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A new year and we’re already a month in, time flies when you're painting models. Did you all make any new year's resolutions related to your miniatures? I tried to reinforce the common ongoing pledge to paint all my models before buying any more…but I might settle for just ‘most’ haha. In any case, I'll definitely have some interesting models to show off in future articles. For now, let's see what my fellow blogger's have been up to.
Elf & Dwarf by Neil Parker
This month I wanted to focus on some of the various fantasy themed miniatures I’ve collected. So I chose an elf and a dwarf miniatures, in part because of the contrast between the two, but also because of the two different colour schemes.
The paints I use tend to be a mixed batch, but predominantly I use either citadel or Vallejo, In this case that includes various washes like Nuln oil, Reikland fleshshade, Drakenhof nightshade and Fuegan orange.
These miniatures didn’t come with a basecoat so I used a white base spray, then followed with base colours for most of the areas. With the hair on both figures, I used different layers and shades of colour, with washes towards the end with a highlight shade on top.
For the elf, I went with a fire theme for clothing and hair. The cloak saw different shades of purple, pink, red and orange blended in and the top and trousers with mainly a red-orange shade.
For the dwarf, I went with a more sombre earthly and metal look, using shades of blue for the cloak to act in contrast. Overall, using washes and highlights really helped bring these to life and were two of the more enjoyable miniatures I’ve painted this year.
Abhorrant Gorewarden (AoS) by Emma Grave
To kick off the new year, I’ve been painting up my Flesh-Eater Courts Army box. The
Abhorrant Gorewarden is a fantastic-looking model, holding symbolic ‘keys to the kingdom’ to represent their command over the gates to their lord’s lands. This dark fantasy model also features impressive wings and a ruff made of bones, while the scenic base has the body parts of poor unfortunate souls tied to a crumbled stone pillar. I chose to go with purple flesh for my gruesome ghouls, so the Gorewarden is a mix of the Army Painter Speedpaints Purple Swarm and Gravelord Grey, highlighted with a mix of Citadel’s Daemonette Hide and Pallid Wych Flesh. I painted their claws and wing talons Abaddon Black, highlighted with Stormvermin Fur. The keys were basecoated silver, with some then tinted using Snakebite Leather and Gryph-Hound Orange contrast paints to give them a different hue.
For those large wings, I initially used the lovely deep red Murder Scene Speedpaint.
Then I applied Khorne Red, Mephiston Red, Evil Sunz Scarlet, Wild Rider Red and Troll Slayer Orange using a small sponge. I kept more of the darker colours towards the edges of the wings and then blended smaller amounts of the lighter colours at the centre. I think the army is going to look great together once they’re all finished!
Vault Dweller (Fallout) by Northern Invasion Stu
One of my favourite video game franchises is without a doubt the Fallout series. I have been sitting on a copy of the board game with the various expansions for a little while now and I am about to start a play through of the missions in a linked campaign. The miniature quality for Fantasy Flight Games has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years, and these models are no exception to that. The sculpts are crisp and clean with very few mould lines; meaning that there is no assembly and minimal preparation necessary to get these beauties to the table. The models are made of hard plastic and are in a standard 28mm heroic scale.
For my first play through of the game, I had to choose to use the vault dweller or Sole Survivor. I tried to keep to the iconic colour scheme, which is so recognisable given the number of Fallout games we’ve become familiar with. I initially sprayed the model with Army Painter colour primer and then blocked out the various areas before adding a soft tone wash (also by Army Painter) - this magical stuff is absolute gold and a must-have for your paint collection. Whenever I am teaching newcomers/folk how to paint, or encouraging people to get into the hobby, this is the one product that really helps to lift a model and help to take the most basic painting skills to the next level. There are a variety of washes and tones in the Army Painter range that are available through Zatu, but soft tone Ink is my recommendation as an absolute essential. Once the wash is dry, add some highlights and you’re good to go.
I am looking forward to my upcoming play through of Fallout and to writing a review for the Zatu blog. Keep your eyes peeled!
Imperial Commissar (40k) by Ross Coulbeck
There is something about Imperial Commissars. On the surface they are like many other commissars throughout history, fierce disciplinarians who aren’t afraid to hand out whatever punishment they deem necessary, and 40k turns that up to eleven. When a commissar is around, it’s almost guaranteed one of your fellow guardsmen is getting shot before the end of your shift. You’ll spend most of your time just making sure it’s not you. With that in mind they shouldn’t be likeable…and yet Ibram Gaunt, Severina Raine, Ciaphas Cain and Sebastian Yarrick make up some of the best stories of the 41st millennium. I can’t say why, maybe it’s finding the diamonds in the rough that make them stand out so much, all I can say is I’ll be first in line for their next adventure (Ciaphas Cain especially is an addiction).
So, with that in mind, I’d like to present to you Ishmael Barresain of the Ordo Xenos. Currently overseeing a situation in the Mannadok system for a local club league, he prefers to see things from a distance, but isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty if necessary. The model is 2023’s 40k event model which I picked up at Warhammer Fest and I think it perfectly personifies an Inquisitor. The gun, which is no doubt pointed at an unfortunate guardsman, the strong bearing, and you can’t see it in the one picture, but he has a book in his other hand behind his back. I like to think he’s just looked up some obscure rule that he can use to make an example of somebody. Or he was invested in a book, is pausing briefly to shoot somebody, then will return immediately to the book without losing his position.
Colour wise I stuck generally to a classic Inquisitor look, but mixed up the palette a bit on the highlights. The grey of his coat and dress uniform is classic, but the yellow makes a nice change for the inner lining, I think it really pops. It’s also nice on the sword…string…thing, what is that anyway? The orange on the epaulettes etc I’m not as happy with. It’s ok but I think it is too similar to the yellow; I needed something bolder. But who knows, a future version of Ishmael might switch up his style a bit, coats suffer terrible fates in the 41st millennium.
Azrael (40k) by Thomas Gorner
This month, with the release of the Deathwing Assault box, I thought it wise to try and complete the Supreme Grand Master of the Dark Angels, Azrael. While the Lion has returned to lead his Angels into battle, Azrael has become a masterful commander himself, and one that I was eager to get painted so I could field in my future games. I absolutely love the lore surrounding the Dark Angels and with all the recent releases over the last year, we’ve been treated to some beautiful minis, including Azrael himself!
This model was incredibly fun to paint, with various different aspects to his body. You have the standard, dark green power armour, as well as the off-white robe, covering said armour. I used a mix of Dark Angels Green and Warp Lighting contrast paints for the armour, as this allows the green to be slightly more vibrant and not risk being too dark. For the robe, having based the model in white, I was able to coat it in wash of Seraphim Sepia, which gives you a lovely tone on the robe.
There is different iconography adorning the armour as well, and this certainly posed a challenge to paint, as the details are small and took a steady hand to get right. Thankfully, using Blood Angels Red contrast, as well as Apothecary White contrast made the job a lot easier, recess shading while painting at the same time.
The best part to paint was definitely the banner. The details, while small, make the banner really stand out and while difficult to paint, patience and a steady hand made for a lovely result.
I’m really proud of this miniature and how it turned out and I can’t wait to get him on the battlefield!