So as you may be aware from my earlier posts, I've been putting my hobby focus on painting at the moment. On some level that's a purely logical choice considering the restrictions COVID-19 has created as a new normal these days. But this has been a big turn around for me. And although I've been gaming for more than thirty years, much of that time has been dedicated to skirmish gaming. Needing only a handful of miniatures and a bucket load of scenery played right into my strengths. Limited income left large armies out of reach of my budget. And the need for terrain allowed me to put my time and effort into scratch building everything I needed. That was the reason I began this blogging lark in the first place.
But I've always harboured a love for something bigger. And now I'm beginning to realise those dreams. Nothing as grand as large scale Napoleonics yet, you understand, but larger forces are now a possibility.
And with me lured back into the now previous 8th edition, and the arrival of the Death Guard range, I've been building up a force, thanks in no small part to a certain Conquest partwork. So when news of 9th edition dropped during lockdown, it seemed a good time to get to work on the models.
Now, this hasn't been some massive project completed in record time during lockdown. You'll not find any post like that from me. I've had the privilege of working throughout these difficult times. So I've still a way to go. However, this is a significant output for me, and it's something I'm incredibly proud of. I'm even more proud that I've still found time to spend with the family before worrying about my hobby.
Anyhoo, enough about me. Here's some photos of what I've been able to achieve, interspersed with my painting notes so you can see what colours, and paint ranges, I've used to get these results. And as I've many times elsewhere in this ol' blog o' mine, please remember that there is no one way to paint any model. We all find our own style over the years. The things that work, we keep on doing. The things that don't just mean that we try a different way. All that should really matter is we find a style and standard of our own that we are happy with. And we don't compromise that standard. The journey is just as good as the destination. And in my case, possibly even better, considering my luck with the dice...!
Undercoat
Not quite as straightforward as you might think with this one. I began by painting my models black. Once this was completely dry, I then added a second undercoat on top of this. I know, mad right? I used Vallejo Model Colour (VMC) 70884 Stone Grey to paint all the tentacles, bones, parchment, and any pale fabric, and VMC 70907 Pale Grey Blue to base coat any smoke. Working over black may require you to add a second coat. But this is totally worth doing properly now. It really does pay dividends later on.
Armour
I tend to work from the darkest cover up. I began with a mix of Citadel's Death Guard Green and Vallejo Model Colour (VMC) 70889 USA Olive Drab, roughly 70% Death Guard Green to Olive Drab. Remember, you're working on a black undercoat, so this is going to darken the colour a little as you apply the first coat.
I then start adding more Death Guard Green to the mix. You want to end up making pure Death Guard the final stage. And at this point it's looking like you only need to edge highlight the armour and pick out the bottom part of the decayed holes in the armour.
Wrong.
You let it dry. (I normally get on with another stage at this point. Because I've normally had enough of wet blending by this point). Then you get some VMC 70881 Yellow Green. Put some on your palette and add a little water to it. Now you apply this to the armour, adding a highlight to the main panels, and allowing it to catch the bottom of those decaying holes. I assume a zenithal light source. (That's just fancy speech for pretending a strong light is coming from directly above the model. I deliberately ignore any recessed areas of armour. Makes the rest pop. And then I do this stage again, but don't paint as far down to the edge of where I painted last time. Makes a nice gentle gradient that way.
And then, because I clearly like to torture myself, I get some VMC 70978 Dark Yellow. This is my edge highlight on the armour panels, down the middle of the knee pads, and on the bottom lip of those holes in the armour. And sometimes, to really emphasise it, I'll apply it more sparingly on extreme edges. Some might add a little yellow ow white to the colour for this stage, but I prefer the intensity of the colour itself to stand out, rather than risk pulling that highlight too far away.
I base coat these with Vallejo Game Colour (VGC) Squid Pink. (Always reminds me of Strawberry Ice Cream this one...!) When dry, I apply Army Painter Red Tone Wash (sometimes called inks). I'll then add a second coat of this as a targeted wash to the areas I want darker. And if there are a lot of tentacles sat right next to each other, I'll come in with some Army Painter Purple Tone Wash for variety. Again, these areas will get a targeted second wash to reinforce the shadows.
Fur Cape
Gold Armour
These sections are base coated with Citadel Retributor Armour. A Flesh Tone will make lovely shiny and well tended armour (perfect for Stormcasts). But we don't want that here. I did paint my first few models with the Army Painter Strong Tone Wash. This is practically the same as Agrax Earthshade. (Duncan would have been proud.) But for me, it was too strong a contrast. I wanted something in between the two. So most of my models have their Retributor Armour base coat shaded with Army Painter Soft Tone Wash. I much prefer it. I then reapply the Citadel Retributor Armour as a highlight. And then, just for fun, I add a dab of VMC 70997 Silver to the Retributor Armour and apply it as an extreme highlight. 
The furry exterior was painted with VMC 70822 German Cam Black Brown. Small amounts of VMC 70826 German Cam. Medium Brown were added for a number of successive highlights. And when they had reached pure Medium Brown, I began adding some VMC 70873 US Field Drab.
The inside of the cape had been undercoated with VMC 70884 Stone Grey. This was given a wash with Army Painter Soft Tone. A second targeted wash was applied to areas I really wanted to push the shade into.
Smoke
The models you can see here have had a simple approach applied to get a good result. I apply some of my Flow Medium (which you can read all about here) to the top of the smoke. This is where you want the palest colour. And then, with a quick clean of the brush, I add some Army Painter Blue Tone Wash to the bottom of the smoke area. Then, as I brush upwards, it catches with the flow medium and leaks out where you have placed the medium. You can always hasten this along a bit by inverting the model. Not only does it make it easier to reach the recessed parts, it also allows gravity to help move the wash. And if it happens to dry with a hit of a shine, you can apply some acrylic medium over the smoke when it has dried.
Bones, Teeth 'n' Stuff Like That
With the bones already base coated in the undercoat stage, all I did to these was apply an Army Painter Light Tone Wash to them. When they are dry, you can go in and reinstate some VMC 70884 Stone Grey as a highlight. Or, if you want to save yourself from that bother, simply apply some Flow Medium to the tip of the bones, and rhen apply that first wash to the deepest recesses and brush towards the flow medium.
Glassy Effect on the Foul Blightspawn
This one's easier than it looks. I simply painted over the black undercoat with Citadel's Technical Paint Nurgle's Rot. It doesn't cover well, and it dries shiny. I use it on all my most mingin' and gloopy drool parts on my Nurgle Models. This was applied two thirds of the way up the backpack, leaving the top third. And then I take some Citadel Base Thousand Sons Blue, add in some of that flow medium I mentioned above, and a tiny amount of Nurgle Rot, and apply it to the top third. I allow some of it to go over the pure Nurgle's Rot to allow a bit of blending to take effect. When this was completely dry, I applied some Thousand Sons Blue to the cracks, followed by some targeted Citadel Layer Temple Guard Blue.
Rusting Metal
These areas were all base coated with VMC 70863 Gunmetal. When dried, I get a ruined old brush whose bristles resemble more of a hedgehog than a brush. I dip the ends into into some VGC 72044 Dark Fleshtone, wipe off the excess and stipple in as random a way as I can over parts of the gunmetal. Then I take some VGC Orange Fire and do the same, focusing over where I have placed the Dark Fleshtone. You want to use less of this than the fleshtone. And it doesn't matter if the two colours mix a bit. In fact, I rather prefer it if it does. When all this is dry, I apply Army Painter Soft Tone Wash over it all. And when that is also dry, I pick out some edge highlights with VMC 70864 Natural Steel.
Bases
I applied some cork chippings and ballast to random parts of the base with superglue. And when I had finished painting my model, I tried out Citadel Texture Astrogranite. Then I used Citadel Mechanicus Standard Grey on the cork and ballast to tie it all together. Highlights were applied using Mechanicus Standard Grey and increasing amounts of VMC 70907 Pale Grey Blue.
To be honest though, over time I've become a but frustrated by the application of Astrogranite. There's nothing wrong with the paint at all. I actually think it's rather clever, to be honest. But because I fill up my bases with rubble, it can be a blooming pain to get the astrogranite where it needs to go without getting it all over my nicely painted model. That leads to touch ups, which can be difficult at the best of times.
So to solve this, I went back to my old way of basing my models. Before undercoating my models, I apply PVA to the whole base. Then, with the help of some tweezers, I apply cork chippings and ballast where I want it to be. And then I sprinkle over my base mix of sand and ballast. Afterwards, it's just a case of tapping off any excess and using an old brush to remove any loos grains of sand from the model. That way, it's a lot easier to just get in and paint the base.
Next up: Poxwalkers.
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