Soulblight Gravelords Hobby and Lore

[Gothmaug]

Well I finished my platoon of Black knights. They'll likely die horribly, but hey, that's what endless legions is for. Also I wanted them to double as hexwraiths so I decided to try to paint a sort of supernatural/spirit theme, like the summoned riders are rising out of the ground and materializing. It came out well enough I think. They're a conglomeration of a pile of old kits and bits, I had a fun time building them.

P.S. and yes 5 are on square bases, I ran out of ovals, and my local gaming group wont care 😁 

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

Picked these guys up when they announced the model rotation. I hope they will see some use in Warcry:

Had a lot of fun with the shield on these guys:

Edited August 18, 2022 by Neil Arthur Hotep

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

Bonus skeletons:

[Twisted Firaun]

I’ve been keeping all of my work on both my Soulblight and Slaves to Darkness stuff on this page: 

 

otherwise, here’re some pictures of my most recent work:

[TechnoVampire]

Finally finished painting my VLOZD (minus the rider)

Edited November 14, 2022 by TechnoVampire

[TechnoVampire]

(Sorry multiple post)

Edited November 14, 2022 by TechnoVampire

[TechnoVampire]

(Sorry multiple post)

 

 

Edited November 14, 2022 by TechnoVampire

[TechnoVampire]

(Sorry multiple post)

Edited November 14, 2022 by TechnoVampire

[TechnoVampire]

On 11/6/2022 at 3:25 PM, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

Bonus skeletons:

Cracking work! love the bones and metallics! 

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

9 minutes ago, TechnoVampire said:

Cracking work! love the bones and metallics! 

Thank you! Don't tell anybody I just do bones by drybrushing off white over a black-brown wash, though, I will lose my nerd cred. 💀

[TechnoVampire]

4 minutes ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

Thank you! Don't tell anybody I just do bones by drybrushing off white over a black-brown wash, though, I will lose my nerd cred. 💀

Haha even better! Sometimes the simple way is the best. Extra nerd points for nailing the basics. 

[Overread]

That is some awesome work on your zombie dragon!! 




Also time for some lore chatter as I just finished reading A Dynasty of Monsters which I found an enjoyable read. I do get the feeling that the author perhaps got a partial photo or description of the Lauka Vai and her kind if just because it sounds like they've got 4 legs, wings and their human arms; or at least the author doesn't really identify the forelegs as wings as such. 

It puts a nice twist in the story and whilst its not earth shattering its a good display of how these vampires are quite unlike their more humanoid kind. 

SPOILER

Spoiler

I enjoyed having some vampires that were able to totally go nuts with their blood sucking powers and affinity for blood, whilst at the same time having a measure of honour, control (even if that all comes from Lauka) and personality. It was also neat seeing the two societies trying to work together and yet clearly having fundamental problems not understanding each other. 

It's very much a celebration of the Avengorii and whilst the start is a little slow here and there the penultimate battle is epic (marred only by the fact that it tends to focus on  Vengorian lords and Vargheists a lot and leaves out Zombie dragons getting a special mention. Which is a negative point from me because I'm fond of half-dead dragons. 

The only other shame is that its very much a story of her people being established and it would have been nice to have seen Lauka's origin story fleshed out in detail, however I hope that its a story we will see GW tell in the future. 

 

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

18 hours ago, TechnoVampire said:

Haha even better! Sometimes the simple way is the best. Extra nerd points for nailing the basics. 

Focussing on the basics was definitely one of my aims with these guys. I was painting the Sepulchral Guard after doing other projects that involved some pretty labour intensive effects with lots of steps and paint mixing. So I wanted to paint a few models with a simplified methode and limited palette.

If you will allow me to just ramble a bit: I think dry brushing is actually a more advanced technique than a lot of people give it credit for. Like a lot of people I started my painting career by dry brushing up some skeletons, and at the time it certainly felt like a pretty magical technique. It definitely produced better results than any "real painting" (layering) I had done up to that point. But still: Even though I was using white as the last highlight colour, those old skeletons ended up looking dark and muddy at tabletop distances. Plus, I was still doing, like, 3-4 colouring steps.

In reality, I think there is a lot of skill that can be built when it comes to dry brushing. Selecting the right brush, keeping the paint at the right consistency to avoid chalkiness but also not to flood the recesses and getting controlled results with this inherently pretty rough way of painting is actually not all that easy. I know how to do it right in theory but I still mess it up from time to time and absolutely destroy all the detail on a model by having too much paint on the brush.

I was also trying to simplify my approach with the other materials on the models. The metals are metallic steel and silver paints that get roughly layered or wet blended together, and afterwards I just do this two-tone, high contrast effect on one side by using the same black-brown wash that I use to shade the bone. The cloth is similarly just two green paints that get layered while leaving visible brush strokes.

The golds are probably actually the most involved thing about these models, because I mix up a "home made" gold paint for them. I highly recommend it: Two parts Vallejo metal colour copper, three parts metal colour gold and then Green Stuff World pure metal pigments gold until the paint is the right thickness. Shade with Army Painter strong tone.

[TechnoVampire]

8 hours ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

Focussing on the basics was definitely one of my aims with these guys. I was painting the Sepulchral Guard after doing other projects that involved some pretty labour intensive effects with lots of steps and paint mixing. So I wanted to paint a few models with a simplified methode and limited palette.

If you will allow me to just ramble a bit: I think dry brushing is actually a more advanced technique than a lot of people give it credit for. Like a lot of people I started my painting career by dry brushing up some skeletons, and at the time it certainly felt like a pretty magical technique. It definitely produced better results than any "real painting" (layering) I had done up to that point. But still: Even though I was using white as the last highlight colour, those old skeletons ended up looking dark and muddy at tabletop distances. Plus, I was still doing, like, 3-4 colouring steps.

In reality, I think there is a lot of skill that can be built when it comes to dry brushing. Selecting the right brush, keeping the paint at the right consistency to avoid chalkiness but also not to flood the recesses and getting controlled results with this inherently pretty rough way of painting is actually not all that easy. I know how to do it right in theory but I still mess it up from time to time and absolutely destroy all the detail on a model by having too much paint on the brush.

I was also trying to simplify my approach with the other materials on the models. The metals are metallic steel and silver paints that get roughly layered or wet blended together, and afterwards I just do this two-tone, high contrast effect on one side by using the same black-brown wash that I use to shade the bone. The cloth is similarly just two green paints that get layered while leaving visible brush strokes.

The golds are probably actually the most involved thing about these models, because I mix up a "home made" gold paint for them. I highly recommend it: Two parts Vallejo metal colour copper, three parts metal colour gold and then Green Stuff World pure metal pigments gold until the paint is the right thickness. Shade with Army Painter strong tone.

Love this… I totally agree on the topic of dry brushing. As with most I overdid it when learning and then turned my nose up at it a little when I started using other techniques. Now it’s a valuable tool like everything else that’s great in the right situation, and I’m still very much learning to master. It’s also great combined with oil washes, or contrast paints etc.

I have the artists opus dry brushes and they’re a bit of a game changer, so much more subtle and fun to work with! I always look forward to painting with them.

if you have any close up pics of your skeletons I’d love to see them in more detail! 
 

  

[TechnoVampire]

8 hours ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

Focussing on the basics was definitely one of my aims with these guys. I was painting the Sepulchral Guard after doing other projects that involved some pretty labour intensive effects with lots of steps and paint mixing. So I wanted to paint a few models with a simplified methode and limited palette.

If you will allow me to just ramble a bit: I think dry brushing is actually a more advanced technique than a lot of people give it credit for. Like a lot of people I started my painting career by dry brushing up some skeletons, and at the time it certainly felt like a pretty magical technique. It definitely produced better results than any "real painting" (layering) I had done up to that point. But still: Even though I was using white as the last highlight colour, those old skeletons ended up looking dark and muddy at tabletop distances. Plus, I was still doing, like, 3-4 colouring steps.

In reality, I think there is a lot of skill that can be built when it comes to dry brushing. Selecting the right brush, keeping the paint at the right consistency to avoid chalkiness but also not to flood the recesses and getting controlled results with this inherently pretty rough way of painting is actually not all that easy. I know how to do it right in theory but I still mess it up from time to time and absolutely destroy all the detail on a model by having too much paint on the brush.

I was also trying to simplify my approach with the other materials on the models. The metals are metallic steel and silver paints that get roughly layered or wet blended together, and afterwards I just do this two-tone, high contrast effect on one side by using the same black-brown wash that I use to shade the bone. The cloth is similarly just two green paints that get layered while leaving visible brush strokes.

The golds are probably actually the most involved thing about these models, because I mix up a "home made" gold paint for them. I highly recommend it: Two parts Vallejo metal colour copper, three parts metal colour gold and then Green Stuff World pure metal pigments gold until the paint is the right thickness. Shade with Army Painter strong tone.

Ps definitely gonna try out your homebrew gold! I’m still trying to find something nice to work with, but lately have been mixing stormhost silver with retributor armour (it paints much better) then using washes/ contrast on top and silver highlights. It’s not perfect, but works ok. 

[Neil Arthur Hotep]

On 11/16/2022 at 12:04 AM, TechnoVampire said:

Love this… I totally agree on the topic of dry brushing. As with most I overdid it when learning and then turned my nose up at it a little when I started using other techniques. Now it’s a valuable tool like everything else that’s great in the right situation, and I’m still very much learning to master. It’s also great combined with oil washes, or contrast paints etc.

I have the artists opus dry brushes and they’re a bit of a game changer, so much more subtle and fun to work with! I always look forward to painting with them.

if you have any close up pics of your skeletons I’d love to see them in more detail! 
 

  

Here are some close ups of my dudes:

Spoiler

I hope the quality is OK, I don't really have a good photo setup (just a window and a phone).

You can definitely see the imperfections at this level of zoom, like the mold lines I didn't quite remove and the slight orange peel effect from the spray primer I used. But I think it's good not to hide these things all the time.

[TechnoVampire]

6 hours ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

Here are some close ups of my dudes:

  Hide contents

I hope the quality is OK, I don't really have a good photo setup (just a window and a phone).

You can definitely see the imperfections at this level of zoom, like the mold lines I didn't quite remove and the slight orange peel effect from the spray primer I used. But I think it's good not to hide these things all the time.

Nice mate, these look cracking! I particularly like your colour choices, they look unique, and the green really pops against the bones. The last one is my favourite. The dry brushing looks really good 👌

[Sception]

Spoiler

 

Conversion for an "Arcane Vampire Lord" from WD464's 'Anvil of Blood', intended for eventual use in a homebrew Legion of Sacrament side project.

Edited January 2, 2023 by Sception

[Sception]

Spoiler

A handful of soulblight heroes picked up as xmas gifts to myself.  A couple models I've been wanting to pick up since they released (including the start collecting wight king - purchased off ebay since it's still not available on its own from GW), plus the previously posted vampire mage conversion.

Maybe I'll even get around to painting them some day.

[Leshoyadut]

3 hours ago, Sception said:

(including the start collecting wight king - purchased off ebay since it's still not available on its own from GW)

Which is honestly a real shame. Love the model, and I enjoyed using it in some armies before the current GHB. Really wish they would add it to the store at some point on its own.