no time at all for working on my own personal projects, I’ve reinstated Paint Project Tuesdays at the shop, so I am guaranteed at least a couple hours a week to actually paint. Today, I worked on the base for the Coach. Its turned into more of a diorama. . .

The driver was also an opportunity to use my magenta and purple colour scheme. I began with his clothing, using Flayed One Flesh highlighted with Bleached Linen for his under-robe, and Screamer Pink highlighted with Pink Horror for his top robe. I didn’t use inks or anything on this bit, as I loved the boldness of the colours against the dark coach.

For his mask and the metalwork of his weapon and whip, I used the same Tainted Gold/Nuln Oil as before.

His whip was painted in Army Painter Leather Brown, then Agrax Earthshade wash, and highlighted with Vallejo Old Wood and MSP Bleached Linen.

Finally, the ribbon was Naggaroth Night highlighted with Genestealer Purple and Dechala Lilac.

That’s as far as I’ve got today. Hopefully I’ll get a bit more done tomorrow, if the shop’s not too busy. This is without doubt my favourite thing I’ve ever painted, and it’s pushing me to do my best work. I honestly think I’ll be a better painter for having done this project, and I love that.

As this will be a display piece, I wanted to make a fun base for it. I headed into the backroom at the shop and scavenged a couple of Dungeons and Lasers sprues. Amongst them, I found an awesome stone bridge, a funky giant mushroom, and a little extra stone/wood piece that would just add a bit more detail.

I plan to make the base look watery, as though the bridge is crossing a river or something, and the coach itself will be positioned as though it’s taking off into the sky halfway across.

I am nothing if not ambitious.

The wheels have some of the same gorgeous swirly-wirly magic stuff coming off of them as the horses are dripping with. For this, I used Citadel Screamer Pink, faded out into Genestealer Purple, with Dechala Lilac highlights. I picked out the detail on the wheels with the same Tainted Gold as the other metal accents.

So far, I’m really happy with how the colours are looking together.

The wonderfully dramatic drapes were next on my list! This was where I could start to introduce my main colour scheme of purples and magenta. I began with a basecoat of Citadel Naggaroth Night. Next came a highlight of Genestealer Purple, followed by a smaller highlight of Pink Horror, and Dechala Lilac. I finished it off with a highlight just in the centre of each previous highlight using Bleached Linen.

For the “passenger” I kept the coffin the same wood effect as the coach, and chose to leave the lid off so we can see the body within. I used the Tainted Gold for his mask, and for his shroud, I started with a dark brown and highlighted up to Bleached Linen.