Back in the Warp Zone

  Okay, after getting one distraction out of the way and trying to refocus, I got back to Operation Azul and the Chaos Space Marine army that I'm committing to painting.  Admittedly, I'm still totally torn about what I'm going to include in my army list as I don't have any of the new stuff.  But I do know what I'm going to start with.

  Somewhere around six years ago, I built an army for Adepticon and had to be creative with my list.  Since the Word Bearers didn't have any specific rules, I chose Huron Blackheart to represent my commander.  The model came out awesome and it kind of replayed to today.  Having used all the bitz except the body for the Huron-to-Erebus conversion meant that I still had that cracked and unpleasant body to use.  With some Chaos Marine arms, a Possessed backpack, and Terminator Sorcerer staff, this model instantly became a perfect Sorcerer...


  In fact, this model has been chosen to be the general for so many of my Chaos armies.  This is because the Daemon Prince often dies and I'm not trying to just give my opponent victory points!  As the General, he's often where he is needed most and yet... he wasn't painted- just a big, flat black blob of command and warp powers...

  Here's the quick summary of how I painted the model in pictures:

First, the basecoat of Khorne Red over Black Primer.

Second, a very sloppy basecoat of Leadbelcher where necessary.  

  The red and the silver are the most important parts of the model as they are the dominant colors.  While I was pretty sloppy with the silver, it was important to make sure that all the mechanical bits poking through the MANY broken parts of his armor were silver.  Besides, some touch-up of Khorne Red should be expected anyway, right?

Basecoat Abaddon Black, Retributor Gold, and Zhandri Dust.  Also, Cadian Fleshtone for the head...

Now for the heavy washes of Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade over everything.

  With the basecoat and wash stages done, I could call the model 'done' and base it up.  After all, that's the definition of "table-ready"- where all the colors are where they need to be and the model is recognizable.  And I was tempted, but I have a commitment to fulfill.  So now comes the 'effort'...

First, I layered on a 50/50 mix of Khorne Red and Mephiston Red.

Next, a layer of Mephiston Red

Finally, only the 'top' and edges got Evil Sunz Scarlet highlights

  By this point, the rest of the model is just layering up and highlighting everything where necessary...

Dude is pretty much 'done'!

I had to do a bit of details, like the Legion symbol on the shoulder pad and the green effect for Warp power...

  When I painted the Legion symbol, I didn't expect for the yellow to have such a stark effect.  It drew the eye away from everything else and distracted from the model.  I had to do something to mute that down, so I decided to add some more 'effort'...

BOOM!

  I decided to 'wash out' the yellow by painting the daemon-skull in bone rather than that traditional black.  But this weighed the model heavily in color balance so I needed to draw the attention back to the center.  This is a Sorcerer and they do like the Warp powers, so I should represent it through more than the skull's eyes.  How about the big eye!?!?  A couple of layers of green, building up to white in many layers...  Plus, this hearkens back to the plasma effects in the original army!

  I based him up with some painted sand, static grass, and clump foliage and he's finished and ready to lead the force!  And I got a unit done.  Now I have to get another unit going and I'm afraid it needs to be a marine squad...

  Let me know what you think below and even leave a comment noting what you've been working on...  Happy Hobbying!