Dan’s 2025 Side Projects

The skin for this model was painted a few layers of ruby skin, then washed reikland fleshshade, then given several highlights with more and more opal skin being mixed in to the ruby skin.

The boots, legs, and gloves were painted mephiston red, washed carroburg crimson, then highlighted with more and more evil sunz scarlet being mixed in.

The cape and corset were painted khorne red, washed with a 50:50 mix of carroburg crimson and druchii violet. It was then highlighted with more and more evil sunz scarlet being mixed in.

The leather belts and strings were painted xv-88 then washed agrax earthshade.

The horns were painted zandri dust, then washed seraphim sepia, then drybrushed screaming skull.

The hair was painted apothecary white.

The swords and hair chains were painted leadbelcher, washed nuln oil, then highlighted with runefang steel.

For this skin tone, I started with amber skin, washed it with soft skin tone, then highlighted it with subsequent layers where I added more and more pearl pigment toner into the amber skin.

The armour was painted warplock bronze then highlighted with runelord brass added into the mix in increasing quantities.

The sword blade was painted screaming bell then edge highlighted with sycorax bronze.

The leather was painted xv-88, washed agrax earthshade, then highlighted with more and more zamesi desert.

The cloth areas were painted apothecary white. The hair was painted iyanden yellow.

The base was painted darkoath flesh and the edge of it was painted gore-grunta fur.

For these models I started with about three layers of jasper skin to give me a nice smooth base. The tribal got a wash of soft skin wash while the cowgirl got a wash of strong skin wash. I then mixed amber skin into the jasper skin to apply a broad highlight. I then did another smaller layer with more amber skin added, etc. In total I think I did about five layers in this way.

The brown leather was painted xv-88, washed agrax earthshade, then highlighted in the same fashion as the skin, adding in more zamesi desert with each layer.

The red clothes were painted mephiston red, washed carroburg crimson, then highlighted with increasing amounts of evil sunz scarlet added in.

The blue denim was painted macragge blue, washed drakenhoff nightshade, then highlighted with increasing amounts of calgar blue. To make the denim look frayed I added little lines of fenrisian grey at the edges.

The black hair was painted corvus black, highlighted with increasing amounts of administratum grey, then washed with nuln oil.

The blond hair was painted averland sunset, washed seraphim sepia, then highlighted with increasing amounts of flayed one flesh.

The wooden axe shaft was painted steel legion drab then had fine lines of karak stone painted on to it.

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

The spent bullet casings were painted screaming bell then highlighted sycorax bronze.

The eyes were painted abaddon black and then had dots of pallid wych flesh added on either side.

The bases were simply painted with contrast paints: skeleton horde, warp lightning, guilliman flesh and basilicanum grey.

A few months ago, during the unofficial hobby hangout, Gerry was looking at a model I’d painted and he suggested I pick up the skin tone paint set from the army painter and give it a go. So I have.

At the time, there was a kickstarter running for some models that had a lot of exposed skin (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tylerbridwell/fantastic-ladies-of-the-dimensions-2). You know the type. About 25% of the gaming kickstarters are semi-naked lady 3D print files.

This first models isn’t the best example as she’s heavily clothed, but I painted her first simply because she’s the only model on a large base and I wanted to paint her so I could get the model out of the way.

The skin was painted onyx skin, washed with dark skin wash, then highlighted a few times with a little more amber skin mixed in to the onyx skin with each layer.

The bulk of the robes were simply washed with druchii violet. The cloth has sculpted texture which came out well just from a wash. The frilly bits on the front were painted shyish purple then highlighted xereus purple followed by genestealer purple. The cape was painted the same, but with a few layers of naggaroth night rather than the contrast paint as the base.

The hair was simply painted white scar. The metal bits of the scythe were painted leadbelcher, washed nuln oil, then highlighted with ironbreaker then runefang steel.

I wanted to try getting a marble effect on the plinth so I sponged on russ grey followed by fenrisian grey. I’m not sure it worked great, but it looks different to block colours with highlights.

The rocky base was simply painted mechanicus standard grey then dry brushed longbeard grey.

The candles were painted mephiston red then highlighted evil sunz scarlet. The flames were painted white scar then painted with drakenhoff nightshade.

To finish the model off I re-highlighted the bright colours so not everything had a green tint from the wash.

Doing this exercise of forcing myself to mix my colours from the primary colours was very interesting. I wouldn’t do it for every project, but doing it every once in a while should help my painting. It forced me to think about what primary colours must be in a given colour and then try to achieve it. I think it was a valuable exercise.

The wash worked out ok. I took the green paint and darkened it with some black. Then I applied a decent amount of lahmian medium to produce the wash which I then applied all over the models.

All the base colours are done now. I mixed up a couple more browns to do the acorns and miscellaneous animals poking out the model. The rest were the starting colours.

The next step, which may go horribly wrong, will be to mix my own green wash and apply it everywhere. The intention is to make it more “nature-y” with a green tint, and to add depth and definition to the model.

Rascaltown Gnome Druid with Scenery – Made to Order

I don’t usually do WIP posts, but for this project I’m challenging myself to limit the paints I use and do lots of mixing, so I thought I better do an update now before I forget the mixes I’ve done so far.

I’m limiting myself to the six colours from the Rogue Hobbies paint set, plus black and white. I.e. Dark turquoise, orange red, ultramarine, bright green, dark hot pink, bismuth yellow, abaddon black and white scar.

The red-brown for the squirrels was mostly red, with a decent amount of blue and just a little bit of yellow.

The dark brown of the staff and burning logs was mostly blue, with some red and only a little yellow.

The basket, ropes, and leather of the backpacks were made from roughly equal parts red, blue and yellow.

The parchment for the scrolls was mostly yellow, with a decent amount of white and just a little bit of red and blue.

The gnome skin was pink with white and a little bit of blue.

The gnomes hair is yellow with a bit of black. Abaddon black must have a blue element to it as the resulting colour is clearly a green.

The other colours are just pure colours from the bottles.

I’m really enjoying the challenge of forcing myself to think through what colour I want to achieve and deciding what colours I need to add together to get the result I want.