Black candles slowly burning
White fangs and flashing eyes
Hell's wind and incantations
Summon living fireHail adventurers! It has been nearly a year since my last addition to my undead army. In retrospect I hardly painted a thing in 2021 and spent most of my hobby time on creating a storage system for my painted models instead. Fortunately, after that was done I set about to finally paint Ral, Lord of the Balrogs (Ral Partha 1985). Because I couldn't stand him being alone I added some other odds and ends from my undead. These were mostly ethereals of which I had few painted. The result I present to you, group picture first:
I painted the Balrog, four ghosts, three vampires, two wights and three wraiths, one of whom is large. Let's start with the Balrog.
Ral, Lord of the Balrogs was released by Ral Partha in 1985 as a tenth anniversary model. I picked him up years ago on ebay, but he's still available if you fancy him. He's a detailed sculpt by Tom Meier with a very 80's aesthetic. He has fire for hair, a fiery blade and a whip. I had to decide on a skin colour first and I decided on black skin to contrast the flames. It was simply the most smoking choice.
After simply drybrushing the skin I painted the fiery parts white, then yellow and orange. I made the colours more intense with orange ink. From orange I added black for the tips of the flames. I like using orange and black for flames (rather than white, yellow and red) as it makes the flames look more like a wood fire. The black also gives the flames a see-through look. I bled the orange into the non-flaming parts of the model to give the impression of light reflecting, and also because a hard contract simply looks wrong.
The armour was painted in the same recipe as my undead to tie him in: rusty for the iron and verdigris for the brass. In third edition Warhammer, liches have access to deamonic spells and so could theoretically summon a greater demon. It seemed only fitting to make him part of my army. The scaly loincloth was painted in green highlighted with yellow. This gives the same hues as the verdigris and brass and so doesn't detract from the rest of the model. The whip was also left in neutral colours. During assembly I snipped some parts from his integral base and pushed the legs a little more inward. That way I could fit him on a 50mm square base.
In 1993 Gary Morley single-handedly sculpted a near-complete range of 4th edition undead models (except the plastic skeletons and monsters). As much as I love the third edition aesthetic these models have been among those longest in my possession. It seemed only right to finally paint them for my army. My previous efforts to paint his models were also enjoyable enough and I was pleased with the results.
These models here are the original Vlad and Isabella von Carstein. After a lot of consideration (and I do mean a lot) I decided to paint Vlad in the colours of Christopher Lee's depiction of Dracula (Horror of Dracula). This meant all black (three different shades mind you), a red inner cloak and a white collar. His face even looks like Christopher's, so I had to add the blood and the bloodshot eyes. In the end I couldn't be happier with my colour choice, even though it appears very standard.
For Isabella I settled on something very similar, but I highlighted the black dress with red instead of grey/white and used dark grey as the basis for the cloak and gloves. All the blood drops finish her off.
I want all my undead, inclusing my vampires, to look old, mouldy, rotten and dead. For this effect I dirtied their clothing with thinned paints: brown, green and white. I think it breaks up the large surfaces in a simple way. The pommel on Isabella's dagger was sculpted on after the original was lost in time.
Morley's vampire lord was among my other old models. He looks suspiciously like Mark Gibbons' fantastic Mannfred von Carstein artwork, so I always felt this was him. I suppose the model had a dual function, much like one of the mummies which was equipped the same as Settra. I wanted something different for him than red and black. Because the cloak is so massive I decided it should be black so it wouldn't stand out so much. For the robes I settled on purple and I highlighted the black with purple to match. The green verdigris and gems contrast nicely and the grey hair makes the head stand out in the dark collar. This vampire seemed more like a wizard (like Mannfred was) and less blood-thirsty, so I painted the eyes my usual orange (rather than red) and painted no blood on the mouth. He reminds me of Udo Kier who played Dracula when he was a lot younger in "Blood for Dracula", but who also gave a great perfromance in "Shadow of the Vampire".
I also had two Marauder Miniatures' Wights which needed some paint, and one of them needing a replacement sword. I gave the model on the right a plastic skeleton sword and built up the handle with some putty. I gave both models Citadel shields to tie them in more with the rest of my army. Moulded Marauder shields might have been more traditional.
The wights didn't have a lot of clothing so I had a bit of a hard time coming up with a suitable colour scheme. In the end I settled for something pretty basic, green and red. The vampire on the other hand had a very inviting cloak and I used it to paint on a spider web motif in grey. It adds some zest without breaking the colour composition.
I also had some ghosts to paint, which was nice because they can be a hoot to include in a third edition army. The models are Citadel, and one Ral Partha. I painted them roughly with white over a black undercoat and then applied multiple layers of washes in black, brown and green. I painted the skin in Citadel Elf Flesh, mixed with some grey, white and green. This is a bit lighter and greener than the skin I'd use for zombies which I think suits ghosts. I also darkened the extremities (eyes, nose, mouth, ears, fingers) to simulate decaying flesh. I think the end result is suitably grisly without looking like they glow in the dark (a look which I don't really want in my army).
Finally we come to a small selection of wraiths, from left to right a Citadel wraith with dagger, a Masquerade Miniatures Dark Angel and a Ral Partha wraith (if I'm not mistaken). They were painted in black with mouldy spots, rusty iron and rotting flesh (Elf Flesh mixed with grey, shaded with brown). Being wraiths I kept their colours straightforward.
I couldn't find any other pictures of this model online so here's another angle. I purchased him around 2001 at Spiel in Essen because I thought he looked cool. He came with a moulded round base but I put him on a square one instead. I'm glad to finally have some sort of use for him.
This concludes this installment. It might not be the most models I've ever painted in a period but they were varied odds and ends and especially for the vampires I took some time to find the right colours. I'm still undecided what my next project will be.
If you want to see how I made the photo booth click on this topic:
Classic undead carrion and samurai! [PICS]https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=131314If you want to see more pictures of my undead in general follow these links:
Aurora Mortuorum, (classic) undead zombies, characters and zombie dragon [PICS]https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=127858Undead liche masters, war rhino and colossal skeleton [PICS]https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=125330Classic undead dragon riders [PICS]https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=121839More classic undead: pre-slotta Citadel, War Wagon, Necrodrake, monsters [PICS]https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=120846Pictures of my army:https://imgur.com/gallery/qGwakyw
Welcome, Guest. Please 
April 25, 2024, 05:09:35 AM
September 07, 2013, 01:25:03 PM