Skeleton Warriors - Dead, Dirty and Grim

[King Arthur]

Greetings Lead Adventurers :-)

I thought I'd make my first post a pictorial one! I am an avid collector of vintage Citadel Miniatures with a particular interest in Undead and Chaos from the pre-slotta era through to 1990.

I am drawing up a painting scheme for a large WHFB 3rd Edition Undead Army, so I thought I would practice on some less 'precious' models, a plastic Skeleton Warrior Regiment. I love Old Skool Citadel, as it's really dark and grim, very adult in nature and the Undead themselves should be a dirty and decaying bunch, which is why I looked to John Blanche for inspiration in particular his superb Skeleton Horde paint job:

http://www.solegends.com/citboxes/skeletonhorde.htm

This is how I see Skeletons, grim, evil and covered in grime :-)

So with this in mind I set off to paint the first 5 models:













If anyone is interested in the painting steps, I'd be happy to share.

I hope you like the theme and how the models have turned out!

Cheers

Gary

[The Dozing Dragon]

Very nice and welcome to LAF!

[Cubs]

Great work and the rusty metal is very well done indeed. Also nice to see 'human' shield designs, instead of the undead images these skeletons so often, and inexplicably, seem inspired to paint on their shields after being re-awoken!

[DoctorPete]

Welcome aboard.

Those are really nice....and, as already pointed out, the rust is very well done.   

[Elbows]

Love the rust effect!

[King Arthur]

Great work and the rusty metal is very well done indeed. Also nice to see 'human' shield designs, instead of the undead images these skeletons so often, and inexplicably, seem inspired to paint on their shields after being re-awoken!

Thanks to all for the warm welcome and comments :-)

Cubs, I concur, I too personally find it a little odd that Undead armies have freshly painted shields depicting Skulls! This is why I chose the Hunting Horn of Stirland, as Sylvania belongs to the province of Stirland so I wanted these troops to be long dead Empire Spearmen, risen to fight another day; still carrying their equipment from their living days!

The rust was painted as follows:

Base coat of GW Abaddon Black; 2 thin coats of Vallejo Gunmetal Metal; 2 coats of GW Nuln Oil wash to kill the shine of the Gunmetal Metal and finally a mix of Dead Matt varnish and Vallejo Pigment Dark Red Ocre; the varnish obviously dries clear and leaves the pigments showing (you can mix the pigment with coloured paints and water, but you can't then varnish over otherwise the varnish washes the pigment away). It's a really simple but highly effective technique.

Cheers

Gary

[beefcake]

Very nice start to being here on LAF. Really like these guys.   

[Mason]

Wecome aboard, Arfur!
A great way to introduce yourself.
 

That rust technique looks damn good and sounds fairly straightforward too.
 


Will have to give it a go when I get around to the Army of the Dead.
Thank you!
 

(And thoroughly agree with Cubs and yourself about silly undead shield designs....).

[joekano]

Nicely done!

[Doomsdave]

Very nice.  The rust and grunge work very well.  I love skeletons.  They grow on you. (I know, technically we grow on them).

[Momotaro]

Very nice.  The rust and grunge work very well.  I love skeletons.  They grow on you. (I know, technically we grow on them).

 

Lovely stuff King Arthur - good tip about using the varnish with the weathering powder.

[Tacgnol]

Lovely grimy skellies! The rust is especially nice. The Stirland shields are a nice touch too, I like the idea of undead carrying a little bit of their fleshy lives around with them after they've been recycled.

[DeafNala]

WELCOME ABOARD, Arthur! The Old Skellies painted up BEAUTIFULLY...GREAT WORK!

[Legion1963]

I suddenly feel the need for some skeletons. Why is that?-)

[Cubs]

I suddenly feel the need for some skeletons. Why is that?-)

I know what you mean. I have a tub full of loose plastic bits from old GW skelly sprues ....