Reinforcements: Champion of Nurgle

I gave a quick sneak peek of this model last week with a quick On The Table update.  This past Friday, I found some time in the early hours of the morning to get some serious paint time in before I made my way to a friends for a weekend of drinks and gaming!   Overall I think I spent around 3-4 hours getting him painted up and for the time invested I can't help but be happy with the results. 

I used a black base coat for this one, as I knew I'd be working mostly with metallic paints and wanted to give a nice dark scheme overall.  No crazy bright colors were in the mix with this guy.  Instead, I went with a gritty hard feel from start to finish. 

The model started off by painting everything that was going to end up metallic with GW Chainmail.  I then washed it all down with a watered down GW Chaos Black (about a 1 to 8 dilution / paint to water).  This toned him down appropriately and added some quick shadows but without filling in the details.  I know some might ask why I didn't just use GW's Badab Black, but I've had issues when doing heavy washing with the wash creating an artificial surface over some of the finer details like in the pockets of chain mail. 

With the paint wash dried, I went back in with GW Devlin Mud wash on the armor plates.  I stayed away from the bits that would end up another tone of metal (the weapon and the bronze detailing) and did multiple passes to build the color of the armor up.  The armor was then 'scratched' when dry using GW Chainmail again along edges and cut details.  (Would you like to know more?)

The bronze details were painted with VMC Bronze.  For the weathering I mixed Secret Weapon Patina Weathering Pigment and Vallejo Matt Medium and painted it into the recesses, wiping away any that was on the raised areas.  When dry I touched the areas up again with VMC Bronze. 

The shoulder blade and the axe blade were painted using the 'true metallic' painting technique that was part of an Open Discussion.  This uses metallic paint and a lot of hard shading using regular paints to add a serious amount of contrast, running the full gamut from fully shiny metal to pitch black shadows.  Once the shading was done, I used a little GW Vermin Brown to add a touch of color and touched up a few edges with pure GW Chainmail. 

The inset detail of the axe blade was done by mixing dry pigment with water, applying it to the recesses liberally, allowed to dry and then with a slightly damp finger I wiped the surface clean leaving the pigment in the recessed detail.  The idea was that the bronze skull of has washed the inset with the patina coloring. 

The chain mail was given a very light wash of Vermin Brown in a few spots and touched up with GW Chainmail.  Paying attention to where you apply your touched up highlighting can help create much needed depth with what can otherwise end up a very flat looking area. 

The axe handle was painted GW Bestial Brown, highlighted with GW Snakebite Leather, given a final few lines of GW Bleached Bone and then washed down with GW Devlin Mud.

The wraps and rope were painted with GW Bestial Brown, then Snakebite Leather and finally Bleached Bone.  Gryphonne Sepia Wash was then applied to the recesses. 

The pouches/straps/leathers were painted black and highlighted with Bestial Brown followed by Snakebite Leather. 

The trophy head was painted using GW Bestial Brown, then Snakebite Leather.  The skin side was painted with Elf Flesh and the bone was done using Bleached Bone.  The whole head was then washed with Devlin Mud and touched up with the previous colors. 

To finish the model off I painted the base with GW Chaos Black and drybrushed the top using GW Fortress Grey. 

All of the techniques used were quick and efficient, leading to a very fast paint session and a brutal looking model that stays from the usual nurgle color schemes but keeps himself firmly rooted in the grime.  This model fits nicely with the champion and models that have come before him as well.  Once I've got a good number finished, I plan to go back in on the basing and add some additional detailing after some goading by a few friends to punch them up a step beyond their current state!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the piece.  Anyone else working on any Fantasy models lately?  Any crazy Warriors of Chaos you've seen around the net?  Share those links!

Friday Quick Tip: Weathering Pigment Bases

Here's another quick tip I picked up from one of my classes at Adepticon.  I admit, at first I was not that excited with the results when Mathieu Fontaine showed this technique for using weathering pigments for basing in his Weathering class.  But once I got home and was able to try it for myself, I found I really liked it.  I think the long drying time for the pigment fixer makes it difficult to fully appreciate in a short class time.  Anyway, here's my first experiment using weathering pigments for basing.

Here are the tools you'll need for the job: one brush for the pigment, one brush for the fixer, Mig Pigment Fixer and some pigments.  I'm using the APJ Weathering Pigments Les sent to me to check out.  (Note these are the older-style APJ containers, check out the new ones in the APJ Store.)  For this quick rust look I'm using Rust 1 and Rust 3 pigments.

First start with a primed base.  I've got a model on this one, but you can just as easily start with a blank base.  (Or make up a whole bunch of bases for the next time you need to create a squad.)  With this base I wanted the contrast of a granite rock, so I dry-brushed a piece of slate I'd glued down before coating the base with fine masonry sand.

Pick up some of the pigments on your brush and tap the brush on the rim to remove the excess.  It is easy to put more pigment on if you need it, but harder to remove.  And I'm clumsy, so if I load up too much I'm bound to get it all over my desk, making a mess.

Give the base a good coat.  Since this is the foundation layer, make it a little heavier and a little more even.  I'll layer more pigment on top later for some variety.

Once you get the pigments down it is time for the pigment fixer.  Dip your other brush in the fixer and then just touch the brush to the side of the base, letting the capillary action of the fixer soak into the base pigments.  You'll probably have to work around the base, touching the brush in multiple places, to make sure it is completely wet.

Here's what it looks like wet.  Don't worry, it will dry lighter and matte.

Once the first layer is dry (maybe a half to an hour or more, depending on how much you used and the humidity), lay down a second color of pigment in some areas of the base.  In this case I'm using the Rust 1 as a highlight.  APJ and other pigment makes often have several colors of rust, so you can go for more depth by using more layers than just the two I'm using here.

There you have it.  I'm no geologist, so I'm not sure what sort of rusty lava flow over granite boulders this planet will be, but the base choices were made to complement the red, black and white color scheme of the model.  (On some I'll be picking up the blue hue of the granite in the plasma weapons.)  But use whatever color you like.  Pigments are available in a wide variety of colors from earth to clay to sulfur and even brighter colors; there's enough choice out there for any color of base.

One last note on clean-up: I rinsed the pigment brush out in my painting water, but I used soap and water in the sink to clean up the pigment fixer brush.  It was still pretty supple after basing 20 models, but I'd keep around a dedicated brush for both pigments and pigment fixer just in case.

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