Army Color Theme and Test Models

So far I have one completed model (and coincidentally unit) for this army but it is unfortunately a bit camera shy at the moment.  When I am able to get to her (The Masque) I will share the completed model.  She still needs basing, but I am a bit on the fence at the moment as to how I want to base the army anyway.

I established my basic color scheme with the Masque (who served as my test model).  The skin tones are flesh with Purple and Green being the two primary colors for cloth, armor, scales and hair.  I wanted the army to be very 'fleshy' looking with the skin tones while paying homage to Slaanesh's color of choice using some purple, but to offset it with something with some pop by using green with bright highlights.  You can see part of these results in the pictures below.

Soul Grinder - Front

Soul Grinder - Right

Soul Grinder - Left

This soul grinder is almost totally assembled, but I am missing the armor plates on the legs and the other half of the claw on his left.  I left these off to east the painting process and actually magnetized the top of the grinder so it can be removed for easy transport.  This model does not have the 'test' I painted for the armor plates (the next one does) on the body but I did experiment a bit with the sword.  Starting with a 50/50 of Liche and Hormagaunt and then lightening the mixture by mixing in skull white.  Finally, I washed it with some Leviathan Purple and then highlighted it again to bring up the ridges at the top.

The body I sprayed black and then did a base coat of Tallarn Flesh.  I then washed three or four times with Ogryn Flesh before lightly washing with Baal Red and Leviathan Purple.  I really like the results overall and am continuing to refine the process (as you will see on the next Soul Grinder).

Going with my natural look, I did the spine as bone and started with a base of Scorched Brown.  I then used Beastial Brown to bring up the color on the surfaces and used Snakebite to bring up the color some more on the ridges.  I then drybrushed on Bleached bone before hitting it with a wash of Devlan to bring it all together. I think the result was pretty good and if I were to paint bone again (I am sure I will), I would definitely use this approach again.  At this point there is no green on the model, although I plan to incorporate some in the model, possibly on the claw to offset the sword.

Soul Grinder - Front

Soul Grinder - Right

Soul Grinder - Left

I used the same approach for this Soul Grinder as I used for the one with the sword for the body with a slight modification.  I used watered down Dark Flesh as my first wash rather than Ogryn Flesh which saved me on my washing a bit since it darkens the crevasses of the model much more effectively.   I started on this one (for no reason) working on the armor plates.  They are based using Lich Purple and I want to brighten it slightly to the ridges by mixing in some skull while darkening it as it moves towards the center.  I will hopefully have a chance to work on this over the next week and share the results.

Finally, I painted up a test model for my Seekers which I think turned out well.  I still haven't painted its rider, she will probably be done as part of the batch of 36 Daemonettes I need to paint.  Here is the test model (I need to update the bone colors to match my new method of doing bone since this model was completed before the Soul Grinders).

Seeker - Front

Seeker - Left

Seeker - Right

I actually completed this models over the summer.  It was the first experiment painting flesh tones and I refined it after finishing the Soul Grinder torsos.  The scales I painted Liche Purple after priming black in light layers leaving the gaps as black.  I then lightly washed them with Leviathon Purple and highlighted the edges with a 50/50 mix of Liche and Skull White.  I could blend them a bit more than they are now, but I am not sure it would improve the look that much (although it might win some technical points with the judges).

Up next I hope to share The Masque, a nearly complete Keeper of Secrets and some initial steps I have been taking on Fiends to better show the process I used to generate the flesh tones.  I also thing I need to highlight a bit using some Elf Flesh to bring out the skin tones a bit more on the Soul Grinders.