2021 has begun in earnest, and it’s time to check in with four adventurous hobbyists from around Warhammer Community’s virtual office. Each of them took the opportunity to start up new projects – let’s see how they’re coming along.
Adam: Wow, January flew by fast! I wish I could say I've done all my Gloomspite Gitz, and I’m now working on even more – but that would be a mighty fib.
I got really caught up in building loads of troggoths, enough to fill an entire shelf in my cabinet. That distracted me from the task at hand, and I suffered some real painter's block when choosing colours, so I've only managed to finish my Rockgut Troggoths so far.
I wanted to go for a scheme that was a little different to the blues and greys that you would normally see for these, but I still had to consider the way the colours would fit with the Fellwater and Dankhold Troggoths too.
This works nicely and allows me to go lighter and/or darker for the even bigger guys and slide over into more green hues for their swampy brethren. Now, all I need to do is figure out the perfect colour for a horde of rampaging squigs. Any ideas?
Krystal: I love colour theory, and I've done a lot of experimenting with colour in cosmetic looks, using a variety of colour palettes. For me, building a new army is all about the passion of painting.
Taking up Warhammer as a hobby was a good way to express my enthusiasm for colour and get creative. I like heavily themed armies and festival-inspired looks – I try to bring something a little different to my models. In this case, I wanted to test out a more traditional scheme, while still injecting a burst of colour.
I've enjoyed the challenge of painting Orks. I'd painted a few different factions from Warhammer Age of Sigmar, so Orks were a new challenge having only previously painted a Thousand Sons force for Warhammer 40,000. But seeing other community members painting Orks, I knew they were the army for me.
I've loved testing out blues and rusty metal looks for the Orks, but I think I'll try to add even more colour into the army as it progresses.
Darcy: After agonising over a colour scheme for too long, I finally settled on some background to my force that would guide my painting, as well as several main colours to unify them.
Once that was sorted, there was no stopping me as I finished off my Start Collecting! Adeptus Mechanicus box and an Onager Dunecrawler in short order. I then built a small cabinet’s worth of other units and put together plans for an immense HQ conversion.
I imagined this Adeptus Mechanicus contingent to be displaced from their traditional forges, with limited resources for personal maintenance, and I wanted this to be reflected in their paint scheme.
I based the majority of the exposed metal areas with Iron Warriors, followed by a liberal application of Typhus Corrosion for some texture, then shaded with Agrax Earthshade, and drybrushed a bit of Ryza Rust to produce a wonderfully corroded and aged metal effect.
In contrast to this, I like the idea that a lot of time and resources are spent repairing and polishing their weapons. I’ve tried to paint them as if they’re made of the highest quality materials, lovingly maintained and pristine.
For the future, I have a lot of models I want to add to the force, including some air support and at least a pair of Armiger-class Imperial Knights. I also have my HQ conversion project to continue with.
Zaia Thrull, the displaced Forge Mistress of the Mars Sub-sector Theta-nine containment force is complete, and now she needs a throne to survey the battlefield from!
Chris: Having decided I was going to dedicate my army to Khorne, I was determined to introduce some kitbashes into the force to give them a more Khornate feel.
My first ports of call were the Chaos Knights and the Chaos Lord on Karkadrak from the Start Collecting! Slaves to Darkness box. They received a plethora of parts from the Mighty Skullcrushers kit – there's no doubting who these fell warriors follow! As I've already got quite a sizeable Blades of Khorne force, it seemed like a natural fit.
Once I'd got these built, I primed the models with Grey Seer before basecoating the armour with Balthasar Gold. This was followed by Flesh Tearers Red, taking care to not to get it on the trim, and then the gold trim and silver armour were both washed with Reikland Fleshshade Gloss for a ruddy hue.
The leather boots, horse blankets, and various other straps were painted with a mix of Wyldwood and Cygor Brown. The steeds were painted with Black Templar over a Gryph-Charger Grey base, which gives the mounts a cool bluish-black hue where the Contrast paints have worked their magic.
Finally, the cloaks were painted with Terradon Turquoise, as I like how the ‘Eavy Metal Blood Warriors use this to great effect as a spot colour, and any fur was given a coat or two of Basilicanum Grey.
As someone who paints in sub-assemblies where possible, painting these marvellously detailed push-fit miniatures has presented some interesting challenges, though I reckon my brush skills have sharpened up as a result of it. Next up will be the Chaos Warriors themselves, who will be painted in a similar style, albeit perhaps with a different colour as the base for their armour.
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It’s exciting to see all these new armies taking shape. Thanks to our contributors, one and all.*
Now it’s your turn. We want to see what you’re working on! Head to the Warhammer Official Facebook page and share some pics of your New Year, New Army projects.
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* You may have noticed a distinct lack of Ben’s Daughters of Khaine. It seems that life got in the way of hobby, which happens to the best of us from time to time. Maybe we’ll catch up with him next time around.