# Angels Of Disease - Nurgle Daemons WIP (Aug 1 - more colour stuff)



## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

Well, I think I've finally got to the stage where I can legitimately say I have a second army on the go. Oddly enough it's Nurgle (bit of a departure for me, I know) but instead of the armoured miscreants of the Fourteenth Legion this time the spotlight is on the purely Daemonic followers of great Father Nurgle. I've had the idea simmering in the back of my mind to make a Nurgle Daemons army ever since Codex: Chaos Daemons came out, but literally in the last two weeks or so the inspiration has hit me hard and I figured it was time to just go ahead and start work on it.


First off, HQ - I've had a Great Unclean One assembled for a while, and added a few little touches to customise him somewhat including a toothed maw on his giant plaguesword:








...and expanding his torn, bloated gut so he has somewhat less of a melon-shaped torso and drags directly along the ground more, to better give an impression of weight; I'm also considering adding a big monocerotic horn to him, since that's such an iconic Nurgle feature. Here he is in his current state, based and basecoated:









I actually like the colours on the back of the model's own box:








...and will be using this as the guide to my own colour scheme by and large, with some small variations. Here's another shot, showing more of the work on the belly area, extending it down to the ground over a greater area and adding more torn skin with innards peeking through:








I'm hoping that the extra work I did on his belly is sufficiently well blended in that you wouldn't even know something had been done there unless you saw it next to an out-of-the-box Great Unclean One; as always, a good conversion shouldn't look like a conversion at all. There will also be at least one Nurgling added to his base, sitting on the rock to his right...and is it wrong that every time I think of Nurglings now, I hear the 



...?*** 


I have Epidemius sitting in his box ready for assemblage, so I'll probably do what I always do with a new model I've not used before; which is blu-tack him together and then stare at him for a bit to work out what if anything to do to the model to make it a little more individual. For the Heavy Support Daemon Princes I'm planning to use two of the Daemon Prince Of Nurgle models, since once you get past (i.e. replace) the DUURRRR! heads there's a ton of really nice detail on those guys. 


Now Plaguebearers are obviously the bread and butter of any Nurgle Daemons army, and the Angels Of Disease will be no exception. I've already touched on the customisation I've done on the Plaguebearers to make them more unique in the Death Guard thread but I figure that bears repeating here since this is what that work now has the most bearing on. I added a cyclopean eye to every model, both to give them more immediate character on the table and also to make them more correct fluff-wise:








Eyes are very important on any model with an exposed head, as they're the main point of contact character-wise; the eyes on the current Plaguebearer models are often very small, and sometimes very odd shapes, so I much prefer them with a nice big eye like this.

I've also added some rotting guts oozing out, replaced most of the weapons with more convincing and individual-looking items than the rather odd triangular things they come with out of the box, and in some cases thickened up the legs a little where I found them to be too weedy and spindly-looking; here's the initial test squad of 5 Plaguebearers pre-painting:









Here's the colour scheme they've had for the best part of two years, which I've grown more and more dissatisfied with as time has gone on (see the Death Guard thread for more on the in-progress revamping of pretty much everything to do with my painting):









I wanted to use a much earthier and richer palette on them, much like that on the Great Unclean One, so here's the paint test model for the Plaguebearers in his current basecoated state:








The pic itself is a little dark, for some reason, but straight away you can see that he's a lot earthier and more solid-looking, where the old paint scheme was kind of porcelain-like. If you see what I mean. Here he is next to the Great Unclean One to show the unity of the scheme:








Since a Plaguebearer is a lot smaller than a Great Unclean One it will get less light and therefore run the risk of coming out darker for a given set of colours, so I may make them one step lighter colour-wise to allow for that. I'm varying the foundation colour across the model since I want the basic skin tone to vary like the Great Unclean One's colour scheme; I figure that'll make the Plaguebearers a lot more interesting as a unit when there's 7 of them all with individual patterns of markings on their hide.

More - as I've been saying for over 3 years with my Death Guard, and will now have to start getting used to saying with these guys - when I have it 




*** Seriously. I actually have this mental image of happy little Nurglings cavorting around to that song. I may need professional help...


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## Diatribe1974 (Jul 15, 2010)

I'm getting the strange, sneaky feeling that Nurgle colours tend to be green & brown across the board, eh?


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Looking good Svart! I look forward to following this log as things progress!


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## wombat_tree (Nov 30, 2008)

So you've finally done it, good to see this project is starting.


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## KhainiteAssassin (Mar 18, 2009)

first off...

took you long enough.

second off, and this ones gunna probably be a foot in mouth, but dont most people start new armies to get a change from their main one? your still doing nurgle...  XD

being serious now though, great work as always. makes me wana throw up, in a good way.


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## xenobiotic (Jun 7, 2008)

I fear that any treatment capable of changing your mental images and put an end to "the soundtrack of your life" will destroy much of your unique creativity. I'd advise against it, for now.


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## Angelus Censura (Oct 11, 2010)

Looking good so far! I did the same concept on my Nurgle DP, varying colours as a foundation so as to indicate varying degrees of rot. Can't wait to see how this progresses, awesome mins!


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## Orochi (Jan 28, 2009)

I'm actually really surprised you haven't made your own GUO.

Very surprised.


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Superb sculpting as always; the fanged sword is my current favourite.

I did totally misread monocerotic the first time; suffice it to say that would have been a different concept all together.


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

Orochi said:


> I'm actually really surprised you haven't made your own GUO.
> 
> Very surprised.


Heh - I actually like that GW model a lot, I've always had a soft spot for it. Of course that's not to say I _won't_ make one of my own at some point as well...:grin:


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

Update time...this army's going to progress in a vastly more organised fashion than the ever-growing horde that is Pandemic since, rather than using the 'ooh! Shiny!' approach to building models & units that has characterised Pandemic's chaotic growth, I've actually nailed myself down to working out a specific 1,000-point list and building that. And yes, I'm anal enough to have made a tick-them-off sheet for the building process 

So...the latest additions are the final two Plaguebearers to make up the first Troops squad of 7. In addition to exposed hanging guts, this guy has the ornate sword from the old-school metal Chaos Lord (or possibly Sorceror, not sure right now), sharpened via judicious filing to make it look more credibly dangerous:









And this guy's had his left arm cut off and re-posed much lower, with a club from the Ogre Battalion sprue replacing the original triangular sword:









I figure the more variety in the Plaguebearers' weapons, the better. I used two pieces of armature wire to attach the arm for a more secure joint; it was fun to sculpt the flesh around the re-positioned arm, giving the idea of an exposed humerus with rotting flesh peeling off around it. Should be fun to paint 


I also made up the bases for the Nurglings, which was interesting as I've never made any Swarm beasties before...









Note the use of at least 3 different eras of Nurgling model here; thanks to the miracle of eBay I've managed to get my mitts upon several old-school Nurgling models, and it seemed a good plan to mix them all up for more variety.


And since it's been a pretty tough week in work this week, I succumbed to the lure of retail therapy and treated myself to these guys:









The plan is, since Beasts of Nurgle are apparently a bit rubbish, to build them up as Plague Riders (I also bought the Plague Rider Plaguebearer models) using the Bloodcrusher rules to give bigger builds of the army a little more punch.


As always, more when I have it...


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## Salio (Mar 29, 2009)

As always, your sculpting is fantastic! It will be interesting to see what you do with those FW guys!


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

The Ogre Club is an clever choice: the triangular swords never really clicked for me, so changing things up wins with me.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Looking awesome as usual Svart! I am with Dave about the weapon swaps, they really make the models look 10x better. The additions you have made to the eyes really just make that feature stand out so much better. Keep 'em coming!


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

A brief update once again...I have discovered that I am a very slow painter, or at least it certainly seems that way to me. Here's the first Plaguebearer squad, based and undercoated:








Early days yet, colour-wise, but this should give you some idea of where I'm aiming in terms of the overall look and feel. I also replaced the Ogre club on the arm-replacement model with a curved dagger for that "I'm gonna stab you in the guts" look - it just seemed to suit the pose better. The club will be appearing on another model, though, as it's too nice not to use.


And some of the Nurglings, also based and basecoated:








Rather than use the variegated 'animal hide' look that I'm using on the Plaguebearers (inspired by the sight of a piebald horse while watching 'Game Of Thrones', in fact), I'm using one single base colour on each Nurgling to give each one its own hue. I want to see how much I can do with washes alone, as trying to do full paint schemes for each individual Nurgling would be a lot of work and I've seen people get great results with just one or two basic paint colours and the rest done with washes. 


This, by the way, is the 1,000-point list I'm building - a basic Tally list to get me started on the path of Daemons armies:


*HQ
• Great Unclean One* – Breath of Chaos
190 points
*• Epidemius, the Tallyman of Nurgle*
110 points

*TROOPS
• 7 Plaguebearers*
105 points
*• 7 Plaguebearers*
105 points
*• 7 Plaguebearers *
105 points
*• 5 Nurglings*
65 points

*HEAVY SUPPORT
• Daemon Prince* - Mark of Nurgle, Iron Hide, Daemonic Gaze
160 points
*• Daemon Prince* - Mark of Nurgle, Iron Hide, Daemonic Gaze
160 points

*TOTAL:* 
1,000 points

Nothing too fancy, but should be a serviceable list to get me going. I think I (finally) worked out yesterday how I want to do the leg armour on my Obliterators, however, so the next update may well be back in the realm of Pandemic...


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## Winterous (Mar 30, 2009)

Totally subscribing :>


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

Brief update - doing two armies at once is proving more difficult than I'd thought, but fun too (since it gives you a greater variety of subject matter, and thereby makes it easier to find something relevant to whatever mood you may happen to be in). Here are the first four members of Plaguebearer Squad 2, converted and ready for basing & painting:









I love the spiky Orc club on the guy on the right. Once the next three are done it'll be basing & painting time again; then on Saturday I'll be acquiring a couple of Finecast Daemon Princes of Nurgle to be the Heavy Support contingent for the army, since being in resin will make those models a hell of a lot easier to convert  

As always, more when I have it...


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## alasdair (Jun 11, 2009)

Great conversions and painting! The Orc weapons fit into place nicely.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Wonderful conversions Svart! I too really like the guy with the club, very malicious looking. Looking forward to seeing some paint on them.


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## Hammer49 (Feb 12, 2011)

I like the conversions, adds alot more character to the models.


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

Here are the three Plaguebearers to complete Squad Two, with the models from the Plaguebearer Command box making an appearance: 









Detail shots of each (for some reason the relief of the GS work shows up more clearly and sharply without the flash, even though I prefer the overall light balance with the flash. Sigh. I suck at photography):








On the Bellringer I tried a bell at the back of the original pair first of all, but it didn't look right and was barely visible from the front, so I just sculpted one hanging down from inside the largest one; I still like the skull-on-a-stick beater for the bells, which should look nice as a character detail when painted (it'll be a solid brass skull since using an actual skull to hit metal bells with would be dumb as it'd shatter almost immediately, and you'd have to keep replacing it with a new one). 

The _really_ anal thing is that if you look closely you can see that the bell I sculpted in has pretty much half the volume of the large one, making it sound an octave higher...and the one at the back is about half way between the two, for the tritone. So he hits the middle one first, then the small one at the bottom and then the middle one at the back to make the Black Sabbath riff. Yes, I actually worked that out. And yes, I get _that_ attached to my fluff 

And the standard/icon bearer:








I guess they put the Undivided icon on the model since the Plaguebearer Command box came out with the Chaos Daemons army release to use with Daemons armies as a whole, not just Nurgle ones; but this is a pure Nurgle army so the Nurgle icon was the one I wanted, and a bit of cutting and pinning later this was the result. Note the long scaled finger of the original model, extended into a snake-like appendage curling up and around the pole before sticking out through to top; and this seemed like a good place for the Ogre club to re-appear.

And now a group shot of Squad Two:









I may well start on Epidemius next, since I've been putting him off as a multi-part metal model that's almost certainly going to be a pain in the arse to assemble; sadly no sign of a Finecast Epidemius, or I'd have sold this one on Ebay and bought a Finecast one just for ease of assembly. Oh well, I'll almost certainly make a few customising touches to him, too, so I guess it's time to break out the pinning wire - I have a feeling he's going to need as much pinning as the Great Unclean One did...



As always, more when I have it.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Wonderful sculpting work Svart! I am jealous of your Plague Bearers and wish that I had a couple of them for my own daemon army, especially the command. Keep up the good work man!


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Svartmetall said:


> I still like the skull-on-a-stick beater for the bells, which should look nice as a character detail when painted (it'll be a solid brass skull since using an actual skull to hit metal bells with would be dumb as it'd shatter almost immediately, and you'd have to keep replacing it with a new one).


It could be the reason for the incursion: "we need 200 more skulls to keep the bell ringing."




Svartmetall said:


> So he hits the middle one first, then the small one at the bottom and then the middle one at the back to make the Black Sabbath riff.


That is definitely chortle-worthy.


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## baron_sathonyx (Jun 19, 2011)

looks really really nice so far cant wait to see them toads all done up. but this has made me realise that my idea of a nurgle daemons army is a bad idea.


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

baron_sathonyx said:


> ...this has made me realise that my idea of a Nurgle Daemons army is a bad idea.


Damn, how come? I was sort of hoping it might inspire people to do _more_ Nurgle, not less...


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## Winterous (Mar 30, 2009)

Svartmetall said:


> Damn, how come? I was sort of hoping it might inspire people to do _more_ Nurgle, not less...


I'd guess because he'd NEVER get it to look as good as yours


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## KhainiteAssassin (Mar 18, 2009)

amazing nurgle work as usual Svart.

a tad off topic: tell GW to make blaster kits for DE!

ahem, as i was saying, your nurgley goodness does papa nurgle proud


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## Winterous (Mar 30, 2009)

KhainiteAssassin said:


> a tad off topic: tell GW to make blaster kits for DE!


...What?
http://www.bitzbox.co.uk/product_info.php/dark-eldar-kabalite-warriors-blaster-p-7323
That's the Blaster, it comes with Warriors.


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## KhainiteAssassin (Mar 18, 2009)

Winterous said:


> ...What?
> http://www.bitzbox.co.uk/product_info.php/dark-eldar-kabalite-warriors-blaster-p-7323
> That's the Blaster, it comes with Warriors.


yes, but they are NEVER in stock. EVER. people are buying them up from the bitz sites like wild fire as everyone wants blasters per 5 units rather then blasters per 10.


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## Winterous (Mar 30, 2009)

KhainiteAssassin said:


> yes, but they are NEVER in stock. EVER. people are buying them up from the bitz sites like wild fire as everyone wants blasters per 5 units rather then blasters per 10.


Ooooh I see what you mean.
Well I'd say your best bet, since GW would NEVER give up the opportunity to make money, would be to convert them from the Blast Pistols, or get into resin casting / know someone who does it


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## KhainiteAssassin (Mar 18, 2009)

I plan on using the worthless shredders + blast pistols from multiple boxes to make a kind of "custom" blaster for my trueborn squad, and using the normal blasters for my warriors.


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## baron_sathonyx (Jun 19, 2011)

i wont do a daemons army because all the minis are metal at the moment and i already have a 10k nurgle CSM army lol.


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## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

Svart, you are disgusting and you make me sick. Win.
I have to admit that your comment bout having options for what you work on depending on you mood makes little sense when you only do nurgle. 

Angry- khornate models
Whimsical- Tzeentch
Deviate- slaneesh
Sick- nurgle

Or do you have different kinds of sick?

Fine work as usual. I will have to keep an eye on this.


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

shaantitus said:


> I have to admit that your comment about having options for what you work on depending on you mood makes little sense when you only do Nurgle...
> 
> ...Or do you have different kinds of sick?


Definitely; it's like United Colours of Nurgle. See, to me there's a huge conceptual difference between (say) a Plaguebearer and a Death Guard Terminator; sure, they're both Nurgle-aligned, but one's a pure unadulterated Daemon that has crossed over from the Warp to realspace, and one's a millennia-old post-human who's fallen to the worship of Nurgle (and how just happens to wear a suit of portable tank-like armour). Very different in basic nature, and that defines so much of what their form and detail would be that to me there's a world of difference. 

BTW I'm now (after a brief interlude caused by my mother inviting herself up to stay, which pretty much put paid to my ability to concentrate or get anything done) starting work on the third Plaguebearer squad, and I've also been playing with the TubeTool adding bits to the first Daemon Prince. Pics soon hopefully.


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

OK, things are weird right now since I've moved to a different department in work and am trying to adjust to extremely early starts having been a total night owl all my life (I'm very nocturnal by nature). This is _really_ hard for me, I'm pretty disorientated and I feel like I've got jetlag all the time at the moment, which is obviously having an effect on my ability to get much done. Bleh...mornings _suck_.

Anyway, here's the final Plaguebearer squad:








...which means that all the Troops models are now converted and assembled. A couple of the Nurglings aren't painted yet, and the second two Plaguebearer squads still need basing first, but it's definitely starting to feel like I'm getting there now. 

Construction-wise all that's left to do now for this 1,000-point version of the Angels army list is Epidemius - who is admittedly going to be a bastard to assemble - and the two Daemon Princes, who are chock-full of conversion potential. In fact there would have been pics of the first Daemon Prince by now but just in the last couple of days I've decided (largely from staring at the model late at night while he's been sat on my bedside table) I want to convert the first one more than I'd originally thought I'd be doing, having had what will hopefully be a nice idea for making him both cooler-looking and a lot more fluffy wargear-wise 

Pics as soon as I have them...


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## Boc (Mar 19, 2010)

Svartmetall said:


> OK, things are weird right now since I've moved to a different department in work and am trying to adjust to extremely early starts having been a total night owl all my life (I'm very nocturnal by nature). This is _really_ hard for me, I'm pretty disorientated and I feel like I've got jetlag all the time at the moment, which is obviously having an effect on my ability to get much done. Bleh...mornings _suck_.


I know the feeling, if I could shift my work schedule about 5 hours later I would be infinitely happy.

As always, excellently subtle yet effective GSing on the plaguebearers, will be looking forward to seeing some painted products!


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Excellent GS as ever; the changes are merged into the existing model seamlessly and add character.

I really like your choice of weapons; the random selection of coarse weapons encapsulates the lack of pretension in Nurgle's followers.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I agree with Dave mate. The additions you have made to the models are just fantastic in their simplicity. The weapon swaps and the sculpted details add tons of character and individuality! Wonderful work as always.


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

Quick update...still very tired a lot of the time due to the horrible work hours which I'm still having issues adjusting to, but I've managed to get the first Daemon Prince to the point where you can see where I'm going with him:








I removed the front loincloth to leave the chainmail one, and gave him a big distended and torn gut while leaving the augmetic cabling from the model's own gut showing and also adding more Tube Tool augmetic cabling behind that. I've also never liked the squared-off 'safety scissors' sword the model has (really, Original Sculptor, what _were_ you thinking with that one?) so I repositioned his left arm and now he's having a scratchbuilt, Nurgle-approved scythe. I'm still finalising in my head exactly how I want the scythe to look, but I think the overall proportions are about where they should be. 

More when I have it...


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## D-A-C (Sep 21, 2010)

Overall, what's your opinion been with the Resin Daemon Prince?

I'm considering getting one, and I was just wondering if you had any impressions to share?

Also, I hate the crappy looking Nurgle Sword, and would much rather a Nurgle Prince was wielding a Man Reaper.

For someone who has never altered a model in any form from what its supposed to be, how hard would you guess that conversion would be, and would a lot of fancy kit (tools and stuff) be needed?

Thanks.

BTW the army is looking great, it will be interesting how all that greenstuff looks when it gets a lick of paint.

Keep up the good workk:.


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## wombat_tree (Nov 30, 2008)

D-A-C said:


> Overall, what's your opinion been with the Resin Daemon Prince?
> 
> I'm considering getting one, and I was just wondering if you had any impressions to share?


This should answer your questions.

By the looks of it that new tool of yours is doing wonders on making intestines and cables so that's good news. I actually rather liked the standard weapon but I'm sure the one you make will be much better. Keep up the good work!


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## Winterous (Mar 30, 2009)

Fucking amazing, as always.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Looking really fantastic Svart! I like the use of the warscythe!


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## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

You have a done a beautiful job on all your conversions Svartmetall. Def something to be proud of.

If I may ask, how did you make the ridged tubing because it looks perfect and I may need to learn how to do that with some of my Krieg if I ever decide to make some conversions.

Thanks and keep up the great work!


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Svartmetall said:


> I've also never liked the squared-off 'safety scissors' sword the model has....


The scythe looks like it will be an improvement.


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

OK, admit it - you thought I'd forgotten about these guys, right? Well, Operation Finish The Bloody Thing doesn't apply to the Death Guard alone 

Here's the first paint test model for the Plaguebearers:

















I'm aiming for an earthy colour scheme without being drab; the idea with the variegated brown/green scheme is to give some variety to the models, so as to avoid just having brown, green or whatever Plaguebearers. Across multiple units, with different combinations of different basic colouration, this should help to keep things visually interesting. 

I'm way less confident about painting than I am about converting & sculpting, and acutely aware of how much I don't know about this part of the hobby, so all C&C is truly welcomed on this one...


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## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

Well the earthly color scheme seems to be working quite well Svart. As far as the Nurgle icon on the shoulder, maybe a slight pinkish or lighter green. His guts, maybe use a dark crimson gore with some dark purple in the shadowed area. The retina on the eye, I was thinking maybe a dull yellow with a snake slit pupil. Thoughts?

Keep up the good work!

Regards,
DoE


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

A good choice of base palette and the variation adds visual appeal.

However the transitions between brown and green seem a little abrupt to me; I suggest a layering the boundaries with a mix of the two (or several graduated mixes if you really want to push) to make the areas ooze into each other.


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

Thanks for the feedback guys - based on that, here's the same model with a few tweaks:

















The iris was actually there in the last shots, but not too clear; I've re-done it in undiluted black ink. The Nurgle icon was filled in with Red Gore, and the surrounding flesh highlighted with Ogryn Camo. I added some highlighting with Nurgling Green on the upper areas of the stomach and shoulders/head, and a little Thraka Green wash for depth; the guts were washed with very watered-down Red Gore and also some Liche Purple in the recesses. *Dave* - I know what you're saying, but I actually wanted the colour transitions to be relatively abrupt since I actually had *a Holstein cow*'s black and white hide in mind when I came up with the idea for the varied basic colouration on these guys 

OK, so, what do you think to the colours as they are now; does it need more fine-tuning, or do you reckon I should go ahead and try a full squad with this scheme as it stands?


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I think he looks much better in this incarnation. The spot colors of the reds really helps to break up the green, adding some lovely contrast. I also think that the way you toned down the bone color on his 'finger' thing works much better too. It isn't so stark a contrast anymore and blends together with the rest of the model well.


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## Chris Guard of Mardat (Mar 6, 2011)

I really like what you've done with the plague bearer, makes me want to repaint mine


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## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

Much better Svart. The icon and guts just add a whole nother level to the model. Well done Sir.


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

OK, so while they're not finished by any means here's where I'm up to with the first Plaguebearer squad, keeeping the colours consistent with the test model:









And some close-ups:

















I've been working hard at trying to get my blending less sucky, and what I seem to be doing instinctively is a kind of wet blending on the model as I add tones; I've no idea whether this is the right way to blend or not but it seems to feel natural, and in the flesh at least the results look reasonable to my eyes. As always, though, and particularly when it comes to painting, feedback is very much appreciated 

I'm also distinctly relieved to be able to say that Warplock Bronze - the new paint that's intended to replace Tin Bitz - does _everything_ I hoped it would, since I always liked the colour of Tin Bitz but its coverage was quite frankly appalling. Warplock Bronze has the colour but also covers the way Boltgun Metal did, it's very smooth and makes a perfect basecoat for any bronze or brass metallic stuff; I'm planning to give these guys green-washed bronze blades/hammerheads/whatever for a nice Nurglesque semi-medieval look.


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

The variegation adds diversity to the unit without losing cohesion, so good work there.

However, the solid yellow eye with ochre skin looks a touch dull to me. I feel it would pop better if you either added a pupil to raise detail or made the area around the eye much paler to add contrast.


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

Dave T Hobbit said:


> However, the solid yellow eye with ochre skin looks a touch dull to me. I feel it would pop better if you either added a pupil to raise detail or made the area around the eye much paler to add contrast.





Svartmetall said:


> OK, so while they're not finished by any means...


_Do_ try to keep up, 007


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I think they are looking very solid as a group. The variation in the browns and greens is different enough across all the models, giving each model the individualization it needs while still keeping it in the same theme. I really do love how these are shaping up and I can't wait to see the finished product.


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Svartmetall said:


> _Do_ try to keep up, 007


I was suggesting improvements as part of the future finishing you young whippersnapper.:threaten:


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

Here at last is what I hope will be the final, comprehensive paint scheme for the Plaguebearers, with this guy again being the test figure:


























I can't see anything obvious that I've missed...I'm pretty happy with how he's looking, but once again I'd welcome all feedback on the paintjob; I'm working hard to try and improve my painting to at least a passably decent standard, so pick holes in him all you can  In the absence of anything being drastically wrong, though, this is what (with minor individual variations in things like weapon metal colours and guts/tongues from model to model) will get applied to the whole squad.


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## Kreuger (Aug 30, 2010)

I thought I responded to this thread when you first proposed the green/brown breakdown, but I don't see a post of mine on the last few pages . . . so I must not have. 

I think the technique here is fine, but I think the divided color scheme isn't great. The division seems rather arbitrary and I think your test model is lacking contrast. I think he'd look better if there was more intermix of the green/brown along the body. So instead of a brown torso and foreleg, if there was a more physiologically suggestive pattern at work I think I would be sold. Perhaps if the brown was more around the joints or the groin/under arms, and/or belly.

It just seems like that division is arbitrary and sort of abrupt, considering they're very green and then very brown. Perhaps if they looked dirtier and more weathered that would also sell the look. Good luck man.

cheers!


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## ondskapt (Feb 16, 2011)

I also think it lacks a bit of contrast. If you're confident enough you could try to mix colors from green to brown (sorry, can't find the english word for that) to have a more realistic skin.


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Glad to see you added pupils. :wink:

The metal areas do not seem to contrast enough with the flesh with a green verdigris. I suggest using turquoise verdigris instead.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I like the scheme but I am going to have to agree with Krueger in respect that they do lack some contrasting color. Perhaps some bright orange rust on the metal or some red tinging of the skin around the Nurgle Icon would help break things up.


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## Kreuger (Aug 30, 2010)

Hey Svart, any updates on the plaguebearer unit?

And you have my apologies, I just reread my critiques, and while my options haven't changed, I didn't realize how poorly i phrased my thoughts. I didnt intend on being snippy and rude!


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

Kreuger said:


> Hey Svart, any updates on the plaguebearer unit?
> 
> And you have my apologies, I just reread my critiques, and while my options haven't changed, I didn't realize how poorly i phrased my thoughts. I didnt intend on being snippy and rude!


The ghastly hot weather of the last week or so has meant that I have mainly been slumped in front of a DVD going 'bluurgh' (I actually keeled over with mild heatstroke in work on Thursday) or playing World Of Tanks...doing creative things tends to go out of the window for me when it's hot like this, my brain just shuts down. Now it's cooling, though, things should get back on track; I've been having fun experimenting with the new metallic paints for the Plaguebearers' weapons (Screaming Bell in particular is great, a reddish copper that really leaps out), and with the Water Effects resin stuff for guts, pus and the like. 

And don't worry, your feedback didn't come across as either snippy or rude to me; the reason I've kept the demarcation between the colours quite sharp is because the idea for the two-tone hide came from the cow on the cover of Pink Floyd's 'Atom Heart Mother' album:








Yes, I'm an unrepentant Prog fan :biggrin:

Currently I'm working out which colour combinations I fancy using on the other two squads of Plaguebearers, grey + yellow (like some of the more poisonous vipers) and orange + black (like a Gila monster) leading the field at the moment. I've also combined Operation Finish The Bloody Thing with Operation Stop Painting Like A Tard and have resurrected a Possessed that had languished half-done for _ages_; he's definitely stretching my painting technique (which is kind of the point), but is starting to look somewhat promising. Pics of him in the Death Guard thread and the Plaguebearers here in the next day or two, hopefully.





Dave T Hobbit said:


> The metal areas do not seem to contrast enough with the flesh with a green verdigris. I suggest using turquoise verdigris instead.


Good point; I was expermimenting with Sotek Green as a verdigris, but I suspect you're right about the contrast with this particular model's overall palette, turquoise would pop better. I'll exhume my trusty pot of Hawk Turquoise and get to it...


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

And here's the first completed Plaguebearer unit, painted up and weathered:

















I'm doing some colour tests on sprue at the moment, trying to find combinations for squads 2 & 3 that look right to me. I've also dragged out the still-half-finished Daemon Prince from his resting place, and am working on finishing off his arms and head; in addition to him, I also have one of the metal Daemon Princes - which I've always liked as a model - and will be Nurgling him up to be the other Heavy Support choice for the 1,000-point build of the Angels.


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## TehJimbo (May 15, 2012)

Good to see some more progress on your project man, i love how people paint the Nurgle and how different each person approaches it. The plaguebearer unit looks really nice and the pink of the tounges really makes it pop. Awesome stuff.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I think they turned out really nice Svart, well done mate! The browns and greens work very nicely together. Looking forward to seeing your next update.


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

Right...I had this cunning plan, see, of using a poisonous frog's colour scheme as inspiration for the second Plaguebearer unit. The frog was grey and yellow, one of the classic 'I'm poisonous!' warning colourations in nature, so it seemed fitting for a noxious Daemon of Nurgle. Here's the test model I did for him yesterday:

















Yellow is a bugger to get right, but I like this shade of it. However on looking at him again this morning I wasn't sure; so I did another test model, with a rich brown (as opposed to the first squad's pale, 'parched earth' brown) instead of the grey as a contrast colour for his hide:

















What do people think? I'm torn between the two; I think Mr. Grey is more distinctive, and I really like the idea of using real-world warning colours on a Plaguebearer (plus he also pops better against the basing colour scheme); but I'm not sure if it works or not, so there's always the slightly safer option of Mr. Brown. 

Here are both of them with one of the first squad, for comparison:








The plan for squad 3 is to use green and orange, with a slightly richer green that on the first squad and orange again being a poison-warning colour on many terrestrial beasties...


All C&C definitely welcomed on this one; usually when it comes to painting it's pure "did I screw this up?" technical-execution feedback I'm after, but right now I'm actually undecided aesthetically as well


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## stuff (Jan 16, 2010)

I like them both, the grey looks rather necrotic, maybe if you highlighted it adding some green or yellow it would improve on that interpretation. On the other hand the brown gives a slightly more natural transition/appearance. Personally I would go for the grey but add a little green or yellow to the highlights.

Also, I think your red for the guts could do with a little more depth, maybe paint over the guts with some gloss varnish. This is slightly pedantic but just a suggestion!

Keep up the decent work!


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

stuff said:


> Also, I think your red for the guts could do with a little more depth, maybe paint over the guts with some gloss varnish. This is slightly pedantic but just a suggestion!


Once the rest is done I'm planning to use the Water Effect stuff - with just a little bit of yellow paint drizzled through it - on the guts for extra glisteny nastiness


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

The yellow/grey Plaguebearer is a great idea. However I feel that spot balance is off at the moment: grey is neutral so does not contrast with the yellow, which makes the scheme currently a warm analogous (yellow/orange/red) which creates feelings of happiness and harmony; if you replace the orange eye with blue it would change to a pure triad which would add a cold aspect and dynamism, which seems more daemonic.


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

Dave T Hobbit said:


> The yellow/grey Plaguebearer is a great idea. However I feel that spot balance is off at the moment: grey is neutral so does not contrast with the yellow, which makes the scheme currently a warm analogous (yellow/orange/red) which creates feelings of happiness and harmony; if you replace the orange eye with blue it would change to a pure triad which would add a cold aspect and dynamism, which seems more daemonic.


Interesting, though I'm unfamiliar with some of the terminology there - is that colour theory stuff? Hmm...OK, the blue eye sounds interesting, would it help then to also make the exposed innards yellow-with-bits-of-purple instead of their current red? Or at least add purple to the red...I certainly think he needs a different metal colour on the sword, probably silvery with rust.


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Svartmetall said:


> Interesting, though I'm unfamiliar with some of the terminology there - is that colour theory stuff?


It is. There is a lot to get into if you really dig; however, I mostly use it to pick a good spot colour.

Harmony: Imagine a big circle with red, yellow and blue equidistant: colours that are 120 degrees apart are a triad; colours that are next to each other are analogous; colours that are opposite are compliments.

Emotion: Red/yellow/orange are warm and green/blue/violet are cold.



Svartmetall said:


> Hmm...OK, the blue eye sounds interesting, would it help then to also make the exposed innards yellow-with-bits-of-purple instead of their current red? Or at least add purple to the red....


Purple is the compliment of yellow so would make a good spot.

As mixing compliments produces grey if the paints are both pure I suggest not adding purple to yellow for the guts; a red/purple gut combined with a blue/purple eye (either side of pure purple) should balance well.


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## Moriouce (Oct 20, 2009)

I do not think it is bad with a warm, happy feeling to it. I think that is exactly how the plaguebearer feels as he strides forth, spreading father Nurgles latest pestilence.


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## Kreuger (Aug 30, 2010)

I think Dave is mostly right. I think you might be better served adding a little bit of purple to the grey instead of a blue. Something even a little less saturated than this:










And then brush up to a grey highlight, perhaps even with a little stipple of dark spots using argrax nightshade or nuln oil. I'm thinking the little dots might look good over just one base color but it might work well over both grey and yellow as well.


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Moriouce said:


> I do not think it is bad with a warm, happy feeling to it. I think that is exactly how the plaguebearer feels as he strides forth, spreading father Nurgles latest pestilence.


This is why colour theory does not make art a simple formula: it only helps with answering questions like, what are my options for making the model pop?


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I really like the grey/yellow as well and I would echo Dave's comments on the addition of some purples to add some cool tones to the scheme. I don't have much more to add over what has already been said other than the scheme as a whole already is wonderfully unique for Plaguebearers.


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

OK, thanks for the feedback & suggestions guys; I'm making a few alterations now using this as a starting point, pics tomorrow night hopefully


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

So here he is washed and inked, with purple added to the grey and the guts and the eye repainted in Sotek Green, which is a really nice turquoise-jade sort of colour:
















I like this eye well enough, but looking at it today I actually think the warm orange colour that was on the eyeball previously worked a bit better against the surrounding grey flesh.

And next to one of the first squad - I think I've gotten the 'gamma level' of the two very disparate colour schemes about balanced, so they won't look too out of place next to each other on the table...








...but any feedback is welcomed.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

The turquoise eye really makes all the difference man and the shading inks really add a lot of tone to the model. I think it looks fantastic!


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

The eye feels good to me also.

Apart from distressing his weapon I would stick with what you have.


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## yanlou (Aug 17, 2008)

Very Interesting painting Svart, i like it, i suppose we'll be seeing you doing something nice with the new plastic Plague Bearers?


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

yanlou said:


> I suppose we'll be seeing you doing something nice with the new plastic Plaguebearers?


I don't know if 'nice' is exactly the word I'd have used, but yes, I do have plans for them. And if no-one can see anything else wrong with the test model, I guess it's time to go ahead with painting all of Plaguebearer squad 2 then


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## yanlou (Aug 17, 2008)

I shall hopefully getting a box of em next week aswell.


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