Dire Wolf AKA Fenris Wolf Guide

I don’t know about you, but when I picture a dire wolf, it is not as a creature that shambles along, sloughing pieces of itself and fertilizing the landscape. My vision of a dire wolf is that of a sleek and very large canine predator, capable of reducing men to urine soaked pants and tears just as easily as turning them into bloody ribbons upon which the pack will feed. One of the latest incarnations of this comes from the mind of George R.R Martin, in the form of house Stark and their pets, while many years ago my mind brought to life the descriptions found within the odd Dungeon and Dragon monster manual. Or, does anyone remember the reference to a Vulg?

Vampire counts - Skeleton painting guide

Vampire Counts, Skeleton Painting Guide

By: Blackbard

I have discovered a quick method of painting ranks of skeletal troops for an undead army. I have been told that the models look good, and with a nice base they look great on the table top.

Skin samples

I started hunting around for Orc skin recipes that I liked. This has proven to be harder than it sounds.

The first test model idea is to use goblin green as a base. I will follow this up by 2 washes of Thraka green wash (a touch of flesh was in second coat), as well as 2 washes of Gryphonne Sepia wash. I am then to highlight with goblin green, vgc dark fleshtone and dheneb stone. About 3:2:1. And then keep adding dheneb stone to the previous mix to get the wanted light.

Test orc and Goblin Green base

 The second method starts with a base of Snot Green. The full recipe is in the white dwarf...which I convieniently forgot at work. So much for adding that now. I promise I will edit this post with the recipe later. The finished result was quite bright and attractive. Looked like about 4 to 6 steps total for a finished mini.


Orc with Snot Green base

This one...I don't quite know where I came up with this recipe. I think it was from WARSEER, but I could be mistaken. Anyway...if you have chestnut ink, give it a few watered down washes of that...if not, I am trying a mixture of 1:1 yellow to brown wash. I also gave him a touch of thraka after the first washes had dried. Next, start highlighting with a 50/50 mix of gretchin green and tausept ochre. Then a new highlight with pure tausept ochre paint. And then a final HL with Iyanden darksun.


Orc with Gretchen green base (as well as Yellow/brown/green washes)

 I found this recipe on the GW website, but have thrown in a few different combos along the way. I guess we'll see how it turns out. He (??) is one of my favorites so far just because I like how muted the base coat is.
I started with a base coat of Knarloc green and a wash of brown/yellow. GW suggests that you go directly to a highlight of goblin green after the shade (they shade with Orchide Green), but instead I will be reapplying knarloc as a highlight. THEN I will apply the goblin green highlight. The last highlight will be 1:1 goblin green and Rotting flesh.

Knarloc green base (yellow/brown wash)

Test model Knarloc with highlights. Verdict?

The last recipe I am going to try...unless someone can suggest something else to try, is Dark Angel Green, highlighted by goblin green. A final highlight of scorpion green will hopefully finish off the flesh.


Dark angel base

 If you have any other recipes, or find something new that you have tried or would like me to try, please send it to me or, send me a link to the recipe. I will keep track of my progress with each test model, and when I am done I hope that the kernel of a tutorial will be in place.
Cheers, Bard
p.s. Is anyone going to gameday? I really would love to get my hands on the Skaven model being offered. If you are headed there and want to pick me up one, I will gladly pay you back for your troubles!! Send me a message if this something you want to do.

Painting Rust Effects

I have been asked several times now on how I paint rust onto my models. I thought it would be a better idea to not only show and explain how I do it, but what has inspired me on my travels across the great land known as Internet.

To start with, I originally used very little rust effects in my painting. I then got my hands on a great paint called Smoke. I used this on everything I could get my hands on, and still do to this day! But the one thing it did for me was to make me want to try and “dirty” my models.

Oh, it’s fine to have something dirty. But try explaining why you are carting something rusty or covered in mud, into the house to your wife! It doesn’t go over so great. But painting it on will work, it’s just so damn hard to make it look realistic!

Skaven painting tutorial

My Skaven have become a craze for me lately. I have not only enjoyed painting them, but feel that they are looking remarkably good for the number of shortcuts I have introduced into the normally time consuming method I use. To this end I have made a tutorial that I hope readers will enjoy trying out on their own models.
                                        

Step 1 and 2

1.) The first step I clean the models of all mold lines with a sharp hobby knife. Once it is cleaned I glue it to the base and glue (white glue) my gravel mixture onto the base around the model. My mixture consists of several different grades of gravel…from sand to a larger black mixture I got at my nearest mall’s hobby shop. Once this is dry I sprayed the entire model using Army Painter “Rat Fur”. I really like how well this product covers the model evenly and smoothly. (No more TAR clumps for me!)

2.) I mixed up a batch of English uniform and white (both vallejo products). With this mixture I paint all the cloth areas. I always try to stay “inside the lines” as this can help the speed of getting the model done. If you want to give the model even greater depth, dry-brush/or paint some highlights by adding white to the cloth mixture. My other step here is to cover the metal bits in GW chainmail. It may sound a bit bright for the Skaven, but after you have applied the washes by the end, the metal areas are very dirty looking.

Step 3 and 4

3.) Here I have added pure Vallejo English Uniform to the weapon shaft. I also dab mechrite red onto any metal areas I want colored. I dab in a controlled randomness, aiming to have a lot of the metal areas showing, with the red looking like it has been chipped off or rubbed off where the metal plates would touch. There is absolutely no reason to be super careful here, especially with a rank and file model.



Step 5 and 6

 4.) The base is attended to here. I use Basalt grey first. I follow this with a dry-brush of Basalt mixed with white, about half and half for this mixture. The edge of the base is painted black.

5.) P3 midlund flesh is my flesh color of choice for the Skaven. I have it in a GW mixing pot though as I had my P3 pot break. I try to leave some of the primer Rat Fur in the creases and of course where there would be fur! DUH! Also give the nose a touch of black to the nose here. I know GW and many others don’t paint the nose black, and I have been told my Skaven look like dogs because of the nose, but I really like the effect.

6.) Mix some midland flesh with white, a consistency of 60% flesh to 40 white. Water the mixture down to get good coverage…but not too wet or it will run. I also add more white for one last pass around the muzzle. Teeth, nails and horns can either be painted white or bone color here.

Step 7 and 8

7.) Leather, cloth and any other fiddly bit gets touched here. This is also a good time to clean any last mistakes that you see. Highlight the skin and any other bits by adding a bit of white to the mixture. The contrast shows nice in the next step.

Step 9 and 8.a

8.) Wash Everything with Devlan Mud! Nice and wet, and make sure everything is covered.
8.a.) Let the wash dry.

9.) Rust it up. I use my new forgeworld powders, along with a mix of Burnt Umber oil paint and mix it all with Turpenoid (a white spirit)…lastly I water down Vallejo fiery orange (which of course I forgot in my pictures) and dab some onto the brown rust areas. It’s a great effect.

I hope if anyone gets the chance to try this recipe they let me know how it worked for them. I found it very simple to use, and I really like the results.

Enjoy!!
cheers, Bard