Bombs Away!!!

After reading through this months edition of White Dwarf I got to the Paint Splatter section and a light clicked on in my mind. I wanted a dark colour for the armour but black was just really uninspiring for me however the dark red scheme used on the Lord of Skulls was awesome and I knew it was exactly what I wanted. What I've got below is an almost full step by step guide. It's not complete because I forgot to photograph some stages but I got most of them. Read on to see what I did... Or I guess you could read July's White Dwarf but I'm hoping you'll carry on.

First of all I based the whole model with Warplock Bronze. There's no picture for that because I forgot to take one. The second stage was drybrushing with Balthasar Gold which I did take a picture of and that is below.

Ooo, shiny

The next stage was to drybrush with Gehenna's Gold which I again forgot to take a picture of but I did snap the following stage which was drybrushing with Sycorax Bronze.

REALLY shiny!

Following the drybrushing was a wash of Agrax Earthshade which didn't really do much except dull the shine a little but I find that brass looks really too shiny so having it dulled isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The next phase that I again forgot to photograph was to paint all of the armour sections in Warplock Bronze. Now you may be wondering why do I need to go over them again in the base colour? Well the answer is that the drybrushing is pretty messy and uneven so the next lot of colour wouldn't be even. You may also be wondering why I didn't do the brass  after the armour plates first because they're the larger surface area and to that I say simply that it's easier to clean up than to stay neat. Yes it's the lazy approach to painting but I'm a lazy painter. Deal with my laziness.

Anyway, following on from the Warplock Bronze the armour plates got a wash of Bloodletter Glaze. It's a different technique but I like how it looks because it basically becomes a metallic red. The only problem with the Bloodletter is that it dried a little unevenly but I'm not sure if that was my painting or whether that's just what happens.

Now I should apologise here because I didn't take any more pictures until I'd finished the bone/teeth but I can explain exactly what I did. There was a final wash of Carroburg Crimson over the armour which not only darkened it slightly but also evened out the colour a little while keeping the metallic sheen to the red. I have to say that I LOVE this and it contrasts very nicely with my Khorne unit skin tone.

The teeth and bone were done in the usual way by basing with Zandri Dust, washed with Agrax Earthshade and then finished with Ushabti Bone and Screaming Skull.

I was planning to add some steel parts to the Cannon but I like the fact that it's pure brass. It means that the bone and teeth are the things that get highlighted as opposed to some silver bits.

I also opted to NOT have any flesh tones because I like the idea that the mutated juggernaut has completely fused with the bronze. You may not approve but I like it because it keeps the dark tone.

The next part was to add the Bloodletter. I opted to not put them onto the back of the Cannon because it just didn't look right at all to me. I decided that my Skull Cannon still has a mind of its own but has lost the ability to see due to no longer having eyes. That's why the Bloodletter is on the side to tell it where to aim and where to fire. In my mind the relationship between Bloodletter and Skull Cannon involves more synchronisation between the Cannon and the 'letter so that the Cannon will know where to aim each time based on the 'letter's instructions. To see how I paint my Bloodletters I'll ask you to click right here and have a little look. Go ahead, it's ok, I'll wait. Are you back? Fantastic, I hope you enjoyed reading that and are now fully versed on my Bloodletter painting technique.

The sword I decided to try a heated effect so I went from a silver base (Leadbelcher) and then layered up. I started with Evil Sunz Scarlet then moved on to Wild Rider Red, Troll Slayer Orange, Fire Dragon Bright, Yriel Yellow, Flash Gitz Yellow and White Scar. Naturally though I had to add a little blood because, after all, he is a Bloodletter. Now I can almost hear you say "there's meant to be two Bloodletters here" and you are quite correct. However as I was assembling them I dropped a leg and haven't been able to find it since so I have a legless Bloodletter torso which means that the Cannon is guided by a single Bloodletter. The Bloodletter by the way is firmly pinned to the base so he's going nowhere.