CCXXX. Iron Golems Painting Guide - Metal

Last week I showed how I painted skin on my Iron Golems for Warcry. In this post I'll cover the rest of the model, which is mostly metal armour.

IRON GOLEMS METAL

1 -The first step is Russ Grey (GW) + plenty of water, applied as a glaze over the entire armour and all the rest of the metal surfaces.

2 - next was Dark Wood (Secret Weapon), a medium grey colour. Applied over the parts that will be  'silver'.

3 - Brown Rust (Secret Weapon) glaze.

  

4 - a few more patchy glazes with different browns. You want to avoid too much of it getting on the 'silver parts'. Chainmail was an exception- there I deliberately added a bit of brown in places.

5 - Nuln Oil wash over all metal, for shading and definition.

6 - first highlight is with Celestra Grey (GW). This is only slightly thinned with water, as you don't want it to run and flood into the recesses and around details. I'ts mostly edge highlighting. Did it on both the brown and the silver parts with this.

7 - The second highlight is with white.

8 - Then, to add a bit of interest to the mostly drab, brownish model, I glazed some spots of the armour with thinned Secret Weapon Verdigris Pale Green. It subtly makes the model more 'alive'.

9 - the finishing touches. A bit of blacklining where necessary. And - you've probably noticed that in the past year or so I started applying tiny specks of paint on many of my models (mostly white and/or black). I do it because this splatter adds so much to the atmosphere of a paintjob. I use an old #10 brush with stiff bristles for the task, flicking paint from it onto the mini. Depending on how thin the paint is and how loaded the brush, the droplets will change in size, opacity and number. It's best you try for yourself to get a feel for it. Always check on a spare piece of paper before you go splatter the mini!

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That's all there is to it. The warband is now finished and ready to go to its new owner, and I'm getting started on the other starter warband: the Untamed Beasts.

 

  

CCXXIX. Iron Golems Painting Guide - Skin

I picked up the Warcry starter on preorder (mainly for the fantastic terrain and the new Furies). I'll probably try the rules at some point. My next project will be painting up the two warbands: Iron Golems and Untamed Beasts, who will both be going to their new owners once finished. 

Iron Golems are getting done first. I think these minis have a lot of potential. I made only minor changes on them for this project, but if I ever decide to do them again for my own collection, I will definitely change their weapons. I think they're the weakest part of the designs. 

Here's a step-by-step of how I'm doing the skin on the Iron Golems. I'll be doing the same for their armour next. 

IRON GOLEMS SKIN

 

1 - I start by applying black primer over the entire figure, followed by white primer at a downward angle. I find this great for painting with glazes and washes. The recesses remain dark from the black spray, which gives me automatic shading in those hard to reach areas. The white provides a bright underlying surface for the glazes.

2 - Since I'm going for quite a light skintone, the next step is to give the skin a couple coats of thinned white. I focus on the areas that are exposed, leaving the parts in the shadows darker.
 

3 - Thinned Zandri Dust is applied on the skin to provide a yellow tint and mild shading. I use plain water to thin the paints. Make it really thin. It's better to make it too thin and have to add another coat than mess up with one that's too heavy (this is not irreversible, mind you, but it wastes your time).

4 - Thinned Russ Grey tones down the yellow, and makes the shadows more prominent.

 

5 - At this point first highlights are added with slightly watered-down white. 

6 - A thin glaze of Zandri Dust helps even things out.

7 - The proces finishes with the final white highlight to pick out the detail - muscles, folds in skin, etc. In case this highlight is too stark, it can be toned down by lightly glazing it again. All these paint coats are very thin, so just adding more coats will not cause any problems.

Painted Armator and Ogre Breacher.