Its been a slow weekend. The kids have been under the weather and so things are a bit tiresome at home. The surfaces are sticky with drying Calpol and many a bowl of food has been brought forth from the kitchen for those who dwell in front of the TV! Here and there, I snatched a little time to work on my painting project. Next on the 'To Do List' was the human category. This includes the humble human, the Norse as well as more chaotic and evil archetypes.
Its a tad odd to be painting a mere human after all of the strange and unusual creatures that have thus far seen my attentions. The humble everyman was an interesting change in direction for me with the need to work with realistic, rural colours to clothe this most regular (or is he?) of individuals.
I had plenty of choice for model but found myself choosing this lovely figure, perhaps due to the fact that an illustration of him appears in the WFRP rulebook. There are obvious wafts of fairy tales about this chap but his chainmail vest lets us know that this is a Warhammer model and not a character in a child's story. With that large axe casually hefted over his shoulder, here is a man who couldn't be a more common sight in the forests of the Old World but who wouldn't shy from dispatching a pesky goblin.
With this model, I spent quite a bit of time on the face. I was quite keen to get that '80s Citadel 'look' to the face and try and copy some of the lovely paint jobs you can find in old White Dwarfs. I am very pleased with the results and I am proud to say that this model has the best face I think I have painted so far.
The rest of the model was quite straight forwards. Though I did dwell on the boots and managed to get the soft, leather look I have been trying to achieve with footwear. I matched the tone with his belt to help frame the red of his trousers. These were originally green but on completion I felt that the trousers didn't work with the rest of the model and swiftly changed them to a scarlet russet. For some reason, as I painted this model I conjured up a bit of background for him. A humble woodsman by the name Jon Branch, he works the woods north of Delberz but hides a dark secret beneath his countryman facade.
Can you fathom what this secret might be?
All will be revealed I promise!
Orlygg.