As most people who read my blog already know, I'm preparing for Adepticon's WFB tournament in April. I still have quite a bit to paint but I figured I'd post my latest work, my Grey Seer. He isn't 100% finished quite yet (as made evident by the blu-tack holding him to the bell), but he is very close. I'll go in to what is remaining below, after the break!
Readers, meet Grey Seer Skrim- the leader of an army primarily backed by Clan Squark, an odd offshoot of Clan Skyre but also with support from Clan Pestilens, Clan Eshin, and a rented Hellpit Abomination.
I'm pretty happy with how he's turned out so far. So what's left to finish?
- I need to glue some sand to the base and paint it. I simply don't have fine grain sand at the moment though and anything larger will look weird next to the rats under the bell. In addition I may use a little green stuff to show that the bell has "sunken" into the dirt a bit.
- I want to add some Skaven runic freehand to the grey section of the robe. I'm not sure on color but likely either blue or green.
- I have to add some verdigris to the bell to draw some of the blue down into the base.
- I am going to weather the fringes of the robe a little. Poor Skrim has just lost his Screaming Bell, he should have such nice looking sundries.
- I need to run a pin up the leg and drill a hole into the bell so I can connect the two sections. Add some glue and BAM, the model is whole and done.
So as everyone can see I have a bunch of "small" stuff remaining before the model is "finished" but overall, I am very happy with how he turned out.
So what are the high points of this model for me?
- The base. As Miniature Tim can attest to, I rarely do scenic bases and if I do, I usually simply purchase them. As an attempt to get back into the hobby aspect of it I decided I really wanted to incorporate the bell portion from the Screaming Bell into the base. The tricky part was to make the bell fit on a 20mm base while still allowing it to rank up.
- The colors. Despite Blue and Green really not going together well usually it seems to work on this model due to the separation between the two. The bronze also balances things out and brings a nice warm tone to an otherwise cool model.
- The pose. I realize I had little to do with this, but the pose of this model is real dynamic and he just looks like he should be leading a force.
What were some challenges, or things I'm not happy with?
- I need to get better at blending. Some areas I tried and it worked and others I tried and it didn't work. I think I need more practice but unfortunately I don't have much time. After Adepticon I will have plenty of time to settle into some blending on some smaller projects.
- Time management. So I'm painting a huge army with over 120+ figures remaining to paint and I stop and spend 3-4 nights worth of painting on a single figure (and I'm still not done)! I need more efficient painting methods.
- Bladed weapons. I've always had issues painting bladed weapons. I need to get better with this as well.
- Rust/Weathering. While I did some rust on the dagger I haven't started trying the weathering on the model. I'm already dreading it. Most of this is simply because I've rarely weathered figures other than tanks and thus... I'm out of practice.
What's next after the Grey Seer?
I have a number of Skaven units left to paint so I'll list them below in the order I currently plan to paint them.
- Warpfire Thrower (currently about 50% done).
- 35 Clanrats (Currently about 66% done)
- Hellpit Abomination
- 40 Plague Monks
- Assorted characters (Warlock Engineer & BSB)
- 35 Clanrats
- 8 Gutter Runners
- 40 Slaves
- 10 Giant rats & 2 Packmasters
- Basing & Finishing Touches
- Display Board (optional)
So that's a pretty hefty order for the next three-four months... especially since, as I mentioned previously, my wife and I are expecting a baby girl in late May.
Most posts to come soon. Just keep in mind that my blog will likely suffer some from this hefty painting schedule and baby preparations. I'll try and keep to a once a week format at a minimum but no promises!