Tzeentch army progress

[merzbau]

I’ve bitten off a way bigger project than I can chew and am working on a large force of Tzeentch models, between Slaves to Darkness, Daemons and Arcanites. While I work on assembly (which takes me forever thanks to being a perfectionist with mold lines, gaps, subassemblies and separate basing on some models), I’m practicing my paint schemes with some models off of eBay.

 

So far that’s meant this Kairic Acolyte- I’d love C&C from anyone working on a similar army, or in general, as I puzzle outhoe to replicate the GW studio scheme (which coincidentally fits my favorite fluff from the Battletome, the mutation-obsessed Cult of the Transient Form).

 

People on the AoS subreddit night have already seen this; I have a short list of problem areas I know how to do differently and some things I’m still working on:

 

1. The cloth: I need to do a recess shade after the initial layer of Celestra Grey instead of layering up to Ulthuan Grey and thinking I can clean up an all-over wash.

2. The skin: this is Rakarth Flesh, all-over Reikland Fleshshade, Flayed One Flesh layer. For the next one, I think I’ll get better, less stark results by layering up to Flayed One first, washing with thinned Reikland and then layering Flayed One again and Pallid Wych Flesh for highlights, but I’m totally open to feedback and suggestions. For full units (and at least one of my three remaining eBay practice models) i want to mix in darker skin tones as well.

3. The gold. It’s too bright on the mask; the shield is shaded but not layered yet. I start with Retributor Armor and Reikland Fleshshade (washed at the same time as the skin) but a layer of Liberator Gold is too bright and silvery. I’m going to try a layer of Auric Armor Gold, leaving Liberator for highlights and Stormhost Silver for fine points, though I’m a little worried that might look too much like the Stormcast color scheme...

4. The visible mutations, in this case the mask and feet. I’m a little annoyed that the multipart Acolytes don’t have bird feet and from what I can tell the masks don’t seem melded into their faces like on this guy but rather just seated on top, with flesh visible around the eyes on some, but I’ll figure out how I want to make it work. This is just a wash of Carroburg Crimson, which left some unfortunate tide marks and uneven finish on the applied areas.

5. Finally, and his is just personal preference, the gems. I’m not really sold on the gemstone paints, and this model (and the Tzeentch range!) has enough uneven shapes, like the “eyes” on the belt and dagger hilt, to make the gem paints physically difficult to apply. And the metallic finish makes it that much more difficult to paint a pupil on the “eye” gems and have it be legible. I’m going to try the old school approach on future models and see where that gets me.

[merzbau]

Next will be three more Acolytes and a couple of Tzaangors I’ve made out of individual bitz purchases and spare heads and arms. Really looking forward to those, though I’m worried about faking the gold trim on that one frigging set of legs where it just kind of melts into the leg plate.

[Lysandestolpe]

Your paintjob looks tight! Keep em coming. I'm glad to see you're analyzing what you don't like about the model you finished. It'll help to improve the next one!

[merzbau]

Tonight’s WIP: another bitz box purchase, this time an Exalted Flamer.

 

No arms, since this model is impossible to paint properly with them attached, and no base, because it snapped right off as I was applying my base coat- this guy has a really tenuous attachment when not on his disc, something I’m going to have to remedy for the next one.

This is more or less following Duncan’s Flamer tutorial, with a few alterations since an Exalted Flamer has fewer tentacles and lumps than the regular variety, instead having a kind of scaly texture running up its back.

 

in case anyone is curious:

Black primer (important, since it has an open maw at the bottom that would be extremely difficult to block in if I used a lighter or colored primer)

Kantor Blue basecoat

Three successive washes of Nuln Oil, each one lower down the model

A very light drybrush of Kantor Blue right at the start of the transition to catch the texture and tie it back to the main color

Extremely thinned down lines of Kantor Blue to pick out the tentacles on the darkest segment 

A drybrush of Altdorf Guard Blue on the texture, face and the musculature on the underside, followed by a layer of Altdorf on the face details and thinned highlights on the base’s tentacles

A drybrush of Calgar Blue, concentrated on the very top of the model as well as the face

And, now that the drybrushing has made it easier to find a good demarcation line, a basecoat of Zandri Dust and wash of Seraphim Sepia on the beak. This is an experiment; I’m kind of testing how much of a palette I want to share between my Mortal and Daemon Tzeentch models, and this is a dry run for the scheme I’m thinking of using on my Txaangors’ beaks.

 

Next steps will be highlights of Calgar Blue on the face and fine highlights of Fenrisian Grey; a layer of Ushabti Bone, wash of gloss Agrax Earthshade toward the tip, and Screaming Skull highlights on the beak; and the arduous process of doing the teeth (which aren’t nearly as well defined as I’d like on the secondary mouths toward the base and on the hands) and finishing blocking in the flames. Since Ceramite White is just garbage liquid from a dumpster on a hot summer’s day- no, scratch that, “liquid” is too charitable- I’m starting with Celestra Grey and layering up to White Scar before I start coloring them in. It’s more layers of paint than I like, but I really can’t realistically prime the flames separately in white, especially when parts of them are on the main body and arms.

[merzbau]

I couldn’t leave it alone; here’s a tiny bit more progress, with the teeth blocked in with Rakarth Flesh and the eyes started with basecoats of Averland Sunset (later getting a tiny highlight of Flash Gitz Yellow to match my Blue Horror scheme of choice) and Screamer Pink (which will get a microdot of Tau Light Ochre to match my Tzaangor- I want to give the impression that the bird head has its own thing going on and that it’s not necessarily thrilled to be growing out of the Flamer’s head).

 

I did hit a couple of irritating snags, however. First, the shield on that Kairic Acolyte detached itself through unknown circumstances and a misguided attempt to reattach it with plastic glue failed just as I remembered the grey on the attachment points wasn’t the result of masking but rather of grey primer. I’m not terribly annoyed since it’s just a test model, but I really need to figure out how to get a rock-solid connection for all my shield-bearing models come army building time.

 

Second, my Averland Sunset- a Paint I barely use and have only opened a handful of times- seems like it’s drying out or thickening in the pot; even a vigorous shake won’t stir up the mass of the paint from the bottom. I hate the current Citadel pots with a passion, as there’s almost no way to avoid getting that crust of paint under the rim and even ones that seem like they’re perfectly sealed and kept in virtually sterile conditions (like my Averland Sunset, which spends its time closed in a plastic box in a cool, dark corner) have the risk of unpredictably going bad.