Skeleton Warriors - Very Rusty and very undead!

[King Arthur]

Hello all

Before I plunge in to my 'real' army (I'm about begin a 3rd Edt. Undead Army with Kemler at the helm), I wanted to test out a new colour variation for my Skeleton models. I was looking for a deeper, darker more 'brutal' looking colour palette vs the normal bleached bone look which is more common. Also, I wanted to try out painting the shields in the format of an Empire regiment, as I personally believe that the Skeletons/Zombies that are raised, will be brought back with whatever equipment they had in life perhaps, so with this in mind, I have begun to paint a unit of Undead Skeleton 'Stirland' Spearmen:

This is how the shields begun life:

I used the shields that came with the box, but flipped them over and painted on the wood side the Hunting Horn of Stirland, then I weathered them with progressive washes and painted on dried blood with Tamiya Clear Red X-27 mixed with Vallejo Wash 73.203 Umber Shade to give a nice effect.

Close up of the rust:

Close up of the base and shield:

I'm almost finished the next 5 models. Although not strictly 'vintage' - I myself collect models from 1980-1990 - bust I had a box of these so thought I'd try out the new painting style before I attacked my precious metal models and plastics from the 'Skeleton Army'.

I will add however a C21 Undead Cavalry model as a mounted officer.....

More to follow....

Best Regards

Gary

 

[Asslessman]

Damn they're good ! They remind me of Dreamfish's skeletons.

Your amrours look superb, I would greatly appreciate how to's for both the rusty armour and the bone painting since I'm about to paint some skellies myself.

Can't wait to see this gorgeous painting skills applied to some classic lead.

 

[King Arthur]

Damn they're good ! They remind me of Dreamfish's skeletons.

Your amrours look superb, I would greatly appreciate how to's for both the rusty armour and the bone painting since I'm about to paint some skellies myself.

Can't wait to see this gorgeous painting skills applied to some classic lead.

Merci beaucoup mon ami!

To answer your questions:

RUST

1:Base coat of Citadel Base Abaddon Black
2:Layer Vallejo 72.054 Gunmetal Metal
3:Two coats of Citadel Shade Nuln Oil (this will kill the shine of the Gunmetal Metal)
4:Mix some Clear Dead Matt Varnish with a small out of Vallejo Pigment Dark Red Ocre (Ocre Rouge Fonce) and apply in a liberal manner all over the metal parts. You can mix the pigment with water or paint, but you can't then varnish over, as this will take the pigment off again, that's why I suggest you mix straight with the varnish.

That's it! Quite straight forward, but highly effective in my opinion.

SKELETONS

1: Undercoat of Foundry Slate Grey Light 32C
2: Layer Citadel Bleached Bone 61-17 (most likely 3 thin layers to get full coverage over the Grey)
3: Wash of Vallejo Sepia Shade 73.200 (no mixing with water, straight up here!)
4: Dry brush entire model with Citadel Bleached Bone 61-17
5: Wash the recesses only (ribs, mouth, eye sockets, knee joints etc) again with Vallejo Sepia Shade 73.200
6: Wash a 1:2 mix of Vallejo Red Shade 73.206 and Citadel Shade Seraphim Sepia over all the bone areas (this will leave a nice 'fleshy' glow to the bones, to represent what once was....!)
7: Lightly dry brush Citadel Bleached Bone 61-17 over the raised areas of bone, such as the Skull, shoulder, forearms, thighs etc
8: Wash the recesses with Vallejo Red Shade 73.206 for that 'bloody' look and feel.

you add a 9th and 10th step of repeating steps 7 and 8 if you want some depth.

Hope that helps and I too look forward to seeing your results now

EDIT: Unless stated, I always mix my paints with a ratio of 1:1 with water.

Best Regards

Gary

 

[Asslessman]

Thanks a lot, next stop now is to go the nearest hobby shop to grab the missing paint references (and find where I put these damn pigments...). I also have to practice my drybrushing since it can be quite unforgiving if applied carelessly.

 

[King Arthur]

Thanks a lot, next stop now is to go the nearest hobby shop to grab the missing paint references (and find where I put these damn pigments...). I also have to practice my drybrushing since it can be quite unforgiving if applied carelessly.

I buy my Vallejo products from either Gwindi Table Top Store or Battlefield Berlin, both online, they are both very good and have a wide product base (both based in Germany).

Regarding Drybrushing, I find that leaving the brush ever so slightly damp helps, as this gives a smoother finish, a true dry brush with a 'dry brush' can leave the effect looking chalky.

 

[theottovonbismark]

They look really well mate. Those rusty weapons look more deadly than the guys carrying them. One thing though, they look like dry rust where the basing suggests a damp autumnal vibe to me. I am wondering if they might look better painted as darker wet rust - then again you might loose the impact of the redness of them. The washing and drybrushing is excellently executed, it really shines around the faces.

I am a fan of having skeles look like they were once a unit of warriors. If they don't then I start imagining that there must be a web superstore in the Warhammer world where the necromancers can order custom bat wing and skull laden equipment for their armies, or perhaps the dead go all emo when they pass on? Personally I would shamelessly mix and match models between eras, it's all about the end result.

Looking forward to seeing some pics of your "real" army!

 

[Asslessman]

I am a fan of having skeles look like they were once a unit of warriors. If they don't then I start imagining that there must be a web superstore in the Warhammer world where the necromancers can order custom bat wing and skull laden equipment for their armies, or perhaps the dead go all emo when they pass on?

Skellies spawned by skullsplitters come naked and get their gear afterwards which means this gear may be designed by necromancers and built by slave skelletons, hence the emo/goth look of their gear.
Or maybe it's just emo/goths who have a higher resurection rate than normal humans...

...back on track, thanks for the store tip Gary.

 

[Naagruz]

Nice work & the shields look great!
What did you use for the base vegetation? Reminds me of wilted lettuce a bit & seems perfect for swampy bases.

 

[King Arthur]

Nice work & the shields look great!
What did you use for the base vegetation? Reminds me of wilted lettuce a bit & seems perfect for swampy bases.

Thank you kindly!

The base vegetation is actually Black Tea, not the leaves from a tea bag, but clippings, so when they dry out they naturally wilt and dry a nice shade of brown The gunge/slime effect was done by mixing Tamiya Clear Green X-25 with Vallejo Game Colour Wash 73.203 Umber Shade and covering sporadically over the tea and base.

 

[Goblinlee]

Excellent looking Skeletons.
I like the tea on the bases, and the rust effect too. The shield detailing, and of course the Skeletons themselves, are great as well.
Look forward to seeing more

 

[Count Von Bruno]

Impressive, most impressive!

 

[King Arthur]

Here we go! The next 5 completed:

To mix it up, I having a break from the rank and file and will paint the Standard Bearer and Musician next:

Yes that is a toothpaste tube...... it will (hopefully!) turn into a splendid rotten, tatty flag of Stirland

The unit thus far:

Cheers

Gary

 

[Jeff McC]

Very nice, I'm hoping to duplicate the bases for some skaven.

 

[King Arthur]

Long time since an update

Well, remember the previous post:

This is how a piece of toothpaste tube and 2 undercoated models turned in to a Standard Bearer and Musician!

Standard Bearer, depicting the Falling Comet:

Detail of the Standard:

Close up of the Standard:

Here's a unit shot so far:

To tie the models together, I used the same colour palette as I did on the actual bones, Sepia Shade, Umber Shade and Red Shade Vallejo Game Colour washes on the Standard itself and any items of clothing.

Next up I will finish the rest of the troopers before moving on to the unit Champion and Leader.

Cheers

Gary

 

[Magos Explorator]

Those are looking very nice! The banner's turned out great, looks like ancient rotting cloth.

 

[King Arthur]

So! Next 5 troopers completed:

I have also begun working on the last trooper and the unit champion:

As I also maintain an interest in the Napoleonic era, I have included a C21 Undead Cavalyman as the units 'officer', which I do like in my Napoleonic units

I chose this particular rider, as the sculpt on the face is very evil looking, and his weapons of a clever type sword and whip are non too friendly either

The horse is 'Bones' (Sherga) from the original 1986 Death Riders release and I love the pose and the dead bulging eyes!

I still need to do more work on the bleeding eyes, as this is a first coat of the wonderful Tamiya Clear Red X-27.

After these two it's the unit leader, a Lahmian Vampire.

Cheers

Gary

 

[Suber]

I'm really in love with your minis and the whole army, top notch work, seriously, they look dark and gloomy, rusty in all their glory. Bravo!

 

[King Arthur]

I'm really in love with your minis and the whole army, top notch work, seriously, they look dark and gloomy, rusty in all their glory. Bravo!

Gracias!

Dark and gloomy is certainly a look I am striving for! I would imagine that being confronted by the long dead and freshly risen in the case of a Zombie, would not be a pleasant experience! Therefore I wanted to go for a look that would perhaps put fear in to the enemy before they even met on the field of battle, which is one of the strengths of the Undead after all I am certainly not a fan of 'clean' looking Undead models with shiny swords and freshly painted shields

Dirty, rusty and grim is what the Walking Dead should be!

Cheers

Gary

 

[King Arthur]

Last trooper and C21 Undead Cavalry model finished, just need to base them, here's the cavalry model:

Here's the WIP for the unit leader, a Lahmian Vampire summoning another Skeleton to do her bidding.....

I plan to add more filler around the skeleton to give the look of it having pushed itself up and out of the ground.

 

[King Arthur]

Next update!

Vampire is completed:






I wanted her to have a cold skin tone, so mixed GW Daemonette Hide with Vallejo Rosy Flesh and then added some Genestealer Purple to the mix as I went through the shadows.

Next up is the C21 Undead Cavalry 'Staff Officer'






Again I used muted tones to tie him back in to the infantry and the overall dirty look of the regiment.

Here's a unit shot:




I now need to finish the Vampires base and 2 more troopers and then the unit is finished

Cheers

Gary