For the Reik!

A few chop shop pics:

10 Marksmen of Morr (dour Reikland crossbowmen each of whom has lost family members to Morr) 

20 Altdorf Eternals (grizzled veteran swordsmen from the capital, well equipped but "all go, no show" despite Reikland and especially Altdorf's reputation)

10 Altdorf auxiliaries (10 handgunners who accompany the Immortals to battle)

Sorcerous Portal

Sorcerous portal complete NOW WITH OSL effects!

Used the box art for ideas and the only tutorial. The bronze verdigris was done in my "old school" method of Dark Angels Green + Hawk Turqouize with a touch of white. 

The magical energy done by following the guidelines for the ethereal shadows on Nagash's cloak. Using Nihilak Oxide as the main colour which worked really well.

It's not easy being green

Empire wizard: Lore of Life.

Significant conversions on this guy. Not sure if I'll add weathering effects and mud splotches to him or not... What do you think?

There's a blue/green glaze over the stone sucks as well. Not sure if I'll re-do this as a power crystal... Maybe a bluey-green or bright crystal blue.

Fire starter

Another wizard to add to my set. That makes three fire wizards!

Used more Mephiston Red rather than Khorne Red as has been the case with my other red colours on the rest of the army.

Flagellant fodder

Some more flagellant fodder

Makes 15 fully painted Sigmarite nutbags! 

The Brotherhood of Sigmar's bloody Judgement

Five to go, including the Prophet of Doom. 

Question:

Should he be differentiated somehow in colour scheme? Maybe some red cloth? He's got the flaming brazier head, and a back banner, so different cloth could be too much...?

Bling

So I said I'd never paint these, but never say never...

A golden "golden penis" and a whole lot of gold doubloons! 

Shading was initially gryphon sepia and then another mix with leviathan purple and sepia in selected recesses. Then a final selective shade with Agrax.

There is one more possible option left as well:

Adding some minor tarnishing with a thin Hawk Turqouize, Skull White and Dark Angels Green combination in a few patches. Not too sure though because gold doesn't oxidise light bronze... Goes more brown I think as it ages.

Love to hear your thoughts about whether you think they're needed.

Flagellants, attack!

Five more flagellants for the cult, makes 10!

With these guys, I used Rakarth Flesh, Steel Legion Drab and Rhinox Hide as the three main base colours on most models to add variety to the "drab" browns. I thought about adding in grey, but am really happy with the overall look of the unit.

I also added bruised effects with selective washes of leviathan purple and Baal red, plus the Blood for the Blood God to add the required level of sacrificial blood. Note: all this is from the flagellants themselves - flails are hard to aim!

Der Panzer Gryphs: Mach 2

Another three riders done to add to the second rank of my Demi-Gryph knights. A long time coming, really happy to see them with riders!

It was just a matter of finishing off some white and gold detailing. Hope you like them!

Das Kapital: Altdorf

A limited edition captain model that I will be using in the Altdorf/Reikland contingent that will accompany my Karl Franz model when I ally them with my regular Carroburg force.

I went with the halved design and kept the metallics, reds, browns and parchments the same as my other Empire guys.

Also added a bit more orange into the feather which I used in the Witch Hunter model and liked the effect - ties it into the red well.

The dead Orc is painted in usual greens from the GW tutorial. The only change being the bottom lip which includes Bugman's Glow in with Waagh Flesh. Then with some Screaming Skull added on for a highlight. All blood effects were done with a base coat of Khorne Red and the added Blood for the Blood God, with some more careful spray/streaking effects.

Do you have a flag?

Empire Battle Standard with Gryphon Banner.

One of the main problems for my Empire army has been my lack of BSB in game play. I never really take one, when they're so crucial in game and really add to the combat and break test bonuses, the re-roll and just being a good centre point for the army.

Done in my standard Empire colours. A bit of 5 o'clock shadow thrown in for "tough guy" stylings!

Just need to give him a name. Any suggestions? The more creatively Germanic is all the better!

Basing work

Pretty meadows for High Elves

Sharp-cliffs, and frozen tundra forest for Dark Elves

For the High Elves, the meadow flowers are from Army Painter - ace stuff, really easy to use, just like the GW clumps that you can get.

For the Dark Elves, snow is Flex-Paste from Woodland Scenics, followed by GW snow effects. The grass is GW Mordheim Turf clumps, with the snow effects recipe stippled on top. You might also see the dead leaves as well, covered by snow, which are dead seed pods from our birch tree - these are amazing! Perfect scale for dead leaves for 28mm scale, free $$$ and plentiful in autumn. Win. 

Love to hear what you think.

Dark Elves

After much thought, I've done a bit of a redux to my Dark Elves. My main issue with the other scheme was that it was more "dull" than "dark." DE are dark, but they're still elves, so not dull.

So in order to fix this I've added quite a bit more colour and am happier with the overall look and feel. The dark purple and navy is a good combo as it looks black, but actually isn't. The addition of the bright green actually was originally intended to only be on poison weapons but having tried another blue-green OSL look on the Sorceress' eyes it actually didn't "pop" contrast as much and do got a bit lost/complemented a bit too much. I think the green actually adds to the dark power/feel of what Dark magic is all about - rippin' people's souls from their bodies, poisoning, devouring in black/greeny blasts of energy... Maybe anyway... 

A word on painting the Dark Elf skin:

I used Rakarth Flesh + Pale Skin (Valejo) in a 50:50 base mix then added increasing amounts of Palid Wych Flesh.

Shades were thinned Leviathan Purple wash and Dark Flesh, both done with Lahmian Medium (this stuff is liquid gold!).

The green accent is Warpstone Glow (Snot Green), Moot Green (Scorpion Green), Sunburst Yellow, White Scar. I used Biel Tan around the deepest parts of the eyes really judiciously just to make the eyeballs pop even further. She's blasting out a spell you see... Pfzzzzz *dead*

Star gazing

Assembled and ready to be primed grey

Having painted this before, just wondering if you'd make any suggestions Gaz?

Tournament wrap up

Here is half of the army that I took to the Wackyhammer doubles tournament (Gaz's Nuln army was the other half) and our Last Place consolation prize - Wight King! 

My summation: Sir, we need reinforcements!

It was ace. Great opponents, and two close games, with one blow out loss at the end. Given that our lists were really fluffy I think we did well considering. My favourite army was definitely the Tropic Thunder Ogre-Lizardmen army that was really well executed, especially the basing and NMM throughout.

Der Panzer-Gryphs

3 of 6 Demigryph Knights are done. I'm pretty happy with the look overall, now I just need to do the banner details on NMM gold...

3 more on their way to make a unit of 6!

I spent a bit more time in the scar on the champion, using dark flesh mixed in with Tallarn Flesh, then some Bhaal Red and Leviathan Purple glazes to give extra depth of colour. The result is great and I had to invent a story to go along with the model. Here it is:

The unit is lead by a grizzled champion, Kurt Wieslemann whose scar is the result of being tusk charged by a Savage Orc boar chieftain in the face, surviving and then killing both beast and rider.

Mud and Blood: Flagellants

Five completed flagellants.

Really happy with the overall look. Just have 15 more to go...

The flames are all washes/glazes over a white base coat (x3 for whiteness!).

I love the blood/gore and reddy/bruised skin effects and the mud stains. That slight hint of blue/white is to link the unit in with the rest of the army which has the same colour for their feathers for cool contrast to the bold, warm red.

Throw the book at him: Empire Flagellant (take 2)

Ok, so based on Gaz's feedback I give you this more insane offering:

More blood and gore. 

Some careful Bhaal Red shading of skin areas for a more 'hair shirt' wear and, yes, tear. Aweful pun. And then some line shading with Leviathan Purple. The blood soaked cloth is a "spray" flicking the stippling brush, firstly, dark flesh (for dried blood), then secondly, blood for the blood god. Final careful application of 'B4tBG' applied with a standard brush and with streaking and some diluted soaking through... I'm much happier with this look. And I think the extra effort will be well worth it on all 20. I'll definitely be using them if I paint them well. That's the theory at least...

Dying for Sigmar: Empire flagellant

A bit of a test model for my 20 man Flagellant unit:

Mainly the standard drab browns and khaki colours with some weathering. I'll use red and bronze (with verdigris) as spot colours throughout the unit to give it a bit of extra detail.

Aud Weidersehen Hexen: Witch Hunter

Meet Dieter von Sprüngler, Witch Hunter.

He's a combination of this type of witch hunter from Warhammer online.

And this guy: Jorge Sprave. How nutty is this?! I love the German sense of humour.

Back to the model:

What a great model! This miniature is great, despite my hatred of Finecast. I've got two variants - twin flintlock pistols and great weapon - and this is the first paint job.

In terms of research material, I used a few different sources to get the colours to fit with my army but also be slightly different. These two images were helpful: