Wolfen #5 – Killyox

Almost four years ago, daggerandbrush recommended Killyox as the next expansion in this pretty much still starting Wolfen project. Well, it took some time, but I’m glad I eventually managed to get and paint this beast.

There seem to be different Killyox sculpts around. The one I found to buy at a reasonable price lacks the nice pendants attached to the belt in the front, has a toirtoise or drake texture on the leg armour instead of padded leather, and some other differences. But it’s still an imposing sculpt, and a hell of a pointer. See below for comparison.

I decided to paint the leg armour in somewhat iridescent colours, as if it were the hide or shell of a sea creature or something out of Final Fantasy VIII. In general, the miniature has more colours and a warmer palette than the other wolfen I painted so far.

The metallics are a bit more muted than those on the crossbow of the previous mini…

For some of the details and decorations, like the horn and the plate on the moon-shaped icon on his back, I tried yellow and teal with simple white edge highlighting. I must say I quite like it, maybe just a tad too cartoony.

The skin was perhaps the easiest part of the model – just a matter of building shadows carefully with very thin paint and then adding a little pop with some red and yellows. More than a wolf, I decided to paint Killyox as some sort of kitsune, a Japanese fox spirit, in this case with a double pointed tail. I think the white spot made the face more interesting and saved me a lot of trouble with blending.

Overall, I’m very happy with this mini, and it didn’t even take that long to paint, at least compared to my standards!

Next I’ll do an orc, but soon I’ll be back with another wolfen.

Wolfen #3 – a crossbow

How long did it take for a medieval weaponsmith to make a crossbow?

I have no idea, but I’m pretty sure it took less than it took me to paint this very tiny one…

Still, I wanted to share this because I tried and liked a set of browns for wood that blend quite well and easily together.

In case you are interested, these are from Lifecolor – Wood warm base, Wood light shade, Wood dark shade, and Portland stone.

Just for fun, here’s (the state of) my palette for the Wolfen so far. You can see it’s been a challenge!

Wolfen #2 – first warrior

I think I’ll count this as done. It will get some finishing touches and the base after after some of the other puppies will be painted.

If you get close, everything looks still a bit messy. But I have made some bold choices here and there and in the end I am satisfied with how it turned out. I used to be scared to paint these Rackham models and now I’m feeling more confident.

The skin (or really short fur) is painted and highlighted with greys, with just a little purples in the highlights. For the next wolfen, I’ll try to add some colour variation. From some angles the pads on the thighs look rough, but you liked them so much I didn’t change them.

The blonde hair is… questionable. I don’t remember how I came up with the idea, but probably from one of the reference pictures on the Confrontation cards. Then I chose to stick with it. After all, there can be blonde werewolves, right?

This last picture is blurry, but it’s there just so you have all the main angles, and it works in a small format. The sculpt clearly focuses on the front: there isn’t a lot here that draws attention.

One lonely wolf howling at Ylia. Next, I think I’ll go with one of the iconic crossbow sculpts…

Wolfen warrior #1 – in progress

On to some Rackham wolfen, which are very dear models to me and among those who really made me want to learn how to paint. Unfortunately I sold the first few wolfen I painted years ago, but now I got quite a few from the old range and I’m going to spend some time on them.

This is an old warrior, with the typical sword design and just a basic leg and head swap.

The nmm on the blade took time: I found it much easier to do a good effect on the two blades pointing downwards than on the large surface of the main blade.

The skin is still not done, but I have started to work some purple tones in the gray, to see if it’s true that it would make the model look more lifelike.

The metal on the two pads on his thighs is very blue and meant to be more reflective and bright. I still have to tone it down and add some shadows on the side, but what do you think so far? Does it look strange?

Clearly I should add more color variation in the skin, especially here in the back. And I have to find a nice pop shade of blond for the tail and hair.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to paint much during the holiday season. Best wishes to everybody and catch you in January!

Goblin knight #2 – (almost) done

I did not have much time for painting lately and I had somewhat lost interest in this miniature. In part I think it was because of the nmm armour. I’ve definitively learned never to try to do it with pure gradations of grey: it’s difficult, boring and at that point it would probably be better to use metallic paints.

I will keep the model on the painting table for a while longer and maybe touch it up from time to time.

I’m also trying to solve a problem with my wet palette getting moldy… It almost looks like mushrooms are about to sprout from it. Appropriate for cave goblins and such, but terrible for painting.

Even taking into consideration the fact that he’s a character, it will be hard to mix this knight together with the old plastic wolf models. The dynamism and the scale are just too different. I will have to get into newer gw or different ranges to complete the wolf riding section of the army.

On to another kind of oversized wolves next…

Goblin knight #1 – Sketching

It appears that this goblin was able to run ahead and get on my painting table before the others.

The rider is a lovely Rackham sculpt with some clear Froud-esque influences. I love the shape of the lance, the flowing lines of the helmet and the ace of spades decoration.

I love what seems to have been the standard design for the goblin’s armoured feet a little less, as it is rather a pain to do nmm on.

This guy was supposed to ride a giant rat, but he looked dynamic and “knightly” enough to mount a giant wolf instead – an arguably nobler mount, and also one that would make more sense for a regular goblin. I will be saving the rat for a night / cave goblin character.

He still has a rat on his helmet, though. Will it be scurrying off, I wonder, to rat out to its Skaven masters?

Now for the mount… I’m not used to painting fur, or animals. The last wolves I painted were the tiny rigid old plastic sculpts for the Goblin wolf riders, and the Fenrisian wolf I chose as a mount for this model comes packed with the new GW flair, calling for a whole new style. This is the picture I’m using as a reference – the GW model looks like the angry, famished, threatening, meth-addicted version of this lovely animal, but still…

The colours in the pictures below are just sketched in. I’ll probably add some black tips and work some more white in the recesses as I go about refining the sketch. Wish me luck, and if you have any tips or tutorials to share they’ll be very welcome! (Azazel, you know I’ll be scouting your blog for inspiration, right?)

Orc Warlord #3 – Ready to roll

I have finally completed the warlord.

As usual, one could go on smoothing and adding more detail and texture, but I’m satisfied with how the model looks at the moment. I think it’s a solid improvement over the orcs in the big unit I painted two years ago and that he will stand out enough, once he joins it, to be accepted as a leader.

The back looked more or less right already in the last work-in-progress pictures, so I have worked more on the front and smoothed the transitions on the axe a little.

Following your approval, I have painted the knight’s head as old but not quite rotting. I can see him throwing it to invite a horde of squids / gnashers to a game of fetch, and hopefully directing them towards the enemy in the process.

As the warlord walks away clunking in search of a suitable base (I can tell you it’s going to take a while), new green twisted heroes are squabbling to get into the limelight…

Orc Warlord #2 – Armour and axe

Just a quick update on the Warlord.

I’ve glued the arm with the axe in place and sketched some nmm there. But I mostly worked on the back side, where most of the plates of armour are and where they are most exposed to the light. I always imagine a 45 degrees light from the miniature’s right side – some mid-morning light for the heat of the battle – and the front of the armour in this case mostly falls in the shadows.

I am pleased with the axe so far, even though on one hand it could be smoother and on the other it should probably be dirtier. I don’t think that head has chopped itself off on its own…

Would you believe that it’s not a fresh head, though? Something like an old lucky charm (rabbit’s foot, knight’s head, not a great difference), or do I have to splatter the whole miniature with blood? It will really make a difference once I have to finish the model and paint the head itself…

Orc Warlord #1 – Sketching

It has been a long time! But despite everything, I manage to keep painting, and I keep coming back.

I should have a little more time now and in the next months I’m going to focus on Orc & Goblin characters, and a few Rackham Wolfen.

I’ve begun working on this orc warlord on foot – the old Grimgor, with a simple headswap from, if I’m not mistaken, the old orc warlord on boar.

Everything needs more work, but so far I’ve sketched in more or less all the colours and started on the skin and the armour.

As you can see I’m trying a black – petrol blue – turquoise and light grey NMM. Still a lot of contrast to push, but I’m happy so far.

The axe will be a bit of a headache, I’m afraid, as I don’t have a clear idea of where to put NMM highlights on an axe, especially when held more or less parallel to the ground… Also, I can’t really make it the same as the armour, but I still have to find a matching colour scheme for it.

Anyway, I’m happy about the project and I hope I’ll be sharing more greenskins soon enough.