Nighthaunt Scheme

[Lior'Lec]

     So I’ve got a few nighthaunt that have been kicking around since Soul Wars. I couldn’t settle on a paint scheme because I wanted something ethereal and maybe a bit dingy but wasn’t crazy about the studio scheme. My daughter also has some Nighthuant which she hasn’t finished painting so I decided to steal one to test some ideas. I’m looking for some constructive criticism on the painting here. My daughter assembled the model and while she likes painting, she dislikes assembly (hence why it is not cleaned very well).

     I also took the opportunity to try some new techniques and stretch myself some more. I attempted spots of wet blending on the smoke near the tomb (to limited success), and a combination of feathering and layering on the cloak (not sure if feathering is the correct term).

Edited April 28, 2019 by Lior'Lec
Grammer

[Kramer]

Looks cool to me! The cloak does look a bit gritty though? Also, but that's probably just me, it feels weird that the face and the arms don't match. 

On the plus side, the smoke effect is super cool. You bet that after a couple of models., you will have got that skill mastered. I would definitely continue with that. The transition on the cloak looks super good to me. Love the yellow contrasting color. The placement of that is very cool as well as it immediately draws the eye to the face. 

I say keep it up. 

[Lior'Lec]

     Thanks, the yellow is actually a heavily diluted mixture of Retibuter armor. It has an ever so slight metallic gleam to it in person but is so see through on top of the “ghostly tint” that (IMO) it gives a nice ethereal effect. As for the face and arms, I painted the skeletal face in the normal bone scheme (minus the seraphim wash) and the arms to match the ghostly parts of his body. I applied a thin mix of Hexwraith Flame to both to make them a little more alike but I’m not sure it was enough to actually show. Should I try adding another layer of the thin glaze? I want them to feel similar but don’t want the green strong enough to overtake the blue on the arms or the yellowed bone of the face.

I’ve also been debating if I should apply some edge highlights. While that would make the model stand out more I’m worried it would overly “solidify” the look of the model. Currently only the tomb on the base and the skeletal face have any edge highlighting.

     This one model took about 20-25 minutes of actually brush time, but with drying the total time was around 3 to 3.5 hours. I think I could do as many as 20 at a time without it taking any longer (no single session took more than a couple of minutes). More than what I actually need to paint. 

[Lior'Lec]

     I’m mostly satisfied with this scheme but looking for some advice now. I don’t like for every model to look the same and tend to do things like giving every model a different skin tone for variety. What items could I tweek on these guys to give each model in a unit, as well as differing units, a little more variety? I’ve listed the things I can think of below but hopefully someone can point out some ideas I’ve overlooked. These models aren’t for an army, but rather antagonists in dugeon crawls.

1) Cloaks can be various shades; but staying with a dusty tone I may be limited to of browns and blacks. Purples or deep blues on leaders?

2) The metallic trim can be done in different shades; I think silver, gold, and bronze could give different looks thinned this far.

3) Skin tones (sadly) will have to stay uniform within a unit I think. Looking at my paints I could do a similarly thinned Hexwraith Flame for chain ghiests, and maybe use nihilakh oxide for hero types? Hoping someone has better suggestions here. 

4) I saw a very well painted Nighthuant army on Pinterest (I think) which had a reddish fade to them (a blood stained kinda look). I *might* be able to achieve a similar effect on a unit to make it distinctive. 

[Lior'Lec]

     Ok, hopefully I’ll get some input... I’m nearly done with the first hero model, the Guardian of Souls. I’ve still got some edge highlighting to do and a little trim work but have two primary questions. 

     First question: I’m mostly happy with the transition on his cape (see video below) but have noticed some spots aren’t very smooth. The cape was all done with blending and layering so there was never any washes applied; would a wash (or wash/medium mix) help smooth it out without ruining the look? I’m debating using a druchi violet and medium 50/50 mix. If anyone has a better idea I’d love the hear it. Please bear in mind the very non-purple area of the robes at the bottom, this is my reason for hesitating.

     Second question: somehow I managed to miss a small area along the edge of his robes on his right hand side. It’s visible in the video and highly noticeable to me. The problem is it is right in a transition area rather than a “pure color” area. Should I leave well enough alone or try to touch it up? Does anyone have any good tips for doing touch ups like these. I’m thinking about just wetting it and attempting to wet blend one of the purples back in here but don’t know how well it would turn out. 

     Thanks in advance for any insight you may be willing to share. 

[Ragnar Alpaca]

You could try to glaze in some purple on his robe yeah, I would go way thinner though then 50/50. More like 10/90 or something like that and add or coat let it dry, another, and keep repeating until you get the look you’re going for. Maybe keep a second damp brush handy to try and blend it in with the bottom.  

As for the piece you missed I would just go over it if it bothers you, just did what ever you did with the rest of the robe. It might be a pain, but it would look better to you, and a helpful learning experience to not miss spots next time lol.