Tharn Ravagers Finally Finished!

Okay, so it only took me several months but they are done! In fact, these are the first miniatures I have ever taken from start to finish (meaning based and varnished). I can still see places that I wish I had fixed but it is nice to have them done and sealed where I can't go back to them again! Here are the pics (click for a bigger view).

There is also one more red head shown in the group shot but not here. Tharn Ravagers were 97% ---> now 100% complete! While I had the varnish and static grass out, I also finished up the movement tray (click here for how I made it) for the Saurus Warriors. The Saurus still need varnish. I may get these done before I start my Cygnar Warmachines for my September deadline.

Saurus Painting Guide

This is a continuation of the write up on White Dwarf's painting workshop for Lizardmen, May 2003, Issue #280. This is what I followed to paint my Lizardmen army and I like the results. Again, I just found the sheet in my files and wanted to commit it to the website before I lost it again. This is an adaptation of their article from page 28. I didn't keep as good a notes on the colors actually used so I will highlight the GW color's recommended and take my best guess about the paint I used. Please adjust this when painting. When I was certain, I mentioned the FA (Folk Art) brand first and highlighted it. This would be much more difficult to replicate since I took less accurate notes =(

Prep:

• Assemble the model minus the shield. Consider pinning the arms but most of the Saurus arms have stayed. If I do these with the spears, I think I would definitely want to pin them.
• I ranked them up before I put the heads on to make sure they fit together and then glued the heads of the left guard facing outward. I might like to do the same on the right side next time.
• These worked out just fine to be painted on their bases.
• Now is also the time to glue sand, cork, or any pebbles you want on the base.
• This is also a good time to make the movement tray for them and coat it with sand.
• I also think it would help to magnetize the mini's now so they can be more easily handled.

Undercoat:

• Spray black primer on the mini's and the movement tray. Touch up with watered down FA's Pure Black.
• Now paint the whole model (except perhaps the weapons but this can be touched up later) with GW's Enchanted Blue thinned with a little water (FA's Colbalt Blue or Brilliant Ultramarine?).

Bases:

• Now is probably a good time to over brush the base and movement tray with FA's Burnt Umber.
• Then drybrush with FA's Teddy Bear Tan. Set the movement tray aside now until it is time to varnish and static grass.

Shading:

• Drybrush the skin with a mix of GW's Enchanted Blue and Ice Blue, 1:1. (Ice Blue may be FA's Light Blue or Baby Blue).
• Wash the entire model in GW's Blue Ink mixed with a generous amount of water for more even coverage.
• The ink darkened the model so now drybrush just the skin with the mix of GW's Enchanted Blue and Ice Blue, 1:1.
• Highlight the skin with GW's Ice Blue.

Back Scales:

• Paint with GW's Regal Blue (I am pretty sure this was FA's Prussian Blue).
• Then drybrush with GW's Enchanted Blue. Keep the drybrushing under control and on the scales only.

Back Spines and Head:

• Basecoat the back spines with 2 coats of GW's Red Gore = FA's Alizarin Crimson.
• Stipple the red splotches on the head plate with GW's Red Gore = FA's Alizarin Crimson.
• Highlight the spines and splotches with GW's Blood Red = FA's Napthol Crimson.
• I seem to have given the higher up guys more splotches, perhaps suggesting more age.

Weapons:

• Spears are given a basecoat of FA's Pure Black, then FA's Burnt Umber.
• Highlight with a mix of GW's Scorched Brown and Snakebite Leather, 1:1. I probably used FA's Honeycomb or Teddy Bear Tan, possibly Raw Sienna.
• Highlight with GW's Snakebite Leather.
• Hand weapons are given a basecoat of FA's Pure Black, then drybrushed with FA's Medium Gray.

Shields

• Spray black primer
• Dry Brush FA's Black Cherry (GW's Scab Red) and FA's Alizarin Crimson (GW's Red Gore) pretty heavy.
• Paint the top half of each scale with FA's Napthol Crimson (GW's Blood Red).
• Add a highlight line around the top of each scale with FA's Pure Orange (GW's Blazing Orange).
• (The following 3 steps mimic the jewelry section and can be done at the same time).

Jewelry and metallic bits on the weapons:

• (If you have done the shields' scales, this part can be applied to their details too.)
• Basecoat the jewelry with FA's Pure Black.
• All metallic bits were painted with FA's Metallic Antique Gold., and highlighted with FA's Metallic Pure Gold.
• Use FA's Metallic Gunmetal Gray for the blade of the spear (GW's Boltgun Metal).
• Highlight the blade of the spear with FA's Metallic Silver Sterling., (GW's Mithril Silver)
• Teeth on the hand weapon, teeth on the shields, and darts on the blowpipe were picked out with FA's Teddy Bear Tan, then highlighted with FA's Tapioca. Leave some of the Teddy Bear Tan to give the teeth an aged look.
• Pick out the claws with FA's Tapioca. Any of the Tapioca can be highlighted with a little more white added it needed.

Mouth:

• The mouth and tongue were painted with FA's Alizarin Crimson, similar to GW's Red Gore.
• Highlight the tongue with FA's Skintone.
• Pick out the teeth with FA's Tapioca.

Eyes:

• The eyes were painted with FA's Napthol Crimson, then a small dot of black was made in each pupil with a very fine tip sharpie marker. Okay, so it's cheating a little but those things are incredible small!

Glue on the Shields.
Check them over for details and paint the edges of the bases black again.
Varnish the mini's and the movement tray with matt varnish.
Eyes, tongue, and mouth can be painted with gloss varnish for a more realistic wet look.
Glue on Static grass on the mini's and movement tray.
March them off to war!

Sickness strikes!

Well, it's the end of the semester, I'm stressed out, and I caught a cold. It's just the way it goes. I have been writing papers and haven't done much with my minis. I touched up my Saurus and glued sand onto the movement tray. That's about it for now.

My First Static Grass

I have never used static grass before. I like the effect but I never really got to the basing phase (see my previous post). I had already painted the bases with black and overbrushed with dark brown (FA's Dark Umber). Then I dry brushed with FA's Teddy Bear Tan, a much lighter brown. I liked the effect but it was still a little dark. So I finally busted out my static grass (I think I bought it 5 years ago). I used a brush to but straight Elmer's in the low parts of the base. I was able to do the 20 Saurus Warriors, 4 of 5 Terradon bases, and 2 Skink Priests. This is what I came up with and I love it.

I still have the Calvary and the skinks to static grass but they will have to wait for next week.

Basing

I have never been good at basing. At first, I didn't know where to start, so I left it to the end. I have also never been good at deciding a model was done so I never was good at spraying them with varnish. Of all my many models, none have varnish. Therefore, none have bases either, because I was leaving that until the end. So now, I am basing, regardless if it is done. In fact, when I do my Tharn Ravagers, I think I will put the basing material down before I prime it!

So I decided to paint the bases I did last night with FA's Burnt Umber, a really dark brown. I think I did a cross between over brushing and bad painting. I wanted to leave the black in the crevasses, so I dipped my flat blade bush in the paint, ran it across the rim of the paint tray, then drug it across the surface. If the paint covered all the black or just hit the high points, I just let it do what it was going to do. It looks ok now, even if it is a little dark for the Jungles of Lusteria. I did this assembly line for 5 Terradon bases, 16 Saurus, 2 Skink Priests, and a Cold One.

Touching Up Terradons & More

I wanted to touch up my Terradons before next week's game so I dug out (and was actually able to find) my notes for how I painted them. I don't have step by step pictures but here is the process.

• Base with a black wash or primer
• Wash with Folk Art's Hauser Green Dark (I don't remember if I covered the wings too. Now, I wouldn't)
• Dry brush the green areas with FA's Holly Leaf
• Paint the wing membrane with FA's Tapioca tinted with FA's Hauser Green Light. It makes a light pus color. I did this in two coats. Now days, I might start with a wash of the light green and then highlight with the mix.
• I lined in veins on the wings of FA's Medium Yellow.
• Dry (very dry) brush wings and everything with FA's Hauser Green Light.

Knowing all that, here is the starter picture of what I will touch up on all of them:


You can see the holes in the paint left by the old glue bases.

After touching them up, I decided to go ahead and sand the bases. I mixed Elmer's and a little water and painted it on. Then I dipped them in my basing material (sifted fine sand).

With the glue already mixed up, I decided to touch up the basing material on the Saurus.

There was also one Saurus Calvary that didn't have basing material so I covered it also. After touching the Cold One Calvary, I wanted to glue the riders to the their mounts. I simply used plastic glue and I may have to pin them later if they pop off. I None of this took too long, so I decided to mix up Elmers, water, and FA's Black paint. I started painting and it took a while. But here is what it looks like now.

I meant to just sit down and do a short project but you know how that goes.

Looking at the Lizardmen Army

Well, there are several things I need to do for this army (without buying anything).
The Saurus bases still need to be painted and the movement tray needs to be based. I really want to put the rare earth magnets on the models and the metal plate on the move tray but this is a strictly no $$$ time.

The Saurus Calvary needs about 4-5 hours of painting and then glue them to their cold ones

I would like to re-base the 4 other Terradons like I did with the broken one here

The Salamander needs painting.

The Carnosaur Old One needs about an hour more paint and then be pinned. I would like to base the Carnosaur with a more modeled base but I am honestly a little intimidated and not sure where to begin. I will probably take him up to the shop and get the guys to help me get started.
I have an old school Stegadon that still needs assembly and paint. Eventually, the entire army needs static grass on the bases.

I have a busy week at school so none of this will get done but maybe now I can break it into smaller pieces. (see the new list on the side bar: Pieces of Projects)

Lizardmen Army (now called Seraphon?)

(Edit 2017- Warhammer Fantasy is now called Age of Sigmar and Lizardmen are apparently called Seraphon)

So, the other night, I went to my local game store and one of the guys was playing Lizardmen in a Warhammer Fantasy match. I haven't played WHF in about 2 years so I hadn't seen the new models or the new army book (check out the Games Workshop Lizardmen page for more info). The new minis are great, especially the new stegadon. So I came home and started digging mine out. I totaled it up and the bare minimum is 2,006 points. Here's the whole army.

And here are the pieces.
16 Saurus

4 Swarms of Jungle Reptiles, a flaming lizard with crew (forgot the name right now), and a skink priest.

T-Rex - rider coming soon. This is probably my favorite model I have painted.

24 Skinks with blowpipes, 24 skinks with spears, and 14 Cold Ones (riders coming soon).

5 old school terradons and the walking wounded. The terradon on the far right is the one I pinned in the last post.

9 chameleons.

I have some great stuff here. Now I just need to finish the riders and base the stuff. I also have an old school stegadon that needs building.